Darque Wants (78 page)

“Yeah, we’re just getting there now actually…” She rounded a corner into what was, in her opinion, the best part of the Exhibition.

It had all been set up in an extremely dark and unlit room, and decorated so that it looked almost exactly like the tomb itself, or what they imagined it looked like and knew of it from the handful of black and white photographs that had been published at the time, intending to recreate what Howard Carter and his team first saw when they broke past the seal and went down into the antechamber.

Thena stole a quick glance at Mr Quinn to check his reaction. He was smiling, his eyes wide in amazement. This was the area that always impressed people the most; the amount of detail and care that had gone into it. All of the items that made up the fake tomb were recreations, of course – the real ones were on the other side of the room, behind glass so that nobody could touch them or steal them. There were some panels of text there too, which told the entire story of the discovery.

Dorian Quinn strode straight over and began reading it, spending some time soaking up all the details; more time on that than he had any other section,

“Amazing that they found it after all those years…” He murmured quietly.

“Yeah,” she whispered, both of them seeming to naturally speak in softer voices that matched the reverent tone of this part of the Exhibition. “This particular period really interests you then?” she dared to ask, looking up at him – for he was a good foot taller. He hadn’t really talked much about himself yet, who he was or why he was thinking of investing in the Museum.

“I love history. I don’t know
that
much about it though,” he admitted. “Just as much as the average person, I guess. Maybe a little more.”

“I think you do know a little more, yeah,” she flattered him. “Otherwise you wouldn’t be wanting to become a patron. Most people don’t do that.”

“Most people aren’t billionaires,” he winked at her. From anyone else it might have seemed like an arrogant comment, but somehow, from his lips, with that tone of voice, and with that cheeky wink to boot, he totally got away with it.

He turned to one of the exhibits and raised his hand up to the protective glass, closing his eyes as though he was saying some kind of prayer. Thena wondered what on earth he was doing, but the moment only lasted for a split second before he snapped open his eyes again and shook his head, tutting under his breath as if annoyed. She stayed quiet, not wanting to be rude by interrupting his thoughts or asking him if everything was OK. She barely knew him, after all, and she was just the tour guide, the museum girl.

“I know it’s probably not possible now,” he began. “I know how much red tape these things involve but…if I arranged to come back on another day, would I be able to possibly look at some of these items up close,” he indicated the ancient artefacts behind the glass. “Touch them…hold them? In private.”

Thena frowned and tried not to grimace. She didn’t want to disappoint him, but no one had ever been allowed to do that kind of thing before. The items were so old and precious that it was usually forbidden to touch them in case they got damaged.

“I’ll be very careful,” he added, seeing her facial expression. “And act always under your guidance, of course.”

“Well uh…I would…have to speak to my boss, Mr Princeton,” she answered cautiously, not wanting to make any promises she couldn’t keep.

“Of course,” he nodded, his voice soft and understanding. “Of course you would. That’s absolutely fine. In fact, I’ll have a word with him myself now. No need for you to risk getting yourself in trouble by acting on my behalf.” He touched her on the shoulder kindly, then offered out his hand again. “Thank you so much for showing me around. It’s been wonderful.”

“It has,” Thena agreed, clasping his hand.

Three people sat on brightly coloured beach towels. The sand soft and fluffy, the sea lapping gently. Peaceful and beautiful. A warm, pleasant day somewhere abroad and sunny.

Her fingers felt all tingly after the handshake, and her head was buzzing. She’d never had two visions so close together before and it was a little exhausting. There were definitely some powerful energies about this guy if he was making her have so many flashes. It was unheard of. She smiled tentatively at him and led him out of the Exhibition and back round to the reception area.

“Nice to meet you, Mr Quinn,” she added.

“Oh please, call me Dorian,” he grinned.

“Dorian…I’ll um…see you soon then.”

“Yes, you will,” he promised.

She said another quick goodbye and retreated to her office, still thinking about the way his eyes sparkled when he smiled, and that perfect set of white teeth he had behind those light pink, cupid bow shaped lips.

Her mind was still swimming with it all when she sat back down at her desk and tried to concentrate on work. What on earth was wrong with her? She was like a teenager with a stupid crush.

*****

“Oh God, not this rubbish again,” John rolled his eyes in his typical over the top, dramatic fashion.

Thena put down her fork impatiently. “It’s not rubbish, John,” she sighed. They’d been over this so many times. It was infuriating that he didn’t believe her. “Just because you’ve never experienced something yourself, doesn’t mean it’s not real.”

“Well, I’m sorry, Thena,” he shrugged, picking up his wine glass and having a sip. “I just can’t believe in anything unless I’ve seen it with my own eyes. That’s just the kind of guy I am, y’know. I’m a logical person.”

“Alright,” she gave him a smug look, getting an idea as to how she could trick him. “Tell me this, then. Can you see air?”

“What?”

“Air. You know…oxygen? Can you see it?”

“No.”

“But you believe it exists?”

“Well, of course it exists, it’s all around us.”

“Exactly!” she cried. “It’s all around us and yet we can’t see it. Just because we can’t
see
something, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. And just because you’ve never experienced my powers, that doesn’t mean I don’t have them.”

“Stop calling them that,” he grimaced and looked away.

“Why?”

“Because you’re not some kind of superhero.”

“I never said I was, but I don’t know what else to call them.”

“Freakish skills?” He offered glibly.

Thena was unimpressed. “You know, considering you
are
my boyfriend, it would be nice if you were a bit more supportive.” She scraped back her chair noisily. “I’m going to the bathroom,” she mumbled, leaving the table and crossing through the restaurant in the direction of the ladies, leaving John to sit on his own and think about what he’d said.

The date had actually been going rather well up until that moment. She’d wanted to tell him about the encounter with Dorian and the two visions that she’d had, but as soon as she’d brought the topic up, John’s usual sarcasm and scepticism had reared up and spoiled everything. He had never believed that her ‘powers’ were real, and always seemed to enjoy making fun of her for it, as well as telling her she shouldn’t mention it to anyone in public because they’d think she was mad and ‘lock her up’. It wasn’t exactly the kind of support she was looking for in a partner, although to some extent she did understand where he was coming from. She knew how weird it sounded to other people. Even her own sister had initially had a hard time believing it was true, although she accepted it now at least.

She returned from the ladies a few minutes later and sat back down.

There was an awkward silence between them, during which they both continued to eat their meal, avoiding eye contact. Thena was determined. She’d done nothing wrong, so she certainly wasn’t going to be the one to speak first.

Thankfully, John got the hint, although it took him long enough.

“Thena, listen…”

She glanced up. “Mm?”

“I’m sorry. I just…have a hard time with this stuff. Always have done.”

“Yeah, I know,” she said softly, accepting the apology. That was all it took. Two simple words and an admission of some culpability.

“Tell me about it then.”

“You don’t really want to hear it though.”

“I do,” he insisted. “I want to know everything about you…please…”

“Alright…” She sighed quietly and started all over again from the beginning, telling him about the two visions she had experienced when she shook Dorian’s hand. As soon as she began talking, she almost immediately perked up, getting all excited as she described what she’d seen, and the strange vibe she’d picked up generally off Dorian. “There’s something about him, John,” she said. “I can’t quite put my finger on it but…he’s unusual. He’s got an aura.”

“An aura?” John let out a little scoff. He couldn’t help himself. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well…I don’t know, that’s exactly it. It’s just…a something.”

“A something?”

“It’s a feeling I got. A sensation. I can’t describe it but…I think he might have some kind of gift too.” She was careful to use the word ‘gift’ this time, rather than ‘power’, after John’s last reaction. Still, that didn’t exactly go down too well either. She could tell he was struggling not to roll his eyes again.

“What’s your chicken like?” He asked instead, not so subtly changing the subject.

“Very nice.” She went along with it. It was just easier that way. They were never going to see eye to eye on the topic so they might as well just give up now. “How’s your salmon?”

“Delicious. Want a piece?” He cut off a slither and offered it out to her.

The rest of the date passed relatively quietly, with topics of conversation well away from the area Thena was most interested in. They stuck mostly to dull small talk, and Thena found her mind wandering back to Dorian, unable to concentrate on what John was saying about the latest football scores or something he’d read in the paper about the state of the economy.

After they’d finished eating and paid up the bill, he attempted to invite himself back round to Thena’s to spend the night. She didn’t particularly want him there. It wasn’t that she was still mad at him, she just didn’t feel like it. She was rarely ‘in the mood’ and she knew full well that was what he would be expecting.

“I’m tired,” she told him. “Been a really long day. I just want to go straight back home and crash, sorry.” She gave him a sympathetic smile.

“Well, I could always come and crash with you…” He was nothing if not persistent.

“Maybe some other time. I’ll call you over the weekend, yeah?”

She could tell he was trying not to look too disappointed. It wasn’t working. “Yeah, alright,” he mumbled in agreement.

But she didn’t just go straight back home and crash. She went straight back home and got on her laptop, pumping the name ‘Dorian Quinn’ into the search engine.

She wasn’t entirely surprised by what she found.

Billionaire psychic Dorian Quinn to host book signing

That was only one of the many newspaper headlines and articles she found about him. She quickly discovered that he had inherited most of his money from his parents’ estate when they died in a car accident when he was seven, then he went on to study business at University and own several well earning companies. It was always the supernatural and paranormal that had intrigued him the most though and he had soon handed over most of the businesses into the capable hands of other CEOs so that he could explore that avenue more closely, even writing a couple of books on the subject. The articles she read described it as “his claims to be psychic”, but Thena was experienced enough in the field to know it was more than just a claim. He wasn’t one of those charlatans who pretended to commune with the dead just to earn some money. He was the real deal.

She could barely get to sleep that night for thinking about him. She wondered whether it would be inappropriate to ask, to talk about his gift when really, he was only at the Museum because of his interest in history, but she was just so excited – she’d never met anyone before who was like her.

She was still thinking about it the next day, when she went out to meet her sister Deme for some shopping and lunch.

It was a Saturday, and the centre of town was busy with everyone enjoying their day off in the relative sunshine of a British summer morning. Thena had a big smile on her face, and Deme spotted it instantly.

“You seem cheerful,” she remarked as they embraced outside their agreed meeting spot before breaking off into a walk together down the main shopping street.

“I am,” Thena answered. “I met this guy yesterday and – “

“A guy?” her sister interrupted. “Since when did you split up with John?”

“I…I haven’t,” frowned Thena, confused.

“Oh…oh right, it’s just normally when people start with ‘I met this guy yesterday’, they’re talking about someone they have a major crush on,” said Deme, smirking.

Her sister might not have the same psychic gift as her, but she was certainly pretty perceptive, thought Thena.

“Well, he is kind of cute, I suppose,” she admitted. “But that wasn’t what I was about to say at all, actually, if you hadn’t just…jumped to conclusions,” she teased.

“Oh go on then, what were you about to say?” laughed Deme.

Thena filled her in on the details, telling her all about Dorian and his trip to the museum, the visions she’d experienced, and how she’d looked him up on the internet afterwards and discovered that he was quite a well known psychic.

“You know what, I think I might have actually heard of him…” said Deme thoughtfully, once she’d heard the whole thing.

“Really?”

“Yeah. Come on, look…” Deme grabbed her arm and dragged her through the automatically opening doors of a bookstore.

“Don’t tell me you’ve read one of his books…”

Books were Deme’s passion, just like history was Thena’s. She had a whole library at home where all four walls were stacked right to the top of the ceiling with overflowing shelves and books all over the place, and she seemed to want to collect more all the time. Thena wondered when she had the time to read them; she never seemed to get much chance herself, with work and everything.

“I haven’t read one, but I’ve certainly seen them,” said Deme, leading her to the second floor of the shop and to a rack in the corner that specialised in the supernatural. They scanned through the alphabetical list until they found Quinn, and plucked out one of his books from the shelf. “You should buy it. Get him to sign it.”

Thena squirmed. “I can’t do that. It’s weird.”

“Why?”

“Makes me look like a fan.”

“You are a fan, clearly. Look at the way you’re blushing.”

“No,” Thena mumbled, blushing even more at that. “Put it back.”

“Alright,” Deme chuckled, obviously very amused by Thena’s reaction. “But now we’re here, we can go look for some books I want.” Returning the book to its shelf, she took out her phone and opened up a notes app, scanning through a long list of book titles she had compiled, and the two of them set off shopping, the conversation soon turning away from the mysterious Dorian Quinn into other avenues.

Over lunch, however, the topic ended up resurfacing in an unexpected fashion.

“How are things going with John?” Deme asked her, slicing up a very large sandwich they’d agreed to share into two halves and passing one over to Thena.

“Not bad. We went on a date last night.”

“When are you going to get married?”

“What?” Thena choked. “Married?”

“Yeah, come on, it’s been two years, surely you’ve spoken about it, considered it.”

“Not really. Not even thought about getting married.”

“Don’t you want to settle down? We’ll be thirty next year.”

“I’m well aware of that, Deme,” grumbled Thena. The last thing she wanted to think about was her age. She hated the idea of getting older.

“Why are you even with John if you don’t want to commit to him? Do you even love him?”

“I…of course I do…”

“You don’t sound so sure. Maybe you’d prefer to be with this Dorian instead,” said Deme, a teasing tone in her voice.

“Oy!” Thena gave her hand a slap. “Stop it, you.”

Deme smiled, then dropped it a moment later and sighed, picking up her sandwich and taking a bite. She chewed thoughtfully and swallowed down her food before speaking again. “You shouldn’t lead him on though. John, I mean. If you don’t really love him, you should end it. Otherwise he’s just going to end up heartbroken. It’s not fair.”

“It’s not that I
don’t
love him, and it’s not that I don’t want to commit, it’s just…”

“Just what?”

“I want to see something of the world before I do…go on an adventure, or something.”

“An adventure?” Deme scoffed, rolling her eyes at her sister’s immature ways. “You’re not twelve years old.”

“It’s alright for you to say. You’re happy to just…settle down and get married.”

“And you’re not?”

“I don’t know.”

“Why don’t you go on a trip or something?” suggested Deme with a casual shrug of her shoulders. “I mean, if that’s really what you want to do, then go for it. Go over to Europe and see the sights or something. Do all that history stuff you’re so nerdy about.”

“Could do, I suppose.” She’d been to Europe before, when they were younger. She wasn’t exactly an experienced traveller, but she’d still seen plenty of places. It was something she hadn’t considered before and it was nice of her sister to give her a suggestion rather than just rubbish the idea as John would have done. Still, it didn’t exactly leap out at her as the answer.

If she was being honest, she really didn’t know what it was she wanted, or needed. It was like an intangible prize she could never quite seem to get her hands on.