Thank you so much for all your lovely reviews; I love reading them! Here's the chapter you've been waiting for- we finally get to meet Elinor. I hope you like her as much as I do. Please leave a review to tell me what you thought! Thanks x
29:
Tuesday morning came more quickly than I'd anticipated. I'd barely had time to walk Monty and eat my tea before I'd crawled into bed, exhausted.
Thankfully an early night had done wonders in restoring my energy levels, and I was now ready to face the day, and 30 unruly kids. I took Monty for a quick walk as soon as I woke, before showering and changing into my work clothes.
I arrived at school early. Well, 7.45. I considered it early anyway, because school didn't start until 8.45. Luckily, there was no mandatory staff meeting to attend as it was Tuesday- thank God! I could only just deal with Mrs Lee lecturing us all once a week on a Monday, and even that was a struggle! This was why, at 8.15, I was dismayed to see her waddle into my classroom. I schooled my face into a polite mask, and smiled welcomingly at her. Well, as welcoming as I could make my smile when I so obviously didn't want her there.
"Mrs Lee, what can I do for you?" I asked. I didn't dare call her by her Christian name of June. We weren't on first name terms; I doubted we ever would be. I still felt like a child in her presence, and that was how she liked it.
"Alexandra. Back at work at last I'm pleased to see." I tried not to scowl at her. She always got my name wrong on purpose. Her tone indicated that she was anything but pleased to see me, despite the fact that she'd done nothing but show her displeasure at me having not one, but two days off. It didn't help that if you took out the Easter holidays my absences were on consecutive days. Two flipping days in a whole year!
"Yes." I replied, glad to see that she was happy I was alright. Not.
"You've healed up well. One could barely tell you were in an accident." She continued in her saccharinely sweet tone. Her plump lips, covered in plum lipstick, smacked together as she spoke. Only Mrs Lee would have the gall to insinuate that someone was lying about being involved in an accident to avoid a day's work.
Thankfully Annie, my classroom helper, walked in before I could respond- I doubted I would have been able to hold my tongue otherwise, and I could do without losing my job.
"Oh, Annie." She crooned, turning her attention away from me. "I see you've decided to arrive on time today." Annie had been late for one staff meeting before Christmas because her car broke down, and the AA hadn't come quickly enough for her to be on time for the meeting. Although this was no fault of her own, Mrs Lee hadn't let her forget it, bringing it up at every available opportunity. She relished knowing that Annie couldn't put up much of a fight for fear of losing her job.
"Yes, Mrs Lee." Annie replied neutrally. She gave no indication that Mrs Lee's words had affected her; she wouldn't give her the satisfaction.
Obviously disappointed that she'd had no effect on Annie's sunny disposition Mrs Lee took her leave, much to our relief.
"Vindictive old bag." I muttered to Annie as soon as she was out of earshot.
"Agreed." She said with a smile.
"So, how were the kids yesterday?" I asked.
"Well…" She started. I groaned inwardly. Obviously the kids had not been as well behaved as I'd thought.
As it turned out, Luke Hall had not been an angel, which was hardly a surprise. He'd hidden half the class's lunch boxes, meaning that those individuals had had to have school dinners that day. I'd have to reprimand him when he got in now that we knew he was the culprit. The boy was out of control; even getting his parents in to discuss his behaviour had no effect. They didn't seem to care, or, instead, refused to believe what I told them he'd done.
Fortunately, my class managed to behave themselves for me. Word of my accident had got round, and they seemed almost wary of me, as if causing me to raise my voice would result in further injury. Even Luke was on his best behaviour!
Unfortunately, however, netball training after school didn't go quite so smoothly. Half way through, the heavens opened, and I was forced to take the now sopping wet girls inside to get changed. As there was only half an hour of training left by the time they got changed, I didn't bother to ring their parents, and instead put on a film to keep them entertained.
The film also gave me the opportunity to check my phone whilst the girls were distracted. I'd texted Will last night, and again at lunch to see how he was doing. He'd replied yesterday, saying that the conference call had gone well, and that he was sat looking over their systems with Tom, but I hadn't had chance to check my phone since lunch to see if he'd replied. Sliding it out of my bag sneakily, I saw that he'd sent me two photographs, which I opened immediately.
The first was of a ginormous buffet, full of delectable treats that made my mouth water and my stomach growl. I knew he'd been in meetings today- he'd mentioned it yesterday, but he'd neglected to mention that the meetings were just an excuse to eat! Jealous, I clicked on the second picture, which was of his plate. Well, I presumed it was a plate; the food was piled so high on it that I couldn't actually make out the utensil.
He'd captioned them 'Buffet: American style x' with an emoji- the one with two love hearts for eyes, followed by a kiss- our signature send-off.
'Careful, you'll get fat, Benedict x' I responded, using a winking face to show I was teasing.
He replied instantly with another picture, which I opened immediately. I should not have. It was a photo of him, topless, working out at a gym. My mind turned to mush as I couldn't help but trace the hard lines of his abs with my finger.
"Miss?" A voice yelled, bringing me out of my Will-induced stupor. My phone fell to the floor as I came back to the real world with a thump.
"Miss Anderson, the film's stopped." I looked at the screen blankly, still rather dazed.
"Oh yes, so it is, Isabelle. Sorry guys, I'll sort it out." Deftly picking my up from the floor I dropped it on my desk, face down, before turning to my computer and getting the film going again. Hopefully the class hadn't noticed my flushed cheeks, or the drool. I'm joking; I wasn't drooling, was I? I lifted my hand to my face to check. No; no drool, thank God!
Once I was convinced that they were all, once again, sufficiently distracted by the film I picked up my phone again. I'd got another text from Will.
'Tell me this body is fat! X' He was right. He didn't have an ounce of fat on him. My phone tinged again as I was trying to formulate a response.
'What's up, Lex? Cat got your tongue? X' Bloody read receipts! He knew full well I'd seen his photo, and he was loving being able to gloat about my lack of a response.
'I'm teaching! X' I sent back.
'Yeah, yeah. I'll leave you to it, Teach. Don't let me distract you too much X' I didn't reply to that. Instead, I slid my phone back into my bag and grabbed the pile of maths books I'd set aside to take home and mark. Maybe marking long division would get my mind out of the gutter.
It was 4.45 before the last child was collected by her eternally late mother. Once she'd gone I packed up quickly, chatting to Tracey the cleaner briefly, before heading home to get ready to meet Sam and Elinor. I took Monty for a walk when I got in, before showering and changing into some dry clothes and settling down to start marking. I'd managed to mark half of my class's maths books during what should have been netball training, but I hadn't been able to concentrate very well for obvious reasons. Will should not be allowed to take topless photos. No, ignore that; he definitely should, just not whilst I was surrounded by children, and had to keep my thoughts PG. I really didn't want them to think I had perpetually red cheeks and drooling issues.
At 6.45, I got into my car to go and see Sam and Elinor at Sam's house, which was just on the outskirts of town, a couple of miles from my flat. Monty was accompanying me on my trip as Sam had said that he was more than welcome to come too. I'd loaded his bed and collapsible water bowl into the boot before we'd set off. Despite Will's insistence that that I didn't need to inform him of my every move, I still texted him to let him know that I was going just in case. It made me feel better, even if it was a bit unnecessary.
I'd already picked up some flowers on my way home from work to give to Elinor. They seemed like an appropriate 'thanks for having me' gift. I would have bought wine, but I didn't know either of their preferences. Still, you couldn't go wrong with flowers really, could you? I mean, everyone liked flowers. Right? Well, I hoped they did; I was half way there now, and I didn't have time to go back and buy something else. Hopefully she wasn't a chronic hay fever sufferer!
I pulled up at the secluded, detached house on the outskirts of town not long after. Checking the address against the one Sam had texted me, I was pretty certain I was in the right place. Grabbing the bouquet of flowers, I went to the boot to collect Monty and his possessions, before making my way to the front door and ringing the doorbell. I was never completely sure I was at the right house until the person I'd come to see answered. I'd always had an irrational fear of knocking at the wrong person's house.
The doorbell had barely had chance to chime when a redhead came barrelling out the door towards me, nearly knocking me clean off my feet. Monty yipped in fright at her sudden emergence, cowering behind my legs. She threw her arms around me, and I hugged her back, awkwardly grappling with Monty's things and the flowers.
"Oh, Alexis!" She cried in a distinctively lilting Scottish accent. "I'm so sorry for what happened!" Looking over her shoulder I saw Sam round the corner with a grin.
"Elinor, let her go; you'll scare her off." He chided teasingly, affirming my suspicions that she was the very lady I'd come to meet. She pulled away sheepishly, allowing me to look at her fully. She was a pretty redhead, possessing the distinctive freckles and pale skin that came with her colouring. Poker straight red hair fell down to her waist, accentuated by a muted red lipstick. Her eyes were big and green- like a green glass bottle when it catches the light. She was tall too. Taller than me, but still half a head smaller than Sam, who had now sidled closer to her and slipped his arm around her waist. They looked good together. Really good. It was as if one of those perfect couples you see on TV adverts had walked straight off of the set and into Sam's house.
"Since we've skipped the introductions." Sam said with grin. "I presume you know each other. But, Alexis, in case you're unfamiliar with strangers throwing themselves at you: this my soulfinder, Elinor. Elinor, this is my friend, Alexis." Laughing, I held out the now somewhat battered flowers for her to take.
"It's lovely to finally meet, you Elinor."
"Likewise." She said with a smile, taking the flowers from me. "Wow, Alexis! These are beautiful, thank you! You shouldn't have! Sam, smell them- they're gorgeous!" I watched with a laugh as the nearly whacked Sam in the face with the bouquet in her attempts to let him sniff them.
"Yes, they're quite lovely." He agreed. "Thank you, Alexis. Now, come on, come through- dinner's nearly ready."
"Oh shit, I left the ring on!" Elinor cried, handing Sam the flowers and practically running out of the room. "I hope I've not burnt it all!"
"It'll be fine, El!" Sam shouted, but I was pretty sure she didn't hear him; I could hear banging coming from what I could only assume was the kitchen.
"Here, let me take these, Alexis." Sam said, taking Monty's bed and bowl off me, and heading off to follow Elinor, with me following behind. The corridor led to a modern kitchen and open-plan dining area which looked out over the garden via patio doors. Monty, suddenly perking up at the sight of some lush grass for him to roll in, ran over to the doors, and started scratching at the glass.
"Monty!" I yelled, yanking at his lead before he could make too many mucky paw prints on the clean panes.
"Don't worry, Alexis. He can go out if he wants." Sam said, dropping his bed next to the door and looking around for the keys.
"Are you sure, Sam? I don't want him to ruin your flowerbeds." I thought back to how he'd ruined Dad's flowers almost beyond repair.
"Definitely. I only really have grass out there, anyway." He produced a key from a drawer, and opened the patio. I unclipped Monty's lead, and watched him run out into the garden, lolloping happily through the grass.
"Have a seat." Sam invited, indicating to the stools around the island in the centre of the kitchen, whilst he found a vase for the flowers.
"Would you like something to drink?" He asked.
"A glass of water would be great, thanks."
"Anything for you, El?"
"Water too please." She said, still wrestling with the ravioli. Seemingly satisfied that it was back under control, she turned down the heat and filled up the three glasses Sam passed to her. Sam brought them over, whilst Elinor handed out knives and forks, which I set along the counter in preparation.
"It's ready." Elinor said with a smile, pulling out three plates from an overhead cabinet and serving a hearty helping of ravioli onto each one. Sam them took them from the counter and placed them on the table, holding out a stool for Elinor to sit on.
"Wow, this looks delicious!" I exclaimed, inhaling the typically Italian aroma. It was divine.
"You'll have to try it first." Elinnor responded modestly. "I've tried my best with it, but I'm not sure if it's that nice."
"It's great, and you know it." Sam responded, rubbing her shoulder fondly. "Dig in everyone!" He cried with gusto, prompting Elinor and I to snicker at him. He was right, though- it was truly delicious- the best ravioli I'd ever tasted. I had to physically stop myself from practically inhaling the whole plate.
"So," I started, setting my fork down and picking up my water to take a sip. "What happened with you two? Sam wouldn't tell me at the hospital and I'm dying to know." They smiled at each other.
"Should I start?" Sam asked Elinor.
"Yes. You tell the first bit, and I'll tell Alexis what really happened when you turned up in Edinburgh."
"Okay, so I left your house a day earlier than Catherine thought I would be home, having decided that it was over between us, and that I was going to go and find Elinor. I'd told her that I was gone for the weekend, and that I'd be back on Monday morning, but would only be home briefly as I'd have to go back to work." I nodded- I already knew that bit.
"So, as it was still early on a Sunday morning and I was expecting her to be asleep, I came home and opened the door really quietly, not wanting to wake her. When I did, I heard strange noises coming from upstairs."
"Oh.." I enquired. This was not how I was expecting this story to progress.
"So, I thought Cath was in trouble- that there was a burglar or something. Because I thought she was in danger, I used my power." Invisibility. Of course! What better way to see what was going on than to be sneak in invisible? Genius.
"So, I crept up the stairs silently, grabbing the mop from under the stairs."
"Wait." I interrupted. "You grabbed a mop? Why?"
"Yeah, a mop. It was for protection." Out of the corner of my eye I saw Elinor snickering at him. Who wouldn't? A mop was surely up there in the most ridiculously useless implements to grab for a fight.
"Seriously? You went for a mop?"
"It was all I could find at the time!" He defended himself.
"And what were you going to do with it? Clean the intruder from head to toe?"
"Do you want to hear the rest of the story or not, Alexis?" He asked, pretending to be angry, but barely managing to conceal his own smile.
"No, sorry. Do continue- I won't interrupt again. So, you, invisible, made your way up the stairs with a mop to fight off this intruder?" I couldn't see James Bond adding a mop to his assortment of weapons, but it would make the next film far more interesting.
"Yes." He affirmed with a nod. I tried not to laugh at the image I'd conjured in my head of the incident. With Sam being invisible, to any bystander it would look as if the mop were simply floating up the stairs by itself!
"So, I got to the top of the stairs, and I saw that the sounds were coming from our bedroom. By this time, I was very worried- I thought that Cath was in real danger. I got closer, opened the door and.." He paused for dramatic effect.
"And what, Sam?" I cried, desperate to know what had happened.
"I thought you weren't going to interrupt anymore, Alexis." He said, with a quirk of his eyebrow, and I scowled in response. I had already broken my word.
"Stop teasing, Sam." Elinor chastised him, spearing a piece of pasta with her fork. "Tell her what happened next." I grinned at her in thanks. At least someone knew how annoying it was to be kept in suspense.
"I found her in bed with our next door neighbour." If I'd had anything in my mouth it would have gone straight over the table after hearing that.
"What?" I spluttered. "As in…" I made some gestures with my hands to demonstrate what I couldn't manage to say.
"Yes. That." He confirmed. "I dropped the mop, switched off my power, and revealed myself. They both screamed, but she didn't even try to deny it- she'd been caught in the act. I told her to get out within 24 hours because I didn't want to see her again. The house was mine- I paid for it, and it was in my name, so she didn't even have a leg to stand on."
I was speechless. That was certainly not what I'd expected to have happened! Thank goodness he'd decided to go and find Elinor after all!
"So, after that, I threw all of Catherine's stuff into boxes ready for her to get out, and packed a bag for myself. I decided that I'd head straight up to Edinburgh the next day because I had to go to the office to finish off some stuff first- I'd decided to take a week's holiday at short notice, so couldn't leave immediately. Then, I rang Elinor to say I was coming, but-"
"I said I wanted nothing to do with him." Elinor continued. "He'd broken my heart- I certainly didn't want to see him again."
"I am sorry for that, El."
"I know." She replied simply. "And I forgive you. I'm glad you came, even though I was a bitch on the phone." She kissed him chastely on the lips, and he seemed appeased- his eyes shining with warmth as he looked at her.
"Then what?" I asked, interrupting their moment. I couldn't help myself- I needed to know what happened next!
"Well, because Elinor wasn't co-operating, and I only had her name and phone number to go on, I rang the Net for help. They were very obliging- they gave me her address and everything."
"Seriously?" I questioned. "That's not their protocol, is it?" Surely the Net wasn't allowed to give out personal details, even if they were soulfinders. I mean, I knew that Will had done just that to find me, but that was different- his parents practically set up the bloody corporation, and he was responsible for looking after savants' details. He could easily look me up. Sam blushed at my question.
"Well, I think they only gave me Elinor's address, because I helped them out the night before." I arched my eyebrow at that.
"Yes…" I said, urging him to continue and explain himself. I knew exactly what he meant there; he was the person that rang them to tell them that Will had misunderstood the relationship between him and I.
"I would say I was sorry, Alexis, but I'm not. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have found El, and you and Will wouldn't be together."
"We're not together!" And we weren't. Not officially, at least. I didn't know what we were still.
"Whatever you say, Alexis." He intoned, and I scowled at him in response. Why did everyone think we were together? Sure, we were soulfinders, and it did seem like we were more than friends, but nothing was definite!
"Right, so they gave me El's address, I finished off at work, and decided to set off early the next morning. Catherine came round that night to collect her belongings and I haven't seen her since."
"Good riddance!" I muttered.
"Quite." He agreed, with a quirk of his lips.
"So, at two in the morning I set off." I choked on a piece of ravioli.
"Two? As in 2am- the middle of the night 2am?"
"Yes." He said, picking up a piece of pasta to eat himself, as if it was totally normal to set off to meet someone at two am.
"Why?"
"Well, I wanted to catch her before she went to work." Okay, that did make sense, but 2am did still seem a little ridiculous.
"So I got to Edinburgh at about half six, as all the roads were practically empty." It was no wonder. Who in their right mind, apart from freight drivers, would want to go anywhere at 2am? "And I found Elinor's house at about 7. I got out of my car and knocked on her door." I was practically vibrating at this point- it was so romantic! I couldn't wait to hear how he swept her off her feet.
"She opened it, saw it was me, and slammed the door in my face." I looked across at Elinor to see if he was telling the truth. Surely, that didn't happen!
"I did." She agreed. "I didn't want anything to do with you."
"I knocked a few more times, and she told me to go away, but I didn't. Instead, I used my power when I was standing outside the door. I thought that she'd see the coast was clear, come out, and then I'd pounce. She wouldn't be able to get back inside without talking to me first, and I'd follow her if she ran off."
"Geez, stalker much, Sam?" I inserted cheekily.
"Exactly, Alexis! Thankfully, he hadn't banked on me being a tracker."
"A tracker?" I'd only heard of those on wildlife shows. They were able to look at animal tracks and deduce what creature had made them.
"It means that once I've met someone and seen what their energy looks like, I can find where they are. It doesn't matter where on earth they go- I can still tell you where they are."
"So, you can tell what country they're in?"
"Yes, but more than that. I can pinpoint exactly where they are- down to which room in a house they're in."
"Woah! That's incredible!" I exclaimed. That was an awesome power to have! She could track anyone on the planet, knowing if they'd moved even so much as from their kitchen to the bathroom. I was blown away.
"It does come in handy." She admitted with a blush. "So, Sam's invisibility didn't fool me for a minute- I knew he was out there, so I used the back door to go to work instead."
"And I was left sat outside her flat for hours." I sniggered at that; poor Sam outside knocking, when he didn't even realise she wasn't there!
"Eventually, I realised she had either gone, or wasn't coming out, so I went to a hotel to check- in and get something to eat, before working out what to do. I camped outside her flat for two more days until I realised this plan wasn't going to work, so I tried something else."
"What did you do?" I was enthralled, hooked on his every word. It was like a romance novel come to life!
"I rang the Net again, and found out where she worked. I figured she might talk to me if we were in a public place, as she couldn't get away from me so easily."
"Honey, you sound like a serial killer." Elinor laughed. "Honestly, 'she couldn't get away so easily'." I laughed with her. He did sound somewhat psychotic when he put it like that.
"I prefer perseverant." He said, mulling over his word choice.
"Agreed." I echoed.
"Seconded." Elinor chipped in.
"Okay, so I figured she'd finally bow to my perseverance if we were in a public place. Better?" We both nodded at that, and he continued.
"The Net told me she worked at a playgroup, so I drove there the next morning, and told the lady on reception that I was looking for Elinor. She didn't trust me at first, but after she heard my story: how there had been a big misunderstanding, and I loved her, and just wanted to see her, she let me right in."
"I was in the middle of finger painting with a bunch of three year olds when he popped in through the door with a great big grin on his face, while I had paint all over me."
"You looked beautiful."
"I didn't, but thank you."
"So, the receptionist, who was really on my side by now, told the children that they should tell Elinor to give me a chance because I'd driven all the way from England to see her and apologise."
"Jo is such a romantic, that he'd nearly had her in tears with his sob story about there being a big misunderstanding." He grinned at that, and Elinor shook her head in amusement at his antics.
"What can I say? I'm a romantic, and there was a misunderstanding."
"So all the kids start chanting at me to give him a chance, and I had no choice but to say yes." Sam was beaming broadly by now, still ecstatic that things had worked out so well. I didn't know if he was clever or sly to use children to get Elinor.
"I took her out for dinner once she'd finished work, and we never looked back." They smiled at each other fondly, reminiscing over the moment.
"Which brings us onto my, well our, big news." I waited, open mouthed, for him to continue.
"I'm moving to Edinburgh permanently." He exclaimed gleefully.
"What?" I thought he'd meant they were going up to Edinburgh for a week or something, not staying there indefinitely!
"We're leaving at the end of this week." He continued. "There's nothing tying me here. Mum and Dad love Elinor, and are keen for me to go, and my work were opening a new office in Edinburgh anyway. They've said I can be the new manager, as they were looking for someone like me."
"Wow, you guys! That's great!" And it was. Although I'd miss them both, even though I'd only known them for a short time, I was glad that they were happy. They suited one another and they deserved it.
We chatted well into the night, long after everyone had eaten the rest their ravioli, and I learnt a lot about the pair of them. It had also cemented my initial impression that Elinor was absolutely lovely. She was far better for Sam than Catherine ever could have been. I didn't even have to meet the women to know that. It saddened me to think someone was capable of hurting someone in such a way, and yet feel no remorse.
Monty was fast asleep in his bed by the time I decided to head home. He'd spent most of the evening chasing around the garden trying to chew his tail. Sam had had to re-fill his water bowl twice- he was that de-hydrated by his efforts.
I lifted him up into my arms and cradled him to my chest to carry him to the car, whilst Sam brought his bed and bowl. Thanking Sam and Elinor for having me, I headed home. I didn't know when I'd next see them both, but they made it clear that I was welcome to go up and stay with them whenever I wanted. I'd definitely have to take them up on that offer. Edinburgh had always been somewhere I'd wanted to viplsit.
I relayed all this to Will once I got home. I'd taken to ringing him in the evening as a way of keeping in contact. I liked it, although I had nearly fallen asleep when he started explaining computer programming to me. Computing wasn't my thing- it never would be. He, on the other hand, enjoyed taking the opportunity to ask me what I thought of his gym photo, and found great amusement in my inability to answer him. He could be a cocky little son of a gun at times. We called it a night when I actually nodded off mid-conversation, much to my embarrassment and his amusement, promising that we'd call each other tomorrow.
Please leave a review! I will put the next chapter up if I hit 372. Otherwise, it will go up on Friday, as long as I can still get on the wifi! Hugs x