Pulse of Heroes (28 page)

The next morning was Michelle’s early Sunday
morning date. Her alarm was set for 7:00 AM because she had
promised Francesca she’d be at her house by 8:15. The madness,
Michelle thought as she stumbled on the way to the bathroom. She
was extra tired because after Elliot left she had spent hours at
the computer researching Eridu and ancient Sumer. There was so much
data out there that Michelle eventually got an information overload
headache. Hiding her healing bruise behind a thick layer of
concealer, she looked at her image in the mirror and felt a little
embarrassed about the way she was dressed. There was nothing really
wrong with the outfit, but she thought that she looked like an old
woman in her white cotton skirt and one of her mother’s summery
blouses. What else did people wear to church on Easter Sunday? She
had hardly ever attended any church events, let alone an Easter
Sunday service.

Of course, Francesca thought Michelle looked
beautiful and very much lady like. But then again Francesca was
wearing a dress with an impossibly complex flower print design over
a dusty rose background. And although the dress was otherwise
hideous, Francesca looked like the perfect sweet little old lady in
it. Michelle helped Francesca load a couple of dishes she had
prepared for brunch into the small back seat of the car, and off
they drove towards Saint Alodia.

One more time it seemed like the Jaguar had
it’s own agenda of gathering attention from anyone that laid eyes
on it. Francesca gave small waves from the passenger side like the
queen of England, and eventually even Michelle got into it after
she got used to the honking that came from all directions, although
she still jumped a little when it came unexpectedly from a fast
passing vehicle. After parking the vehicle, the two of them made
their way to the church’s grounds and Michelle realized that
although Francesca was quite alone in Willow’s Creek, she was quite
well known at the church. Her friends were as ancient as she was of
course, but nonetheless it was nice to see Francesca happy and
social.

Michelle sat through the service patiently
and tried to follow everyone else with the standing and sitting as
much as she could. She hoped that no one was looking at her too
closely to see that she wasn’t really saying the prayers in Latin.
The service itself was shorter than she had expected, which made
Michelle glad because it was very cold indoors and she couldn’t
wait to get back out into the sun.

Outside, everyone seemed happy and the
children were extra excited for the egg hunt. There were a few
prizes for the winners and the grand prize was a huge Easter basket
that included a giant chocolate bunny and numerous other goodies.
After the egg hunt it was time for brunch, and Michelle was
starving so everything looked good. It wasn’t the run of the mill
casseroles that she had expected would be served at church: here
the tables were filled with wonderful food and desserts. She could
definitely do this once a year, Michelle thought to herself while
happily munching on one of Francesca’s special almond and candied
orange Easter biscotti.

After a few more introductions and hellos,
Michelle decided to go find a sunny spot to sit down in and relax.
Whatever energy she had earlier was drained by the amount of energy
that her stomach needed in order to digest all the goodies she had
stuffed down her throat. Whenever Michelle was tired she became
extra hungry, and this Sunday was no exception.

Michelle gave the food display a last glance
to see if she could find anything else that she wanted, and spotted
a Cadbury Cream Egg next to a large tray of cross buns. One of the
kids must have abandoned it, Michelle thought, reaching for the
egg. But just as she was about to pick it up, somebody from the
other side of the table grabbed it right in front of her eyes.
Michelle looked up to see who would dare claim the egg that was so
obviously hers. Her eyes landed on a handsome young man in a
beautiful white silk shirt and perfectly fitting slacks. He seemed
surprised by her glare, but she wasn’t sure because he was wearing
sunglasses. “I’m sorry. Is it yours?” he said, offering the egg to
Michelle. Michelle felt her cheeks blush. She must look like such a
pig she thought.

“No, I was just…” Michelle didn’t finish the
sentence because while looking at the young man she thought that
she recognized him. He looked just like the guy that Elliot pointed
out to her on the monitor as being from Georgia, not the state of
course.

“No need to be embarrassed. You were here
first,” he said, handing the egg back to her. But by this time
Michelle had no intention of taking it.

“Um… they’re really not my favorites…”
Michelle lied, because actually she was crazy about the little
flavor powerhouses. She just stared at him after that.

“I’m sorry. Have we met?” he asked her,
taking off his sunglasses with a magnificent smile and reaching out
to shake her hand. When she could see his face Michelle was sure of
his identity, and his extra bright green eyes only affirmed her
suspicion. “I’m Rion, like Orion without the O,” he said to her.
Michelle told him her name in her quietest voice possible while
trying to avoid looking into his eyes. She didn’t want to reveal
that she had recognized him. He told her that he was new to the
area, and that he lived in the next town over.

“That’s nice,” Michelle answered back. But
Rion picked up on Michelle’s nervous hesitation, and immediately
put one and one together. What were the chances that the Michelle
standing before him was the same Michelle that had been the subject
of all the arguing between Elliot and the rest of the guys at the
school the night before? The way she looked at him and the way she
avoided his eyes, it could either mean that she knew who he was or
that she was one of those women that could pick up on their unusual
energy; certain women had a very powerful sensitivity to people
like him. Perhaps she was one of them and was just feeling
frightened.

“Where are you from?” Rion asked, because he
certainly wasn’t going to let her get away without giving him more
information.

“I’m from Willow’s Creek,” Michelle answered,
wishing that she had never seen that damned egg.

“How interesting,” Rion said, smiling back at
Michelle. Yes, he was very handsome, Michelle admitted to herself.
Just like Elliot he had an ethereal aura, like an angel, but a
princely angel. He stood very tall with his shoulders and back
perfectly positioned. She wondered why he was trying to look in her
eyes when he spoke to her? Did he know who she was? Had Elliot
pointed her out to him? Rion told her that he attended the church
regularly, and that he was glad to meet someone closer to ‘his own
age’ since most of the people were older or they had families
already and were busy running after the little ones. He also told
her that he was not Catholic, but closer to Greek Orthodox,
whatever that meant, but there weren’t that many Greek Orthodox
churches in the area, so a Catholic one would have to do.

Michelle saw Francesca from the corner of her
eye and used that as an excuse to leave the conversation. But as
she turned, Rion grabbed her hand and placed the cream egg in it.
As soon as he touched her Michelle felt a surge of warmth radiating
from his hand and spreading to hers, then all throughout her body.
It felt very similar to the way she felt when Elliot touched her,
and she found herself feeling light headed and slightly scared.

“It was nice talking to you Michelle, I hope
we meet again.” Rion let go of her hand and smiled widely. Michelle
walked away from Rion as white as a ghost. She could feel him
looking at her as she made her way all the way out to the parking
lot. That was Elliot’s Michelle; there was no doubt about it. He
couldn’t blame Elliot for being attracted to her, as she was very
beautiful and classy, not to mention her sensitivity to their kind
was fairly strong. There was also a bonus to her that he was sure
Elliot would never appreciate in a million years. Michelle attended
church, and it was very hard to find a single beautiful woman in
the area who did. She was a little immature though, and a bit shyer
than the women that Elliot was usually attracted to. Maybe his old
friend was changing after all those years? Rion watched Michelle
drive away, then shook his head a bit before putting his sunglasses
back on and heading back home himself.

Michelle waited outside Francesca’s house for
Samantha to pick her up. She was still rolling the guilty Cadbury
Egg in the palm of her hand, and wondering if Rion had figured out
who she was, and had he meant to touch her like that on purpose, as
if it was some sort of a test? Francesca had asked her who was the
handsome young man that she was talking to at the church and
Michelle replied nonchalantly that he was some guy. Francesca gave
Michelle one of those questioning looks, and asked her if she had
been seeing more of that young man that had made her cry. Michelle
tried to answer back with her own question, asking why on earth
would Francesca think that, but the old lady just waved her finger
at her and said that she couldn’t lie to her. How did she know
things like that, Michelle wondered, while waiting for her
ride.

To Michelle’s surprise, Tim’s truck appeared
from down the road and pulled up in front of her with Samantha in
the passenger seat waving excitedly. It was good to see Sam,
Michelle thought. As the truck rolled to a stop Tim jumped out and
before Samantha could even get out of her seat he swung the
passenger door open to let Michelle in. It was nice to see him too,
Michelle thought, thanking him as he shut the door behind her. It
felt safe and calm to be next to her familiar friends. There were
no surprises or great secrets. Things were comfortable and stable
and Michelle realized that it felt good to feel like that. “What
happened to the bug?” Michelle asked Samantha while still smiling
at Tim.

“We thought we’d surprise you, especially
since you didn’t even bother to say goodbye when you left Fort
Bragg,” Tim answered instead. Michelle explained her sudden
departure from the beach that day, and was thankful that Samantha
didn’t say anything about Elliot. Why shove it in Tim’s face? After
dropping Samantha off, Tim turned the truck around and headed back
down the street to Michelle’s house. When they pulled into
Michelle’s driveway, Tim killed the engine and enthusiastically
jumped out to open the passenger door.

“You’re being awfully nice, Tim. Should I be
concerned?” Michelle asked laughing. Tim laughed too with his
wonderful broad smile, and told her that she better remember this
day because he wasn’t sure how long he could keep up the act. Tim
walked her to the door and Michelle could tell that he was waiting
to be invited in. And she might have even considered it on any
other day, but after all that she had been through in the last few
days, she just needed some down time. And besides, it was Sunday,
and she hadn’t lifted a book since she got out of school on
Wednesday. Tim understood, especially when she told him that her
parents would be arriving home any moment from a long and tiring
trip. But he was still disappointed.

“What?” Michelle asked Tim when he stood at
the doorway looking at her strangely.

“Oh nothing,” he answered, roughing up the
hair on the top of her head. “I’m glad you’re OK. I wasn’t the only
one that was worried about you out there. And I was disappointed
that you couldn’t join us for the big abalone feast.” He looked at
his feet and Michelle knew that it was hard for any guy to talk
like that. She stood up on her tiptoes and messed up Tim’s hair as
he had done to her.

“Don’t be silly. I’m all right. I’ll see you
at school tomorrow.” And with that, Tim walked back to his truck
while Michelle waved goodbye.

Once inside, Michelle actually remembered to
disarm the alarm system, and then headed straight to the answering
machine in the living room to listen to messages. One was from Toby
wishing the family a happy Easter, and another one was from Sam
telling Michelle that she hoped it was ok that she had brought Tim
with her when they picked her up. The next message was from her
parents. They had gotten a late start on their drive back and were
planning to have dinner in Monterey. Michelle looked at the clock
and saw that it was only 4:30 PM. She quickly calculated that they
would probably arrive home no earlier than 11:30 pm. She had plenty
of time to do her homework and plenty of time to think about
Elliot, even about Rion. As the answering machine shut off,
Michelle turned around to head upstairs and was almost startled to
death by the sight of Elliot standing next to the front door.

“Oh my God! Elliot you’re going to give me a
heart attack! Can’t you just knock on the door like normal people?”
she asked, still holding her hand over her heart. Elliot didn’t
answer the question. He took a few steps towards Michelle, but then
changed course and headed to the backdoor to look out at the back
yard.

“Nice guy,” he said in a neutral tone, trying
not to betray his feelings. Michelle couldn’t believe that Elliot
the super-being was feeling threatened by a normal guy. If Elliot
was jealous of Tim, it was a good sign for sure.

“Yes, Tim is a nice guy. Very nice in fact…
and is that jealousy I hear in your voice? First of all…”

“I’m not jealous!” Elliot replied a bit too
loudly. He then laughed to show that he was not upset in the least.
Once he was satisfied that he had proved his point, he told her in
a calmer voice that there were things that they needed to talk
about. Michelle could sense that whatever it was he wanted to tell
her was not going to be pleasant, and she tried to think of
anything to say to veer the conversation elsewhere. Just then,
Crumb appeared through the cat door and Michelle picked him up and
nuzzled him while asking him in her baby voice if he was hungry.
Elliot looked at her a bit annoyed because he knew that she was
stalling. Maybe he was jealous of the cat too, Michelle
thought.