Date: Tue, 26 Jul 1994 14:29:47 -0500 Reply-To: Highlander TV show stories Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Susan Coveney Subject: And the Memories Live Forever 3 of 5 And Memories Live Forever By Susan Coveney PART III "What is this thing that builds our dreams yet slips away from us who wants to live forever" -- Queen Duncan didn't go back to the club for over a week. Just from the two times that he had talked with her, Duncan knew that as much as there were times that he liked her company, Gwen made him nervous. He felt as though he was examining a part of his own soul just looking through her eyes; examining a part of his soul he was not yet prepared to examine. There was something too much like him in her, and that part which was like him seed to threaten his tenuous hold on reality. She questioned his conviction, she made him think about his feelings, but she needed his help as much as he needed her company. During this week he found other things to occupy his time. But, for some reason, his thoughts hept returning to Gwen, and kept returning to the two evenings they had spent toghether at the cafe. He wondered about her, about how she was doing, and in the end, he returned to to the Cafe, hoping to find her there . It was late on a weekday night. The club was practically empty, but there, Gwen sat, at the same table that they had talked at the first night. "Hello Gwen" He said as he walked up to the table. "Hello, Duncan" she replied. "I wasn't sure I'd ever see you again." but she didn't act very surprised. "Neither was I." He sat down, and motioned for a waiter. "Have you eaten yet?" he asked her. "No, have you?" she answered. "No." When the waiter arrived, he ordered them drinks and a light dinner. Gwen began. "When you ran out the other night, I thought you might never come back. And everytime I came back here, I half hoped to find you here. It's funny. When Gregory was alive, we barely had the time to get here once a week, but once he died, it seemed that I was taken out of the social circles we used to run in, and I've had nothing to do. People don't know how to deal with one when they are used to dealing with couples. Maybe it has something to do with superstitions about odd numbers being unsociable or even evil. Do you know what it feels like to lose a loved one, and then get cut off from those whom you usually socialize? I can see in your face you do. I've had nothing to do. I seem to be drawn here more and more. So, I've been here every night waiting for you. and the longer you didn't show up, the more I thought I might never see you again. Something I said must have touched a nerve, I kept looking back at our two conversations. I realized I had done the talking, yet you were hurting too. You haven't had the time to tell your story...." She hesitated as if afraid to say the next words. "Let me ask you this: What was her name?" Duncan sighed. "Tessa, her name was Tessa." He almost choked on the last words. "How long has it been since she died?" She asked gently. Duncan looked surprised, as if no one had asked him that question yet. "I'm not really sure." He looked embarrassed at his lack of an answer. Time had held no meaning for him since she died. "A few weeks, I guess, maybe five or six. I sort of lost track of time after it all happened." Duncan did not know what to say. Words were so inadequate to describe the feelings going through his mind. Words couldn't describe the torture he had gone through after Tessa's death, and words couldn't describe what kept bringing him back to this nightclub to talk to this woman he hardly new about his life. The only thing he knew was that when he was here, the memories didn't feel quite so overwhelming, and that maybe that was enough to keep brining him back here. "I knew Gregory for 28 years. I knew he was planning to go into science, when we met. He had just gotten his Ph.D. from Yale, and was so full of exhuberence for his new career. I never dreamed he would become so obsessed with his work." Gwen stopped, and smiled to herself, remembering some secret memory. "He used to say he was going to change the world." Duncan interupted. "I think everyone says that at some point in their life." Gwen smiled. "I know, but he meant it. He used to say he was going to help mankind see the great potential we were wasting. He didn't want people to be tied down to 80 or 90 years of which only 65 or 70 were productive. He thought that if we just figured it out, people could live forever. " Gwen chuckled at the absurdity of that thought. "He had his research he was being paid for. I don't even really know what that was; he never talked about it. All he ever talked about was his pet project. He worked in his laboratory night and day trying to find the secret to immortality. I guess he figured if he put more and more time on this project, he'd eventually find the secret. His other work was fruitful, he quickly gained a full tenured position in his laboratory, but it just didn't matter to him, he just worked harder and harder on the immortality project. It almosted seemed that as we began to get older, he became more obsessed with it." She stopped realizing her voice was quickly rising to a frenetic level. "Sometimes I wondered if he'd tested things on himself. He would never admit to it even when I asked, but he never seemed to look much older than the day we met. I realize that a lot of people say that about the person that they love, and that It could also be the rose colored glasses I put on when I looked at him, too. For twenty-eight years, he worked trying to find this thing. He thought he could really find a way for people to become immortal. That was going to be his contribution to humanity" She paused, and then continued again, more softly, as if admitting a secret. "In a lot of ways, I'm glad he didn't find it, I wouldn't want to live forever, especially not with this pain, you know." What could Duncan say about that. "I know..." The memories engulfed him. Memories of Tessa, Memories of many other women. Memories of friends; of lovers even of enemies. Too many memories to bear. They were straining to take him over, to engulf him, and they were winning. A few moments later he felt her nudge him. "Duncan, are you alright?" She looked into his eyes. He could see concern there. "Your mind must have wandered." He felt like she could see into his soul with those eyes, and he didn't like the way that that felt right now. "I have to go..." He trailed off, unable to stand the flood this line of thought had brought about. "I'll see you tomorrow." She asked tentatively. This was the first time either had mentioned actually planning to meet. Each other time it had been chance. Gwen smiled. "Same time, same place." "Right." Duncan promised. He meandered his way out of the club, and took a gulp of fresh air as he left. He wasn't sure if he could keep that promise. (END OF PART III) =========================================================================