Elijah and Alyssa (Book 1)

 

https://rumble.com/v51v7dl-elijah-and-alyssa-by-ray-bush.html

Elijah and Aylssa

                     By Ray Bush

Elijah sat at his desk looking at the same computer for what seemed like the millionth day in a row. His life had become so lonely and boring. Each day was a copy of the day before, Elijah thought that he saw a movie about that years ago but couldn’t remember the name. He lived four states away from his dad and his twin sister, for the last year he wondered why he left his family. Elijah had always been the awkward twin. It was always hard for him to make friends without his sister’s help. Being a forty year old man, Elijah knew he would never have kids but he did hope to one day find love.

His phone startled him when it vibrated for the first time in three days, the last time was when he talked to his sister about their dad’s birthday. He smiled when he saw the logo for the dating app. Most of the time it ended up a fake girl asking for money for pics or wanting you to sign up for a fake website. Elijah still held out hope every time, he was a fool that way. 

“How are you today?” The message from a young lady named Alyssa asked. Before answering Elijah always checked the profile to make sure responding was even worth his time. She looked to be short and slightly on the chunky side, which was Elijah’s favorite body type. Her hair was platinum blonde and her blue eyes were breathtaking. He scrolled through her pics. She definitely had enough pics to make him think that the profile was real. She was very pretty, but not the kind of hot that came with too much makeup and some filters apps. He felt a slight tinge of happiness that he had not felt since he left his hometown. 

“I’m good thanks,” Elijah answered, “How’s your day going?” He was still not one hundred percent sure that she was not a bot, but things were looking good.

Elijah set his phone down. It vibrated again before the screen even had time to lock. That made him a bit suspicious, normally real people did not respond so quickly. “I’m good,” Alyssa answered, “Just working and wishing I wasn’t.” The message was punctuated by a cute smiley face emoji that somehow looked like her.

He felt a little flutter in his stomach like only three of the butterflies in stomach took flight. For as long as Elijah lived in this state he had yet to be on a single date. “Haha same here,” Elijah answered, not noticing the small smile that crossed his lips. “Can’t wait until five when I get to leave this place.” He followed his message with an exhausted emoji. 

He did not even have time to set his phone down before she responded. Elijah was just so happy to be talking to a pretty lady, he just hoped it wasn't a scam or something. 

“Lol…… same here. Do you have any plans tonight?” Elijah didn’t and he wanted to hang out with her more than anything, but that did raise some red flags. “I hope that was not too forward,” she said, “It has just been too long since I have hung out with someone that’s not my son.” She followed this message with three angel face emojis.

Elijah didn’t notice that his eyes were pooling with tears of joy. He prefaced his next message with a normal smiley face. “You should never apologize for being a strong woman that knows what she wants.” Elijah truly felt that nobody should have to apologize for who they are. “What do you have in mind?” He asked

“I don’t really have a plan,” she answered, “I didn’t even plan to ask about your plans. My only plan was not to sit home all night. It’s been eight months since my husband left with my cousin. I’m done crying.” 

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Elijah said, only half meaning it. His mistake might have been the best thing that has happened to Elijah in years “He must be a jackass.” 

“Thank you,” she typed, “I would rather find someone that treasures me.” She then sent another smiley face. “I didn't bring that up for sympathy, I brought it up for explanation. But he is the last thing that I want to think about.” 

“That’s fair,” Elijah answered. Her ex was also the last thing that Elijah wanted to think about. He could not believe that this beautiful woman was talking to him. His hopes were as high as the clouds despite his best efforts to keep them grounded. “Should we start with dinner then make a plan from there?” 

“That sounds great,” she kept responding almost immediately every time Elijah texted her. “What time do you get off work?” 

“I was supposed to get off at five,” He answered, “But due to recent developments. I think I’ll leave by four if you need me to.” Elijah was so excited but also hoped he was not coming off desperate. 

“That sounds great,” she answered immediately yet again. “We should meet at Skinny Dick’s Bar and Grill. I would like to have a couple drinks, if you don’t mind. Do you know where that is?” 

“I don’t mind at all,”  Elijah answered, he was responding as fast as her. “I will probably have a few with you. I live about 2 minutes away from Skinny Dick’s.” 

“That’s great,” she answered, followed by four smiley faces with the tongue out. Elijah really liked the way her personality was coming through. I will see you at five. I will be the girl waiting for mister right.”

“Sounds good,” He answered back, “I’ll be the guy hoping I’m mister right.” He wanted that to sound a lot smoother than it felt. He followed it with a smile emoji. 

They exchanged a few more emoji’s, Elijah was not enough of a ladies man to know when was too much. She said she had to get back to work and then he knew for sure. The rest of the day passed in a daze of him typing for work and him studying her profile. He saw nothing suspicious, she had pics from camping to christmas. She seemed to be real. Elijah found himself lost in those blue eyes. He could feel himself falling faster than he had expected. If his boss asked, Elijah would have not been able to tell his boss one thing he did that day. 

He got home from work fast, jumped in the shower, then put on his nicest clothes. It was a white button up short sleeve shirt with black stripes. He wore black jeans and shoes so white that they almost glowed. This was his date outfit for years now. The fact that all of it looked brand new did sadden Elijah when he thought about it. He made sure that his hair was perfect and that he smelled as nice as possible. Elijah pulled up her profile and looked at her pictures one more time. She was so beautiful, also he wanted to be sure that he was not being catfished. His hands started to shake a bit so he went to his kitchen cupboard and pulled out a bottle of whiskey. His stomach tied itself in a knot as he removed the cap and took a swig from the bottle. He was not a big drinker, but sometimes it did calm his nerves. He took two sticks of gum from the pack he always kept in his pocket, unwrapped them, then folded them on his tongue. Elijah took some deep breaths to calm himself then walked out the door. 

He made the short walk with a wandering eye and a fluttering heart. His unrealistic hope was that he would walk in and she would run up to him and throw her arms around him. Unfortunately, she was not there and Elijah felt overwhelming disappointment. He knew it was too good to be true, luckily the disappointment was brief. Alyssa had followed him through the door and was now hugging him tight from behind. His heart did about five somersaults in his chest. He hoped she was feeling the same moment of pure happiness that he was feeling. 

“Hi Elijah,” Her voice sounded like a choir of angels. “You are just as handsome as your pics.” She planted a kiss between his shoulder blades. He knew right then that he would either be happy for the rest of his life or his heart would be shattered into a thousand pieces. There would be no middle ground. Elijah was in love.

Alyssa loosened her grip allowing Elijah to turn in her arms to face her. He looked in her eyes, he thought he could see love there also. He was confident that this would be the beginning of his happiness. He smiled. “And you are more beautiful than I ever could have imagined,” he answered. Her eyes shined as he saw tears well there. She fought them back. Then she stretched up and gave him a soft kiss on his cheek. It was Elijah’s turn to have eyes well with tears. He was overwhelmed with emotion, he had never felt like this level of joy before. After the way the last couple years had gone, Elijah thought he would never feel this in his life. 

They found a booth and sat across from each other Elijah ordered a whiskey, she ordered a daiquiri. Elijah learned that her son had just graduated high school and would be heading off to college next year. He wanted to take a year off to work and save money. She grew up in a small town about an hour from here. Her parents were still together and also still lived in her childhood home. Her brother got married twenty five years ago and he was also still married. She did not say but Elijah could tell that this was a small part that upset her when her husband left. She briefly talked about her cheating husband who was also nice enough to beat her. Elijah was instantly furious, he would protect her from anything. 

Elijah had been raised to see women as precious and to be treasured above anything else. His dad treated his mom like a queen until the day that she passed. Elijah mentioned, only slightly joking, that he would like to meet the man that would put his hands on her. She said he was a couple states away so it wouldn’t be easy. 

“I’ll put it on my basket list,” Elijah said and they both laughed a little. To his dismay, she seemed to get a little uncomfortable. “I hope that didn’t bother you.” He said.

She said everything was fine and she liked the sound of someone protecting her after what she had gone through. Elijah learned that Alyssa had gone to school for journalism, was a nurse at a children’s hospital, and had a small apartment ten minutes from here. Elijah told her that he had never been married and fathered no kids. He told her that he lives states away from any family. She reached across the table and touched his hand softly. He could see in her eyes that she was also catching feelings. Yet he could still see the worry behind her beautiful eyes. 

“Are you sure everything’s ok?” Elijah asked. He knew that he sounded a bit needy but he would rather be a little needy then to let her slip away. 

“For the most part everything’s good,” She answered. Elijah was not comforted by this. “It’s nothing that you did, I just have some life worries that popped in my head for a minute.” That eased his mind but not very much. “Is there a park around here maybe?” He found it a bit odd if she really did live only ten minutes away. The park was pretty massive.

Elijah thought it was weird that she did not know about Meadows Park since she lived so close. He ignored it and moved on, it is possible she had never heard of it. 

“Yeah,” he answered “Meadows Park is about a five minute walk from here. Have you ever heard of it?”

“I think so,” She answered, “ but I am terrible with stuff like that. I could really use some fresh air. Do you mind taking a walk?”

“I’ll go anywhere as long as I’m with you,” Elijah answered. He was trying not to say something so forward but this one just slipped out. “Sorry that was probably too much.” 

The sun was still out but would be behind the mountains in the next twenty minutes. The night was cool but not chilly. Elijah felt his nerves going crazy, usually the term “getting air” spelled the beginning of the end of a date. As if reading his mind Alyssa grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. Her eyes filled with tears, “You could be the sweetest man I have ever met.” 

“Thank you,” he said, then raised her hand to his mouth and gave it a kiss.” I needed to meet you more than you could have ever imagined.” He got a lump in his throat, “I needed this night so much. I have been pretty lonely lately and needed to be with someone. I don’t know how I got so lucky that it was you.” 

They walked the rest of the way to the park playing grab ass and giggling at one another. For the ten millionth time that night Elijah thought about how happy this woman had made him in such a short amount of time. He had no idea how a complete stranger could make him feel so good about himself. Her face did still look troubled and Elijah could not figure out why. As they got closer to the park her joy dissipated and her anxiety seemed to increase dramatically. 

“For real this time,” Elijah said, “What is going on? I can see it on your face.” They were now in the parking lot of the park.

“Can we just go under the pavilion?” She asked, “I’ll explain everything there. I promise.” She never let go of his hand. He could be patient. The pavilion was just on the other side of the parking lot. To the right of the pavilion was a children’s playground and to the left was the restrooms. Left of the restrooms were some tennis courts. Beyond the playground were basketball courts. The field was a large oval with a walking path around the outer edge. The field was large enough to have two baseball diamonds and a soccer field with enough grass to spare for a bunch of picnics. 

They reached the pavilion Elijah looked down into Alyssa’s eyes troubled by seeing them full of tears. The tears were spilling down her cheeks causing her makeup to run a little. She was too beautiful to be this sad. Elijah opened his mouth to ask what was going on. Alyssa did not let him speak. 

“I’m sorry,” she burst out immediately followed by uncontrollable sobs. “You are too nice for this.” She buried her face in his chest and wrapped her arms around him. Her  sobs were mixed with two phrases that did not make Elijah comfortable. “They have him,” and “I’m sorry.” 

“Good work Alyssa,” said a deep and powerful voice from behind Elijah. Followed by a younger, softer voice that said only one word. “Mom.” Elijah picked up so much fear from that single word. 

Alyssa loosened her grip allowing Elijah to turn towards the voices. It was very obvious by the look of the men that things were about to get very bad for Elijah. 

At the end of the pavilion stood seven men and a scared young man. Six of the men looked nearly identical. They were white men with dark hair and all wore matching dark suits. Elijah’s mind went straight to the men in black theory. There was rumored to be a base in the west desert of Utah but Elijah always doubted it. Three stood to the left and three to the right of a tall man in a dark cloak. Covering his face was a seventies style goalie mask painted with a yellow skull. In front of him was Alyssa’s son. Elijah could tell instantly. 

“I’m sorry,” Alyssa said as she was crying from behind him, “I could only get him back if I traded someone for him. It wasn’t supposed to be the only nice guy in the damned world.” 

Elijah took a deep breath, he knew exactly what he had to do. “Let the boy go,” he said in his strongest voice. If he had to die, he would not die scared and cowering. “I will come without a fight but you have to let him go first.” 

The man in the mask nodded once then tapped the boy on the shoulder. The boy ran past Elijah straight into his mother’s arms. Elijah did not take his eyes off the men, nor did they take their eyes off of him. Elijah could hear their muffled cries as they held each other tight. 

“I don’t know who you are,” The boy said, “But you are my hero, thank you so much.” 

“Thank you Elijah,” She sounded like a woman who was losing the love of her life. Selfishly, Elijah hoped that she was. 

Elijah took a step, puffed up his chest, and held his head high. He would not show these men a second of fear. “I love you Alyssa.”