Crests Of Waves

[Scare]

26th January, 827 A.S.

Part 2 - "I ran away from you"

---

At 4 AM, Marisa and Alex where the only ones left.

"...ched him in the face?" *laughs*
"Ye, he left me no other choice! Haha..."
"You could have just walked away." *laughs harder*
"Well for sure he won't do it again."
"If he ever dares to leave his house again!"
"Wondering what he told the doc in the hospital?"
“You just smashed his mouth, I doubt he’s ever gonna say anything haha...”
“Probably hah….”

Both silently stare at their glasses for a minute.

“How’re you feeling?”
“I’m...alright...why?”
“I didn’t forget about it, Alex…so?”
“Well… I don’t know, it’s been so long now. But it still feels a lot like it just happened 3 days ago. There was barely a day I didn’t think of her and of how much I miss her.
Even though we got him, I never really finished and maybe won’t ever.”
“I feel it…but why this year though.” “What you mean?”
“I mean it ain’t the first year she’s away and it’s her birthday. Why did you want us all to come together this time?”
“...You just said it. We’re barely all hanging out together nowadays and sometimes I really miss it. I kind of wanted to use it for a real cause to us all to gather again. Just like in old times.”
“Oh Al’…” *takes Alex’s hand* “I...I know you miss these days. I do as well. Really. But it won’t be the same anymore. At least until we all gather again after our retirement.”
“Well, I guess I just need time to pass and things to happen to get to this point with my feelings as well. The logical side of me is aware of that. But not the emotional side.”
Alex looks at Marisa and starts to smile after a moment. Their eyes slowly turn glassy as they both look at each other thinking of Zara.
He takes his glass and lifts it up slightly.
“A cheer for Zara…” Both clink glasses.

When both calmed again, Alex started to talk about a long overdue topic.
“May I ask you something weird?” “Sure.”
“I mean it’s like 30 years ago but…why did you quit back when we were together.”
“Alex…that’s so damn long ago. How come you wanna talk about it now?”
“Well…I’ve been talking with the guys an-“ “- So you were talking to Greg, this fool -”
“- yea erm...anyway not only him but also Mason. And actually, it was about starting to date again and the possibility that it might help getting over… stuff. And I thought maybe if we get to talk about what went wrong back then it would help me somehow. Apart from that, we haven’t talked about it a single time ever since.”
“Well…to be honest, you haven’t done anything wrong. Really. And it wasn’t about my feelings as well. I swear. There was just something coming up in my life with that time and I couldn’t handle both.”
“So it wasn’t about your feelings for me back then? You still felt the same? Is that why you disappeared for so long as well?”
“Yes. And when I felt like I could handle your presence again, with the feelings I had for you later on, I started to come back.”
“I always thought you were just done with me.” “No, it was really about these…things.”
“And how has it been for you then, when you knew that Zara and me would…date?”
“Sh**. In the beginning I felt really bad. But it also helped to get over stuff faster. So in the end it was probably not as bad, at least in a wider sense.”
“Oh man…I’m so sorry really, I didn’t know…”
“Alex it’s fine. It’s like 30 years ago and you’ve been such a great friend. I wouldn’t want anything to be different.”
“If you say so…” “I mean it, really.” Marisa takes Alex’s hand again and gives him an approving nod and a short smile. “Anyway back to the topic. Since you know what it was all about back then, it probably won’t help you much with your…intention still. It might sound weird but, why don’t you try out a relation with people from your past? Like old relationships from your youth.”
“Well there aren’t too many actually. There was you…Zara… and a girlfriend I had for some months when I was 15 or so.”
“Why did you quit back then?” “Actually because she moved and we barely had opportunities to see each other during that time…”
“Was it that far away?”
“Rheinland.” Marisa choked on her Whisky and spat it right into Alex’s face. “Thanks…”

“Sorry I...somewhat forgot we made peace for a second.” “Yeah I...saw that.”, Alex says while wiping the Whisky off his face.
“But it should not be as easy to find her I guess. I don’t even know her orientation nor am I able to guess. I can’t recall she ever mentioned something about that. All I know basically is...that she’s originally from Rheinland and her name. But that’s it.”
“Well, what was her name?” “Lena Wolff.” “That’s a rather cliched name, I gotta say.”
“Yeah, thought the same back then.”
“Why did you never tell me about her?”
“Well it was in my youth firstly. Apart from that she’s rheinlandic and it ain’t so long ago I could have been killed for telling anyone...or at least become some kind of target.”
“Well the borders are open now, more or less. I’d say that’s your chance. You could also go on vacation there or so, if you can’t find her in the end.”
“Yeah vacation would actually be nice. But it’s sh** to go alone.”
“I would go with you, but someone needs to care of the ship, while you’re abroad. And Mason is currently quite busy with your project.”
“That’s what I’m saying…hm…I wouldn’t like to take Gregor with me. I don’t wanna carry him home each time we enter a damn bar.”
“What about Ryker, he wanted to go on vacation anyway, if I got that right.”
“With Tessa, not alone. And I definitely won’t consider taking my kids with me.”
“You know, I’m slowly running out of options...whatever I’m just gonna organize something so Mason will accompany you.”
“Nah, let him be. He’s the only one who can handle...that.”
“By the way, when are we finally allowed to speak about IT openly?” “Whenever...the main construction is done.”
“Well it ain’t too far away then. However, I’m talking to him tomorrow”
“No really, don’t do it. I need him to do his task.”
“You know as much as I do that you’re just distracting. Al, you’ve been unhappy and...incomplete for so long and you won’t make it any better if you keep avoiding your very own personal problems over and over again. Unless you aren’t planning to fall into a hole once more, it’s absolutely inevitable for you to finally take your head up and LOOK FORWARD! You finally deserve to be happy. And don’t f****** even dare to come up with the replacement topic. I’ll figure out a solution and if not, it can wait until you guys are back.”
Alex stares at Marisa for a moment.
“Alright then, ask him. But it’s quite probable she’s already taken. It could also be she’s not living in Rheinland anymo -“ “- ALEX!” Marisa shouts.
The Bartender and the few remaining customers looked over to their table while Marisa kept her semi-aggressive face, straight looking at Reyes.

---