Finally, they were alone.
‘What is it?’ he looked her in the eye for the first time in days. His eyes were bluer than ever.
‘Don’t you think we should talk?’
‘Talk about what?’
‘About us.’
‘Is there still such a thing as us?’
‘Not if you have already written it off.’
‘I’ve written it off?’
‘It seems so to me,’ she said. ‘You’ve been avoiding me for the last two weeks, you never speak to me about anything else except for work. I’ve hardly seen you, so yes, it does seem to me like you decided to end it.’
‘Unbelievable,’ he shook his head.
‘What is unbelievable?’
‘You really don’t see that your decisions may have had something to do with how I feel?’
‘If you mean getting on with my life and not turning it upside down – ’
‘No, that’s not what I mean,’ he cut her off. ‘What I mean is not postponing something that could have easily been postponed, so that we can spend some time together like we’ve been wanting to ever since we started this relationship. How many times did we say, did you say, If only we could just go away and not worry about work for a week, or even a weekend. If only we could walk hand-in-hand in the street and not have to hide our feelings, not have to pretend and worry about being spotted or recognized? And now that we have just such a chance, you turn it down to do your own thing. You know what that tells me? It tells me that what we had together was not as important to you as you’ve claimed it to be.’
‘That’s so unfair, Daniel,’ she said. ‘Just think about what you are asking of me. I have attended those appointments for over 50 years – every year on the same day. This has been my life for a long time, and it still is. You can’t expect me to just forget about it.’
‘I was prepared to spend Christmas with you over my family, Amaranthine. For the first time in my life I was going to disappoint them, because I had plans for us to do things together and because I wanted to be with you more than anyone else.’
‘I didn’t ask this of you,’ she was getting angry now. ‘You can’t blame me for not going along with your plan that you didn’t even tell me about. You should spend time with your family if it’s important to you. I don’t want you to give up anything for me, and I certainly don’t appreciate you trying to make me feel guilty about your sacrifice that I didn’t even know about.’
‘I thought you knew me a wee bit better, Amari,’ he said after a pause. ‘But I see that it was an illusion. Both ways. I thought I knew you better, too.’
‘If I ever gave you an impression that I was prepared to give up who I was for the sake of our relationship, it was not intentional,’ she said. ‘I do like you, Daniel, a lot. I like you and I feel attached to you more than I’ve ever felt attached to a man. I enjoy your company more than anyone else’s before. But I am an Immortal, that’s what my life has always been, almost from the day I was born. I can’t change that.’
‘You talk about this as if you had no say in it at all. But that’s just not true, Amaranthine.’
‘I told you…’
‘Yes, I remember,’ he interrupted again, ‘it was your father’s will that you remain immortal. But with all due respect, Amari, your father is no longer here. He hasn’t been here for decades. I don’t understand how a person as strong-minded as you, can live their life according to the will of someone who has been dead for eighty years.’
‘I told you my story because I trusted you. I can’t believe you are using it against me.’
‘I am not using anything against you,’ he said. ‘I’m just trying to make you realize that you don’t have to feel bound by what your father thought was best for you. To be brutally honest, I don’t think you feel bound by it. I think you are hiding behind it.’
‘You can think what you want and judge all you want, Daniel,’ she said with a discussion-ending tone. I don’t want to talk about this anymore.’
‘You never want to talk about it,’ he said. ‘You are even scared to think about it. You are scared of taking charge of your life and you are scared of your feelings. This is why our relationship is doomed.’
‘You are being emotional,’ she said, ‘and I think you are letting your emotions blind your judgment.’
‘Well, maybe you are right,’ he blurted out. ‘They do say love is blind, and I can finally see that they are right.’
Before she could react in any way, he burst out of the room and disappeared, leaving behind the scented warmth of his body.
She walked to the elevator unaware of her surroundings. When it opened in front of her, she stepped in unwittingly, unable to either press buttons or send a coherent mental signal to the device so that it could take her to her floor. She returned to Earth only when she reached the reception level and other people entered. She’d gone thirty floors down instead of fifteen up. The new passengers gave her confused looks when, instead of getting off, she programmed the elevator to take her up, way above any floor that they were going to.
As she stepped into her room, her heart skipped a beat. There was someone there, she could hear a noise in the bathroom. Daniel? Did that mean he managed to harness his emotions and wanted to talk to her again?
‘Hello!’ she called.
‘Oh, hello, ma’am,’ a maid’s head showed in the bathroom door. ‘I’m nearly finished here.’
Amaranthine sighed. Of course it wasn’t him. She should have known better.
Love. What the hell was he thinking? Didn’t he understand that what people called love was just the body’s chemical reaction to another person? A pleasant, but short-lived and elusive emotion that every mature adult should be able to recognize and treat with due distance and rationality? She knew that Mortals still romanticized human relationships, believing that a spark between two people could turn into a fire that lasted decades. That love could make them change who they were and make up for almost anything lost in life. Being an Immortal, Amaranthine knew that such things existed only in people’s imagination and fictional stories that were born from it. Her and Daniel used to be great together, but love? It was an alien concept to her.
‘There’s no rush,’ she said to the maid. ‘Take your time.’
She ordered room service and settled at the desk to work out the final details of Carpe Diem’s concerts in Britain, their last part of the tour before the break.
As soon as her idatron activated, it notified her of a new message.
Amaranthine, Daniel wrote, I apologize for what I said after the meeting. Just like you said, I was blinded by emotions and as a result I said things I did not mean. You are right – none of us should be expected to give up their life and who they are for the other person. I had no right to speak like that about your father and I hope you can forgive me.
I think it’s best if I stay away for some time. Since all is going smoothly in Europe, I’ve decided to go on locations in South America to work on the venues there for the January and February concerts next year. I know you can handle it here without me until the break, but if you need me, I can be back within a couple of hours. Otherwise, I’ll see you at Carpe Diem’s last concert this year, on December 23rd.
I believe a break will do us both good and help us move on. I know we can be professional and keep working together for the success of our clients. I hope you share that belief and that you bear no resentment against me.
Daniel
She stared at the text of the message for a while before she was able to form a response in her head.
I guess it’s for the best, appeared on the screen as she thought it out. She didn’t allow Eiko to send it, though.
As she censored herself, the beginning of her one-line response took a new shape.
You are right. It is for the best.
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
A change of weather that coincided with Carpe Diem crossing the Channel, made Britain fe
el like a completely different world. The relatively warm and humid air, brought over the European continent from the Atlantic by the western winds for the last couple of weeks, yielded to the crispy aura that arrived from the north-east. The sunshine was blinding, but bitter cold turned any area of exposed skin to a bright red patch.
Amaranthine turned away from the window and finished packing her suitcase. She was calm and composed, and confident that her meeting with Daniel in Edinburgh in a couple of days’ time would be professional and unemotional. Carpe Diem were to play their final concerts this year in Glasgow and Edinburgh and she was travelling to Scotland with them this afternoon.
Bonnie Scotland… She remembered the pride and affection in Daniel’s voice every time he pronounced those words. Amaranthine felt a pinch of regret that he wouldn’t be her guide to Scotland after all; they spoke about it so many times when they were together. She knew he looked forward to sharing with her all his special places, foods, dances and landscapes… But those conversations took place in a different era. It was a beautiful dream that they’d shared. A dream that, like any other, they inevitably had to wake up from.
She hadn’t heard from him ever since he left for South America and she didn’t contact him either. It seemed like he had managed to move on just like he’d hoped to.
Her idatron flashed and Tom’s voice resounded in her head.
You coming in a convoy with us, Amari? Everyone is ready to go.
I’m just about to leave, she responded with a mental signal. Her idatron would translate it into a voice message for Tom. You can set off, I’ll catch up with you in a couple of minutes.
She summoned her hovercar to the penthouse portal. Just before it appeared outside her window, the concierge arrived to load her luggage.
She didn’t have to program her destination, as Eiko was already tracking Carpe Diem’s convoy and joined the nine hovercars almost immediately on their way to Glasgow.
Their journey took no longer than fifteen minutes and there was no way for Amaranthine to know when they crossed over to Scotland, but she recognized it immediately, as if she’d been here dozens of times. The weather was still icy and the air so clear that the landscape stretching beneath her looked unreal, like an over-edited photograph. It was the most spectacular view she’d ever seen.
As they approached their base in Gleneagles and she could see the buildings of the famous hotel and golf course complex, she was surprised at how old, but majestic, they looked. It felt like going back in time a few decades and yet everything looked well-maintained, clean and classic. ‘Historic’ was a word that kept springing to mind, and for a good reason. It was, after all, a two-century old place that bore witness to a number of very prestigious events and played host to the most eminent of guests and celebrities. Daniel had booked rooms here months in advance and she was beginning to understand why he was so keen to have Carpe Diem stay here.
As their convoy landed and they disembarked, they were greeted by the manager, a man that attuned to the atmosphere of this place so well, that you’d swear he was just as old as the buildings. His hair, beard and moustache were white as snow, and the depth of his wrinkles betrayed his advanced age. But there was something far more unusual about him than visible signs of ageing.
It was his attire that had Amari stare at him uncontrollably as he moved towards her, shaking hands with everyone on the way.
He was wearing a traditional Scottish outfit. A kilt, paired with a black jacket and accessorized with knee-long, white, woolen socks, black laced shoes, snow-white shirt and a pocket-like thing hung in the front of the kilt on a thin chain. Daniel had told her about different types of kilt outfits, from full, traditional ones to more casual, worn to occasions like rugby games, but she never expected that all these elements put together on a man would look so good.
Amaranthine suddenly realized that her esthetic sense was categorizing this wrinkly Mortal as… attractive.
‘Welcome to Gleneagles, Miss Quinn,’ he extended his hand to her. The surprise of him knowing her name as if they’d met many times before, helped her snap out of her shock.
‘Thank you, Mr. …’
‘Morrison. George Morrison, at your service.’
His surname pulled a string in her brain. A split-second flashback of Daniel telling her that each Scottish tartan had its long history linked to a clan name.
‘Would that be your family tartan, Mr. Morrison?’ she asked, pointing at his kilt.
‘Indeed, indeed,’ he grinned, a spark of recognition in his eye. ‘Well spotted, Miss Quinn.’
She just smiled in response, hoping the small talk was over.
‘Please come in,’ the manager extended his arm towards the front door of his hotel. ‘And make yourselves at home.’
Amari sat in the bay window of her room, sipping coffee and taking in the view outside. The setting sun highlighted the tree tops as it made its way towards the horizon, gradually making them look darker against the foil of the sky.
There was a knock on the door. Her outfits have arrived. She had to send her hovercar to New York earlier that afternoon to pick up some new winter fashion, as she had nothing that would keep her warm in this arctic coldness.
She laid her clothes on the bed. She could start getting ready now, but she decided to go back to her spot at the window and finish watching the sunset. There was something captivating about this place, something that made her feel calm and relaxed, as if she was thousands of miles away from the tiniest burden of everyday life. She had a notion that Daniel had chosen this room for them for that exact reason; he would have enjoyed its atmosphere and the beauty unfolding outside.
He was already in Edinburgh. He’d messaged her in the morning saying he would be there early to take care of things so she could relax and arrive much later than normal. It was nice of him to take over, especially since he knew his way around; after all, this was his hometown. It reminded Amari of the first ever Carpe Diem’s concert she went to with Daniel – she actually felt more like a guest than an organizer on this one.
The sun disappeared, but the spectacle wasn’t over. Now the stars decorated the sky, so bright and numerous that if she decided to take a night walk through Gleneagles’ famous golf course, she wouldn’t need her idatron to light up the path. She now remembered Daniel saying that there weren’t enough decent hotels in the countryside; they always had to stay in the cities where the artificial lights got in the way of the stars.
She peeled herself away from the window and started getting ready.
On her way to Murrayfield Stadium, Amaranthine found herself stuck in traffic; Edinburgh had only two hoverways, which wasn’t quite enough for the number of vehicles cruising the city on a Saturday night. ‘In a city with narrow streets and beautiful old buildings like Edinburgh the last thing we want is six levels of hovercars whizzing by our windows every minute of the day,’ she remembered Daniel saying during one of their discussions a few months ago.
This leisurely pace suited her, though. She had purposefully programmed her hovercar to take her through the city center so that she could have a look at it. She entered the city from the east, passed the old sea harbor of Leith and was now gliding along the main artery of the city, Princes’ Street, flanked by designer stores on the right and city gardens on the left, and surmounted with the majestic Edinburgh Castle. Down below a colorful crowd gathered around the stalls of the Christmas Market and people of all ages were getting entertained on the ice rink and the Ferris wheel. The whole place imparted festive spirit and was strangely magical… Just like Daniel had described it.
Having passed the city center, Amari’s hovercar accelerated, and soon dropped her off at the Murrayfield Stadium.
Inside, everything was running smoothly. The stage was prepped, the security in place, early arriving VIPs happy with full glasses in their hands. Daniel had taken care of everything, although at that moment he was nowhere to be seen. All she had left to do was to grab a
cocktail herself and converse with the clients.
‘Hi, Amaranthine.’
She turned to see the familiar blue eyes sparkling in a face tanned golden brown.
‘Hi, Daniel.’
‘Can I talk to you for a second?’
Her heart raced against her will as she excused herself from the circle and they stood face to face.
‘It’s good to see you,’ he said. ‘You look beautiful.’
‘Thanks.’ His words weren’t helping her control her heart rate. ‘It’s good to see you, too.’
There was an awkward moment before he spoke.
‘Look, there’s something I need to discuss with you. About tonight.’
‘Sure,’ she said, happy to have something work-related to focus on. ‘It looks like you’ve taken care of everything, but if there’s anything that needs done…’
‘No, all is good for the concert,’ he said, ‘it’s about later on tonight. Patrick and the boys had a request. They wanted to have a Christmas party for their families and friends after they finish. All of their folks are here to see them play, and with it being their last concert before the holidays… I couldn’t say no.’
‘Why would you?’ she said, ‘of course they should have a party.’
‘It’s a bit of a short notice, I know.’
Silence again.
‘What is it?’ she asked, unable to stand the tension.
‘Do you think… I mean… Would you come along?’
‘If you think I should,’ she said, trying to read his face for clues, ‘I mean, it’s my job to look after my clients.’
‘You know what I mean, Amari. It’s a Christmas party, the families will be…’
‘I can handle it, Daniel,’ she didn’t let him finish.
‘My family will be there, too,’ he said after another pause. ‘I know they are hoping to thank you for what you did for Susan, but you really don’t have to…’
‘I’ll be there,’ she cut him off again. ‘Just send me the details. Is there anything else?’
‘No, I just wanted to give you the heads up about tonight.’
‘Ok, then. I guess I’ll see you after.’