The couple smiled at Ana’s enthusiasm, and the taller woman answered. “Merry Christmas. It’s a perfect night.”
“Yes, it is. Merry Christmas,” Jerry added. He and Ana strolled on past and the couple went back to each other. Ana was so excited she floated up a few inches above the damp sidewalk.
Jerry tugged her hand and whispered sharply, “Hey! Get down.” She snickered and came back down to where her feet once again tread the sidewalk.
“Oh, Jerry! They heard me. They saw me.” She kissed him on the cheek.
He smiled, caught off guard. “Yeah, they sure did, didn’t they. Wow.”
Fingers laced warmly together, and the chill air ignored, Jerry and Ana explored Victoria’s Inner Harbour, greeting others on the promenade as they drifted past, everyone simply soaking up the peace of the late evening and the lights of the season.
TWO HOURS LATER Ana danced around the loft alone, humming quietly, happily to herself. She danced along the floor, passing through the furniture, and then up the walls and onto the ceiling, waltzing and twirling with an imaginary partner. She spun in mid-air and then began to fade as her strength finally waned and she was gently pulled back into the book. A second before she vanished, though, she blew a kiss in Jerry’s direction, and he stirred in his sleep as if he felt it.
THE NEXT MORNING Jerry was up bright and early, having slept more soundly than he had for months. After a quick breakfast of microwave-poached eggs and toast, he steeled himself and returned his mother’s call. While he verbally jousted with his mother, he watched Ana, who was partially hidden by the oriental dressing screen that blocked off the loft’s sleeping area. A pair of his jeans and a freshly unwrapped pale yellow dress shirt hung over the screen. He’d told her to pick anything she liked and Ana had gone directly to the jeans and shirt as if she knew how much they meant to him. It was like Isis all over again. Oh, well, he thought, they’re only clothes. Ana tossed her dress over the screen and pulled the shirt and jeans over to her side. The dress faded away, in a spooky, back-to-wherever-the-dead-go kind of way. Jerry shivered, then answered his mother’s query.
“That’s right, Mom, I have to work today, a holiday… Well, being the new guy, I get to cover the station over the holidays. Also, I’m trying to learn the ropes and I can’t do that at home on the couch… Yes, the shirt looks great. Thank you. I’ll be wearing it today at the office.”
Ana pirouetted out from behind the screen, dressed in Jerry’s new shirt and old jeans. She danced around him, making faces and coquettishly flashing wrists and ankles at him.
“Great—I’ll talk to you next week, then. Have a good time at the flower show, Mom… Yes, Mom, I’ll be seeing Ana again… I know you’re glad I’ve met someone. She’s quite a—what? Meet her? When? Do I have any say in this? This is my home, Mom, so it only follows that you wait for an invitation to come visit… Well, that particular week in February I’m in Seattle for a trade show. Let me check my schedule and see what—no, don’t buy your ticket, yet. That would be stupid… Mom, I’m not calling you stupid, I’m just saying don’t buy your ticket until I know if I’m even going to be in the city… Mom—Mother! Would you please—” His mother interrupted him again so he gave up trying to explain to her. “Good bye, Mom.” He hung up without waiting for her reply.
Ana settled beside him on the couch. Jerry sipped his decaf, trying to calm himself.
“She sounds like a Zhenshchina s siloy—a strong woman—Jerry.”
“That’s one of the more polite ways to put it.”
“Does she live alone?” Ana tucked one leg up under herself and turned to face him.
“My father chose death over life with her nagging.”
“He took his own life?!” She was shocked.
“No, it was a heart attack.”
“Then he did not choose, did he?”
“No, but I wouldn’t have been surprised if he did.”
“Do you miss him?”
“Of course.” He really did. Every day.
“Was he a stupid man?”
“Stubborn yes; stupid… far from it.”
“Then do you not think that if he had a choice, he would have chosen life with his family rather than death without?”
“Well, I was really only joking.”
“Jerry, death is no joke—trust me on this.” A tear tracked down her cheek and she wiped it away. “I have been given a chance to taste life again, but my family… where are they? What has happened to Alexei? Is my little brother happy where he is? Is he anywhere? What about Mashka? And Tatya and Olga? Are they all ghosts somewhere else?”
“I… don’t know.”
“Neither do I, but I do not think that they are.”
“How do you know?”
“How do I speak? How do I float? Why am I connected to a book of old poetry my mother gave me one Christmas? Jerry, your mother cares about you. If she did not care, she would not even waste breath, let alone time and money to telephone you.”
“But she’s—”
“Da. I know. She infuriates you, makes you angry.”
“She drives me crazy, and lately it’s been a really short trip.”
“Nurture patience.”
“Okay.” He smiled. “Who am I to argue with royalty?”
“Exactly! A commoner does not argue with a Royal—even a dead one. And for that reason, I wish to ask one further favour.”
“Couldn’t you just command me?”
“I would not dream of it.”
Jerry surrendered. “Then ask away.”
“Can we go for another walk?”
“Of course. It’s supposed to be a nice evening, again.”
“This afternoon. While it is light out.”
“I’m sorry, Ana, but I have to work. Besides, are you really ready for the glare of sunlight?”
“I… I think so. If not today, tomorrow then?”
“I have tomorrow off, so sure, I guess so. Maybe we should go for a drive, just to start with.”
“Yes! A drive! You have an automobile?”
“Sure. It’s parked out on the street.” He pointed at the window while he walked over to his desk and turned on his laptop. “I prefer to walk, but I have wheels. Tomorrow we’ll get out and explore. Deal?”
“Deal! I have not been in an automobile in so very long.”
“Then tomorrow it is. Now, I’d better get back to my proposal for Manny.”
He sat at the desk and suddenly Ana popped her head through the laptop’s screen so that it came right out of his document.
“All work and no play—”
“Pays the bills, young lady.”
Ana stuck her tongue out and withdrew from the computer.
JERRY STOOD QUIETLY in the doorway of the tech booth, proudly watching his staff at work. On the other side of the glass the on-air personality was interviewing a now-vacationing Santa. Santa was definitely just Rolf in a Santa hat and a false beard hanging around his neck, but in radio anything is possible.
“So, Santa, what are you going to do with your spare time now that the gifts have all been delivered?”
“Mrs. Claus gave me a home gym for Christmas so I’m going to exercise, I suppose.”
“Exercise? Is Santa going on a diet, too?”
“I don’t have a choice, young fella. The reindeer all unionized this year and say I have to lose weight, for safety reasons. They claim they’re getting old and can’t carry the weight like they used to.”
“Does that mean you have to cut back on gifts, too?”