by S. E. Duncan
Ella ran her free hand through her hair. “We said we loved each other, and now we can talk in each other’s minds?” she asked, trying to make sense of what he was telling her.
“We said we loved each other and we meant it and the Mother of All was pleased, and now we can talk in each other’s minds – yes.” Burke clarified.
“Bonded, what exactly does bonded mean?”
“Essentially it means in love. We were meant to be together, Ella.” Burke reached up with his free hand and caressed her face.
Ella crinkled her forehead. “Can anyone just do this? What if two children express their love for each other?”
“It’s not something children can do. My sister and Barret expressed their love for one another, but they weren’t bonded because they weren’t to the age of awakening. ”
“Were my parents bonded?”
“Your mother was human, so they couldn’t become bonded like this - but yes, to your father, she was his soul mate.”
Ella took a deep breath then released it slowly, “Are we married?”
Burke grinned. “Marriage is an Earthly thing, but if you want to have a marriage ceremony someday I would love to do that with you. I think it’s a beautiful way to express love and share happiness with family and friends. There are similar ceremonies on Quintar, but the bonding is personal and it happens when two people tell each other that they love each other above all else and mean it with all their heart.” Are you scared? Burke asked her.
Ella thought about it for a second. No, she finally replied. I’ve never been less scared, less alone, or more happy in my life.
Good, Burke said and held her close.
Chapter 9: Everyone Needs A Little Break
Ella and Burke had cooked and eaten breakfast together. She had watched him pull out of the driveway as he left for work. Now she was supposed to be throwing these knives at this dummy, but she had never been less into anything in her life.
Bonded. They were bonded. He loved her and she loved him and they were bonded. Hutsool. He had said she possessed his heart and his soul. She wanted to tell the whole world. She wanted to celebrate. She did not want to throw knives.
She sent Sarah a text, What R U doing?
Dropping a class that I hate, what R U doing?
Nothing, want to go shopping?
Yes
Ella called Burke on his cell phone. “Miss me already?” he asked when he answered the phone.
“Yes. I miss you and I know you can’t leave work, but I don’t want to be here alone right now. I’m going to have Sarah pick me up. I want to go shopping and I want to go out tonight. Let’s do something fun with Sarah and Jeremy. I want to celebrate even if we can’t tell them what we’re celebrating.”
“You’re okay, right? Nothing has happened at the house has it?”
“Yes, I’m okay, and no, nothing has happened. I’m just happy and I don’t feel like killing the dummy right now. Just this one day I want a little break.”
Burke was quiet for a moment. He wanted her to practice, but how could he deny her a day of rest after everything she’d been through in the past few days? “Okay. Please be careful and keep your phone with you.”
“I will.”
Ella called Sarah and gave her directions. She was full of nervous energy and she knew Sarah would be there in about ten minutes anyway, so she locked up the house and started walking down the long driveway. She actually felt a little bit like skipping - so she did.
~~
Ella had made it to the end of the driveway just as Sarah was arriving. Sarah pulled the car over and Ella hopped in.
“Where do you want to go?” Sarah asked.
“Let’s just head over to the mall. Do you know of anything cool going on tonight that you, Jeremy, Burke and I can do?”
“Tonight is ‘Movie in the Park’ over by your apartment.”
“Oh yeah, I completely forgot that was starting up again for summer. Do you know what the movie is tonight?” Ella asked.
“It’s Say Anything.”
Ella and Sarah looked at each other and at the same time started singing, “Love, I get so lost sometimes… Days pass and this emptiness fills my heart… When I want to run away, I drive off in my car… But whichever way I go, I come back to the place you are,” then laughed out loud.
“Oh, that sounds like fun! Do you think Jeremy will be up for that?” Ella asked.
“Sure he’ll go. The movie doesn’t start until nine o’clock so we can bribe him with dinner first. You have a beautiful voice by the way; I don’t think I’ve ever heard you sing.”
“Thanks, though it’s not as fabulous as my mom was hoping when she named me – huge jazz fan.” Ella shrugged her shoulders and grinned. “Okay, let’s go to the mall and find me a cute but sexy sundress to wear tonight.” Ella was getting excited. She got out her cell phone and sent a text to both Jeremy and Burke telling them the plans.
~~
They had been at the mall well over an hour, and Ella had tried on several different dresses before saying to Sarah, “I can’t find anything. Maybe I need to shift gears here. If we’re going to be sitting on the ground on a blanket, a dress probably isn’t the best idea anyway.”
“How about something like this,” Sarah said, holding up a stone blue and white striped sleeveless top. “It would be really cute with denim capris and those rope wedge heels you have.”
“That’s perfect,” Ella took the blouse and turned it around so she could see the back. “Hair up or down?” She hung the shirt back on the end of the rack and started flipping through the hangers looking for her size.
“Down of course, but with big loose curls.” Sarah never could understand why her friend always had that long gorgeous hair piled on top of her head.
“What are you going to wear?” Ella asked. She smiled as she finally found a small towards the back.
“I just bought a green tank top last week that I haven’t gotten a chance to wear yet. It’s hip length with spaghetti straps. I have some long brown shorts and some strappy brown leather sandals that would go great with it.”
Sarah’s hair was light brown and cut in an almost shoulder length bob, but it was longer than it looked because she had bouncy, natural corkscrew curls. “I think you should put your hair up,” Ella told her, “and leave a few curls hanging out here and there.”
“That’s a good idea,” Sarah said. “I guess we’re all set then. Let’s pay for your top then go get some lunch; I’m starving.”
“What are you hungry for?” Ella paused on her way to check out and looked at the jewelry. She picked up a long chain with several nautical charms dangling from it and raised her eyebrows questioningly at Sarah.
“Get it,” Sarah encouraged. “We could hit the food court. How does sushi sound?”
“I’m not very hungry, but I could probably eat a couple of pieces of sushi. I’m dying for a drink anyway. All of this ‘on with the clothes, and off with the clothes’ has made me thirsty. Speaking of which, let me try that top on really fast. If I get home and it doesn’t fit right, it’ll ruin my perfect day.”
“You have been very smiley today,” Sarah said slyly. “Now, hurry up and try on the top so we can go sit down and you can tell me what you’re so happy about.”
Ella thought about what she was going to tell Sarah while she was in the dressing room. I’ll just tell her that Burke told me he loves me. That’s huge anyway. The top looked great, so Ella quickly changed back into her own shirt, paid for the new one, and walked with Sarah to the food court.
“So what is going on with you?” Sarah leaned forward in anticipation once they had gotten their food and were sitting at a table.
Ella leaned forward too, like she was about to impart the secret of the universe. “Burke told me that he loves me this morning, and I feel a little bit like I’m floating on air.”
“Oh my gosh!” Sarah slammed her hand down on the table. “That’s huge, Ella! What did you
say?”
“I told him that I love him too.” Ella shrugged and held her hands up like it was no big deal. She loved to tease Sarah - it was oh so easy.
“Wow! I’m flabbergasted. I’m very excited for you.” Sarah paused and bit her lip. “You don’t think it’s a little early for this do you?”
Ella had a feeling Sarah was going to say something like that. “Sometimes you just know.”
“So are you having sex now?” Sarah bounced in her seat like a child waiting for a prize.
“You’re worse than a guy, with the one track mind thing,” Ella couldn’t help but laugh.
“You did right?”
“Yes.”
“And…? Come on Ella you’re killing me here.” Sarah was practically foaming at the mouth.
Ella’s face reddened. She was not the kiss and tell type but she decided to have mercy on her dear friend. “And... the Earth moved. It was wonderful and amazing and absolutely beyond description. Let’s get one thing straight though - I do not need to hear about you and Jeremy having sex, okay?”
“Are you sure? Because he’s really good,” Sarah was enjoying making Ella squirm.
“I’m positive.” By now Ella’s face was roughly the color of a fire engine.
“Suit yourself. Are you going to give me any juicy details about Burke?”
“No, no details.” Ella shook her head. You wouldn’t believe me anyway.
“Why not?” Sarah whined.
“Because though I love you very much and you are my best friend, you have a big mouth.”
“I do not!” Sarah wailed and stuck out her bottom lip.
“Sarah, telling you a secret is more productive and less expensive than putting an ad in the paper.” Ella was trying – somewhat unsuccessfully - not to laugh.
“What a horrible thing to say. I just don’t know if I’ll ever be able to forgive you.” Sarah was indignant.
“What if I buy you ice cream?” Ella tempted.
“Mint chocolate chip?” Sarah’s lower lip was still sticking out, but not quite as far.
“Whatever kind you want.” Ella consoled her friend.
“You’re forgiven.” Sarah smiled satisfactorily.
After they finished their ice cream, they headed back to Ella’s apartment. “I’m just going to drop you off,” Sarah said. “I have a wonderfully lazy professor for my two remaining classes, and it’s basically self-study with a test online. I need to take a test. He averages your ten highest test grades for your final score. I figure I need to take four tests a week, two for each class. You know how it is. If you don’t make a plan and stick to it with this kind of class, you quickly fall behind and then you’re screwed.”
“I know you’re finishing up your psychology minor, but what are you taking and what did you drop?”
“I dropped Abnormal Psych because he wanted a twenty page paper. Not to mention he took five points off your final average if you missed a class. Come on now, it is summertime. I’m still taking Theories of Personality and Physiological Psych.”
“So you’ll still have to pick up one more class for your minor later on?”
“Yes, but it’s no big deal. I think I’ll see if this professor is offering anything next semester. He’s so into his own research he doesn’t spend a lot of classroom time with the undergrads. Some people hate it because his test questions are so challenging, but the tests are open book and you do it on your own time. It’s working out for me anyway. I’ve been able to work more hours at the store and spend more time doing things you don’t want to hear about with your cousin.”
“Enough of that talk! You have been warned.” Ella teased as they pulled into the parking lot at her apartment. “Let’s meet here at six-thirty then we can decide where we want to go for dinner before the movie.”
“Sounds good, I’ll see you later.” Sarah waved as she drove away.
~~
It was still early, just after two o’clock. Ella felt a little guilty about giving up on the throwing knives that morning, so she thought she would head over to Burke’s house to practice and just shower and dress over there for their date tonight. She went into the apartment, got the capris and shoes she wanted to wear with her new shirt, then grabbed a clean bra, matching panties, and her make-up bag and curling iron. On her way down to her car she called Burke. She thought he would be busy and had planned on leaving him a message, so she was surprised when he actually answered.
“Hi,” she said. “I had planned on leaving you a message saying that I’m going to your house to practice for a few hours. I thought you would be in the middle of the autopsy.”
“I was just taking a break. Carl came in to help me. The police got a confession anyway. Now we’re just putting together all of our notes for our official report.”
“So the guy just walked in and confessed?”
“He was actually one of the campers. Three couples had gone camping together. They were all under twenty-one, but they had liquor. Apparently after Danny realized he’d killed his girlfriend, he went back to the campsite and just sat down. He wouldn’t say anything. One of the other couples headed off in the direction Danny had come from and they eventually found the body. Danny is in custody. The other four are being charged with underage drinking, and they’ll be testifying in court.”
“I guess you see this kind of thing all of the time don’t you?” No wonder he’s so paranoid.
“I do, but you never really get used to it. She was only seventeen years old. Her parents came in about an hour ago to identify her. Her mother was hysterical. She had to be sedated.”
“I’m sorry babe. When can you leave?”
“I’ll be home in a couple of hours; I have to finish a few things up here. So you’ll be at the house when I get home, Hutsool?”
“Yes, I’ll be there.” She wondered how many victims Burke had laid his hands on over the years.
Ella spent the next two hours throwing knives in the backyard. Burke had been right; she was a lot better at it than she had thought she was. By the time she needed to stop so she could get ready for that evening, she was consistently hitting the target center mass even while she was running. She couldn’t wait to show Burke.
Ella went inside to shower and change. She had just finished putting on her make-up and curling her hair when she heard Burke at the front door. She came out of the bathroom to say hello.
~~
Burke stopped short just inside the front door. Ella was coming out of the bathroom wearing pale pink lingerie. The panties dipped low on her waist and the sheer lace bra left little to the imagination. The beautiful silky hair that she usually had pulled up was softly curled and cascaded in waves half way down her back. “I thought we were going out tonight,” he said.
“We are, I was just getting dressed,” she replied.
“If you insist on walking around like that, we’re not going anywhere.” Burke said huskily. He was at her side in an instant. He picked her up and headed toward the bedroom.
“Burke, we have to meet Sarah and Jeremy in less than an hour.” Ella laughed. “We’ll have all the time in the world later tonight, I promise.”
Burke kissed her, long and deep. “Okay,” he said. “But for future reference, you can’t walk around like that and then tell me no. Come sit and talk to me while I take a shower, Hutsool. I missed you today.”
Ella sat on the bench in the bathroom while Burke showered. “I’ve been thinking,” she told him. “This bond between us made me wonder if there was any way I could experience someone’s last moments through you.”
Burke shut off the water and flung back the shower curtain. Ella handed him a towel. “What exactly are you asking me?”
“I’m asking if we can use our bond for you to share someone’s last moments with me when you lay your hands on them,” Ella said.
“No.”
“No, that’s it?” Ella narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re lying to me.”
Burkes face g
ot red. “Ella, my love, why would you even want to do that?”
“Because I have a photographic memory. Burke, there has to be something you’re missing. Maybe there’s something I can pick up on that will help us end this.”
“No, Hutsool, I can’t expose you to this. You have no idea what you’re asking. You can’t forget the visions once you’ve seen them. They become a part of you.”
Burke dried off quickly and pulled on the underwear he had brought into the bathroom. He went into the bedroom to get dressed. As far as he was concerned the conversation was over.
“Burke,” Ella said following him, “you have to stop worrying about me so much. There are other things to think about here.”
He turned his back to her. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore; it’s not possible anyway.”
“Seriously?” Ella grabbed Burke’s arm, spun him around and studied his face. “I know you’re not being honest with me. What is going on?”
Burke sat on the bed and put his face in his hands. “What is going on is that I can’t lie to you. No one can.”
“What do you mean no one can?” Ella cocked her head to the side and looked pointedly at him.
