Leo smiled, seeming to understand Elizabeth’s reluctance. “And she is right, you know. Come on I’ll take you back to your hotel.”
Elizabeth’s hands shook slightly as she reached for her purse. “OK, that sounds fine.” she said, figuring if she was going to trust him with her most personal information, then she may as well trust him to know where she was staying, cringing inwardly at what her mother would say. Thinking once more that she really needed to cut her mother’s apron strings as soon as she got back from vacation. Her mother had really ruined her trust in people, especially men. Elizabeth, deciding to break through that mistrust with Leo, looked over with a smile.
Chapter 13
Elizabeth paused outside the door, the hard plastic of the keycard smooth as she tapped it against her chin. Content, the word that came to her mind as she smiled over at Leo, content with her decision and content with the possibility of working with him to hopefully discover what had been taken from her. “Thank you.” She said softly.
Then a surprise giggle escaped her when he pulled her into his arms, the contact of his firm chest against her made her stomach flip in excitement. Her smile grew as she brought her hands up between the two of them, her fingertips absently skimming his expanse of chest as she looked up. “I thought you said, you were only going to see me back safely.” Laughter underlying the words as she wondered how she had come so quickly to this place, but strangely feeling lighter, like a weight that had been weighing her down for years was slowly lifting. Her head dropped onto his chest as she embraced the feeling.
“That I did, and that I have.” Leo said, his deep baritone words vibrating through her. Then an excited flutter filled her when she felt Leo lift her chin just as he brushed her lips with his, his breath a caress of pleasure as he whispered against her lips, “You have nothing to be ashamed of.”
His words were soft as they wrapped around her in a sweet embrace before her mind registered what they meant. The pleasant moment evaporated as she opened her eyes while her hands simultaneously pushed him away from her in frustration. “I’m not ashamed. What would I be ashamed of? I’m sorry if you got the wrong impression,” aggravated at the assumption he had come to. Frustrated that he had misinterpreted the moment they just had, but also angry with herself for falling so easily into his arms. What was she doing, really? Any handsome man comes around, shows her a little bit of affection and she acts like…
“Did I?” Leo asked, his question interrupting her self-berating.
Elizabeth chose to ignore the question, as she reached into her purse for the keycard and then became further aggravated when she realized it had been in her hand all along. “Hey, listen, thanks for everything. But I really have to go. Stop by the library tomorrow around the same time and you can tell me what I need to do differently in my research.” Elizabeth said, her words quick as she turned to slide the card smoothly in the slot, causing a green light to illuminate along the side of the small box.
Not surprisingly, the door stopped its inward slide as Leo reached around Elizabeth. His breath hot against her neck, “I’m sorry, if I upset you. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Elizabeth paused once more as she shrugged her shoulders in what she hoped appeared to be indifference. “Don’t worry about it. I’m not upset or scared. Just a little tired. I really have to go. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She said, as she looked over her shoulder her eyes pleaded for his understanding.
“Yes. Tomorrow.” Leo said as he let go of the door.
Elizabeth stepped through the doorway, a smile returning to her lips as she fell back against it. This smile quickly evaporated with self-doubts as she threw her shoes off in the direction of the entryway closet. Walking barefoot into the suite, the sight of large beautiful yellow sunflowers halted her progress. “Oh, they are beautiful.” Elizabeth said while she leaned down to touch the soft yellow petals that surrounded the large brown/black center.
Her hand slipped a small card nestled in the petals out as she sat on the couch, her feet simultaneously lifting to rest on the sofa table in front. A movement to her left brought her eyes away from the card and flowers as she saw Aurora stepping through the French doors, which lead to the patio overlooking the Mississippi River. “Where did we get these beautiful flowers?” Elizabeth asked as she reached over to pull one of the flowers free from the vase and brought it to her face to smell its fragrance. “Did you know…my mother used to call me her little sunflower?” Elizabeth said with absent contentment.
Aurora smiled with eyebrows raised in genuine surprise as she stepped closer, “I didn’t know that about your mother.”
“Know what?” Elizabeth asked absently.
“That your mother called you her little sunflower. I just can’t picture her saying that.”
“She didn’t.” Elizabeth said in confusion.
“But…you just said that your mother called you her little sunflower.” Aurora said in puzzlement.
“I said that? Wow, I’m starting to loose it. I don’t know what I’m saying anymore. But, I do know that my mother never called me her little sunflower.” Elizabeth said with a harsh laugh.
“It doesn’t matter. So, how did it go at the library? Did you find out anything?” Aurora asked as she sat down next to Elizabeth on the couch, her feet curled up under her as she rested an arm along the back of the sofa, her elbow bent so she could rest her head on her upraised hand.
“Exhausting. I didn’t realize there would be so much to go through.”
“I’m sure.” Aurora said sympathetically. “By the way, speaking about your mother She called earlier.”
Panic filled Elizabeth in a wave of anxiety. “You didn’t tell her what I was doing, did you?”
“No, of course not. I told you I wouldn’t, besides, I remember her reaction last time you pressured her for the past.”
“Thank you. I really, really appreciate it. Did she say what she was calling about?”
“She said she was just calling to see how our trip was going.”
A bitter laugh slipped from Elizabeth as she replied, “Yeah right. More like she was calling to check up on me, and find out what we have been up to. I mean what mother calls her twenty-one year old daughter on vacation with a friend?”
Aurora smiled, “I agree. Anyways, she said she would call back tonight.” Then as if a bug was planted in the room, the phone rang next to Elizabeth, Aurora raised her eyebrows as she dramatically gestured to the phone. “Speaking of the devil or, in this case, your mother. That would most likely be her.”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes as she reached over for the phone, her mother’s voice greeting her on the other end. “Hey mom. How’s it going?”
“Not good Elizabeth. You know how I worry and after our last conversation.”
Elizabeth sighed as she lifted her feet up onto the couch tucking them beneath her as her lightheartedness eroded beneath the undercurrent of guilt her mother was lying on her. Sadness instead filled her as she wondered if she would ever be able to get away from the guilt she felt for the circumstance of her childhood and the anxiety it placed on her mother. She just wished she could be indifferent to her mother’s fears, her arm heavy as she lifted it to rest on the arm of the couch. “I know. I’m sorry about that.”
“Apology accepted. But, remember that just because you are in your twenties doesn’t mean that I don’t worry.” Elizabeth rolled her eyes with her mother’s words.
“I know.” Elizabeth said in a way to appease her as she looked over to Aurora who was motioning for Elizabeth to hang up. Elizabeth nodded in agreement and she put up one finger to indicate another minute or so, then mouthed, “Sorry”.
Before their departure to New Orleans, Elizabeth had promised Aurora that it would be a trip without drama from her mother. But so far, the trip had been far from drama free as a person could get. Instead, its purpose had become focused o
n all that she had forgot.
The thought drowned out her mother’s words as she looked over at the sunflowers, her hand instinctively reached out to touch the soft petals once more, as a vague memory of someone calling her “their little sunflower” filled her with a absent ache of remorse. Her heart became a flutter in her throat with the unexplainable feeling it evoked.
“Mom. Did you ever call me your little sunflower?” Elizabeth asked apprehensively, but knowing the answer before she heard the words.
“No. What’s bringing this up? Did someone say something to you? Has something strange happened? Because remember what I said before you left. New Orleans is a seed bed of strange individuals and whatever happens there cannot be trusted.”
“Oh my God, Mom, stop. Nothing has happened. I was just wondering. Besides, I still don’t understand what that means, ‘seed bed of strange individuals’.” Elizabeth said in exasperation as she watched Aurora walk back into the room pointing to her watch.
Elizabeth mouthed, “Help”
Aurora smiled in understanding, “Elizabeth, you about done? We have to be going.” She said loudly not far from Elizabeth, a trick they had used in the past to get Elizabeth’s mother off the phone.
Elizabeth gave a thumb up as she said loudly, “I’m coming.”
“What are you girls up to?” her mother asked.
Elizabeth cringed as she quickly thought up a lie, “We are going to see…a play.”
“Oh really, what type of play?”
“Phantom of the Opera.” she blurted out, the first thought that had come into her head, then suppressed a laugh when she looked over to see Aurora laughing at her.
“Oh, I heard that is a very good play. Mary went to see it last year in Toledo and she said it was wonderful. I wonder if it is the same people who put on that one?”
“I have no idea. But I really have to go, I still have to get ready.” Elizabeth said, attempting to get off the phone quickly before she slipped up on her lie.
When she hung up, Elizabeth fell back on the couch, her arms thrown out as she groaned in frustration.
“Elizabeth, why did you tell your mother we were going to see ‘Phantom of the Opera’?”
“I don’t know. I couldn’t think of anything and it just came out. What am I going to do? You know she will find out. She is a blood hound I tell you.” Elizabeth said as she sat back up, and then laughed at the whole situation.
“Why do you let your mother do that to you?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know. I hear her voice and the next thing I know I’m that scared little girl again, eager to please her.” Elizabeth said as she ran a hand through her hair before, balling them into fist to shake at the thin air. “She drives me up the wall.” She said in frustration as she turned back to Aurora. Not wanting her mother to bring her down, Elizabeth smiled as she said in eagerness, “Lets go do something fun tonight without too big a crowd.”
Aurora smiled “Dancing?”
Elizabeth jumped up from the couch, “That sounds perfect. I want to forget everything that has happened so far and have some fun. We are on vacation.” she empathized.
Aurora laughed as she agreed, her face lighting up as she shook her hips.
Towel drying her hair, Elizabeth hummed happily as she walked over to the bed where she had laid out a black silk dress she had bought just before the trip. Excited that she finally had an opportunity to wear it, the silk felt cool and velvety as it slid over her hips. Her thoughts were distracted as she slid the zipper along the side upwards with the memory of Leo’s lips brushing hers. Unconsciously, she reached up to touch her lips, her stomach flipping with a light giddiness. Smiling, she smoothed the silk over her body, the material caressed her body soothingly. Her hips moved seductively to the jazz style music playing just outside of their window along the street, until the shrill of the phone interrupted her pleasant train of thought.
Elizabeth frowned in irritation, wondering who could possible be calling, before she walked around the four-poster bed to stop the ringing, her voice cool. “Hello.”
Breathing sounds her only answer, “Hello?” She asked again, her stomach doing an unexpected flip. Just before the voice on the other end sent a shiver down her spine, the hairs on the back of her neck rose as she recognized the voice from the street, from her dreams, from her premonitions. It was the voice that woke her in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. It was the voice she desperately needed to know, but was terrified of the reality it evoked. “Do you like the flowers?” he asked.
Unable to remove the fear from her voice, she asked hesitantly, her heart caught in a vise of fear with the possible answer. “Who are you?”
“They’re such beautiful, simple flowers don’t you think? Did you know that you can plant them in almost any type of soil and they will take hold and flourish… and not only that, but they are also considered one of the heartier breeds of flower.” He stated, his voice casual as he spoke. Elizabeth’s heart was loud within her chest as the line went silent for what seemed like an eternity before he continued once more, “I guess that is why your mother always called you her little sunflower.” His last sentence sent a sharp knife through her heart as she gasped in memory of a woman’s face so like her own, yet different. Her hand shook as she slammed the phone back onto the receiver, afraid to hear more, afraid of the vision it evoked. It was not her mother it couldn’t be…yet.
Elizabeth paused in her thoughts, the implication overwhelming. Still, she couldn’t discount what she did know, or what had been told to her. It could be her mind distorting reality as she was regaining her memory. Yes, that was what it most likely was - a distortion of her mother’s face with her own. With that thought, she shook her head away from the irrational thought the man on the other end of the phone had provoked. She turned back to the quiet room, where the sound of a shower running and music from outside still filtered in from the street. The gaping French doors filled her with a sense of vulnerability as she walked quickly over to the fragile glass. The wood was cool as she pushed them closed, causing the curtains to billow slightly with the forced closure.
As she was wondered what to do about the call, she looked around the room, her eyes drawn to the flowers which sat so innocently on the coffee table. The beauty of the sunflowers were tarnished now. Her steps were hesitant as she walked over to them, and the thick green stem felt harsh against her fingertips as she lifted them with a sense of precaution, as if they were now a poison that would harm her if she touched the full yellow petals. She held them now with disdain instead of the affection she had earlier, her steps brisk as she walked back to the French doors to throw the flowers over the balcony. She rationally could see the stupidity of the action, her heart saddened, but her anxiety slightly better with the flowers now gone from their room.
Elizabeth paced the confines of the room as she wrung her hands together, attempting to put a face to the voice so familiar to her yet her mind would not let her see his face yet. Frustrated, she sat down on the firm brown couch and beat her palm against her forehead as if it would place the face back to where it should be. He knew her from before her memory loss…problem. So, this knowledge gave him a slight advantage, this she knew as she knew her own breathe. But, advantage to what, she wondered as she looked back up to the room? What was her mind hiding from her and more importunately what had been hidden from her? Obviously, something much more happened to her as a child than she had been lead to believe.
Furthermore, the sunflower, what could possible be the significance of it and how did this man…know that a stupid flower would mean so much to her? Her mind screamed as she attempted to figure out this mental game she found herself involved in. Closing her eyes, she fell back, attempting to force her mind to let her see what it had hidden from her for so long. Fear of what he knew and she didn’t know coursed through her, filling her with panic.
&n
bsp; Then a realization came to her as she opened her eyes, as if a voice had yelled into her ear. There was something he didn’t know that she did. It was why he was playing this mind game. It was the only reason that made any sense to her, he was waiting for her to lead him to something. But what? This she had to figure out before he did, the significance of this not lost on her as she realized the discovery of her past had become something much more and much more critical than she had ever thought it would be.
Just then, the bathroom door opened. Elizabeth took in a deep breath as she rubbed her hands against her thighs, a fake smile replaced the frown from her face as she let out her breath out in a silent stream while she attempted to calm her panic, which still consumed her as she looked up with a smile as Aurora walked in.
Chapter 14
The sound of the phone slamming down loud in his ear, Roger chuckled at the fear he had heard in his sweet darling Julia’s voice, or as she liked to go by now, Elizabeth. The sunflowers he had sent had given the desired effect he had been striving for. He could envision Julia, no Elizabeth, fluttering in fear like a caged bird. He sat down as a sense of accomplishment filled him. Elizabeth’s reaction was a confirmation of what Aurora, Elizabeth friend, had told him. Things were falling into place, he couldn’t have planned it any better if he tried. Aurora will open up to him about all that her poor dear friend Elizabeth had gone through in her pathetic life.
This little game was getting more pleasurable by the day. Now all he had to do was wait for Elizabeth, the scheming little bitch, to rediscover her memory or find out if she had ever lost it, or was this just another game she was playing. The thought of her faking it all so she could take what belonged to him angered him. She would pay one-way or another, but not until he extracted what he needed of course.
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