It was almost exactly 8pm when Elijah rang the doorbell to Elena's apartment. She opened and gave him a little grin. "Not a minute late! Impressive."
Elijah observed her. Now that he spent more time with Elena, he noticed more differences between her and her twin. The way she grinned at him right now, for example. Katerina never grinned like that, he knew that for sure. And he thought, 'what a shame for her, because that grin is so cute!'.
Elena now led Elijah into her small but cosy living room and asked him to have a seat on the couch. She herself took a seat next to him and opened a bottle of whiskey.
"Quite a strong drink. Are you sure it is appropriate for the occasion?" he asked.
"I don't talk about this stuff often. It's not easy for me, especially not with a stranger. Plus, I had a long day." she turned her head to look at him. "Do you want some too?"
"Yes please."
She smirked good-naturedly.
After a few sips, he started asking her about what he wanted to know.
"So tell me, why did Katerina lie to me about being an orphan? And how come she has a different last name than you?"
Elena considered for a moment before she replied.
Finally she said: "I think it would be better if I start from the beginning.
My sister and I were born on the 22nd of June in 1989. Our parents -" Elijah interrupted her. "Hang on! That means, you two are now 28 years old."
Elena looked at him confused. "Yes, we are." she carefully replied.
Elijah exhaled slowly and took another long sip of his whiskey. "Another lie of hers, then. She said she was 24." he explained, seeing Elena's still confused expression. Upon hearing that, Elena just slightly rolled her eyes. Not wanting to admit that she would turn 30 in less than two years sounded like a typical Katherine thing.
But Elijah realized what he must have sounded like, so he quickly added: "Do not misunderstand me, please! I don't care how old she is, I just wish she hadn't lied to me so much."
Elena nodded.
"Anyway," she continued. "Our parents are John Gilbert and Isobel Flemming-Gilbert. Dad is always serious and strict. He never let us get away with anything when we were kids. I know he just wants what's best for us and I respect that, but Kat doesn't get along with him that well. And Mom... she works for a law firm. In her position, she basically searches through contracts for loopholes that some greedy clients of hers can use for their advantage, sometimes she creates them. With her, it is like- the other way around. She and I don't really understand each other and we're sometimes having a hard time getting along. But Kat and Mom are like best friends."
"So, they are equally ruthless?"
"Pretty much, yeah. Or, at least, I often think so." she said, feeling somewhat guilty for speaking about her mother and sister like that.
After a few seconds of hesitation, she continued.
"In high school, Katherine fell in love with a nice guy. His name was Stefan. He and Katherine were the cutest couple, for a while at least. But at some point, Stefan realized that Katherine and him weren't compatible. She kept talking badly about people she didn't like and always put herself first. In the beginning, he had admired her and thought she was strong and confident. But after a year of dating, he thought she was just selfish. So he broke up with her. Now, I had been friends with him, since I met him through my sister. I never saw him as more than a good friend, but apparently, he felt different. A few days after he broke up with my sister, he told me that he also broke up with her because he had fallen in love with me."
Elena sighed deeply, remembering those times.
"I carefully explained to Stefan that I didn't feel the same. But, when Katherine found out about his confession, she was furious. She didn't believe me when I told her I hadn't done anything. She was completely convinced that I had stolen her boyfriend, the love of her life. She has been holding a grudge against me ever since."
He nodded sympathetically. "I see. Hmm, and I guess that explains why she made you look bad whenever she talked about you to me."
Elena gave him a pained half-smile.
"I suppose so. But you wanted to know how she got her new name." she continued with her story.
"During our first year in College, Katherine met the son and only heir of a very rich Bulgarian man. This son was already in his last year of College and about to take over the sugar plantation of his father. His name was Nikolai Petrov. Within a few weeks, Katherine had him wrapped around her little finger. He was so madly in love with her, he asked her to come to Bulgaria with him when he was finished with his studies. She said yes. And she did go with him. About five months after they left, I learned that Katherine was pregnant. She was only 19 years old when her daughter Nadia was born. Nikolai was so happy and married her instantly, even though his father had some concerns about his bride. That's how Katherine Gilbert became Katerina Petrova."
"Wait! So, Katerina is married?" The list of surprises just kept getting longer and longer. Elijah emptied his glass, for the third time already, and poured himself some more whiskey. All of what Elena told him was a lot to take in. He knew he was getting drunk, but he didn't care. For some reason, he felt comfortable around Elena. As if he had known her all his life.
Elena, however, was not finished with her story. She wanted to give him the full truth now and here, where he was prepared for bad news, so that noone could shock him with more revelations about her sister later.
"Katherine and Nikolai were married until Nadia was about three years old. Then, Katherine set him up with another woman and had pictures of them taken." she said.
Elijah immediately guessed where this was going. "So when she divorced him she had the upper hand." he said. It wasn't even an actual question anymore, it was like he knew this would come.
Elena nodded. "And since Nikolai had already taken over his father's business, Katherine got millions out of the divorce. She came back to America and settled in New Orleans as a rich, mysterious, Bulgarian woman. That's how she likes her image."
Elena put her own empty glass on the table. She could feel the alcohol making her dizzy. In her slightly drunken state, she secretly watched him as he was taking in the new information. She had remembered him as quite handsome from the day she met him in Dr Loughlin's office. But now, sitting right next to her listening to her attentively, he seemed even more attractive. Elena felt her heart leaping up a bit when she saw him nod in understandment looking at her with such intensity and gentleness. She blamed it on the alcohol though. After all, he was her sister's ex.
Elijah looked back at Elena. Her eyes were so beautiful, he felt like he could get lost in them for all of eternity losing all sense of time.
But he didn't want her to think badly of him for staring, so he eventually spoke up again asking the first casual thing that came to his mind.
"And what about Nadia? Does Kateri- I mean, does Katherine have custody of her?"
Elena gave a faint smile. "Kat and Nikolai share custody, actually. Kat flies to Bulgaria, like, once a year. And sometimes, she has Nadia brought over here. That's how Nadia is here now."
Elijah noticed the spark in her eyes when she spoke if Nadia.
"You enjoy having your niece around, don't you?" he said warmly.
Elena nodded, smiling tenderly now.
"Nadia is a wonderful girl and I love her a lot."
Elijah returned her smile dreamily. "I can imagine. I actually have a niece too. Her name is Hope. She is the most precious being I ever had the privilege to call my family. I adore her."
For a while, they just look at each other, smiling and understanding the other one's joy.
They kept talking about their families and how important they were to them. And somehow, there was a bond created between them connecting them. Neither Elena nor Elijah realized it in that moment, but this new bond was slowly and surely becoming a solid basis of mutual trust, understanding and respect for one another. A basis that would serve as the very foundation for their relationship.
Hi guys, 🙂
What do you think of the backstory I made up for this chapter? Do you like it? 🙂