The Ground Below

Chapter Four

When I was eight years old, my grandmother told me this story.  She actually told me dozens of stories, but this particular one had the eerie ability to stay with me.

Comfy, and cozy, I lay in bed.  Our usual night time routine when I was that age included taking a warm bath, and after, Grammy would tuck me in telling me a bed time story to calm my mind.

However, I don’t think I slept well that night.  She started off by telling me how a handsome man fell in love with a beautiful woman, only to lose her months later.

“That’s sad, Grandmama.”  She nodded her agreement.

“He loved her very much, and never thought he’d get over her.  But, before long another beautiful woman caught his eye.  They fell in love shortly after.  They were very happy.”

“That’s great!” I exclaim.  But, I spoke too soon.  She continued telling me how his past lover was not happy that he moved on.

“And she rose from the ashes to stake her claim on the man,” she went on.

By this point in my grandmother’s story, I was shaking.  The covers were pulled up to my chin.  My heart was racing a mile a minute.  This was no bedtime story.

“The man didn’t want her, because he had a new love.  This made the woman very angry.  The woman thought about begging, but quickly realized how beneath her begging would be.”

“I would beg, Grandmamma.  If I really loved the guy I would beg.”

“Of course you would, Parker.  Because you know that love is worth fighting for.  I can already see that in you.”

“What happened next?” I ask even though I knew it wouldn’t end well.

“She knew deep down inside even if she was to beg that his heart now belonged to someone else.  She was bitter and angry at that fact.”

This was getting really bad.  

“If she couldn’t have him, no one would.  She stole his will to live making him a shell of himself.”

A shuttering gasp escaped my lips.  “Why would she do that?  Why couldn’t she just let him be happy?” I cried.

“Love makes people do crazy things, little one.”

“No! No! No!” I whined.  “If she really loved him, then she wouldn’t have done those things.”

Why would she tell such an upsetting story to an eight year old? 

“Love might make you do crazy things, but so do bitterness and anger.  She believed he was her soul mate.  Even after death, she knew she needed him.  He knew she was dead, and he needed to move on.  It all added up to a very complicated situation.”

“He couldn’t leave his new love for a dead one?”

“What would you do, Parker?  Would you leave a new love if your old love came back from the dead?”

“Probably not.  The old love could be a zombie, maybe.”

Grandmamma laughed quietly before saying, “Even though we may have a soul mate, the one that belongs to us, doesn’t mean we have forever with them.  We could have a day or a week, a month maybe.”

“That’s very sad, Grandmamma.  My dad was my mommy’s soul mate wasn’t he?”

“Yes he was, baby.”

“I miss my daddy, and my mommy.”  I let a small tear escape my eyes.  I had to be strong, my bubby told me before he left for college.  He told me not to cry, and be a big girl.  He is all I have other than Grandmamma, and I can’t let him down.

“I know you do sweetie.  You’ll see them one day.”

“If my mommy finds a new love, do you think daddy will take her will to live?”

She shook her head without hesitation.  “Your daddy loved your mommy very much.  He would never take her will to live.”

If only I understood then that you can’t take someone’s will to live if it’s already gone.

But, you see, my grandmother told her stories no matter what emotion they evoke.  Her story had something behind them—a lesson I guess you could say.

The lesson, I learned was that you may love someone very much, but things change, and people die.  The thing is that you can’t quit living your life or you’ll end up like my mother.

And right now, that story was poking me in the shoulder telling me to get on with my life.

Dallas, and Amy’s offer sounded like a good one—a once in a lifetime opportunity.  How often am I going to get offered a job with housing, and get to pick my own schedule?  

But, I couldn’t just up and move to another state without knowing if I could trust them.  They could be tricking me for all I know.

Time to do some research.

On my laptop, I pull up my favorite search engine.  These people have money.  Usually people with money can be googled.  Typing in the name ‘Dallas Gabbard’ the search pulls up a link for a cruise ship company.  Gabbard Luxury Cruise. 

I scroll through the website, but the only thing I manage to find is prices and dock information.  Next step, Wikipedia.  

I know, I know—not everything on Wikipedia can be believed.  But if someone went through enough trouble of putting a Wikipedia page about the owner of a cruise ship company, it must be true.

Right there in black, and white:  Gabbard Luxury Cruise was founded in 1979 by Douglas Gabbard, who then passed it on to son Dallas Gabbard when diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and could no longer run the company.  Dallas Gabbard is now and has been the owner since 1999.

I pull out my phone, and take a leap of faith.

“Amy, this is Parker Jordan.”

“Hello, Parker.”  She sounds nervous.

“Amy, I am calling to accept the job offer if it’s still available.”

I heard a loud squeal followed by Amy yelling for Dallas.  “Of course the offer is still available.  When can you be here?”

“Next week?”

“Sounds good.  Would you rather take a plane or bus?”  Hmm, which death trap shall I choose?

Since the plane would be quicker, she books my flight for next Saturday at 8 am.  One week.  “Are you still in New York?” I quickly ask her.

She confirms that they are staying at the Empire.  

“Would you like to join us for lunch tomorrow?  You are probably hesitant about just moving to a different state with people you barely know.”

She read my mind, and since the Empire is not very far so I answer with a quick yes and hang up.  

Today has been the longest day of my life.  My final recital as a student of Juilliard had been a success, but along with that I dumped my boyfriend, got a job offer, rode to dinner in a car, and accepted the job offer.  I haven’t been sleeping lately so any series of events would exhaust me.

Hopefully, this exhaustion is enough to give me a restful night of sleep.  Tomorrow is a brand new day and for once since my grandmother died, I feel like I can breathe.