Chapter 19 Elijah
ELIJAH
More than a day later, I sit in a cafe that rests on the edge of the bay and overlooks the sparkling sand and dark, gleaming water of the sea.
This late at night, there’s no one else but me, and given how the minutes are ticking by, I’m not sure Calliope will even meet me. She has her son to take care of, after all, and if it doesn’t work out, then it just doesn’t.
But I spent all of last night and most of today trying to get to the bottom of her accusation. A wife? I’ve never been married in my life, but telling her that to her face after she’s spent nearly seven years thinking I cheated with her simply wasn’t enough. I needed proof. A real explanation.
“Another?” The waitress approaches, her yellow dress surprisingly free of stains given how hectic this cafe has been the other few times I’ve been here. She holds a coffee pot in one hand and tilts her head, sending brown curls cascading over one shoulder.
“No, thank you. Not yet.”
“Alright, sweetheart, you just let me know.” Her tongue pops against something in her mouth and she flashes me a wide smile that deepens the crow's feet around her eyes, then she turns and heads back to the counter.
San Francisco is so different from New York, but I like it here. Everything moves a little slower, the people have a little more time for you, and there’s no pressure to be ten steps ahead at every second. Although part of my enjoyment here is definitely linked to Calliope.
It’s been an hour and she still isn’t here.
How long should I give her? Should I text her? That might come across as pushy, and I don’t want to add to her stress. It was a surprise she even agreed to meet me in the first place. Wrapping my hands around my mug, I cling to the lingering warmth that radiates from my leftover coffee and wait.
Twenty minutes later, the door to the cafe swings open and Calliope steps inside. Her dark hair spills around her face and settles in the red scarf wrapped around her neck, and her eyes sparkle as the sudden change from the cold outside to the warmth inside brings tears to her corners.
In one glance around the cafe, she spots me and her lips twitch into a very brief greeting smile as she approaches. “I’m so sorry I’m late.”
“It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not. Everything was going to plan but then Nick was throwing a tantrum, and my house is currently in chaos, so I had to wait for my friend to get off work to come and stay with him and…
” She puffs out her cheeks as she slides into the booth and rapidly removes her scarf.
A red flush coats her throat and creeps up to her cheeks as she settles. “Sorry.”
“We could have rescheduled,” I say, breathing in the minty, spicy mix of her perfume as it fills the air around me. “I wouldn’t have minded.”
“I mean, it sounded kind of urgent when you called so… I’m here.” She shrugs off her coat, revealing a coral knit sweater beneath, and she immediately shoves both sleeves up to her elbows.
“Do you want anything to eat? Drink?”
“Coffee would be great.”
I’ve barely raised my hand to attract the waitress and she’s by my side in an instant, coffee pot still glued to her hand.
She places a mug down in front of Calliope and fills it.
“Can I get you anything to drink? Chef leaves in half an hour if you want something hot, but we’ve still got soup on the stove and he can whip up some bacon, if you like? ”
“I’m okay, thanks,” Calliope says as she warms her cold hands on her cup.
“Me too. Just a refill, please.” As she pours more coffee into my cup, my eyes dart back to Calliope as she tosses her head to free her hair from her face and rapidly blinks away her tears.
“Just holler if you need anything, okay?” With another charming smile, the waitress vanishes back behind the counter.
“So,” Calliope sighs. “You said in your message that we really had to talk so… talk.” She lifts her cup and gazes at me over the rim as she takes a slow sip.
“Right.” Straight to the point is probably best. “I wanted you to clarify what you meant by the phone call?”
“What phone call?” she asks between sips.
She’s really going to make me say it, isn’t she?
“The call that was answered by my wife.”
“Oh. That call.” Calliope sighs softly and sets her cup down, but one hand lingers on the rim.
“Well… I wanted to get in touch with you, so I took your number and just straight up called one day. A woman answered and when I asked to speak to you, she started asking me all these questions about who I was. I almost thought I had the wrong number until I told her I’d met you at the conference and she said…
her exact words were something like ‘oh, you mean the conference he refused to take his wife to so I had to waste that whole weekend by myself?’.
” Calliope’s nose scrunches slightly. “I hung up. You never called back, and when I tried again, I found myself blocked.”
So, it was as I suspected.
“Calliope.”
“Hmm?”
“I don’t have a wife. I have never been married.”
“Sure.” The disbelief is heavy in her tone and my gut twists slightly.
“I swear I have never been married. I’ve never wanted to be married, and I definitely was not dating anyone when we attended the conference.
I certainly wouldn’t have slept with you if that were the case.
I’m not that kind of man.” It suddenly makes sense why she was so snippy in the breakroom when I talked about my ex cheating. She probably thought it was karma.
“If that’s how you see it, then that’s how you see it,” Calliope replies. “It’s not like you can prove it, and I’m not going to argue with you.”
“No, I—” Without thinking, I suddenly reach across the table and place my hand over hers as if it will stop her from leaving. “Please, I’m telling the truth.”
Her eyes dart down to our touch and a flinch rolls down my spine as I take my hand back.
“Sorry. I just… okay. I have a vague idea of whom you spoke to. I haven’t talked to her in years, but I did try to give her a call.
She’s happily married and lives in Long Island now with two kids.
Twins, I believe. But she was someone who was around me back then. ”
Both of Calliope’s hands wrap around her mug and she stares at me, her eyes slightly narrowed. “Elijah…”
“No, please. It’s important to me that you know I’m not the man you think I am.
Back then, I…” Pain squeezes briefly through my chest and forces me to clear my throat.
“My mom was in her later years and dying of cancer. All she cared about was setting me up with someone because she couldn’t bear the thought of my being alone when she passed.
She set me up with some incredible people and some really crazy people because she was desperate.
And I entertained all of her notions because she was dying and I wanted to make her happy.
The woman I mentioned…” I shake my head and laugh softly.
“She was a character. She used to sneak into my room naked, and I’d come home and find her and have to call security.
She’s likely who picked up the call, and given her…
passion for my money and family name, she would call herself my wife. ”
Calliope’s silent throughout my whole explanation, leaving me slightly breathless and my heart racing. It sounds like a poor excuse. I’m aware of how poor it sounds, but it’s the truth and I pray she believes me.
“So, you dated her?”
“No,” I reply firmly. “She was not one of the women I dated. She did try to invite herself along to the conference, and that showed my mother what a bad choice she was. Although she wasn’t a bad person.
I believe she’s medicated now, and her head is much calmer and clearer.
Back then, she was just young and… imbalanced. ”
Calliope lifts her cup and drinks slowly, but she doesn’t take her eyes off me.
“I dated in my teens and my early twenties, then I threw myself into work and it worried my mother. She was just… constantly afraid that I would be alone and couldn’t understand that I enjoyed my own company most of all.
I never dated anyone until about three years ago when my mom introduced me to Imogen.
By then, her health was failing.” The words begin to stick in my throat.
“She was old and frail, and constantly worrying about me and the future, so I said yes to Imogen. Just to make her happy. And it worked.”
“Imogen is your current ex?” Calliope asks. “The one who kept calling?”
A weary sigh drifts past my lips. “Yup. I could keep up the pretense when Mom was alive, but after she passed… my disinterest was hard to hide while I was grieving. I…” Some of Imogen’s crass words come back to me in jolts.
“In her words, I checked out of the relationship and that’s why she cheated.
And the more I think about it… the more I think she’s right.
I should have broken up with her as soon as I could, but…
” My brow tightens and my heart gives an unexpectedly powerful thump. “I don’t know.”
“It was familiar?” Calliope offers.
“I… yeah.” My lips twitch into a smile. “In a weird way, it was also the last connection to my mother. She gave the relationship her blessing, and part of me didn’t want to lose that.
” I glance down at my coffee. “But then about eight, or nine months ago now, I came home early and found her in bed with her financial advisor. I wasn’t hurt.
I wasn’t even angry. I just felt… relief.
We broke up immediately, but because of my name and how long we’d been living together, I took it through the court so that it was as legally fair to her as possible and no one could accuse me of stiffing her. ”
My next breath is easier and it’s like a weight is slowly dissipating from my shoulders.
“I understand… sort of,” Calliope murmurs.
“It’s not exactly the same, but ever since my dad passed, I’ve taken comfort in my surroundings because they remind me of him, but my Mom wants to change it because it’s too painful for her.
It’s causing some… friction because I don’t want to lose that last connection. ”
“I understand.” Nodding slowly, I focus back on her face as she finishes her coffee.
“When you told me you’d spoken to my wife…
I was stunned. And I couldn’t believe that these past six or seven years had been lost all because someone got to my phone before me.
I wanted to tell you yesterday, but I had to be sure so it didn’t sound like some shitty excuse.
Which… it still does.” I laugh nervously and tighten my grip on the mug.
“But it’s the truth. Had I answered you back then, we wouldn’t have lost all these years. ”
“Do you mean that?” she asks softly.
“Which part?”
“That you would have answered?”
I laugh and straighten up in my seat. “God, this is going to be so embarrassing, but yes, I mean it. Back then, when I woke up and you were gone, I thought maybe you were just some dream I had because everything was perfect. And then I wanted to go through the entire conference attendee list to find you and your last name so I could track you down, but I reasoned that would be incredibly creepy and then eventually settled that it just wasn’t meant to be. But if you called then…”
Everything could have been different. I would have met her, and we could have spent these past years learning and growing together, falling in love, and amplifying the love and instant connection I felt the moment I laid eyes on her.
“Is that why you kissed me?”
My cheeks immediately warm. “Uh… yes and no. I’m not always so great with…
” Motioning between us with one hand, I grimace.
“The whole talking thing. I get nervous, so I thought I could tell you how I felt with a kiss. That and I swore to myself that if I ever saw you again, I’d kiss you again.
I just… fucked it up. I shouldn’t have just thrust myself at you and for that, I’m sorry. ”
Calliope settles back in the booth, her lower lip curling into her mouth. I wish I could decipher the brief emotions flickering in her eyes, but they’re gone almost as soon as I notice them. She drums her fingers lightly against the side of her cup.
“I had no idea,” she murmurs eventually. “If I’d known…”
“There’s no way you could have known,” I assure her. “Trust me, I regret so much about what’s happened. Not getting your number, not looking for you all these years, the way I kissed you. If I could, I’d go back and do it all over again, but I’d do it properly this time.”
“Then why don’t you?” Her eyes flick up, and she gazes at me through her dark lashes.
My heart stops. “Huh?”
“Maybe you should try again. Properly, this time.”