I’ll Wait For You

Chapter 12

The future for Elinor for now remained childless, but her other dreams did not. Instead of having her heart break due to losing Kostya, in a vain and noble attempt to save him the face of what made Aidan leave her in the end, he had solidified their relationship in a way that made Elinor firmly believe that miracles did happen.

She also knew that she had irrevocably fallen in love with the man known as Kostya Vasilev. There was no backing out of that. Thinking of him sent pleasant flutters inside her stomach, and that annoying warm, gooey feeling, as if her innards were melting like chocolate in the face of affection.

Thinking of him sent her to cloud nine. Being with him sent her to heaven. Although she knew it was early days, in the technical honeymoon of their relationship – she had never experienced anything like this before. She was hopelessly besotted, and quite prepared to do the whole dive in front of a bullet thing to keep him whole and safe.

She didn’t feel like a poor person around him. She didn’t feel discriminated, or judged, or anything less than what she was. She was simply a human being that loved him as much as he loved her.

On the Thursday, she managed to conjure up enough courage to talk to Aidan face to face, though he never showed up at their designated meeting spot. Disappointed that her attempt had resulted in nothing, she finally took the step she should have taken months ago, and erased him out of her life – after a lengthy explanation by voicemail, when he refused to answer.

It’s still the coward’s way out, Elinor thought. But I’m doing nothing but chasing ghosts at this point, so it needs to be done.

Having him completely out of her life lifted a burden from her heart and mind, that she had not noticed being there previously. She still wanted to have a face-to-face talk with him, but she suspected, short of breaking into his family home and screaming at him, he would always do this. Find an excuse not to attend, or say he would, and just never show up.

He was a coward. So she would depart from him in the same manner. Quiet, with a whimper.

An errant thought occurred to her. I was going to change my name by deed poll, but if Kostya ever ends up marrying me at some point, I won’t need to worry about that. I’ll be Elinor Vasilev. She tested the ring of the words together in her mind, and liked it. Suppose I better wait a bit. She grinned, enjoying the fantasy of being married to him. For her, marrying was supposed to be a way of declaring that you would stay with someone forever, no matter what. Her parents certainly took to that notion like ducks to water.

Peter had hinted to Elinor as well that he planned to propose to Tina in the next three months, and had a ring being especially crafted for her. He’d shown her a prototype picture of what the completed image would look like, and it took her breath away. Instead of the gold or silver band, with a glittering diamond set into a crown – like the old-fashioned one her father had given Catrina, passed through two generations of his side of the family – this ring was a varnished mahogany wood with colors bled into it, purple and blue, with a beautifully carved miniature of a dragon wrapped around a glittering sapphire. There was no other ring like it in the world, and Elinor knew Tina would come near to fainting when she saw it, and would probably never want to take it off.

I’m a little sad it hasn’t been completed yet.

At Velocity Café, there lingered a bigger crowd than usual for the evening. Around thirty people were dotted about the sections before the veiled stage, and her parents had already settled themselves around one of the tables with Tina and Peter. Kostya was not yet here. Karen was working behind the bar, and gave a noticeable scowl when Elinor ordered a drink without waiting for someone to approach first. Elinor shrugged it off. She didn’t feel like it was worth bothering with Karen anymore, or feeling sad about it. Loitering on those emotions wouldn’t change who Karen was.

She could only pray that Karen might one day realize what she’d done.

Armed with a simple elderflower cordial, since Elinor didn’t want to break into alcohol, she joined her friends and family at their table, and subjected herself to a wave of greetings.

“How’s the kitten, Valentine?” Andrew asked, eager to see if she’d taken any more pictures of the fur-ball.

“Evil,” Elinor said, now opening her phone to show new pictures to her father. “But also cute. Kostya thinks we should get another kitten to help her socialize better and remember how to cat. How’s Jordan and Greg?”

“They haven’t murdered each other yet,” Catrina said, as Andrew was scrolling through the images of Valentine either being cute or a spitting bundle of horror. “I guess that’s something.”

“You’re a good mom. I think they’ll survive until adulthood.” Elinor grinned at Catrina. She also mentally noted to herself to consider finding a kitten for her father at some point, since he clearly seemed smitten with the idea of Valentine.

“I want to look at Valentine as well,” Tina said, leaning over Andrew’s shoulder. As they chatted, Kostya Vasilev came in, and made his way over to their table. Relieved, Elinor made the introductions, and let her family and friends get to know her boyfriend a little better. She saw caution in Catrina’s acceptance – her mother still felt off for having thought of Aidan as such a wonderful person.

Kostya, of course, was so charming, he won Catrina over in a matter of moments.

“You didn’t tell me how gorgeous he was,” Catrina said, disappointed in her daughter. “I mean, there’s no one for me in the world other than Andrew – who else will put up with my wicked ways?”

“Hear, hear,” Andrew agreed, now staring at a picture of Valentine shredding one of the sofas. The incredibly expensive sofas.

“But, seriously. You never said a peep! He could have been the hunchback of Notre Dame, or Rasputin with that kind of name!”

“Mom. Not everyone who has an eastern European name will look like Rasputin. You racist,” Elinor said, much to the amusement of everyone else.