A Million Heartbeats

Nerissa

After her encounter with Robert, Nerissa walked back home. On her mind was that odd guy she had just talked to. He wasn’t like any other guy she had met, or like any guy at her school. He was very different and she had perceived that on his eyes. That bleak look he had given her with those grey blue eyes, as he answered the door. It was as if Nerissa were some kind of intruder he wanted out of his home.

When Nerissa arrived at her house, she opened the door to the living room where her mother, Tess, was talking on the phone. Nerissa didn’t want to interrupt her and she just seated quietly on the couch next to her. Her eyes began to wander in the pictures hanging on the wall as If she was looking at them for the first time. Her favorite of all was the one with the silver frame in which she was with her older brother Jerome. She missed him whenever he was away. Jerome was in the army and he would go away every six months. He was eight years older. He was a very caring and protective older brother. More than a brother, it was like a father to her most of the time. He would give her advice on all sorts of problems and whatever she asks him, he would always have an answer for her. Every time he came to her mind, which was every day, her eyes would fill up with tears. She just wanted him to be safe and to return home soon.

“So did you find anything about your cat?”. Tess asked her as she had just hanged up the phone.

“No mom, no one in the neighborhood seems to know anything about him”. She replied.

“He must be out there somewhere, cats are like that honey, they like to go out wandering, but they always go back to their house”.

“Why is Achilles still missing after two days then?”.

“Well, I don’t know honey we cannot do anything but wait”.

“Did you know that people just moved into the house next door?”. Nerissa asked her mom.

“Already? It was put up for sale just a few days ago”. Tess answered.

“I know, that’s why I’m surprised”.

“Did you talk to someone in that house?”.

“Yes a guy, but he was not very kind”.

“What do you mean, did he insulted you?”.

“No, he just seemed to be on a very bad mood, he barely talked to me”.

“I wonder where they are from”. Tess said.

“I think they’re from England”.

“Why do you think that?”.

“The guy had a British accent, and his skin was kind of pale”.

“British huh?, maybe we should go over and introduce ourselves, invite them to have dinner with us”.

“We don’t know anything about them mom, and I doubt they are going to accept a dinner invitation from total strangers”.

“But I’ve heard that European people are very hospitable and kind”.

“That guy sure wasn’t”.

Nerissa then went to her room and plopped on the bed. She looked at the ceiling fan spinning above her. It was 4:45 pm. She reached for a fashion magazine on her nightstand. She loved to get ideas from the models on the pages, make up ideas, hairdo ideas and clothing styles. And she liked to open the pages with perfume samples and rub it on her wrist, and if she likes it, she would then rub it on her neck. She was the kind of girl whose room had to be in perfect order, from her socks on the drawer separated by colors, to her clothes and shoes on the closet separated by color, size, shape, and style. The only thing she didn’t have on her room was a television, she have never liked to watch television as she considered it a waste of time. Instead she would adventure inside the pages of her books in her free time, with Achilles on her lap.

 To her, reading had become like a fortress where she could run to every time she wanted to escape from reality. Especially since she had lost her beloved father Dylan to Leukemia a year ago. It had been the hardest and most painful experience she had gone through in her life and that was why she resented her brother’s absence so much. Her father had been so caring about his family, always working hard to put a roof over their heads, he would always place his family needs before his. She just couldn’t understand why those kinds of things had to happen to good people like her father.

Tess had become overprotective of Nerissa after Dylan’s passing. Most of the time it was just them at home; she would do anything to keep her daughter from any kind of danger. Losing his partner of twenty-seven years and having his older son so far away from home, not knowing if she would be able to see him again, was not easy. And so she was willing to do the impossible to protect her young daughter.