Pulse of Heroes

by A. Jacob Sweeny

  Michelle had never thought about what she was going to tell her parents about Elliot, and for a long time she didn’t think she would ever have to. She always felt as if every day she had with him was a gift from another world, and that one day that fantasy would vanish as if it had just been one long dream. But everything was different now. On Saturday morning she approached her mother and told her that she had met a guy during Easter break and that they had been talking to one another and had decided to go to the prom together. Michelle’s mother didn’t see any problem with that arrangement and was quite happy for her daughter. As they discussed her plans later during dinner, Michelle couldn’t believe how easily the lies fell from her lips. She told her mom that Elliot was from a school down south and that he had graduated two years earlier. Her father was a little concerned about Michelle’s date being three years older than her, but her mother reminded him that they were four years apart when they started dating. He replied that they were both adults at that time.

  “Dad, its not like I’m marrying him. It’s just a dance!” Michelle chimed in, but her father insisted on spending some time with this stranger before he would let Michelle go anywhere with him.

  “There is nothing wrong with him showing up an hour early so your mother and I can get a feel and see if we like him.” How on earth was she going to explain that to Elliot, Michelle wondered with great concern? And besides, what if Elliot’s eyes started changing colors right in front of her father? Then everything would be a total mess and they would never let him take her anywhere.

  After watching James graduate, Michelle excused herself from her friends and made her way to where Elliot’s Explorer was already waiting. When she got into the car he gave her a small peck on the cheek though she would have preferred the lips, and told her that she looked very pretty.

  “It’s just a simple dress,” she told him.

  “Then it must be a good time to go fetch you a fancier one,” he said. They decided to head south to San Francisco to the many little boutiques there because Elliot disliked department stores. En route, Michelle embarrassedly recounted what her father had said, and Elliot seemed to be as pained by the idea as she was. He leaned his head back against the neck rest and let out a low whistle.

  “I told you,” Michelle said, a bit disappointed at Elliot’s response. “This is just a stupid idea.”

  “No, no, it’s not stupid. No matter how old I get I still don’t like to meet any woman’s father. And trust me when I say that throughout most of history a guy couldn’t even talk to a girl without her father or brothers being present, and on top of that there was no taking anyone out anywhere without a marriage proposal first, and even then there was always a chaperon involved.” Michelle looked at Elliot in complete disbelief.

  “Then how did a couple know if they even liked one another if they never got the chance to be alone?” she asked. Elliot explained to her that love was not a modern invention, but that marriage was viewed as more of a business transaction rather than an expression of undying devotion. Of course, if the couple happened to be in love than everyone was happy, but many times that did not happen and men and women were married to people that their parents had chosen for them, while still being in love with someone else. Michelle thought that that was sad and awful, and she was glad that she lived in the present time. Elliot agreed that he liked it this way much better.

  “There are still many places in the world where marriageable women are bartered over the same way they do for a farm animal.” Michelle shuddered at that thought. “Don’t worry, even back then lovers snuck out in secret as much as they could.” Elliot decided not to mention the almost certain death punishment for getting caught. For Michelle, there could be no better feeling than sneaking away with Elliot and getting as far away as possible.

  After trying on numerous dresses Michelle settled on a classic floor length satin gown that was almost black but was in fact deep purple with the slightest iridescent sheen. It had a deep v-neck cut and the body had panels of fabric that crisscrossed from below the bust line, getting gradually wider until they wrapped perfectly around her hips. Elliot enjoyed watching Michelle model the different outfits, and it became obvious to him that she definitely possessed the body of a little woman, and that the clothes she wore in her daily routine hid her natural curves. He definitely preferred seeing her in dresses that emphasized her waist and hips. For Elliot, women wearing pants was quite a recent trend, and although he understood that they were much more comfortable for the ladies than heavy skirts and corsets, he still couldn’t help but miss the days when women looked like fluffy flowers wrapped up in miles of lace.

  “Elliot!” Michelle repeated his name a little louder when he just stared at her, not answering on whether she should wear her hair pinned up or down.

  “I’m sorry, I’m mesmerized. You look so beautiful in that dress that I didn’t hear you speak,” he said in honesty. Michelle blushed.

  “Don’t be silly. It’s a pretty dress, but I’m not all that.” A woman’s self doubt in her appearance was something that never changed. They all needed constant reassurance. Elliot attributed that to them being so fragile. To his eyes, Michelle looked like a movie star straight out of the 1930s. She was still waiting for his opinion on her hair, and her eyes were now sending small darts in his direction while she stood tapping her foot for extra effect. Elliot laughed and walked over to stand next to her by to the three-way mirror. He placed his hands around her waist, feeling the small of her back as it curved downwards and back out.

  “You look so beautiful.” He kissed her while running his hands up and down her satiny hips, pulling her even closer to him. “I just want to rip this dress right off you,” he whispered, and Michelle’s body tightened up. Elliot couldn’t believe that those words came out of his mouth; he should have known better. He probably completely scared her. Michelle pulled back and stared at him, studying his face as if she was seeing him for the first time. She felt awfully confused. The way he had spoken was different. He sounded so at ease, like a grown man. Was he really not young like her? Her sweet beautiful Elliot, a man that she had yet to become acquainted with? Michelle tried to keep things in perspective, reminding herself that Elliot had probably had many lovers, and that she needed to grow up. He tried to say something but she put her finger to his lips, then kissed him passionately while placing his hands back on her hips.

  “If you ask real nice I’ll take it off, you don’t have to rip it off me,” she whispered in his ear. But Elliot knew that she was fronting. He put some distance between their bodies and told her that he was out of line talking to her that way. Michelle was irritated by his apology. “I’m not a little girl, Elliot. You don’t have to treat me like one.” Elliot thought to himself that nothing cuter could have possibly come out of Michelle’s mouth, even if he had put it there himself. Old people were just little children to him, people on their deathbeds were no more than babies. They lived and died knowing a fraction of what he did. It didn’t matter how mature they thought they were. And yet here was sweet Michelle, all of seventeen years old, telling him that she wasn’t a little girl, that she was all grown up. He tried not to burst out laughing and apologized again, telling her that it had nothing to do with her age, but was more about where they were.

  “I should have controlled myself a little better. It’s just hard with you being so beautiful.” He kissed her one more time, and that seemed to help evade any more discussion on the subject for the time being. The salesgirl at the counter cleared her throat as a way to remind the couple that they had an audience. “We’ll take the dress,” Elliot said, walking over to the cash register and pulling out a large stack of bills from his wallet.

  Michelle couldn’t believe that that was her looking back at her from the mirror. Her mother had helped her take in the dress at all the right places and now it fit her body like it was sewn on rather than taken off the rack. Her hair was parted to one side and her mom used a large curlin
g iron to curl the ends. She looked extra glamorous, and the creamy rosy lipstick only added to that effect. With her eyes lined with smoky kohl she looked much older, but that was the whole point, wasn’t it? Michelle noticed that her mother had a tear in her eye.

  “Mom, I’m going to the prom, not a funeral,” she said, laughing and putting her arms around her mother.

  “I know honey. It’s just that you look so pretty that it’s making me cry,” her mom snuffled into her tissue. “I still can’t believe you paid so little for this dress. It’s just gorgeous.” When Michelle had first seen the price tag for the dress she had argued with Elliot that it was much too expensive, and that it wasn’t worth it because she would only wear it one time. But Elliot responded that he had told her that she could choose any dress and he had meant it; he would have been willing to pay a lot more to see Michelle looking so happy. The ever-thoughtful Michelle tried to offset the price of the dress by wearing her same black heels and small diamond necklace that she wore to the Christmas party.

  Michelle’s nervous father knocked on the bedroom door and announced that it was almost four-o’clock. Her mother told him to close his eyes because she wanted him to see Michelle in all her glory.

  “Mom, please. You’re making this a way bigger deal than you need to.”

  “Just let me have my fun,” her mother protested. When her father saw Michelle his mouth dropped open.

  “Don’t you think she’s wearing too much makeup? She looks like she’s thirty, not seventeen!” he said disapprovingly. Michelle became visibly upset and her mother came to her defense, telling him that it had to be like that for the photos to turn out good, and that she had worn just as much when she went to her own Prom. Michelle’s father realized that it was two against one and grumbled to himself while walking downstairs with his wife and daughter behind him.

  The doorbell rang and Michelle froze. It was like she couldn’t breath. Suddenly it felt as if tonight was her and Elliot’s first date. Her mother put on her nicest smile, but when she opened the door her heart just about skipped a beat. There in front if her was the most beautiful young man she had ever seen, standing tall and handsome in a perfectly tailored black tuxedo, and he was taking her daughter to the Prom. She was speechless and proud at the same time. Elliot did his best to act younger by trying to appear nervous, shifting his weight back and forth from one foot to another. He had slicked his hair back away from his face and shaved extra close even though that didn’t really change his features; it was more about how he felt. In reality, Elliot had no idea how old he really looked. Throughout his life people had usually guessed that he was as young as eighteen, up to maybe his late twenties. That afternoon he had poured himself a glass of wine to help relax him. His main concern was that he appear normal. He didn’t want his eyes to look too intense because Michelle had mentioned that she was worried about that. Elliot knew that there were certain emotions that triggered that response in him, despite his attempts to keep them under control. He himself never knew what his eyes looked like unless there was a mirror in front of him, so he mostly went by other people’s responses. To steer clear of uncomfortable situations, he often wore sunglasses and avoided spending too much time with people that didn’t know about him. But now he stood in front of Michelle’s mother, admiring her beauty with crystal blue eyes and noticing how much she resembled her daughter.

  As Elliot was ushered into the living room he noticed Michelle peeking out from the kitchen and gave her a quick reassuring smile. Once inside, he shook Michelle’s father’s hand semi-firmly and sat down on the couch, looking around as if he had never been there before.

  “You have a beautiful home, Mrs. Andrews,” he said in his nicest voice. Michelle listened to him from the kitchen and rolled her eyes with amusement. Her parents asked Elliot all the regular questions, and his answers were sincere and convincing, yet still vague enough so that he didn’t paint himself into a corner. He was, after all, a pro at this.

  “Michelle, are you ever going to come out here and say hello to your date?” her mom called to her from the living room.

  Here goes nothing, Michelle thought to herself, and made her entrance looking every inch a siren from the silent movie era. Elliot stood up immediately, but this time he didn’t have to fake anything. He was thoroughly blown away by the beautiful woman who now stood in front of him. Sexy and classy the same time. Elliot was now gazing at the woman he had seen inside Michelle way back when she had fallen off the wall and ended up at his feet, later yelling at him, ‘this is not the end of this, you know,’ after it was she who had been the one trespassing on the school grounds in the first place. Back then it was only a fleeting image, but now he knew he had seen it right because she was once again in front of him. Michelle’s father gave Elliot a look that could kill and told him that he could close his mouth now because his daughter was not a meal. Elliot actually jumped a little as the harsh comment woke him from his thoughts.

  “Oh, Dad,” Michelle laughed. Elliot handed her a small corsage, a spray of nearly black roses with a few deep red ones in-between. Michelle’s mother commented on the sophistication of the colors and Elliot didn’t miss a beat, telling her that his mom had helped him pick them out. Smooth... that definitely earned points with the parents, Michelle thought to herself. Who is this Elliot, really, she asked herself as she admired his perfect features beneath his sleeked hair?

  It was time to go. Michelle and Elliot said their goodbyes and walked out the door, but not before Michelle’s father emphasized that his daughter was to be home not a minute past 1:00 AM. Outside, Michelle gave Elliot an approving smile. Just as he was about to help her into the Explorer, Michelle’s mother called out to them from the front door. The two of them looked back at her and immediately heard the snap of the camera.

  Chapter 12

  “Michelle, if you keep staring at me like that without saying anything I’m going to crash the car,” Elliot smirked. But Michelle couldn’t take her eyes off him for the entire trip to the restaurant. She found herself once again mesmerized by his looks. He was entirely unbelievably beautiful and she wondered which artist had carved him out to look like that? It just wasn’t fair to anyone else, especially not her. No human could ever possess what Elliot did. There was something ethereal about him. She couldn’t put her finger on what it was exactly. But Michelle had noticed something else that afternoon. With his hair slicked away from his face and his back straight and secure in his dark tuxedo, it was the first time she had gotten to see Elliot the man.

  “Who are you?” she asked, and Elliot laughed from deep inside his lungs. He knew that Michelle was beginning to see more in him than just a good-looking young guy, because he had been gradually revealing himself to her depending on how confident he was that she could handle him. But not all the layers had been peeled away. He had many more. Some stuck to him like a second skin and he couldn’t tell they were there anymore. The more lives he lived, the more complex he became, and not all for the good. He had made plenty of mistakes and had acted in plenty of bad scenes. He wondered if specific situations dictated who he was, or was he always the same person while everything else changed around him? He turned to look at Michelle who was still waiting for some magical answer.

  “I’m me. Who else should I be?”

  Elliot took the next exit, and drove through the small towns, finally heading upwards along a very steep unpaved road that had Michelle clutching his arm in fear. It looked like a private driveway, until the road revealed a picturesque Basque restaurant at the top of the hill, with large windows overlooking the entire valley. Elliot helped Michelle out of the car.

  “Don’t move” he said, taking a step back to look at her and letting out a whistle. “You have no idea how beautiful you are,” he said, then pulled her from her waist for a gentle kiss, as he had no intention of making a mess out of the masterpiece in front of him.

  While finishing dessert, Elliot leaned across the table and gently lifted
Michelle’s gold chain towards him so he could look at it closely. She told him that her brother Toby had bought the necklace for her when he was only sixteen and that she had loved it ever since. Elliot was touched by the closeness that Michelle shared with her brother. He had always wondered what it would feel like to have a sibling, someone so close to him that his own existence would feel incomplete without him or her. He asked Michelle if she wouldn’t mind taking off the chain so he could get a better look.

  “Sixteen?” Elliot looked at the diamond and smiled. Michelle nodded with enthusiasm, while Elliot reached into his pocket and took out a small folded fabric, handing it to her across the table.

  “I thought maybe you would like this to go with your dress.” Michelle looked at Elliot, unsure. He motioned her to go ahead and unwrap the little bundle. Michelle’s hands shook with excitement, so much so that the object slid accidentally out onto the table. It appeared to be a necklace made of large round iridescent black pearls.