The End?

An Elani Short-Short

By Lou

It was a mistake.

It never should have happened.

Right?

He could still smell her, taste her, feel her. He could still see her in that night.

That night that shouldn't have happened, he kept telling himself.

It had happened weeks ago and yet, when he woke up alone again this morning, it had been like waking up the morning after all over with this gaping hole inside of him.

Everything about that night had been different; the way she touched him, the way she kissed him, the way that his name sounded on her lips...

Probably because it hadn't been planned...

Maybe because they had known that it had been the last time...

Because they knew it was the end...

Didn't they?

They should.

He should.

When they spoke now, it was about the children between them. He knew exactly what it was for them now.

It was goodbye. It didn't matter that he couldn't stop replaying in his head.

He needed to move on.

He just didn't know how, and today wouldn't be the day he learned. He knew that today he would be seeing her; it was unavoidable.

Their son was "in trouble" and they had been called in for a conference.

He'd been against this whole damn place. A private school. Their daughter, though, was wicked smart. It was like her mind had this voracious need to learn more, always more; and their son, who was no slouch in academia, was a student-athlete who brought "good things" to campus.

Good things...

He knew what those "good things" were and it was some bullshit. All of it. A bunch of parents with too much time on their hands saw their son with a ball in his with the speed of Hermes to go with. Schools had been after him ever since; salivating about what they would do for their weak athletic programs.

It was like college recruitment and their son was barely into middle school.

It was disgusting.

He hated this place.

The air about it made his jaw clench. He'd had to be "talked" into it, and even then if either one of the kids had come to him and said no to this place that would have been the end of it. He would have taken them out of this school before the bell could ring on the next day.

They hadn't. He wasn't blind to the needs of their baby girl. She was thirsty for the challenge; welcomed it, and there was no way her brother was going to allow his baby sister to be unprotected.

"No way, Daddy;" Their son had said. "She goes, I go. That's our agreement. That's how my little sister and I roll."

That was going to be a problem later. It was a problem now, but they couldn't see it because they were protecting each other. For now, Eli was grateful.

Even though he was sitting across the desk of a glorified babysitter.

"Mr. Grant," The woman began.

"Commissioner." He corrected. Why was it so damned hard for people in this building to remember?

"Yes...Commissioner," He could feel the skin prick at the back of his neck at her tone. "I've asked you to be here-"

"Wait a minute," He stopped her. "Hold on. What do you mean you've asked me to be here?"

"I don't follow you."

"It's me who's not following you. Am I to understand that we aren't going to wait?"

"For what?"

"For whom." Eli corrected. "My children's mother."

Lani could feel every eye on her as she stood down the halls of her children's' school, her heels clicking down the polished floors, the lights above her making her head hurt.

She damned sure hadn't expected this.

She never thought that she would be looking at divorce either, but here she was.

Still.

She couldn't believe that he would do this. He wouldn't. She knew better. Somebody was playing games and Lani knew exactly who. The bitch's eyes refused to see and her mind couldn't comprehend.

She was going to learn today.

"Can I help you?" The slender woman asked from behind the secretary's desk as Lani sailed through the Headmaster's outer office. "Do you have an appointment? The Headmaster is in a conference."

"I'm aware," Lani snapped over her shoulder. "And I'm late." Her heels clicked down another damned hallway, her steps faltering then coming up short and the sound of his voice.

Deep.

Raspy.

And angry.

Good.

"Mr. Grant-"

"Commissioner," Eli's voice replied hotly. "What the hell is going on here, Principal Delaney."

"Headmaster. I worked hard for my title."

"So did I."

"Commissioner Grant,"

"Why isn't Lorenzo and Elise's mother apart of this meeting?" He demanded. "I was given the impression that my wife was made aware."

That kernel of doubt that had set inside her, whether Lani knew better or not, eased. No matter where they were, she and Eli were solid when it came to their kids.

Wait...wife?

"Commissioner Grant, if I may," The woman tried again. "We felt the matter would be best handled in speaking with you alone."

"That's not how we work," Eli informed her. "You don't get to pick and choose between me and my wife when it comes to our kids."

"Wife? We were informed that you and the children's mother were headed for divorce."

Hold on, hoe; Lani seethed, her steps picking up only to stop again.

"You mind your business."

"Unfortunately, Commissioner, the state of your home is my business, as we feel that your impending divorce is affecting young Lorenzo's behavior."

"Who is 'we'?" He asked her "All I see is you. If 'we' can't present their concerns then it's you who has the problem. Stop hiding behind 'we' and say what you mean."

There was silence then:

"Very well. Lorenzo's behavior as of late has been troubling, to say the least. Today, he violated the zero-tolerance policy when he punched another student.

"Who?"

That was what she, too, would like to know. No, not know; confirm, because if Lorenzo had gotten mad enough to knock someone on their ass then they had earned it.

"That's not important."

"Oh, it's not?"

"Uh-uh," Lani muttered reaching for the door.

"T.J. Dalton."

Lani's lips pinched at the name.

"Mr. Grant-"

"Commissioner," Eli snarled causing Lani's brows to shoot to her hairline. He'd reached his threshold for bullshit. "That boy had been picking at my daughter for months. She did everything she was supposed to do according to your damned codes.

"Parent-teacher conferences, combayah pow wows, and mediations in this damn office all came before you 'zero tolerance' for bullying. Now it's zero-tolerance? Don't sit behind your desk and parrot that tired mess to me now because the little black boy had to put hands on the white one."

"I beg your pardon?!"

Lani had to stop herself from clapping and interrupting. Her emotions were everywhere but this was too important. Eli was on a roll. Once that man boiled over, get out of his way because he wasn't stopping until he burned all the way out telling you where you had him fucked up.

That's where their son got it from.

Lani paced outside the door waiting.

"You can keep your damned afront." Eli went on. "That Dalton boy should have been expelled because you know like I do, that my baby girl isn't the first one that little monster has targeted, and my son isn't the first on to hand him his ass; yet, he's the only one that you are trying to put out."

"Violence is not the answer."

"Sometimes it is."

Lani's lips twitched at his words. She had heard them so many times before.

"And if you, and this school, had done your damn job, my son wouldn't have had to do it for you."

That's right! That's what I'm talking about. You better tell her, Eli Grant, Lani thought; the words shouting in her head she kept pacing. Now, what, bitch, she mouthed.

"See, you thought you were going to get calm, cool, and collected with me after my wife left you peeling your face off these walls the last time you, and this damned place stepped out of line in regards to Lorenzo and Elise."

There it was again. Wife. Lani didn't know what it meant. She knew what she wanted it to mean.

What she needed it to mean.

Deeply.

Their last meeting had not been her best moment, but if that bitch hadn't gotten out of her clothes what she thought she knew, Lani wouldn't have had to embarrass her entitled behind back into them about their kids.

They weren't having their children put in boxes.

Lorenzo Theodore Grant could do more than catch a ball, shoot a basket, and swing a damned bat. He was sweet, funny; goofy like his father, and could tell you anything you want to know about any part of history. He could speak three languages, languages he learned on his own because some smart ass parent had called him stupid in German.

He wasn't some "jock."

Valarie Elise Grant was more than her mind. Her heart was tender. If there was good, their baby found it. She felt everything, like her mother; and, sometimes to her detriment.

These little bastards at this school teased her, and her brother about Eli not being their father because of their eye color.

Their eyes, their beautiful eyes; they weren't dark hers and their father's, but a brilliant blue in Elise's case and two different colors - blue and brown- in Lorenzo's.

They hadn't thought anything about it. Eli's father's eyes were blue. His grandmother had blue eyes. They had believed that they had inherited them from Eli's side of the family through Julie and David until they learned, early, that their daughter was completely deaf in one ear and Lorenzo could hear very little at all.

Lise could talk about Wardeburg Syndrome until she was blue in the face. She did so to show others, and remind herself, that the syndrome; the eye color, and the hearing impairment that came with it, was a part of her, but not who she was.

It was her coping mechanism because their baby was afraid. She wasn't like her brother in this regard. Enzo didn't give a damn what you thought. He only wore his hearing aids when he had to. He was fluent in sign language and could read lips. He would rather not "hear" what you had to say, but see it. Elise was afraid of losing what was left of her hearing.

That little bastard Dalton had put one of his budding henchwomen up to taking her baby's hearing aids while she showered after gym class.

That had been the last damned straw. These people had done nothing and Enzo had done what his sister could not.

He beat that ass.

And now these snakes thought that they were going to get over by talking to the "reasonable parent"? Lani had to laugh.

She almost did then the smile fell from her face. This woman didn't know Eli, clearly, as much as she wanted to; because, if she did, then she would know that reason was something that Eli had to work for when it came to their kids. This dizzy bitch had gotten the impression that everything, all the time, was black and white with Eli Grant. Vivian Alamaine had killed all of that. Things weren't going according to plan with this bitch's end-run and she was scrambling.

Lani smirked.

Good.

"Mr. Dalton has elected not to press charges."

"How magnanimous of him."

"But that does not get Lorenzo off the hook. You should know that expulsion is on the table."

"His mother should know, too."

"Mr-Commissioner Grant-"

"You aren't expelling our son."

They damn sure weren't, Lani lamented, still outside the door. And Tripp Dalton wasn't pressing charges because his son couldn't be connected to the theft.

Yet.

"T.J. Dalton stole out daughter's hearing aids. Medically prescribed, and vital to the progression of her everyday life.

"Commissioner Grant, we have no proof that-"

"Now you do?"

"What's this?"

Lani's ears perked up.

"Proof." He replied. "T.J. Dalton put that girl you expelled up to stealing our child's medical aid."

"How did you get this?"

When Eli didn't answer and Lani covered her mouth stoping that laugh that wanted to burst free. It wasn't the mulish silence that she knew well, but a savoring one.

This tramp just told on herself.

"How?"

"The citizens of Salem would not take kindly to your using police resources-"

This bitch thought she knew, but she was about to get an extended lesson today.

"Your hand is shaking," Eli said to the woman. "Nerves?" Lani heard him ask. "Let me settle those for you seeing as you have a school to continue to run; poorly.

"Everything in your hands is public knowledge, obtained legally. That little problem you turned a blind eye to; it's bigger than the land this bullshit ass school sits on. You asked me how did I get this? Tell me why did you try to hide it?"

"Commissioner Gr-"

"Don't you ever in your life threaten me," Eli said the woman. "You have no idea the lengths I will go to protect my family. You aren't expelling our son," Eli told her. "Because I'm taking the both of our children out of here. Today. I will not let the mental health of those kids be routinely picked apart because you're beholden to Ava Vatale's chosen bastard."

"That is enough."

"I agree," Eli replied. "The way that his school treats its minority children is deplorable. Don't. You tried to put Lorenzo in classes that were beneath him so that he could 'focus' on running a damn football.

"You tried to make my child believe that only one aspect of him was worthy. You didn't see the damage that bullshit caused because you were getting what you wanted. You let a bully, and his crew, torment my daughter. You chose not to act and our kids suffered."

"I suggest you get your son some counseling, or his anger will continue to be a detri-"

All eyes fell on Lani as the door flew open and she sailed through it. A shiver worked its way through her as the warmth of him reached her, his eyes on her melting her from the inside out as the smell of him wrapped around her.

She couldn't look at him. She shouldn't have done so that last time.

Lani needed him to understand that she could not go back to that.

That she wouldn't.

"Mrs. Price-Grant..."

"Sorry, I'm late."

"Lani..." Eli's voice was soft as he spoke. That dirty bitch's eyes narrowing when he said it damn near snatched what was left of her cool.

While Lani wouldn't acknowledge him for her preservation, her heart had no such trouble. It thumped heavily in her chest. She tossed a file folder under that silly woman's nose while she stared her in the face.

"The cost of our daughter's hearing aids and the medical bills stemming from our thirteen-year-old son breaking his hand, and the surgery to set the bone properly. These are just the copies. Expect a class action suit from the maligned students of this school and their families."

"Lani..."

"What you will not do is make our child out to be an angry anything. Do you understand? You told us that allowing our children to attend this school would enrich them. That came out of your mouth. Instead, you attempted to steal from them something that their father and I instilled in them, made apart of them since the day they first drew breath, and you will pay for that.

"You'll be hearing from our attorneys."

She turned on her heel to leave, mouth dry, palms sweaty, need pulling as she felt him reach for her.

She couldn't get a decent breath. He was right behind her. He hadn't touched her, but, damnit, he may as well have Lani had to make herself keep going when she felt him stop behind her. Keep walking, Lani told herself. As soon as she got back to her new normal, face first in work, she would figure out what was next.

"Lani." It was the plea in his voice that snatched the last bit of will from her. "Are you pregnant?"

She spun around eyes wide. His eyes scanned her from head to toe before Eli met her gaze.

"What...?"

He took one step forward and no more.

She shook her head. No. No, she wasn't. "I'm...I'm not-"

"Your voice is different, but the same; your eyes are softer, Lani. Your skin..."

"I'm not...I ca...I'm not pregnant. Eli-"

"I watched you." He told her. "With David, with Lorenzo and Elise." His eyes tracked Lani's hand as she cupped her lower belly.

That was what it was so different, he was sure of it. Why that night, and everything about it had been...more.

As many times as he and Lani had made love, that last time...

Looking at her now, that knowledge overriding her incredulous disbelief, Lani's eyes filled and it was like his heart was being ripped from his chest.

"Lani-"

"No," She shook her head. "No."

"What do you mean no?" He said to her. "You're pregnant. We're having a b-"

"You don't know that." She stopped him. "And even if we are, it changes nothing."

"What do you...Lani, it changes everything."

Her smile was sad. "You can't understand how much I wish that it did, Eli. You will never understand how much I wish that it did."