Karina parked her car on Harbour Drive after work the following day. Her pale blue hatch back, with the peeling paint on the roof, was a vast contrast to the shiny Mercedes and BMWs that lined the street. She sat on the same bench and watched the rowers again as they came to shore.
Her fear of water was something that could not be explained. As a child, she remembered her parents fighting often about it. Her father called her spoilt, but her mother defended her fears and did not push her to swim. A rower saw her sitting on the bench and approached, sitting beside Karina. The two women sat in silence staring out over the silky water, watching the gold reflection of the last rays of sunshine. The woman took a deep breath “It’s relaxing isn’t it?”
Karina looked at the middle aged woman; her skin was sun damaged and her mouth lined from years of smoking. She had the look of someone who had led a hard life but somehow she seemed happy. “Yes, it is.” Karina sighed.
“I love the constant change. The salty smell of the ocean, the freshness of the pines, the food,” the woman indicated towards the cafes “No two days on the water are ever the same, yet it is always consistent, reliable. I started rowing after my husband left me.” She waited a few moments for the information to set in for Karina “We need another rower, if you’re interested?”
Karina studied the profile of the woman, who did not take her eyes from the water yet she was offering her a place on her rowing team, her seemingly inner sanctum.
“I’m sorry, I don’t swim,” Karina apologised and the woman stood and left, without looking back.
Strange, Karina thought to herself and stood to leave. Xavier jogged past again and stopped when he saw her. “Karina,” he waved “we meet again.” He smiled and Karina caught herself wondering what those unholy things Ella wanted to teach Rick could be. She tried to push the thought from her mind.
“Hi,” she answered timidly, fiddling with her hair.
“Are you contemplating my offer?” Xavier asked.
Karina looked confused. “Which is?”
Xavier pointed out to the harbour. “To rescue you.”
“What makes you think I need rescuing?” Karina couldn’t help laughing.
“I’ve seen those rowers in action, they don’t take no for an answer. You’ll go out in the boat with them, fall in and I’ll have to rescue you.” Xavier smiled and his dimples made her heart race.
“You seem pretty sure about that.” Karina replied.
Xavier studied Karina’s face intently, his eyes memorizing every feature. “Well, maybe I could bribe them to take you out just so I have an excuse to see you again.” His eyes locked on hers.
She felt that electric excitement again. “Um, I have to go.” Karina mumbled as she turned, fumbling with her handbag.
“Farewell Tuatha.” Xavier called after.
Karina’s stomach seemed to drop and she spun around to Xavier, his face lit up with acknowledgement at her reaction. “What did you call me?”
“Tuatha,” his voice was cool and confident; he knew he had hit the mark.
“Why...how would you know to call me that?” Fear and confusion started to ebb.
Xavier swaggered forward and smiled, Karina stepped back defensively. “Lucky guess,” he whispered cockily.
“No!” Karina started shaking her head. “My middle name is not a lucky guess. Especially an obscure Greek name like that. If you were guessing my middle name you would guess something more common like Ann or Jane. Not Tuatha. How did you know that was my middle name?” her voice was shaking and the words choked out of her throat, but she was determined to stand her ground. Karina felt strength in her she had never felt before, a fighting spirit that seemed to dwell under the surface that was busting to get out and attack the man before her.
He sensed Karina’s confusion and held his hands up “I don’t mean to upset you,” his voice was soothing as he took a tentative step back.
“You are, now tell me how did you know my Greek name?” Karina demanded.
“Who told you the name Tuatha, was Greek?” Xavier’s eyebrows rose with confusion.
Karina let out a sigh of frustration. “My Greek parents! The one’s who named me. What else would it be?” her voice was laden with sarcasm.
“Your family is Greek?” He seemed astonished by the revelation and dragged his hand down his face as he took another step back. This made Karina feel more un-nerved. Surely if he was stalking her he would have realised by her surname that her family was Greek.
“Yes! And I don’t see why I should have to explain myself to you.” Karina felt enraged; it rippled under her skin like fire. Her hand started to shake and she had a feeling that she wanted to raise it and pummel it into Xavier’s face.
“Does the rest of your family look like you?” his question seemed to push Karina into a corner she was not comfortable in. She looked nothing like her family. Xavier seemed to pick up on her unease.
“That’s none of your business.”
He took a step closer and lowered his face. It was now so close to Karina’s that she could smell his manly scent, seeing the stubble on his chin. His eyes were inescapable and seemed to get darker almost menacing. “Tell me! Are they blonde with blue eyes like you?” his voice was deep and powerful which made Karina shudder with fear.
“No!” she shot back. The lines around Xavier’s eyes relaxed and he appeared to accept this answer and started jogging away as though nothing had happened. Frenzy was tearing away inside Karina. Xavier was not getting away that easily; Karina sprinted along the path after him. She made the distance easily. Grabbing Xavier by the back of his shirt she spun him around to face her. “Hey!” she shouted “Don’t turn your back on me, explain yourself!” she demanded as she now was the one to get into face of the man before her.
Xavier laughed but Karina was not amused. “Explain myself?”
“Yes. How did you know my name was Tuatha?” Karina shouted as she jabbed her finger to his chest.
He looked down at where she had struck him, then back at Karina. “I told you, lucky guess.”
“Bullshit!” Karina flinched at the sound of a swear word coming out of her mouth.
Xavier’s face took on that dark menacing look about it again, his eyes were almost black. This made Karina scared but resolute not to back down. His voice was low and forcibly controlled as he asked. “Have you ever heard of the Tuatha De Danann?”
“No,” she spat out.
“Google it.” Xavier turned but Karina grabbed his arm, now in desperation of an answer.
“I want you to tell me.”
“Do you really want to know?” he asked.
Karina nodded, her anger slowly slinking away “Yes.”
“Will you accept my answer no matter how outrageous it may seem to you?” Xavier questioned.
Karina nodded.
Xavier let out a long sigh and looked around. “Cut a long story short, they are Celtic faeries.”
Karina burst into a hysterical laugh; this was the last answer she was expecting. How absurd, faeries, of all the things he could have made up. “Are you serious?” she managed to choke out, wiping a tear away from her eye.
Xavier’s face didn’t alter. He was deadly serious.
Karina held her side, as she tried to control herself. “How do you know what they are?”
He waited for Karina’s hysterics to die down before he answered “I teach mythology at the University,” and turned jogging away. Karina let him go this time.