The lights were on at the
house and her father's car was in the garage. A good sign that he was home, she
hoped. Her old key still worked on the door and she quietly slipped inside.
There was a murmur of sound and she followed it to the den. The door was
closed. She opened it and was greeted with the sound of childish laughter.
"Dad?" She
stood uncertainly at the door.
Her father quickly
clicked the remote and turned off the tv.
"Sydney." He
stared at her a moment, features blank. "If you are here to deliver a
sermon, I'm not in the mood to hear it." He reached for the tumbler on the
end table beside him. It was partially filled with amber liquid and, as in
emphasis of his point, took a deep swallow.
Sydney moved over to
the small bar and pulled out her own tumbler. Looking over the varied and
expensive liquor choices, she settled on her favorite bourbon. Her father had
always kept a well stocked bar. Sloane had said her father had gone on a
drinking binge after the CIA released him from solitary confinement, but she
had no memory of him ever being drunk around her. True, he would always have a
glass of wine with his meal and often have a drink after dinner. It had been
that way before her mother 'died'. Of course, she had no knowledge of what he
did once she went to bed.
"So, Dad, what
were you watching?" she said, trying to sound cheerful. "Dad?"
she prompted, when he didn't reply.
"Family
videos," he admitted with obvious reluctance.
She looked at him,
puzzled. "Family videos? You have family videos?" A flood of memories
washed over her. She had forgotten about the video camera, but, at one time, it
had seemed like another member of their family.
"I converted them
to DVD's two years ago. The video tape was on the verge of gumming up. I
managed to save most of them," Jack stated flatly.
"How come you never
told me about them?"
"I didn't think
you were interested. You..., at the time, Sydney, you weren't talking to me. I
figured the tapes were of memories you'd rather forget." Her father's face
was void of emotion. Sydney recalled Dixon's words. Strong emotion was
skillfully being covered by an empty mask. Their estrangement apparently caused
her father a great deal of pain. She wish she had understood him better ten
years ago.
"I'd like to watch
them with you, Dad." The memories of her early years were dim and
disjointed. She couldn't even be sure which ones were real and which ones were
made up. Was the image of her mother teaching her to bake cookies a figment of
imagination, fueled by the loneliness of her youth? Had her father once been
the charming man, with an easy smile and exuberant laugh of her memories? Her
father hadn't answered and she resorted to a tactic that had always worked when
she was a kid. "Please, Daddy?"
He sighed and nodded.
Happily, she sat down next to him, legs curled to her side and rested her head
on her father's shoulder, something she hadn't done since she was a little
girl. "Can we start from the beginning?"
She felt him stiffen
slightly. "The very beginning?"
"Uh hunh. You
never really talked about that time in your life." She heard him draw in a
breath. "I know, Dad, at least, I know now. It's a part of your life you'd
rather forget." She spoke quickly, afraid he wouldn't let her explain how
important it was for her to see her parents before their world was turned upside
down. "I want to know you better, Dad. I want to understand who you are
and who you were. I am your daughter, and yet, I know so little about you. It
would mean a lot to me."
He considered a moment,
then picked up the tv remote and pressed it on. He switched to the more
complicated DVD remote and pressed a few buttons. Sydney watched the images in
fascination and Jack reached for his glass, refilled it and took another giant
swallow.
The video started with
an obviously uncomfortable Jack standing still while Laura adjusted the camera.
Her mother looked so young and innocent. Her father was wearing a three piece
suit and looked like he'd rather be elsewhere. Finally, the settings correct,
Laura walked over to Jack and gave him a quick kiss of encouragement.
"I'll be the
laughingstock of the school, Laura."
"No, you won't.
All the girls will be envying me my handsome boyfriend and all the guys will be
..., well, the guys will probably laugh," she conceded. "Do you
remember your lines?"
"Of course,"
said youthful Jack, slightly affronted.
"Okay, then let's
start." She faced the camera. "Good afternoon. I am Laura Anderson.
This video was prepared for 'English Poetry - the Romantic Period'. As part of
my presentation, I have a video rendition of what could be considered a typical
proposal for the period." She turned and Jack moved to her, gracefully
slipping to one knee.
"My beloved,"
Jack intoned. "You are my greatest treasure. You are my perfect candle,
lighting my way. You are my eternity. Our souls are knotted together through
immortality. Tell me, my dearest, that you feel the same. I cannot live another
day without you at my side. Please make me the happiest of men and say you will
be my wife?"
"That was good,
Jack. Maybe we should try it again, though, just in case..."
"No!" he
interrupted forcefully, swiftly reverting back to a standing position.
"Laura, those lines ... they are ..."
"So
romantic?" she offered.
"So cheesy. My
god, it's a wonder anyone ever got married then. They probably died laughing
before the lady could accept."
Laura laughed, rich and
deep, then pulled Jack to her. She gave him a gentle kiss on his lower lip,
then a full kiss. "Thank you, sweetheart." She frowned. "Ow."
She patted him on the chest. "You've got something hard in your pocket,
Jack. Can we move it to your pants?"
He laughed. "I've
got something hard there, too," he responded suggestively. "Can you
get the box?" Laura reached inside his jacket and pulled out a square box.
"Open it,"
Jack encouraged. She did and found a velvet jewelers box. Her hands were
trembling as she pulled back on the lid. Jack pulled the ring from the case. He
held her hand and then, gathering courage asked, "Will you marry me, Laura
Anderson? I have no flowery words. All I can say is I love you with all my
heart and I want to spend the rest of my life with you at my side."
Laura threw her arms
around him. "Yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes, YES!" She kissed him again and
this time it deepened. "Oh my god, Jack. The camera. Wait. Let me turn it
off first. No, not you. The camera."
The screen went blank.
Jack hit the pause button, trying to get his emotions under control.
"Dad, I didn't
know you were such a romantic!"
"Romantic? No. I
was a fool. Cuvee was right. God, what an idiot I was."
"Cuvee?"
"You remember when
they were torturing me in Kashmir?" She nodded. "Cuvee told me he was
our 'matchmaker'. He thought it quite funny that my ego was so big, that I
could believe a woman like your mother would go for a man like me." Sydney
heard the pain and bitterness her father was desperately trying to hide.
"Just looking at the old videos, I realize he was right. I wasn't the type
of guy a woman like your mother would choose."
"Dad, I think you
are wrong. The woman I saw in that video loved you. You could see it in the way
she touched you, the way she looked at you when you weren't looking."
"Sydney, that's
just wishful thinking on your part. Every child wants its parents to have that
fairy tale love."
Sydney was unconvinced,
but she held her tongue. "So, what's next?"
