44. An unexpected encounter

 

The sailors had left for their homes. They had thanked Daniel for an entertaining afternoon. Daniel, the sack in his hand, was walking towards his apartment. Thoughts and memories haunted him as he was on his way. Some of them were so bad that they made him shiver; he wanted to shake them away.

After reaching his apartment, he placed the sack in a closet. The things inside it were the first tangible objects that might provide a clue about Rayko's fate, and the blood was not a good omen. He also was not sure if going to Huajo was the best plan. Perhaps he should contact the police about this. Or Warlem and his mother.

Daniel took a quick shower, then he dressed for supper and left his apartment again. Perhaps being away from the sack would help him get his thoughts under control and his plan in some kind of perspective. As he walked along the street he grinned at himself in self-mockery. What plan are you thinking of, Daniel Zacharias?

As he was sitting at his meal, he had the hydger near him on the table. He secretly hoped that someone would contact him and hand him some more ideas. Some more pointers he could follow. The device however remained silent. Daniel was so occupied with his thoughts that he hardly tasted what he was eating, and before he really knew it he was walking the streets again, with no real aim. He just had to move, hear the noise of people talking, get away from it all for a while.

As he was walking down one of the streets, he thought he saw a glimpse of Melia, the music teacher. He wasn't sure if it was her, and she apparently did not see him. He stopped for only a moment, then walked on. His head and feelings were all in a jumble.

 

"Daniel?"

Hearing his name nailed him to the ground. This could not be true. Slowly he turned around and he saw her stand. It was indeed Melia. She had gotten off her chair, her hand touching her lips as she looked over at him. He felt like a fool as he just stood there. He smiled. "Hello, Melia."

The woman walked over to him, slowly, as if she was still doubting if she was doing the right thing. "I hope you do not mind addressing you like that, here in the street, Daniel. I just happened to see you and..." There was a blush on her cheeks all of a sudden.

"That is very much okay, Melia, really. I am glad you called my name." As he said it, he could kick himself. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

"Oh. I am glad about that then." Melia smiled, her blush deepening. "You are alone, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am."

"So I see. That is..."

Daniel could almost hear her think the word 'good'. Or was that wishful thinking?

"Would you..." Melia hesitated as she looked over at the table where she had been sitting. "Would you perhaps like to join us?"

"Only if I am not inconveniencing you, Melia. I'm afraid that I left a rather poor impression on you, the last time we saw each other."

"You are not inconveniencing me, Daniel, nor will my friends feel that way." Melia slowly put her arm through his. She was not sure of how he would react, but as he did not pull away, she held on to him and they walked over to the table.

Melia introduced Daniel to her friends, a young lady called Ophy Dill ko Zerba, and a young gentleman called Wenston Drossle ko Maire. They were still having supper, but they did not mind at all that Daniel joined them.

"Daniel Zacharias..." Wenston seemed to sample the name. "I have heard your name. Aren't you the person who built the flying ship to rescue sailors from the pirates?"

Daniel grinned. "I did not build the airship. That was done by someone else. I was part of the rescue group, though."

This of course triggered the others to ask everything about it, so Daniel told them most of the things, leaving out the bits that were too gruesome. The bits he would rather forget but couldn't.

After the three people had finished their dinner, Wenston invited them to a nice and quiet place he and Ophy knew and visited once in a while.

Melia and Daniel, arm in arm, followed Ophy and Wenston through the streets that had gotten even more busy. The evening was a nice one, and it had lured just about everyone outside.

"I have missed you, Daniel," Melia confided to him. "I was not pleased with the way we... said goodbye that day." She looked up at him. Her green eyes had a special translucent shine in the light of the street lamps.

Daniel smiled at Melia. "I wasn't particularly happy about how things went that day either, Melia. I missed you too."

"As if you had time for that," Melia said with a wicked smile. "You lead such an interesting and dangerous life. I am not sure if I am grateful to know what you did, what happened to you on that horrible flying ship. You must have been afraid there."

"That I was. We all were afraid many a time," Daniel admitted, just before Wenston held open the door to his favourite club.

"Do just step in, Melia and Daniel, and follow Ophy." He followed behind them.

Ophy, very much at ease, strolled through the club. It was quiet inside, which was no surprise considering the nice outside. The woman led on, towards the back of the club where she opened a door. They reached a pretty garden, lights everywhere, and a lot of chairs and benches with thick cushions.

Ophy and Wenston sat down in one of the two-seaters and they both giggled.

Daniel wondered what that had to mean. Melia gently tugged his hand and they sat in another two-person seat. It was almost too narrow for two people to sit in, Daniel's only option to sit comfortable was putting one arm over the backrest, almost over Melia's shoulders.

Melia sighed. "It is nice here." She looked up to the sky where some stars were visible. Her head rested on Daniel's arm for more than just a few moments, then she looked at him. "I hope that was not inconvenient, Daniel."

Before he could reply, a waiter came outside with cards and handed them to both couples. As Daniel and Melia were studying their card, Melia gently reached over her shoulder and pulled Daniel's hand on it. He smiled as he noticed her do it, ever so gently. Daniel also saw how Ophy and Wenston were quietly talking among themselves, not paying any attention to the card.

"Oh," Melia dragged him from his personal musings, "they have that special Vernian wine here."

"They have many special things here, Melia," Ophy said with a big smile. There was something about the way she said it that made Daniel wonder for a moment, but Melia again drew his attention away from the girl.

"Would you like to try a glass of Vernian wine with me, Daniel? I have heard that it is magnificent, and tonight would be such a special time to try it." She put her hand on his hand. "With you," she whispered, so the other two could not hear her.

Daniel beckoned the waiter and ordered two glasses of Vernian wine. Melia looked at Daniel as if he was some deity personified.

Before the waiter got their glasses, he also took Wenston's order and then went inside, to return from there very quickly. On a small table in front of them, he placed two glasses. They looked like champagne glasses, long and thin. Their contents however had nothing to do with champagne. It seemed to light up from inside its orange colour, and there seemed to be small blue and pink bubbles floating in the wine.

Daniel lifted his arm from Melia's shoulders. He took one glass and handed that to the pretty woman next to him. "A glass of wine for a very beautiful lady." In the light of the torches and lamps he could not miss her blush. He took his own glass and carefully touched hers with it. The sound the glasses made was as from the finest crystal.

Melia's eyes were magnets to Daniel's as they both raised their glasses and carefully sampled the Vernian wine.

Daniel had never tasted anything like it. He tried to describe the experience to himself, but he simply lacked the words for it. He felt how his free hand slipped into Melia's, their eyes unable to break the gaze.

Melia's eyes were shining as she slowly lowered the glass. Her lips, dark red, glistened from the thick wine. Somehow she got hold of Daniel's index finger and lifted that to her lips. She gently brushed his finger over them and then slowly licked the wine from his fingertip. Only then she seemed to grasp what she was going and turned red again. "I'm so sorry," she whispered, quickly peeking over to Wenston and Ophy.

The two others had seen nothing, or at least did not show they had. They looked fully enveloped in each other.

"I am not," said Daniel, "and you are even prettier when you blush." The cling sounded again as he touched her glass with his. As they sipped from the wine again, the amazing experience happened again, as if something more than just the wine took possession of his senses. He was almost certain that Melia underwent the same experience.

She shivered.

"Are you cold?" Daniel asked.

She shook no as she put the glass down. "No... It is just so... overwhelming."

Daniel put down his glass and touched her lips with his finger again. And she licked it, as she had done before. But now she did not blush.

"I had not expected to see you again," she then said, holding his hand. "When I saw you this evening, Daniel, I hesitated. Maybe you would not want to see me anymore, and I didn't know..."

"I saw you too, Melia. And I was afraid of addressing you, I have to admit. I also was not sure if it was really you. Your hair is different, and your dress."

"You noticed..." She smiled. "Do you like it?"

"Yes. I do. And to be frank, Melia, so far I have not found anything about you that I don't like."

"Please, Daniel, always be frank with me."

Something in her eyes, or maybe it was something in her voice, made Daniel slowly lean over to her, and when their lips met, she closed her eyes. The kiss lasted for a long time. When it finally broke, Melia's eyes seemed like stars when she opened them.

"Thank you," she whispered. "Daniel, I..."

"Sssst..." Daniel whispered. "Not now. A few more minutes..."

Melia nodded.

They both picked up their glasses again and toasted to each other. In silence they enjoyed the wine and the feeling of being together again, in the small garden.

Only when they had finished their wine, they noticed that Ophy and Wenston were asleep in their seat. Wenston sat up sort of straight, his head hanging back. Ophy lay curled up on the seat, half in his lap.

Daniel tried to wonder about that. It looked as if all they'd had was a glass of water, so that did not make sense. The Vernian wine however was not only thick in the glass, it also made thinking thick. He was failing gloriously in getting thoughts to connect.

"Daniel..." Melia touched his hand. "I have to say something..." She was talking as slowly as Daniel felt in his head.

"What do you have to say something, dear Melia?" He had the feeling there was something odd in what he said, but couldn't capture it.

"It is about you and me. And you," Melia said, doing her utmost to keep making sense.

"Ah. About us," Daniel understood.

"Yes," Melia agreed, "about us. Or about not us, actually." Melia took both Daniel's hands. "You see, I like you very much, Daniel. But you told me about your life this night. Evening." For a moment she seemed to focus, as if that would improve her speech. "Yes. And I really, really want to love you, Daniel, but your life is so dangerous. You go and you... go... and... you do dangerous things. Like pirates. Fighting." Slowly she nodded. The wine was making this hard, but also easier. "And I can't live in that fear, Daniel. I want a man to... to... come home every day. Without being scared of pirates and fighting. You see?"

Daniel thought hard. What she said seemed to make sense, and yet... "I think I see," he said before his mind had made itself up.

"Good. I am glad you understand. I'm not sure if I do," the pretty woman said. "I want to... uhm... oh- I want you to know that this was a wonderful evening, Daniel. I also think that I am not very sober anymore."

Daniel felt the same. "Yes, Melia. This was a magnificent evening." His mouth had some trouble with 'magnificent' but he managed it. "I am glad you are so honest and upright. I also enjoyed the kiss very much." He nodded for a while. All that talking spread the cotton in his head like nothing else could, it seemed. "Maybe I should see you to a carriage and make sure you get home safely, Melia."

They both agreed and got to their feet. They were grateful for the support of each other as they shuffled past the chair where Ophy and Wenston were still sleeping.

Daniel saw something on their table he could not interpret. He reached down, grabbed it, crumpled it up and stuffed it in his pocket, after which he and Melia left the establishment...

-=-=-

The next morning Daniel desperately needed a shower and something against a hangover. He slowly recalled the previous night. Somehow he remembered that he had kissed Melia one more time before she had left in a carriage. He had needed another carriage to get home. His feet refused to take him anywhere, apart from the last few stretches to the apartment and his bed.

After the shower, he dressed and headed out to a restaurant. A good breakfast chased the ghost from his head. He was about to leave when he found something in his pocket. It was a scrap of paper with a print of a ship on it. As he unfolded it, a small something fell out of it. Daniel picked it up from the floor and looked at it. "Oh crap..."

Daniel went back home and from there to the house of Huajo Dogom ko Tzuy. He had to know if the man was tied to Rayko's disappearing, and what he was doing in the drug scene. Daniel had a few small weapons with him. The attack of the previous day had shaken him up enough to choose for that. He didn't like carrying arms around people, but this situation called for drastic measures. As he was on the way, bits and parts from the last night came and went, until the carriage came to a stop.

Daniel recognised the house of the ship owner. He left the carriage and walked up to the reception house. After holding his ring against the metal plate, he waited. To his surprise the door was answered rather quickly.

"Sir?" a servant asked. Daniel had never seen this person before.

"My name is Daniel Zacharias, and I would like a word with Seigner Dogom ko Tzuy."

"If you would care to wait here," the servant nodded, allowing Daniel to step inside, "I will go and see if the Seigner has time for you."

He'd better, Daniel thought. He was going to talk to this man, time or no time. But he understood that using the official way was better than to storm in there like a mad bull. Unless the official way got him nowhere.

After a few minutes the servant returned. "The Seigner can see you, Mr. Zacharias."