When Olivia met K
Chapter XVII
To Dirk & Else
written by: Michael McCarthy
@FlateyeFiction
Now that I’d started visiting K on his home ground it seemed beyond odd that I’d never done it before. We seemed to be taking it in turns to meet at each other’s places. I had no idea how that had happened. I thought it must have been a natural progression.
Maybe it was something to do with him being retired. I had no idea what that must feel like, nor would I ever, not that it seemed to weigh heavily on him.
I rapped my usual sequence on the door of his flat.
‘‘Why don’t you use your key, you are the landlady.’’ He shouted from inside.
‘‘A landlady has certain responsibilities including respect for her tenant’s privacy.’’ I said as he pulled open the door.
‘‘The last thing I want you to do is respect my privacy.’’ He answered as we came face to face.
‘‘Maybe you’ve got something to hide.’’
‘‘My life’s an open book. You should know, you’re in it.’’
‘‘Actually, I’m in every chapter.’’
He loved that I could see it in his eyes.
I dropped my bag on the floor as we kissed and, in his front room, followed his outstretched arm to one of his soft, old, green armchairs.
I got up to get something from my bag and caught him looking at me, concentrating on me. I knew what he was thinking, ‘She really does wear it well.’
As I sat down again I dropped a sheet of paper onto his coffee table. He was sitting opposite me on his couch, leaning forward his legs apart. He was aging well, too. Aging suits him better than youth, he looked better than he’d ever looked, especially recently when he’d appeared rather haggard. There was something else, there was no regret there. No looking back and thinking, if only.
He picked up the picture Else had drawn of him all those years ago, he was clearly taken aback and looked at me, shaking his head slightly. I nodded. He smiled.
‘‘I can’t believe it. I just can’t believe it, after all these years. Where did you get it? Or, why do you have it?’’
‘‘Else and Dirk have both passed away.’’
‘‘I’m so sorry. But why didn’t you tell me?’’
I had no convincing answer to that.
‘‘You hadn’t had any real contact with them for such a long time.’’
‘‘That’s sad but true. But I would have liked to pay my respects.’’
‘‘I know. I’m sorry. Well, the good news is that they had a reconciliation for a while at least before Dirk’s death.’’
‘‘That’s lovely to hear.’’
‘‘What about your parents?’’
‘‘They passed away a few years ago.’’
‘‘I know, I didn’t know them, but you should have mentioned it.’’
‘‘They were already history.’’
We exchanged nods.
‘‘Anyway, Else gave me a folder with all the pictures she drew of her lovers.’’ I said.
‘‘That’s incredible!’’
‘‘Yes, indeed!’’
‘‘You knew at the time, didn’t you?’’
‘‘Of course. Else ran rampant and roughshod through my love life for a couple of years, you weren’t the first of my boyfriends she plundered.’’
‘‘Were you angry with me?’’
‘‘You were a young guy and Else could be overpowering for young guys, actually men of all ages. How could I be angry?’’
‘‘I was very fond of Else, genuinely.’’
‘‘I know, look at the back of the sheet.’’
He turned it over and read slowly what she had written:
I derived enormous joy from your company and still do. I think about you and our short time together often.
You’re a lovely guy to have a drink with on a sunny afternoon and one of the most considerate lovers I’ve ever experienced.
Who knows, another time, another place?
I could see his eyes fill with tears.
‘‘Wow!’’ He grabbed a handful of his t-shirt and dabbed his eyes. I knew he’d be moved and would show it. I was pleased for him and Else and me.
‘‘I often asked you about them over the years.’’
‘‘I know you did. Surprisingly, Dirk asked about you and of course Else did.’’
‘‘Why didn’t you tell me?’’
‘‘I don’t know.’’
He was looking into my eyes, his damp, mine filling.
He knew why. He knew me better than I realized. He also knew if I went into this, I’d break down and then I’d never be whole again.
‘‘We have to drink a toast to Else and Dirk under the awning.’’
He said.
‘Why there?’ I thought. ‘Then again, why not there?’
I followed him into the kitchen, he grabbed a bottle of rosé from the fridge and two glasses from a shelf, and from his bedroom what looked like a rolled-up sleeping bag.
‘‘Come on.’’
‘‘What’s that?’’
‘‘You’ll see.’’
We went downstairs. I hadn’t thought about the weather. I didn’t even know the forecast. But it had been a sultry summer with the constant threat of storms and they could be sudden and loud. On the ground floor we headed for the garden, the door was open, he unrolled the sleeping bag and laid it on the step and from inside it produced a cape which he placed on our shoulders as we sat down.
‘‘I’m impressed.’’
‘‘You know that the boy scouts’ motto is ‘Be prepared.’ Or do you?’’
‘‘You never told me you were in the boy scouts.’’
‘‘I wasn’t. Were you in the girls’ equivalent?’’
‘‘I didn’t know there was one.’’
‘‘Their loss.’’
A strong wind was already squalling and the trees in the garden were bending under the onslaught and I could hear the metallic sound of blinds being hurriedly lowered and shutters being closed.
‘‘It’s going to be a big one.’’ He shouted as the ominous rumbling seemed to surround us and the temperature dropped.
It was.
The sound of the rain pounding onto the awning was like a battery of machine guns and the garden was nearly hidden from view as the rain cascaded down in sheets.
He took a penknife out of his pocket to extract the cork from the bottle. I didn’t even hear it pop.
‘‘To Else and Dirk.’’ He shouted above the din as our glasses clinked.
‘‘To Else and Dirk.’’
He licked his lips in an exaggerated and loud manner and said, ‘‘I’ve got another toast.’’
‘‘Let’s hear it.’’
‘‘To forever.’’
‘‘What’s that mean exactly?’’
‘‘I think we’re going to stay at this age forever.’’
‘‘We’ll never grow old?’’
‘‘No.’’
‘‘You surprise me. You’re supposed to be so well grounded, my anchor.’’
‘‘True. But in the face of such overwhelming evidence even I can’t deny it.’’
‘‘What evidence?’’
‘‘When we’re together, we exist in our own now. The rest of the world goes on but we’re oblivious; time as we know it doesn’t exist, we’ve reached a point in our lives at which we’ll remain.’’
‘‘We’ll never grow old?’’
‘‘We’re going to live forever.’’
‘‘I’ll drink to that.’’
- To Dirk & Else - January 9, 2025
- Clint & Rusty - December 11, 2024
- Olivia’s first visit to K - November 26, 2024
