The Sibylline Oracle (4 page)

Relax, Alex thought, forcing a smile on his face. “I would love to! It’s just that you don’t look more than twenty-four.” He looked around trying to collect his thoughts and even his breath.

Looking anywhere but his face, Valeria went on trying to ease her embarrassment. “I don’t usually even celebrate my birthday. Well, because my mother died when I was born, you know. But, uh, well, my boyfriend, David…well, I guess we’re engaged now...” Valeria cringed. Why had she felt the need to fill the silence with talk about David? She glanced up to see how Alex had responded to this bit of information. To her disappointment, he didn’t seem to notice at all. In fact, he was in deep thought. Why did she bring up David?

Finally, Alex looked at her with a half smile, his eyes narrowing. “Excuse me a moment, I need to make a quick call.” When Valeria's face dropped, Alex added, “Don’t go anywhere, beautiful!” He winked at her again and she watched as he walked outside the restaurant. Through the window she could see that he was engaged in an intense phone conversation. When he returned to the table, a few minutes later, he was more relaxed than he had been moments before.

“Is everything all right?” Valeria asked.

Alex put on his most charming smile. “Absolutely! I just realized I was supposed to meet a friend.”

“Oh. Well, I guess you need to leave then.” She tried to hide her disappointment.

Alex furrowed his brow. “No! I don’t need to leave. I was hoping—”

Interrupting him, Valeria said, “Well, I mean, if you have a date and you need to run and meet her...”

“It’s not a date. It’s a friend of mine, a doctor.”

“Are you sick?”

He chuckled. “No, although some of my students might disagree.”

Valeria snickered nervously. Why was she jumping to all of these conclusions? She picked at the last of her fruit. “I can’t
believe I haven’t eaten here before,” she said, pleased that she had successfully changed the subject. She looked up and noticed Alex looking at her with an inquisitive expression. “What?”

As the waitress returned to their table to refill both of their coffees, Valeria noticed that, again, the waitress smiled a bit too long at Alex. Realizing that this would be her fourth cup, though these mugs were smaller than what she considered to be full-sized, Valeria decided to cut herself off. She covered the mug with her hand. She was jumpy enough as it was.

“No…thank you!”

Waiting for the waitress to leave, Alex leaned forward and in a knowing voice said, “You do love your coffee, don’t you?”

She shrugged with a smile. “Yes, I do! You…” she said and then paused, a bit embarrassed to continue.

“What?” he asked.

“You seem to notice everything about me! I mean…not that…I mean, you are probably just a very observant person,” Valeria covered.

He winced. “I’m sorry. I’m probably a little too intense. I’ll work on that.” He winked, but tensed up. “Listen, I have been enjoying the pure pleasure of your company. But there is someone I need you to meet.”

“Somebody
I
need to meet?”

Alex leaned toward her. “Yes,” he said, glancing out onto Park Avenue. “Well, here he is!”

A giant of a man walked by the window. Valeria noticed that he was thin, immaculately dressed, and had very short, dark gray hair and brilliant blue eyes, like Alex. She guessed that they must be relatives—two unrelated people could never share
that
eye color! The man entered the restaurant and headed straight toward them.

“Valeria, I’d like you to meet my friend, Dr. Immanuel Castro. Mani is the friend I told you about. I hope you don’t
mind, but I invited him here to meet you. Mani is a top researcher from Johns Hopkins.”

Taking her hand, Mani graciously held it and almost bowed. “It’s very nice to meet you, Valeria.”

“Mani, your accent—what nationality are you?”

“Most of my time has been around Portugal, the Azores, and Italy, of course,” he responded kindly.

Alex cut in a bit nervously. “So, Doc has kind of a communication for you.”

Mani winked at her. “Excuse my friend. He’s a bit impatient when it comes to you.”

“We just met,” she corrected.

“Yes, I know.”

“So, beautiful, I want you to just relax,” Alex said, letting his shoulders move down. Valeria wondered what was going on with this.

“Alex is correct. It will be easier if you relax.” Mani pulled off his gloves.

The waitress came by and glanced at Mani.

“Menu, honey?” The waitress touched Alex’s shoulder while speaking to Mani—annoying Valeria to her core.

Completely ignoring the waitress’s mild flirtation, Alex answered for Mani. “No, thank you. He can’t stay.” Mani wasn’t paying any attention; his focus was on Valeria. Alex added as an afterthought, “Oh, and the check, please, when you get a chance.”

Hearing Alex ask for the check would have disappointed Valeria, if she hadn’t been getting so nervous about what was going on with Mani. Though, he seemed friendly enough. “I don’t understand what’s going on.”

Mani smiled at her kindly. “You will, very shortly. Alex thought this might be an easier gradient for you.” Mani faced Valeria and took her hands in his. Somehow, she felt safe. She glanced at Alex, who looked tense.

“Valeria, look at me,” Mani said, in his soothing voice.

Looking into his eyes, she noticed that although they were identical to Alex’s, she could actually analyze the color without getting lost in them. She noticed that they were an almost translucent blue, bejeweled with streaks of various shades of darker blue and, occasionally, almost a deep purple. Valeria felt as if she could see right into his soul—just like with Alex’s eyes. She felt her body relax.

Suddenly, she was struck with a force; at least it felt like a force. It continued for several seconds. Something like a filmstrip running too fast went off in Valeria’s head; so fast that she couldn’t quite take it all in. Yet, something seemed so…familiar about what she saw. As suddenly as it had started, it ended. Mani was still looking at her with his kind eyes. Alex’s look was intense. Satisfied with something, Alex patted Mani on the back.

“Okay, Doc. Thanks, buddy.”

Rising from the table, Mani lifted a long finger at her. “Valeria, I want to see you in my lab. Okay?”

She wanted to protest or, at very least, question what had happened, but found she didn’t have the strength or desire. Alex came around and helped her stand.

“What’s going on?” She decided that she really was in shock from the accident. It had just been a delayed reaction.

“We can talk about it while I walk you back to your place,” Alex said, as he tossed a few twenties on the table next to the check. Valeria was too disoriented to argue or question him. She took Alex’s arm and started to walk back toward Central Park. As they neared the park, he stopped and turned toward her. Valeria looked at him, totally baffled about why they were stopping.

His eyes softened with a playful glint. “Despite all appearances, I don’t know where you live. I just assumed that
you were on the Upper West Side, since that’s the direction you'd come from earlier.”

“Oh, this path is good. I’m at 95
th
and Columbus, just on the other side of the park.”

As they entered Central Park, Alex waived to Rosendo, though he focused his attention solely on Valeria. “Let’s talk about what happened with Mani,” he said, as if he were teaching one of his classes. “So, what did you see?”

“I’m…I’m just not sure,” she responded.

Alex nodded several times, knowingly. “Well, all right.” He seemed to be considering for a moment. “So, what
did
you see?”

“It was like a…” she paused, trying to put it together.

“Yes?” Alex nodded, encouraging her to continue. They turned onto the path that goes around the reservoir. Valeria noticed how much more she enjoyed the trail in his company.

“It was like a filmstrip.” She looked at him for confirmation. He nodded slightly for her to continue. “Except there were smells, tastes…everything.”

“So, you saw pictures with perceptions. And what was in the pictures?” he asked, as if he already knew the answer.

“I saw…I saw a little girl, sitting on a man’s lap, on like a…a big chair?”

“Focus on her face. What does she look like?”

“Well, she has brown curls and she has…blue eyes, like yours!” She turned to Alex. “Did Mani hypnotize me?”

An amused smile lit the corners of Alex’s mouth. He was completely distracted by a stray curl blowing lightly across her face. Unable to control himself, he reached over and tucked it behind her ear, brushing his finger along her cheek as he did.

For Valeria, it felt as if time had stopped. She felt an electrical energy—as if a thousand volts had moved through her body—bringing new life to her cheek. She forced herself to breathe, still feeling his touch on her face. Alex noticed her
response. His voice went soft and she noted a hint of something else. “No, beautiful. No, he did not hypnotize you.”

Her heart was racing, and she was certain he had noticed her flush. She liked that he called her “beautiful.”

As they began walking again, they passed a legless man who had a sign that said
Vetera
n─
please help!

“Hey, Hector!” Alex waved.

“Alex! Hey, man!” the legless man replied. Valeria had seen the man and his sign several times, but had always avoided his eyes.

Glancing at her, Alex said, “Excuse me for just a moment, will you?” He waited for Valeria to nod her approval.

Reaching into his coat pocket, he pulled out his wallet and removed a hundred dollar bill. Hector eyed it hungrily. Then, taking a pen from the inside breast pocket of his coat, Alex began writing on the bill. After numerous lines, he recapped the pen and placed it back in his pocket. “Hector, do me a favor?”

“Me, do
you
a favor? Sure, man.” Hector was waiting for the pay-off.

“You play the horses, don’t you?” Alex asked, evaluating what he had written on the bill.

“I don’t know, man. I can’t get in anymore trouble.” Hector’s voice was wary. His eyes narrowed, considering what Alex had in his hand. “You got some inside dope?”

“No…no trouble.” Alex pulled several more crisp bills from his wallet. “I just need you to help me out.” He kneeled and handed Hector the bill that he had written on. “These are for Saturday’s races. I need you to take the winnings to this gentleman.” He took a card out of his wallet and handed it to Hector. It was for Dan Frankl, one of the best investment bankers Alex knew. “Dan will give you further instructions.”

A slight breeze picked up as Hector stared at the card and the large bills. “Holy sh—” he said and then caught himself as he tried to play it cool.

“Buddy, I’m going to be out of town. Otherwise I would do it myself. I’m wondering if you can place these bets for me.”

“What’s my take if I do?” Hector knew there was always a catch!

“You’re doing the work…so, I’ll take twenty percent of the winnings. Just put my share in a savings account. Dan will help you with all of that.”

Though he had no interest in any of the winnings, Alex knew that Hector would drink it or smoke it if he thought Alex wouldn’t know. But he also knew that Hector would have the integrity to ensure Alex received his share of the money. That’s how he would get Hector the help he needed. Dan had specific instructions. Lack of money wasn’t Hector’s biggest problem.

With a knowing look, Alex added, “Hector, buddy, don’t waste this money.” His voice softened, “You do exactly as I say and you won’t
ever
need to worry about money again.” Alex’s eyes narrowed in intensity. Hector caught the subtlety and nodded.

“Okay, man. I’ll do it,” Hector promised. Alex smiled and rejoined Valeria.

“I’m sorry, Val. Something I promised myself I would handle.” Alex took a deep breath. “So, back to what happened with Mani.” Alex placed his hand on Valeria’s back returning them to their previous pace. “So, there are certain people...” he appeared to be searching for words, though, in fact, he had rehearsed this scene a thousand times. “These people are connected in a sort of way that allows them to share pictures or memories in a more simple way than perhaps others might be able to.” It wasn’t deception. Alex had simply found that it worked better if it didn’t appear that he knew his lines too well. It wouldn’t be long before she would know everything.

“He was sharing his memories?” Valeria asked. “I don’t
understand how, but I guess I’m wondering...why didn’t he, or you, just tell them to me?”

“I guess it seems easier that way. So, let’s get back to the pictures. Tell me what you saw.”

“There were maybe thirty or forty people standing around the little girl and the man. There were some men with…swords?” Valeria paused and then shook her head. “Well that’s ridiculous!” she said, feeling foolish.

“Go on,” Alex encouraged.

“The little girl is making some decision. She’s looking from person to person and smiling occasionally.”