Chapter 3: The Girl With The Green Eyes

On a Tuesday in late October, Luke's easy living took the first hit. The day had gone really well so far and promised to get better. He and his father had finally convinced a major Japanese producer of optical instruments to bundle their microscope camera systems with the ImaXX M software package. The deal was worth only seven million dollars on paper, but it was a breakthrough for they had never got a foot into the Japanese market before.

Luke was elated but when Stella called him at five p.m. his good mood went straight to hell. In short, she had been offered a job as executive producer in New York. Her dream on a silver platter in other words. She told him how sorry she was, but she was headed for the red-eye to New York already. That sucked. Not that she had made any promises, but she had grown to Luke and he would miss the easy, low-maintenance fuck buddy relationship.

°°°

"Why so mopey?" Erwin Braun asked his son who sat in the passenger seat staring morosely ahead. It was Erwin's turn to drive.

"Stella broke up with me yesterday. She got this new job in New York. I mean, I knew it would happen one day, but..."

"Yeah, I get you. It's a bummer. I liked the girl."

"Me too," Luke smirked. "Oh well, I better buck up."

"So, whatcha gonna do tonight? Want me to come over?"

"Why don't you. It's Halloween. Let's put a scare into all the trick'n treaters."

Erwin Braun's eyes lit up. He was an overgrown kid much like his son.

"Yeah, why don't we. Let's rustle up a few things over the day. With the Habayashi contract signed, we can goof off for a day or two. Let's call in and sign out. We can drive into San Francisco to that store near the piers. They used to have those used film props."

In spite of himself, Luke had to laugh. Yeah, why not have some harmless fun? He grinned evilly thinking of those snotty neighborhood kids. Let them pay for their treat in screams!

An hour later saw them at the store. They found what they were looking for, and while Erwin was waiting for their purchases to be totaled, Luke wandered off into the costume section. He picked an impressive wizard costume and prepared to head for the check-out when something caught his eye.

There was an older man with a very young girl who was trying on a witch costume. Probably the man's granddaughter. She looked adorable, with strawberry blonde hair tied into two braids, and a wide, happy smile on her face. Hearing Luke she turned around and looked at him.

Luke stood mesmerized. The girl had pale-green eyes, witches eyes, that fixated him unwaveringly. The little girl seemed to look deep into Luke's soul while he stared back at her as if in trance. He felt sweat break out all over his back and a strong yearning to hug the girl. He shook himself awake. Get a grip! he scolded himself. The girl smiled at him and turned back to her grandfather. Luke decided to make his escape before the old man saw his look and thrashed him. Once again, he shook himself. He had never before felt drawn towards a kid. He balled his fists. Good God! Was he one of those terrible people who stalked children? Again and again, he told himself that he wasn't. He had met many children in the last years, the kids of coworkers and of friends. Anna's two kids. No, he never felt the urge to hug them. He shuddered, swearing to himself that he would seek help if this ever happened to him again.

It took father and son until mid-afternoon to return to their duplex. Another two hours were spent rigging up their surprises. There was a large Jack-in-the-Box complete with LED illumination which they hid behind the bushes that flanked their patio. It could be triggered remotely. A glow-in-the-dark skeleton with ruby-red glowing eyes was placed in a casket. By pulling a rope, they could open the casket and the skeleton would sit up. It was silly to spend almost five hundred dollars on some used haunted house props, but they worked great and promised fun. Working all afternoon, Luke got over his experience with the small girl. He decided it had been a fluke. It must have been those eyes.

Then the memory hit him hard.

Katie! Those eyes had been just like Katie's. Oh God! Had he just seen Katie's daughter or perhaps niece? He remembered Katie saying that her family lived in Santa Clara. He groaned. He had missed the chance. Missed the chance to find Katie again. He swallowed hard. If that girl was Katie's daughter then she was married by now. He had probably missed nothing but a terrible embarrassment.