“Do you have somewhere you’d rather be?” Marcus was watching his daughter gaze wistfully out of the café window where they were grabbing some precious father daughter time on his lunch break. Things had been very quiet for the last few days; no Vincent, no suspicious deaths, no new vampires. It made him twitchy and kept him on edge; rather than rest he was treating it as the calm before the storm and had been working long hours since Christmas.
Elsa looked guilty, “No,” she said, “Sorry I was just thinking.”
“I could see that,” said Marcus, “As opposed to listening, did you hear a word I just said?”
“Um...you lost track of Vincent in Germany and Elliot was last seen in Munich sooo ...” she shrugged, “That’s all I’ve got.”
Marcus smiled wearily and rubbed the bridge of his nose, “So they’re close to each other, probably in contact with each other again which is not a good thing. We’ve identified some more members of their group but things have gone really quiet. I don’t like it.”
“Why not, quiet’s good surely?” Elsa was trying to remain focused but all she really wanted to do was run out of the café as fast as she could and go to Sebastian. Her body tingled at the thought of him. They had been unsure of each other, after that first kiss, Sebastian was not used to letting people close and Elsa was trying to hold herself back, take it slowly and give him chance to get used to things but it was so very, very hard. She’d seen him once more since that night and it had been awkward, no more kissing and she got the distinct sense that his walls were going up again. It was so frustrating.
“Quiet is never good,” Marcus said, bringing her thoughts back to their conversation once again, “You’ve got to be really aware of what’s going on around you Elsa, something is brewing, I can feel it and I’m worried about you.”
Elsa placed a hand on her fathers arm, “I don’t think you need to be,” she said, “If Vincent wanted to get back at me for what happened at that concert, if he knew where to find me, surely he’d have done it by now? He’s obviously focused on whatever diabolical plans he has been cooking up with the blood movement and besides, Haven are all over that aren’t they? You’ve got eyes on so many factions of that group there’s nothing they could do without you guys knowing.”
“We have no idea how big they are or how far they reach,” Marcus said, “We only know what we know and who’s to say how much of the picture we’re missing?”
“Wow, you really are having a glass half empty kind of day aren’t you?” Elsa said, sitting back, “Are you going to be working all through New Year? All work and no play makes Marcus Shaw a dull daddy.”
He couldn’t help but smile, “Well unless you’re planning to spend New Year with me, I’ll probably work yes.”
Elsa stuttered; did her father want her to spend New Year with him? “I – er ...”
“Relax,” he said, “I am sure you have plans with Kate, don’t you worry about your poor old dad, I never bother with New Year, you know that.”
Elsa still felt guilty, “You shouldn’t always spend it on your own,” she said.
“I won’t be on my own,” he reasoned, “Gray and Hesper will probably be there, neither of them seem to follow traditional holidays anymore.”
Elsa smiled, “Just try and have some fun,” she pleaded.
“I’ll try,” Marcus promised and he stood up, pulling on his coat, “I’d better get back,” he said, “I’ll be working late.”
“I’m going out later myself,” Elsa said lightly.
“Well tell Kate I said hi.” Marcus leant down to kiss her forehead and left the café.
Elsa was seeing Kate next but that’s not the ‘out she’d been referring to. She thought it best not to mention who she was planning on seeing; introducing her dad to the idea of a potential new boyfriend would be bad enough but trying to explain Sebastian, well that still wasn’t really an option.
Elsa stopped off at Kate’s on her way to see Sebastian, she hadn’t made any plans with him and she didn’t want to push it but she didn’t want to leave it too long before seeing him again and lose the momentum they’d gained on Christmas day all together. She needed some girly advice first and she knew Kate’s was the best. She had managed to reduce her daily serum doses but still found she needed a booster before seeing her friend, just to be on the safe side. Kate’s brother opened the door when she knocked.
“Hi Elsa,” he said, standing aside to let her in, “How are you? I haven’t seen you for ages.”
“Good thanks,” Elsa replied and returned his friendly hug, “How’s your course going? And the new place?” Grant was in his second year at university and had recently moved into a flat with his girlfriend nearer campus.
“Great!” he said enthusiastically, “She let me put up Iron Maiden posters if I let her put flowery cushions on the bed so we’re in a state of pretty much domestic harmony right now. The course is tough, especially after the time off I had to have at the beginning of the year but I’m coping.”
“Glad to hear it,” Elsa said smiling, “Don’t let me forget to give you that CD back while you’re home.”
“No rush,” Grant waved it off, “Kate’s upstairs if you want to go up and if you can stand the toxic nail varnish fumes. All you can smell up there is perfume, and hairspray and other girly smells lately.”
“I can hear you!” Kate’s voice came floating own the stairs. Elsa had to admit, the smell of various chemicals wafting from Kate’s room and through the house was making her nostrils curl but then she did have a particularly good sense of smell so she followed her nose up the stairs and tried not to show her distaste.
“Hi,” she said, sticking her head around Kate’s door. Kate waved her in, blowing on her scarlet nails.
“I have a plan,” Kate said, as if they had already started having a conversation that Elsa wasn’t aware of. She raised an eyebrow and waited for the punch line.
“Operation ‘accidentally meet Aiden’, remember?” Kate was waiting for Elsa to catch up.
“Oh right!” Elsa said, “What’s the plan?”
“New Years Eve, everyone is out having fun right? Perfect opportunity to bump into people.”
Elsa fiddled with the zip on her top, “Yeh, I might not be out for New Year.”
Kate looked at her as if she’d just said she was going to commit murder, “It’s New Year,” she said, as if that was all the reason she needed for being so shocked at Elsa’s simple suggestion that she might not be out, “What else could you possibly be doing?”
Elsa didn’t answer, she didn’t really know yet but she knew what she wanted to be doing and she also knew Sebastian was unlikely to want to hit the town.
Kate studied her for a moment then gasped, “You’ve got a man!” she squealed, “I knew it! Who, what, where when? Tell me everything.” She grabbed Elsa’s hands and bounced up and down with excitement.
“No, I – well, I don’t really know...” Elsa sputtered.
Kate sat her down on the bed, “Oh. My. God. It’s Sebastian isn’t it?”
“When did you become a mind reader?” Elsa protested.
“So I’m right? When did he get back?”
“Christmas day, he came to see me.”
“And?”
“And we-“
“You kissed!” Kate was beyond excited; Elsa began to honestly worry that she might actually burst.
“Why don’t you tell me what’s going on?” She said laughing, “You seem to have figured it all out.”
“I’m sorry,” said Kate, calming herself down, “You tell me.”
Elsa sighed, “There’s not great deal else to tell,” she said, “We kissed, it was good,” she indulged her friend, “It was really good.” She rolled her eyes, “But he finds it difficult to let people in you know, he’s a bit of a closed book and I know he’s holding back on me. It’s been a little awkward since. I’m not sure what to do.”
“He is an unusual case,” Kate said thoughtfully, “Are you sure you want to pursue this?”
“He’s really not what people think he is,” Elsa insisted, “He’s had a hard time that’s all. I’ve seen a side of him he doesn’t show to anyone else.”
“Then it sounds like you’re off to a good start,” said Kate kindly, “My advice? Be honest with, tell him how you feel, tell him what you want but let him know that there’s no rush, no pressure. If he’s wary then maybe it’ll help if he knows exactly where he stands.”
“I could be setting myself up for a fall.” Elsa said.
“So what?’ Kate said brightly, “At least you’ll know you tried. I can tell this is not a casual thing for you Elsa, I’ve known you long enough. If you think it’s worth the risk then go for it. You’ll always wonder what if otherwise and I’m here for you no matter how it goes.”
Elsa smiled, Kate was right, “You give the best advice,” she said, hugging her friend.
“I know,” said Kate matter-of-factly, “And you can repay me by finding a way to bump into Aiden and I tomorrow night!”
Elsa grimaced, “I don’t know what’s happening tomorrow night yet.”
“I know, just try though ok? I’ll let you know where we are.” Kate suddenly jumped as if she’d remembered something, “Oh, I have a photo of him!” she said pulling out her phone, “Here, I took it on Christmas Eve.”
Elsa took the phone. On the screen was a picture of Kate looking radiant and happy, her head tilted towards Aiden. He was undeniably attractive; dark, close cropped hair, designer stubble, flashing hazel eyes. He too was smiling but Elsa wasn’t entirely sure what to make of it. He looked sort of triumphant, like he’d was the only one laughing at a joke nobody else got. Maybe the picture just caught him at an odd moment.
“Hot right?” Kate was anxious for Elsa’s reaction and she had to agree he was indeed hot.
“Hot,” she said, forcing a smile, “Can’t wait to meet him.” She now felt more strongly that she needed to meet him sooner rather than later, she felt protective of Kate all of a sudden and wanted to make sure this Aiden was everything Kate seemed to think he was.
“So you’ll try and come out tomorrow?” Kate’s tone was hopeful.
“Ok, I’ll see what I can do,” Elsa relented; “Now I’m going to go and throw myself at the altar of Sebastian and see what happens.”
“Good luck!” Kate blew her a kiss and returned to examining her fingernails as Elsa left, unable to shake a feeling of unease. Whether it was about the photo of Aiden or the fact that she was going to see Sebastian with her heart firmly plastered on her sleeve she wasn’t sure but there was only one way to find out.
*AN - Keep voting guys, I'm getting a lot of reads which is great, but without the votes I'm worried that people might be reading and not really enjoying? Hopefully you are all enjoying reading as much as I'm enjoying writing - thank you for all your support! *
Oh, btw - do we think Elsa should be concerned about the mysterious Aiden? What are your thoughts? ;)