Elle held the over sized mug up to her lips, and inhaled.
There was nothing like a warm cup of coffee on a cold day. She loved
this Cafe. She'd been coming here every morning since high school.
There was art on the walls for sale, miss matched furniture and
antique looking coffee tables.
"I know that you said you
weren't hungry" a voice came floating from behind her, she
turned to see the shop owner holding a plate with a muffin
"But
you have to eat something. And I just baked these this morning, it's
an apple cinnamon oatmeal muffin. My own recipe. Still warm" she
put it down in front of Elle, smiling from ear to ear
"Thanks
Ginnie" Elle said. Truth be told
She was starving. Elle hadn't eaten since yesterday, early in the morning when
Ginnie brought her some cinnamon toast.
Ginnie sat down on the
other side of the small table and locked eyes with Elle.
"Something on your mind?" Elle took a sip
of coffee, her eyes rolled back at the silky flavor
"Elle,
where have you been sleeping" Elle's eyes opened wide she
almost spit out her drink.
"What kind of a question is
that?" She tried to act casual, as of she had no idea to what
she was referring.
"Elle, you've been coming here everyday
since you were 14. And I know that's only 9 years. But I still feel
like you're something of a child figure to me. And. I. Jesus this is
hard. Elle, are you OK?" Elle breathed in, unsure of how to
proceed.
"I'm fine. I've been working at the
hotel in town three nights a week at the front desk. And I've been
saving up my money. I just got my van looked at and everything's
good. Don't worry"
"Really? Huh. So when I
came by last week to bring you some goulash, they were lying when
they said you quit? They were lying?" Elle tore the top off of
the muffin and took a bite
"I'm fine Ginnie....good
God this muffin is delicious"
"Thank you, but
don't change the subject. Have you considered, maybe, trying to go
home?" Elle looked into Ginnie's eyes sharply
"I'm
not going home Gin. It's not even home anymore. I worked really hard
to break away from those shitty people"
Ginnie too a deep
breath
"Elle,
you are on a slippery slope. Your options now are you can go home,
or-"
"Or what? Hook? I could hook"
" You couldn't hook. You'd get awkward and start to cry, and
then they'd ask for their money back" Elle almost spit out
her coffee.
"Don't worry Gin. I'll figure something out" Elle stood
up from the table and made her way out of the Cafe. She had a plan,
but it wasn't the kind of plan you shared with someone.
Elle got into her van and made her way to her family's house.
Seeing them had always been a part of the plan, she just couldn’t
tell Gin. Elle could feel the blood rushing through her veins,
she couldn’t believe how nervous she was. She hadn’t seen these
people in years. She began to worry if they’d let her in the house.
The whole plan rested on the idea that they let her into the house.
She shook her head.
“Don’t get distracted. Don’t stray away from the plan”
It was an hour drive to her family’s house. Elle had plenty of time to attempt to talk herself out of it. But she was set in the idea.
This would work
It had to work
When her rickety van finally pulled up to the gate in front of the house, her heart started pounding. It all looked the same. The white house with the columns in front, the yard with two apple trees and a rose bush. She sat in the Van for a minute taking it all in.
“No” she told herself “Be strong. Remember what kind of people they are”
She got out of the van, she was suddenly very aware of her disheveled appearance. Good, maybe that would help her cause.
She opened the gate and made her way up the long driveway. She practiced what she would say. If her mother opened the door, she would say “Mama?” in her most pathetic voice, with a bit of a whine. If her Father opened the door, she would whisper “Daddy I’m so sorry” after looking deeply into his eyes for a moment. She’d been thinking about this for days, weeks. She’d considered that they wouldn’t be happy to see her, but she would cross that bridge when she came to it. She delicately stepped up onto the brick walkway leading to the front door, and realized that the first row of bricks had been repaired.
“Oh, right. It’s been 9 years”
She felt as if her movements were in slow motion as she approached the door. She watched her hand move slowly towards the brass knocker that looked like a lion. As her fingers rested on the ring in the lion’s mouth, she realized how dirty her fingers were. How cold the brass felt beneath her fingers.
“NO. These are not omens. Just do it!” She knocked five times. The sound was deep, loud and terrible, and left her feeling hot and cold all at once. She heard someone unlatch the door
“This is it. It’s happening” The door opened and she prepared both speeches at once,
But then
The person who opened the door wasn’t her Mother, or her Father.
“Can I help you?” Elle looked deep into the eyes of a boy who couldn’t have been more than 8. His eyes where Amber brown like hers. His hair was golden brown like hers. And suddenly, Elle didn’t know what to do.
“Are your mommy and daddy home?” She heard her voice say
“Yes! Mommy is having tea outside with Grandma…”
“Grandma?”
“….And Daddy is at the office but he’ll be home soon and then we’re all going to the lake! Do you want to come? WAIT! Who are you?”
Elle’s eyes started to feel warm. She had run away, and instead of looking for her, they had another child. They’d had this vibrant little boy and that was all they needed.
“Go get your Mommy for me please would you, little boy?” She meant to sound sweet, but as the words left her lips she realized they sounded more threatening. The little boy skipped off leaving the door wide open. Elle took this as an invitation to go inside, and she did. She looked around to see if there were any photos of her still left on the walls. There weren’t. Elle felt the heat rising in her face.
“Hello?” She heard a voice of concern from behind her, she whirled around to see…..a woman she didn’t recognize
“Oh! I’m sorry, I thought that, I asked that little boy to get his mother for me”
the woman, who was only about 5 years older than herself, looked puzzled.
“I’m his mother, what are you doing here? Is there something I can help you with?” Elle looked at the woman puzzled
“I’m sorry, isn’t this the Templeton residence?” The Woman cocked her head slightly to the side
“Can I get you a cup of coffee?”
This felt weird. Uneasy. Elle nodded, and followed the woman into the kitchen. Suddenly nothing felt familiar anymore. The once little nook of a kitchen where her parents had spent hours arguing was now a full sized chef’s kitchen with big windows and a pasta arm above a gorgeous farmhouse sink. Elle watched as this strange woman sashayed over to a gourmet coffee maker and poured a cup of coffee.
Elle was suddenly very aware of how dirty her hands were.
“I knew you would come eventually” The woman tucked a lock of blonde hair behind her ear.
“You’re Eloisa, right? Eloisa Templeton?” Elle allowed herself to sit down on a white wooden chair next to a matching table. It looked like new, no scuff marks or dirt not even a chip.
“Yeah….I came to see my….wait, what do you mean you ‘knew I’d come eventually?’ where are my parents? How long have you lived in this house?”
The woman chuckled and walked toward Elle with her mug in hand. It too was perfectly white, and round like a cauldron.
“When they sold us the house 3 years ago-”
“3 YEARS?!” Elle started to feel her heartbeat racing.
“Yes, 3 years ago. We were told that, even though there was speculation that you were dead, that you might return one day. Your father said that if you...” The woman paused, taking a sip of coffee from her own mug, it was blue and had “Today is your day” written across it in gold cursive letters.
“….if you ever came back to say that there’s no money. That if that’s why you’re coming back, they had to sell the house to pay for your mother’s medical expenses. Your father lost the business after you ran away, and your mother became very ill, and she passed away about 3 and a half years ago.” She took another sip of her coffee. Her words burned Elle like bleach on bare skin. She spoke as though she was just telling her the latest gossip, not that her mother was dead and her father was destitute.
“My….my mother is….”
“Drink your coffee dear” The woman spoke softly, in a motherly tone that was more condescending than caring. Elle took a long sip of coffee. She let the heat burn her tongue, hoping it would stop this feeling of unexpected sorrow.
“Slow down!” the woman’s voice was coarse, Elle dropped the cup. The contents of the mug came splashing out onto her chest and clothing. She gasped, but didn’t scream, and stood quickly to her feet.
“Oh my God, Ma’am I’m so sorry. I….I have to go” The mug lay on it’s side still intact on the table, coffee spoiling the perfection of white on the table beneath it.
“Are you alright, Eloisa?” The woman spoke in an almost Stepford robotic tone, as if she had barely noticed what happened.
“I’m fine….um…”
“Darci. I’m Darci Templeton”
“I’m fine Darci, I just…..Templeton? Are we related? Or just a weird coincidence?” The coffee on her baggie sweater was starting to cool, giving Elle a chill down her spine.
“No dear. It’s not a weird coincidence.” Darci smiled. Her teeth were perfectly straight and white. Elle waited for her to continue, but Darci just sat and smiled.
“So….we’re related then?”
“Something like that” Darci tilted her head to the side slightly, smile still intact. Elle stared deeply into this woman’s eyes waiting for her to elaborate, but she just smiled.
“Darci!” A voice came from the left of them, Elle turned quickly to see who it belonged to, Darci’s expression remained unchanged.
“Darci, you said that you’d be back in a moment and then you never did what happened?” The owner of the voice stepped into the kitchen. It was a tall woman with graying hair and an emerald green women’s suit. “OH! We have company! Where are my manners! My name is Sondra! Sondra Templeton. And you are?”
Elle felt her throat swell
“What is happening? Why are you doing this? Is my mother really dead? Who are you?!” Elle wrapped her hand around her own neck. The swelling was getting worse, she wondered if she was having a panic attack.
Sondra now tilted her head and smiled. Her teeth large and white.
“Whatever do you mean dear?” Elle could feel her throat constricting. She backed away towards the door.
“WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?!” She screamed but the words came out harsh and strained. She began scratching her fingernails against her neck, as though breaking the skin would open an airway.
Then
Everything went black.
Ginnie approached the grand house. It had been a week since last she’d heard from Elle. She was hoping that she’d gone home, and this would be her confirmation. She pressed her finger on the doorbell, thinking to herself how this place was just a little too rich for her blood. She smiled thinking about how it seemed a little too rich for Elle’s blood too.
The door opened and a beautiful blonde haired woman stood before Ginnie, smiling like she was running for office.
“Hello, how may I help you?”
“Hi! You don’t know me, my name is Virginia Strickland. I own a Cafe a few town’s over. I’m, well, this may sound strange but I’m looking for Eloisa Templeton?” The blonde woman furrowed her brow.
“Oh I’m so sorry, the Templeton’s haven’t lived here in about 9 years! Not since Mr. Templeton died of a heart attack.” Ginnie put her hand over her heart.
“Oh God that’s awful….I’m so sorry. Well, I suppose it wouldn’t matter much to you, you’re the new owners I guess right? I’m sorry that I wasted your time.” Ginnie turned to walk away and then stopped. “She didn’t stop by here did she? I mean, You didn’t see someone around here about a week ago? Brown hair? Brown eyes?” The blonde woman tilted her head slightly to the side and smiled.
“Why don’t you come in, Virginia. Would you like a cup of coffee?”
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