1: The Return-2
617 Words
THEY AGREED TO MEET IN A CAFÉ close to the lab where forensic scientist Queen Gomez worked as a Firearms and Tool Mark Identification Specialist.
Belle looked youthful in her usual get-up of denim jeans, unbuttoned plaid shirt with rolled up sleeves over a plain T-shirt and scuffed white running shoes. Her long red hair was braided. A lightweight 5’3, she appeared younger than her twenty-seven years.
She had wanted to meet her friend in person to share her decision to move to Queensland, Australia.
They greeted each other warmly with kisses on the cheeks. Then, they made their way through the lunch crowd to a reserved corner table.
Queen asked, as soon as they were seated for their meal, ‘Are you sure about this?’
‘As sure as I can be,’ Belle replied. ‘I don’t have a definite date yet, but I’ve applied for a Partner visa. I’m waiting for it, and then I’ll book my flight.’
‘It’s a long way to go,’ Queen said, more as a statement of fact than an attempt to dissuade her.
Belle fell silent. She gripped her coffee cup tightly. ‘I know,’ she said in a whisper. ‘It’s a long way to go to start a new life.’
Queen saw through her and touched her hand lightly. ‘You know what? You can’t find a better man to start a new life with than Bryce Cameron.’
‘Yeah, but the reality is I hardly know him. What if he doesn’t love me?’ She sighed.
‘He likes you, and that’s a start. You’re such a sweet, smart girl. I can’t imagine him not falling in love with you.’
‘I hope so,’ Belle said, sounding only half-convinced. ‘No pain, no gain, right?’
Queen nodded. ‘Just remember Giorgio and I, we’ll always be here for you, okay? No matter what.’
The two women spoke daily throughout the waiting period for the visa. Queen provided the steadying rudder as Belle oscillated between dread and anxiety, and hopefulness. If there was a meter to measure the emotional see-saw Belle was on, it would have looked like the needle trying to measure an earthquake.
*
* * * *
BELLE STAYED IN TOUCH with Bryce via email; updating him on the progress of her visa application. While they often communicated, she wondered if perhaps she was just in love with the notion of being in love.
He hasn’t said he loves me, only that he wants me to be with him. What does that even mean?
The more she thought about it, the more panicked she felt. They had nothing in common, and on top of that, Bryce was thirteen years her senior.
‘No, twelve and three-quarters,’ Bryce once corrected her.
When she got her visa, she could only look at it in disbelief. Later that day, she walked the length and breadth of downtown New York, going in and out of travel agencies, paralysed with apprehension. In the end, at the very last minute, she bought a two-way plane ticket–Just in case.
She phoned Queen that same day to say she was ‘definitely going. I know it’s crazy, but I’ve done far crazier things than this. Whistleblowing on a bent murderous company CFO for one.’
Queen said she’d rather not be reminded. The horror of nearly losing their lives was still fresh in her memory. But those horrible events were how she and Belle met, and so in a strange way she was grateful.
‘When do you leave?’
‘Tomorrow.’
Queen laughed. ‘God, that’s quick. If you can do that being indecisive, I’d hate to find out what you’re capable of when you’re decisive!’
‘On the contrary, I had to do it this way, or I’ll probably get cold feet and not go.’
*
* * * *
BELLE CALLED BRYCE to give him her travel itinerary.
‘I’ll be at Cairns Airport to meet you,’ he said with a strong Australian strine. ‘Can’t wait to see you again.’
‘Me too,’ she replied, as her heartbeat increased rapidly to match her raised temperature; his voice inexplicably caused her body to react in a certain way. She thumped her head as her mind raced away into forbidden territory.
It’s excruciating.
*
- Writer
