The Gift
by Dorothy Elggren
Part 6

See Part 1 for comments.

	Natalie looked up into Nick's face and watched all the pain
and lonesome longing wash across his face.  His words said in quiet,
forceful anger, barely dented her conviction.
	"But you need to see him, and he needs to see you, Nick,"
Natalie said softly, breaking across the torrent of Nick's words.
	He stopped dead and stared at her, then looked away.  "It
doesn't matter.  It can't happen.  It's nothing new, and nothing that
won't happen again."  He shut his jaw and held it tightly against the
tearing pain in his throat that threatened to destroy him.
	Natalie put her arms around Nick and held him tight, oblivious
of the crowd flowing around them.
	The block of ice that was Nick finally melted and with a sigh
he put his arms around her and kissed her forehead.  "I appreciate the
thought, Natalie, but it isn't possible.  Then he would know that
I'm...different, he would learn too much.  It's just not safe.  It's
better to let him go on with his life.  Leave it alone, Natalie.
Leave it alone..."
	They stood there, tears glittering in their eyes as they
stared at each other, alone in the universe.  Then Nick leaned down
and gently kissed Natalie on the lips.  "But, thank you."
	Natalie smiled, feeling that Nick's sense of honor and
chivalry were as misguided as they could be, but for the moment, there
was nothing she could do.
	"Would you like something to eat?" Nick asked abruptly?
	Natalie smiled and allowed him to change the subject.  "That
would be nice, thank you."
	Nick took her hand gently in his, and the next hour passed in
a golden hazy bubble, which neither tried to burst again.  Nick took
her to a very expensive restaurant and fed her food fit for a queen,
while he drank a very expensive wine.  They talked with fervent
intensity, about music, about the concert, and Nick even talked of
some of his and Mark's escapades, They laughed and cried, but they
were both careful to avoid any mention of seeing Mark.  They were
careful to avoid anything that might shatter their mood.  For Nick was
happy, as if he had somehow shed his dark past--if only for a few
hours--in his love of music, and Natalie was determined that it last
for as long as possible.
	There must be something in the air, or perhaps the music Mark
had played, Natalie thought giddily as hours passed and they laughed
and talked and danced.  The night was perfect...
	It must have been magic, because Nick was still reluctant to
take her home, when at last they left the restaurant and took her
instead to the loft.  He lit every candle he had and played the piano
for her with an intensity and beauty that made her cry.  Mark might be
a world class pianist, one of the best performing, but Nick...Nick was
better, and even Natalie could tell.
	Night waned as Natalie leaned against Nick and drank white
wine while he played, finding solace in the music's depth.  Finding
some peace in sharing with Natalie the music that he heard in his
soul.
	Only as dawn neared, did Nick at last take Natalie home.
	"Thank you, Natalie," he said huskily as he bowed over her
hand and kissed it with regal elegance at her door.
	"Thank you," Natalie whispered, and reached up to twine both
hands around his neck and kissed him.  It was a gentle kiss, full of
love and understanding.  Nick looked at her, then pulled her abruptly
into his arms and kissed her deeply, his hand tangling in her hair.
	When he let go, his eyes were tinted with gold, and his smile
twisted with pain.
	"Goodnight," he whispered and vanished.
	Natalie blinked and leaned out into the hall and looked both
ways.
	"How does he *do* that?" she muttered and after a frustrated
moment, sighed and shut the door.
	She walked across the room and stared out the window at the
sky just beginning to brighten with a hint of the coming dawn and
chewed thoughtfully on her fingernail.  The night had been enchanted,
from the music, to the food, and the very special private concert Nick
had given her.  Natalie's emotions were full and brimming over.  She
had never enjoyed a night more, but never had she felt so certain that
the ending of a fairy tale was so unsatisfactory.  This was one story
that needed a different ending.  It needed a rewrite.
	For all Nick's brilliance, wisdom and knowledge, he was
sometimes completely oblivious to his real needs.  Or perhaps,
Natalie, thought with sudden insight, he was terrified of letting
anything that remotely resembled happiness through the chinks in his
rusty old armor.
	He was afraid.  Afraid of being rejected, afraid of being
hurt.  He was sure Mark hated him for what he had done.  He was
terrified Mark would despise him for deserting him, for lying to him,
for being...a vampire.  The whole argument about vampires was just a
smoke screen.  A semi-accurate smoke-screen, Natalie supposed, but
still...a smoke screen for what was really going on in his confused,
lonely mind.
	Natalie's heart broke for Nick and a tear slipped down her
face.
	After a moment, she straightened, turned and stared at her
computer terminal.  "Why the hell not?"  she asked herself.  This
story needs a happy ending and I'm in the perfect position to do it,"
and having made the decision, walked to the computer, sat down and
logged on.
	Forty minutes later, having used her official jurisdiction in
a highly illegal manner, Natalie obtained the information she wanted,
and with a smile, logged off.
	She picked up the phone and using her official capacity once
more in a definitely shady way, discovered that Mark O'Donnell would
be checking out of his hotel later this morning, and that he had an
afternoon flight out of Toronto.
	Natalie tapped her fingers lightly against the computer screen
as she stared out into the brilliant dawn now sweeping into her
apartment and wondered how early was considered too early to visit
Mark O'Donnell.  A glance at the clock told her it was almost six.
Time for bed, she thought mentally, if this was a normal day.  But it
wasn't.  No, today it was time for action.  With that, she got up and
went into the bedroom.  Her beautiful velvet evening gown was thrown
in a heap across her bed as she hastily changed into jeans and
T-shirt.  Grabbing a jacket, she left before she lost her courage.
	Arriving in the plush lobby of the Plaza Hotel, Natalie walked
across the glittering marble floor to the courtesy phone with her
footsteps echoing loudly every step of the way.  She stood staring at
the phone, feeling her heart hammer loud enough in her chest to be
heard three blocks away.  She took a deep breath and picked up the
phone.
	"Would you connect me with room 610?" Natalie said before her
courage evaporated.  She looked at her watch.  It was now almost
seven.
	The phone began to ring.  "Please," she breathed, "pick up."
	"Hello?" A slightly sleepy voice asked.  It was a deep voice.
Pleasant.  Natalie knew instinctually that this *was*the right thing
to do.
	"Mr. O'Donnell?" Natalie asked and crossed her fingers.
	"Yes?" Mark replied puzzled.
	She took a deep breath, "When you hear the music, Mark, do you
remember that he is with you, that he still hears it, too?"
	There was an intake of breath on the other end.  Silence.
	Natalie bit her lip suddenly terrified.
	"Do you know where he is?" Mark asked at last, the incredible
hope in his voice apparent even to Natalie.
	"Yes," Natalie said feeling the band in her chest ease.
	There was absolute silence on the other end.
	"I'm in the lobby, Mr. O'Donnell--Mark, and we need to talk.
Now."
	"I'll be there in five minutes.  How will I recognize you?"
	"I'm the one wearing jeans and a T-shirt standing by the
courtesy phone.  My name is Natalie.  In fact," Natalie said looking
around, "I'm the only one here."
	"I'll be right there," Mark said and hung up.
	Natalie started to shake.  "I hope I know what I'm doing," she
muttered.  "Nick is gonna kill me."
	It seemed like forever, as Natalie paced back and forth by the
phone in the empty lobby, but true to his word, Mark stepped out of
the elevator in a mere five minutes.  There was stubble on his face,
and his hair looked a bit ruffled, but otherwise, no one could tell
he'd been roused from his bed only minutes ago.
	Natalie met his gaze across the room and he strode across the
plush carpet to meet her with eager hope naked on his face. He held
out his hand, "I'm Mark O'Donnell."
	Natalie took his hand and shook it.  "Natalie Lambert," she
said quietly and led him to sit in deep chairs in a small alcove.
	Mark looked at her and spoke in a rush, "Do you know how hard
I looked for him, how long...?  I looked everywhere.  I hired
detectives.  I even went to Seattle myself.  He just vanished.  Into
thin air...."  He stopped at Natalie's smile. "Oh, I'm sorry.  I guess
you don't know--how could you?  I didn't mean to pour that out on you.
It's just that it's unbelievable...that out of the blue like
this...he's still out there."
	"Actually, Mark--can I call you Mark?" Mark nodded, and
Natalie continued, "I do have some comprehension of what you went
through--well at least an idea."
	"He'd never even been in Seattle," Mark said softly.  "It was
all a lie."  He turned pained eyes on her, "Why?"
	"That," Natalie said grimly, "is why we are having this talk.
If I take you to him, I don't want you to pour out all that anger and
pain on him.  He doesn't need it, and you don't need it."
	"Anger?" Mark said bewildered, "No.  I just want to
understand.  Nick was...he was everything to me.  He was my hero, my
father, my friend and teacher.  He was everything and he loved me,
through thick and thin.  I just want to see him and hug him and tell
him I love him no matter what."
	"No matter what?"  Natalie said softly.  "Can you absolutely
agree to that part?"
	Mark looked at Natalie, as if seeing her for the first time.
"It's that important?"
	Natalie nodded.
	"No matter what," Mark said.  "I just want to see him, to
share with him all the wonderful things that have happened because he
took me in and taught me the piano.  I just want to see him, Natalie.
I've missed him every day of my life.  I've missed him so much..."
	Mark stared at the ground and then spoke in a low voice.  "I
remember the day he told me he was leaving.  I held onto him as if
that would keep him there."  Mark looked at Natalie, tears in his
eyes.  "You know what?  I felt something from Nick that day, something
I didn't understand for a long time.  But it was as if he was
desperately lonely--far more so than I.  And that he needed me--loved
me--more than even my own father did.  I know I'm not saying this
well, but I understood so much and yet so little that day.  A lot of
it I've understood as I've grown up and become a father myself.  I
only knew that he was unreachable that day, as if on a peak far away
from me.  Lonely and alone.  Just...gone.  And then he really was.  I
just want to see him again.  Have him be a part of my life again.
	Natalie wanted to reach out and comfort him.  She had felt
that, too.  Sometimes Nick was so distant, as if holding himself apart
would make the losses he suffered more bearable.
	Mark's pain and hope warred in his eyes.  "Tell me where he
is."
	"I'll do better, I'll take you there," Natalie said, "but
first there are some things you have to know.  There are a couple of
ground rules we've got to establish to keep you safe.  Nick'll kill me
otherwise."
	Mark looked at her curiously.  "He doesn't know you're here,
does he?"
	Natalie shook her head.  "No, in fact we had a rather big
argument over it last night after the concert."
	Mark's face lit up.  "He was at the concert?"
	"Yes.  Tenth row, left center," Natalie said.  "You were
absolutely wonderful, by the way.  Nick was in heaven."
	"He was at the concert," Mark said numbly.  "But he wouldn't
see me."  He stared at his hands for a moment, then looked at Natalie,
"Why?"
	Natalie looked around the empty lobby, and decided it wasn't
empty enough for her.
	"Not here," she said anxiously, "in the car."
	"Let me get my wife," Mark said, "I'd love for her to meet
Nick."
	Natalie shook her head.  "No.  You can't.  This is dangerous
enough just for you to see Nick.  No one else can come.  No one else
can know.  You can't ever tell anybody about this--about what you are
going to learn today."
	Mark stared at her, his eyes narrowing.  "What's so dangerous?
What is this about?  I knew Nick for seven years.  Nothing ever
happened.  This is crazy!"
	"Nothing ever happened, because Nick made damn sure it didn't
happen.  And when it got to the point where it was dangerous, he left.
That's why," Natalie said fiercely.  "And it broke his heart.  He
stayed in contact as long as he dared."
	"You're telling me that he left to protect me?" Mark asked
slowly.
	"Yes, and to protect him."  Natalie looked at her watch.
"Look, I don't want to talk about this here.  It's too open.  I'll
tell you in the car."
	Mark stared at her, wondering if he should trust this woman or
not.  Maybe she was using this as a ploy to kidnap him.  He was
suddenly unsure of her.
	Natalie looked into his eyes and saw his sudden suspicions.
She sighed and opened her purse.  "Trust me," she said pulling out her
ID and showing him.  "I am telling the truth.  I'm normally a very
above- board, trustworthy person.  I give depositions every day.  I
spend all my time working with the police.  Nick is my only bad
habit."
	Mark looked at her, then her badge.  "Nick is a bad habit,
huh?"
	Natalie grinned.  "The worst.  My life was so normal until I
met him--and since then nothing, and I mean nothing, has ever been the
same."
	"I know what you mean," Mark said and smiled.
	Natalie looked at him, "I guess you do.  But not like this.
After today, your view of life will never be the same, either."  With
that, Natalie got up.  "Come on, we'll talk on the way."

End Part 6
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