She didn't want anyone to catch her and she wanted to be at peace with herself when she did it. She glared at her reflection, wiping her face before putting everything away and walking toward the door.
She had called Pure earlier, explaining her dilemma, but Pure was no help. She told her to keep striving for success even when it seems like the whole world is against you. But it didn't just seem like it, that was the truth. And then again, Eleanor couldn't think of another thing to do. She'd baked for a bit at Lavella's bake shop, she'd married a rich man and basically done everything on her bucket list.
Now it was time to finally kick the bucket at the ripe age of 23. She pushed her blonde hair to the side, her green eyes staring at her intently.
The doorbell rang again. She walked over to it and opened the door.
"Hi," she glanced at the short girl standing in front of her.
"Hi Ms., do you want to buy some cookies?" The girl asked.
"No thanks." Eleanor muttered before proceeding to shut the door.
"Wait!" The little girl put her foot between the door to prevent it from shutting. "You look sad! I think a cookie can cheer you up."
"Well, Aren't you a persistent one." Eleanor muttered; this was the girl knocking on her door until it opened. She probably wasn't going to leave until Eleanor bought cookies.
The little girl only gave her a smug smile before offering the brochure with cookies on it.
"I'll take some double chocolate chip please." Eleanor said, "just give me a second to get my wallet." She walked into the home, considering shutting and locking the door. No, a kind act could go a long way.
By the time she reached the door again, a gorgeous man stood beside the little girl. He had broad shoulders and kind of resembled Brad, but with blue eyes. He was also slightly taller and more built. She smiled.
"Hey, where'd the little girl go?" Eleanor asked as she looked at the man.
"Sorry, my sisters been pawning off people all day, not sure where she gets it from. You don't have to pay for the cookies because Missy is getting in trouble tonight!" He chuckled. Behind him walked out the little girl with a grumpy frown on her face.
"If you'd just gotten me an iPad, I wouldn't need to lie to people!" She said, glaring at the man.
Eleanor covered a laugh.
"Sorry about that, hope we didn't disturb anything important." The man smiled warmly. "And if you really wanted cookies, I'd be happy to take you out to get some!" He grinned.
"So, you're letting your daughter walk around and scam people?" Eleanor asked.
"My sister- she's a mess on her own."
Eleanor laughed. It felt like a real genuine laugh to the point where her cheeks hurt. He gave her a funny look.
"I'm sorry," Eleanor said through laughter, "I'm Eleanor, what's your name?" She asked the handsome man.
"I'm Elijah, but most of my friends call me Eli." He smiled warmly.
"And what's your name?" Eleanor bent down to look at Eli's little sister.
"Jessie."
"Nice to meet you both. You live in this building?"
"Yep! We're actually down the hall at 2B, you're free to stop by any time. Our mom makes killer meals!" Eli said. Eleanor smiled.
"And I assume you're still in high school?" Eleanor directed her question at him.
"Actually, I just graduated college, currently looking for a job hence why I'm living with my family." He smiled. "Anyway Eleanor, it was nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too. Feel free to stop by any time Eli," she winked at him, hoping he'd stop by that night. She hadn't had sex in a while, and he was a nice piece of muscle that she'd love to spend time with. He was probably a year younger than her, but that didn't matter.
She stepped back inside her apartment and shut the door. Hope sprang inside of her. She walked over to the mirror she was at before with a smile on her face, putting any harmful items away. She would've regretted it if she'd done it, they always regretted it.
Chapter 34: Play with Fire
There were just nine little numbers that she could quickly send a text to. She'd memorized these numbers by heart.
Adam, I miss you. She typed into her text bar, quickly erasing the words. Maybe he'd changed his number.
She decided that he had and retyped the words in.
She pressed send.
***
The DJ played the music loudly at the club as Adam sat at the bar. He was sipping a cup of god-knows-what alcohol and watching the women dance.
"Hey handsome." Some random girl walked over to him and sat beside him. He'd noticed her dancing earlier in her sparkling golden dress that barely covered her body. He looked at her tan legs before looking back at her cake-faced makeup. She looked nothing like Eleanor.
Eleanor has ruined him for anyone else.
No matter who he tried it with or talked to, she was still on his mind and he still couldn't figure out what the hell and happened in Oklahoma and who had told the police about her. He'd thought at that point she didn't want to speak with him, she'd assumed it was him and he did nothing to convince her otherwise.
Every girl he talked to reminded him of her in some small way and inwardly he was always comparing them to her. He was a goner, he might as well join a monastery and become a monk at this point. Except monks were clean and he was not. He'd considered reaching out to her, but he didn't know how many phones she'd gone through or if she was even willing to talk to him. He wanted to fix things between them, he didn't want to be the cause of Eleanor's demise.
"Hey gorgeous," he replied, his hand instantly reaching for the hem of her dress. He'd spent too many nights like this.
"We can get out of here if you buy me a drink." She winked at him, clearly having been accustomed to that line.
"Nah, I was enjoying the view, but I'm fine." He shut his eyes and decided to stand up. He was not too drunk but took himself a moment to stand composed and with good posture. He began walking away from her, but she grabbed his built arm. He turned to look at her, about to tell her off once again before he saw the warmth in her eyes and the object in her hand.
"You left your phone." She smiled warmly, handing it to him, "Adam."
He wondered how this stranger knew his name, he didn't recall giving it to her. Perhaps maybe he had and was too drunk to recall.
He grunted out a small thank you before exiting the bar and club and walking in the drizzling rain. He shut his eyes, his eye lids growing heavy. He thought he could just fall asleep here. Nobody would be the wiser if he did.
He walked around for a bit, clearing his nostrils from the stench of the alcoholic bar before rounding the block and entering again.
As soon as he took a seat, the loud music was interrupted by sounds of yelling. He turned his head in the direction of two men that looked like they were about to kill each other.
"Stay away from my girlfriend!" One man yelled, getting too close to the other and pushing his chest.
"She came onto me!" The other man defended himself. A girl in a sparking golden dress ran out between them and grabbed the arm of the first man. Adam took a deep sigh of relief, feeling as though he'd definitely dodged a bullet. He simply called the bartender over and asked for another drink.
"Hit me with anything." Adam said.
"You've reaches your quota for tonight sir; I can't give you anymore."
"What do you mean? I'm paying for this."
"It's just not safe for your health if I give you another drink. I'm sorry." The bartender sauntered off and poured a few drinks for other people.
"Idiot." Adam muttered, standing up and leaving some money on the table. He decided to walk outside once again. This repetitive behavior was alleviating whatever discomfort he felt inwardly.
He reached his parked car and called Laci.
"Hey baby." He muttered.
"Adam! What are you doing awake at three am?"
"I need a ride. I had too much to drink and I don't want to drink drive. I me
an... drive like a drunk boy. But I'm a man so I'm going to not drunk dive. I mean man drive." He babbled on as Laci spoke.
"Where are you?"
"Aiden's Bar and Club, I think Aiden calls it the Lucerne or lizard." He relied promptly. "It's cold outside. I'm going to leave my car here."
"I'll be right there." Laci ended the call and quickly tossed two jackets over her shoulders. She rushed down to her garage and began driving to Aiden’s bar and club. She'd hear about this place and hoped Adam didn't take part in any of the activities.
It would be a shame to dump him too. She'd dumped her previous boyfriend only a month ago and genuinely felt like Adam was a good guy.
After a few minutes, she found a drunk Adam sitting on the sidewalk and staring at the stars. She smiled at him, he looked so innocent.
She parked on the empty street and walked out toward him, placing one of the jackets around his muscular build and helping him stand.
"Thank you, Laci, I wouldn't know what to do without you." He attempted to drunkenly kiss her cheek, but she simply walked him into her car.
"Adam, do you want me to drop you off at your house or do you want to come to mine and I can drop you off in the morning?" Laci asked.
He took a pause, slightly falling asleep in between and being awoken to answer the question.
"Home please." He said, his voice a whisper.
"Okay Adam, you need to stop getting yourself in these situations." Laci scolded but he was long gone.
The next morning, a dull aching woke Adam up. He glanced at the time.
Noon. He'd miss work today- they couldn't fire him because he was the boss. They'd probably be angry at him for missing several meetings. He noticed a slight pop up on his phone screen and took a glance at it.
It came from a number he'd never seen before and said the simple words, "Adam, I miss you".
His head pounded and the desire to puke enveloped him. He shut his eyes; a lot of names came to mind, but one stood out the most. He could only hope.
After a few minutes, possibly hours, staring at the phone, he decided to reply. It could've been Magdalene- but he had her number saved. It could've been the girl from the club last night except he never gave her his number and she had nothing to miss.
He tossed the phone aside. Getting out of bed to get some water.
The phone began buzzing. He'd never paid much attention to his phone before. Laci was calling.
"Hey Adam! How are you feeling today?"
"Good."
"I'm coming over in a few hours after work to drop off some stuff, I'll see you soon."
"Alright, cya."
She promptly hung up and glanced at the clock. Laci was not sure if she wanted to continue a relationship with Adam. Some things from the past kept bringing him down and he carried that on his broad shoulders. She would take care of him tonight and then break the news to him tomorrow. And it would be hard for him to find another girl to date, just that she felt more like a nurturing mother to him than a girlfriend and that's not how a relationship was supposed to go.
She arrived promptly after work with soup, candles, and a few bottles of water and aspirin. He'd definitely be feeling terrible all day. He rarely missed work and having not gone to Carnegie Hall was a mistake.
He shut his eyes and watched her fumble with the door. He'd felt better slightly after a few hours and had brought some blankets and moved the couches around to be directly in front of the TV screen. He had a movie night planned with his girlfriend and he was all but excited. He was worried that whomever had texted him would come between this relationship and that worried him like crazy because he liked Laci.
She kissed him upon entry and dropped off the stuff she'd brought and snuggled beside him on the couch. He took an aspirin and made soup for the both of them. They cuddled with multiple blankets surrounding them, keeping them exceptionally warm as Laci's favorite movie, the notebook, began to play. He'd watched it with her once before and didn't like it, but perhaps liking this movie was an acquired taste.
It was a perfect night, except for the mystery of who had sent Adam that longing text.
Chapter 35: Tumulus Texts
The risky text was left alone for a full week. At this point, Eleanor didn't think he'd even looked at his phone. Or perhaps it was because, after all she'd believed this to be the reason at first, it simply wasn't his phone number.
But that all appeared to change when a certain Eli appeared at her door once again. He simply told her he wanted to "have just sex- no feelings." And was quickly turned down by Eleanor.
"Don't come back here again. If you're that desperate- ask your girlfriend. Or better yet, go to a damn whorehouse and don't come back here." She spat angrily. Her nerves were on edge.
Sex was meaningless without emotion. She needed Adam and not for sex this time. She needed him for the comfort his presence gave her, the love he always showed her, she needed him because he made her happy. She hadn't realized it, but she'd forgiven him.
Forgiven him for the pain he'd caused her, forgiven him for all kinds of circumstances. It wasn't worth it- the stupid grudge she'd held, and she knew deep down that she wanted things to go back to normal. She'd forgiven him for ratting her out, all she wanted was to see him.
As she grumpily dipped her hot cocoa and sat on her too-expensive couch, she wondered if it was the right thing to talk Eli off earlier. Of course, it was, she wasn't some play toy. She'd only ever slept with men she was comfortable around or in a relationship with- except Eli. Perhaps she was comfortable around him, but he was the first non-relationship boy she'd slept with and it made her feel strange. She was evolving, but she didn't want to sleep around.
The doorbell rang to her fancy apartment once again. She decided to ignore it. She really wasn't in any mood to talk to anyone unless they wanted to be spat upon and yelled into the ground. She was spitfire and angry.
The persistent knocking made her angrier. She was about to punch whoever was on the other side of that door.
She groaned, pushing herself to her feet to answer the stupid door.
She stood beside it for a couple minutes as the knocking stopped. She needed to stop being hot and cold all the time. She headed back to her seat on the comfortable couch in the yellowish living room light as the knocks resumed.
She began wondering if it was some serial killer there ready to end her life. Eleanor took a deep breath, trying to push any bad thoughts out of her mind.
But if it was a serial killer, she didn't want to invite them in. She didn't even want anyone to know she was home and refused to say hello. She glanced through the peep hole but whoever was on the other side had it covered with a hand.
She didn't know what to do as panic began to file in. This is how she felt the night that Hank Carnegie kidnapped her and the sinking feeling in her stomach made her feel the need to puke. Who the hell was on the other side of the door?
Before she could think any longer, her stomach decided to share its contents with the world, and she rushed to the nearest sink.
She reached for her phone, contemplating whether or not to call 911. She was clearly overreacting, being alone did that to people.
She took a deep breath, a wooden spatula in her hand and her thumb ready to call the cops in the other. She then realized she couldn't contact the cops because they'd put her back on house arrest. Muttering a small prayer, she reached for the handle and opened the door.
"Thank goodness! It took you long enough!" Stephanie Cooper barged into her home with a firm line on her lips. She crossed her arms.
"You scared the hell out of me! Why didn't you text me you were coming?"
"I wanted to surprise you." She grinned, turning toward me, "Happy Birthday kid." She handed me a small box and a frosted cupcake.
"T...thank you? How did you know."
"I make it my business to know." She simply said, "anyway, that was only part of the reason I came here. The other reason was that we are doing fashi
on week in Paris next month and we need you to be there. I know you haven't gotten your passport in order quite yet- but assuming you are Eleanor Carnegie, you can always dig that up at your old home, right?" She grinned, leaving no room for an answer, "I'll see you in a few weeks."
"Wait!" Eleanor called, "the only way I can get that is to talk to Adam about having it sent over... and we're not exactly on speaking terms."
"Then get on speaking terms," she countered, as if it were really that easy. He hadn't even replied to her original message. She wasn't about to send another- that looked desperate- and perhaps she was.
"Look Mrs. Cooper, it's not like I can exactly do that. is there some other way I can?"
"Unfortunately, no. I need valid documentation so we can fly you out to Paris. This is very important to us and just know you'll be getting a lot of attention for it." Eleanor moves her lips to one side, unsure if Stephanie was being serious. "Now, don't give me that look, you still have... let's see.... four weeks before we have to head out there. So just take your time or try to get it from your old home as fast as you can."
A plan began to formulate, but as quickly as it appeared, its bubble popped. The despair and hopelessness that followed shoved it aside. No, she wasn't going to set an agenda this time. She had no other plans; she would simply ask Adam for the passport- tell him she can have someone pick it up- and go to Paris for her job. End of story.
"I'll try... I'll let you know Ms. Cooper."
"Call me Stephanie, Eleanor! We've been working together for a few months now... I would say we are on that first name basis." She said and as quickly and persistently as she came, she left like the blink of an eye, a whoosh of goodbye.
Eleanor shut the door behind her and grabbed the cupcake and the tiny box. She placed a small candle inside it and lit it.
"Happy birthday to me..." she mumbled darkly as she blew it out the candle. She reached for the tiny velvet box that Stephanie had so hastily tossed at her and smiled at the expensive shiny earrings inside. She took a bite out of her cupcake, deciding that vanilla was her new favorite flavor, and then brushed her teeth and turned on an old show.
The Girl that Fled (Bliss Book 3) Page 18