Chapter Seven
Caroline, still shaken by the news of Alyson’s hospitalization and worried about the implication for her own future, went about the luncheon absentminded. Her stepfather, Marlon, was consumed by what they had seen at MoMA, and her mother, Debbie, quietly indulged his passion without saying much. Debbie had noticed something wasn’t right with her daughter. She looked distracted and worried.
Marlon and Debbie had started seeing each other not long after the Senator asked for a divorce. They had met on a chance encounter at a hospital on one of her many doctor’s visits she went to alone. In the waiting area, she had found him grieving the loss of his wife. A tragic turn of events that robbed the possibility of early retirement at fifty-five and spending all their remaining days on cruises around the world. Out of his own propensity for loquaciousness and the grief of losing a loved one, Marlon had opened up to tell Debbie all about it.
“Are you alright, sweetheart?” Debbie asked waiting for a lull in Marlon’s stream of consciousness narration.
“Yes, I am okay…” Caroline had debated whether to tell her family about the tragedy or not. She had exchanged messages with Alex, who assured her all was cleared and taken care of. “Your mother won’t be happy if you cancel on her to meet,” the Senator had said to her on the phone after expressing his sadness over the loss of her friend.
“I can see it. Anything bothering you? Something isn’t right.” Debbie insisted. “What’s the matter?” Marlon added, realizing too late that neither of them was paying attention to his discourse on the emergence of new modes of expression in Arts.
“Nothing,” Caroline said at first, but soon changed her mind realizing her mothers wouldn’t let go of the topic. “One of my friends is at the hospital,” she said. Her face was still covered with the darkened expression of sadness.
“Lord have mercy! What happened? A graduating senior?” Debbie said, reaching over the table and holding onto Caroline’s hand.
The restaurant in Harvard Square was packed with adjacent tables practically touching each other. Caroline realized too late this wasn’t the best of venues to discuss the topic with her inquisitive mother, who would pressure her for every detail.
“I really don’t want to talk about it now. Can we have lunch?”
“Yes, sure, that sounds like a good plan,” Marlon said putting his hand on Debbie’s leg. It was a subtle signal under the table to ask her to drop the topic. “We are so sorry for your loss, Caroline.” He added after exchanging a look with Debbie.
The rest of the meal, much of their conversation revolved around plans for the remainder of the graduation weekend and their experience at the museum. Debbie seemed disoriented at times. Disinterested in the topic, Caroline thought.
“I am so delighted for you, sweetie. You have worked so hard for all this. I am sorry this tragedy is spoiling the fun. I know you care about your friends a lot. If there is anything we can do for you, don’t hesitate to let me know.” Debbie said, with tearful eyes. She had been withholding her own news and tragedy in the interest of protecting her daughter.
Caroline liked how her mother talked as we when she talked about her life. Even as a young child, she knew there was not much love between her parents. The flamboyant father who conquered the political world, and the reserved mother who stayed home to raise the children. As time progressed, she hardly saw them expressing affection for one another physically. Her mother had always told her she would understand when she grew up.
Now that she looked back at that time, she knew what kept her mother married for all those years was a sense of duty and service to the career of her father. Forgiving all sins and letting her father have his way to her annoyance. Caroline couldn’t have been more delighted when she found out her mother was dating Marlon. Initially put off by him, but she could quickly see that he cared a lot about her mother. They kissed and held hands in front of her, which was more than anything she had seen growing up.
“Still waiting to find out what happened. I didn’t want to miss the lunch with you,” Caroline said. She had genuinely wanted to spend the time with her mother. She also needed a moment to clear her head. She had gone over every detail of the night before and concluded she had no part in what happened. There were still gaps she needed to fill, but was confident of her innocence whatever might have happened.
Debbie thanked her profusely and left agreeing to see her the next day, graduation day. She would have liked to see her daughter again, but figured she was busy. From there, Caroline walked back to her apartment. She noticed two men following her. By now she knew the look of a protective detail. They were keeping a close eye on her. Instead of feeling her privacy was invaded, for this one time she felt safe. She pretended not to have seen them and simply continued walking.
Caroline noticed she had a missed call from Alex and her father. She called Alex first.
“Caroline, how are you? Where are you?” Alex asked immediately after hearing her voice.
“I’m fine. I just had lunch with mommy and Marlon. What is going on? Daddy called me, too.”
“It is about Alyson. Did you hear?” Why was she the last to find out about all these things?
“What? All I know is she is in the hospital. You said not to go there,” Caroline said, curtly and disappointed about the whole situation.
“I know. Sorry. I didn’t mean to bother you. It looks like bad things had happened the night before. Where are you?”
“What is going on, Alex? I am at my apartment,” Caroline said, fearing for the worst. Was that why her father called as well? Was she in trouble?
“Alyson… Eh… didn’t make it, Caroline… I am sorry.” Alex mumbled.
“No! That can’t be!” Caroline screamed. “Why? Wasn’t she alive before?”
“I am sorry. I am on my way to your place. Stay there. We will talk, alright?”
Caroline wept as she sat on her bed, frozen with the shock of the news. She was alone. The world she had created around her was cracking rapidly as if it were swept up in an earthquake. For the first time since she decided to live off-campus, moving out of the on-campus house she lived in her freshman and sophomore years, she felt isolated from everything. She was away from her friends. She was on the verge of graduating from college with one of her friends dead for reasons she still had no idea about. She wanted to call Ella, but couldn’t bring herself to do it. The news overwhelmed her, haunted by the images of Alyson in her mind. Was she responsible in any way? Would she have agreed to come to the party had it not been for Caroline’s insistence?
The computer rang with a bell sound indicating the arrival of a new email. Caroline rose from her bed, staggered to her desk and opened the Inbox. It was a message from the Dean of Students announcing Alyson’s passing and about a special memorial gathering being arranged. It was genuine and real, Caroline said to herself. It was really happening.
Before she went back to her bed, she heard a knock on the door. It was Alex. Caroline leaped forward and draped her hands around him and sobbed uncontrollably. Caroline knew, if she were to make it out alive from this crisis, she would need Alex’s help more than ever. In the way he hugged her, it looked to her he was available to give it to her. She tucked her face into his neck, letting the tears flow from her eyes to his receptive and hot skin.
“I’m so happy you came,” Caroline whispered into his ears.
With his heart beating out of his chest cavity, pressed against the softness of her breasts, looking down on the waves of sparkling hair flowing down her shoulders, his hands resting around her narrow waist, Alex knew he would give his life to protect her. He had never been this close to her. He had never felt her up close, and she had never whispered in his ear before. The sudden accumulation of impulses overpowered his control and rendered him aroused and poking below her waist. He was embarrassed and loosened his grip on her, she tightened hers. If anything, pulling him closer to her body.
“I am here for you, always,” Alex whispered back. He knew he was slowly slipping into a place he had never been before. All the pent up craving for her bubbled to the surface. “Always,” he repeated.
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