31. Charlotte
Iawoke to the sound of laughter in the house. One giggle definitely belonged to Theo whilst the other one sounded interestingly like Elijah.
I made my way downstairs following the sound of laughter into the kitchen.
My eyes widened as I saw flour everywhere and Elijah holding Theo upside down, tickling him. They both went silent and froze at the sight of me.
“If we stay still maybe she can’t see us,” Elijah whispered, a devilish grin plastered on his face.
“She can see you and she can see the mess you’ve been making, as well.” I crossed my arms trying to look annoyed, but I couldn’t help but laugh. I couldn’t get over how sweet this moment was. I hadn’t heard Theo laughing that loudly in a while. There was something so comforting about hearing Elijah laugh, too.
“What were you boys attempting to do?” I questioned, suddenly conscious I was only wearing a long t-shirt. I unfolded my arms and pulled the material down. Luckily, Elijah was a lot taller than me and it nearly came down to my knees.
“We were—”
“Are!” Theo interrupted.
“We are,” Elijah corrected himself, “making pancakes for breakfast.” He turned Theo back the right way and placed him standing on the chair by the counter.
“I might be wrong, but I think you’re supposed to put the ingredients in the bowl, not all over the kitchen?”
“Don’t you question my methods, Charlotte.” His use of my full name made me snort with laughter.
I raised my hands defensively. “Now, if you don’t mind leaving the chefs to work their magic, we will bring it through to you.” Laughing I made my way into the living room and waited for whatever they were going to create together. Over the next few minutes, all I could hear was hushed voices mixed in with the occasional giggle before the door opened. Elijah held it open as Theo walked out with a surprisingly good-looking pancake covered in chocolate and fruit. I moved myself to the table as it was presented to me.
“Well, this doesn’t look anywhere near as poisonous as I was expecting,” I said, cutting a piece off and taking a bite. I was genuinely shocked at how good it tasted; Elijah wasn’t too bad of a cook it seemed. “My compliments to the chefs,” I said teasingly after finishing my mouthful. Elijah helped Theo into a different seat before going back into the kitchen to get their portions. Theo chatted about how much he loved watching last night’s game as we all tucked into our breakfasts. It was surprising how normal this all felt; the three of us chatting over breakfast. There was no awkwardness or tension, I just found myself just enjoying the company. After we’d finished my eyes wandered over to the piano.
“Did I tell you my grandpa played the piano?”
I asked. Elijah’s eyes followed mine to the piano, shaking his head. “He used to play for me all the time when I was a kid.” The conversation was briefly interrupted by Theo asking to be excused to watch the TV. Elijah stood up and set it up for him before returning to the table.
My eyes watched Theo; content he was too distracted by the TV to hear us talk. I continued, “My grandpa is actually the reason I finally left Adam.” I softened my voice. Elijah’s eyes met mine and there was some confusion in his look. I had forgotten I told him about the fact my grandpa had passed, so that probably didn’t make sense.
“He left me a letter when he died,” I said, anticipating his questions. “Hold on, it’s in my bag.” I looked around for my bag, locating it just next to the sofa. Pulling out the letter, I handed it to Elijah. It felt personal to let him read this. I hadn’t ever let anyone read this letter, not even my parents. Yet here I was, handing it over to Elijah without a second thought. I watched his expression as he read the letter, but he kept it fairly neutral, not giving away his thoughts. When he finally finished reading, he looked at me again.
“I see where you get it from.” He smiled softly.
“Get what from?”
“Your kind heart.” I felt my cheeks turn red at his words as I looked away from him. I could feel his gaze burning into me, but I couldn’t bring myself to return it. “It calms me,” he continued. My head finally snapped up. “Playing the piano. It calms me.” I could sense a slight shake in his voice as he spoke. It was clear that this was a big thing for him to admit to me. I tried to find the best thing to respond to him, but I felt words fell short.
“I get kind of…” He hesitated. “Nervous sometimes, but when I play, I forget about everything else that is going on. Truthfully, I don’t know where I would be without it.” He was the one to look away now, staring down into his hands to avoid my eyes. “I’ve never actually told anyone that before.” There was a surprise in his voice, like he couldn’t quite believe he was telling someone about it.
“Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me.” I choked a little bit as I spoke, struggling to get the words out whilst trying not to sound emotional. I was emotional, but I didn’t want to make him regret opening up to me. “My grandpa always said it made him feel better when he played, especially for us.” I was smiling wide now at the memory.
“Do you play?” He asked. I shook my head in response.
“He tried to teach me, but I guess I just didn’t have the knack.” I shrugged. I wished I could have picked it up, but my coordination just didn’t seem to have what it needed to play. “I miss the sound of him playing. When I reread that letter all I could think about was how much I missed the sound of a piano.” I wiped away a stray tear as I spoke. “I miss him.”
“I could play for you?” he offered after a beat, the hesitation in his voice was clear. Our gazes met once more and I struggled to hide the emotion from my face. Given how the topic was brushed off last night, I knew this was something precious to him and here he was letting me into it.
“I’d love that.” I paused. “But you don’t have to if you don’t want to.” I didn’t want him to feel like I was invading his privacy, a personal tool he used to calm himself down.
“I want to.”
His voice had more certainty to it now, his confidence in sharing this information was growing. He stood up and made his way over to the piano.
I followed him cautiously trying not to stand over him.
“What songs did your grandpa used to play?”
“A mixture, really. Billy Joel was always my grandma’s favourite.” It was always one of mine, too.
Elijah reached into the stack of books next to the piano before pulling out a music book of Billy Joel’s songs and showing it to me.
“I came prepared, it seems.” He smiled as he flicked through the pages.
“Sorry, I’m not quite as impressive as your grandpa by being able to play by heart, but I’ve played this one a few times.” His fingers found their way to the keys and it only took me a few moments to know exactly which song he was playing. Just The Way You Are, my grandma’s favourite song. I became emotional listening to him play and I was struggling to hold my tears back. Elijah looked more relaxed than I had ever seen him as he played and it was beautiful. It was effortless.
I managed to get a grip on myself before he finished the song. As his fingers played the final keys, he turned to look at me. I suddenly lost myself again and let out a small sob.
“Thank you.” I managed after a moment. He stood up from his seat and lightly placed his fingers on my waist. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to get all emotional on you. That was my grandma’s favourite song.” I sniffed.
“She had good taste. It’s one of my favourites, too.” He pulled me in for a hug and I buried my face in his chest, more sobs following suit as memories of my grandparents flooded my brain. I don’t think I realised how lonely I’d been without them. How much I missed having them look out for me.
“Mommy, are you okay?” Theo’s voice came from beside me. I had almost forgotten he was in the same room. I felt Elijah move away before he picked Theo up.
“Your mommy’s all good, buddy, you don’t have to worry,” he said, facing Theo towards me. I wiped the tears from my face and nodded in agreement.
“I’m okay. Elijah was just playing me a song and it made me think of something a bit sad, is all.”
“Maybe you should play something more upbeat,” Theo suggested, turning now to Elijah.
“I think that’s a brilliant idea.” He placed Theo back down on the floor and returned to his
seat by the piano. He closed the book and started playing. I didn’t recognise the song, but it was far more upbeat. I watched him for a moment, he was smiling as he played. I felt Theo grab my hand and start dancing in the room. Laughing, I joined in with as we danced around the living room.
Truthfully, I didn’t want to leave, but after a few more songs and dances with Theo, I had to start getting ready. I was working in the café this afternoon and needed to get changed and drop Theo off at day care before my shift started. There was a slight sense of awkwardness at the door when we were saying our goodbyes.
“You know you can stay here any time you want. If you’re feeling unsafe or just want somewhere else to go.” He folded his arms as he spoke.
“Thank you, I appreciate you letting us stay.” I was conscious we hadn’t spoken about Adam this morning; I didn’t want to spoil the fun we were having.
“Promise me you’ll call me if you’re worried about anything, it doesn’t matter how minor. I’ll be there,” he said sternly and I nodded. “Don’t hesitate, Charlie.”
“I promise.” I moved in for a hug which he accepted without hesitation. Theo moved and grabbed onto his leg. I looked down and saw Elijah ruffle Theo’s hair.
As we said our goodbyes, Theo grabbed my hand as we walked down the street towards my car.
I pulled up in our road. As much as I didn’t want to work, I was looking forward to having a distraction. We both did a quick change before heading back out the door again. When we walked out, I couldn’t help but feel like something was off. I felt the hairs standing up on the back of my neck as my eyes were drawn to a car going slowly past us. I recognised it immediately. It was Adam’s car. Suddenly, the car gained speed and went round the corner, out of sight. I stood frozen for a moment as I waited to see if it would return, but it didn’t. I couldn’t help but feel like that was a warning.
Adam was coming for us.