Tayla Story - 002

The lady in front of me, I realise now, is quite young. Probably around my own age. She has cool grey eyes, pale skin marked only by some light freckles on her cheeks, and straight black hair that falls down to around her shoulders. Even though she has chubbier cheeks (or maybe they're just dimples), I can tell that her jaw and the line of her face are quite similar to mine. She has a small button nose, and her eyes aren't too widespread.

The more I look at this strange girl, the more familiar she seems.

The more I look, the more I get the sensation that I'm looking into a mirror.

"Sorry, is this Alex Acland's address? It doesn't seem like anyone's home."

That's the first thing she said to me.

And yes, I have so many thoughts whirling through my head. With that one line, those two sentences; one a question, one an observation, she has flipped the world upside down.

I guess we should break it down chronologically.

Alex. That's what she called him. Of course, she could only possibly mean Alexander. He never lets anyone call him just 'Alex', he hates it. But she does. She definitely knows him.

Acland. His old name. His real name. His legal name. That's what she used as his surname. The one he used to share with his father, and the relatives he was staying with. It's the name he used while he was living in Wellington. Added to the fact she calls him 'Alex', she's almost certainly someone that he knew back then. In his past.

Like I'd thought.

Address. She knew this was his house. Some way or the other, whoever she is, she managed to find out Alexander's address, and then came all the way to see him. She must be from Wellington. And she's almost certainly one of his relatives.

"Sorry, do you not know him? I thought it looked like you were heading for this house, so I thought you must know him."

"Uh… umm, yes I do know Alexander. He's… my boyfriend."

I speak nervously. For some reason, speaking with this unknown woman about Alexander, it makes me nervous. After all, I don't know what she is to him. But I can only assume they knew each other quite well for her to come all the way here.

"Woah… that's surprising," the woman said, "I didn't think that he'd have a girlfriend."

I guess a lot can change in six months.

The woman muttered something under her breath. I didn't quite catch it, but that's what I think I heard. Or something along those lines.

Speaking with this woman, I still find it surprising just how much she reminds me of myself. Not her personality, I don't know her well enough to judge that, but her physical features. Her looks. She… looks a bit like me.

Faintly, in the back of my mind, I think I can recall Alexander asking me if I had any relatives who lived in Wellington. When was that? If it even happened, that is. Maybe I'm just being a bit paranoid, and making stuff up inside my head.

"My name's Kayla Thorne. Alex has probably mentioned me to you. What's your name?"

No, not at all.

I've never heard the name Kayla Thorne in my life.

Just who is she?

Who is she to Alexander?

It seems she was someone important to Alexander Acland, but is she important to Alexander Giovanna? I wonder.

"My name's Tayla Faust. I met Alexander shortly after he moved here."

"You mean, when he ran away?"

"Yeah. When he ran away."

When Alexander ran to this place. Where he was free. Well, at least for a time, there was an illusion of freedom. As it turned out, even here his father could find him in no time at all, if he so desired. And so, Alexander remains a prisoner in his father's world. I hope that this doesn't negatively affect Alexander. Whilst I didn't know him before he came to Christchurch, even since he's came here, he's changed so much as a person. And I think, for the most part, that change was good. It was a positive thing. A lot of it, however, was driven by the freedom that he had, away from his relatives, and away from his father.

But, that's over now. With the arrival of first Kyle Matthews, and now this woman who calls herself Kayla Thorne, that's all changes. It makes me worried. I'm worried about how all this might change Alexander. How he might regress back to his former self.

"So, is Alex not around at the moment?"

"No, he… he's gone to go see his father."

"Woah…" Kayla's eyes widened, "so, he went all the way to England?"

…

Does she really know Alexander that well?

Or did Alexander not tell her who his father really is?

I can imagine that being the case. Even now, he doesn't often tell people his father's identity. If asked, Alexander just says that he lives in another country.

"Yeah, that's right."

It isn't my place to tell her who Alexander's father really is.

"Someone came looking for him a couple of weeks ago, and he's been gone since then," I continued, explaining the situation to Kayla.

I don't give her any more detail than that, however, because I still don't know who she is, or whether I can trust her.

"Why are you coming to his house while he isn't around?"

"Oh, I've been cleaning it every Saturday since he left. Otherwise, it'd be pretty bad when he got back."

"I see. That's cute."

I can't tell if she's being serious, or just condescending.

"Do you want me to help you?"

"Huh?"