Before I begin the chapter, a huge thank you to everyone for reading the story... It feels really encouraging to see the number of views/visits climb up :) Thank you... A big thanks to all those who reviewed the story so far. I was thrilled to see them and I'm really happy you took time out to share your views. Really appreciated. A shout-out to those who followed/favorited the story too.. again, it's very encouraging. :)
Another note of thanks to LeShyWolf (Elle) for coming up with the cool nickname for the OC :)
Thank you all again.. enjoy reading, and do let me know your views/comments/critique/suggestions.
"And that, gentlemen, is how the project map looks like as of now, we're on schedule with our tasks... I will of course keep you updated with the progress and we'll follow up in our next meeting. I'll be available for any questions or assistance meanwhile. So… shall we call it a day then?" The confident voice of Natasha boomed in the conference room, as she stood beaming in the glow of the projector screen behind her, and concluded the meeting successfully. Her project was going on pretty smoothly till now, without any bumps.
She hi-fived the rest of the consultants in her team as they gathered their papers and shut their laptop lids. They laughed, joked and discussed some last minute matters as they wrapped up.
Outside the setting sun was painting the horizon in hues of fiery reds and oranges, a few fluffy tufts of clouds glided lazily, adding to the many shades of the evening sky. Strains of a jazz melody playing on an accordion floated in the air, as a musician played on a street corner. New Orleans was ushering into another lively evening.
"Hey what say, we catch a drink together before hitting home… I swear I could use some alcohol to clear my head after all that number crunching man!" – said Mike, one of the consultants, shaking his head as if to shirk the numbers from his brain.
"Alcohol or a pretty face ? eh Mikey ?"-Teased Christie, the analyst, giving Mike a wink.
"That won't hurt now… I've heard Rousseau's welcomes some really hot tourists…" Mike replied cheekily.
"Of course, trust Mike to be updated on that news", smiled Arthur, the financial specialist.
Everyone on the team laughed together.
"What did I miss, comrades? I'd love a laugh too!" asked an upbeat Natasha who had just hung up on the phone, after speaking to her parents, sharing with them, in a nutshell her day and asking about theirs.
"Hey Tashie, we were thinking about hanging out a bit, catching a couple drinks before calling it a night. What say? Will be fun, besides Mike's on the lookout for a new girlfriend" explained Christie, as everyone nodded between giggles.
"Well, who am I to ruin Mike's chances, however... poor they may be…" Natasha joked.
"Where to ?" she asked
"Rousseau's" replied Christie
"Ah cool, that ain't far from my place either..." smiled Natasha
"C'mon now Tashie… We all know you don't like drinking much... and the bar being near your house is such a lame excuse, You're tagging along just to enjoy my company, eh gorgeous... Admit it... You love me too !", Mike said, swinging his arm on Natasha's shoulder and flirting with her in jest.
"Mike, the bars have non-alcoholic drinks too, and besides honey, as for loving you, you're gonna have to find someone else mon amie, I'm too good for you…" Natasha replied, wriggling out from under Mike's arm, eliciting a theatrical sigh of heartbreak from him, and laughter from everyone else.
The merry party proceeded to one of the most famous joints of the lively French Quarter.
Engrossed in conversation with her colleagues Natasha didn't quite take notice of her surroundings, until they had neared Rousseau's. As the realization hit her, she was inevitably reminded of Klaus, or Nik as he was to her now, she reminisced of especially their last, rather intense rendezvous. She silently prayed to God that she wouldn't bump into him. She genuinely sympathized with the strange guy at some level, especially when she recalled his sad vacant eyes, when he'd spoken of his family… but…she'd had enough insanity to last her at least a week. She was a tad shifty as they entered the bar, but she relaxed once she glanced around and saw that her prayer had been answered. He wasn't anywhere in sight.
The group of 6 seated themselves at the bar stools and made themselves comfortable.
Natasha was feeling good and relieved. Her mind was calm. Conversation, laughs and jokes were on free flow. The slightly older team members Arthur, Cressida and Leo left after about 30 minutes, leaving the Gen-Y to carry on the party. Mike and Christie, both a few drinks down were playing some silly drinking game. Natasha smiled at them patronisingly and swivelled around on her bar stool shaking her head slightly. "A virgin Mojito please!" she called out.
"You won't join your friend's drinking game?" A cheery feminine voice called out.
Natasha looked up from her smartphone, and saw the bartender girl smiling at her, holding out her drink.
"Oh no!" Natasha laughed. "Someone has to be sober enough to make sure they're back home tonight… and at work tomorrow, without a concussion or lost teeth or stolen wallets",
"Besides, I don't like alcohol much…" she added smilingly.
"Non-Alcohol lovers are in very short supply here…" The bartender joked… "You must be the team-leader I'm guessing… responsible and prudent, and also an ambitious achiever I feel…you looked younger than all your friends" she added.
"Guilty as charged" Natasha mockingly bowed her head, hand on heart.
The bartender laughed, as Natasha joined. "You're quite perceptive, are you a psychoanalyst by any chance ? ", Natasha winked at the girl, as she took a swig from her Mojito.
"Wow, not as perceptive as you are! I am, actually a Psych major", the bartender replied, impressed.
"Bull's eye" Natasha joked.
"Hi, I'm Natasha Rai" she said, holding out her hand.
"I'm Cami" the bartender replied, shaking her hand happily.
"Actually it's Camille O'Conell, but I prefer Cami" she added quickly.
"I'll stick to Cami then" Natasha replied smiling.
"Thank you by the way...", Cami said.
"Well... You're welcome... but what for exactly ?", Asked an amused Natasha.
"For not stating like 90% of the others that I had a French name..." Cami joked.
"Oh that... Well then I guess I owe you some gratitude too... for not pointing out I had a Russian name even though I looked absolutely nothing like a Russian..." added Natasha cheerily.
The girls both laughed together
"So, you're in town on work I'm guessing" Cami asked, wiping a shiny glass.
"You're right ! I'm a management consultant, here on an assignment" Natasha replied. "What about you? You've been here a long time?"
"Oh no, I just moved in here a few months ago myself", said Cami slowly, with a half hearted smile, which didn't reach her eyes.
Natasha guessed it was a topic best left off-limits, as she sensed Cami's mood change ever so slightly.
"So, psych major huh! That's pretty interesting." Natasha said.
"Yeah. I think it's extremely interesting to study and understand all about the mind. Behaviours, temperaments… my specialization is abnormal psychology" Cami quipped.
"Cool… You know I've always had a bit of an interest in psychology, paranormal psychology to be honest actually… Always been a bit of a stickler for the supernatural" Natasha said with a chuckle, "Used to read up on it whenever I could… It is so fascinating, so much to learn… you know the afterlife… the soul… the subconscious… finding out the truth behind the unknown…" "I'm coming across as a bit freaky aren't I?" Natasha said with a smile that was apologetic yet mischievous.
"Well then I guess I'm a freak as well…" Cami smiled. "I like that subject too."
"You know it has always amazed me, to think that our own minds, our subconscious has so much potential… we can do so much if we only put this potential into use… you know like be the masters of our thoughts and subsequently our destiny, just by using our brain's prowess… we could have so much more control upon our facilities…" Natasha narrated with a faraway look in her eyes and a twinkle of a smile on her face…
Cami glanced at this girl sitting opposite to her… The words she had just said suddenly struck her like an electric impulse… and triggered many thoughts within her.
She recalled the cryptic graphic messages scrawled on pieces of paper that she had begun finding lately. She had deciphered one of them, that had lead her to a 1919 newspaper, yet she was utterly confused at what could be the conclusions and the repercussions of her recent eerie find. By and by she had realized that she had written those messages to herself. She knew it had something to do with her recent reactions (or lack of them) towards Sean's death, and with Klaus. She was astounded at the incomprehensible changes in her emotional space, and she was desperate for answers…
She remembered, like a long forgotten memory, enshrouded in fogs of uncertainty that she had promised herself to come out of something, some conundrum her mind was plunged into. She remembered lamenting to her uncle that she despised herself for suddenly, almost getting over Sean's death, and she didn't even comprehend how or why…
Natasha broke out of her reverie and setting the now empty glass of Mojito down on the counter glanced at Cami, whose face wore a confused expression, with a frown taking its place amongst her features.
"Hey Cami! Are you okay ?" Natasha asked
"What… yes…oh yes… I'm okay… I'm sorry I-I was just thinking of something…It's nothing….I-I'm okay..Thanks" Cami shuffled about a bit flustered, smiling nervously.
Natasha was morbidly curious… but at least had the better sense to not invade Cami's space.
"By the way, what exactly did you mean when you said we could be the master's of our thoughts and destiny?" Cami asked with a lot of sudden interest.
"Well, I'm sure you've heard that we use only a minuscule percentage of our brain's powers to use in everyday life.." Natasha began and Cami nodded in agreement,
"It's just that I believe, and it is being proven nowadays, that if we only learn how to tap into that unused potential, if we learn to activate our sub-conscious, we can control our actions and our environment much more effectively…" She explained…
"Now I'm not talking about things like telekinesis or hypnotizing everyone around to make them do your bidding... though that could be a tiny bit exciting..." She chuckled.
"It's just like tweaking the mind's programming to perform higher tasks you know. Like using more processors." Natasha finished indulgently.
"Have you read 'The Secret'? Rhonda Byrne?" Natasha asked after a pause.
"Yes, I have… but I must admit I'm a bit of a sceptic. I couldn't bring myself to believe in it totally. It's fascinating nevertheless." Cami replied. "Do you believe?"
"I was a sceptic too… I still am, about a lot of things.. but my mum made me believe in it. It works you know… the power of our thoughts is real… I can vouch for that", Natasha said, with a glint in her eyes.
Cami was lost in thought again… her brain was churning at a stupendous speed. She wanted to gain control of her mind, her emotions once more, and perhaps, this girl could help… perhaps she could lead Cami to her answers…
"How can I do that? How can I harness the power of my thoughts? Do you know how to?" Cami asked.
Natasha replied "Not an awful lot...look I'm no expert, my mom is much more adept at these… but yeah I've been trying for a while now... We start by meditating, by calming ourselves and our thoughts. It's not that easy you know… Takes time" Natasha smiled.
"I can tell you about some books... there's one by Joseph Murphy, about the powers of the subconscious mind, great for starters... you know I could lend it to you if you'd like... " Natasha offered.
"Yeah… yeah that'll be great…Thanks a lot… You know it's so strange yet interesting to be having this conversation with you right here right now," Cami said, feeling slightly dazed yet sincere.
"I agree… I don't get to indulge very often too… you can see my friends' interests are a tiny bit different" Natasha joked glancing towards Mike and Christie.
"Hey listen, It'd be great if we could hang out another time… I'd love to know more about all this, and I think I'll really enjoy your company." Cami told Natasha, with a smile, yet with a bit of an apprehension, not knowing how the latter would react.
Natasha flashed a big grin. "That'd be lovely…. I could use a new friend too"
Cami was happy and relieved. She beamed at Natasha and before she could say anything she was whisked away to attend to a customer.
Natasha was a very instinctive girl, her 6th sense was razor sharp and now, though she genuinely felt she and Cami connected well, she also felt as if Cami was looking for help, and that Natasha could be the one to give it to her.
'Since when did I become Mother Teresa though… a week into a new town and I'm already thinking of helping every second person I meet… Cami…Nik… get a hold girl' she thought to herself, a bit pompously, some vanity slightly threatening to creep in.
'Oh well… I'm a saint… time to now guide these wasted children back to their beds…' she thought smiling inwardly as she slid down the bar stool and proceeded towards Mike and Christie.
"Hello…there… you guys conscious enough to walk out or should I call for a tow truck?" Natasha joked slapping both of them on their backs.
Both Mike and Christie mumbled something about being sober enough to go home by themselves.
Natasha laughed… "You kids will never learn". She dialled for a taxi for the two of them.
Cami was back by then, and so Natasha took out her business card and handed it to Cami. "Here's my number… we should definitely catch up soon" she said with a warm smile.
The girls exchanged numbers, and Cami said sincerely, "Thanks a lot…"
She was about to say something else, when her eyes stood fixated at the entrance, and her smiling face immediately froze.
Natasha took notice after a minute and was confused. She followed Cami's line of sight and turned around to see Klaus standing at the entrance.
'Uh-oh-... And here comes an 8/10 chance that *poof* there goes my idea of a drama free and peaceful night', thought Natasha suddenly, and indeed it was a premonition of the next few hours that she would be spending...
Klaus's arrival was sudden and not entirely welcome for either Natasha or Cami, of course the latter had much stronger reasons for feeling so.
Natasha looked back at Cami, who still stared at Klaus. She looked somewhat angry. Unknown to anyone around, Klaus's presence had allowed Cami's repressed memories to come flooding back...
She recalled the fact that Klaus was a vampire, (as was Marcel), she recalled that he had compelled her to forget things, that he had used her in his machinations, that he had conspired in killing someone responsible for Sean's behaviour... she felt outraged, yet kept it under control. She knew now, in this moment, that those messages had everything to do with the predicament she and Klaus shared, she was trying to tell her non-compelled self the realities of this man, this town, spilling over with vampires.
Klaus walked in and smiled at Natasha which she returned out of courtesy. He did the same to Cami which she returned with a sweet but rather superficial smile, nearly mocking in nature.
Natasha looked up at Klaus, whose face was now serious, a tad puzzled, a tad hurt. Natasha sensed something was up between these two… and her inquisitiveness rose again... she knew she had no business snooping around, yet she was curious to find out more about their dynamics.
The cab Natasha had called for had come by then, and Natasha held her hand out to Cami as she said her goodbye.
Cami squeezed Natasha's hand with both of her own and said with an ever subtle hint of urgency, "I'll see you soon".
And with that, Cami retreated into the kitchen.
In the kitchen, back pressed to the door, Cami was thinking hard...she barely knew this new girl, she was already paying the price by befriending the seemingly harmless and charming $100 guy... should she take a chance with another stranger?
Cami was so desperate by this point that she decided if Natasha could be of any help at all, even a trifle, in helping Cami regain control of her brain, it would be well worth the risk...
She saved Natasha's number in her cell-phone... she would give her a call soon... she would try anything possible... she wouldn't be manipulated anymore.