Chapter 9 Elijah
ELIJAH
What am I doing?
Inserting myself into Calliope’s life like this is hardly fair. One wrong move and I’ll end up being the creepy guy she doesn’t remember, and the moment she does remember, I’ll look even weirder for sticking around.
But I can’t stop myself.
She looked like she was holding herself together at the seams when she came out of the grocery store with a child in her arms and an elderly woman at her side. Whatever the emergency was, thankfully, it didn’t involve any injuries that I could see.
Calliope’s mother, Betty, sits next to me in the passenger seat while I drive while Calliope and her son Nick take up the back seat. She introduced me quickly, then focused on calming Nick’s tears and promising him all sorts of things to soothe him once they got home.
She has a kid.
Did she have a kid when we met? He doesn’t look much older than four at a guess, so it must have been after. Does that mean there’s a father in the picture? If there were, surely, she would call him during a time like this?
It’s not my place to ask so I keep my curiosity to myself while following the GPS to Calliope’s home, but my attention lingers on her. I sneak various glances at her in the rearview mirror under the guise of being extra vigilant on the road with a child in the back seat.
“So, who are you?” Betty asks suddenly, her piercing eyes locked onto me.
“Mom, this is Elijah. I already said,” Calliope hisses from the back seat while attempting to keep the seatbelt out of Nick’s mouth.
“So? I’m just making conversation,” Betty replies.
“As she said, I’m Elijah.”
“How do you two know each other?”
Calliope meets my gaze in the rearview mirror for half a second. “We’re working together,” I explain. “Calliope was giving me a tour of a warehouse when she got that call.”
“And you just offered to drive her?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“Out of the goodness of your heart?”
“Mom!” Calliope’s cheeks flare red. “Stop!”
“Yes,” I reply. “I don’t think that’s out of the ordinary.”
“For a New Yorker, it is,” Betty replies.
“Mom!” Calliope’s voice pitches sharply, drawing Nick’s attention from whatever it is about the seatbelt that fascinates him so much.
“It’s fine.” I flash Calliope a soft smile. “I understand how this can look.”
“It doesn’t look any way at all. You’re doing me a favor and that’s it. Mom, stop putting him on the spot like that or he’ll turf us out right here!”
Betty doesn’t seem entirely satisfied but after a moment staring at me, she turns her attention back out the window and silence falls once more.
A pained wince flashes over Calliope’s face, then she turns back to her son. “Stop, baby. You’ll hurt your teeth.”
“Feels funny,” Nick replies, and he tries to offer the seatbelt to Calliope.
“No, thank you. You have to keep that around you so that you stay safe, okay?”
“I don’t like it.”
“I know, but it’s the best we have, so you just sit nice for me, okay?”
Nick blinks slowly and then suddenly huddles into Calliope’s side. “Okay.”
A subtle, warm smile flashes over her lips and she buries her face against the top of his head.
Adorable.
The rest of the drive passes quietly, and I pull up outside her home fifteen minutes later.
A crumbling stone wall lines an empty garden filled with a lone swing covered in snow.
The shoveled path leading up to the door sparkles under the glow of a nearby streetlight that flickers on and off.
Nick immediately sprints off up the path toward the house, yelling loudly about the cold with Calliope rushing after him so he doesn’t fall.
Betty follows after a pointed look at me, and I bring up the rear with my arms filled with the remaining groceries.
The rush inside to escape the cold is so quick that I’m swept into their warm little home without much time to process and find myself standing in a hallway as Calliope drags the bags from my arms with a soft thanks.
Warm red walls peek out from an array of framed photographs covering one wall, beneath which sits a coat rack heaving with various coats, scarves, and jackets.
Below, a colorful shoe rack containing mostly children’s shoes threatens to trip me in the narrow hallway as Betty moves past. I sidestep her with a small smile and step into the living room.
Darkness shrouds the room with only a twinkle of the light from outside creeping in a drawn curtain. Warm light from the hall frames my shadow as I step in deeper, and suddenly, the lights above flicker on. Motion sensors, if I had to guess, handy for the elderly.
Calliope’s voice drifts from deeper within the house, along with a burst of laughter from Nick.
The sound brings a smile to my face as I glance around at two couches covered in knitted blankets, a small coffee table heaving with mail-order catalogues, and an old television set that looks like it’s several decades out of date.
A small fireplace fills the farthest wall, surrounded by a dark wood fireplace on top of which sits an urn surrounded by flowers and a couple of photographs.
Curiosity gets the better of me, so I step closer and get a better look at the pictures.
Several of them are of the same man with Betty by his side, one contains the man and Calliope, and the last one in the middle holds all of them, Nick included.
Judging by how Nick looks, this picture can’t be that old.
Which means this death wasn’t either. No wonder that call scared her so much.
“My dad,” comes Calliope’s voice from behind me. “He passed away last June.”
I spin on the spot, an apology ready for my snooping, but the sadness in her eyes as she stares past me morphs the apology. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”
Her brows twitch upward slightly and she looks at me as if there’s something else she wants to say, like I’m at the precipice of a dam waiting for the pressure to boil over. Sadly, nothing comes and the sadness in her eyes vanishes.
“Thank you so much for helping me today. I don’t know where I would have been without you.”
“It’s no problem.”
“Guess I owe you, huh?” She laughs softly, yet quickly sobers up. “Would you be willing to drive me back to work? I need to pick up my car.”
“Oh, yes, of course. I don’t mind at all.”
“Thank you. I just need to wait for my friend Stacey to get here. She’s agreed to watch Nick for a few hours.”
“Your mom can’t?” I ask, knowing full well that I’m prying when I probably shouldn’t.
“She’s had a rough day,” Calliope replies with a tight smile. “And Nick can be a handful. It’s just easier this way.” Just as she finishes speaking, something clatters in the kitchen. She flashes me an alarmed yet apologetic smile and darts away, leaving me in the living room with the urn.
It’s similar to the one I got for my mom that sits in pride of place in a display cabinet back at my old place. Staring at this one brings an odd pang of guilt to my gut.
Should I have brought Mom with me?
The guilt remains even as Calliope’s friend arrives ten minutes later and they have a quick changeover in the hallway.
Nick’s being granted pizza for dinner, so it’s Stacey’s job to keep him distracted and away from snacks until Calliope’s back.
After delivering her detailed instructions, she’s ready to go and we return to my car.
“Oh, it’s so cold,” Calliope whimpers as she huddles in her seat, tucking herself so deep into her coat that she almost disappears.
“My favorite time of year, but the cold, yeah, the cold is insane.”
“And you chose this time of year to come to San Francisco?”
“Honestly?” I laugh softly, adjusting the heat as I drive.
“Somehow, the cold here is worse. I don’t know if it’s because we’re so close to the coast or something, but back in New York, it always felt like it was there but almost held at bay.
But out here?” A shiver darts across my shoulders at the thought. “It’s bitter.”
“It’s only going to get worse.” Calliope chuckles. “But the summers are worth it. If you’re still here by then.”
Ideally, I will be. “Depends on the gem situation.” Jimmy made it clear that the acquisition was to remain under wraps until everything was signed, and Buster is of the same belief until he’s had a chance to go through all the paperwork.
“Isn’t it weird that you’re the CEO and you came out here to check shipment quality? Don’t you have people for that?”
My shoulders lift as I glide my hand around the steering wheel. “It’s Christmas. My people have families to spend time with. I don’t.”
“You don’t have anyone?” Calliope stares at me for a moment, eyes wide.
“Nope. Not anymore.”
“What happened?” As soon as she asks, she immediately retracts it. “Oh, I’m sorry, that was so rude of me to ask.”
“No, it’s fine. You’re fine. My dad passed when I was younger and my mom died a couple of years ago. It’s just me.”
“Oh.” Her voice shrinks slightly and silence grows between us while I weave through unfamiliar streets on the way back to Angelic Jewels. “My Dad…” She hesitates, and her lower lip briefly vanishes into her mouth. “He died of an aneurysm back in June.”
“That’s terrible. I’m so sorry.”
Her smile is weak. “It was so sudden. One day he was here, and then next he was just… gone. I don’t understand it. I didn’t then and I don’t now. It’s painful that something can just… happen like that.”
“The lack of answers makes it difficult,” I agree softly. “My mom was sick for a long time, which I thought meant I had time to prepare. I did a lot to make her happy but in the end, it was still an impossible shock.”
“Does it get better?” Her voice quavers slightly.
“No,” I reply honestly. “And yes. I think… it stays the same. You just learn to survive with it.”
“Mmm. Thought so.” Her cheeks puff out and she shakes her head. “They called me when he collapsed, and I thought he would be fine because he was always getting into accidents. They told me he died instantly, but I still hate myself for not rushing there to see him.”
It’s one thing to face the long, drawn-out journey of losing a loved one to illness, but the sudden, abrupt removal of someone from your life can be just as killer, if not more so.
“I’m sorry,” Calliope says suddenly, sucking in a sharp breath. “I don’t know where that all came from.”
“You clearly needed to get it off your chest, especially if you were scared earlier.”
“Maybe. Sorry. Not exactly appropriate, is it?”
“I won’t tell anyone,” I tease. “Our secret.”
“That’s how rumors start.” Calliope chuckles. “They do say it’s easier to talk to strangers, though, don’t they?”
Strangers.
That confirms she really doesn’t remember me.
There’s no time for me to press, though, as I pull into the parking lot of the Angelic Jewels building.
Several other people I’ve seen around the office are milling about outside the building, chatting about the end of their day while huddling against the cold.
Those who can’t stand it are already hurrying toward their cars.
“That’s mine on the end,” Calliope says, pointing out her car. “The red one.”
“Is that a bumblebee on the roof?” I ask as I pull my car into park. A small antenna bounces back and forth on the top of her car.
“Yes.” She laughs. “Nick got it for me for Christmas. I’m not entirely sure those things are meant for cars, but it’s where he wanted to stick it and I’ll keep it there for as long as I can.”
“Cute.”
“Thanks for the lift,” Calliope says. “I really appreciate it.”
“It’s no problem.”
“You say that now, but if you’ve forgotten anything, we’ll need to take that warehouse tour again, and it won’t be as fun as the first time.”
“As fun?”
“Sure.” She unclips her seatbelt and opens the door. “There’s no mystery the second time around. Anyway, goodnight, Elijah. Thank you.”
She’s halfway out of the car when the words escape me like vomit, and my cheeks flush warm as my question reaches her. “You don’t remember me, do you?”
Calliope freezes, half in, half out of my car.
“From the ethical gemstone convention six years ago?”
She climbs out of the car, turns, and then leans back in. As our eyes lock, my heart jumps and the friendly warmth in her eyes has faded for something else, like a wall has suddenly formed between us.
“I do,” she replies, and my stomach clenches.
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
Her eyes drop away for a moment. “At first… I didn’t think you remembered.”
“And now?”
Those gorgeous, icy blue eyes return to mine. “The past is the past, Elijah. That’s all there is to it. Goodnight.”
She closes the door and hurries away toward her car, leaving me staring after her with both hands clutching the wheel. So, she does remember me.
Despite her immediate shutdown of any more questions, a bubble of excitement rises just beneath my ribs.
The past is the past, that’s true.
She is definitely in my future.