The Feathered Serpents
by: Carolyn GriffithsCh 3. Rachel
The cell phone rang but couldn't be heard. It was his son Aidens' 5th birthday. An entire extravaganza, barbeque slash birthday, pool party. Suzette, Adams' sister in law by marriage had went all out. Since his wife Amy had died of cancer almost 2 years ago, his sister in law had moved in to lend a helping hand. She had definitely proved a comfort early on when Amy had first passed, but as the months turned into years, he was beginning to think she needed a life of her own, and so did he.
He suspected that part of her personal reasoning for staying so long wasn't just to help with Aiden but also to keep him from eventually finding, one day, a possible new love life. Lately, with the way things had been going, he had begun to think she had her own designs about the two of them. Simply because she was beginning to exhibit signs of possessiveness when he was in the company of other women. He did love her, but only as a sister in law.
A carefully selected genre of kiddie music was loudly playing on the Bose and various colored balloons were strewn about the yard. Some of them had already fallen prey to the stomping sneakers of little terrors who were bent on making as much noise as they could muster. There were even balloons floating in the pool as nervous adults were busy supervising hordes of pint sized sharks and their unsuspecting victims.
Amidst the festivities and high pitched squeals emitting from the pool along with the sizzle of burgers and screaming dogs being grilled without mercy, he barely heard it catching it on the last ring.
"Hello?" he shouted, covering one ear with the spatula now dripping grease down his fingers.
"Hi Adam, its me, Rachel" he heard the voice on the other end say as warm grease made its way to his palm and hair. He knew that voice.
Rachel on the other end was feeling a bit nervous about calling though she knew she had to. She hated opening up old wounds but she needed him. The project that had come up was of dire importance. He was a paleo archeologist and in the secret world of ego-driven competitive science, he was the only one she trusted. It was important that everything be kept hush, at least until they knew more.
"Oh my god, Rachel?" he gasped, lowering his voice attempting to remain calm. He didn't want to sound overly excited. He glanced over at Suzette, out of a weird kind of guilt, who in fact was already giving him a look as if to say "Who's on the phone?". He silently responded to her questioning gaze with a smile and nod that was code for saying "It's okay, I got it".
He needed privacy. There was too much to contend with out here. Before deciding to go inside, he motioned to Clinton the father of Ryan, currently Aidens' best friend in the whole wide world. Passing on the sacred grill torch Adam said to the father "I'll be just a minute".
"No problem" Clinton replied promptly wiping grease on his dark blue denim shorts.
It was Rachel. God, Rachel. What did he do to deserve this honor he secretly wondered as he shut the sliding glass door behind him. He didn't know if he should be glad or otherwise.
Rachel always made him crazy from the word go. There were lots of memories with this woman he wished he could forget. Memories so vivid they seemed like yesterday. Especially the one of how suddenly she broke off the engagement. The bed was still warm when she had said goodbye and had caused him the better part of two years trying to figure out what went wrong.
Though he never planned to share the little secret he was now keeping with anyone, inside, he enjoyed hearing from her again.
"Rachel" Adam continued, "wow, how are you?"
"I'm good, thanks" she responded. "I'm sorry to call you like this, but I really need your help".
"No problem, hey don't give it a second thought", he stated. "Whats up?"
It seemed in that moment to Adam that time had never passed. Here he was talking with Rachel, and all seemed right again.
"I can't really go into it over the phone Adam."
"I just wanted to check and see if you have time tomorrow morning to meet me at the lab, you know the one on 34th?"
"Well yeah, I'm sure I could... but what's going on?" he pressed.
"I really don't have time right now to explain"
"There's something I want you to see" Rachel sighed, feeling the need to go into detail but quickly deciding to keep it brief as originally planned.
"Just be there tomorrow at 9:00 am okay? I promise I'll explain everything, once you see this, you'll understand why it's so important".
"Yeah, okay, I'll be there, no problem." he eagerly volunteered."Thank you Adam, I really appreciate this. You have no idea the enormity of this, and your the only one I trust."
"Your welcome," he said "And thank you, that means a lot" he added blushing internally.
"See you then" she quickly said.
"Yes...and Rachel, its so good to hear from you again" he shared but she had already hung up. His face and chest flushed and tingled from nerves. He was excited and apprehensive all at once.
Sighing a heavy sigh he calmed himself, remembering the party still going on outside.
As his sister in law was knee deep in mustard and busy with cleanup, Adam slipped out the patio door,saying a few words to the other parents as he ran over and scooped up Aiden tossing him high into the air.
A squeal of surprise and delight echoed throughout the yard as the target of his deserved attention was promptly hoisted and placed on his shoulders as he went to assist Suzette.
"Anything you need me to to do?" he asked and smiled innocently, setting Aiden on the ground who happily skipped over to plunge a finger in the cake.
"Well" she said raising one eyebrow handing him a knife, "Can you light the candles and cut the cake?"
During the finale of Happy Birthday to you, which was both wonderful and horrible simultaneously, Suzette leaned over quietly and coyly asked, "Who were you talking to?"
A flash of uncomfortable echoed through his body setting his nerves on end. It was now becoming obvious to him that their current living situation was going to have to be dealt with. Just not today, he was already tired and eager for tomorrow.
As the party ended, goodbyes were spoken, and the yard was once again in order, he entertained thoughts of a nice glass of Chardonnay as a perfect end to a perfect day. Rachel had called. Shoot, he might even have two, just to celebrate.
Chapter 4. The Stone
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