Part 11: A New Season
Ahhh, Spring! When hope springs eternal, and the flowers give forth
their new blossoms-
Ack, bad poet attack. I can't think straight this morning, Gaele mused
as she languidly stretched out, pen in one hand, journal in the other, lying
on her stomach, feeling the mild breeze waft across her body and making the
curtains swell and fall in a lazy rhythm. The lake water lapped at the shore,
a soothing sound through the open window.
School was out for the year, and I aced nearly all my exams, except for
Botany... I got a stupid old B. I have to admit, Dr. Chang turned out to
be a good teacher, but he's a real tough pain in the butt when it come to
those cute little surprise quizzes he likes to give after a nice, long weekend.
He apparently is a staunch believer in students using their free time to
devote to study, and not to frivolous activities. He said he didn't give
out A's very often, anyway. Oh, gee. Thanks. What a consolation. At
least he did say I was a good worker. Hmmm, maybe having a prof who is friends
with Don isn't so much of an advantage, after all. Maybe they're beeing tougher
on me so as not to be accused of favoritism? But what the heck, that's behind
me, now. I'm now free to pursue my primary course of study in the Fall...
and I know I can get into the classes I want the most. Don has been a big
help. All those ad-libbed quizzes on what he knows I'd been studying, reviewing
for tests and critiquing my papers before I handed them in. Pretty cool
to have him for a tutor, though sometimes he's not as much fun to be around
as I'd like him to be... ah well. Should I complain? Nah. It's
Summertime!
She sighed happily and got out of bed, pulled on a light robe, and went
downstairs to see if Don was up yet.
At the threshold of his room, she tapped lightly on his door. "Ding Dong!
It's me, Gaele, daughter of the illustrious Angelos," she sang out softly.
"Requesting permission to enter the premises, sir."
"Hm, Gaele," Don muttered from within. "Mission granted."
Gaele entered the darkened room, went to the window, and pulled the cord
to open the blinds.
Don put up a hand to shield his face from the sudden invasion of light.
"Excuse me sir, ehm, ahem, I'm looking for a Mister Rip... Van... Winkle,
or-rr... is it Wankel? Something like that. Are you he? Mr. Wankel?"
"Mmh... Wankel? Mazda, desu ka? Ahm, neh?" Don said in his half sleep.
Puzzled, she stared at him, then spluttered with amusement, spraying his
face, which made him grimace.
"Gah... ackh! Gaele, that's disgraceful, spitting on me," he muttered, rolling
his head to the side to wipe his face on the pillow. His eyes blinked open,
and he squinted at her. "Whatta you want, not get enough things going, already?"
Gaele giggled at his confused words. "Mr. Tello, it's time to wake up."
He gave her a pained expression. "Time izzit?"
"Late! Almost noon."
His eyes flew open wide. He hissed softly between his teeth in annoyance,
as he rolled up into a sitting position. "Why didn't you wake me? I told
you not to let me sleep in."
"I just did," Gaele said, grinning.
"I told you to wake me up at nine!"
"Surprise..." Gaele showed him his watch. As his eyes focused on it, he slumped
and lay back against the headboard in relief.
"Between your keeping me awake half the night with your chatter, and your
silly games in the morning... I'm gonna be a permanant guest of honor at
the Happy Hotel."
"Hey," Gaele sat on the edge of the bed and patted his knee. "Just relax,
will you? You're the one who was doing the talking, last night. I was just
listening."
Don's attempt at sternness dissolved into a quiet chuckle. "I suppose you're
right."
"So you are properly awake then?"
"Yes, I'm, properly awake. Thank you. Was far more pleasant to awake to your
silly voice than some electronic alarm."
"Ha! Well, I'm off for a shower, then. See you in a bit."
Later, as she was brushing out her damp hair, she heard Don say an
uncharacteristically long string of oaths from downstairs.
"What happened," Gaele called out.
She heard something between a groan and a growl. "I can't believe this
fornicating e-mail..."
"People don't use those much any more, do they?" Gaele said, continuing with
her toilette.
"Sure they do. I did get the IP number... I think it was from some server
in Nepal, of all places. I had a message from there, and I was in the middle
of downloading it, and I got disconnected, dammitall!"
"Jeez, Don, it's not like you to be so upset about this sort of thing."
"That may have been news of Seth, Gaele! It wasn't a corporate address, it
was from a religious organization. Like from a monastery, or something. I
just have a strong feeling... that it might have been him. It wouldn't have
been Leo, he avoids computers if he can help it."
As he spoke, Gaele had dashed down the stairs to peer over his shoulder.
"Do you really think it might have been Seth?" she asked breathlessly.
Don leaned back and stretched, resting his hands on top of his head, as he
watched the screen. "Let's hope he realizes it didn't go through and sends
another one." He looked at Gaele. "I admit I feel awkward about having to
face your mother without any good news, yet. Thing is, if I don't hear from
Seth, I'm going to feel obligated to personally go to Nepal to look for him.
She's going to get sick from all this worrying."
"You're going to Nepal?" Gaele's heart sank. "But... I wanted to go out to
Fallen Leaf Lake."
"Geez, haven't you had enough of lakes?" Don got up and went to the refrigerator.
"You have a perfectly good one, right out here. Why don't you go on out and
jump in it?"
Gaele stared at him, not sure if he was annoyed or just teasing her, but
as he prepared breakfast, he hummed his own vague rendition of the tune she'd
been singing in the shower, and Gaele smiled.
Don soberly stared at the monitor of his laptop, as their plane banked for
its final approach. Looking out the window, Gaele could now see the silhouette
of the Santa Cruz Mountains in the setting sun, and then the fog that hid
the coastline. In a few minutes, they'd be in Monterey... and then home.
"Hey, there it is again," he said excitedly. He grasped the edges of the
monitor, as though to help it along. "Come on in..."
"What is it?"
"It's a message re-send, you know, from Kathman- YES!" Don held his fists
out in front of him like the way Devon did when he'd won a particularly difficult
level on a video game. "GOT it, this time." He punched the enter key to open
the message, and scanned the few lines quickly, his mouth ajar with anticipation.
"What does it say, who's it-"
"It's Seth," Don said, his face falling a little. "He's uh, okay. He... wants
to stay on with Leo." He closed his mouth and stared through the screen for
a few moments. "At least they both are okay," he said at length.
"Should I be happy?" Gaele asked, confused by Don's arbitrary reaction.
"Sure," Don said, soberly putting the laptop away. "You'd better fasten your
seat belt, we're about to land."
"Correct me, but you look disappointed."
Don closed his eyes and shook his head. "No, it's not that... it's just that
I will still feel obligated to go after Seth. Like some errand boy. Your
mother's been calling me these last couple of weeks while I was still in
Europe... 'Don, it's Spring, go get Seth! Please!' I admire your mother's
persistance, she just won't take any excuse for an answer. She'd make one
heck of a salesman, that's for certain." He gave her a wry grin. "It will
be easier to just go out there and talk to him in person. Maybe he will come
back with me at least for a while, just so he can have a talk with his poor
mother."
"And then poor old Don can have a break," Gaele said, patting his shoulder.
"Would you like to come out with me to Nepal?"
"I thought you'd never ask."
Gaele12