A Conversation with Ciarán

Posted by Guest Writer in Uncategorized      3 comments

Feb
6

A Conversation With Ciarán

I spot him immediately when I leave the Starbucks.  He’s hard to miss.  Leaning with sullen grace against the driver’s side door of my car.  His bike, just as sleek and dangerous looking as he is, is parked nearby.  He pulls the sunglasses down slightly and watches me over the top of them; the green eyes are cool and appraising.

“I was beginning to wonder when you would put in an appearance.” I shift the laptop case to my other hand, balance the cup on the car roof and reach past his leather- clad ass to grasp the door handle.

“Excuse me?”  He seems genuinely surprised that I am upset with him.  “I’ve been around quite a lot.”

“Nattering in my head during dance class doesn’t count.” I give him a shove with my shoulder and he moves away from the car.

“I thought you went there to ‘channel me’.”  He puts air quotes around his words and smirks.  I dump the computer on the back seat.

“Yeah, well, I need all my brainpower to stay upright and be the ‘tempest’.  And FYI? Hovering at my shoulder at work is going top get me fired.”

“Then don’t complain that I’m not around.  I’m here, you’re just ridiculously busy.”

“I have a family to support,” I counter.  “As much as I would love to devote myself to you and Bliss 24/7, right now that isn’t paying the bills.  How do you like Bliss, by the way?”

“She’s lovely…or she could be.  She needs more….depth.”  I nod.

“The Other Half of My Brain and I have been thinking the same thing.  I’m working on it.”

“She has a name you know.  Susan.  You know way too many people named Susan, do you know that?”

“Yes.  Stop changing the subject.”  We stand there in the fading daylight for several long minutes.  I’m enjoying the fresh air and his presence and he is revelling in the coming night.

“Did you actually get any work done in there?”  He indicates the SB outlet.

“Yes, as a matter of fact I did.  Brynn is going to meet her soul mate.”

“Really?  It’s about bloody time.”

“His name is Gabriel—she’s gonna call him Gabe…yeah, and you’re not going to like him much.  That’s all I’m saying.”

He yanks the sunglasses off and his eyes have gone all dark and weird.  I shake my head.

“Don’t try that stuff with me—it won’t work. I made you, remember?”

“Technically,  Aine made me—you invented me.” I feel his presence brush against my mind.  “Why won’t I like him?”

“It adds tension—and he needs a straight man.  You’re perfect for the part.”  I sip my chai and he drums his fingers against the side of the car.  “Why are you so drawn to Bliss?  She’s rather ordinary, aside from her brains and her talent.”

“If she’s ordinary, that’s your fault.  But she’s my ‘anam cara’. Are you familiar with the term?”

“I read the book, Ciarán.  So she’s your ‘soul friend’—but you fell in love with her the moment you saw her.  Why?”

“Can’t help myself.  We’re destined to be together—star-crossed lovers and all that teen-aged angsty-stuff.  You elected to write YA fiction.  It’s—.”

“My fault.  Got it.  So you don’t mind if I play around with your heart a bit?  There has to be some heart-break in there so that when you two finally get together, there can be fire works and moonlight and—.”

“Stop before you put me in a diabetic coma.”  He grabs his helmet off the bike seat and pulls it down over his head.  “I’ll be around later.  Go home. Look after the mundane part of your life and then look for me.  I’ll show up.  You just have to look in the right place.”  He revs the bike and takes off at nowhere near the legal speed for a parking lot.  I open the rear door of the car and take the laptop out again.  To hell with dinner.  There are leftovers in the fridge.  The family won’t starve.  I head back into Starbucks.