Chapter 23: 23. Parting Ways

Sunday morning started out as a repeat of Saturday, neither Marianne or myself felt very energetic. We slept in, but managed to get up and leave our hotel room for brunch. After that we returned to our room with the idea that we might make plans to head out into the city for a while.

Those plans never materialized though, and it turned into another quiet stay-at-home kind of day.

Marianne set up her tablet and a portable keyboard on the desk and spent the rest of her morning and most of the afternoon working on that, while I lounged on the sofa and streamed a movie while I surfed the web on my phone.

Eva finally returned while I was doing that, she didn't want to talk and seemed uncomfortable about either of us fussing over her, so we left her alone. Marianne returned to her work, I messed with my phone, and our demon sat with me on the sofa and watched a movie.

By mid-afternoon I knew something was up with my girlfriend again too. Now and then Marianne would let out a sigh or act a bit distracted, like she'd stop working and stare at the wall with a distant frown as if she was lost in some unhappy thought.

She didn't want to talk any more than Eva did, the first few times I asked she claimed it was nothing then focused on her tablet again. It wasn't till about four in the afternoon that Marianne finally put away her work, because at that point it was time for her weekly phone call home.

I still couldn't understand any of the rapid-fire French she spoke when she talked with her mother, but I could tell by her tone and body language that the conversation wasn't going well. Marianne's emotions seemed to bounce from happy and enthusiastic to sad and angry to impatient and frustrated, from one minute to the next.

Combined with how she was acting when she was on the tablet earlier, I was positive there was something serious bothering my girlfriend. Unfortunately I had no idea what it was, or what to do about it.

Eva and I ended up out on the balcony together so Marianne had a little more privacy, and the two of us stood by the railing looking out over the nearby castle and the Gulf of Naples beyond.

"Do you know what's bothering Marianne?" I asked quietly.

My demon shrugged, "I could probably find out, but I think it's best to wait and see what she tells us Lexi. She'll talk when she's ready."

I nodded slowly, "Yeah, I guess you're right. I'm worried though, something's obviously happened that's left her upset."

Eva didn't respond, and I finally turned to look at her.

"How about you?" I asked. "Are you doing ok?"

She gave me a sad smile, "I'm all right Lexi. Doing as well as can be, given the circumstances."

That made me sigh, and I wished for the hundredth time that I could hug her.

Eventually Marianne got off her phone call. She didn't seem ready to discuss things yet so I didn't push her, and instead we talked about what we'd do for dinner. Even that ended up being a lazy choice, we only went as far as the hotel restaurant again.

After our early dinner we were back in our room, then at long last Marianne was ready to tell me what was wrong.

She was acting stressed and uptight as she sat down on the big bed with me. Then after taking a deep breath, she looked at me and explained what had been bothering her all day.

"Lexi I'm so sorry, but the time has come for us to part ways. I wish I could put it off indefinitely, but I have to return to London."

Suddenly my stomach felt like it was full of cold lead, and I understood why she didn't have any appetite at dinner.

She continued, "I really don't want to leave you and Eva behind, I wish I could stay at your side and continue helping you both search for her family. But I cannot. The university sent me an email on Friday, I only just saw it this morning. I have to return to my studies."

My mouth had gone dry but I gulped then nodded slightly, "That's what you were talking to your mom about earlier?"

"Yes," she nodded, but she didn't elaborate. I figured she probably asked her mother for advice, but didn't like whatever her mom had to say.

I was quiet again, the news was still slowly sinking in.

After a half minute or so Marianne asked, "Lexi? Are you ok?"

"I'm ok," I lied. I still hadn't gotten over the sadness from Eva's revelation on Friday, this just left me numb.

We ended up cuddling in bed, laying in each others arms as we eventually started talking again.

"How soon?" I asked. "When do you need to get back?"

She sighed, "I'll start making arrangements tomorrow, and if possible I'll take a flight on Tuesday. Wednesday at the latest. I'll need the rest of the week at home to prepare myself and get back into the right mindset, then a week from tomorrow I'll be at the university to meet with my professors."

"Tuesday," I said with a long sigh of my own. That meant tonight was our second-last night together.

She cuddled closer against me and whispered, "I'm sorry Lexi. I really don't want to go."

I gave her a tight hug and a passionate kiss, then replied softly "I understand. I don't want you to go either, but we knew right from the very beginning this wouldn't last forever. You warned me when we first talked about travelling together that you could only spare a month or two, before you'd have to head back."

We were both quiet again for a few minutes, just cuddling and holding each other. Eventually I added, "Maybe me and Eva can come visit you in London now and then? Like whenever we get the chance? And we'll stay in touch. I'll email you, we can text, talk to each other on the phone..."

You are reading story Missed Connections at novel35.com

"Of course," Marianne replied softly.

After that the two of us continued cuddling in silence. It felt like there wasn't anything else to be said at that point. And perhaps I was trying to memorize the feel of her body against mine, the warmth of her hug, and the scent of her hair against my cheek. We held each other close, and enjoyed the contact and each other's presence until we fell asleep.

Marianne drifted off first, but it took me a while longer. I was still coming to terms with the situation, and it left me with a lot on my mind.

I'd known Marianne almost as long as Eva, the beautiful French history student had been a fixture in my new life since my fourth day as Lexi. And she'd been the one to keep me stable the whole time we were travelling. Going on without her was going to be hard, really hard.

Eventually I drifted to sleep, but it was restless and when I woke again in the morning I felt tired and listless.

Marianne was already awake but she remained in bed with me, and the two of us ended up quietly cuddling some more. Neither of us said anything yet, and instead we just savoured the moment again. We continued to hold each other like that until at long last she finally let go of me and pulled herself up out of bed.

She sighed, "I think I'll shower first. Then we can visit the breakfast buffet, and after that I'll have to start looking into a flight back to London."

"Ok," I replied in a soft voice.

My girlfriend disappeared into the washroom while I stayed in bed. She closed the door behind her, and a minute or two later I could hear the sound of the shower.

I let out a long deep sigh as I thought about how in another day or two I'd be alone, apart from Eva. No more hugs or cuddles, no more romantic dinners, no more lazy mornings cuddling in bed. No more days spent hanging out in museums or exploring ancient ruins, no more listening to her voice while she happily explained some detail of ancient history or gushed about the significance of some artefact we were staring at through a glass case.

"Lexi?" Eva said, interrupting my sad thoughts.

My demon had appeared sitting crosslegged at the foot of the bed, and it looked like she wanted to talk.

I slowly pulled myself upright and mirrored her pose, I sat crosslegged at the top of the bed facing her. Except where she was in leggings and a t-shirt, I was still naked. I didn't bother to cover up, she'd seen me naked plenty of times already.

"Hi Eva," I responded with a sad smile. "What's up?"

She looked as sad as I felt as she responded, "I've been thinking about the situation with Marianne."

"It's going to be different travelling without her," I replied quietly.

Then I tried to put on a brave face and added, "We'll be ok though. I've learned a lot about this nomadic lifestyle since we started. I promise I won't let you down."

My demon smiled, "I know you won't Lexi. As I said, I've been thinking? Let's say I find my child in the next week or two, I spend time with her, and our search is over. What would you do with yourself once we're no longer scouring the Aegean searching for her?"

I shook my head, "I honestly haven't thought that far ahead? But I guess if our search was finished and I could do whatever I wanted, I'd want to go back to London. I'd want to stay with Marianne, assuming she'd want to have me there with her."

"You'd need to do something more with your time Lexi," she pointed out. "Would you try to find work? Or further your education?"

She added, "Remember you and I are bound to each other for life. So you can rely on my help in whatever your goals or plans may be."

That left me thinking for a few moments. She was right that I'd get bored if I didn't have something to do. And if I had her supporting me through her magic then I wouldn't be desperate to take whatever job I could find. Finally I had to admit the idea of finishing my education appealed to me. It didn't hurt that my girlfriend was an academic, and the possibility of attending the same university as her was very tempting.

I finally replied, "I think I'd want to go back to school? I have no idea if it'd be possible, but I guess the best possible thing would be to go back to London so I could be with Marianne, then get accepted into a university or a college there. Get a proper education, then eventually find work in whatever field I end up studying."

I continued, "And I guess if Marianne wants to return to France after graduation, then I'd want to go there with her. Maybe I'll even learn to speak French? I don't see myself returning to Canada though. There's really nothing there for me anymore. Mostly I just want to be wherever she is."

Eva was quiet again for a few moments. She had a distant look on her face, but after a second or two she looked at me with another sad smile. "After breakfast, book two tickets back to London. We are going with Marianne."

My stomach did a flip-flop as I felt a surge of joy, followed almost immediately by sadness and unease. I shook my head, "Eva what about your daughter? We can't abandon the search, we have to keep looking!"

She still had that sad smile on her face as she replied, "We're not abandoning the search Lexi, we're just putting it on hold for a while. Perhaps we will resume our search again next summer? If you and Marianne can spare two months every summer to help me look for my child, we will spend the other ten months focusing on your lives, your education, and your careers. How does that sound?"

By that point my emotions were so all over the place I was holding back tears along with a smile. "It sounds amazing, but are you sure?"

"I'm sure," she replied quietly. "I thought it was important for you to have a human friend, remember? I don't want to be the reason you and she are forced apart. Plus I like her too you know? She's my friend as well as yours Lexi."

She glanced towards the washroom and added, "She's out of the shower now. I'll let you share the good news with her, then the three of us can discuss the new plans together."

"Ok Eva," I replied with a wide smile, though I was also blinking away some tears. I faltered slightly as I added, "I really wish I could hug you, because you deserve so many hugs."

She just smiled back at me, then vanished as the bathroom door opened and Marianne emerged wrapped in a towel.