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Continued…

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The next day I wanted to just roam around the city. No exact destination. Just immerse myself into the city, into the people. There was still so much for me to get my head around, with Julie and the Hidden Arts.  And there was one major question I had not allowed myself to ask. 

Is any of this even real? 

I noticed something at the last night’s dinner. Though there were many different people, many of them familiar with each other, the elderly couple in particular, I noticed that not one of them even mentioned anything about the Hidden Arts. Was everybody playing me for a fool? The manager invited me along to these very exclusive evenings. What would be the ulterior motive if this was all a sham, and why? 

Again. Confusions and uncertainties. 

I needed to get outdoors. There was nothing that a little movement and the wide-open air couldn’t cure. 

“Excuse me Sir Carvoux.” A voice called out just before I left the hotel. The girl who often stationed the front desk. She handed me a note and smiled. I knew what it was. I didn’t know that I was still playing this game. I headed for the market anyway. There was nothing better for me to do. 

Like the day before, I didn’t allow myself to view the manager’s note until I arrived at the market. I would have been disappointed to find his note wasn’t a shopping list at all, but a different set of instructions. Fortunately, it was just a shopping list. Unfortunately, it was the exact same list as the day before. Was this necessary? It already seemed that they had more supplies of the very ingredients I got the first time. But hey, as I said before, there was nothing better for me to do. Maybe afterwards, I could go roam the city. 

I went by each exact shop again to obtain all that I had gotten from them before. It was simpler to not think too much and just go to where I was already familiar with. Some of the vendors already knew what I was seeking. That made me smile. It almost made me feel welcome to the city, like I was a now a local. I started to wonder if the next few vendors would know what I wanted. 

Making my way into the baking she, I headed towards the same baker. An odd feeling crept up within me as I walked in. I felt alarm. I didn’t know why. And then I looked forward. 

I saw something I truly feared. A small woman. She was strolling happily through the market. The height, the hair, that joyful sway in her step. Though I could only see her from behind, it was clear who it was. 

It must have been the sudden surge of fear, but I started walking towards her. A soldier’s habit of moving forward in the face of fear. The time had come. Either way, I had to face her. 

I reached out to stop her. A hand to her shoulder. Her body jerked in fright, and she screamed. But there was a problem. That wasn’t Julie’s scream. 

The woman before me twisted and pushed my hand off her shoulder. It wasn’t Julie. This woman, as pretty as she was, lacked the gentle innocence that Julie possessed. Or was it because she was upset? This woman gave me a vicious look. She wasn’t soft. As small as her body seemed, this was a fiery woman. 

“What do you want? Who are you?” the woman yelled. 

“I’m so sorry!” I raised my hands. “I thought you were my fiancé.” Why did I say that? 

“Your fiancé? The woman spread her arms in confusion “You’ve got the wrong girl, buddy!” 

“I’m sorry. I was mistaken.” I tried to calm her. “You looked so much like her that I…” 

The woman stormed off in a fuss. Everybody in the baking she wanted to see the commotion. 

I raised my hands in apologies to everybody. They just stared or walked away. How embarrassing. 

“You already have a fiancé?” 

I knew that very voice. The one voice I had been longing to hear for so long. Something within my soul sank at the reality of hearing her speak. It was finally time for us to meet again. I turned to face her. 

Her face was still soft and gentle. She still held so much of her youth but was clearly a woman. I couldn’t blame any man for falling for her. In a simple dark dress, she smiled in that teasing way she would sometimes do. 

“Belle.” I approached to embrace her, but she shied back a little. It was clear she wasn’t yet comfortable with me. 

“What are you doing here, Dallas?” Belle softened her voice to her usual gentleness. 

“What are you doing here, Belle?” 

“I asked you first” she smiled. 

“Me?” I checked on myself and some of the bags I held. “I’m just doing a little shopping. You know.” 

“And looking for your fiancé.” Belle’s glance fell. Disappointment. She couldn’t hide that from me. 

“No. No.” I tried to step more into her view. “I have no fiancé. I said that by accident. That girl looked like a friend of mine, not my fiancé.” 

Belle nodded to herself, still not looking up at me. 

“How long have you been living here, Dallas?” 

“Ummm. I can’t say I’m living here” I tried to laugh. “I’ve only been here for about almost a week.” 

“And you’re already doing your shopping” she looked at the bags in my hand. “And found someone already.” 

“No no.” I had to clear up her assumptions. “I haven’t found anybody. Trust me. And all this…” I raised the shopping bags. “I’m helping to get food for the hotel I’m staying at. There’s a private dinner tonight. And the hotel asked me to help. I know the owners, you see.” 

“You know the owners of a hotel?” Belle’s eyes were interrogative. 

“Yeah” I nodded. 

“Here in Bzalnia?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Since when?” 

“Since…” We were married for a whole decade. She was likely wondering why she wasn’t privy to such news. “Since I met them back in Tykliss. They helped run the food at the Kurdashon camp. Do you remember I told you about that?” 

“Oh, okay.” Belle was nodding, but she didn’t look sure. 

“Yeah. I’m staying at their hotel. What about you?” Where are you staying?” I needed to shift the focus. 

“Me?” Belle looked up. “Oh. I’m at the Grand Park. It’s close by.” 

“The Grand Park” I nodded. “What brings you to Peetsurg?” 

“What brings you to Peetsurg?” she asked me back. 

“I asked first!” 

She made a sad face in surrender. “Ummm. I don’t know. I just needed to get away.” 

I didn’t say anything. I knew how it was always hard for Belle to really speak what she had to say. We usually gave each other space for things like this. 

After a few moments, Belle spoke. “I needed room for myself. I never felt like I could just sit and breathe back in Pallio. Too many poeple always calling for me. I just want a break.” She made a long sigh. 

“You’re getting tired.” I saw her face. “You just want to relax. And every time you have to stand back up, it’s not even for yourself.” 

She peered up at me, but then quickly brought her glance back down again. 

“Yeah.” Belle slowly nodded. “You know what I mean. You’d always stress yourself about things your unit would do, even if it never benefited you. It took me a long time before I noticed that I was doing that same thing as well.” 

“There’s nothing wrong with doing good” I said. “Just so long as we give ourselves plenty of our own time as well.” 

She nodded. “This is time for myself, coming here.” 

“Where’s your husband?” I thought it’d be polite to ask. 

“He is not my husband” Belle shook her head, her eyes far off into the distance. 

“Oh. I just thought you were getting married that last time I saw you.” 

Again, she shook her head. “We were, but…” she sighed. “I don’t know. I just didn’t feel like I ever got a chance to breathe.” 

“Was he that tough of a partner?” I asked, secretly hoping – no, I was pathetically hoping – he was worse of a partner than I was. 

“No. No.” She raised her hands in objection. “He was good. He was a wonderful man. He wasn’t the problem. The problem was more of a me thing.” 

I raised an eyebrow. 

Belle didn’t say anything for a time. So, I asked her, 

“So, you didn’t come here with him?” 

“No no.” She went quiet again. 

I just nodded quietly to myself. Then I asked her, “So, who’d you come with?” 

She didn’t say anything. I knew she was just sorting through her words. I was surprised she was still comfortable enough to allow herself to do that around me. She’d normally excuse herself, or even make up a reason to leave. 

After some time, she spoke. “I came here on my own.” She began nodding to herself. “It took me a long while to realize that I really needed time for myself. Actual time for just me. I never felt like I gave myself that. That’s why I called off the marriage. There was nothing wrong with him. It was just something I needed to do. That’s why I also left Pallio.” 

“I completely understand” I mentioned. “Sort of why I’m here.” 

“When I saw you, I had a worry that you followed me here. But then I just saw what happened here and…” her mood began to lighten. “Did you really think that girl was someone you knew, or is that how you approach women now?” 

“Noo…” How embarrassing. “I genuinely thought she was somebody I knew.” 

“Who were you looking for?” Belle really observed me with that question. “You looked like you were desperately trying to find someone.” 

I looked like that? Maybe because I was looking for Julie. 

Julie… The image of her tried to appear again in my mind. But I couldn’t see a face. Did it matter? I had someone more important to worry about. 

“Oh. She looked like a friend that I made here in Peetsurg” I told. “I hadn’t seen her in a few days so I must have gotten excited.” 

“Why? Is she pretty?” Belle wondered. “That woman you bothered was pretty, so I’m guessing your friend must be.” 

“Ummm.” I made myself be careful in answering that. I remembered that Belle would never try to be obvious with this, but she did get jealous. “She looks nice.” 

“Looks nice?” 

“She’s not bad looking or anything. Does it even matter? She’s just someone I met recently.” 

“I just didn’t realize you were talking to others already, that’s all. You’re right. It doesn’t matter.” 

We grew quiet after that. What was she even expecting? She was the one who almost remarried. It didn’t really matter. I just didn’t like how the silence felt. 

“What are your plans for later?” I broke the silence. 

“Oh, nothing really. I was just going to see the sights. I plan to go to Mooksan tomorrow afternoon.” 

“Well, if you have nothing planned tonight, join me for dinner at my hotel” I suggested. “We’ll dine in their special area.” 

“Oh. I don’t know, Dallas. I didn’t think I’d bump into anyone here in Bzalnia, and so…” 

“Neither did I” I explained. “But I was invited to eat at a private dinner, and they said I could bring someone to join me if I wished. So, we might as well.” 

Belle’s glance was downward. She did not seem excited by the idea. 

“Look,” I already understood. “It’s okay. I just thought it would be nice to ask you since we bumped into each other. You don’t have to come.” 

“Sorry, Dallas.” Belle spoke softly. “I don’t feel comfortable just spending time with you again. I came here to get away from everything.” 

“I understand” I nodded. “I came to Peetsurg to do the exact same thing. So, I understand. It’s okay.” 

“Are you still going to that dinner?” she asked. 

“Yeah. Of course” I smiled. 

“With who?” 

“By myself.” 

“But why?” 

“Why not? They asked me to come. And I got nothing better to do.” 

“What time will it be?” 

“It starts at 7. Why?” 

Belle shifted slightly. “Maybe it will be nice to go somewhere for dinner. With someone I know.” 

“I think you’ll like the hotel” I told her. “It’s got a classical and dark look to it.  It’s like something out of an old horror movie.” 

“What…” she looked up, interested. 

“Yeah. There’s like gargoyles all over the place. And the furniture is all old and dark. You just have to see it to know what I mean.” 

Belle just stood there slowly nodding. 

“So, you’re coming?” I really hoped so. 

“I have to go back and get ready” she looked upon herself. 

“You’re fine already, Belle. Don’t worry.” 

“I’m serious, though.” 

She likely wanted to do her make up and fix her hair. Even though she was already more than beautiful enough to be seen anywhere, a woman always wanted to prepare their face in the best light. But there was another thing I knew that was clear as day to me. Something years with this woman had taught me. She wasn’t telling me “No”. 

“I’ll be at the Grand Lake at 6:00 to get you, okay?” I assured her. 

“The Grand Park” she corrected. 

“Same thing” I shrugged my shoulders. 

She rolled her eyes. 

I remembered all the bags in my hands. “I’ve got a few more things to buy and bring back. So, I’ll see you whe…” 

“I’ll come along while you buy what you need” she spoke over me. 

We were already in the baker’s shed, so I knew where to go next. I walked, and Belle instinctively knew to follow. Our old usual waltz. But the delight of that quickly blinked away. 

My heart sank once we got to the baker. A small figure before us was buying bread for herself. And she was about to see Belle. Or rather, Belle was about to see her. A thousand heartbreaks phantasmatized within me. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do. 

Belle leaned over and whispered, “Isn’t that your friend from before?” 

I worried she knew Julie, but I quickly realized that it was only that other woman from earlier. It wasn’t Julie. But that fact still wasn’t relieving. That woman was upset. I disturbed her peace. And now she was soon to turn around and see me again. 

Quickly, I took Belle’s hand. Any intimacy with another female would have justified any villainous assumptions that woman might have conjured of me. Belle comfortably held my hand back, our fingers interlocking in a mutual embrace. Then she pulled herself closer and leaned against my arm. She understood the act I wanted to display. Or was she trying to get close to me again? It didn’t matter. The Julie look-a-like was turning around. 

The woman immediately noticed me. Her face turned cross at the mere sight of me. Then she looked at Belle beside me. Her eyes widen. Was she in surprise that I had someone with me, or because she realized she was mistaken in her assumptions? I just hoped that she’d not make any fuss. The woman kept looking back and forth between me and Belle. Was it that hard to believe I could make a woman feel safe? 

The woman then backed away slowly, keeping her eyes on us. It was the strangest thing to witness. Well, not compared to all I’d seen lately, but still. The woman’s defensiveness made her seem a little troubled in the mind. It was sad to see a pretty lady with that expression. 

“What’s up with her” I whispered. 

“You do remember that you grabbed her from behind, right?” Belle reminded. 

“I wasn’t rough about it.” 

“You don’t realize how strong you are compared to us girls, honey. And besides,” Belle raised both our hands still wrapped in embrace. “She might have been scared to find that you now have an accomplice.” 

Belle was always clever like that, even if she was really shy. 

She let go of my hand once the other woman was out of sight. Then she nodded forward to the baker who was waiting for me. The little fantasy of Belle and I was too short lived for my liking. Hopefully she’d feel more comfortable as the night went on. And hopefully we’d never bump into the real Julie. 

That never happened. 

I gave my farewells to Belle, knowing I’d see her later. And I made it back to the hotel with no interruption. 

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To be continued…

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(Part 13-20) Hotel Mysteria 016 – Forgotten