“Nothing really, I was just trying to spot any similarities between the two of us." I said light heartedly.
“It's the eyes." he said resolutely as he placed the drinks carefully on the table and sat himself down opposite me.
“So...how do you feel about meeting me? Do you remember me at all?”
He locked his eyes on me and I knew exactly what he was doing. He was looking for any subconscious feelings I was emitting, but I was doing my best to keep my feelings difficult to decipher.
“Wow, straight to the point then?" I deflected.
“Well, yes. Why dance around the handbag for ages. We know what we're here for, don't we?" he countered.
At that moment a waiter came past and asked if we wanted something to eat. He put the holder with the menus on the table when we answered affirmatively, and I guessed that is where the listening device was hidden. We both took a menu out to peruse.
“I do have a memory I'd like to ask you about, although I used to think it was a dream. After meeting you the other day I'm pretty sure it's not.”
Rick's interest piqued.
“Oh? What was it about?" he prompted.
“It's about the night you came and carried me out of the house...”
“Ah. That." he interrupted.
“I had hoped you'd actually been asleep and not noticed, but I see I hoped in vain.”
“It gave me nightmares for years." I said accusingly.
“What the hell were you thinking, taking me like that!”
“I missed you. I wanted to introduce you to my community and raise you. I felt I had made a terrible mistake leaving you to deal with..." he hesitated.
“...your perceived mental issues. It wasn't fair on you. However, I couldn't do it to Alice. Not having you around would have broken her, and I didn't want the life I was leading for her either. I could have brought your mum into my community but it would have stifled her and would've killed her spirit. I just couldn't do it to either of you. So I changed my mind and put you back in bed. Alice hadn't noticed a thing, and I always assumed you hadn't either.”
I absorbed this for a moment. It was more or less what I'd thought had happened, and it did explain a few things. I couldn't agree more with him that mum would've hated life in the Sensorian community. She could hardly cope with being there a few days, let alone her whole life. I couldn't let on to that to him though, although the feeling would have been hard to mask. As I feared, he picked up on it.
“You don't seem surprised or angry?" he queried.
“Well, I know that mum would have found it difficult to give up her freedom for anything, so I understand where you're coming from. Are you part of a sect or something?" I asked quickly, remembering I wasn't meant to know anything about the Sensorians.
He stifled a smirk before answering.
“I suppose you could say that I was in the past. But I managed to break free from all of that, not so long ago. I have a new life now and I would really like you and your mum to be part of that. I think we would make a great team together.”
“Team?" I questioned.
“I thought we would make a family first, if we were to be part of your life again." I said a bit prickly.
Tiny little beads of sweat appeared on Rick's brow, not at all noticeable to a normal person, but glaringly obvious to me, indicating a slight rise in levels of stress.
“Of course. Bad choice of words. Don't be too harsh on me; this has all come out of the blue for me too. Until I stepped into the cafe the other day, I never thought I would get a chance to have you or Alice back in my life ever again.”
He paused for a minute, looking pensive.
“But the bond was so strong, I could not let the chance go by. Can you feel it?" he asked a bit hesitantly.
Boy did I want to shout 'yes'! My body was screaming it. I wanted to be part of his life so badly again, I'd never encountered a feeling of connectivity this strong. I belonged with my dad. However, I had to wait and find out more about his intentions first, so I fought the urge to just fess up and go with him whatever the consequences, and answered measuredly instead.
“I don't know what I'm feeling at the moment, Rick. I definitely want to get to know you better, but I am not sure you will want to know me after this meeting.”
I could see his body shift uncomfortably. I had aroused a trickle of suspicion, but he wasn't quite ready to let the suspicion take over. He very much wanted to believe I didn't know anything and that it was pure chance we met the other day. The conflict going on inside his head was obvious for me to detect, so he wasn't cloaking at all. I had to act soon before he would start putting his defences up.
“What do you mean, Lizzy? You're worrying me.”
He looked at me intensely. No one really calls me Lizzy apart from mum, very occasionally. But I instantly remembered that that was what he'd always called me. Never my full name. A surge of love engulfed me and hindered me from thinking clearly. It was so overwhelming I nearly drowned in it. I actually gasped, before I spoke again, having gathered myself together.
“No, nothing really. It's just that I've always wondered why you left us. You obviously still
