Looking For A Legend (Book 1)

Looking For A Legend Chapter 54 - Elijah

            Eli woke up with only hazy memories of his night before.  Valentina had left a bottle of aspirin and a glass of water out for him on the nightstand.  Or maybe had when Levi help Eli into his room.  Of course, Valentina wasn’t there when he woke.  He searched the apartment, before taking a lonely shower, dressed, took his dogs out, and then returned to the apartment to have breakfast.  Eli only had Ceres and Dinah to keep him company.  He had a headache, and had expected that, but the souring nerves in his stomach kept him from eating much.  The last time he’d felt this bad, they were on their way to Fairgarden.

He tried to relax himself.  Eli watched the second half of a movie on television, not caring as Dinah and Ceres sprawled out on the couch with him.  It was as if they could sense Eli’s mood.  Ceres would look up at him and nuzzle against his arm.  Dinah licked at his hand in hopes to cheer him up.  After two more hours, and another terrible movie, Eli forced himself off the couch.  He took the dogs for another quick walk, and then took a trip down to the property’s pool.  Eli had hoped swimming a few laps would clear his head, but it didn’t.  The thoughts preyed on his mind, worrying over where Valentina was, if she was okay, and why she hadn’t spoken to him since Friday night.

She still wasn’t home when he returned the pool.  After another shower, Eli dressed in a pair of sleep pants.  It was getting late, and he thought of ordering dinner, but his stomach still wasn’t with him.  After another walk with the dogs, and another movie, this time one of his choosing, Eli eventually decided to make himself some soup.  He was standing in the kitchen, naked to the waist, in his sleep wear, stirring a pot of condensed soup at eight in the evening.  That’s when Valentina arrived home.  She didn’t meet his eyes.

“Where have you been?  I was worried.” He asked, but his telepathy hit a wall.  Eli found that being forced out of some one’s mind gave him a headache.  And being shut out of your girlfriend’s mind gave him heartache.  He turned off the burner on the stove, and trailed her as Valentina ignored him on her way to their bedroom.  This felt familiar.  He’d done this before, just not with Valentina.

“Would you stop following me?!” Valentina shouted at him.  He’d cornered her in the bedroom, though he hadn’t meant to.  Eli only wanted her attention.

He tried to speak, mentally, but she was resisting.  And she didn’t know sign language.

“Don’t you get it, Elijah?  I don’t want to be around you right now.  I only came to get some clothes.”  Valentina’s tone was venomous.

He held out his hands to echo the confusion Eli wore on his face.  Valentina shook her head and staring looking for her bag in the closet.  He was still watching her when she returned.

“What? God, Eli, I didn’t want to do this now!” She sighed.  Valentina walked to the end of the bed and sat down.  “I want you to quit your work for the CIA and the Russians.”

“Why would I do that?” He asked, surprised to be let in.  “Things are going well.”

“Because, I don’t want you working with them anymore.  I don’t want to see my father’s memory tarnished by this ridiculous investigation.  Just let him rest in peace, please.” Valentina pleaded.

Eli was genuinely confused.  Her words seemed to come out of nowhere.  “Valentina, I know he’s out there.  I’ve spoken to him.  Mentally, yes, but I have spoken to him.  Don’t you want your father in your life?”

“I have a father, and he’s the one I spent my weekend with.  He might not be my biological father, but he’s the one I’ve got!” Valentina raised her voice to him.

“It was Colonel Lytton that recruited me for this assignment, Valentina.  He wants my help to find Captain Sima.” Eli tried to remain calm.  They only thing he feared more than how this conversation was going to end, was the idea of hurting Valentina along the way.

“He is pulling his support tomorrow.  And if you love me, you will too!” Valentina threatened.

“Valentina! What has gotten in to you?!” Eli got to his knees on the floor to meet her eyes.  “I thought this is what you wanted.  You’ve been looking for him since before we knew who he really was!”

“Have I?  I was just trying to write my paper.  It was you that lured me into helping translate those journals.  And then you made me start devoting school time to it! Then we were driving to crazy people’s houses! Eli, this is going to get you killed! This will get me killed! You have to stop, or we have to stop!” Eli was sure their neighbors could hear Valentina’s voice.

“We need to stop?  What is that supposed to mean?  Are you going to break up with me if I don’t quit my job?” Eli asked, dumbfounded.  He couldn’t believe the situation he found himself in.

“I should break up with you over a lot of things, Eli.  Lying to me, taking advantage of me, putting me in danger.” Valentina stood up, pushing at Eli’s shoulders as she got to her feet.  He fell back and scrambled to stand up.

“When did I lie to you?  When did I take advantage of you? And when did I knowingly put you in danger?” Eli was getting defensive.  He was now actively holding himself back.

“Are you going to give your notice tomorrow or not?  Can you give up your little fantasy about being the shining knight?” She spit at him, ignoring his question.  Eli was appalled at her behavior.  It was her voice, and her face, but something felt so wrong.  Or maybe he was just already missing her.

“There is not fantasy about being a knight.  Valentina, I’m doing this for you.  So that you can have your father back in your life.  So that a man can live free, and not in a prison.  To ease Colonel Lytton’s guilt.  It’s the right thing to do.  And I’m not going to stop.”  He left her mind before he could shut him out.  He didn’t need to hear her say those next words.  He knew what was coming.  It was like taking a punch to the nose with your eyes wide open.  The pain came before impact.

“Good bye, Elijah.  Don’t call me.  I’ll send someone for my things.”  Valentina sneered at him before storming out.  The door slammed.  Eli was alone.  He was in shock.  He wasn’t sure how things had gotten to this point.

He only walked back out into the main room to assure the door was locked.  Eli took his soup off the burner and threw the pot in the sink.  He shut off the lights as he walked back into his bedroom, Ceres and Dinah following him.  Eli took off his glasses and collapsed into his bed.  As he reached over to shut off the bedside lamp, the two hounds jumped into bed and curled against him.  Normally with such a bad feeling in his chest, he’d shoo them down to the floor, but tonight he was grateful to feel Dinah’s head on his chest.  Ceres’s tail thumping against his leg was small comfort.  This was his life now.  A mute telepath with two giant dogs, and a job that cost him the love of his life.  If finding Mischa was the right thing, Eli sincerely hoped that it was worth the price.