The Watch – Part 78:

I waited for Amy to return from answering the person who was at the door. I didn’t hear much of the conversation, but it didn’t last long before the door was shut and Amy ascended the stairs once more. She came into her room, holding a package in both her hands, looking rather curiously.

‘Anything wrong?’ I asked. The box was neatly wrapped with brown tape with handwriting that was far neater than anything that I could ever muster.

‘Nothing’s wrong as such,’ Amy said, sitting back down onto her chair. ‘It’s just that I don’t remember ordering anything. Normally, whenever I make an order to some place, I make a note of it somewhere either on a piece of paper or on my computer, sometimes both just in case the other one is lost somehow.’ Amy spun around and scrolled through her documents before searching through her stuff on her desk. ‘I don’t have any note.’

‘Maybe someone sent it to you?’ I suggested.

‘I thought that at first,’ Amy said, ‘but I don’t recognise the handwriting.’

‘Well, the only thing you can do is open it and find out what it is. Maybe whatever is in it will jog your memory. I mean, what’s the worst that could happen?’

‘Well, here goes, then,’ Amy said before grabbing her scissors from a pot beside her monitor and started to cut the tape. After undoing the sides, she pulled apart the two flaps at the top of the box and looked inside.

‘Anything interesting?’ I asked.

‘I’d say,’ Amy said.

‘What is it?’

‘There’s something wrapped in bubble wrap and a note from someone.’ Amy opened the note and began to read.

‘Amy, I understand that this unexpected package from us may leave you with questions, but there is a simple explanation. You see, your dad and I are going to be gone for a while longer than we first anticipated. As you know from our phone call this morning, we were stuck in a traffic jam for five hours and felt too tired to continue home for the rest of the journey, so we checked into a motel for the night. We then intended to be back this evening, as luck would have it, a major problem at work forced us to go in and help out in any way that we could. We may not be able to come home for a good couple of days until we are given the all clear. I do apologise for our sudden change of plans as we were originally going to go out together for the day tomorrow, but I’m afraid to say that may not happen.

‘To say that we are sorry for our unfortunate circumstance, we have sent you a present that we think will enlighten your mood enough until we get back. Also, along with that, we have enclosed some money that we think is enough for you to go out and have a good day with Sebastian, who we are pleased that you are finally together.’ Amy went a little red from reading that. I couldn’t help but smile and blush as well. I’m really glad that her parents approve of our relationship.

‘Again, we’re sorry about this and we hope that you will understand. Yours sincerely, mum and dad.’

Amy put the note to one side and pulled out the object that was neatly wrapped in bubble wrap. She cut the tape off and unrolled the wrap revealing what was inside.

‘Now that’s pretty cool,’ I said. In the palm of her hand sat a very nicely decorated bust of a woman who looked like she was from the Victorian times, but had a lot of jewellery that caught the room’s light and reflected nicely, making it stand out amazingly. Amy looked at it in awe and wonderment. Who the woman was, we had no idea. Amy turned it over to see if there were any more details, but it was just a plain bust covered in brilliant jewels.

‘That really is something, isn’t it,’ Amy said, turning it around in her hands to get a view from each side. She then had another look inside the box and practically jumped out of her seat with excitement.

‘Hang, on, there’s another note,’ Amy said enthusiastically, reaching into the box and pulling out a smaller piece of paper. Unfolding it, Amy read. ‘The bust of Elizabeth Moore, born seventeen-sixty-five; died eighteen-sixty-five.’

‘Exactly one-hundred years old,’ I said. ‘That’s one heck of an achievement. Is there any more information.’

‘Strangely enough,’ Amy said, looking in the box, ‘there isn’t.’

‘Huh,’ I said.

‘Huh, indeed,’ Amy agreed, ‘but that doesn’t matter. Look at how beautiful it is. This can sit right there,’ and she put it on her desk to the left of her monitor so that it was in the right place for Amy to see it without anything getting in the way.

‘I don’t want to bring the mood down, or anything,’ I said.

‘What’s on your mind,’ Amy said, putting the box down and pulling out white envelope that has the money in.

‘I’ve never known mail to arrive so quickly after being posted,’ I said. ‘Usually it takes at least a couple of days to get from one place to another, even if it’s just over the road. It has to be sorted and processed, you know,’ I explained.

‘Now that you mention that,’ Amy said coming to a sudden realisation, ‘it does seem strange that my mum and dad sent something this morning and it arrived,’ she looked at the time, ‘just gone past seven at night. Blimey, we’ve been up here all day

‘Have we?’ I asked in surprise. Amy nodded.

‘My mum and dad had been late before due to an unexpected emergency, and they never sent me anything before, so why this time. That doesn’t make any sense,’ she tilted her head as she combed through many ideas insider her head. She then noticed me staring at her and she turned towards me and asked what I was doing.

‘Sorry,’ I said, ‘but…’ Oh, this is going to be embarrassing. My hesitation increased Amy’s interest in what I had to say. ‘Um…’ But before I had a chance to explain myself, she told me that she had figured it out by smiling.

‘You like it when I think,’ she said, tilting her head to the side ever so slightly. I answered by blushing. We should really stop with the cheesiness, but that may not stop any time soon, and I'm OK with that.

That particular topic was suddenly cut short when Amy changed her expression into one that told me she had an idea: Wide eyed and drenched in enthusiasm.

‘How about we go out for dinner instead of cooking something. My treat.’

I was slightly caught off guard with the sudden change of topic, but I quickly agreed to the offer, except for her pain, though.

‘Don’t be silly,’ she said, ‘you got my pizza the other day and so this can be my way of repaying you.’

‘But dinner out is a lot more expensive that pizza,’ I countered.

‘And,’ she shrugged. I was about to say something else but she cut me short. ‘Why are you not allowing me to buy you dinner?’ she asked. That was a clever question. She knew that the answer to that question was what I already said, but at the same time, it was the wrong answer.

‘But I get to repay you back with something later on,’ I said, ‘like a movie or something.’

‘Awesome,’ Amy jumps up. ‘Now, I’m going to freshen up,’ Amy said. ‘Would you mind turning off the computer for me.’

‘No problem,’ I said.

‘And make sure that you bookmark all the new sites that we’ve found,’ she said before exiting the room and walking to the bathroom.

‘It’s as good as done,’ I called through before I heard the bathroom door shut.  After I had finished bookmarking each tab and closing down all the webpages, I shut down the computer, turned off the monitor and waited for Amy to come out of the bathroom. I heard the door reopen and footsteps cross the hall. Amy poked her head around the doorframe.

‘BOO,’ she said suddenly. I jumped out of my chair, nearly crashing to the floor. My heart was racing and I was out of breath. As I was recovering, Amy was bent double with laughter.

‘Don’t do that,’ I said.

‘Sorry,’ she said through laughter, ‘I couldn’t help myself.’

I stood up after I had calmed down and combed my hands through my hair. I was as good as ready.

‘Let’s go,’ Amy said, turning towards the door once more.

Due to it being only 7 in the evening, the lampposts were still lit, preventing us from seeing the beautiful lights that are the stars in the night sky, complete with the colourful band that is the Milky Way extend across the sky. The night was a not that cold, but there was a small chill in the air, that meant we couldn’t stand still for too long otherwise we would get cold quickly. It’s best to keep moving.

‘So, were are we going?’ I asked Amy as we exited her road and headed in the direction of the shopping centre.

‘I know of a nice place near the town centre,’ she said, ‘it has everything you could possibly want on the menu and the waiters and waitresses are extremely nice. After they have served you, you would think it was an insult to them not to give them a hefty sized tip at the end of it.’

‘I think I know that place,’ I said. ‘I mean, I’ve been to a restaurant that did serve really nice food and had friendly staff, but I might have gone to a different one, I’m not sure.’

‘Well, you’re going to find out soon,’ she said. The walk was a pleasant one. We didn’t talk about that man or that secret organisation that could be hiding in the shadows. We talked about how I prefer to stay at home with a good book or a good game or even a good film instead of going out to some very high atmospheric, intense scene that are night clubs. Amy, on the other hand, doesn’t mind going to night clubs, but also doesn’t mind sitting at home and relaxing.

‘I’m not like a couple of people I know who goes clubbing each night,’ Amy said. ‘I don’t mind going every once and a while, but not every night.’

‘I have tried clubbing once before with Tom back when I was in high school, but the loud music and shouting people made me feel like I was completely out of my comfort zone. Tom would do anything. He would go out every night, but at the same time would sit down and read if he wanted to. I just don’t know how he can balance those two very different things out as well as he does,’ I said.

‘He sounds like he has had a lot of practice,’ Amy said.

‘You got that right,’ I said.

We arrived at the restaurant. We stood to one side as we waited for the waitress to come and take us to our table. This particular atmosphere was nice and calming. The soft, orchestral music playing over the speakers helped you to relax.

‘Table for two,’ a waitress who went by the name of Natalie, with dark hair tied up in a bun and a smile that didn’t look like she didn’t want to be here during the graveyard shift.

‘Please,’ Amy said.

‘Right this way.’ We followed Natalie through the restaurant, allowing me to see just how nice this place really looked. The tables that didn’t have anybody sitting at were neatly organised with napkins that had been complicatedly folded into a swan with its wings sticking out as if it was getting ready to fly. And the tables that did have people sitting at wasn’t too far from being the same. The blue coloured table cloth helped the mood be that much more calming. Everyone seemed to be nice and relaxed.

‘How’s this table?’ the waitress asked, stopping at the back of the restaurant near a photograph of someone holding what appeared to be a certificate of some kind detailing the dates when this restaurant opened. It was in black and white, which indicated that it was some time ago, but the picture was a little bit too far away for me to make out the actual dates.

We sat down at the table and settled ourselves in.

‘Would you like me to take your order for some drinks or would you like me to come back in a little while?’ Natalie asked.

‘Um…’ Amy said, thinking. ‘I’ll just have a coffee,’ she said.

‘And I’ll have an apple juice,’ I said.

‘Would that be with or without ice, sir?’

‘With, please,’ I said.

‘They’ll be along shortly,’ Natalie said before leaving us to decide what we would like to eat.

‘You’re right,’ I said to Amy, ‘this place really is nice.’

‘Is this the one you remember?’

‘Actually it isn’t,’ I said, ‘unless they have had a complete redesign, but otherwise I must have gone to a different one.

‘Well, I hope this experience will make you want to come back here more often,’ Amy said, picking up the menu that was sitting in its own little holder on the edge of the table.

‘They’ve made an awesome impression already, I’m really surprised that I haven’t gone here before,’ I said picking up my own menu and opening it. ‘Woah,’ I said.

‘What?’ Amy asked.

‘I don’t care what you say, I’m going to help you pay for the bill,’ I said. The prices were through the roof. £14.79 for prawn cocktail, and that’s just for starters. The menu has been organised numerically, which means the most expensive priced food is at the back, and I reckon that I may have to take out a loan from the bank to pay for them.

‘How about,’ Amy said thoughtfully over the top of her menu, ‘You’re not going to get a good night’s kiss at the end of tonight,’ she said.

‘Oh, I see how it is,’ I said. ‘Now you’re playing dirty.’

‘Hey, it’s your choice,’ Amy said, resuming to look at the menu.

‘Fine,’ I said, giving in, ‘I’ll let you pay for the bill yourself. But at least let me pay for the tip,’ I suggested.

‘OK, I think I can let you do that,’ she said with acceptance.

Natalie came back with our drinks and asked if we were ready to order.

‘I am,’ Amy said, ‘what about you?’

‘I think I am,’ I said with my attention drawn to multiple things at once, trying to decide what I should go for. I’ve made sure to go for something at the beginning of the menu since that’s where the cheaper prices are.

‘I’ll have the quiche of the day,’ Amy said.’

‘Would you like that with chips?’ Natalie asked.

‘I think I’m going to skip the chips this time. I could barely eat all of them last time,’ Amy said. Natalie turned to face me, pen at the ready.

‘I’m going to go for the fish and chips,’ I said. They’re £5.99.

‘So that’s how it is,’ Amy said.

‘What?’ I asked, knowing full well that Amy had figured out my strategy.

‘Going for the cheapest thing on the list so that I don’t have to pay that much,’ Amy said.

‘Oh, um…’ what do I say now?

‘He’ll go for the prawn cocktail,’ Amy said, knowing that I’m probably going to go for the second cheapest thing on the menu or that I’m rather bad at decision.

‘Coming right up,’ Natalie said. ‘Everything is cooked from fresh so it’ll be along shortly,’ she said.

‘Can’t wait,’ Amy said. Natalie turned and headed into the kitchen where she will hand the order to the chef.

‘How did you know that I liked prawn cocktail?’ I asked Amy curiously.

‘Everyone likes prawn cocktail,’ Amy said causally.

‘Fair enough,’ I said. I have to admit that I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like prawn cocktail. Even a couple of vegetarians that I’ve met a while back liked prawn cocktail. After a couple of seconds of silence, Amy voiced a thought that she must have had going around in her head for some time.

‘Can I ask you a question?’ she said.

‘What is it?’

‘What would you say if you met him?’ Amy said. I knew that him meant that man who is going around saving people. Me. I thought about it for a good couple of seconds before coming up with an answer that I thought was appropriate.

‘I’m not sure,’ I said. ‘I guess I would ask him how he obtained his powers, but I have a feeling that he wouldn’t tell me. What about you?’ Why did I ask that?

‘I would ask him what made him decide to save people,’ she asked. That was a good question.

‘That’s a good question,’ I repeated my thoughts.

‘Do you think he’ll answer that?’ Amy asked.

‘That depends,’ I said.

‘On what?’

‘Who’s asking.’

‘What makes you say that?’

‘Well, I don’t think he would give that answer to anyone,’ I explained. ‘If you don’t mind my saying so, but that’s a rather personal question and so I think it would have to be a rather important person before he gives that answer away.’ I hope that’s a good enough answer.

‘I guess it is a rather personal question,’ Amy said. ‘I never thought about it being such until you said so. What made you so knowledgeable on this subject all of a sudden?’ Amy asked curiously.

‘Hey,’ I said, putting my hands up to show innocence, ‘I’m just going by what I’ve seen in movies and what I’ve read in books and comics and the like,’ I said. ‘I have no idea what’s really going to happen.’ I think that’s a rather nice save, if I do say so myself.

‘You need to get out more,’ Amy joked.

‘I’m here with you,’ I said.

‘Nice try, but it’s going to take more than that before you can say that you’ve gotten out more,’ she waved a finger at me to indicate that she meant it.

‘Well, it was worth a shot,’ I said.

‘You’re cute, you know that,’ Amy said.

‘I know,’ I said teasingly. We both smiled at each other. I couldn’t have asked for anything better than sitting here with Amy, the person who I have been in love with for years and her having the same feelings towards me. I mean, I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)