Soul Harbour

0.33 | when recognising a voice |

0.33 | from Sabah's recorder: when recognising a voice |

Imagine this; you're sitting for dinner in one of the poshest restaurants in Madrid. You're surrounded by exactly two wonderful, two foul and one cheerfully talkative person at a table. For once, everything is manageable. The food is lovely, the wine perfect, the company diverse and diverting.

This is not how you expect to meet up with your past.

And yet I did.

I was expecting Mikhail to be a stuck-up arrogant jerk but he had the easy, even pleasing, confidence of a man who is totally sure of himself. He got up to greet us when we walked in with Anthony.

"You must be Carlotta and you must be Auburn. I have heard so much about you. So pleased to finally meet you. Let me," he stopped me and pulled out a chair for me, all the while chatting easily.

I don't really remember what he talked about but I remember his voice throughout the evening. We were drinking the wonderful soup when we started hearing about Anthony from his family.

Mr. and Mrs. Kroff had no doubt vivid memories of our last meeting and hence, had artfully avoided any conversation that could incite any new clashes. I am sure this was done with great difficulty since every third word out of their mouth was 'Mikhail'.

I often looked at Anthony to wonder what it felt for him but he had a blank look, observing us instead with a perfectly sculpted smile.

"So are you and Anthony dating? "

There was a sudden drop in the light conversation and we fell into a tense silence.

If Mikhail had been waiting for Anthony's composure to break, he had just done it. The younger man blushed, spluttering, "Mikhail..."

"I'm sorry I just asked because I should know before I fall for this beautiful woman—"

My eyebrows must have travelled up my forehead as I stared at his parents who laughed loudly as if this was a really clever joke.

"Let me tell you, Anthony has been tremendously unlucky in the romance department. What was her name? Georgiana, right? This my favourite story. He was fourteen, okay? He really liked this classmate of his and when he finally worked up the courage to tell her, she started laughing. Poor kid. It happened in the cafeteria and I saw it. It was brutal. You should have seen—"

"Yes, we are," Auburn said suddenly, putting a stop to Mikhail's story.

"What?"

"We're dating."

Beside me, Anthony choked on his soup and nearly passed out from his coughing fit.

"Have some water, dear," she told him, which did not help with his coughing at all.

The conversation notched up with the Kroffs demanding details, some of which Auburn and I were happy to create. Mikhail was so shocked he went silent for a whole minute after which he emerged unfazed, changing the subject skilfully. By the time we were eating dessert, we had all relaxed and even Anthony had begun to talk beyond monosyllables.

"Julia, you should try the dessert. It is very tasty."

Some voices, you can never forget. They remain burned onto your eardrums, sometimes ringing even when the person has long left you. I shouldn't have turned towards the voice but it happened in the matter of a fraction of a second as most crucial things do, so that if it had been something common, I wouldn't have remembered it afterwards at all.

David's voice was one of those voices.

"Papa, I am on a healthy diet."

The others hadn't even noticed. Maybe because they couldn't understand what was being said, or maybe they didn't hear them. I can always look for excuses but that is not the point. The point is I stood up and walked to their table with wobbly feet and thumping heart.

"Julia?" I had to say it twice. The first time there was no sound.

The three occupants looked at me. My girl looked at me.

And she didn't recognize me, "Uh, do I know you?"

"It's me, your..." Her face swimmed before my eyes and I wanted to hold her close and tell her I would never leave her again. She had grown so much. She was a young woman now, so much more beautiful than I had ever imagined. She had my nose.

Later that night, I heard them talking outside my room in low tones.

"Thank you," Anthony was saying. "I'm sorry Mikhail was so crass."

"Hey, it's okay. After all, you did help me with the teachers at school. Least I can do is return the favour with your family."

There was a pause and then he giggled, "Okay."

Another pause and then, he asked, "Will she be okay?"

I frowned, staring at the ceiling. I was pretending to be asleep. They had decided to stay the night. Auburn in my room and Anthony had said he would find a mattress.

I had snapped at them, asking—no, ordering them to leave. I had the right to grieve, didn't I?

I heard Auburn sigh, "I think none of us are okay ever."

"Maybe we should take her away for a bit? A change of scene. Granada?"

I didn't go and so they didn't either.

***

This was so bittersweet to write. Thoughts on #Aubony and Carlotta? Vote and comment, thank you x