Zoe Thanatos (10 page)

 
Another smile
, she reminded
herself.

She left the mirror and sat down to
relieve herself, her eyes fixating on the iridescent tiles that lined the
floor. Her skin still prickled from the close contact with him. She wanted to
feel it again, secretly thrilled at the prospect of what might happen if he
kept moving closer. It had been too long since she felt anything, especially
excitement. It was like satisfying a craving she had long gone without and she
wanted to splurge.

She finished and washed her hands
before taking another glance at her reflection. She enjoyed the sight of
relaxation on her face. She preferred it to the perpetual sadness that followed
her like a dark cloud. She exited and made her way back to their table. Evan
was leaning back in his chair with his gaze fixed out at the distance toward
the Pacific. Two brown boxes sat where their plates had before and the table
had been cleared. She sat down and reached for her wallet.

“I took care of the bill,” he
informed. His charming smile had returned and she could barely contain the
fresh flush that bloomed across her cheeks.

“Thank you for brunch, Evan.” His
smile flickered ever so slightly at the sound of his name, and again she was
reminded of how handsome he was. The square shape of his jaw brought a
character to his face that made him stand apart from the other men in the room.
She wondered if everyone from Terra was as good looking.

“You’re welcome. So, what’s next?”
“How do you feel about getting a little dirty?” she deadpanned.

“I beg your pardon?” The smile
dropped but his mouth remained open, the anticipation still in his eyes as he
looked at her for meaning. Zoe felt the slightest bit of triumph for having
temporarily unnerved him.

“Why don’t you come home with me
and find out?” She sounded more forward and suggestive than she intended but
opted not to correct herself. She was enjoying the excitement his presence
created and didn’t want it to end. With a nod they stood and left, heading back
to the same place where they had started the day.

“Thank you!” Zoe waved at the
departing delivery truck as it slowly reversed out the driveway and made its
way along the street. She found Evan in the backyard eyeing the contents of the
delivery suspiciously.

“So you meant literally dirty,” he
joked.

Indeed, the project would require a
fair amount of labor and effort. There were dozens of potted plants and flowers
waiting to be dug into the ground, patio furniture, a large grill-slash-island,
a dining table set, chairs with cushions, umbrellas, a chandelier, a coffee
table, and a range of gardening accessories and tools.

“You managed to coordinate and buy
all of this stuff this morning?” he asked in amazement he scanned over
everything.

“I had some help. It does seem a
bit impetuous, doesn’t it?”

“No! Not at all!” he laughed,
clearly at her expense. “What do you want to start with first?”

Zoe considered her options. “I have
no idea,” she admitted. Truthfully, she was a bit overwhelmed.

“Okay well let’s start with the big
stuff and then work our way to plants and pillows and whatnot. Sound good?”

She put her hands up in the air.
“You’re the boss. I’m going to change. Can I get you anything to drink?”

“Just some water, please.” He
circled around the grill-slash-island and crossed his arms over his chest, his
face pensive.

“Okay. Be right back.” She made her
way through a set of cherry wood French doors leading into her bedroom just off
the garden area. The air conditioned room was cool compared to the heat of
direct sunlight outside, and she thought another dip in the pool would be a
great end to an otherwise terrific day.

She quickly changed out of the
golden cardigan and silk tank and slipped on white cotton tank top. After a
second thought, she took off the tank and shorts, replaced her undergarments
with the only bikini she owned - a bright yellow piece that had never been worn
- and put the tank and shorts on top. She traded the blue suede wedges for a
pair of lightly worn tennis shoes and laced them loosely against her feet
before walking towards the main living area.

A flick of a switch and the
entertainment system filled the room with contemporary pop music as she headed
into the kitchen, the least used room in the house. She produced a chilled
pitcher of filtered water from the refrigerator and filled two tall glasses. An
acrylic tray holding loose envelopes and other assorted mail caught her eye as
she put the pitcher away, and dumped everything out on the counter to place the
two glasses.

Once outside again she set the
platter down on the plastic sealed outdoor dining table and took a good look
around at all of the other plastic-wrapped purchases. It was like the famous
shopping trip all over again, only this time she vowed to herself to not let
them sit untouched in the backyard like she had with the clothes in her
closet. 

“Evan, are you sure you don’t mind
helping?” she asked tentatively. He looked up from his crouched position next
to the grill and nodded reassuringly.

“It’s fine! Come over here. Where
did you want this thing?”

She made her way to his side and
scanned the backyard, her eyes settling on the pergola where the previous patio
furniture sat. “How about there? Then we can put the dining set in front of it
so there is a nice view of the pool.”

“Great. Let’s get started. Want to
get on that end there?” he pointed. She did as asked, moving to the opposite
end of the grill. “It has locking wheels so just flip the red tab and we’ll
slide it over.”

The large piece moved smoothly over
the wood so she didn’t have to exert so much effort. He was doing most of the
pulling anyway.  “So tell me more about Terra.”

“What would you like to know?” he
asked as he guided the grill backwards towards the pergola.

“Your sister said that you were
someone of importance. What did she mean by that?”

“It’s not as fascinating as it sounds.
I’m basically a glorified advisor, which means I don’t really do anything at
all except listen and make suggestions to certain people. It’s not anything
really important or worthy of mention. I spend more time away from home than in
it.”

“Who do you advise?” The grill
moved into place in the pergola, a view of the pool on the opposite side.

“Owyn Straton. Although very few
people call him that. He’s our King.”

Zoe nearly tripped over her own
feet. “Did you say King?” 

“Yep,” he rolled his eyes at the
word.           

“Terra is ruled by a
monarchy
?”
she asked, the word sounding pungent as it rolled off her tongue.

“For as long as anyone can
remember. Owyn and I grew up together and when he became King he took me on as
his advisor. Not that I really do much. Terra basically runs itself so what
could I possibly contribute?” He looked terse, even constrained by the thoughts
he wasn’t verbalizing but that Zoe could see clearly bothered him.

“So he’s the reason you have to
return?”

“He is part of it,” he replied,
still stuck on an unspoken thought. Together they unwrapped the dining set with
box cutters, shredding off pieces of thick industrial plastic as music from the
radio streamed out of speakers mounted to the exterior walls of the house.

“So what or who else is it?” she
asked, hoping to gently prod more information from him. It was unreal to her
that a place that sounded so modern and advanced would be ruled by something as
archaic as a monarchy. She’d read plenty of history books on English and French
monarchies from hundreds of years ago, and even had a brief fascination with
Marie Antoinette, the last Queen of France. Taken from her home at a young age
and forced to assimilate perfectly into a foreign culture, the little princess
from Austria endured ridicule, sparked fascination, and lived in unprecedented
luxury before becoming the nation’s scapegoat and later killed. Zoe didn’t envy
her at all.

“The Queen. Kyra Straton.”

Owyn and Kyra Straton. Zoe imagined
they were short and old, stuffy and crisp, not unlike some other monarchies she
read about. Evan alleged that he had grown up with the King, which meant that
the monarchs were young, possibly close to her age.

“What is she like?” Zoe wondered
aloud as they moved the dining set to the pergola to join the grill. Marie
Antoinette came to mind again with her big hair and stiff hooped dress.

”Like a Queen,” he muttered.

“Sounds like you don’t like her,”
Zoe observed. “What does she do while the King is ruling over Terra?”

Evan looked up from the cuts he was
making into the plastic covered dining set. “You mean that the other way around?”
he asked. His tone surprised her.

“What do you mean?”

“The King doesn’t rule Terra. The
Queen does.”

“Well
that’s
different,” she
retorted. She had never heard of such a thing. In all the history books she’d
read the King was always the highest rank in a monarchy. If an heir was female
and took the title of Queen, her husband would never be titled as King so as to
not outrank her. However progressive that may have been in a modern monarchy,
she knew it was and would always be a man’s role. Terra, by comparison, wasn’t
sounding so bad.

“How did that come about?” she
asked. “I mean that’s so different from countries here that still have a
monarchy, whether they rule or not.” They unwrapped the chairs and started
bringing them to the dining table one-by-one.

“That’s just the way it’s always
been. The previous Queen and King ruled jointly but she still technically
outranked him. When Kyra and Owyn were crowned, Kyra took on all the
responsibilities and Owyn just sort of benefited from the spoils of their riches.
Truthfully, I don’t think he cares one way or another.”

“So then if you’re
his
advisor why does the Queen need you back home? Do you advise for her too?”

Evan’s back straightened as he put
the last chair at the table. “Not officially,” he answered briskly.

What does that even mean?
Judging by the scowl on his face he didn’t seem to like talking about the Queen
and King.

He stopped for a moment and stared down
at something in his hands. Though, he looked like he was considering something else
all together. “The Queen uses me in other ways,” he finally responded before
walking back to the shrinking pile of furniture. Zoe followed him slowly and
considered his words. Perhaps it was time to change the subject.

“So where was the first place you
visited outside of home? The first place like here?” That seemed to do the
trick. He told her stories of other universes as they went through each piece
of furniture and placed them throughout the outdoor space. Lounging chairs with
pillows were situated around an in-ground stone fireplace. Chaise lounges were
set up beside the pool with umbrellas creating a blanket of shade. Evan
installed a small crystal chandelier beneath the center of the pergola, wiring
it into the electrical unit built into the structure. By the time all the
furniture was set up Evan had told her about no less than four universes and
seemed like his usual self again. The stories sounded more like fairytales than
personal recollections, and after a while it just seemed easier to pretend that
they were fairytales so she didn’t have to wrap her mind around such a
complicated subject.

“I’m going to grab some trash bags
for all this stuff,” Zoe said while motioning to the pile of thick plastic. She
headed inside and grabbed a large black garbage bag from underneath the sink.
When she returned Evan was nowhere to be seen. Sitting on the dining table was
the glass device and keys, his shirt draped over one of the chairs. She nearly
jumped when his head emerged from underneath the surface of the pool as came up
for air.

“Hope you don’t mind,” he called
out to her. “You should get in; the sun isn’t as hot in cold water”

“Maybe layer,” she replied with a
half-smile. She opened the garbage bag with a loud
whoosh
and bent down
to pick up the discarded plastic wrappings. She could hear Evan lackadaisically
swimming laps across the length of the pool and considered getting in with him
after cleaning up. 

She stood up to tie the ends of one
garbage bag when she noticed a black spider the size of a quarter on her
stomach bunched in the fabric of her top.

“Oh my god! Get it off!
Get it
off!
” She screamed and hastily pulled the tank from off her shoulders and
threw it to the ground with a shriek.

“What’s wrong?” Evan climbed out of
the pool and ran up beside her, chlorinated water dripping from his body as he
looked her over for a visible sign of her torment.

“There was a HUGE spider on me!”
she yelled, pointing to the discarded top on the ground. She winced and took a
small step backward as Evan bent down to examine the garment. He picked it up
by the hem and shook it out, a dark object falling lifeless from the fabric.

He picked it up between his fingers
and held it in the air in front of her. “Is this the offending item?” he asked.

When held between his fingers it
was clearly a scrap of dark colored tape and not a spider, bug, or any other
sort of creature. She was both relieved and embarrassed at the same time,
knowing she had screamed like an idiot for no reason whatsoever.

“Good thing I got here before it
stuck to you to death,” he joked, clearly holding back the urge to laugh at her
expense.

Zoe breathed deeply and shook her
head. “I thought it was a black widow or something. You probably don’t have
those where you’re from but here they can be quite dangerous.” She crossed her
arms over her chest before realizing she was standing in her bikini top and
shorts, having thrown her tank top to the ground. She held her arms tighter
across her chest and considered whether she should retrieve the top and put it
back on or just retreat back inside and give in to humiliation.