When The Unexpected Becomes Reality VIII

It took me a moment to get ready the next day, but I managed to be downstairs, fill a coffee mug, and run out the door before anyone could see me. (Running may be exaggerated; I hopped out the door, but you get the drift.)

Tez waited outside and was around the truck before I did a few steps, swept me off the floor, and stuffed me onto the passenger’s seat.

When he sat in his driver’s seat again, he seemed to hesitate initially to look at me, but when he did, he saw my laughing face. “You’re not mad?” he asked. I grinned. Why should I be mad? You saved me from the family. What are you waiting for? Step on it, man, before they discover I’m gone.”

That’s all he needed. We were on our way. It only took a few minutes to get to the shop, and he entered it with me. His nostrils widened when he stood inside, and I had closed the door. “I’ve always felt like being home here. Everything seemed warm and cozy, even more so when I was still little.”

I carefully looked at him. “You sound like that’s centuries ago,” Tez laughed. “Not in human years, no. But don’t forget, being me means accepting who I am and that my time will never pass. I’m born, born again, and reborn. I’m going through childhood and puberty over and over again, having to go to school, learn how to drive, kiss, or be with a woman for the first time.”

I tilted my head to the side. “Hm. I’m not sure if I’d like to do the same. I mean…” I was interrupted when Tez laughed boomingly again. “Don’t you forget something, Mia?” I sighed. “Right. – So it’s new all the time? I mean, every single time?” Tez nodded. “Of course. Don’t forget, as old as we are, the Earth, humans, technology, everything progresses and develops. We learn different things in school, new things. Despite our way of reincarnation, we’re still humanoids who must fit into this world as long as we remain here.”

I chuckled. “Humanoid, hm?” Tez grinned, stepped forward in two quick strides, grabbed me around the waist, and kissed me. Once again, I melted into his arms and chest until I heard a hoarse voice suggest, “You two should keep the door locked if you want some privacy.”

We turned around and grinned. And there stood a tall guy, maybe around 6’4″, with the body of a Football player, strong and heavy by muscles, not fat, and with the widest, friendliest smile on his face. He stepped forward with his hand outstretched. “I’m Orson Welles. Nice to meet you, Mia.”

I accepted his hand and was almost sure he had to control himself so as not to squeeze my hand too much to hurt me. He looked at my bandaged hands. “How did that happen?” I shrugged. “I fell,” I replied shortly, which told him clearly that I didn’t want to dive deeper into that subject, and he seemed to understand the hint.

Tez and Orson seemed to examine each other with utmost discretion, trying to keep a distance. I knew that Orson was happily married and had a daughter. However, a few years back, he lost his son in an accident. He was a wonderful husband and father and was an endless worker, always worried he couldn’t support his family. Instead, he did unusually well. – And he was sick. He had a progressing illness that would, without a doubt, prove to be fatal. There was no cure at this time. I suspected he’d leave this Earth in about five to seven months.

I caught a glimpse at Tez, who stood half behind Orson, and the man nodded. So, he knew it, too.

But I wouldn’t do anything at this moment. I would do what I had planned to do when I called him. I gave him the tour. We wandered around the shop. Orson asked questions, and so did I. We went upstairs to the stockroom in the back and looked at the office, the inventory in the store, and the restrooms.

He looked around, nodded, and drew pictures and a primary ground plan. Then he asked for the blueprints, which I handed him copies of. “Thanks a lot, Mia. This helps enormously. It’s far easier to calculate material and hours with this information.” He briefly went for another round and took notes on his copies of the blueprints.

Then he looked around and explained: “It shouldn’t take me longer than a couple of days to provide you with the renovation offer, at least regarding the workers, the hours, and the basic material. We can look at the paint, decoration, and other things later. I might help you purchase special things since I get them at a special discount.”

I smiled at him. “That would be amazing. Thank you!”

“Of course, to do the perfect job, the store will have to run on ‘limited capacity’ for the time being.” I nodded. “Sure.”

Then he stared at the dusty corner cabinet. “And this has to go.” I laughed. “Well, that’s the only thing that’s going to remain. It has to stay here or, if renovated, with utmost care and expert hands. That cabinet is hundreds of years old.”

Orson scratched his chin. “Hm… I could simply cover it carefully until I found an expert for old furniture. That would work.” He looked around. “Do you think you could move the shelves and furniture to one side once we begin and then move them all to the other side when we get to the other half?” I laughed.

“Technically, yes. But I’ll have a storage hall, which I can use to clear out the entire shop, so there won’t be any moving around necessary. I can run the store from the storage hall during the renovation.”

Orson smiled. “All right. I’ll get that offer to you as quickly as possible. Do you have email, or would you prefer the old-fashioned way, in paper form?”

I laughed loudly, “Email will be fine.” I handed him over the shop business card, to which I had added the email address by hand. Orson chuckled. Then he waved briefly and was gone.

I went to look for Tez and found him rolled up on the old sofa in the back of the shop. Once again, I thought I heard a soft purr, but he suddenly opened his eyes, and the sound was gone. Completely alert, he sat up. “Is everything all right?” I smiled. Sure. It’s all good. Orson is gone. I’ll hear from him somewhat in the next few days.”

Tez nodded. “Fine. Can I take you out for lunch now?” I shook my head. “Not today, dah’ling. I need to have a look at my Grandmother’s bookkeeping. I should find out how on Earth I will pay for that renovation.”

An elegant female voice replied from the doorstep. “That shouldn’t be a problem, girlie. Our sister was financially covered. She wouldn’t have given you a task like that if she weren’t 100% sure you could pay for it.”

At the first word, I whirled around and stared at two elderly ladies. Both were dressed elegantly, one in a lavender-colored business suit. Her white hair was coiffed in an extraordinary updo, and she wore a small, old-fashioned but cute hat.

The other lady was more on the ‘Boheme’ side of the fashion palette. She wore a brown-grey, slightly asymmetric frill skirt with a leather and metal belt loosely around her hips. Her upper body was covered with a cream-colored blouse with bell sleeves, and she had a beautiful greyish fringe shawl draped around her shoulder and neck. Her hair was long, white, shiny, and reached her collarbone.

Both ladies entered the room and hugged me. “Oh… poor, poor girl.” One of them called out. I stared at her. “What?” They were a bit confused about my tone. I turned to the lavender-colored lady. “Atropos, there’s no reason to pity me. I had the most amazing Grandmother in the world, and she, apparently, made sure you both would be without your sister.” Both of them seemed irritated. “Why do you know who of us is who?” I grinned. “Grandmother said Atropos’ favorite color is lavender.” She smiled. “Right. Talking about that… you should consider lavender here since you’re renovating.” I hid a laugh. “I’m going to think about it.” Behind Atropos, Lachesis winked at me.

Then she smiled softly. “Look in the right drawer of your desk. Pull it out entirely; a tiny hidden box is below the drawer surface in the back. Inside, there is a key. Remove it, then turn around and open the painting of Apollo like a door. You will see a wall safe. Use the key on it, then turn the wheel six times counterclockwise. This safe isn’t going to open with a pin code, a number, a key, or electronically. It’s opening with time.”

When I looked at her, my face must have expressed surprise or doubt. Still, she smiled. “Don’t worry. We’re not here to steal, girlie. We’re here to help.”

My eyes wandered over to Tez, who casually sat on the couch, carefully watching me. After his brief, absent nod, I hobbled over to the desk and opened the drawer.

I found everything the way Lachesis had told me. When I reached the point of turning the wheel counterclockwise for the very first time, I felt a movement deep inside of me. It seemed that for the very first time, I was in control of my life and my duties, and for the very first time, I felt I had reached my destiny and my tasks and was doing exactly what I was supposed to do.

Atropos nodded encouragingly. “Ah… there we go. Welcome home, sister.” She said. I turned the wheel six times… then I heard an audible click, and the door to the safe sprung open. I swung the door to the left and stared at the safe’s contents.

There were a few notebooks in my Grandmother’s handwriting in front, saying. “Bank Accounts – Private,” “Bank Accounts – Store,” and “Investments.” When I opened one of the notebooks marked with ‘Bank Accounts – Store,’ my eyes widened. Then I nodded, returned the booklet, and peeked into my Grandmother’s private bank accounts; the same thing happened there. She had more than I would ever have thought. “My caring, modest and kind, honest and sweet Grandma,” I whispered. Atropos snorted. “Yeah… sweet – my ass.”

I frowned at her. “What did you say that for?” Atropos grinned. “Klotho is one of us Fates; she’s the Spinner… holding the threads of the Earth in her hands. Your Grandmother wasn’t any different than any other host before or after her. She’s one of the oldest Nature Spirits, spinning the fabric of time… You will see that sometimes you have to make callous decisions. Lachesis is there, as the Allotter is in the same boat. As for me, I make my decisions and stick to them. There’s a reason they call me the ‘Inflexible’ – I stick to what I said. Your Grandmother was many things, but she sure wasn’t sweet.”

I sighed. “Can you give me an example of a tough decision?” Atropos looked around, and her eyes caught Tez. “Oh… hello there. Long time no see.” She turned to me and predicted darkly: “There’s no need. One of them is right around the corner.” She nodded sincerely, handed me a piece of paper, and sighed. “Here’s our phone number. I still have problems handling one of these smartphones. And so does Lachesis. We, therefore, share one. Most of the time, we’re together anyway. So, if you need us. Just call us, ok?” I swallowed and nodded.

“Any questions?” Lachesis asked softly. I nodded. “Yes, please. What’s with that hourglass my Grandmother left? She put a sticker on, telling me to ask you about it. Lachesis smiled. “Of course. This is a unique hourglass. It’s been handmade for Klotho by Pan.” She took a creative break, then she continued: “I still suspect they had an affair, but I can’t tell for sure, and our sister always refused to tell us.” She took another break, looking expectantly at me. But I merely shrugged. “Don’t look at me like this. I won’t tell you either.” Lachesis chuckled but continued: “This hourglass is going to help you keep your time thread in the eyes without actually spinning it.” I was confused. “That’s possible?” Lachesis nodded. “Of course. But we’re getting there next time we meet. We have to leave. Duty calls. Ta ta.”

With these words, my sisters sailed out of the store. I closed the safe, whirled the protective time up, and removed the key to return it exactly where I took it.”

Then I looked at Tez. “I think I need something to eat. That was a bit much on an empty stomach.” The man smiled softly. “I get it. Let’s go have lunch.”

TO BE CONTINUED…