Shall this our lofty scene be repeated,
In states unborn and accents yet unknown!
― Shakespeare
Forever Together
After Lise left, Ember and I stayed behind in the Grill ruminating over what we just heard.
It seems Lise has been having glimpses of a previous life in her dreams but they lack precise details.
Still, I was encouraged she was willing to work with us to try to unravel what they meant, but I was a bit dismayed at the enormity of the task.
Sure, we knew her mystery lover was a member of the armed forces sometime during the Twenties or Thirties and worked for a Toronto radio station at some point, but that was precious little to go on to conduct an investigation.
Ember seemed to read my mind.
"Feeling a bit overwhelmed?" she asked, patting my hand to console me.
I nodded. "It does seem a daunting task."
"You're forgetting―we have resources. We have Professor Granger and his technical knowledge, and remember Stan Hendricks, the computer geek we call, Static? He can use AI to help us search data bases for Lise's past lover."
"Oh yeah, I forgot about him―he could be a big help."
"See?" she smiled, "you forgot the talent pool at the Mandela Society and people eager to assist us. Oh, and I almost forgot, there's a Metro police officer there too―he might have some insights. They search for missing people, although in this case, the person is deceased, but he may still have some ideas. I'll ask to meet with them both."
"I'd like to be there when you talk to them," I said, feeling a bit more hopeful.
"Of course, you'll be there―we're a team. We can do this."
Her enthusiasm rubbed off on me because I went home that night feeling a lot more optimistic.
About nine that night my cell rang and I picked up to Lise's happy voice.
"I talked to Static and Tom Edwards, the police officer I told you about―they're both available to meet tomorrow afternoon at the College. We'll get together at 400 pm ."
"That's really good news!" I yelped, "thanks for setting this up, Ember. I'm eager to hear what they think."
"Well, now you can enjoy a good night's sleep and dream happy dreams of us."
"I dream of us every night. I wonder why that is?" I teased.
She laughed, "I think you know the answer to that question--we're too entangled to do anything else."
I laughed but inwardly felt a warmth surge through me. She fulfilled me and I wanted that for Lise as well.
After we ended the call, however, I was too keyed up to sleep and ended up before the fire with a rum hot chocolate, staring into the flames.
Ember did fulfill me and she was the missing piece that I had been searching for all my life.
As I sat there feeling safe and secure in my house, I had the sense that I sat close to a fire many times before with her, but in countless places and times I couldn’t possibly recall. But whether cave, castle or cottage, it really didn’t matter…
All that mattered was Ember, being always by my side.