Dreamers ~ Part 5

Muse arrived at the music store at ten past noon.  She had considered “forgetting” their lunch date completely because it was not altogether wise.  But there was nothing to eat and no money and no one brought her any gifts in this world.  She left late, hoping with her mind that he would give up waiting, close the shop, and leave without her.  Her stomach hoped that he would be patient.

He was patient; she had known all along that he would be.  Love is patient, Love is kind.

“I apologize for being late,” she said, sounding formal and feeling distant.

“I was beginning to think you’d forgotten,” he replied, smiling.  She couldn’t help notice that his eyes were very brown and soft and smiling behind his glasses, so small and thin you hardly noticed they were there.

“Where are we eating?” she asked, as he locked the shop door and turned the sign around.  It was puzzling that he should lock the door while they were inside, but she didn’t make a comment about that.

He turned around.  “I thought I might make you lunch.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“My place is just upstairs.  That is, if you don’t mind.”

She did mind, but not enough to refuse him when he motioned for her to follow.  She had driven into town three hours early for a free lunch and was determined to get it.  So she trailed after him to the back of the store, behind the counter, to the office, through the small white door in the office, up the flight of narrow stairs, down the hallway, through another door (brown) into his apartment.

It was small, but not as small as hers.  There was more than one room, four to be exact, and all had real furniture.  Love’s apartment was remarkably tidy and pleasantly decorated, for the home of a single man.  Muse sat at the kitchen table and watched, hungrily, as Love pulled things out of the refrigerator and cupboards.

He chatted while he worked.  Told her about the music store, the town, the old music teacher.

“Who is it you knew?” she asked.

“Hm?”

“Yesterday you said you’d met one of us here before.  The crazy one?  Who was it?”

He was silent for a moment, eyes thoughtful behind his wire framed glasses.  “I’m not sure,” he answered finally.  “She claimed to be many different goddesses.  Wind, Spring, Rain, River, Dark, Winter . . . there were more but that’s all I remember.  I think she was stuck here, she couldn’t get back, that’s probably what drove her crazy.”

“How can you get stuck in one place?” Muse wondered.  She’d never heard of such a thing before.

“She told me that, but I’m not sure it was true.”  Love shrugged, smiling a little at what he was about to tell her.  “She said that a long time ago when she lived in both worlds, all the Immortals were forced to choose one world to live in.  They became mortal and had to live out their lives in one place.”

“That’s never happened.”

“Probably not.  Probably she did something wrong and was banished here.”

Muse raised an eyebrow.  “Banished?  By the Mother?  Do you really believe in Her?”

Love didn’t answer, just smiled like an enigma, waiting for her to come to her own conclusion.

“What happened to the crazy lady, then?  Did she die?”

“I don’t know.  I haven’t seen her in a very long time, but I never heard that she was dead.  She may have moved somewhere, or someone put her away.  She’d wander around the streets and scare children.  Or maybe she died.  She was very old, and you know, she looked it.”

“She probably wasn’t even one of us to begin with.”

“Maybe not.”  Love was finished with making lunch, and set two plates and two bowls on the table.  He’d made tomato basil soup and sandwiches.

Muse dove in, barely aware of her table manners.  Love watched her with a smile that could be amused or bemused, or something else entirely.