Written In The Stars: Book Two

CHAPTER THIRTY: READ BETWEEN THE LINES

Once it was clear the cameras would take Jack the entire day to install, and Elijah was just getting in his way, he kept his distance and continue going through his mother's belongings.

There were pompous from her high school years, along with a few trophies for dance and swim. A pair of roller skates. An Atari game console. There were those mini photos from those photo booths he still saw every now and again, his mother posing with all her friends, wearing wild eyeshadow and her hair looking similar to a Charlie's Angel.

Then there was the box of clothing. Peasant blouses, bell bottoms, and vests. A couple of tiny skirts she probably had to sneak out of the house in. A lot of chokers, scarves, and a few pairs of wooden earrings. His mother was a seventies girl through and through.

The heavier box had books in it. A lot of Judy Blume, a sprinkling of Stephen King, 'To Kill A Mockingbird', and 'A Clockwork Orange', along with a few other books from her childhood she'd read to him when he was young.

When Elijah's phone vibrated from his side, he noticed it came from a number he'd only entered yesterday. His grandfather's. He swiped to accept and stood to take his phone call outside. "Hey."

"I'm in your city," His grandfather told him, skipping the pleasantries. "I was hoping we could meet somewhere."

Elijah had enough going on at the moment, but it was an hour and a half drive for the old man. Still, he couldn't just up and leave while his friends worked to secure his home. "I can give you the address to my apartment. Why, what's up?"

"It occurred to me I gave you Sandra's journals, and there's something we need to discuss before you read them. I should have mentioned it yesterday, and I wanted to, but I didn't want to overwhelm you with too many things at once."

Because of his grandfather's tone, Elijah assumed the topic wouldn't be a light-hearted one. His life was truly testing the meaning of, 'when it rains, it pours'. In seven days, he found out the love of his life would marry someone else, she was hit by a car, moved into his apartment with her family, received threats from her ex, he had to make his apartment handicap accessible, moved his entire apartment around, found out the love of his life might still be in love with him, went to confront his grandfather, found out all the crap that came with that...

Life was pouring down on Elijah, and throughly testing his physical and mental limits, not to mention his sobriety and desire to quit smoking.

Elijah let out a huff, ran his fingers through his hair, and looked around the room at the mess he'd made with his mother's belongings. A chaotic living room to match his recently chaotic life. "I'm two years sober next month. What's this going to do to that?"

The only sound coming through the phone for a solid thirty second was a light wind in the background. "I don't know, Elijah. It'll be hard for you to hear, but I think, given time, you'll find some peace and answers out of it."

A statement like that only added to the mystery, but also confirmed that no matter which way he felt about it, it was going to be a heavy topic to deal with. "I've got a couple of friends at my place right now. There's a diner about two blocks from my apartment, Mom's Kitchen. I can be there in ten minutes."

"I'll see you soon, Elijah."

They hung up, and Elijah went upstairs to find Jack installing the camera facing out the patio door of Madeline's room. Jay was just sitting on the bed playing supervisor. "I've got to run out for a bit. Are you guys good?"

"Where you going?" jay asked, tossing an empty box in the air.

He'd planned to tell Jay about where he'd gone yesterday, but then the cops were at his place when he got home, which pulled his focus elsewhere. "My grandfather on my mom's side just called to tell me he's in the area and has something he needs to tell me."

The box Jay was tossing around fell to the carpet, and even Jack, who he really never went to for serious conversations, turned around with interest. Jack remained quiet, but that wasn't Jay's style. "That's new, isn't it?"

Elijah nodded his confirmation and shoved his hands into the pockets of his dark jeans. "Started yesterday. I told him I'd meet him in ten minutes, so I've got to go. I don't know how long this is going to take."

"I've got my key," Jay told him. "If you're back when we're done, I'll lock up, but let me know if you need me to come back, and remember your sponsor is there for a reason."

Since Hank seemed hesitant after Elijah confessed he was two years sober, Elijah made a mental note to call his sponsor before the day ended. The whole point of a sponsor was to have someone to lean on when you found yourself close to slipping. Elijah still craved a drink occasionally, but the closest he got to having one was the night of Madeline's accident. His desire for a drink disappeared with that single phone call, and he hadn't craved one until he worried about Johnny.

"I'll call you either way," Elijah assured him, "and I'll call Rick tonight. I promise." Elijah let out a heavy groan, knowing he was meant to be there like now. "Thank you both for doing this. Seriously, you've both gone above and beyond this week."

"Ulterior motives," Jack said with a smile. "Just wanted to hang out with Maddie. Gotta say that wheelchair and being all banged up barely made a dent in the hotness scale."

Elijah was well aware Jack was fucking with him, just as he had the first time he'd met Madeline. He enjoyed getting under Elijah's skin, which had grown increasingly difficult since he got his shit together. "Go fuck yourself," was all he said before walking out of the room.