Out of Time 01 - Out of Time

“S’ok.” He turned unsteadily to Charlie and said, “I’d like to buy this man a drink. Served with my son.”
    “Sure thing, Frank,” Charlie said and held up two fingers to Dix. “But it’s on the house.”
    Frank nodded solemnly. “I thank you.” He looked down at the sheet music, his kindly eyes growing moist with unshed tears. “Mother doesn’t come out anymore. But I do. Honor his memory and all. And I’m pleased to share a drink with you.”
    “Thank you,” Simon said as he took the glass from Dix.
    “But first we sing!” Frank said too loudly. He poked at the sheet music with a gnarled finger and slid it across the top of the piano to Simon.
    Simon wanted to protest, but how in good conscience could he possibly disappoint this man? He looked at the music and realized he was actually familiar with it. “Keep the Home-Fires Burning” was a stirring ballad from early in the war. Vague memories of his grandmother’s voice came back to him. She’d died when he was very small, and he’d all but forgotten her. As he read the words on the page, a latent feeling of loss welled inside him. Like the light of a dying star, the grief reached him years after the fact.
    Simon cleared his throat and set the papers on the music stand. As he played the first few bars, a reverent silence fell over the room.
    He sang the first lines, unsure and nervous, but his voice steadied by the second verse. The poetic recounting of a time when sacrifice was the norm, when men left their lives when called, brought a hush to the crowd. Until the chorus came, when an amazing thing happened. Each man, each woman, joined their voices in the song.
    “Keep the home-fires burning, while your hearts are yearning, though your lads are far away, they dream of home.”
    What had been only a page in a history book was suddenly brought to life. Even ten years removed from the horrors of the war, the scars were still fresh.
    The wave of emotion was palpable as they came to the last chorus. Thoughtful voices raised together, “There’s a silver lining, through the dark clouds shining, turn the dark clouds inside-out, till the boys come home.”
    Simon played the final note, and the room was completely silent. Each man and woman raised their glass. Frank wiped a tear from his eye and raised his glass. “Thank you.”
    Charlie put an arm around the little man and took the sheet music from the piano. He led him to an empty chair and smiled his thanks to Simon.
    The conversation in the bar slowly started to pick up again, but the feeling of loss still hovered in the room. Simon had never been one to seek comfort; if anything, he’d avoided it. Of course, he’d never trusted anyone enough not to use the moment of weakness against him. Now, his eyes unerringly searched out Elizabeth and found her at the bar placing an order. He caught her eye, and she seemed to know exactly what he was feeling. She smiled gently and he nodded toward the back. She told Dix she was going to take five. He passed by King Kashian, intent on ignoring him, opened the door to the storeroom and followed Elizabeth inside.
    Wooden crates lined the walls, leaving a gap only for the door to the alley. Simon leaned back against a shabby old desk cluttered with papers and sighed. Without needing to ask, Elizabeth moved into his embrace. His arms wound around her and he held her to his chest. The feel of her was the palliative he needed.
    He dropped a kiss on the top of her head. “Thank you.”
    “What for?”
He paused for a moment and then shook his head. “Everything.”
    She blushed and played with the lapels of his jacket. “That was beautiful, wasn’t it?”
    “Yes,” he said, but she could hear the reservation in his voice.
    “But?”
    “Remind me to tell you about my grandmother some time.”
    “Sebastian’s wife?”
    Simon nodded and tucked a stray hair behind her ear.
    “She must have been something. I doubt Sebastian would have loved just any woman.”
    Simon ran the back of his hand gently along her jaw line. “Must run in the family.”
    Elizabeth leaned into his touch and sighed dramatically. “Is it time to go home yet?”
    “Another hour I’m afraid,” Simon said, as he pulled her closer for a kiss.
    Elizabeth loved the way he held her when they kissed. She felt treasured and desired. It was that way with everything about him, a gentle intensity that made her stomach drop. She would have laid odds that she’d never hear Simon