The penthouse in New York just didn’t feel the same without her father there too. Valentina looked up at the ceiling of the master suite – hers even before her father moved out, and struggled to come up with a reason to get out of bed. It was one in the afternoon, and her father never would have let her sleep in that late, not even on weekends. She knew she should get a shower, get dressed and do her make up, but Valentina just couldn’t muster the will.
Valentina sighed and sat up. Wasn’t the person that got dumped that was supposed to spend their days moping in bed? Why were her blankets so heavy? Were they always this heavy? She slid to the edge of her bed, adjusting her silk nightie, looking back at her rumpled sheets. She still wasn’t used to sleeping alone. But even the vague memory of Elijah Coates soured her morning even more.
How could she still miss him after all he had done to her? He had been manipulating her mind for the past … Well, she wasn’t even sure for how long he had been using his telepathy on her. Valentina had no choice but to cut him out of her life entirely. She had to move out of their apartment, mostly because the lease was in his name. She had to beg Levi, Eli’s brother to let her in to the apartment to collect the rest of her things while Eli was at work – a job that he picked to keep over their relationship. She had also sworn Levi to secrecy about being in Eli’s apartment. Levi kept insisting that she see Eli, and talk to him about what was going on. But there was no talking to Eli. It was always a one sided conversation with him – literally.
Valentina decided to leave London entirely. She had tried to stay, but she saw Eli everywhere. If not actually spotting him through a pub window, or across the street, Valentina would see him, both of them together during happier times. That was her gift, to see into the past. It didn’t feel like much of a gift anymore. She was plagued with memories, watching herself getting tricked by a handsome conman. A handsome, funny, selfless… No, no, no. He had been doing that for months. Using his smile and his body and power over her – he was her teacher, sort of! He should have known better than to get involved with a student. She should have known better too.
She remembered how frustrated he used to look, and lonely. Eli would sit in the front of the classroom with books open, papers everywhere. The first day she spoke to him, he was trying to translate Russian in to English, using a Greek dictionary. But maybe that how he gets his girls. It starts with pity, they let their guard down. He’s mute, and signs, but when he gets close enough, he asks if he can use his telepathy, and there, girls have just invited him into their minds. He’s no better than a rapist! Valentina wondered if the sex they had during the manipulation even counted as consensual.
Valentina’s bare feet finally touched the floor. She wandered into her bathroom and turned on the shower. She pulled her nightie off and threw it in the general direction of her laundry basket. Valentina missed, but she didn’t care, the housekeeper would pick it up. As soon as she was under the warm water, she wanted to be asleep again. She had never been this… lazy? No, that wasn’t right. She wasn’t procrastinating. There wasn’t anything to put off. Lethargic? Apathetic? That was more like it. Valentina simply didn’t want to do anything. She had so many plans when she moved back to New York. Spend more time with Leibe and her baby, maybe take them shopping, or watching little baby Evan while Leibe and Billy Duke try their hand at being a couple. It occurred to Valentina that she should be more upset at Billy for cheating on her with her best friend, or at Leibe for sleeping with her then boyfriend, than she is at Eli for simply choosing his work over their relationship. But then she remembered the manipulation.
No more thinking about Elijah! What else had she wanted to do when she came home? Well, Valentina had hoped to better get to know her father. Not the dead one that Eli refused to stop looking for, but the man that raised her, former CIA agent and retired Army Ranger Colonel Murroh Lytton. At least he considered her feeling when she requested that he call of the search for her biological father. Valentina had lived with Murroh since her mother’s death, five years ago, but she never felt like she knew anything about him. She didn’t even know he was married! How do you miss something like that? Of course, his wife lived out in Long Island, and he kept Valentina in Manhattan. Had he not wanted them to meet? Was he ashamed of his wife? Was he ashamed of his daughter? Did he have other children out there? There were just too many questions.
The water turned cold and Valentina finally stepped out into a towel. With a sigh, and lost in thought she wandered into her closet. Everything was out of season and out of style. That was the first thing she had wanted to do – go on a shopping spree and update her wardrobe like she used to. Why hadn’t she done that yet?
The list of things she hadn’t done was longer. Valentina had yet to claim her former fixture-like status in the trendy bakery on the way to her high school. She wasn’t yet enrolled in a class at the arts center, or rebuild her standing in her clique. Even new-mother-out-of-wedlock Leibe had got back into society! Valentina hadn’t done anything but lay in bed and mope. She wanted to blame Eli, but couldn’t find a specific reason. He wasn’t from London society - he wasn’t even from London, he only lived there – and he didn’t care at all for what others thought of him. His idea public life was of the public house variety. She couldn’t remember how many times he’d taken her to a pub for dinner and to see some live band play. His only hobbies were reading and swimming. Maybe that’s where Valentina learned to be boring. Maybe she was lucky she got out when she did. Perhaps she should have gotten out sooner.
Valentina found her way into a pair of bra and panties. She reached for a designer blouse that cost more than some people’s monthly salaries, but instead found herself in a tank top and sweat pants. She walked past the mirrors, ignoring her make-up. She used to spend an hour here, painting her face, perfectly covering the scar that bridged her nose. Only Eli ever made her forget it was there. She remembered the night she and Eli first made love. No, the night they first had sex. She was a little drunk and very emotional. She was crying into his chest, and smeared her make up into his sweater. Valentina was mortified at ruining his shirt, but he didn’t care. He simply got out of her bed, stripped off his green-and-foundation-stripped sweater and went to soak it in her sink. When he came back, he was all rippling muscles and chest hair. Maybe that was his plan all along. Maybe that was the first time he took advantage of her.
In the kitchen, Valentina surveyed her pantry, but all she could think about was the mornings Eli would make breakfast for her. Sleepy eyed, she’d come out of the bedroom to find him standing over the stove, making omelets and French toast. Sure, half of the sausage was for his dogs, but it was a sweet memory. Valentina snatched a box of cereal from the shelf and slammed the cabinet shut.
Why couldn’t she stop thinking about him? He haunted her mind. Valentina was determined to erase Elijah Coates from her life. But as she wandered to the couch and threw herself down on the cushions, she put it off for another day.
YOU ARE READING
Looking For The Light (Book 2)
ParanormalElijah's life has been thrown for a loop. His girlfriend left him, he's leaving his home behind, and setting off into the unknown. Doubting his mission and himself, the young telepath struggles with many of the great questions of life.
