‘’Remember that he hasn’t paid yet for slapping you.’’ He told her with a dark look in his eye. She was going to say something but stopped when the sad depressing music started and the priest walked in.
After the priest had said a lot of nice words about her grandma and half of the church, which was packed since Holly knew a lot of people, were in tears the priest asked if there was someone who wanted to say some words about her.
Desiree sighed and walked up to the podium with a piece of paper in her hand.
She looked at all the people who were looking at her, waiting to hear what she was about to say and she felt like she was going to throw up. She was never one who enjoyed public speaking and having all the attention on her. Her eyes locked with Elliot’s green ones who gave her an encouraging smile. She took a long breath and started to talk.
(start playing the video now)
‘’ My name is Desiree and I am one of Holly’s grandchildren. It is difficult to put into words how much my grandmother meant to me. She was a strong willed and intelligent woman. She was very successful and achieved a lot in her life. She passed a lot of wisdom down to her children who I am happy to say passed it on to me. ‘’ She took a breath and wiped some tears from her face before she continued.
‘’ My grandmother loved life; she loved her family, she loved her friends, she loved art, she loved nature and she loved god. No matter what situation she was presented with, no matter how challenging; she was able to overcome it. My grandmother always taught me that no matter what happens in life, if you remain calm and positive you could overcome it. It was lessons like that, that I will remember the rest of my life. It is incredible what a smile and kind heart can do.’’ She paused as she let out a sob.
‘’As long as I can remember my grandmother always shared with me the importance of faith. My grandmother was a very religious woman. She showed me how a belief in God helped shape her life.
I also learned how to bake from my grandmother and mother. Whenever the two of them got together they would takeover the kitchen. They would bake for hours and our house always smelled like a bakery when I was younger. It was a surprise that none of them were fat! I really appreciated the time my grandmother spent showing me how to bake. Many of my oldest memories are in the kitchen standing on a stool helping my grandmother bake cookies while drinking a cup of tea and sharing stories.
My grandmother inspired me in a lot of ways and she meant more to me than you can possibly imagine. Even though my grandmother and I didn’t always live in the same town, we remained close. Grandmother’s love for family, life and God was inspirational to me. I hope that I can live my life with the same honor and respect as she did. I will always remember the time we spent together and love her forever. Thank you.’’ Desiree finished her eulogy with tears streaming down her face, like all of the people who were there for the funeral.
They all started clapping as she made her way down to her seat next to Elliot, who had tears in his eyes aswell as he wrapped his arm around her and held her close, while she sobbed in his chest soaking his expensive looking black suit.
‘’I am so proud of you, and I am sure your grandma is looking down at you from wherever she is and smiling at the nice words that you have just said about her.’’ He told her as he played with her hair.
One of her uncles, uncle John, was now making his eulogy. She wasn’t close with him since she only saw him once in a year when he flew over from France.
After the requiem was finished they all made their way after the coffin to the cemetery.
Desiree couldn’t take it anymore as she dropped down onto the street and started sobbing in the pouring rain. Her heart felt like it was being ripped out of her chest, an important person in her life had left her forever. She started to cough loudly and Elliot picked her up in his arms bridal style as she clung to him like he was her lifeline.
He hated seeing her like that, so small and sad. He wanted to do anything that he could to make her feel a little better. Elliot told Mia to tell her parents that he had took her home with him and not to worry about her.
He ran to his black Range rover and placed her down in the back seat.
‘’Everything will be alright, baby girl, I promise you.’’ Elliot told her as he placed a kiss on her forehead, covered her with a blanket that he always kept in his car and got into the driver’s seat.
Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.
20☕
❝See the flames inside my eyes
It burns so bright I wanna feel your love❞
When Elliot’s father and step mother saw him stepping in the house, soaking wet with the rain and Desiree sleeping in his arms they immediately rushed to him asking who she was, if she was hurt and countless other questions.
He just brushed them off and walked up to his bedroom telling them that everything was fine and that there was nothing to worry about, everything was fine, except that the girl he cared about had tear stains on her beautiful face and a broken heart.
Elliot pushed open his bedroom door with his foot and gently placed her on his bed, covering her with the blanket. He didn’t bother that she was getting it all wet, all he cared about was getting her warm and comfortable because her lips had turned to a shade of blue and purple with the cold.
After he had just finished taking a hot shower he heard someone knock on his bedroom door. Elliot didn’t want it to wake up Desiree so he stepped out of his bathroom with just a towel wrapped around his waist.
When he opened the door he saw his step mother standing there with a cup of hot chocolate and tiny pink marshmallows floating on top. She looked down at his tattooed torso but looked up immediately when he coughed and crossed his arms.
‘’What do you want Hanna?’’ He asked her with a rude tone.
‘’ I just came here to give.. um.. the girl this.’’ She told him with a small smile as she handed him the warm cup of hot chocolate.
‘’Thanks I’ll give it to her when she wakes up.’’ Elliot told her as he took the cup from her.
‘’You never told your father and I that you had a girlfriend.’’
‘’She’s not my girlfriend, now can you go because I need to put on some clothes?’’ He told her in an attempt to get rid of her. Hannah’s eyes travelled once more down his body.
‘’Sure, I’m going to go. If you need anything I’ll be downstairs, and don’t forget to introduce the girl to us tomorrow.’’ She told him with a wink before she turned around and walked out from his bedroom.
Elliot rolled his eyes and locked the door before placing the hot chocolate on his bedside table in case she woke up and needed to drink.
For some reason he never liked Hannah.
When his father had told him that he was going to marry her after knowing her for only three months he wasn’t very happy. First of all it felt like his mother was being replaced and he knew that she wasn’t going to marry him because she loved him, he could tell.
They had gotten married when he was seventeen, and during the two years of their marriage they had seemed happy together, and to be honest he was surprised that their marriage had lasted so long. Hannah seemed really nice and all but there was something about her that made him believe that she wasn’t what she seemed.
After he had dressed in his pajamas, which consisted of a rolling stones t shirt and black sweat pants and saw that Desiree hadn’t woke up, he decided to get some sleep himself.
He walked towards his sofa, but when he saw Desiree sleeping all alone in his huge bed looking like an angel he couldn’t help but walk to his bed and lie next to her.
She was lying on her side facing him. Even though she was still dressed in her black dress and had black make up down her face which had mixed with her tears, she still looked beautiful. He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead and removed a lock of brown hair from her face before he switched off the light and closed his eyes.
☯
The next morning Desiree woke up and tried to get up from the bed. When she couldn’t move she looked down to see what was holding her down. When she saw that she was still in her black dress and a tattooed hand was around her waist she let out a sigh of relief as she remember how the previous day Elliot had took her to his home after the funeral.
Desiree looked around the room and saw that there were plenty of impressive drawings on the cream walls, mostly of cities and people, there was also a sofa, a balcony and the normal furniture you usually find in a bedroom. The room was very warm and welcoming and smelled of him.
She turned around as best as she could without waking him up and took in his sleeping face. He looked so much younger that way and as if he had no worries at all. She wondered what he was dreaming about since he had a slight smile on his pink lips.
Absentmindedly she lifted her hand up to his face and started trailing it up and down, taking in all his features. She wanted to remember them for the rest of her life.
When her hand moved to his lips her eyes met his half opened green ones which were taking in every move.
‘’How long have you been up?’’ She asked him as she blushed a deep red.
‘’I woke up about ten minutes ago.’’ He told her with a cheeky smile.
‘’Oh I see.’’ Desiree told him as she avoided his gaze, she was embarrassed.
‘’How are you feeling?’’ He asked her after a moment of silence passed between them.
‘’I think I’m feeling a bit better, but I’m really hungry.’’
‘’Let’s get up then and go prepare some breakfast.’’ Elliot told her with a smile as he unwrapped his arm from her waist and got up from the bed.
‘’Um, Elliot, do you have an extra shirt or something that I could borrow?’’ She asked him as she took in the state of her dress, which was all wrinkled and clinging to her body in certain places.
‘’Sure, no problem’’ He replied as he opened his closet and after a while got out a dark grey hoodie and a pair of sweat pants which were identical to the ones he were wearing. ‘’Here you go’’, he told her as he handed her the clothing.
‘’Thanks, now turn around so I can change.’’ She told him with a smile.
‘’Oh c’mon why can’t I watch?’’ He told her as he crossed his arms and pouted his lips.
‘’Because, um, you can’t okay? Okay. Now turn.’’ She told him as she twirled her finger.
He let out a sigh and turned around.
Desiree unzipped her dress and tossed it to the side, the hoodie was a little too big for her that it looked like a dress on her, so she didn’t bother trying on the sweatpants.
‘’You can turn around now.’’
‘’I always thought that girls looked sexy wearing men clothes.’’ He told her as his green eyes trailed up and down his body.
‘’From now on I’ll only start wearing men clothing then, Liot. Now let’s go prepare some breakfast because I might pass out any second.’’
They made their way downstairs and into the kitchen, as they started to prepare breakfast which consisted of pancakes, bacon, scrambled eggs and of course tea and coffee.
Just as they had finished cooking and sat down on the table eating in silence, Elliot’s father and step mother walked in both looking smart in grey suits and a briefcase in hand.
‘’Good morning Elliot and um… the girl’’ Hannah greeted them with a grin.
‘’Hi, I am Desiree and it’s pleased to meet you Mrs. Sword.’’ Desiree told her with a shy smile.
‘’Desiree, what an unusual beautiful name. Please call me Hannah, I’m Elliot’s step mother and this is Thomas his father.’’ She said in that cheery voice of hers.
‘’It’s nice to meet you, sir.’’
‘’It’s nice to meet you too, we would love to stay and chat but we don’t want to be late for work. Another time perhaps?’’ Thomas told her after Hannah had looked at her gold watch and let out a gasp.
As she looked at him she saw where Elliot got his looks from, he had the same brown hair, slightly muscled built and the dimple when he smile. His eyes were brown so Elliot must have gotten his beautiful green eyes from his mother.
‘’Of course, have a good day Mr and Mrs sword.’’ She told them with a smile.
‘’Don’t get into any trouble.’’ Thomas said while he looked at his son who was drinking his pitch black coffee without saying a word, only giving a slight nod. When they heard the front door close Elliot turned around to face her.
‘’Wanna go and do something fun?’’ He asked her.
‘’ Sure, why not. Let me go grab my bag and we’ll go.’’ She told him with a smile and rushed upstairs back to his bedroom.
Desiree looked into the mirror to inspect her appearance. She didn’t have any make up on so she looked paler and younger and her eyes were bloodshot. Elliot’s hoodie was far too big on her but she liked it because it was so warm and smelled like him.
‘’Are you ready, Des?’’ Elliot yelled from downstairs.
‘’I’m coming!’’
With that she gave one more look in the mirror, grabbed her bag and rushed downstairs. She couldn’t wait to see what he had in mind for that day.
21☕
❝She is the queen of her life and the choice is hers. ❞
As they were walking in the streets together people gave them odd looks, but they couldn’t blame them. It was a peculiar sight to see a teenage girl with blood shot eyes wearing a hoodie which obviously didn’t belong to her, and a guy wearing all black who had a rough appearance thanks to his tattoos and American flag bandana.
The October weather was quite cold and everything looked grey, with some splashes of gold and brown in the leaves which decorated the streets. October was one of Desiree’s favourite months since it was the month when Halloween was celebrated.
‘’We’re here!’’ Elliot said when they stopped in front of a café, the café. Old Theatre café, where she had countless of memories with her grandmother and the first time where she and Elliot had hung out.
She took a deep breath and walked through the door which Elliot held open for her like a gentleman. Desiree was instantly greeted with the smell of freshly brewed coffee and pastries. It smelled like heaven, like a safe place.
They made their way towards the table they had sat in the first time and scanned the menu.
‘’Have you decided what you want to order?’’ Elliot asked her to break the silence which had fell upon then.
‘’Yes, I’ll have the red velvet cupcake and a large cup of black coffee with no sugar, please.’’ She told him with a small smile.
‘’How come you’re not having a cup of tea?’’ He asked her a little curious. In the short time that he had known her she had always drank tea.
‘’I want my drink to be like my mood, dark and a little bitter.’’ She told him.
He let out a little laugh at this and grabbed her hand. ‘’Desiree I promise you that what you’re feeling now will pass, everything does. I remember how I felt when I lost my grandpa, but now I only feel happiness when I think of him. I remember him full of life, always happy and telling me stories on the porch, and I thank whoever is up there that he gave him a long life.’’
Desiree nodded her head as she took all of it in, Elliot was right. She should just thank the Lord that her Grandma had a wonderful and happy life, and just remember the nice memories that they had together.
Tea and Tattoos Page 8