Alpha Feud BBW Paranormal Shifter Romance Series - Books 1 to 5

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

Eliza was already back when Andrew came home from work. She had cooked dinner and attempted to have a bite but the smell of food was making her feel queasy. The only thing she’d had that day was a few strawberries, and it seemed to be all that she could handle.

Andrew entered the living room, his face immediately brightening when he saw the food on the table.

“Did you cook dinner?”

“As a matter of fact, I did,” Eliza replied, her mouth twisting up at the corners.

“How come you haven’t eaten anything? Were you waiting for me?”

“I wasn’t feeling so well today so I took a day off work.”

“Oh no, you’re sick?” Andrew rushed over to her exaggeratedly. He wrapped his hand around her wrist. “I feel a pulse! I repeat, there is a pulse on this one!”

Eliza laughed, and Andrew gave her a peck on the forehead. He sat down opposite her and began to dig into the food.

For many reasons, Eliza made the decision not to tell Andrew about what really happened that day. It was a difficult decision to make, considering that they never kept secrets from one another. However, she found no feasible way to explain the fact that she had called Hayden instead of the him or the police. Furthermore, Andrew might be prompted to go over and pay Freddie a visit, and she didn’t want him to get into any trouble. Unlike Hayden, Andrew was not the type to be discreet or subtle, and she didn’t want Andrew to get in trouble with the police.

The following day, Eliza decided to visit her parents after work. Given her current circumstances, there was virtually nobody who she could talk to about her dilemma. She had never felt as emotionally distant from Andrew as she did at this very moment, and she knew that her father would understand what she was going through. After all, her parents’ relationship had often been rocky and it seemed to always be her father who had found a way to reconcile their differences when times got tough. Ironically, most of Jeanette and Martin’s arguments were technically caused by Martin’s actions. Lately, the biggest issue was Martin’s historical projects, which kept him busy with research day and night. They also often bordered on obsessive, despite the fact that they didn’t bring much money in. Eliza felt as if she was doomed to repeat her father’s mistakes, since she was now the one causing the distance in her relationship. Therefore, she knew that she must also be the one to fix things with Andrew, and she was prepared to take her father’s advice in order to deal with the situation.

Jeanette greeted Eliza at the door, smiling from ear to ear. “Darling! I am so happy to see you!”

Since Jeanette had learned to speak English from watching classic, black and white movies, her manner of speech was an interesting combination of influences. Her Italian accent was intertwined with some hints of American and British expressions, adopted from films like My Fair Lady and All About Eve. The most Italian thing about her speech was the way that she dragged her vowels and emphasized her consonants. Eliza’s mother never lacked energy in her presence, and she always felt the need to speak her mind.

“I’ve missed you, too, Jean,” Eliza said, giving her mother a hug.

Ever since she was a child, Eliza had referred to her parents by their first names. It wasn’t a symptom of coldness or parental disassociation, but simply a matter of habit. Her parents had always called each other by name, and she had followed suit. She’d learned the words “Martin” and “Jean” before she learned “Mom” and “Dad”, hence the former words were the ones that stuck.

Jeanette kept chattering on as she ushered her daughter into the house. “You look more and more like your father every day. The only thing Italian about you is your hair!”

“Well, I’m really grateful for the hair, Jean. It’s a nightmare to brush every morning, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

“Oh, of course. I just wish that there was more of me in you, my dear. You have your father’s career, your father’s good looks, your father’s temperament...”

At this point, Martin walked through the door. “She has both of our eyes,” he said, his voice warm and cool at the same time.

“You both have green eyes,” Jeanette insisted.

“Yes, but they look like yours,” Martin said, approaching his wife and touching her hair gently. Jeanette looked a little embarrassed and shrugged his hand away.

“I’ll get some food ready,” she said, her voice getting slightly shrill and flustered. She scurried off into the kitchen, leaving Eliza alone with her father.

“I’m sorry about that,” he said. “Your mother and I have been having a lot of misunderstandings lately.”

“I understand.”

“Come on, let’s go to my study. There’s something that I was meaning to show you.”

They walked into the study, and as soon as the door shut, Martin started talking. His usually steady voice was revealing hints of excitement. “I think I’ve made a breakthrough in my research.”

Eliza c****d her head to the side. Martin’s research was typically not the type to have any ‘breakthroughs’.

“Oh? What did you find out?” she asked supportively, attempting to hide her skepticism.

“Well, that’s the thing. I’m not quite sure.”

Eliza looked at her father without saying much. Had the multitudes of consecutive hours that he had spent locked up in an office finally driven him mad?

“Let me explain,” he continued, amused by his daughter’s obvious hesitation. Even though Eliza had inherited her father’s temperament, she had taken after her mother in certain expressive giveaways. Her face was often unable to hide emotions, which was beneficial for reading tragic newscasts but very bad for playing poker.

“You know how I’ve been researching the history of Millstone Firearms?”

“Yes...” Eliza replied. She was a little bit too aware about her father’s frequent visits to the factory. Even though Andrew was careful not to mention it, his colleagues would often bring it up when she ran into them at the Beer Cave. Alongside her disdain for playing pool, this had been another reason that she had stopped frequenting the venue in recent months.

“Well,” he continued, “so far my research has been completely linear, and I was tracing the history of Millstone, dating almost 100 years back. But in the past week, as I was speaking to a new warehouse worker, I found out that Millhouse had increased their staff by almost five percent within the past week. The new guy told me that they were still hiring. Do you know if this is true?”

“Yes, I know Andrew’s been interviewing personnel for management level positions as well. But I don’t see how this is relevant...”

“You will in a second. The thing is, until now, I hadn’t noticed any solid patterns in the way that Millstone Firearms has operated, since none of the figures had any recurring properties. Or so I thought...”

“Ok, so you found a pattern in the hirings and firings?”

“Not within the company itself, no.”

“Well then what did you —”

“I compared the data to the figures of another major company in Birkbridge,” Martin interrupted, unable to contain his excitement any longer. “The fact that I made the connection was pure coincidence, since I happened to hear that the mines also hired a large number of personnel in the past couple of weeks.”

Martin picked up a thermal mug from his desk and took a sip. “Then, without going deep into research, I pulled up some figures that I found online. It was all up there, in plain sight. It turns out that there is a pattern; not within the individual industries, but between them. For the past 100 years, the personnel figures within both companies have risen and declined almost simultaneously. They would rise steadily, and then after a couple of months after the intensive hiring process, they would decline.”

“Couldn’t it just be that the two industries were reacting to one another competitively, but after expanding their workforce they simply didn’t have enough resources to sustain them, forcing them to fire people?” Eliza offered.

“I’m not too sure. My gut tells me that something else is up, but I haven’t made the connection yet. Also, industries are rarely susceptible to competing with one another unless their products are somehow related. However, you might be right; we live in a small town, with only three main industries; agriculture, mining and weapons. Agriculture is a stable industry, while the other two are open to fluctuations. So maybe they are competing over being the town’s main exports, since resources are relatively limited. Maybe they wanted to snatch up all the able personnel in the nearby towns before the other company could get to them.”

“That’s also possible...” Eliza responded, her tone still suggesting that she was unconvinced by her father’s ‘big breakthrough’. As always, her father could read her like an open book.

“I like the way you think, Ellie. You’re very logical and you don’t take any information lightly without checking the facts. But this is why I wanted to ask you a favor. Maybe you can do some of your own investigating. Not that I’d like you to pry, but merely try and take interest in what Andrew is doing. Ask him how the new recruitment process is going, and maybe ask him some ‘why’ questions; nothing major. Possibly, you could also ask your boss whether he’s picked up on anything. Jim has excellent radar for current events, so he might have a little bit of insight into the recent developments in the mines.”

“Sure, I don’t mind doing that,” Eliza agreed. She would do anything to help her father, but she was also a little worried about this new project of his. It was not unlike her father to be absorbed by his work, but she’d also never heard him speak about making ‘breakthroughs’. She was a little worried that he might be disappointed if he found that the real cause of the coinciding patterns was anything less than extraordinary.

Martin looked relieved. “I appreciate it, Ellie. You’re busy these days and you have your own life, so I appreciate you coming down and listening to your old father about his crazy delusional ideas.”

Eliza laughed. “Please, Martin. You might be crazy, but you’re not old. Well, maybe you’re old but you don’t look old. In fact, you look young enough to pass for my brother!”

Martin chuckled and put a finger to his lips. “Shhh... don’t tell your mother that. She gets jealous.”

“I know, Dad. Speaking of which, I wanted to ask your advice on something. Andrew and I have always been really good together, and I think it’s because we’re usually very honest with one another. And I still try to be, but we’ve been together for a long time, and I guess it’s inevitable that there are certain things that I simply haven’t been able to share with him. It’s strange for me because I’m not used to keeping things from him, but I felt like I had no choice. Now I’m concerned that there’s this space growing between us, and I need to find a way to stop it from expanding. Sorry if this sounds melodramatic.”

“Ellie, you don’t have to feel guilty for admitting that your relationship isn’t perfect. Nobody’s is.”

“I know that. I guess that I was a little naïve because I really did think that Andrew and I were perfect. But now I’m not so sure. We’ve been so busy, so when we spend time together it’s always great. Now I’m beginning to think that I was mistaking our reluctance to have real conversations with a perfect relationship. We never bring up any real concerns or nag at one another, so it’s created the illusion that nothing is wrong.”

Eliza only now began to realize that her reluctance to confront Andrew came from her deep-seated fear of becoming like her mother. She fashioned herself as the cool girlfriend; the one who never complained when her boyfriend stayed late playing pool and drinking beer with his friends. She wanted to be the girlfriend who never flustered or nagged, and Eliza was proud that she had managed to keep her cool about so many things.

“Look, sweetheart. I know that you’re worried, and that your mother and I don’t provide the most perfect example of an adult relationship. But you have to remember that this man of yours loves you, and that he won’t stop caring for you just because you told him to take out the trash or come home early, or spend some time hanging out with you and your friends. All you have to do is ask, and he’ll be there for you. I think that you’re feeling the gap grow because the more that you refuse to confront him about something, the more you’re driven to shut yourself in. I know because that’s how I react in these situations.”

Eliza nodded in agreement. She was glad that her father understood her situation, and his words were making a lot of sense.

“You shouldn’t feel guilty about anything you did or didn’t tell him in the past,” her father assured her. “Just try to break the cycle of silence, and next time something’s on your mind, don’t be afraid to bring it up. Andrew will listen to you, no matter what you have to say.”

“Thanks, this has actually been really helpful.”

“What did you expect? This old man also knows a thing or two about life.”

Eliza went into the kitchen and helped her mother set the table. They ate dinner in the same way as always; Martin and Eliza listened while Jeanette talked. After a while, she finally managed to push Eliza into talking about her work, and Eliza took this opportunity to complain about Jim and his sudden descent into lameness. Her mother seemed animated by this news, and started suggesting that Eliza quit and start her own news station. Eliza smiled politely and cracked a joke. “Birkbridge isn’t ready for the kind of things that I’d like to show them!”

“That’s my daughter!” her mother exclaimed proudly.

Martin spooned his vegetables in silence, albeit a comfortable one. His expression was difficult to read as usual, but when Eliza caught a glimpse of her father’s eyes, she could tell that he was content. Content was good; ever since Eliza could remember, this was the closest that Martin could ever get to happiness.

>>

After dinner, Eliza still had one more place that she needed to go to. She met Melissa at their usual table at Nelly’s, but this time without Brienne. Melissa had texted her and said that there was something important they needed to discuss, and Eliza was pretty sure that it involved Theo.

Melissa walked in, looking as flustered as she had when they met for their first double date that weekend. Eliza felt as if they were both riding a roller coaster of ups and downs. Every time something went right, something else would go terribly wrong. Even though Melissa had met the man of her dreams, her troubles were not even close to being over.

By the time Melissa came in, there was already a drink ready on her side of the table. This cheered her up a bit. “Thanks, El!” she said. “Sorry for calling you on such short notice. I know that you were at your parents’ house. I hope you didn’t have to leave early because of me...”

“You don’t have to thank me, honestly,” Eliza told her friend. “You would do the same for me.”

Melissa smiled tiredly in response. She took a big sip of her drink and inhaled. Eliza could sense that a big speech was coming up.

“Right. So where to begin? You know how I told you the other day that I wanted to introduce Theo to my mom?”

“’Course I remember.”

“Ok, so Theo and I decided to visit her yesterday. I called in advance and told her that I’d be coming, and I hinted that I might bring a friend. Of course, she probably thought that I meant you, but I decided that it didn’t matter, as long as she was prepared for some sort of company.”

Melissa took another sip of her drink. “So we arrived, and I spoke to her. We made some tea, had a pretty nice chat. And everything was really good. And by really good, I mean normal. There was no mumbo jumbo about how I’m in danger or how I need to do some kind of cleansing ritual before I go to bed or how I should never leave the back door of the house unlocked, even when I’m in.”

“That sounds good.”

Noticing Eliza’s confused expression, Melissa continued. “No, no, but just wait until you hear what happened. You see, I guess all the normality was just too much, so she decided to make up for it by putting on a pretty big show.”

“I see... I’m sorry to hear that. Did you get to introduce her to Theo nonetheless?”

“Well, yes, because the outburst happened after she met Theo.”

Eliza finally began to picture what must’ve happened. “Ooh. I see.”

“Uhum,” Melissa nodded, picking up that Eliza was finally on the same wavelength. “So everything was going so great, and I told her that I had a friend with me, and that he was a man. I expected her to freak out, but she just nodded and asked if he wanted to join us for tea. So I went and fetched Theo, who was sitting in the reception area. You should’ve seen him, sitting there reading a magazine, acting totally oblivious to the fact that everybody was staring at him.”

Melissa noticed herself digressing as she swooned over the memory of Theo’s gorgeousness. “So anyway, we come back to the room and make the introductions, and we’re all drinking tea. Then Naomi looks at Theo’s tea, and I guess she thought she was doing some sort of tea-leaf reading. Next thing we know, she goes into this trance.”

Melissa paused to imitate the wide-eyed stare that her mother exhibited. She took another sip of her drink, finishing it this time.

“Did she just shut off or did she say something?” Eliza inquired.

“Oh, you bet she said something. She looked straight at Theo, but her eyes were dead. You know, like someone who’s sleepwalking; they’re looking at you but they’re not seeing you. So she looks at him and starts speaking in this deep, croaky voice. I was too stunned to remember it all properly, but the general take away from it all was that Theo is the devil.”

Melissa paused, her eyes flitting around as she scanned her mind for the memory. “Oh yeah, she called him ‘an unholy creation’ and a ‘helper of the devil’, after which she snapped back to normality. She just sat there drinking her tea, as if nothing had happened! Of course I was cross, but I couldn’t just speak my mind... not in front of Theo, who, by the way, was handling the situation extremely well.”

“So you don’t think your mother was really in a trance?”

“Well, her mind was definitely in a different place, but it wasn’t an actual trance. She doesn’t have a history of narcolepsy or even sleep talking, and people don’t just jolt into trances.”

“You said she looked at the tea leaves. Maybe she saw a shape that triggered something, maybe a traumatic memory that made her act out that way. And since Theo was sitting in front of the cup, her mind made a connection between him and the traumatic memory.”

“Yes, or she was just trying to freak me out. Or to freak Theo out, for that matter. It could all be a front, you know? Her acting so cool at first, and then going completely crazy on us. I thought that she might want me to find someone, settle down and be happy. But I guess she still sees me as a little girl, someone who can’t be trusted to make her own decisions.”

Eliza didn’t know how to respond. On the one hand, she thought that Melissa’s sensitive attitude toward her mother might be blocking her from exploring alternative viewpoints. Perhaps Naomi wasn’t deliberately trying to sabotage her daughter’s happiness; maybe she really thought that she was psychic. Melissa seemed to be convinced that her mother was in the mental health ward by choice rather than by necessity, but Eliza suspected that this wasn’t completely true. Objectively speaking, Eliza realized that if Naomi was fully healed, then she wouldn’t still be living under care.

On the other hand, Eliza knew that Melissa wasn’t prepared to hear the truth. Perhaps she needed to think that her mother wasn’t seriously ill in order to get on with her life. Therefore, Eliza had to be careful not to suggest that Naomi had really believed that she was a prophet.

Eliza decided to go with the approach of listening rather than talking. “Melissa, I’m really sorry that the meeting with your mother turned out so badly. Did you and Theo get to speak about what happened?”

“Yeah, and he was obviously really sweet about it, which just made me feel even guiltier. He wanted to spend the night together but I just needed to talk to someone about what happened. It means a lot to me that you came out to listen to me yap on for so long. Tell me about what you’ve been up to. Has Hayden still been pining after you?”

“No,” Eliza shrugged, “we were meant to talk at some point but that fell through.”

“Oh, ok. It’s probably for the best, even if he wanted to be friends, I can imagine Andrew wouldn’t be too thrilled about the prospect of you hanging out with some handsome stranger.”

“Right, exactly.”

“Anything else up with you? How’s work?”

“Work’s pretty lame to be honest. You’ve seen the stuff they make us do lately, running around with prize winning goats and all that nonsense. Nothing much is up otherwise, I went to see my parents, which was nice. They’re both so different though, it strikes me as weird every time. I’ve got a bit of both my parents in me, so I’m a pretty good buffer. I can’t even imagine how they can sit at the same table without me around. I feel a bit bad about it sometimes actually.”

“Tell me about it! Parents...”

“Yep, it’s never easy,” Eliza laughed.

Melissa smiled, too. “And that’s why we drink.”

“I’ll drink to that!”

Melissa was looking relieved from managing to talk the whole thing out. They called it an early night and headed home.

>>

Eliza went to work the next day feeling a little bit more like herself. She regretted not telling Melissa about what had happened to her with Freddie and Hayden, but she knew that Melissa already had a lot on her plate. Nevertheless, speaking to her father had made Eliza feel a bit more positive about her situation with Andrew. Granted, her parents weren’t the best example of a happy couple. However, she knew that if they had managed to still live in the same house despite their many differences, then she and Andrew definitely had a good chance of getting over the hump.

Eliza’s lighthearted disposition was shattered the moment that she walked into the briefing room. Her eyes immediately landed on the main headline that she would be covering that day.

Local man, Freddie Dormund, found dead in local forest.