A Luna's heart

DAYDREAMS

LEILA'S POV

I flicked an errant lock of hair away from my forehead. I picked up the sketch pad and the pencil once more. I closed my eyes. The morning sun burned brightly on my closed eyelids. Then his image leaped in front of me. It felt almost real enough to touch. There was really no need for me to close my eyes and visionalize him because he was almost all I thought about these days. Still, I wanted to get the sketch right. It was the only thing I had of him now, the only evidence I had that he was real and that I had not dreamt him up.

A second after I opened my eyes, my pencil flew over the paper, filling in all the details that I remembered. I concentrated on his face- as much as I could see of it. It was unfortunate that I had not been able to catch a glimpse of that face. Unfortunate also that he had been wearing a facecap and sunglasses as if to thwart my efforts at identifying him. My pencil moved more slowly now. Seconds later, I was done with the drawing.

I dusted off the eraser marks, held the drawing to the light. I had spent five days in making this sketch. It was very good, if I did say so myself. If I had had the opportunity to go to college, I would definitely have majored in arts. In front of me was my representation of Grey. He was standing at the counter the way I had seen him. His face was in profile and only that scar marred what I was sure was a very handsome face. His jaw though was aggressive and hinted at a stubborn disposition. I gently stroked that jaw, while imagining that I was stroking his skin. I imagined him wrapping those sinewy arms around me while I did so, and then taking off his glasses so I could see the color of his eyes.

"LEILA!"

The sound of my name, like the crack of a whip, brought me out of my daydream. I started, and the sketch pad fell onto the floor and into a small puddle of water. I sucked in a breath, almost afraid to look at it's state. Then I laughed in relief. The part with my drawing on it faced upwards.

"I'm coming, Ruelle," I called out as I retrieved the pad.

I quickly but carefully tore out my drawing, placed it in my pocketbook, tucked it into the back pocket of my jeans and hurried into the motel. Ruelle was already on her way outside. She scowled at me, asked what had taken me so long and led the way into our adjoining rooms. She sat on her bed, looked up at me.

"We are leaving today," she informed me.

I gaped at her. She always did this, but her liking for moving around like a gypsy never ceased to amaze me.

"Leaving?" I echoed. "But we just got here just... five days ago. Ashville is a busy but pretty cool place. Can't we stay here a while longer? Why are we even leaving?"

I remembered, with a sinking heart, that if I left Ashville, my chances of running into Grey again were slim enough to be almost non-existent. I felt such a wave of sadness engulf me that I almost felt physically ill.

"I didn't say the move was up for discussion," Ruelle sneered. "I just informed you that we are moving. I don't need to explain myself to you."

I racked my brains for reasons why she wanted to leave so soon. Not that she ever told me about the state of her finances, but I figured that money was the problem. "Ruelle, I know things are pretty expensive in this city. To help ease the financial burden, I could get a job, maybe somewhere even close to this place. I'm sure some of the diners and restaurants around here will be in need of a waitress or something."

She scoffed, smiled mockingly. "And have you fall into the fire or a customer's plate of food when you have a fit? Hell no! I would probably end up spending a lot more than you would ever make, paying for damages."

I blew out a breath. "Can I at least know where we are going this time?"

She made an impatient gesture. "It's a town called Lair Falls."

I frowned. Lair Falls. The name rang a dim bell. I had seen that name somewhere in the not too distant past. Then it came to me. Early this morning, I had gone to Ruelle's room to get something. There had been a newspaper there. Absentmindedly, I had taken it and flipped through. My eyes had lighted on a page that Ruelle seemed to have been reading. I could see a little smudge of her thumbprint, which was stained with something, on a corner of the paper. Almost at that same spot, she had circled the word 'Lair Falls' with a pen. I had read the article she seemed to be so interested in. It was an article about tourist destinations. Lair Falls was not a tourist destination though.

The only paragraph where it was mentioned had read '... and to get to the picturesque city of Glenview, one has to pass through Lair Falls, a town rumoured to have a very high, but under reported crime rate. At Glenview...

I wondered why Ruelle would want us to go to a hub of crime. That made no sense at all. I came to the present when she snapped her fingers in my face. I blinked, saw that she had gotten to her feet.

"What were you thinking of?" she snapped. "I was telling you to pack your things as soon as you can. We leave for Lair Falls this evening."

She walked away. My heart skipped a beat. So soon?

"Wait," I called out.

Her shoulders slumped. She sighed in exasperation and slowly turned, her fingers crossed against her chest.

"What?" she said between gritted teeth.

"I will pack my stuff... later. They are not much anyway. Since you said we are leaving this evening, I will like to er- walk around town for the last time. Just for a few blocks around to stretch my legs a little." I laughed shakily. "We are probably going to be sitting in a bus for hours and hours. So..."

I trailed off. She shrugged.

"Fine," she snapped. "Just don't go too far and return by at least 3. I want to get a move on early."

I nodded and left the motel. The moment I was out of sight of the motel, I quickly brought out the drawing of Grey, smoothed it out and clasped it to my chest. I wouldn't give up on finding him just yet. I put the drawing back in my pocketbook and headed for the cafe where I had first seen him.

Every night for the last five days, I had snuck out of the motel and hung around the cafe and others within the vicinity, describing Grey and asking people if they knew or had seen him. No one had. I didn't mind the sometimes rude responses I got. Luckily, Ashville was very active even at night, so I was perfectly safe. I prowled the streets till the wee hours of the morning, before heading back. I also searched every opportunity I got to go out during the daytime. Part of the reason why I had made the sketch was because I thought I would have more time here in Asheville. Now, it turned out I didn't. I knew I was obsessing over a total stranger, but I couldn't seem to help myself.

I walked slowly past the cafe. A section of it was made of glass, so I peered in. There were not many customers today and a brief look satisfied me that he was not in there. I stood a little way away from the street at a spot where people usually walked past. I held up the drawing, plastered a smile on my face and pointed to it as people passed.

"Hello. Have you seen this man?" I kept asking everyone that passed.

My art got a lot of attention. People slowed down to look at the drawing, admired it and moved on. A few asked if I was an artist, asked if they could make donations after looking around and failing to see a collection hat or something. Others asked for my number, wanted me to make sketches of them, asked if the man in the picture was missing and a hundred other questions. But none of them said they had seen Grey. Most of them complained that the hat and sunglasses made him hard to identify. I stood there for hours, till a few minutes to three. With a sinking heart, I realized I would not be able to find him before I left.

"That's a lovely drawing, dear," said a wizened old woman who passed by me.

She gave me a kindly smile, moved closer and pressed something into my palm before moving on. Dispirited, I plodded to the motel and then my room.

"Is that you, Leila?" Ruelle called from somewhere in her room.

"Yes," I called back.

"Start packing now. We might leave earlier than planned."

I sighed, drew out my battered suitcase. Something fell to the floor and I picked it up. It was a crumpled hundred dollar bill. The old woman had given me that. Then it came to me. I had to earn some money to come out from under Ruelle's control. I decided I would put my foot down to get a job when we got to Lair Falls. I would save up money, return to Ashville and continue my search for Grey. It was weird in a way, but this man had given me a reason to break out of my miserable existence. Feeling a lot more hopeful, I began to pack.