“Hello.”
“Who am I meeting today?”
“Grant, my name is Grant.”
“Well Señor Grant, I am Isobelle,” she reached across the bar and shook his hand.
Grant could instantly feel the energy when she touched him. This was something new for him. A strong grip, but there was something more than that. There were callouses there, but that was not what he noticed first. What he noticed was more like a vibration. The feeling gave way momentarily, but he felt the energy between them, emanating from her hands, linger in the air.
“Are you all right?” She asked.
“I never know, but why do you ask?” Grant replied. He could feel the chemistry between him and this beautiful woman.
“I can sense that something has happened to you today.”
“Really?” Grant asked, surprised.
“Yes. You have had some … some upheaval in your life today, maybe there is more to come.”
“And you know that how?”
Isobelle quickly changed her demeanor when she realized what she had said.
Grant was stunned by the power he was feeling from her hand, and not just because she was a beautiful woman. It was like the energy of a fast moving stream, with nearly the same calming effect. He tried to look around the room, but he could not. He could not detach his eyes from hers. He stared at her hand for a few moments, and then looked up into her brown eyes. The look in her eyes told him that not only she did she know what had happened to him, but also that she was going to make sure nothing else bad was going to happen while she was around. Her eyes saw more than just folks ordering drinks—they could see into people, and Grant could almost feel her eyes penetrating his soul. This made his ordeal thus far seem almost worth it. She was shorter than she had appeared from the other end of the bar, five-foot-four, maybe five-five, but the way she carried herself made her seem taller. He felt something stir inside him when their eyes met—something he hadn’t felt in a long time.
“Forgive me.” She let go of his hand, but her smile did not dim.
“Have had sort of a rough patch today, but you probably get that a lot.” Grant turned his head, showing that his neck was stiff, and that it was difficult to do so. He took a seat at the bar.
“Sometimes, but I feel your difficulties are real.” Her gaze was still fixed on him, and she knew he was in pain.
“Car wreck.”
“Yes, I can tell.”
“What?”
“Nothing. You should take it easy.”
“I’m meeting someone, maybe several people today. At least one of them won’t understand, no, make that won’t accept ‘take it easy.’” He brought his head slowly back center, focusing back on the woman behind the bar.
“Well, I understand take it easy, so please relax. I am not that busy, so you can relax here, unless you think you need to go lie down.”
“Nope, this is better.”
“You are meeting friends.”
“You asking me, or telling me?” Grant squinted.
“Could I get you something to drink?”
“Oh, water would probably be a good start, if that is all right.”
“Of course.” Isobelle did not have to reach far for the pitcher, so she kept her eyes on Grant. “You are not from here, but from the looks of you, you have not come far.”
“Meeting this knucklehead friend of mine that has been missing for a while. May be meeting someone else too, that I have been missing for a while.” Grant put his hand up to the side of his head. “How is it you know this about me?”
“Lucky guess. Tell me more.”
“Here from Encinitas, friend has been in some sort of trouble, haven’t seen him in a while, a guy ran a red light and plowed into the side of my truck, that pretty much sums it up. I’ve been in wrecks before. This one wasn’t that bad … except for trashing my truck. Not too happy about that,”
“That is quite a bit. Anything else?” Isobelle placed a coaster on the bar, then a glass of water in front of Grant.
“No.”
“Are you sure? You seem to have more on your mind.”
“Oh, not that I want to talk about.”
The drive and the subsequent wreck upon his arrival did remind him that he didn’t know why more people didn’t just fall victim to the spell of the highway and drive off the road. It was so numbing that Grant wondered why more people didn’t just give in to the angst and ennui that seemed to germinate on that hard, black torrent. Maybe the guy that ran into him had done just that. Maybe he had just had enough. It had been a long time since Grant had been on a road trip, and based on the early results of this one, he was not thinking about scheduling any more anytime soon.
“Well, it is very fortunate you were not injured more severely.” Isobelle continued to watch Grant very closely. “Does anyone know you are here?”
“I’m not sure how to answer that, but probably not.” Grant placed his hand up to his neck, rubbing the back of it, hoping it would ease how tight he was. “You see a loud, obnoxious guy, few inches shorter than me, east coast accent, sort of sandy, dirty colored messed up hair, looks like an unmade bed? Anyone of that description been in here today?”
“I do not believe so, as I would have remembered someone like that. Is he a friend, or relative?”
“He sure as hell isn’t related. Jury’s still out on the friend part. How about a blonde woman, not very tall, in great shape, really good looking?”
“We get a lot matching that description, but none so far today.” Isobelle’s expression hardened slightly.
“Well, I would suppose you do.” Grant slowly brushed back his dark brown hair.
Annie Sims was all Grant could think about. He wanted to see her brilliant smile, her glimmering blonde hair. The anguish he felt at the thought of not being with her was almost more than he could bear. Time had moved so rapidly. Law school, the jobs since he got out of school, the time alone. The thought that nothing was ever going to slow down, that everything would just keep flying past, yet the time he spent alone did not pass quickly. That time just crawled. But the years before, the really good years, the years with Annie, they were fading quickly. He wanted to believe things would be good again. When things were good, there was a feeling they always would be. Now, Annie was gone, jobs came and went, and here he was alone. The thought of seeing Annie again gave him hope that maybe the best had not come and gone for good, but might yet return again. If he could see her, there was hope.
“Are you sure I cannot get you anything else? Something to eat, perhaps?”
“No, but thanks. Is it all right if I wait here? My friend would not think to call the room, but he will think to come here. He might come here and stay here, never make it to his room.”
“Of course, you may stay here as long as you like.” Isobelle smiled.
“A lot worse places to be than a bar.”
“I think so, as well.”
“Kind of quiet in here, I’m OK with that. My friend gets here, we can kiss that goodbye.”
“He does not like quiet?” Isobelle cocked her head to one side.
“Oh, I don’t know if you could say that. Quiet just sort of seems to vaporize when he’s around.” Grant nodded his head very slowly.
“Does he talk a great deal?”
“Something