For Centuries - Season 1 [Completed]

Episode 14

"This Mess We're In", PJ Harvey and Thom Yorke

Tadatsune was better and he needed time alone with Joe to find ways to adapt to this new part of his life. So I took the opportunity of my stay in Philadelphia to go and see my son in New York for the weekend before going back to France. He had this lovely apartment on Christopher Street and we had decided to meet at a coffee shop a few blocks away, one of my favorite spots in the neighborhood. There were plants everywhere and cozy furniture. I chose a small table at the back of the room and waited for Ethan.

He was always late. Late was not even a word for it. He simply did not have any notion of time. Probably quite normal for an immortal anyway. However, this was not the case for me. I always had a book to read while waiting for him when we were supposed to see each other. This time, it was a short stories collection by Ted Chiang. The beautiful film adaptation of one of the stories had drawn me to it.

The atmosphere of the room, the diffuse sounds of people around me, and the smell of my latte were reaching me but I was already far into the words of the short stories. This is why I did not see Ethan approaching.

"Loved the movie!"

I raised my head and laughed. He had this way of moving and talking as if he were always in a hurry, in the middle of two actions. And he always was. I had been thinking for a while now that photography was a way for him to literally focus his attention and his energy. It was a kind of meditation for him.

I stood up and we hugged for quite a while. "I am so glad to see you, sweetie," I said.

"Same. How is Tad?"

"Better. I think he is going to be fine. For now anyway."

"Good. So how long are you staying?"

"Three days, I think. How are you?"

"Great. The opening is in two weeks and I'm very excited."

He ordered an espresso and two slices of cake, as usual, and we talked about his stay in Greece and his exhibition here in New York. 

It was not a place to talk to him about Aidan or James, but we agreed to meet again later at the late-night session of a Jazz club that we loved. There I decided to tell him what happened.

We could see the lights of the Manhattan skyline from the windows behind the scene. The southern food was great and the music even better. It was a Nat King Cole tribute that night. After two or three songs, I told Ethan that I had met someone. He could not believe it. "Mum, wow, he must be a pretty special guy," he said.

"He is. He is a painter. I am sure you would love his work."

"Is he...like us?"

I hesitated. He understood and leaned over. "Don't tell me he is a vampire!"

"He is."

"You can't be serious?"

"We have a connection. I do not know if it can go further than that. I am widely conscious of the fact that what he is could be a problem, and as a matter of fact, he already has caused trouble. However, I cannot explain it, there is something incredible about him. He has a beautiful soul, I can feel it. And he did not decide to be what he is. No more than we decided to be what we are."

"I... I know that you are a very good judge of character, but... I don't understand. They are killers."

I knew he would not like this piece of news but I did not think he would be that angry. He left the club and I could not make him stay. He told me that he did not want to talk about it, but that he would call me when I would be back in Paris.

I was very upset but I wanted to give him the space he needed. As a consequence, I did not see his exhibition and my flight back to France seemed very long as I thought again and again about my son's reaction to our conversation. Ironically, we had a fight about Aidan, while I had not received a single sign of life from the vampire since the moment he had told me about James, and I did not even know if I would see him again.