The Wolf, The Bird and The Siren

FOUR

“I’m happy to hear that”. I follow the smooth voice and swallow hard when I find a handsome face that seems to be so perfectly carved in stone staring at me. He smiles at my reaction and leans in closer. Oh God am I all sweaty? I have to respond something.

“Uhhh-yes I love it. Nice to see you again Mr..?” He laughs loudly this time, and several people turn around, drawn by the beautiful sound. I stare, hoping he would laugh again.

“No need for any of that. Just call me Cleis. Besides, why Mr.? I am only 24”

I smile back at him, narrowing my eyes. “Yet you own a bunch of fancy bars around the city, and got gorillas working for you. Sounds like a Mr. to me” 

He laughs again and I jump with joy inside, proud to make him laugh. Some of the waitresses in the black dresses look my way and seem to inspect me up and down with... jealousy? Okay?? 

“I had nothing to do with that. My parents passed years ago and left me all this to handle by myself. Please just call me Cleis” 

He puckers his lower lip as if he’s sad, but his eyes smile. I hold my gaze to his lower lip and feel the urge to nip it. Wait what? I quickly look into his eyes again, and he obviously noticed my stare. 

“Fine, I will call you Cleis then. By the way, I will be 18 in about four months so I can’t do much but stand here and watch the view. So I am sure I will be the best company” I try sarcasm, hoping he will think I’m cool.

“I am already far more entertained than I have been in years.” His words are velvet soft against my ears. He leans against the balcony and for half-a-second rests his eyes on my lips. Oh God, what is that funny feeling? 

“Oh-thank you. I like talking to you too” that was dumb to say...right? He smiles and maybe he didn’t think it was dumb.

“You can come work for me too, as a waitress of course.” His offer is nice and I pretend to consider it. 

“I would love that but I already have a job that’s closer to the home” There’s no way I am commuting here every day.

“I bet you anything the tips here are better” he says matter-of-factly

“Maybe when I graduate, in about a month. That way I have more time and can save for college. I actually care about my grades unlike Jada” he nods and I think I may be boring him to death with school talk. 

“It’s a deal. So, Jada told me at the store today that you are part fairy. That’s amazing. I thought all fairies were hunted down!” He seems genuinely surprised and I look around worried someone will overhear. There are so many supernaturals that I am sure someone is bound to overhear. I can’t believe Jada really told him that.

“Oh don’t worry, you can trust me. And the fire pits also act as sound-wave dampeners. Only those in close proximity can hear each other. For privacy, you know”

“That’s amazing technology!” he laughed again and more people turn. Why can they hear him though? 

“Oh no. it's not tech. It’s a spell”

“Uhh duh. Makes sense. And mmm no I am not worried about being hunted anyways. I am only a fourth fairy. My mom was half. I don’t have any of the fairy’s gifts. Except for one silly thing”

“What is it?” He leaned closer and his words skimmed through me as if they were alive. I felt the need, the urge to respond. To say anything he wants me to. 

“It's singing.”

“Singing?” He looked at me puzzled, and that single word persuaded me to explain

“Yea umm, people become funny when I sing. Almost like high or drunk. We are not sure how it works, there is no recorded information on a gift like that for a fairy. All of the chaperones at the home are either witches or wolves, like most people living there” 

He looked at me for a bit longer than normal without speaking. It was kind of intimidating.

“I bet you are the life of the party then!” He flashes his teeth again and I bite my lip trying to suppress an i***t’s smile. 

“Yeah actually no. It’s more of a go-to-sleep effect and not a super hype exciting one” I raise my hands and shoulders in a shrug. 

“Interesting. Does it work with any song?” He rubs his chin in interest.

“Yeah it does. But it really depends on the song. I honestly haven’t experimented in a while after the talent show fiasco at the home a couple of years ago. The whole audience practically passed out” Pretending to be panicked, he lifts his hand and covers my mouth with it, my lips touch his palm. 

“Then please, please, no singing tonight, I need my customers to be awake and ready to drink” He drops his hand and I laugh softly, nodding. Finally, someone who understood it isn’t a really helpful ‘gift’. 

“Hey there babe. Isn’t this place amazing? Cleis is this where I will be working?”

Out of nowhere Jada shows up and she is clearly much more excited about working here than she has ever been about doing any sort of labor in her life.  

“Yes. Unless you would like to choose another bar. That’s fine too” Cleis’ voice changed to a weird more business-like tone 

“No! I love it here. Don’t you babe?” Jada looks at me again 

“Yea it's pretty cool” I admit

“She is not as impressed as you it seems” Cleis leaned back and puckered his lower lip again in a fake sad face and I giggled. If someone else would have done it I might have thought it was stupid but he is just downright sexy. 

“I am impressed! I am just not as expressive as Jada, sorry! Unless of course, you want me to sing?”

“No no! No singing, please! It’s not bedtime” he shakes his head and his finger from side to side. I grab a dirty cup from the table next to us and raise it to my mouth pretending it is a microphone. I mouthed exaggeratedly into it as if I was singing without actually speaking. Cleis pretends to fall asleep standing there and we both burst out laughing. 

“Umm okay then. I guess she does like it here” For a moment I had forgotten Jada is here. She gives me a thumbs up and mouths ‘nice job’ before Cleis turns to look at her too. I shake my head, squinting my eyes and wishing I could telepathically ask her to stay. 

What else am I supposed to talk about with this guy? He already knows the most interesting-not interesting thing about me. 

“Excuse me boss, I think I will go rescue Emi from those guys over there. See you in a bit babe.” She raises her eyebrows suggestively and I mouth a ‘stop it’. She walks off and I guess our exchange is pretty obvious because I turn and see Cleis smiling at me. 

“If you like the height and the view here, I can take you somewhere that you will really love”

“Where?” 

“Just through those stairs” I follow his hand and find the set of really narrow stairs next to a door at the end of the room. 

“Umm I don’t know. I am not good with small spaces” I divert his gaze, embarrassed that I have to say that out loud. 

“Hey, it's all right! Look, the steps are narrow but it's a short climb to the top. You’ll love it, come with me.” He grabs my hand and walks towards the door. He holds my hand tightly but gently at the same time. I look around and the waitresses in the black dresses give me what must be evil eye. I try to pull my hand away but he has a strong grip, and only holds it tighter.

“Ignore them” He says so menacingly, without giving any of them a single look back. Somehow it's like they hear him and they stop staring right away. We make our way to the steps. So he noticed the looks too! Okay maybe I am not crazy and now I feel important. As we get closer I see a small sign on the door next to the stairs. 

Private party only. Please call-ahead 

An even more exclusive room! We come to a stop and I breathe deeply before I take the first step. Cleis squeezes my hand lightly in assurance. 

“Race you to the top?” He asks, wanting to run up there for my benefit obviously. 

“I can’t run very fast with heels Cleis”

“Take them off then”

Well, that is kind of against the dress code. Who cares, he is the owner. I reach down for my heels and take them off. I hold them tight and take off running, yelling behind me 

“Ready set go!!” 

The steps are narrow but I ran up as quickly as possible. Oh God how high is this place?? Before I can turn back down, I see the sky and hurry through the last steps. I come through an open door to a fully uncovered roof, not like the one below us that is only half-open. The stars stretch along the sky and it feels as if I could reach for them. I feel Cleis close behind me and I walk to the edge, the city stretches far and I spot the toothpick-looking, crazy tall Washington Monument right away. I wish Noah could see this. I shake the thought away and look behind for Cleis.

“This is awesome! Thanks for convincing me” I look for his eyes, and find him watching me intently, without a single trace of a smile. I feel self-conscious all of a sudden, I am alone up here with a stranger. I don’t even have my phone. I’m such an i***t, it's like I broke the first most basic rule. Noah. I wish he was here. I take a step back and he speaks right away

“You are welcome Ava. And I didn’t mean to stare, sorry.” He smiles softly and his words pull the strings of my racing heart, bringing immediate comfort. How on earth does he do that?

“It’s okay” 

“You just remind me of someone I used to know” 

Ouch. So that’s what this is all about. I look like someone else he liked...great. 

“Oh…” I am not sure what to say and that’s all I can manage. I am not sure what face I must have made because he frowns

“It’s just the light, under the moonlight your hair looks like it has streaks of gold. I have seen that before. It’s beautiful.” 

Okay if it's just the hair then I think that’s alright. 

“Thanks, that’s the only thing I remember about my mom, I have hair just like hers…” I trail off and look upward. Flashes of my mom dance in my mind, my mom singing to me, my mom hugging me, drawing a picture together, dancing to a silly song, I try to escape from the last image but it's pointless. It haunts me. Her lifeless body holding onto a massive dead wolf, golden strands of her tangled with gray fur. A mixture of sadness and longing builds a lump in my throat. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring back sad memories” his voice soothes me again. Oh, I could hear it all day. The image of my mom is gone faster than usual and I am thankful for it. 

“No biggie. Why don’t you tell me your superpower?” I try to lighten the mood 

“Well, it's definitely not singing. You don’t want to hear that.” I chuckle and a little shiver escapes. There are no heaters up here. He takes his jacket off and puts it over my shoulders, instantly warming me. I want to protest but instead, I only smile. I like having his jacket on me. I look at the tattoos that cover his arms. Most of them are tribal images with maybe words in a foreign language.

“Tell me about those then” He smirks and I am lost in his lips again. He takes a step closer and stands inches from me. I have the urge to touch his tattoos now, slide my fingers down his arm, feel hard muscle under soft skin. The arm does not have tattoos though. The skin is dark and it blends in with the night sky. It’s Noah. He stands with me under a billion stars and leans in closer. Noah’s visit in my head is so vivid that I long for him to be here. I blink several times, trying to erase the image. Not a good moment to be daydreaming about Noah. Stop. Stop it, Ava. What the hell.  

“We will be here all night then, I have many” Cleis brings me back to this moment and Noah’s image washes away. This is going to be a fun night.