Chapter 37. Elizabeth and Berlin.
A few weeks after the family gathered under the apple tree in the Vane Mansion. Elizabeth was walking down the street. She received a call from an old friend who invited her for a drink. Seeing the sign of the bar, she grabbed the metal door handle and paused. A tear trickled down her face before she quickly wiped it away.
Then she walked in.
Patrons were scattered around in the bar, the light dimmed and the smell of beer was strong. She was dressed in a casual shirt and jeans, her silver hair was tied in a high ponytail as she walked to the corner. Her shoes kept getting sticky from the old floor. Countless beers had been spilt.
There she saw him. At the corner table, sitting on the side of the booth that faced the wall, staring at a picture frame. A snake with a cowboy hat drinking a shot of whiskey.
Her feet stopped. Berlin was thin and his clothes hung on him like it was a few sizes too big. The Association would need someone new. She already knew who.
She took the chair opposite to him and sat down, her elbows on the table. The silence hung in the air. Berlin passed a glass of bourbon to her. Her lips pressed into a thin line. Drinking it slowly, she looked at him, his eyes were still on the frame, smiling to himself as he smoked a cigarette.
Always the cigarette. He wouldn’t give them up, even now when he was 70. But he looked happy, she could see that much. A gentle look on his old face. His wrinkles more pronounced.
A glass was shattered and someone was cursing in the background. A waiter walked over to the man and said something to calm him down.
She never looked away from her friend.
Putting down the glass, she wanted to ask so many questions, say so many things.
Berlin took a sip of his bourbon and finally looked up at her with those brown eyes of his. His hand tapped the cigarette over the ash tray.
He brought his glass to hers and they made a small toast. Not one word had left their lips.
A song came on the jukebox. It was a song from the old times, the one Berlin played at her and Silas' wedding, the one the three of them drank to back in the apocalypse. They let it play.
Her heart tightened but her face was calm as they drank their alcohol and Berlin stubbed his cigarette, repeatedly, without fail as if his hands were on autopilot.
Then she took a deep breath, inhaling the smell of whiskey and smoke and her voice finally came.
“Lucifer?”
He smiled, “Lucifer.”
That was all.
She nodded and stood up, the wooden chair creaking under her. Before she left she put a hand on his shoulder. He chuckled. Then Elizabeth walked out. The door closed behind her, leaving Berlin alone in the booth. He took a long drag of his cigarette before his eyes went back to the snake with a cowboy hat on it.