“Did you call my house this morning?”
“No.”
“Well somebody did, and only you and Nataly have that number. The line was busy when Nataly tried to call.”
Leon’s grin disappeared. “Interesting.”
Eric pushed away from his desk. “I should be back by one. My contribution to the art world is done for the day. I have to wonder what happens to the paintings we’re supposed to have sold.”
“There’s a cover story for each, if the artists ask questions,” said Leon. “Otherwise, I don’t have a clue. Say hi to Nataly for me, you bad boy.”
Leon was reaching for the telephone as Eric left the office.
It was seven blocks to Nataly’s shop. She was waiting outside. Her hair hung well down her back and she was dressed in black sweater and a peasant skirt with swirls of orange and red. When she got in the car he immediately smelled pine. “Hi,” he said, and heard the softness in his own voice.
She didn’t answer right away, but smiled beautifully and fastened her seat belt after putting a book in her lap.
“Some reading material for lunch?”
“It’s for you,” she said. “You’ll probably find it amusing.”
It was only four blocks to the deli, and they parked on gravel, and went inside. A young woman was behind a counter, chopping up something on a board. Eight tables in the room, three now occupied by people eating sandwiches and reading magazines or books. Nobody looked up.
They ordered sandwiches, organic chips and bottles of juice. Nataly handed Eric the book she’d brought along. “Yours. Part of your education in our mythology.”
“Aliens Among Us?” Eric riffled some pages.
“Now, now. You promised you’d keep an open mind. I think it’s fascinating to think that aliens are actually living here among us, and we’re all blissfully unaware of it.”
“They’re probably just here for our women,” said Eric, and blinked rapidly at her. “Can’t say that I blame them.”
Nataly smiled, and punched him gently in the arm.
They sat down on high chairs at a round table, their knees touching. Eric bit into a sandwich of cucumber, hummus, and sprouts on dark, wheat bread. Nataly uncapped her bottle of juice.
“So, tell me about your dream,” she said.
Eric told her everything, in detail, as much as he could remember.
Nataly nodded. “Good. You’ve had a connection with your inner self, your higher self. As you go from one lifetime to another, he is the constant. What did he tell you?”
Eric chewed thoughtfully. “He said something, but I don’t remember it. He just floated there, with that green eye above him. What’s with the eye?”
“I don’t know,” said Nataly, and then her eyes seemed to sparkle. “It could have been the Earth Mother, watching over you.”
Eric shook his head.
“Well, you have to admit it’s imaginative. It’s that kind of atmosphere that attracts so many creative people here. There are no stigmas about beliefs in our town.”
“Including UFOs and little green men,” said Eric.
“I’ve read that some are more like a bluish gray. Graylings, and there’s more than one kind. If you read that book, you’ll see there are as many as sixty different alien species living with us at the moment. Some are real friends, especially the Paladians. It’s said we’re descended from them, but their home world is in another universe in another dimension. It’s all in the book, Chapter six.”
“God,” said Eric, and turned some pages.
“Other species are hostile to us, like the shadow people and the reptilians, but fortunately for us they don’t have the power the Paladians have. Chapter nine. The Trills and the Kraal live in a kind of uneasy truce with us that was made by the Paladians and is enforced by them.”
“Lord, how do they think up these names?” Eric had turned to chapter nine, was skimming a page.
“The names differ from book to book. When you get into it, you find many divergent opinions among those who believe in an alien presence here. Even the differences are fascinating.”
Eric was actually reading a page in chapter nine. Nataly ate silently for a moment, then said, “I’ll give you the book if you promise to read all of it. I’ll try to answer any questions you have.”
“You make it sound important,” said Eric.
“We take our mythologies seriously. If you’re going to live here, you should at least know what they are.”
“I really don’t know how long I’ll be here,” said Eric.
“I want it to be a long time,” said Nataly, and she reached over and put a hand on top of his.
Eric looked down at her hand on his. “All you know about me is that I can’t stay awake after a beer and a brandy.”
“I know more than you think. I really like you, Eric.”
He looked at her. Up close, the lighting seemed to make her dark eyes a mixture of purple and phalo-green. “I like you, too,” he said softly. “I still remember you from last night, glowing in the darkness. You’re magical, Nataly.”
She squeezed his hand. “That’s sweet. Sometimes I feel much less than magical. I’m a sensitive, Eric. I feel things, sense things I often don’t understand. Right now I’m feeling apprehension, a feeling I’ve had before when someone was watching me and I didn’t see it. This time the feeling involves you, and Leon. It started last night, right after you left. I really called you this morning to see if you were all right. For some reason, it frightened me when I couldn’t reach you at home.”
Her hand was tight around his. He put his other hand over it, looked closely at her. “Be patient with me, Nataly. There are things about me I’d like to tell you, but I just can’t do it right now.”
“I know,” she said. “Just be careful, and promise to call me when you can. Please.”
“I promise.”
“Good. So, let’s get back to the book.”
“Oooo, Trills, and Kraals, and Paladians, oh my!”
“What?”
“Lions, tigers and bears?”
“Oh—yes. I saw it on television. If you accept the mythology, all these species have disguises of one kind or another. The Kraals are reptilian, but can telepathically control what we see by suggestion. The Trills use cloaking devices that make them seem like shadows or blurred movement in open air. The Paladians, of course, are our distant cousins, and look much like us. They’re said to be beautiful people.”
Eric ran a thumb over the palm of her hand, and smiled. “Do you ever have a chance to get back to the mother ship?”
Nataly smiled back, and sighed. “I’m trying to be serious. Haven’t you ever thought something was moving at the edge of your vision, but when you turned, nothing was there? Read chapter eleven. How was your sandwich?”
“Excellent, but meatless, and I’m a carnivore.”
Nataly narrowed her eyes, and Eric’s heart skipped a beat. “I believe that,” she said, “but it was your choice, this time.”
“Next choice is yours.”
“No hamburgers. They sit in my stomach for a week. When?”
“I’ll have to call you, maybe late in the week. I’ll give you a couple of days warning.”
“Okay, We’d better go. Marie is running the whole shop for me. Thanks for lunch.”
She squeezed his hand. They got up, left the deli, and made the short drive back to Nataly’s shop. She unbuckled herself, turned and kissed him firmly on the mouth. Her eyes were open and, so close, he could see flecks of emerald green in their depths.
“Bye,” she said, got out of the car and went into her shop without looking back.
Eric sat there stunned for a moment, looking at the door to the shop, then darted into the steady stream of traffic on 89A for the drive back to his office.
Leon was waiting for him. He scowled when Eric came through the doorway. “Hope you enjoyed your lunch. I have some news to share with you.”