Evangelia gazes down at her watch while it vibrates against her wrist. It feels loud in the middle of the conference room, between the deep voices of her manager and the CEO of the company. She watches with a sharp gaze, her still hand on the narrow table that outstretches at both sides of the small room. The unknown number eventually vanishes, and she sighs a quiet breath.
+359
Eva rather knew that country code too well for her to ignore. As the little screen of her watch popped up again, the same number calling as before. She hesitates before curling her hands around the edge of the table and pushing her chair back. The wooden floor shrieks a low, disrupting voice that pulls everybody's attention towards her.
"I apologize but please excuse me." Eva announces in the quiet room as the men and women in the meeting watch her grab her purse and belongings before exiting the room.
She scrambles in her bag before reaching for her phone and picking the call up before it ended.
"Hello?" She began, her movement stops in front of the large view of windows, facing the city of New York. Inside the building her office is in and where the CEO of her company manages the business. Without another reply from the call, she chimes in again. "Who's speaking?"
"Evangelia?" A woman's voice abrupt her thoughts—the voice so recognizable but distant. "Is this Evangelia Bellnova?" The way she pronounces her name was with a thick accent no one really says in America.
"Yes, this is she." Eva drops her bag at her side and turns her attention to the phone at the secretary's desk as it rang and rang and rang.
The woman's voice grew static and hoarse, while another dark, deep voice rose from behind her. Annoyed at being disrupted from the important meeting, she rolls her eyes—feeling as though this is a miscalled number.
"It is Viktoria Vasev."
Her heart jumps up to her throat and Eva grasps for her chest.
Aleksi Vasev.
A wave of nausea washes past her as she thinks of him and his mother, Viktoria.
"Viktoria, how are you?" Eva asks, guilt-ridden that she never called her to see how she was. Or anybody else.
"My sweet, little girl. I am so sorry." A heavy weight lays on her chest once she hears Viktoria cry. As she feels unease, Eva leans her head against the glass and stares down at the narrow building and how high up she is. Growing sick at the feeling of seeing pedestrians and vehicles as small as ants below.
With a deep breath, she asks, "What happened?"
"Your bába, she's gone. Sūzhalyavam, Evagelia." Unable to form a sentence, Eva stands still and doesn't move. She knew this time was coming. To get that phone call that her grandmother had passed. If only she knew it was this sudden, she'd give another call this week.
"When did she die?" She questions, wondering if there is any way she is able to fix this. But being across the Atlantic and far away from her bába in another country isn't going to solve anything.
Eva glances at her watch to see the time difference between America and Bulgaria. Seven hours ahead. It's 5:43 PM over there.
"Mostly last night but I went over to check on her. I didn't see her in the morning watering her plants and flowers." Eva remembered her patio and the flowers that surrounded it. The green plants that grew as tall as her and how green and alive they were, casted brightly from the hot sun. Her bába loved her plants and flowers because they were the only things that were able to die in the cold winters and reborn in the blooming spring.
"It took me a while to find your number, I had to check all over the place. Your bába must've memorized it by heart."
Eva chuckles heartily and pushes herself back up. She brushes the back of her hand against her check where the tear had escaped from her eye. Her hands begin to shake and suddenly grow cold—no matter that the June rays from the sun shined through the windows. Golden light against her olive skin and what made her brown eyes into a warm honey. It creates a small palette of sweat form on the top of her forehead, but she is unable to realize that she's sweating.
The air became cold from the news.
"Blagodarya ti, Viktoria." Eva spoke softly as she tried not to cry from hearing Viktoria's sniffle through the line. "I will rearrange something." She adds, turning back to the door of the conference room. All the employees exit and take the elevator down the hall.
"Does that mean you will be coming back?" Viktoria hints; her voice laced with a bit of delight. The thought made Eva's heart jump. She didn't mean it that way but the idea of it encourages her.
"Yes, I will try to come soon."
"Oh, Evangelia," She replies before hesitating to say the rest. "You need to. Your bába would've loved you to be here one last time."
"I know, Viktoria." It begins to grow loud in the hall and Eva feels her palms grow clammy. "I'm sorry but I need to go. I will talk to you soon." Without another word, she hangs up and as she picks up her bag and spin around, she halts to a stop.
Standing in front of her with his arm crossed across his chest is the CEO of the company. A dissatisfied look in his eyes.
"This excuse better be good."
~*~
Translations:
Sūzhalyavam – I'm sorry
Blagodarya ti – Thank you
Bába - grandmother
JE LEEST
Children of the Night
VampierEvangelia Bellnova was six when she fled Bulgaria with her paranoid father. Leaving behind her loving grandmother. Visitations occurred in the summer but as she got older, her visits went from every year to two to four...to none. Ten years later, Ev...
