Chapter 8 Unleashing the Pain

In the days following their explosive reunion, Elizabeth fought valiantly to keep her cool. Michael Drake's sudden comeback had caused upheavals through the carefully crafted life she had been living for Jeremy. She had built walls around her heart for many years to shield herself from the searing hurt of his abandonment. Once again today, those safeguards were being tested more than ever while he hid at the margins of her life. Elizabeth found comfort in the known brushstrokes on the canvas as she gave her work her heart and soul.

Painting had always been her safe-haven, where she might lose herself in the energetic whirl of surface and variation. Still, Michael's phantom persisted, an inevitable presence that threatened to rip her emotional armor even as she lost herself in the artistic process. Thinking she was ready for this, she had trained the nasty words she would toss at him should they ever cross paths once more. But as she faced the truth of his sharp stare and the clear connection still boiling between them, her will had crumbled. When she saw him, all sharp edges and confident swagger, she had assumed her want had faded. But the sight of him had roused long-dormant flames inside her. Elizabeth shook her head as if she could physically reject the dangerous ideas. She found it difficult to let the great appeal of their science affect her. Not once again. The price was too great the last time, therefore she would never let her kid or herself go through such heartache ever more. She woke from her dream startled by a soft thump at the door and went to find Jeremy staring in, huge eyes full of curiosity. "Mommy, there's a man here to see you. Elizabeth felt her pulse kick, a flash of terror wriggling in her gut. She knew exactly the name of her guest. She inhaled steadily, straightening her shoulders and bolstering her will. "Send him in, sweetie," she murmured, not disclosing any of the inner struggle. Michael arrived in the room not too much after, his presence utterly seductive. As Elizabeth shifted, she sensed an exciting and terrible electric tension in the air. Rumbling, "Elizabeth," her name came from his mouth like a kiss. She raised her chin in defiance, determined not to let his great appeal frighten her. Michael here. Thick with emotions and hidden history, there was a tense quiet. Always the sharp-eyed child, Jeremy spotted the undercurrents and fled the room, leaving the grownups alone. Michael replied at last, his tone free of conflict: "We really want to talk." Elizabeth groaned, her rage growing. "I doubt there is anything left to say," I said. He moved approaching her measuredly, eyes fixed on something. "I think we should look at a really unique setup. starting with Jeremy, Elizabeth sensed a torrent of defense rising inside her at the announcement of her child's name. She corrected, her expression stiffening. "how is he doing?" Michael let out a breath, and his broad shoulders followed. " Elizabeth, I was ignorant. I knew nothing he existed. She laughed bitterly and rolled her shoulders. " What's more, who owns that shortcoming?" His brow wrinkled as a muscle in his sculpted jaw ticked. " Assuming that you had told me - " " told you?" She cut in, yelling angrily and indignantly. "I tried, Michael." God understands that I tried. But you disappeared without a trace, always like you did whenever things become too real for you. Long lengths of suppressed indignation and hurt at last tracked down by the words came pouring forward. You answered neither my calls nor my texts. Not even a bit. When I at last located you, your assistant told me you had said you did not want to interact with anyone else." Michael's attitude changed, a gleam of sensitivity neglecting his elements. He whispered, low in voice, "I never said that." Elizabeth shook her head while still crying. "These days, it makes no difference. The damage was done. I had to gather the fragments and start a fresh life for my child and myself without your. To guard against the flow of recollections, she inhaled quiveringly. "Do you find it hard? Trying to make ends meet, raising a child alone, and bearing the weight of your rejection?" Michael moved toward her again, his hands extended in a soothing gesture. "ELizabeth, Please find my apologies here. Assuming I had known - " She sobbed, her voice breaking with passion, "Be that as it may, you didn't have any idea!" "Moreover, whose owner that problem is? It was you who departed, that disappeared out of nowhere. Michael, you decided on it; I had to live with the outcomes. Tears spilled down her cheeks and she angrily swiped them away. " You know I loved you. Respected you with every thread of my existence. And you disposed of everything as though it were nothing." Michael had a sad regretful expression and his eyes were full of ghosts of the past. His voice thick with emotion, he said, "I never intended to hurt you." Elizabeth shook her head, a mirthless laugh escaping her lips. As it happens, Michael, you did. I have suffered in ways I never could have predicted. She ignored, unable to handle his weight any more. "I feel you should leave." Michael stayed still for a good length of time, and unspoken words filled the air. He turned then and left the room with a barely perceptible nod, leaving Elizabeth alone with the echoes of her broken dreams. Elizabeth let the tears run freely in the silence that followed, her body quivering from the cries she had stashed for far too long. As the weight of her loss, anger, and despair sank heavily on her, a tidal wave of feeling threatened to swallow her. She gasped for oxygen. As the fury within her slowly passed, she felt something in the doorway. She swung at her tear-stained cheeks and turned to find Jeremy staring wide, worriedly. "Mom, would you say you are fine?" His low voice quivering with anxiety, he asked. Elizabeth grinned wetly as her love for this priceless youngster flooded her heart. He was the one thing in her life that stayed the same and the one who had given her the will to keep on through even the toughest of circumstances. Holding out her arms in greeting, she said, "I'm OK, child." Jeremy rushed across the room and tunneled into her grasp; his small body was a comforting weight against her. Elizabeth pulled him close, absorbing strength from his proximity, his unbridled love an ointment to her damaged spirit. Her consciousness floated to Michael, to the harshness of their encounter, as she helped him. She yearned for closure and the possibility to at last rest the monsters of their past. She did not want to run the danger of reopening scars that had never completely healed, hence a bigger part of her opposed the notion. Her phone's loud trill sliced through the calm of the room, its relentless vibration jangling her ideas. Her temple wrinkling as she saw the new number glistening on the screen, she reluctantly pulled herself from Jeremy's grip and pursued the gadget. Her tone careful, she said, "Hello?" Over the telephone, a gravelly-toned, distorted and menacing voice cracked. "I've been observing Miss Parker." Elizabeth's clutch on the phone kept her still as a frisson of terror slid down her spine. Who are you? The chuckle of the voice sounded not funny. "It's not important. You absolutely should pay great attention to what I have to say. Elizabeth said nothing, every sensation sharpened in expectation of what lay ahead and her heart thumping in her chest. The voice sharpened, "Stay away from Michael Drake." "He is a dangerous man; you will cut all ties with him if you know what is truly excellent for yourself and that lovely little whelp of yours. right now. Elizabeth gasped in horror, her blood freezing at the hardly veiled danger. Elizabeth's mind ran and her throat tightened with terror as she sought to understand the menacing words. Before she could reply, the line cut dead and she was left grasping the quiet phone with shaking hands. She felt the terrible awareness that someone was observing and Jeremy and her were seriously threatened. Her heart thumping in a frenzied staccato, every instinct screaming at her to protect her son from the terrible forces that had just entered their life, casting a shadow over their once-quiet world, she drew her boy close.