Page 25 of Blackout

H: It’s no big deal. How long are we here today?

The question I asked received no response and I wasn’t even surprised. Once the fruit salad was gone, I decided to go in search of something to drink. I texted Zach as he still hadn’t replied.

H: I take it your non-response means I’m here for a while. Well, if that’s the case, I’m off to find something to drink. The beer garden looks good.

Eleven

I washed my dishes in the kitchenette sink of the Charcoal Lounge and left them to dry. Then I went in search for what was down the hallway Andy and I passed. There were three doors, and all of them were locked. No surprises there. None of the doors had names on them, so I was left wondering what was behind each door. Behind one door had to be Zach’s office, the other two at my best guess would have to be a cashier’s room and the security room.

Once I had entertained my curiosity, I climbed the two flights of stairs to the beer garden. Walking through the glass doors and over to the bar to order a drink, I handed over my card to pay, but the bartender shook his head.

‘It’s on the house,’ I was informed. He was dressed in the same uniform as Andy from security and Zach from the morning I’d awoken in the hotel room.

‘Thank you.’ I nodded my appreciation.

I took my drink from the bar and wandered through the crowd. It had started to build for the band from Melbourne that would entertain on this afternoon’s Sunday session. I found a spot at the edge of the beer garden that overlooked the river. The late afternoon sun washed over me and danced over the water, and the view from here was magical. I took a seat amongst the crowd, sipped my wine and got lost in my phone as I let the background music surround me.

‘Harley James?’ I heard from not too far away.

I looked up from my phone at the mention of my name. When I turned my head in the direction of the voice, I raised my eyebrow in question.

The woman who now stood in front of me said, ‘Zach texted me. He said you would be here in the bar and that I couldn’t miss you in your watermelon maxi dress.’

It took me a few seconds before the connection clicked. She was tall and lean with dark features that resembled the appearance of her older brother. It was Lex Black.

‘He sent you to check up on me?’

There was a companionable silence between us, but her smirk and raised eyebrow said she knew more than she let on.

‘How long has it been, Harley?’

It was a reference to my absence from this town, my disappearance from the face of this earth.

‘Ten years, Lex.’ I reached out, and she wrapped me up in her embrace.

‘It’s good to see you.’

‘It’s good to see you too.’ I reached for my almost empty glass of wine.

Lex signalled the bartender for more drinks, then she pulled the chair out next to me and we both sat down. A moment later, drinks were placed in front of both Lex and me.

‘What brings you to town?’ Zach’s younger sister asked as she sipped her wine. Her name was Alex Black, but everyone called her Lex. Lex was the same age as Addison, twenty-four. Fifteen months younger than me. We’d lived next door to each other for about twelve months while we waited for my Dad to unravel his grand plans. Zach was older than me, but I hadn’t known about his even older brother Connor back then. I’d never met him, all I’d known from Zach was that Connor had already left for Melbourne.

‘I just wanted to blow off steam,’ I admitted to the youngest Black sibling as I brought my glass to my lips and drank my wine.

‘And you chose here, of all the places you could have gone?’

I watched as Lex barely contained her scoff. She had a carefree attitude the same as Addison.

‘Uh huh,’ was the best answer I was prepared to give. Of all the things I needed to say and explain, Lex wasn’t the person I wanted to have that conversation with.

‘Must have been some steam?’ There was a questioning look on her face, and I wondered if being able to raise a single eyebrow was a Black family trait. Who did they learn their signature move from because both Zach and Lex raised their brow in exactly the same way?

‘It’s complicated.’ It was a two-word answer that only spelled trouble but it was all I was willing to explain to Zach’s sister.

‘Uh huh,’ was the response Lex gave.

Was it written on my face that there was more to say? As much as I tried to be as stoic as Zach, I wasn’t sure if I was pulling it off. Either way, Lex didn’t push for more information.