Knowing You

Chapter Five - GHOSTS OF THE PAST

Tom knew he can’t depend on Carly so he went looking for a decent job. After being accepted as a waiter in a restaurant he happily walked the streets when he noticed Carly in a photo shop with a girl. She kisses her goodbye and leaves. He quickly follows Carly and clings to her right arm as they paced.

“Paparazzi alert! Carly Stanley is seen kissing another girl behind her supermodel girlfriend’s back.”

“Tom! How’s your job hunting?” says Carlyn, deliberately changing the topic.

“Changing the topic! Avoidance of the inquiry! Denying the truth even after being caught in the act!” teased Tom.

“I’m not denying anything. Her name is Annabel. I met her in a gig last summer. We decided to hang out and you know…its just fling.”

“And what happens to Suzie?”

“Of course she is still my favorite partner!”

“You mean girlfriend...and Juliet from Texas??”

“I just met that girl once.”

“But you still communicate!”

“It’s LDR and its nothing serious and most importantly it’s long been over. We are now taking a cab so you better save the interrogation for some other time. Suzie just called me, there is a dinner party at the hotel.”

“Of the three girls, I will go for Team Suzie. Hotel dinner…here we come!” they laughed as they got inside a cab.

They were enjoying their food when one decent looking man approached them. He greets Suzie and eyes Tom and Carlyn, who are enjoying their fine meal. He comments, “I didn’t notice your friends a while ago during the opening ceremony.”

“They just arrived. I invited them.” Suzie replied.

Carlyn raises her head to see who was inquiring. Much to her surprise, it was Damien Scott, someone she wished she would never see again. Damien, upon seeing her face, recognizes her as well.

“Carlyn?” he asked in awe.

“You know each other?” Tom interrupts.

“Ahh…no! I don’t. You are mistaken! Please excuse us.” she hastily stands and grabs both Suzie and Tom away from Damien.

“But I’m not done eating!” complained Tom.

“We are leaving!” she exclaimed.

“He knows your name.” Suzie added.

Carlyn refuses to listen to them. Instead, she takes them farther away from Damien who could barely catch up because of the crowd. Soon, he lost sight of them.

“Why does he know you Carly?!” demanded Suzie.

“It’s a long story. Tom, let’s go. Sorry babe.” Carlyn kisses Suzie goodbye. “You have to stay here but don’t talk to that guy again. Promise me.”

Suzie still had many questions but all she could say was, “Promise.”

And she watched them go. Carlyn was dragging Tom away. When Suzie returned to the party, Damien was waiting for her by the table. She paused for a second and thought of the answers Damien could offer her but she remembers the last thing she said to Carlyn and avoids Damien before he could notice she was there.

Carlyn looks outside but her eyes blankly stares in nothingness as multi-colored lights flash away, reflecting through the cab’s glass window. Meanwhile, Tom is just annoyed that his dinner was abruptly stopped.

“What was that drama all about?!” he exclaimed.

“It’s a long story!”

“Secrets...again…you’re keeping a lot of those in your sleeve. I just realized you’re still keeping a lot of things from me. And every time I ask, you make the same lame excuse that it’s a long story. Could you just cut the story short then? I want to understand why I have to get dragged out of there while I was still enjoying my dinner. I need to understand!” he demanded.

Carly just throws a dead serious look at him, “He is just someone not so important that I met in the past. You know how those things go for me. Look, if you want a nice dinner, you can eat anywhere you want, my treat. Just please stop asking questions about him. Please.”

“Fine.” sighed Tom.

Yet he couldn’t stop wondering how a man became a part of Carlyn’s past which she adamantly refuses to disclose. Would someone unimportant cause her to walk away, he thought, or definitely, that person is not just someone unimportant from her past. His curiosity lingers in the silence between them.

The next day, the six member company gathers to report any progress. All registrations and documents have been settled due to each other’s efforts. All they need now is to recruit more before they could truly call themselves a company. They needed to come up with an effective information drive to inform the public of the auditions. They needed money. Salary from their jobs can’t suffice. They need to raise funds so they decided to organize an event featuring Louis’ talented students and the six of them. It will be like a recital but they will give tickets for the event. They have to look for a venue. Louis’ brilliant idea is to have it in his student’s school auditorium. The name of the school is Saint Caroline School for Girls. This is an elite all girls school. Louis explains that he is also an occasional music and drama teacher in the school aside from his morning classes in the building.

Carlyn becomes hesitant and objects. She explains that the money they will raise might not be enough because the crowd will be limited. They could see her point but it’s worth the try than having it outside and making things more complicated since the students are minors. She could no longer argue when all five of them plus Maggie have agreed to Louis’ idea. The majority always wins.

Louis noticed Carlyn’s uneasiness. He sensed that she was very bothered by the idea. Tom left early to go to the restaurant on his first day of work. Louis talked Carlyn to stay for a while.

“That didn’t seem like you a while ago.”

“What do you mean?”

“You were quite anxious about something. What is bothering you Carlyn? And don’t tell me it's nothing. I know a troubled person when I see one. ”

Carlyn just replied with a worried look in her eyes as if looking for the right answer to stop this man from asking further questions. But it was difficult for her. Especially with Louis’ firm approach. She realized she can’t escape his gaze now. And he could see through her. Her guards were down. She avoids his eyes and fixes her gaze on the floor. She thinks and all she could think of are the only words she felt comfortable to use every time a threatening event like this arises. She is usually prepared but nothing prepared her for what she will hear from this person who is still a stranger to her. A stranger she met a couple of times before in the past years and a stranger she meets everyday unfolding into someone she could call a friend.

“It’s…it’s a long story.” her usual excuse.

Louis smiles, grabs a chair and sits close to Carlyn. Close enough to make Carlyn want to stand and run yet she stayed still. Numb like a vulnerable porcelain vase in an uncertain hand. Then Louis breaks the silence.

“Go ahead. I have the entire evening. Let me hear that long story of yours.”

And that was it. Surrender. As she opened her lips, words came out she never would have thought she’d ever share to anyone. And the evening turned into a night of confession she never expected.