The Meeting

They met at a coffee shop in our town. Lucretia and her husband happened to be on vacation at the time and were planning to visit their friends. I wished they had taken the children with them, but apparently, they also needed some time to themselves. At least that was my assumption.

Zoey watched them warily, especially when Lucretia was still wearing her sunglasses even inside the place. Our guests smiled warmly. Tetsu went to order coffee and cake for himself and the ladies.

"Is Tristan here?" Zoey asked, wanting to test Camilla's other friend.

"If nothing sudden happened, then according to your findings, he is next to you," Lucretia replied and touched her glasses with her hand. "We don't know each other, I'd rather talk first than expose you unnecessarily to my power."

"The painkillers should kick in soon, sweetie," her husband told her as he returned to the table and cast an apologetic glance at Zoey. I tapped him on the arm, signaling that I was there. “Hi Tristan, it's weird meeting you without Camilla present." I kept tapping him, letting him know I was worried about his wife. "Lucretia just has a bad headache, then she has a bit of a power control problem and she's a little worried about it, but you don't have to worry about it. Then for what purpose have we gathered in this secret meeting?"

"A gift for Camilla," the artist replied shortly. "I would like to paint their portrait."

"Haven't you thought of something like that, Lulu?"

"Yes, but I finally decided that it was someone else's job," she replied. “Besides, I don't think Victor could show what Zoey can observe daily."

"Can you guess what the problem is?"

"Absolutely, but I can help you."

Zoey's expression was something along the lines of "I wonder how," and I knew Lucretia knew it. Maybe my friend didn't believe in her powers because she hadn't been exposed to them yet. Neither did I, but Camilla said it was a very strange feeling, a bit uncomfortable at first, but you got used to it if you didn't look her in the eye.

"How much time do you need?" Lucretia asked, taking a sip of coffee.

"A few days," Zoey replied. I wondered where the cheerful, friendly version of her had gone, was jealousy eating her up so much?

"Okay, then I'm asking you to look me in the eye for a moment. I'll try to do it quickly and efficiently," she announced, slowly taking off her glasses.

Zoey stared hypnotized into her golden eyes for a moment. Tetsu looked away for a moment, sighing softly. The artist's face twisted in pain, however, and she suffered for a minute or two, but Lucretia quickly pulled out of her mind and put her glasses back on.

"What was that supposed to be?" Zoey snapped, appalled and shocked at how unceremoniously her privacy had been invaded.

"I'm sorry," Lucretia sighed. “But close your eyes for a moment and think about Tristan.

"What for?"

"Just do it." Tetsu's voice sounded a bit harsh in my opinion, but I patted Zoey on the shoulder, reassuring her that she should do it.

Reluctantly, she did so, but then opened it abruptly and demanded an explanation. At the same time, I was glad that our plan seemed to be working, but I was also worried about Zoey's behavior. I figured I'd talk to her about it later.

"I programmed your mind that every time you close your eyes for a week and think about him, this image will appear in your head. I can't see him either, what I can offer you is what Camilla sees when she looks at him. Is that enough for you?" Lucretia was still smiling undaunted by her interlocutor's negative attitude.

"Absolutely!"

Sometimes I was amazed at how much Zoey could change in one second. She went back to her standard version again, excited by another strangeness of this world. This meeting turned into a nice chat, but I was sorry that I wasn't able to participate in the discussion about what pose Zoey should paint us in. I could only hope that Camilla would be pleased with the gift.