Chapter 42 #2
I did not for one second think we’d be having this conversation on the phone. Let alone that he would be asking me on a date.
I’m speechless. Totally dumfounded...
“I’m heading into the next half of my training session now. See you later, okay?”
“See you later, Love.”
Elijah ends the call, and I take a couple of seconds to gather myself as Christina dramatically twists to face me. Here we go...
I open my mouth to tell her ‘No’ but her finger presses to my lips, silencing me.
“Before you say it, just know that I’m not dropping it until I know everything about ‘last night’,” she enunciates the latter with over-the-top flare. “Sounds like things with Blondie progressed."
“Well...” I’m not sure how to have this conversation, and I'm relieved when the car comes to a stop.
As in the morning, when the doorman was waiting for me by the elevator, he’s waiting at the building entrance.
Christina gets out and I shuffle after her. She’s quick to get inside and straight to the elevator.
The instant the doors close, she asks, “Well? You and Blondie? What’s going on?”
I don’t know what to say. What to tell her. So, I opt for the measured truth, “I think we’ve turned a corner. I don’t know, since the hospital incident, he’s not so closed up.”
“Sometimes it takes a scary event to put life into perspective.” Christina wraps her arm around my shoulders. “How’re you doing? After the whole photo shit at the hotel and the animal head in the mail... I can’t believe you guys didn’t report it. It’s fucking sick and—”
“There’s no proof it was from The Fellowship. I mean, it fits their modus operandi for sure, except when Elijah called, his father refused to take his call until he threatened to call the cops.”
“So?”
“Why would they send the lamb’s head and then not take his call? Why go through all the effort of stalking and harassing us when they’ve cut us off?”
“I guess it doesn’t make sense. Then again, that whole place is a mind fuck...”
“Elijah’s father said it wasn’t them. At first, I didn’t believe it because I’ve seen how they torment deserters. Now, the more I think about it, I wonder what if they’re telling the truth? What if it wasn’t The Fellowship?”
“If not The Moonies, then who?”
“That’s what doesn’t make sense.”
The elevator doors open and I pause at the sight of Elijah’s and Jayden’s doors ahead of me. The lingering weight in my gut eases at the reminder that I’m going to see them at the game later. Even though Elijah isn’t playing, I’m excited to be there for him... with him... and Jayden.
“So... you and Eli are rekindling,” Christina croons, nudging my hip with hers. “What’s happening with seventy-four?”
“You can call him Jayden,” I tell her, opening Elijah’s door.
“Then I might get too attached. Now, that would be awkward.”
I close the door with a sudden knot in my stomach.
Does she like Jayden?
“Relax, Amish, his kind of tall doesn’t work with my kind of short. Even horizontal there’d be a lot of logistics to work around… and anyway, he’s too chill for me,” she says, wrapping her arm around my shoulders so we’re glued together as we go through to the living area.
It reminds me of the night Elijah kissed me for the first time in years. The memory sets off a warm thrum in my chest that boosts the giddiness I’m already feeling.
“I’m so ready for lunch. I started doing this intermittent fasting thing, and I’m starving right now. I brought some meats and cheeses for lunch... and wine!”
“Wine?”
“Yup, wine, meats, and cheeses. It’s the holy trinity of food. Don’t worry, I went with the weak stuff that won’t go right to your head. But we’re celebrating and every celebration needs bubbles.”
“What are we celebrating?”
“For one, Eli is back to hockey life… yay!!!” she sings when I press the button on the home system panel to open the new curtains and slide the balcony doors open to allow the fresh air inside. “Aaaaand… your new job. I’m so happy for you. You’re going to love working with Summer.”
We move through to the kitchen area where she pulls a grocery bag from her large purse followed by the bottle of wine.
While Christina empties the grocery bag, I set my purse down and message Jayden like he asked.
Finley
I’m home! X
Three dots pop up right away, while I wait for his reply, I grab a platter to arrange the meats and cheeses.
How was your first day? X
I pause in the middle of the kitchen, platter in one hand, chopping board under my arm as I reply.
It was great. X
It was great?
It’s a lackluster reply that I instantly wish I could erase. If he hadn’t read it already and those three dots weren’t on my screen.
I enjoyed it a lot. X
Shoot. That’s not any better.
We’ll celebrate tonight. After the game. X
I’m debating what to reply when Christina plucks the platter from my hand. Her eyes narrow on my phone before I lock the screen.
“Seventy-four...” she sing-songs with a cock of her brow.
I follow her back to the breakfast bar. “Jayden.”
“Yep, that guy. What a thing of beauty… the fuck me eyes could almost make up for the height discrepancies. A ride is a ride, and I bet he can fu—”
“Christina Morgan Halliday, get our head out of the gutter…”
She grins at me, picking a grape from the berry basket. “Jealous?”
“No.”
“So, if I told you I’ve had the best fantasies about him…”
“He’s too tall and too chill for you,” I grumble her words back at her even though I know she’s bating me.
“I knew it. You’re into the two of them.”
“No! I love Elijah and—”
A laugh explodes from her, causing my already frenzied pulse to go into overdrive. “You’re cute, but you’re also a shitty liar.”
Or she’s the best human lie detector.
I grab a water from the fridge and take a sip, hoping to clear my throat before I choke out, “I’m not lying. I love Elijah, but…”
“But?”
Dragging in a deep breath, I exhale slowly before I tell her, “It’s complicated.”
“Is it, though? If you’re into them and they’re into you… What’s complicated about that?”
“The part where there are three of us.”
“According to Warhol, three’s a party.”
“And Warhol knows best,” I chuckle, staring down at the perspiration ring on the counter from the wine bottle she pops open.
“Absolutely!” Christina’s pale hand reaches across the counter, palm up, waiting for mine. “You’re pulling that sulky face you do when you’re frustrated with something.”
“Sorry.”
“Stop fucking apologizing, dude. I’ve told you like a million times that sorry should be the last word in a woman’s vocabulary.” She throws a grape at my chest, dunking it right between my breasts with a Whoop!
“How’s the masters going?” I ask her, fishing the grape out and throwing it back at her.
She catches it between her teeth, making a thing of it while I focus on making up our lunch platter.
“Where are the glasses?” The groan answers my question when she slumps back into the stool and takes a long gulp straight from the bottle.
Handing her a couple of water goblets and the baguette she brought I load the platters onto a large tray and take her out onto the balcony.
It’s still warm for fall with the sea breeze making it feel a tad cooler than it actually is. Which means I have to put up the parasol, so Christina’s fair skin doesn’t burn.
Once we’re settled and a few bites into our picnic, I ask her, “So… masters? Tell me all the things.”
Christina takes another long sip of the super sweet, almost juice-like, wine.
She’s focused on the view of the ocean when she tells me, “It’s not what I thought it would be.
The course itself is great, and the labs are incredible.
UCLA wasn’t lying when they sold their linguistics program as a state-of-the-art department. I love that part of it…”
“What don’t you love?”
For a moment she looks like she’s about to unload the weight of the universe off her shoulders.
Her big sea-foam eyes flit to mine with a grave severity to her usually haughty demeanor.
I’m caught off-guard. Just as quickly, she goes back to staring out at the ocean with a flick of her strawberry blonde hair over shoulder.
With a shrug she tells me, “It’s… school.”
All the excitement she had about her when we got here has dulled.
“Tina—”
“Don’t Tina me. Honestly, it’s a lot to keep up with, you know?”
Cautiously I ask, “Can you cut down on your work hours?”
“I have to pay for school fees and rent, and in LA everything is three-hundred percent more than everywhere else. Money does not go a long way here like it did in Portland. Besides, I need to have a stash of it ready for the next time my mom decides she needs to stumble onto the scene again.”
“She’s still drinking?”
“Among other things.”
“God, I’m so sorry, T…” I pause at the death glare she gives me.
“My dad is a presidential running mate now, he can’t be perceived to support my mom’s addiction.” she chuckles, forcing some levity into her tone even though it’s not mirrored in the murky glaze of her stare.
“Tina…”
“He’s gone to great lengths to tick all the boxes…” Counting on her fingers she goes on, “He remarried the perfect Hispanic woman, got himself the California governor’s seat… he even got me into UCLA for my masters…”
“No, you did that. You got the grades and you’re paying for it.”
“Anyway, I’m trying to work on things with him now that he’s having a kid with his wife.”
My heart breaks for her. Governor Halliday isn’t as liberal with his family as he is with his political allegiances. Then again, politics aren’t something I’m versed in.
“Moving on,” she announces, pouring herself what’s left of the wine while I take a small sip of mine. “Today is a good day. We only focus on the good shit in life... like two hotshot athletes falling over themselves for you.”
They’re not falling over themselves for—” The sudden trill of the doorbell gives me pause.
"Are we expecting visitors?” Christina asks, following me to the door.