"I knew that I was no good for you, for all of you. Being with me only gets you in trouble. As soon as I am in Sicily, you have to stop worrying about me. Promise me! You and your family and friends are in danger if you are connected to me.”
He ran his fingers through his hair in despair.
Leyla looked at him imploringly, “Stop it. Damn it. It's not your fault what happened to Maria, Mrs. Benson or the horse, so please don’t tell me such nonsense. Self-pity or self-sacrifice won't take you any further now. Moreover, Shane has written that they were scared but not earnestly hurt.”
He looked stubborn and defiant on the ground in front of him and turned his face away.
“It could have ended differently and they could all be dead by now. You're better off with Greyson, than with me. You will forget about me sooner or later. I will let you down. I'm going to disappoint all of you. I'm even going to disappoint myself.”
Leyla could hardly believe her ears.
“Stop going down in self-pity and for the record, I have not the slightest interest in Greyson. Who do you think I am?
A maple leaf in the wind? I will never forget you even if you tried to kill me. There is no switch in my brain that can simply be turned off.”
He stared silently out the window. Leyla didn’t feel like arguing any longer. It made little sense considering the mood he was in. His mind was made up solid as a rock. He was to blame for every bad thing happening around him.
She grabbed her cell phone out of his clump hands standing up. “We have to change train. Come on, or we'll miss the connection because of your self-pity.”
She gave him no chance for an answer storming out of the train. He had no choice but to follow her. They got on the East Shore Train. It would take them directly to the Toronto International Airport. She ignored Gregory who was still dull gazing out of the window and made a few changes online. She did her best to book several flights not having him fly directly to Sicily. That would be the best way to get undiscovered out of the country and not leaving any trace where he was heading to in Italy. She tried to make it as complicated as possible to find out. First, she booked a flight to London, which would leave today at 3 o’clock. The second flight she booked was from London to Rome, and finally the third flight from Rome to Palermo. She smiled, satisfied with herself. Maybe she should consider a career with the CIA. She was sure that she had what it took for it. She touched Gregory's arm softly.
”Give me your phone number so that I can forward you the e-Tickets.”
He was still staring out showing no reaction. Probably he had still not recovered from the fact that Maria and Mrs. Benson had been hurt and was still feeling guilty for it.
“Hello Gregory, give me your damn phone.”
He winced and dug his cell phone out of his pocket. He handed it to her and looked out the window absent-minded again. Leyla wrote down his number and sent him all the information he needed. Then she put his phone in the outside pocket of the newly acquired backpack, along with his passport and some cash.
“I have everything stored in the outside pocket: passport, money and your cell phone.”
He was still staring into space. It was about time that he came around again.
“Damn it, are you listening to me?”
She grabbed his arm and shook him slightly. He turned and looked at her blankly.
"What's waiting in Sicily for me has nothing to do with you Lela. It's incredible what you've done for me, but it's not your fight. It’s mine. It makes no sense that you, your family and friends put your live at stake because of me. I know that I will disappoint you eventually.”
Leyla understood very well what was going on inside him; he was afraid that something would happen to her and all the others who fought for him and his cause. Shane’s text had apparently made him realize the full dimensions and the risk they would take.
"You're wrong. You'll never disappoint me and the others.”
"No, I am right. I will disappoint you just because I can.”
Leyla regretted having him read the text at all. She should have known that he would feel guilty after reading it.
She tried to make him see that he got it all wrong with all her powers of persuasion.
”Please try to think logically Gregory, it's not just your crusade. We hang in there all of us now. There is no turning back. All of us - the Akandos, me and even Brooklyn and Shane. It doesn’t change anything if you're trying to exclude us.”
He seemed to accept slowly what she said and finally sighed not being pleased with the reality at all.
“I know, but to see that others get hurt because of me scares me and I could not bear it if anything happened to you because of your connection to me. If they are ever to find out how I feel about you, they will hurt you to get to me just because you're with me. It would be better if they didn't have a reason to think that you care that much about me.”
He looked so sad and worried. She leaned her head on his shoulder whispering, “They already know, we can't change that.”
She turned to face him, running both hands soothingly through his tousled hair. God, she loved to do that. She kissed him gently on the cheek. They sat for a while in silence. Gregory had his arm around her and her head rested on his chest. Both were hanging in their own thoughts and enjoyed the uninterrupted time of being together. No one knew whether they would ever be reunited and whether they would experience such a moment ever again. None of them knew what the future would bring. Maybe that was the end of their story. The uncertainty lay like a heavy rock on them. Leyla felt that although he was sitting beside her and she felt his arm on her shoulder, they were already miles away from each other. The landscape was slowly changing. They would reach their final destination in a few minutes. The next stop was the International Airport of Toronto. They got out and walked hand in hand to the escalator that led up to the departure hall. There was no point in delaying the inevitable any longer.
The faster Gregory had passport control behind him, the less they ran into the risk of unwanted people seeing them. She had a big lump in her throat and tried hard to suppress the rising tears. They had arrived at passport control and the dreaded moment of parting had come. They embraced and Gregory urged Leyla to take care of herself. He would contact her as soon as he could. She had already half turned away again when he grabbed her around her waist pulling her to him. He buried his face in her hair and then he kissed her passionately. She drew slightly away from him looking in his eyes, her voice barely more than a whisper.
“I am afraid, that I am never going to see you again.”
Their eyes locked.
“I know.”
That was all he was able to say. A last desperate hug and a last lingering kiss they both would remember for a long time. A last look from his blue eyes, and then he turned around and finally disappeared through the electronic barrier. He didn’t look back. Leyla stayed behind and suddenly it hit her like a hammer.
He was really gone this time. She had done everything in her power to help him get away and she had made it. Yet, she hadn’t expected despair closing over her like a big wave when she actually realized that she might never see him again. She left the departing hall and stepped back into the main area leading to the entrance. She felt numb as if in a trance. She pulled up the hood of her T-shirt, trying to cover her face and kept on walking setting mechanically one-step ahead of the other. She was petrified and felt an infinite void. She wondered if the little red thing in her chest was still beating at all. Numbness was spreading through her body. Tears ran down her cheeks. Without that, she wasn’t even aware of it.
She remembered the lyrics of that sad song her mom liked so much which was from the nineties.
“And as I walk into the lonely afternoon, I feel bad enough, I feel sad enough. Because it’s over…”
She had almost reached the entrance when someone grabbed her shoulder turning her around.
It's over!
Aiden
had come to the Airport as fast as he could after Shane contacted him because he was worried. After texting Leyla about the attack at Port Hope and Elmhirst Resort, he had apparently received a short but also alarming text from Leyla in which she indicated that she was with Gregory and eventually would help him leave the country. Shane had put one and one together and had come to the conclusion that the guys that attacked Maria and Mrs. Benson were still at their heels.
He also suspected that Leyla and Gregory would show up at the airport sooner or later.
Aiden had immediately gotten into his Mustang and drove to the airport and as it appeared, he had just made it in time, or was he even coming too late? He came across Leyla when he reached the main hall. She didn’t see him actually; she didn’t seem to see anything. She was apathetic and tears were running down her cheeks.
At first, she looked right through him as if she didn’t recognize him at all. Then eventually she realized it was him standing there looking worried at her.
She stopped in front of him, and when she tried to speak, her voice broke.
“I've done it. He is gone for good! Disappeared from my life. You know it feels as if a part of me has gone with him. Does that make sense, or am I losing my mind?”
She tried to smile, but it looked more like grimacing.
Aiden’s black eyes were full of compassion. He took her hand pulling her along behind him.
“I can see that you are feeling bad and it must be horrible, but we have to get out of here. He may be gone and with him all your energy, but I know that the Vultures are still there and they are watching us. Besides, I am sure that they know that he is not dead.”
Leyla let him drag her along slightly unwillingly. But despite her absent state of mind, she could not ignore the fact that the two blonde Barbie doll Vulture twins were standing randomly close to the entrance observing every move she made. Their gaze wandered over Leyla's tear-soaked face.
Aiden was right. Gregory might be safe for now, but the game wasn’t over.
It had only just begun.
END
ELEMENTARY VIRTUE: The Savior Page 34