A Nightmare's Fate

Playing in the Park

            "One moment please," he says while holding up a finger, dialing a number on the phone with his free hand. "Errik, there is a woman here to see you," he pauses and asks, "Miss, what is your name?" He looks at me.

            "Raven Whestly," I proclaim and watch as he talks into the receiver.

            "Her name is Raven Whestly, sir,” he says, pausing as he nods his head. A few more seconds pass by and he hangs up the phone. "He will be with you in a short moment."

            Instead of awkwardly watching him and bouncing on the soles of my feet, I turn to gaze at the room. There are pictures of Errik and an Elvis Presley impersonator, and a few pictures of the entire staff in black and white clothing. The walls are a teal color, but there is a design on the wallpaper that has a stem that swirls around with bits of leaves on it and a small blossom at the end of the stem. The marble floor is tile with the shades of black and white, in a pattern. The desk the man is standing behind is mahogany wood with a beautiful black counter-top that is so stunning, I look at each printed spot on the table, which makes me stare at it even longer.

            The sound of the curtain being moved gets my attention as Errik steps closer into the room. He wears a white coat with the name "ERRIK: HEAD CHEF & OWNER" carved by thread in black at the corner of his shirt near above his breast. I'm surprised I don't see a chef hat on his head, a large container in his hand, and with the other free one, stirring something in the bowl.

            He shifts his eyes to the man behind the counter and smiles at him, as the man comes close to Errik's ear and whispers something that I cannot decipher. The man leaves behind the curtain and it is just Errik and I in the room alone.

            "I'm surprised to see you, ‘specially here," he states, giving me a small grin.

            "Well, if we're going to be friends, we need to hang out more and talk about ourselves." I nod, chuckling.

            "Hmm. I see, where you want to go?" He raises his bushy eyebrows and keeps his smirk on his face.

            I think for a moment. “Aren’t you supposed to be working, though?”

            “The restaurant is closed, Ray. Whatever I was doing can wait,” he says.

I nod, chuckling. “We can go to a park?" Though it is snowing, we can manage it. We are wearing clothing for winter and there is nothing much to do that consists us talking and socializing, especially since it's winter.

            He makes a duck face and nods his head in agreement. I laugh and he chimes in. His laughter is nothing I've ever heard before. Nothing like any man I've come close to, it's as if Errik is special in a way I cannot describe. "All right, we'll go. I just need to change to my jacket," he says as he takes the coat off and goes to a coat rack I didn't see before and gets a heavy, brown jacket off of the hanger.

            "So I see you were at Vegas?" I say, pointing to the picture of him and the Elvis impersonator.

            He chuckles and says, "Yeah. I was in Las Vegas for a while to just have a bit of fun with the casinos." Once he's done, we get into our cars and head off to the nearest park.

            About thirty minutes later, we find ourselves swinging and having a race. There's a small jungle-gym with monkey bars, slides, and platforms. There's nothing around us but trees without leaves and snow on the branches and ground. No one is around, so it's pretty silent except the swing's squeaking sound and our laughter. Around the park is just neighborhoods and trees, nothing else.