Pulse of Heroes (40 page)

Michelle buried herself in her studies as an
escape from everything Elliot had told her. And In the next few
days she paid more attention to her History lessons than ever.
Before she met Elliot, she had always felt that historical figures
were no more than imaginary characters, stories, fairytales without
the happily ever after. But now with Elliot in her life these
characters jumped out of the pages of her books and practically
knocked on her door. On Sunday evening while studying for her US
history final, she learned that Paul Revere was a gifted
silversmith and metalworker, as well as being an American hero. She
couldn’t help but wonder if Revere was one of Elliot’s kind with
secret metallurgy knowledge, not only because he pioneered a
special copper plating technique, but because he was also the ‘Most
Worshipped Grand Master’ of the secret society of Freemasons in
Massachusetts.

Finally. Michelle was happily tearing page
after page of notes out of her school binder. She crumpled them
into paper balls and tossed them over her shoulder while Elliot
laughed in amusement, trying not to take his eyes off the road for
too long.

“You will clean that up, right?” he asked,
but Michelle shook her head and told him that she was redecorating
the back seat. After driving through beautiful rolling hills dotted
with herds of black and white cows, Elliot pulled up in front of a
large bright white barn-like building. Michelle noticed two white
swans majestically floating in the small pond. The picnic tables
were set perfectly under beautiful weeping willows, and Michelle
smiled at Elliot, eyes beaming in pleasure. She helped him gather
the mess from the back seat, and saw that he was curiously reading
one of her handouts. It was the prom announcement, advertising to
students that it would be a night not to be missed. Michelle bit
her lip in embarrassment. She should have recognized the purple
copied page, but it was too late now. She asked Elliot to hand it
back to her, and when he did she crumpled it up and stuffed it in
her pocket, telling him that the event was totally stupid.

The large barn turned out to be a cheese
factory with a small attached shop that offered their entire line
of cheeses, fresh baked French bread, condiments, pastries, and a
wide selection of California wines. Michelle was very impressed
when Elliot spoke to the elder lady behind the counter in perfect
French, who in turn happily chatted away with him.

While helping set the picnic table, Michelle
asked Elliot if he shopped there often. Without missing a beat he
answered, “Since the 1850’s,” laughing that it used to be a much
longer trip on horseback. Michelle was immediately reminded of the
horse and buggy photographs in Francesca’s album, which in turn
reminded her of the young woman with long brown hair and perfect
lips who had a child out of wedlock. Did Elliot bring her here?
Michelle didn’t want some ghost from the past ruining their
afternoon. The sound of a cork popping woke Michelle from her
thoughts. Elliot poured something into two champagne glasses and
handed her one.

“To the passing of all your finals, and to a
great summer vacation,” he toasted. Michelle clinked her glass with
him and took a sip of the liquid gold. She was surprised to taste a
sweet and lightly fragrant carbonated drink gliding down her throat
like a small taste of sunshine. Elliot waited for Michelle’s
response, but she had to take another sip, actually it was more
like a gulp, before looking up at him with a wide smile.

“Oh my God! That is so good! What is it?” she
asked as she held her glass out for more. Elliot laughed and told
her that she would have to slow down or she’d get drunk and have a
horrible headache.

“Oh no, Elliot. We can get in a lot of
trouble for this, especially you. I’m not allowed to drink till I’m
21. It’s against the law.” But Elliot dismissed her worries.

“I told her we’re from Europe, and besides,
if you can legally serve in the military and die for your country
at 18, you should be able to celebrate with a little champagne at
the same age, don’t you think?” Michelle felt the drink spread
inside her, down to her thighs and up her arms. She giggled with
delight while Elliot fed her bread and cheese, and when she had
eaten enough she walked over to the pond and watched the swans
enjoy the bread as much as she did. Eventually she relaxed and
slowly lay down on the bench with her head in Elliot’s lap. The sun
shone down on her face and she was forced to close her eyes. Elliot
watched Michelle from above and wondered if he was really falling
in love with her? Maybe he was kidding himself and just enjoyed
impressing her because it was so much fun to see her smile like
that? If he hadn’t fallen in love with her yet, he most likely
would if he spent more time with her. Michelle was a beautiful
person inside and out and she was young, which meant that he could
enjoy more years with her before she broke his heart. Maybe he
shouldn’t let himself go that far, he thought. Maybe better to keep
tight control over his feelings instead of committing emotional
suicide. Remember Leta? And now, with shadows reappearing from his
past, could he be endangering the girl by being too selfish to let
her go?

Michelle opened her eyes to see Elliot’s soft
features looking down at her. The sun was directly behind him,
giving the impression of a golden halo around his head.

“You look like an angel,” she whispered. She
knew he didn’t like to hear such things, but that’s exactly what
she saw when she looked at him. Elliot’s eyes looked sad, so she
sat up and took his hands in hers. If it was the drink in her that
made the next words flow out, she wasn’t sure, but whatever the
cause it was time for them to come out or else she would burst. She
leaned her face against Elliot’s chest and looked up at him.

“You know you’re making me fall in love with
you?” Elliot wasn’t shocked. He knew it deep inside, he just wasn’t
expecting Michelle to say those words right there and then, and
with so much liberty. But Michelle didn’t care. She was pure and
said exactly what she was feeling, and the little bit of alcohol
removed any barriers that would have been there to protect her.
What was he feeling? Elliot thought about that question as he
looked down into Michelle’s large and hopeful eyes? She made him
smile and he obviously cared about her, enough to physically
assault his friend when he thought that he was steering her away
from him. Enough to sneak around with her like he was a teenager
himself. Come on Elliot, he told himself, don’t do it, and don’t
hurt her because you’re damaged. What price is it for you to let
yourself experience joy, to feel freely, to breathe love?
Michelle’s increasing heartbeat was what snapped Elliot back to
reality. It suddenly pounded in his own head like a drum, and he
knew her smile would disappear. She was starting to regret what she
had said, to regret laying her feelings all out in the open so
exposed for him to squash.

“I know Michelle,” he said, pulling her into
him. He held her tight while watching the two white swans skimming
across the face of the water, each a reflection of the other. “I
feel the same way too.” Elliot felt Michelle’s heartbeat slow down
and her tense muscles relaxed. He held her away from him so he
could look at her face, and noticed that she was fighting stubborn
tears that gathered at the corners of her eyes. Eventually one
broke free to make its way down her cheek. “Are you sad?” he asked,
following the little tear with his eyes and watching it plunge from
her chin onto her chest.

“No, I’m happy,” she whispered, “and besides,
that’s just sun in my eyes.”

Samantha hadn’t stopped bringing up the prom
issue and Michelle finally had to tell her that even if she wanted
to go, which she didn’t, and Elliot agreed, it was just too late
because it was only a few days away and she had nothing ready.
Samantha couldn’t understand how something that was so important to
Michelle only a few months ago didn’t even raise her interest. She
reminded her about how upset she had been about not attending the
winter formal.

“James is graduating. It’s his last year.”
Samantha’s voice was almost in tears. “If we don’t all go together
this year, who knows if James and I will even be together by next
year? You have to go, like we always planned it. If Elliot thinks
he’s above it, then go with Tim. Hasn’t he asked you yet?” Michelle
tried to explain that it was different with Elliot. He was an adult
with real stuff to worry about.

“You need to go and have a wonderful night
with James, for the memories, and besides we’re all going out
tomorrow night anyway, and Elliot said he’ll come.” At least
Michelle hoped that he would. There had been a long pause before he
actually agreed. He gracefully declined the pizza part, but told
her he could meet her at the movie. For Michelle, that was better
than nothing. At least she could introduce him to some of her
friends.

Little Napoli was hopping that evening as
Michele threw herself into the booth across the table from her
friends and watched them busily leaf through the fashion magazines.
Rachael showed Michelle a photo of a pretty model and asked if she
thought that she should do her hair like that for the prom. Anna
had the opinion that the style looked as if the model had slept in
it and then simply gotten up and sprayed it with too much
hairspray.

“She’s gorgeous, that’s why it looks good,
and with all the Photoshop too. On a regular person it would be a
disaster.” Michelle agreed with Anna. Rachael asked Michelle how
she was going to wear her hair and Michelle had to painfully
explain to them that she wasn’t going to the Prom. Naturally,
Rachael and Anna were quite disturbed by the news and couldn’t
understand why on earth she didn’t make her boyfriend go. When
Samantha, James, and Marcus arrived, Michelle was still explaining
that it was her choice not to attend. Samantha immediately realized
what Michelle was talking about, and helped her by changing the
subject while Michelle thanked her with her eyes.

Standing outside the kiosk at the cinema,
Michelle got a little nervous about Elliot not showing up. She
bought him a ticket just like he had asked, and while she paid for
her candy at the concession stand she kept looking above everyone
else’s shoulders to see if he had arrived. There was still no sign
of Elliot when everybody handed their tickets to the usher, and
Samantha gave Michelle a sympathetic look. Still, Michelle
convinced everyone besides Sam and James to go on in without her
because she didn’t want them to miss the beginning of the movie.
The three of them were huddled close to the door when Michelle felt
a light tap on her shoulder and turned around to see Elliot
smiling. The relief was all over her face as Elliot apologized for
being a little late. James, feeling protective over Michelle, sized
Elliot up as they shook hands. But Elliot didn’t take offense. If
anything, he found it comforting to know that Michelle had good
friends around her. Michelle wasted no time grabbing Elliot’s hand
and holding it tight as they made their way to their seats in
semi-darkness. She was happy he was there and that’s all she cared
about. The previews were still playing, so Michelle introduced
Elliot to everyone, beaming with pride as she saw the awestruck
faces of her girlfriends when they couldn’t stop staring at him.
Although it was hard for him to relax with so many of her friends
around him, Elliot did his best to seem as normal as possible, and
when the lights were completely dimmed he pecked Michelle on the
cheek and waited to feel the blood rush to her face. Throughout the
film Michelle handed Elliot the extreme sour candy, and he couldn’t
believe he was actually eating that acerbic junk just to make her
happy. When the movie was over and everyone spilled out of the
building, Elliot overheard the conversation between Rachael and
Anna about the Prom.

On the ride home Elliot told Michelle that he
liked her friends. She told him that he didn’t need to pretend,
which he strongly denied.

“Michelle, I was thinking that you shouldn’t
just drop the life you had before you met me.” He took a deep
breath. “If you want to go the prom, we can go. I’ll go with you. I
don’t want you to have regrets later in life. And I don’t want to
be the cause of them.” Elliot had spent some time thinking about
Michelle in the last few days, not as ‘Michelle his girl’, but as
her own person. He would have loved for her to be out of school and
spending her time by his side. He could take her places, places
where he had been before, show her countries he had lived in. He
could take her sailing around the Mediterranean and island hop for
months, years. He could teach her so much and show her so many
things, but there would be time for that soon enough and he would
have to be patient. It didn’t cost him much. Michelle couldn’t
believe what she was hearing and looked at Elliot, shocked.

“You’ve got to be joking, right? Why would
you want to? The Prom is so arbitrary, and everyone I spoke to that
has gone says that it’s no big deal. It’s just a dress up dance and
there are plenty of people who don’t go and their lives are just
fine. It’s total artificial pressure, and besides there’s another
Prom in senior year.” Elliot was highly impressed with Michelle’s
grown-up speech. She was completely right on all her points, but he
still wasn’t buying that she didn’t want to go.

“Maybe I just want to see you in a beautiful
dress?” he said, watching Michelle’s eyes grow big in
disbelief.

“This is so not you…”

“Michelle, I have lived for a very long time.
There are many me’s…” he said, adding a little mischief to his
voice.

“But I don’t have tickets, or even a dress. I
hadn’t planned on going,” she answered, frazzled.