Who Loves Her? (7 page)

“What’s wrong, Susan?” asked Jim.

“It is my wedding today at the church, and we came to the town for shopping.  I was following my friend’s car and she disappeared.  Then I went to a restaurant nearby, actually just behind that street.”  She pointed toward the corner, weakly.  Then she remembered that she had been walking around aimlessly for at least a couple of hours and so the bistro was probably on the other side of town, depending on how big it was.  Susan squinted at the Scandinavian gift store that said,
Velkommen til Alexandria
.  She wasn’t sure where she was, but something seemed like it was supposed to be familiar.  Her heart skipped a beat, but she barreled on with an explanation to the older couple and tried to appear calm.

“…and then I was t
rying to connect to them on the phone and fainted.  When I got up, my phone and purse were missing.  The couple who was there a little while ago, told me they would help, but disappeared.  I suppose that couple might have stolen my stuff.”

“Don’t you worry, I can take care of that,
” Jim replied, straightening up and puffing out his chest.

Jim’s oldest
son looked up from under his ball cap and added, “Yeah, you really don’t know what he can do.  Dad could teach them a good lesson.”

“Well, thank you, young man
.”  Susan felt a bit relieved.  “Thank you so much, sir, and Donna, I can’t explain how thankful I am.”

“Well, Susan, you just try to dial the numbers, it will get through,” Donna suggested.

“Let’s just go to that café, buy you a drink, and sit down.”  Jim started walking to the café shop nearby.

“Oh, thank you so much,” Susan smiled and followed.

They all sat there on the table outside that café and Susan started sipping her drink.

Suddenly the call connected
.  “Nina!” Susan exclaimed with joy.

“Where the hell are you, Susan?” shouted Nina in shock
.  “Do you know where the hell you are? Cause we are all fucking having a heart attack here.  Are you all right?  What the hell is wrong with you?  Are you lost?  Please Susan, say something!”

“I
am … I am,” Susan said joyfully.  She smiled weakly at Donna and hoped that the nice older lady didn’t hear Nina.  She let out a little laugh and tried to pretend it was all nothing.  She got up and looked around at the front window and sign boards of the café.  “I got lost and am in front of Bales Café on 21
st
North Street.  This nice couple let me use their phone.” 

“Well, you just stay there, okay
Susan?  Don’t you move from there.  We are coming there.  Harris is with us too; he has been worried.  Did you lose your phone and purse too?” Nina asked over the phone.

“Yes
, but it isn’t my fault.  I think someone stole it when I fainted,” Susan replied.

“Well, you just stay put, we will be there soon
.  Whose number are you calling from?” Nina asked.

“A
woman I am with.  Her name is Donna.  Her husband’s name is Jim.  They’re really nice,” Susan replied.

“Okay Susan
.  Wait!  And don’t you move a muscle, okay?  Do you hear me?” Nina shouted.

“Okay, okay
, I won’t,” Susan assured.

Susan came back to the table cheerfully and thanked the family.

“Thank you, sir.  I just spoke to my friend and told her where I was.  My whole family is worried and will be here soon,” Susan said smiling.

“Well, that solves your problem
.  Just relax, everything is going to be all right,” Donna assured her, and waved to the waiter.

“Let’s all ha
ve coffee until then.”  Donna exclaimed, and they all laughed together.

They ordered their
coffees, and while sipping on them, they started discussing the events that had happened to Susan, as Jim asked her details of everything so that he could sort everything out.  Jim assured Susan that if everything that she had said is true, then something certainly had to be done.  “After all, a crime has been committed!” Jim declared.  Donna patted him on the hand.

“Jim always looks out for the little guy
.  He just can’t help himself since he had to retire early from the force.  Doctor said his blood pressure just couldn’t take it anymore.  His entire family has that blood pressure thing.  Does your family have that sort of thing, dear?”

“Just let her enjoy her coffee, Donna.  Don’t need to burden her with our life story.”  Jim twisted his cup in his hand and then took a sip.  Susan, who was much calmer and relaxed, although at first hesitant, told the couple what had happened.  She had to admit that she kind of wandered around the city for a couple of hours, and that all she remembered was that it was called the Second Street Bistro and had outdoor seating with orange umbrellas.  When she finished her story, Jim made a call to a friend, and told him of the situation, and after his short discussion on the phone, excused himself.

“This will only take a second
.  You think you can find your way home, okay, Donna?”

“We cam
e in separate cars, remember?”  She smiled.  “I’ve been wandering around this little town so long.  Don’t think I’m going to get lost now.  Jim left to investigate the restaurant as Susan had already directed him that her car was also parked in front of it.  Susan squinted with faint worry as she noticed Jim’s hand.  The ring!  I know that ring, dammit!  Susan forced the thought from her mind and waited for the cavalry.

The whole conversation hardly took fifteen minutes, and as soon as Jim stood up and left, the same group of music performers from the shopping mall appeared out of nowhere.

“Hello, young lady, the bride-to-be, do you remember me?”

The Spanish guitar player sang a melodious introduction while strumming on his guitar.”

“Yeah, hi, how are you guys?” Susan suddenly remembered that she didn’t include the part about the band in her story.  Donna jumped a little and frowned at the surprise, not quite understanding what was going on.  Her son pulled his hat square on his head and glared at the guitar player.  Susan just played along with the musicians.

“Well, whatever,” she thought
to herself.  She was sure that the musicians didn’t know about her stealing the bridal dress from Jenna’s, which of course, she had cut
that
from her story.  She couldn’t have told that to Jim.  I mean she was the one that was lost.  If the lady at the store hadn’t screwed up the order she wouldn’t even be in this mess.  She didn’t want Jim to think she was crazy or a fake.  After all, her family was going to smooth things over with the bridal shop and the flower people just as soon as the wedding was over.  There was nothing to worry about.  She realized that Donna was giving her a strange look as the musicians stood there.

Susan felt that same uncomfortable sense of disjointed confusion
.  “Nothing to worry about,” Susan assured herself and laughed at the band answering them.

“What are you people doing here, and wow!  don’t you have a strong memory.”  When she laughed, Donna kind of lightened up.

“Donna, these fellows were there at the mall this morning where I was as I just told you
.  Quite an interesting band I must say, as they have offered their services, but you know, I couldn’t have made all that work without my parents’ approval.  It was a bit out of our plans, you see.”  Susan smiled.

“Well
, Señorita, actually, we were saving you there this morning at the mall,” the harmonica player added between singing and playing.  The bass player filled in behind and kept it up.  The kid with the ball cap started to watch his fingers fly.

“WHAT?
!”  Susan nearly spit out her coffee.

“Well, yes,
Señorita.  In fact, we were there in the shop where you stole that dress.”

The band sang in chorus
, playing their instruments.

Now it was Donna’s turn to get shocked
.  She looked at Susan suspiciously, reaching for her phone.

“
No, please Donna.  I can explain that, you…you don’t need to make a call to Jim.  I can assure you that there has been a slight confusion today at the shop where I was to get my bridal gown.  I can explain!

Susan turned on the band
in anger. “There is no need to exaggerate the whole situation.  You only know what you saw!  I ordered my dress!  I paid for most of it.  They were going to stop my wedding.  The store screwed up.  I am not a thief!” Susan trembled in frustration.

Please, Donna, it is nothing big, and I am not a spy or agent or something
crazy like that.”  Susan was panicking.  Now even her attempts at sounding normal were sounding crazy.  A spy? Special agent? Where did her mind come up with these things!

The pain in Susan’s head began knocking again
.  The memories playing out behind her eyes left her breathless.  The best she could manage was to simply hold her breath and think of Nina.  As she tried to calm her trembling hands, she crossed her arms protectively over her stomach.  She felt very small, and she instinctively knew something was wrong.

T
he band kept singing the most horrible songs and telling Donna about the robbery.  “You were there with your friends.”  The drummer laughed and mimicked Nina.

“Technically it was shoplifting,” h
e said in a high pitched voice.

“You should have seen them all, running around
Jenna’s behind her trying to grab the train of the dress before she ripped the stolen dress into pieces.”  The harmonica player joined in with glee.

“Friends
!” the chorus added in perfect harmony.

“And you stole
what is to be stolen, a bride-to-be.”

“A bride-to-
be,” sang the chorus from the band again.

“A bride-to-
be, or not to be.”  The group laughed as the leader shouted.

“That is the question, girls!” and again they laughed in unison.

“Oh shut up, please.  For Christ sake, stop it.  You are not only humiliating me, but creating a situation here, you, Mr. Wise Guy.  You with the guitar.  Yes, you Fatso.  You stop this now or I am going to
kill you all
.  I have HAD IT!”  Susan stood up and spilled all the coffees.  She literally lost her cool.  She was shivering, sweating and shouting.  Donna backed away slowly and dialed Jim.  Susan knew it was over, but she pleaded.

“No
, please no… can’t you see they’re making this up!  I don’t know why they are here!  I don’t know why…I just needed my dress and then I got lost.  I just wanted to….”

“Hi
.  Listen.  The Susan lady here is with us, I don’t think she is what she told us.  Please get back here as soon as you can.  She’s ranting about a bridal dress and then she’s talking to this weird
band
and threatening…yes, of course.  They’re okay.”

Donna spoke
into her phone in hushed tones, keeping an eye on Susan, and almost covering her children behind her.

“I AM NOT INSANE, OKAY
?!”  Susan shouted.

And the chorus from the music band added, “INSANE
.”  They laughed.  Donna tried to see where Susan was shouting, pulling back even further.  Susan’s eyes darted to every corner of the room.  Her head pounding in her temples as her body seemed to sizzle with numbness.  “Something so strange is happening,” she thought to herself.  She looked desperately for someone to rescue her.  In Alexandria, throughout her life, Nina had always come to the rescue.  She and Nina knew everything about one another-friends--from the beginning.  Somehow, some magical best friends’ sixth sense, Nina always knew when she was in trouble.  As Susan heard a car’s tires squealing to a stop, she turned to look.  Susan stepped out onto the sidewalk and dropped her head in utter and complete relief.  Nina!

Right then,
Nina’s car came to a screeching halt right beside her.  Susan jumped out of the way before realizing her savior.  With that she ran toward the car which was just a few feet away.  Nina opened the door as soon as she realized there was something really wrong with her friend.  She had never been through this before.  There were small drops of blood on her collar under her ear, and Nina knew it wasn’t good.  Susan got in as Nina quickly drove away.  She leaned over her lap quietly pulling her disheveled hair into a ponytail on her back.  The airconditioning over her face provided an instant connection to reality even as the blood streaming down her neck caused a moment of panic in Nina’s heart.  Susan could feel Donna’s eyes drifting past her.

“JUST WHAT THE HELL HAS BEEN HAPPENING, AND WHAT HAVE YOU GOTTEN YOURSELF INTO, SUSAN?”

“Don’t yell at me, Nina.  Today has been a nightmare.”  She sat up and looked out the window.  “Has anyone seen Harris? Why didn’t he come to find me?”

“Harris?
You want Harris?!?” Nina’s chest heaved with anger as a thousand memories flashed in her mind. Nina had lost it too.  She didn’t sign up for this shit with Susan!  Sure, she was Susan’s best friend since the third grade.  It wasn’t just Bob that saved her the day her wrist was broken.  There was that day in fourth grade when one of the boys found a dead bird and hid it in Susan’s desk as a joke.  The teacher started to read the story and Susan opened her desk.  She screamed bloody murder and Nina was the one to chase her down the hallway and into the library where she knew Susan liked to hide when she got too scared of something.