Valentina never really placed much value on the weather to set the tone of her day. Usually, rain was just rain, and snow was just snow, but tonight it was raining, and she was mad. Eli was having a white Christmas back in England, and she wanted to have that too. She wasn’t sure which part of that she wanted. Valentina pushed Eli out of her mind. He had plagued her enough on the plane. He was all she could think about on the plane ride. In desperation for peace, Valentina took a sleep aid, only to relive their night together in her dreams.
Maybe it was her arrival that put her in a terrible mood. She waited for an hour before Valentina realized that there was no one at the airport to pick her up. Not her father, not Leibe, not even a driver. She waited until the security agents asked if she was okay, then asked them to page her father. After more waiting, Valentina became convinced that she was going home alone and hailed herself a cab. Eli would have hailed a cab for her. Eli would have been waiting at the gate. Eli needed to get out of her mind.
Valentina was suddenly alarmed and paranoid that Eli really was in her mind. She’d become so casual with him that details about him just became part of Eli. His Eli-ness, things about him that made him who he was, there was no point dwelling on them independently. His telepathy was one of those details she’d long forgotten to consider. But something was missing. When Eli spoke to her, his voice came with a warm, deep resonance. It was something that started in her mind that spread through her body, setting each nerve off in a wonderful way, like hearing a forgotten favorite song. And Valentina was not experiencing that right now. She was alone; Eli was not with her, in any form.
She checked her messages again, only to still have none waiting. Valentina almost swore phone was almost mocking her. She tried her father’s number again, and got his voicemail. This time Valentina didn’t bother with a message. The cab was only three lights from home, anyway. Valentina slipped her phone away and just waited. In just a few minutes time she was at her building. With a generous tip to her driver, Valentina was out of the cab, with her bag on her shoulder and walking into her building. Next, she was in the elevator, on her way to the penthouse. For a moment, Valentina considered stopping on Leibe’s floor to say hello, but ultimately decided to just head home.
The penthouse barely felt like home. It never truly was. To Valentina home was Winterthur, Switzerland or London, England. New York City was beautiful, but it was just a place where she lived. The place where her father lived. That thought sparked another, a memory of Tracker’s diary, and a line from her dream, “Is it beautiful? He always said it was beautiful. He always found beauty in everything but himself.” Valentina felt sick, her stomach tied into a knot. She braced herself to see her father.
The doors opened with a soft bell, letting Valentina out into the foyer of her apartment. The place was immaculately clean and devoid of inhabitants. She worried for a moment before her own logic calmed her. It was a Saturday night, and her father was here alone. He probably simply went out to eat, instead of eating by himself in the apartment. It was an awfully large apartment to live in alone. Yes, he was just out to dinner.
“Dad? I’m home. It’s Valentina, your daughter.” She called out to the empty apartment. “I guess you aren’t home?”
She smiled a little, deciding to make the most of the situation. If her father wasn’t around, she could use the opportunity to get Tracker’s diary back into its spot, hidden and forgotten under the dresser. She’d slip the box back, the just retreat to her room. A shower and a nice night’s sleep in her own bed, Valentina would feel better in the morning. She pulled the box from her bag, and started down the hallway to the bedrooms.
YOU ARE READING
Looking For A Legend (Book 1)
Misterio / SuspensoA young telepath is unexpectedly left with leading his class when his teacher takes leave. One of Elijah's new students Valentina leads him down a path where mysteries only get more mysterious and nothing is as simple as it looks.
