Elementary Virtue: The Prophecy (15 page)

Leyla’s eyes softened, and she sighed, "Yes, he called me, and we spoke on the phone a long time." “What did he say how he is proceeding with his research?"
"He said that I should never forget that we both sleep under the same stars, even if we are apart. That we always have to remember that when we miss each other." Brooklyn crossed her hands over her heart, "God, Leyla. That is so romantic and so cute." Leyla smiled, "It truly is. I miss him so much that it hurts." They arrived back into their booth, and Leyla had no more time to tell Brooklyn about the possible betrayal. When she got back into the box, a big discussion was on. Shane had seen that Jose Bautista's home run was thwarted by a gust of wind, as the ball suddenly turned into an unnatural angle and had taken a strange path. Besides, he felt that something was wrong because Mila observed some Vultures during the break. However, since the element of air was rare to find and they didn't know about any experienced newcomer within the Vultures, the wildest guesses were in the air.

Aiden thought it had to do with fraud in connection with betting and indeed, a lot of money was made this way. Maybe even his father was behind it or Carmine himself. He pulled a face, "Bloody Mafia gang," he muttered angrily "they had to ruin the game. Can't we even enjoy a game anymore without their dirty tricks?" Leyla gave him a reproachful look and looked uncertainly at Ana. It was not necessary that she knew about the Akando story. But, her concern was definitely out of line, because Ana sat quietly in her seat and seemed to be miles away with her thoughts. No, that was probably not right. Her thoughts were just one booth away. Leyla brought her a Diet Coke, "Is everything ok with you?" Ana nodded, "Yes, I am all right, thank you."
"Are you going to call him?" Ana sighed, "I don t know yet, maybe. He ditched me at that party. If you and your friends didn't bring me to the hotel, I would have stayed behind with all those drunks. What would you do?" Mila, who had previously been sitting silently in front of her, whirled around, apparently she had been listening to them, "With all the respect, he knew you were not alone there and apologizing in front of us takes a lot of guts, because he made a complete fool out of himself. Trust me, and he knows it. No one does such a thing that is not interested in someone," she turned around 180 degrees in her chair looking Ana in the eye.

Leyla chuckled, "Uh, oh. Dating advice from Mila usually takes a wild end." She earned a bumpy blow against her upper arm for her remark. "So come on girl cough it up, what do you have up your sleeve? What is your next move?" Ana looked startled. Mila had never noticed or spoken to her until now. She shrugged helplessly, "He said I should call if I need something. How the hell should I understand that? What could I possibly need from him?"
"Aha," Mila patted her knee triumphantly, "I knew that you wanted to call him." Meanwhile, Ana smiled uncertainly, "Ok, I admit that I would like to call him, but I need a damn good excuse for it." Mila jumped up, "I have an idea, and it is a very good one indeed," Mila’s idea was a bit strange. She wanted Ana intentionally to lose an object and then ask Saul's help to find the lost object again. Unfortunately, there was a fierce debate about the selection of the object. Brooklyn started mingling, and it even got worst. Shane and Aiden, who were frustrated about the game and the fraud silently staring to the court, looked up frowning at each other, both shaking their heads. Girls were sometimes a bit frightening. Perhaps someone should warn Saul seriously, so he would know what he was getting himself into.

Leyla had a dull feeling when she was standing with Ana in front of the building. Ana’s father owned a penthouse where her half-brother lived now by himself. Until now she had tried to stifle the feeling that Ana tried to find out where Gregory was, and seeing the elegant building made all her fears come to the surface again. Ana's dad seemed to be some rich guy if he could afford a penthouse in this area of the city. On the way, Ana had been talking about her problems with Saul and went through the pros and cons of calling him, which she considered in the meantime." Now that they were on the way up in the elevator to Ana's father's apartment Leyla was brooding who was that weird half-brother. She hoped not to be confronted with Greyson eventually.

The elevator led straight into a luxurious apartment overlooking the skyscrapers. It had a huge terrace, which was bigger than Ana's apartment in Switzerland, she thought disgusted. A big, elegant table set for four, but no one seemed to be in the apartment. Ana looked around searchingly, "Funny, where are these two?" she walked through the living room, standing at the bottom of the stairs leading to the upper floor, "hello?" when no one answered, Ana shrugged, "apparently they want to make a big entrance to impress you. On the other hand, maybe they won't come at all, which would be completely fine with me. Would you like a drink?" Leyla nodded, and Ana opened the fridge, "oh, there is even champagne 'Don Perignon' how noble, the old man wants to make a good impression as it looks. Would you like to try some of it?"
"The stuff is pricey, believe me," Leyla shrugged. She was not necessarily in the mood for alcohol, and besides it was not even 12 o'clock at noon. Nevertheless, if there were something as noble, she would not refuse it, "I think a sip of this stuff won't hurt. If it is so expensive, this isn't likely to happen again." Ana laughed and filled the sparkling golden liquid into two elegant champagne glasses. The bubbly stuff got the two girls suddenly to their head and Leyla felt hot, her cheeks flushed. They both drank a second glass and were quite tipsy considered, that it was not even 12 o'clock. Incredible Leyla thought, feeling somewhat dizzy. Half an hour had passed, and no one had come. They had gotten to their third glass and giggled to themselves.

As Leyla strolled through the living room, her eyes fell on two framed pictures, placed on a sideboard. It showed a handsome Mediterranean-looking man who had his arm around a child on each of the pictures. On one picture he was standing next to, a little girl and the other picture he was with a little boy. "Is this your father with you and your half-brother?"
"Yes, what can I say, it was probably the only time that he came to see me," she said mockingly. Now he tries to play perfect world, but he has never done anything for me. My half-brother, however, was always his favorite and still is, even if his mother wanted the divorce and died lately." Leyla looked at the pictures, "Your half-brother was sweet when he was a little boy. Does he still look that cute?"
"Sure, he still looks good, but he is an ass believe me, with whom you don’t want nothing to do with if you don’t necessarily have to. A damned plotter that's what he is." She looked at the watch, "I think we’ll forget the whole thing and are hitting the road if it is ok with you?" Leyla was still looking at the picture with the little boy, and somehow he looked familiar. "What is your half-brother's name?"

Ana coughed, she couldn't stand it any longer, and she had to tell Leyla that her brother wanted Ana to spy on her. "I think you must know him from somewhere." Leyla's head snapped around alarmed, "Why are you saying that?" Ana looked imploringly at her, "Actually I have to make a confession," she hemmed, and hawed, "I don't know how to tell you this. Please don’t get mad, he sent me to the BJJ, because he was aware that you were training there. He wanted me to meet you there," she looked at Leyla with a guilty look on her face. Leyla stared back at her in horror and Ana continued quickly, "but I swear, I liked you from the start and didn’t spy on you as he asked me to. I told you he is an idiot," she looked at Leyla with pleading eyes, "I'm really sorry, can you forgive me?" Leyla was instantly completely sober, staring at Ana with narrowed eyes, "I knew something was wrong, Gregory was right, and you had to find out where he is, right?” She grabbed Ana's shoulder shaking her slightly, "Who the hell is your half-brother?" Ana murmured unhappily, "I am very sorry you have to believe me. You have become a true friend to me, and I didn't tell him anything about Gregory and you."

Behind them the door opened, Leyla and Ana turned around. The bitter truth that everything was far worse than expected hit Leyla like a blow with full force, because there was this older guy, that she believed to recognize from the picture and beside him was a boy with green eyes and an angelic face. She froze, "Gabe," was all she was able to say, and then she turned around and ran for the exit. Ana followed her, "Leyla, please wait for me I need to explain, it is not as bad as it may look." Gabe grinned diabolically and called after her, "Don’t listen, Leyla, it is as it looks, thanks to my baby sister here, I know exactly where your hero is," his voice was rising and Ana taking a frightened look back noticed his horrible distorted crazy facial expression. "I'm going to kill him, believe me, and if it is the last thing I'll ever do. I am going to kill your beloved Gregory!"

What had she gotten herself into? Leyla had already disappeared, and Gabe laughed sardonically. Ana stood there petrified. He scared the shit out of her. Obviously, he had gone mad. It took a moment until she recovered. Then she snapped at him, "What crap are you saying, I didn't tell you where he is. You are such a liar!"
"But you did my silly little sister, remember how you said he was on an island? There is only one island that pops to my mind, you've helped me more than you know, Sis. Oh, yes, and I wouldn't worry too much about your girlfriend. Greyson has been waiting quite a while to hit the sheets with her and console her doing a little Netflix and chill. She’ll forget that moron Gregory in no time." Ana realized that he was right she had mentioned an island on the phone. God, she really was a traitor. She grabbed her bag and hurried out of the door without looking back. She was desperate and didn't know where to go. Leyla hated her, and her Mom was on the move. There was only one person she could turn to, Saul!

Saul Marques was trying to make an omelet, and his sister watched his efforts suspiciously frowning. "Do you think I am going to eat this? Just because Mom and Dad are gone, I don't have to be your guinea pig. It looks disgusting, and it still has eggshell in it," she grumbled. “I want to eat at the Olive Tree. You don’t have any talent as a cook." Saul looked at the pan contents Sophie was right it looked anything but appetizing. Well, maybe he could repurpose it to scrambled eggs and take out the eggshell. He shrugged, "You won Kiddo we’ll eat out or better yet we'll go to Aunt Jennifer's, who always has something tasty in the fridge."
"Great," Sophie was already on the way up to get her jacket and her shoulder bag, without that bag, she didn’t go anywhere. She called it her lucky bag and carried it around wherever she went since she was stuck with it someplace and it had saved her from being hit by a car a few weeks ago. Saul grinned, looking after her when his phone vibrated. He looked at the screen, and his grin became even wider when he saw that it was Ana. Looked as if he hadn’t messed up things completely with his stupid behavior at the baseball game after all.

"Hi Ana, I am so glad you are calling." Then he heard her voice full of panic, and he became serious immediately. She seemed to be quite messed up and was crying. "What happened? Where are you, Ana?" She gave him Gabe's address and continued sobbing. "Stay where you are, I'm coming to get you as quick as I can." He hung up, and Sophie, who was ready to go out, came down the stairs, and in an instance knew that something was wrong. "What's up bro, everything ok?"
"No, something happened to Ana, she is completely messed up. I’ll go to meet her, downtown, go ahead by yourself to Aunt Jen's." Sophie rolled her eyes, brothers in love were such a bore, "See ya later then." She disappeared through the front door.

Saul immediately went to the subway station wondering what had happened to Ana that she was so desperate. He hoped that it was nothing with her eating disorder because he had no experience at all with such a thing. Whatever it was, he would soon find out. He would have preferred her to call him because she missed him and couldn't wait to see him again, not because something had happened that got her off track. But what the hell, the main thing was, that she had called him no matter why. About twenty minutes later, he got out of the subway, and when he arrived on top of the stairs at the exit, he saw Ana, standing in front of the entrance of the big building. When she saw him, she turned around and shot like an arrow towards him. He could barely catch her putting both arms around her, pulling her into a comforting embrace. For a moment, they both didn't speak. He just held her pressed tightly against his chest. Her hair smelled like peaches, and he felt dizzy. When he thought she had calmed down, he kept her at arm’s length away, looking deeply into her dark, sad eyes. She looked so tender and vulnerable, and all his protective instincts came to the surface. Man, he didn't even know that he had that in him.

"What happened Ana?" When she continued staring at him not saying anything as if she was somewhere else with her thoughts, he shook her slightly. She looked at him, her eyes were full of warmth, and for a moment, the despair was gone, "Thanks for coming. You're the only one I wanted to see." Saul didn’t know what was happening, Ana put both hands to his face and looked at him as if he was one of the seven wonders which had suddenly and unexpectedly appeared in front of her. She pulled him down to her, and then she kissed him. He had kissed many girls before including Ana, but this kiss was earth shattering, it would be difficult ever to get out of his mind. The kiss was full of despair and broken loose emotions and as frustrating as it was for him, it felt like being used because he doubted that this kiss had anything to do with her feelings towards him. It was rather a valve to get off some steam. Somehow, Saul felt abused, but the joy of the fact that she called him and had even kissed him won over his frustration.

She dropped her arms. Saul took her hand and pulled her into the next coffee shop. "Tell me what's going on Ana?" She clasped his hands as if they were an anchor and then everything bubbled out of her, she told him about Gabe, who set her up to spy on Leyla. That Leyla figured it out today and that she hated her now. She even said that it hurt her when he ditched her at the party after they had been so close. Her candor surprised Saul, and he was, after all, more than flattered that she called him in her desperation. When they had the beverages in front of them, he reached for her hand again.

Leyla was about to prepare a feeding frenzy. She urgently needed a whole load of sugar to deal with the fact that Gregory had been right and that an innocent-looking girl, who consciously or unconsciously, spied on her, had tricked her. Whether she was a sly bitch or if Gabe used her didn’t matter that much. She just returned from the fridge armed with a bowl of Ben and Jerry's Strawberry Cheesecake and a spoon and was on her way back to her room when the doorbell rang. Leyla decided to ignore the ringing. She didn’t feel like company. But, whoever was at that damn door, didn't give up quickly. The ringing continued, probably a little rogue had stuck the stupid bell with something. The ringing strained Leyla’s already tense nerves. She stormed down the stairs with the bowl of ice cream in her right hand yanking the door open and was taken aback because Saul Marques was standing on her doorstep. She shook her head in disbelief what did a Popstar want from her at her house?

How did he know where she lived? She looked at him, frowning. He smiled friendly, pointing to the bowl of Ben and Jerry in her hand, "That's my favorite ice cream. Are you going to share?"
"Good for you, but no, I am not in the mood for sharing anything, you better believe me. Besides, what are you doing on my doorstep, I hardly know you. What the hell do you want from me?"
"I am glad you're asking," he grinned winningly then his expression suddenly became serious, "I want you to talk to Ana. She didn't mean to hurt you. You have become a good friend to her, and she doesn’t want to lose you. Her half-brother Gabe played and manipulated her. It was not her fault. She has been manipulated."

Leyla gasped for air, "And who the hell you think you are in the whole story, her lawyer?" She thought about throwing her Ben and Jerry at him, but no, she would not waste perfectly good ice cream to this treacherous bunch, to which he no doubt belonged, "This cowardly traitor doesn’t even have the courage to come here by herself. Tell her to show up herself, if she wants to talk to me." Saul stepped aside and pulled Ana, who had been standing sideways hidden at the wall behind him on the doorstep. Ana looked damn guilty, "I'm sorry, I had no idea what a madman Gabe was, and I should have told you from the beginning. Please forgive me!" She looked at her pleadingly. Leyla sighed, "Well then come in, you sure as hell have some explaining to do," she said grimly. "Looks as if after all I’ll have to share my ice cream with you two wackos," Saul grinned and pushed Ana through the door, "if you want me to, I can come by later." Ana quickly grabbed his hand, as if it was her anchor, "No, you are going to stay here." He laughed, "Ok, but I am warning you I'm gonna claim a whole bowl for me." Leyla shook her head stepping aside letting them get into the house, mumbling something not very friendly to herself. "Did you say something?" Saul asked in a sugary voice.

"Welcome to my humble home," she pointed to the table, and took two more bowls from the freezer and put them in front of both of them together with a spoon. Ana wanted to reject it, but one brief look at Leyla's grim face kept her silenced she took the bowl, putting the spoon into the creamy mass. How long had it been since she had eaten ice cream? Memories of last year flooded through her mind when she had nearly starved herself to death, and the evil voice in the back of her mind constantly told her how fat and ugly she was. She slammed her spoon with full force into the ice and led the heaping spoon towards her mouth. She would show this filthy voice that she didn’t listen anymore. She would not get herself into the mess she had been in last year again, as sure as Amen in a church. So, what? Then she would become fat, who cared?