A Wind Blew Through Me Pt. 05

"Excuse me, would you mind if I ate here with you?" I asked nervously.

"Not at all!" he replied in an Australian accent that surprised me a bit. He set down his teacup and gestured toward the chair. "The more, the merrier I always say." He smiled at me and waited for me to sit down.

I took the seat and looked back at him. "I'm Greg. Greg Tyrnell. It's probably not a mystery where I am from." I said by way of introduction.

He chuckled gently and shook his head. "Indeed, where you are from is not the most compelling mystery about you, Greg." He looked at me knowingly for a long moment before continuing, "My name is Horacio Goldberg, and I am visiting Christchurch from Sydney."

"Well, it is a pleasure to meet you, Horacio." I extended my hand across the table and he shook it firmly.

"I assure you; the pleasure is mine." He smiled back at me before letting my hand go.

Ralph appeared at my side, surprisingly quiet for such a large man. "Good morning, Sir Greggory." He started, "what can we get you for breakfast today?"

I looked up at Ralph and smiled. "I would love some coffee, as soon as you can get it, and I will take a toasted English muffin with two eggs over easy and two sausage patties."

"Of course, Sir." Ralph made no notes on his pad but quickly disappeared back where he came from.

Horacio was back to sipping his tea, still looking at me intently. When my eyes met his, he said, "Your arrival last night caused quite the stir around this little Lodge. Well..." he paused for a moment and narrowed his eyes, "...not your arrival per se, but the arrival of your party, if you catch my meaning."

I did, and I was both intrigued and horrified to find out where this was going.

In the midst of that meaningful pause, Ralph returned with a polished silver coffee carafe and a small tray containing half and half and various selections of sweeteners. He poured me a cup of coffee and set the carafe gently on the table. He looked at me and said, "I've put your order in, it should be up in a few minutes."

I set to work doctoring my coffee with some sugar and half and half. Horacio continued, "This room was abuzz earlier with talk of the odd couple that arrived after dark last night. They said the woman was a ravishing beauty without peer and the man was... somewhat less remarkable."

I smiled back at him as I stirred my coffee gently. I added simply, "That sounds about right."

He looked at me with a smile on his own lips and said, "I assumed they had been exaggerating about the woman until I saw her go out the door perhaps 15 minutes ago." He nodded toward the door I had entered from. I looked back and noticed from his vantage point he could see the front door of the lodge.

"Now, I myself do not generally partake in the feminine, but even to my eyes, the woman that walked out that door before you came down possessed an ethereal beauty I will not soon forget."

I smiled wide at him, amused at his admission. I guess I shouldn't be surprised even gay men could not take their eyes off of her. I'm sure the way she was dressed when she left didn't make her less conspicuous either.

I took a sip of my coffee and goaded him a bit, "I get the sense there might be a question hiding in there somewhere, Horacio. Why don't you go ahead and ask it?"

He chuckled again at me and blinked to himself several times. "Indeed. One cannot help but to admire the American proclivity for directness. The most burning question on everyone's mind is: how did you end up here with her?"

I laughed out loud and his smile broadened. I took another sip of delicious coffee and responded, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you. I'm not sure I even believe it, to be honest with you, and I lived through it."

"Come on..." he said, narrowing his eyes at me. "You have to give me more than that."

I thought about it for a minute or two, trying to formulate a simple expiation that might have a chance of being believed. He looked back intently as I considered how to explain.

"I am not ashamed to say that I am here only by her generosity. She is no more mine than the wind is the trees'. But we do share a special connection. I care for her a great deal." I remembered what she was going through, and the beginnings of tears welled up in my eyes as I finished, looking back at Horacio.

He considered me for a long time in silence while I enjoyed my coffee. Finally, he said, very seriously this time, "I can see you speak the truth, friend. You are an exceedingly lucky man."

I nodded at him in thanks and he continued, "Of course, that begs the second question, which is: if you care for her so, why did she leave just now without you?"

I smirked and leaned into him. "I told you, she is the wind and the wind blows where it pleases. I am but a tree, waiting for her to return and haunt my branches once more."

With that, Ralph returned with my breakfast and I dug into it greedily. Horacio was looking at me with confusion and no small part of wonder.

I am certain it was not a pretty sight to witness, but I made short work of the meal once it was before me. It felt like it only took 2 or 3 minutes to clean the plate, and before I knew it, my hunger was satisfied, and I was ready to embark on the next stage of my journey.

Chapter 19 - Out On a Limb

I excused myself from the table and exchanged departing pleasantries with Horacio, who did not seem in much of a hurry to do anything.

When I emerged back into the foyer, Michael nodded at me, picked up his phone, punched a few numbers into the keypad, muttered a set of inaudible orders into the handset, and replaced the phone before I was in hearing range of his desk.

"The car will be around presently." He greeted me with a smile. "I hope you don't mind... I took the liberty of arranging somewhat more than a shopping excursion. I believe you would benefit from a more personal touch, so I called in a favor with my old friend Royce. He's going to meet you at the Café on Hawdon in..." He glanced at his watch, "...20 minutes."

I looked back at him, surprised and confused. He stood up and walked me toward the door. "Royce is..." he searched for the right word painfully, "...maybe a little eccentric. But he's the best. Just do what he says, and I assure you, you won't regret it."

He opened the door as a silver sedan pulled up in front of the building. I thanked Michael as best I could amidst my confusion and strode out the building toward the car.

The driver had the door open before I reached the car and greeted me with a respectful bow. When I turned back toward the Otahuna, my legs froze and my heart jumped. I realized with a jolt that I hadn't seen the outside in the daylight yet. It was as beautiful in the daylight as it was mysterious in the gloom of night.

I could see the windows of the Garret Suite peeking out of the eaves of the second floor roof, and a contented smile spread over my face as I remembered the things that had already transpired on the other side of those windows.

"My apologies, Sir..." the driver cleared his throat as I stood frozen in the doorway of the car, "...but Michael was keen to impress upon me the importance of punctuality for this trip."

I looked at him, looked back into the car, and breathed "Of course..." as I took my seat in the back of the car. The driver rushed back to his seat and put the car into gear with haste. Before I knew it, we were turning off the gravel driveway of the Lodge and back onto smooth pavement.

With our vehicle well underway, the driver looked back and addressed me, "I apologize again for the rush, Sir. It's just... Michael is not the kind of man anyone wants to disappoint. I gather he went out on a limb for you with this... you should feel most honored."

My intrigue with this Royce fellow was growing by the minute. What on earth was I in for?

"In any case, we will arrive at the Café on Hawdon before you know it. Whenever you find yourself ready to go somewhere else, just give me a call." He handed me back a business card, clutched between the fingers of his left hand. I plucked it from his fingers and stowed it in my wallet carefully.

I checked my phone idly and noticed a text message from Amy. I guess I had to change her name in my phone too. But not to Katherine... that was too deep a secret to advertise on a cell phone contact. Maybe I should just read the message first...

I miss you already. You're making me into a sap, you big sap. I hope you have a wonderful adventure without me, and I'm excited to tell you all the filthy things I get up to today...

I opened her contact, cleared out Amy and replaced it with 'The Wind', and saved the changes. Then I wrote out a reply:

So far I have been interrogated by an Australian named Horacio, and now I'm rushing off to meet a mysterious man called Royce in a Café... I wish I were with you, but I'm sure I will have an adventure to recount when we are reunited.

When I looked up from my phone, I found that we were passing through the outskirts of Christchurch already. I wondered where she was and what she was doing as we passed an array of buildings and people. I decided quickly that it was probably best not to think too hard about it, and instead turned my mind to wonder at the mysterious figure of Royce. What in the world was I in for?

It was a small mercy that I didn't have much time to wonder about it. We pulled off the highway and around a quick series of turns before the car halted in front of a plain-looking building with a couple of tables out front. The driver opened my door, wished me good luck, and I opened the door to the Café with a building sense of anticipation.