Chapter 13: London calling to the underworld 3/4

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When Lumi woke up, the daylight was gone. She tried to remember where she was. The bed was too soft and the smells were wrong. The windows were not her bedroom's. And as she stared back the ceiling in the dark, everything came back to her. She sat up startled and noticed she had been covered with a soft blanket by someone. She hoped it hadn't been Horace. Please God. She searched for her cellphone she was always carrying in her pocket and after she got her eyes used to the clarity of its light, found out it was the middle of night. Her stomach complained for food and she realized she hadn't eaten since the plane. After Victor left she had taken a long bath in the tub. She was going to ask Victor to send her one of those back home. She could not take any other kind of bath in her life anymore. And it was his fault. She had laid in the bed and hadn't noticed when she fell asleep. Tea was supposed to have happened at 4p.m. That had been nine hours ago.

The wisest thing was to try to get back to sleep and eat in the morning. But now that she thought about, she couldn't take it off her mind.

Walking in the dark, she lit the bathroom light and checked her hair and face. She looked like she had been drunk the day before and had slept through her hangover. Splashing cold water on her face, she brushed her teeth and settled her hair in a ponytail. She grabbed her thickest sweater and put it on her way to the door when a light knock came from the corridor.

"Lumi?" Victor called in a low voice.

"Come in."

"Hi. You slept the whole day. Poor thing, you were tired, weren't you?"

"I guess I was. I'm sorry about tea. And dinner." She really was sorry, she thought when her stomach complained again.

"It's all right. I came up to call you to come down, but you were asleep. I just put a blanket over you and had it with my father."

"Can we eat something? I'm starving."

"Of course. Do you want me to bring you something? Or I can wake up Horace as well."

"No, no. Can't we just go down to the kitchen and grab something out of the fridge?"

"We can."

Victor led the way, comfortably walking in the dark. Lumi, however, couldn't see where she was stepping. And the works of art that had impressed her in daylight, now seemed horribly frightening as faces stared at her from the walls. She walked a little faster and grabbed Victor sweater in the back. He reached back and pulled her to his side.

"Don't worry. These stupid sculptures used to freak me out when I was a kid too."

"I'm not a kid."

"Of course not. I'll protect you." he said as he caught her hand is his. They climbed down the stairs slowly with the help of the moonlight that came from the tall windows, and at the base, Victor pulled her to the right side to another corridor.

"I begin to see the problem of living in a house like this. I'd never have the courage to walk around at night. And I would never, ever walk this much to get to a midnight snack." she said matter of factly. Victor laughed.

"I used to steal cookies and all sorts of snacks and keep them in my bedroom for these kind of emergencies."

"Smart." Lumi answered and then blinked, her eyes watering from the clarity of the lights Victor had turned on the kitchen they had just walked into. Unlike the rest of the house, this kitchen was futuristic. As if they had travelled in time, the kitchen was all white floors, walls and ceiling, while silver and chrome shone from every direction. The enormous sub-zero fridge stood against the wall on the left. Lumi was nearly desperate to see what wonders it might hold. But Victor pulled a stool from the balcony and ordered her to sit. Disappointed, she sat.

"I know the last time I cooked for you things didn't turn out so well, but this time I'll make up for it. What would you like to eat this night, mademoiselle?"

"Hmm. What do you have?"

"No. You can choose anything that comes to mind. If I can't find the right ingredients, I'll improvise."

"Hmm! Now you're really trying to impress me, aren't you?" Lumi shut her eyes, trying to find something very difficult but only felt her empty stomach nearly shouting in her head to stop wastinf time and give it food already. "I want... a sandwich."

"A sandwich? I let you choose anything and you want a sandwich?"

"Fine. I want gohan, lamb ribs, sautéd potatoes and a salad."

"Hmm. What is go ham?"

"Go-ha-n. Cooked rice."

"Ah. Is that Japanese for cooked rice?"

"Yeah. Mr. Pottofill."

"Pot-au-feu."

"You keep your French, I'll keep my Japanese and you go cook for me before I attack the fridge."

"Oui, madam."

It was a pleasure to watch him moving aroung the kitchen. He selected the ribs that were on the fridge and sliced it with perfection. Chopped the cold potatoes and tomato, while the rice cooked on the stove.

"What did you father want to discuss with you after all?" Lumi asked, resting her chin on her fist, as she leaned on the balcony. Victor froze. His hand stopped in mid-air and he stared intently at the lettuce he was cutting.

"He only began to tell me. Said we should continue tomorrow. I agreed."

"Hmm. But what did he tell you?"

"Things about my past."

"What kind of things?"

"Lumi. Not now." Victor answered briskly. Regretting his tone, he cleaned his throat and glanced up back to her with a softer expression. "Please. I will tell you, okay? Let me concentrate on making dinner to a princess tonight."

"Well, we are in a castle."

"We are." Victor said with a smile.

"This is amazing." Lumi said between bites. He had served exactly what she'd ordered. Except for the gohan. He really had no idea of what gohan was. Of what gohan simply was. He had cooked rice with onion and garlic bits, seasoning it with salt and some herb. It was really good, but it was no gohan. "I can't believe you pulled this off in the middle of the night in less than thirty minutes." The ribs were perfectly roasted but she was having difficulty cutting them. Without looking at Victor, she decided to eat with her own hands.

"I'm that good." he said as he ate the ribs he had served for himself. He wasn't really hungry, but the smells were so good he hadn't been able to stop himself. When Lumi took the ribs with her hands, he watched, amused.

"You're that good." Lumi agreed. "Do you have peppermint jelly?"

"Peppermint jelly?"

"Yeah, jam. Whatever."

"I don't think so. Why?"

"Lambs with peppermint jelly are a match made in heaven." She wanted to bring back his father's subject desperately. The ice she had seen in his face told her things were much graver than Victor himself had thought. But what worried her the most, had been the hurt. That just under the surface hurt that only someone very deeply hurt would show. His father was getting lower and lower on her tab. Not that what she thought would hardly matter to him, but she was really starting to despise the man. Victor had proven himself again and again that he was a good resourceful man. Accomplished and that fought for his dreams. Not to mention loving, kind and considerate. He...

"What?" Victor asked when he caught Lumi staring at him for several seconds.

"Ahn? Nothing. My mind wandered. Sorry. You were saying."

"You..." he was going to joke about Lumi being in love with him, but since those were his feelings precisely, if she returned the question, he wouldn't be able to lie. And, after analyzing her face, he understood she was still thinking about what his father had said. As she ate her last bite, he decided it was better done there, while they were alone than in the morning when someone could listen. He cleaned his throat and opened the wound he had fought the whole night to close.

"My father wanted to discuss the truth about my mother."

***

"Do you need help?" I said after watching Eli work for a few minutes from the bed. He was sitting at the desk, typing on his laptop. He had leaned back, rubbing his face impatiently from time to time, and came back to type some more, only to repeat his nervous rub again. I was charmed by him. Since that afternoon I had found feelings in me that now surprised me I hadn't noticed before. Feelings that were planted while I still was his student. When I spoke, he gave a little jump and turned to my direction.

"Did I wake you up?"

"No. I just did it on my own. You seem to be having trouble. Can I help?"

"Hmm. Would you mind reading what I've wrote? I can't decide if it should end like this."

"Of course not." I left the warmth of the bed, pulled on my robe and sat on his lap. He snuggled me close and I read his dissertation leaning my head on his chest.

"I think it's perfect." I said, but he didn't say a word. "Eli?" I glanced up and saw him sleeping. He was in an impossible position and holding me on top of that, but somehow had found comfort in that. I slowly disentangled myself from him, and standing pushed his chair to the bedside. In a low voice, I told him to move to the bed and he obeyed. I turned off the lights, saved his file and climbed back to bed with him. His breathing lulled me to a sweet, sweet sleep.

***

"My father said this was never supposed to be made public. As if letting me know my own past would be the same as leaking it out to the press. That shows you how much part of the family I really am." When Lumi remained silent, he went on. "Apparently while he was married to my m... to Anette, he had an affair." Victor got up, caught a glass in a cupboard and filled it with water. He gulped it down to the last drop but still felt his throat dry. Resigned, he sat back. "My... damn it, Anette apparently never had had the intention to have children. My father wanted an heir. Needed one. It's one of the family rules to have an heir in order to take full control of the companies and of the business the family has. His cousin already had two sons and was very interested in taking over the Allen Manor. My father then, decided that Angèle with whom he was already having an affair, would be perfect to give birth to a child that would fill in for his business interests."

"Victor..." Lumi had noticed he was no longer calling Angèle, Angelique. And that had made her heart start to ache.

"I know it's horrible to say it like that, but this is horrible. Angèle got pregnant and eight months later she gave birth to a child. Anette and Angèle were in France pretending that my mother only wanted to be close to her family for the baby to be born. When the baby was one month old, they came back. The baby's name was Emmanuelle." Lumi froze. What?

"Emmanuelle?"

"Yes. My father is Emmanuelle's father. I had always wondered who her father really was."

"But... if Anette wasn't your mother... and if Angelique had just given birth to Emmanuelle... Then... who is your mother?"

"A woman called Nicole. He says she was a maid here. But I don't believe him."

"Oh, Victor..."

"When he told me my real mother wasn't Anette, I was actually relieved. I'd always wished that Angelique had been my real mother. But truth is, I'm not only a bastard child, I... I don't even know what you could call what I am. Well, I did wonder why I was blonde since my father's hair was black and Anette's was brown, but just thought that it was a grandparent or something that had been blond."

"This.. Nicole. What happened to her?"

"She died last week."

"She... what?!"

"Yes. That is why my father summoned me here. He wanted to discuss, as if I was a problem to take care of, my inheritance."

"What did she leave you?"

"The house he bought her when I was born. As a gift. I don't want it."

"Kit has no idea about this?"

"It gets worse. When Meredith found out about Emmanuelle and me, she was so disturbed by all of it that she got sick. Her health was very strained already when she found out about the cancer."

"She.. died because of it?"
"Not really because of it. But do you understand? Maybe, if her health hadn't been already strained, maybe she'd have survived the treatment."
"I.. know. I've had the same in my family. Go on."

"My father wants me to keep all of this from Kit. For her own sake. That heartless prick thinks he's some sort of god."

"I think nothing of the sort." Arthur said from the doorway. Lumi that had been startled by his voice, had nearly fallen from the stool. She was on her feet and looking from Arthur to Victor.

"I don't want to talk with you. I've already told you that we are leaving in the morning."

"Do as you please. I'll send the papers for you to sign via mail if need be. But I'll not have you speak to me like this in my own house."

"Fine, I'll call for a cab and we'll leave your house this moment."

"Don't be ridiculous."

"You're the one that's ridiculous. You're an unfaithful, adulterous man. Have you no shame? This honor you threw in my face every chance you had, where is it?"

"You insolent, ungrateful..."

"Say it. Bastard. That's right. It's what I am, isn't it? What you made me?" Victor was breathing fast. He was livid, fury spreading in waves that seemed to push Lumi miles away. She desperately wanted to leave the kitchen but had no courage to leave Victor behind or call attention to herself. Both men seemed oblivious to her presence now. Arthur's lips were trembling with rage as he looked at his own son as if he was something disgusting he had just found crawling on the kitchen floor.

"Yes. You're a bastard. Be grateful that I won't be cutting you out completely."

"You can keep all the money you so devotedly fought to have. Or should I say fucked to have?"

"Out. OUT!" Arthur walked fast in Victor's direction and grabbed the front of his sweater.

"No!" Lumi screamed. Both men turned in her direction, both startled to find her there watching them. Victor's face was red and his eyes were wide and scary. His fisted hands were shaking and had been about to grab Arthur's. Arthur leaned heavily on his cane and lips still trembling in fury, he let out a shaky breath.

"I want you gone before lunch." Arthur said. "Horace'll take you to wherever you wish to go. Your mother's house will be sold and the money will be deposited in your account by Monday. Furthermore, we have nothing else to talk about. Ever." Arthur said and left. His cane echoed through the corridor as he walked away. Lumi turned to Victor. He sat heavily on the stool and rubbed his face with his hands. For a second she was afraid he was going to cry, but suddenly he straightened and faced her. "I'm very sorry about this. I really shouldn't have brought you here. I'm very, very sorry."

"No. Don't apologize. Please."

"I mean it. And please, let me apologize. Because I'm going to ask another thing from you."

"Okay. You can ask." Victor got up and coming around the table, placed his hands on her shoulders. Lumi thought he was going to kiss her, but he only held her there, at arm's length.

"I want to leave this house tonight. Now. I don't want to stay here or to make you stay here another second."

"Oh.. Okay. I haven't unpacked, I'm ready to go. Are you calling a cab?"

"No." Victor smiled sadly. "We're going to gave a little fun."

***

Lumi couldn't believe where the night had gone. Not two hours ago she had been sleeping on a dream bed, in a dream bedroom, in a castle. And now, they were speeding inside his father's black Aston Martin DB9 toward London at three in the morning. After getting their things, they had rushed to the garage. Apparently all of the car keys stayed inside a safe box in the garage itself. Victor had only tried three times before he managed to open the safe. "It's always his own birthdate on his crap. Self-centered son of a bitch." Victor said. It had been either the BMW or the Aston Martin.

Lumi's hands were freezing. She had put on her boots and thickest coat, but she still felt chilled to her bones. Not really used to sitting on the driver's seat on the left, she glanced at Victor on her right side driving as if possessed.

"What are you going to do with the car when we reach London?"

"We'll leave it at his cousin's house. I've left a note in the garage for Horace."

"What did you say?"

"That he'd better come get the car before lunch time." Lumi laughed. Victor glanced at her and softening, reached for her hand. Lumi accepted it immediately.

***

When I woke up, Eli was back at the desk and seemed to have been there for the last hour or so. The sun was already high and I could smell breakfast inside the room.

"Morning..."

"Morning. You took me to bed last night?"

"Yeah, I picked you up in my arms and brought you to bed. It was very romantic." I said with a smile from the bed.

"Oh really? You carried me to bed?"

"I did. Don't you believe me?"

"Of course I do. You're so believable there with that mischievous smile."

"You are the only man I know that can say mischievous before nine in the morning and sound natural."

"I'll take it as a compliment." he took the tray that had been left over the dining table and brought it to bed. "Breakfast in bed, dear."

"Hmm, nice." I sat up and ate the belgium waffles he had ordered for me. I was a sucker for sweets. "Really nice. So, how's the day going to be? Is Dr. Brunette going to try to steal you away again?" Eli blushed and gave me a shy smile. He was so cute.

"She wasn't trying to steal me away. She was just..."

"Trying to remember you of the past? Same thing. Are you?"

"Anne... I'm in love with you."

"I..."

"It's okay. It's okay for you to know now. I won't push you, okay? I know you're not there yet. But Dr. McCarthy does not represent any threat. So, rest assured I'm no one's but yours."

I had a the lightest impression that my mouth was hanging open. My heart was beating faster than I could remember it had ever done. I felt it swell and discovered, as he told me not to worry about answering back, that I loved him back. I was about to explain that I could answer when the phone rang. Eli turned to the nightstand and picked it up.

"Yes? Yes, I'll take the call. Hello. Lumi?"

"Lumi?"

"Yeah, she's right here. No. Okay. You too." Eli passed me the receiver and got up signaling that he was going to shower.

"Lumi?"

"Anne! You'll never guess where I am now."

"Vegas?"

"No."

"LA?"

"No. Guess!"

"At home, sprawled on the couch annoyed that you don't want to cook." Lumi laughed.

"You know, that could be the truth. But no. I'm sitting in the hotel lobby."

"Which hotel lobby?"

"Citadines Holborn-Covent Garden London."

"YOU'RE HERE?!"

"Hell yeah, baby! Can you come down? It's against the hotel rules to let people up."

"I'll be down in five minutes... Lumi, what the hell?"

"You won't believe the ammount of stuff I have to tell you. Come down." And the phone clicked off.

***

"His mother...?"

"Yeah... He hasn't mentioned this subject since the fight in the kitchen. I'm worried." Lumi said rubbing her hands together as she did when she was nervous. I knew that. But that wasn't why I was surprised. When she admitted she was worried there was a glint in her eyes I'd never seen before. You see, I was always the one that surrendered, that fell in love, fell in lust, that let feeling run free. Lumi was always the opposite. She kept herself from feeling too much, from trusting, from getting hurt. But I could only look at her and see she had lost the battle. My baby sister was desperately in love. Desperately. And desperate because she knew it.

"Lumi... When did that happen?"

"Last night. This morning... I don't know. Between last night and this morning."

"Hmm. You know, I think you didn't understand my question, but I think your answer was right anyway."

"What?"

"You're in love with Victor."

"I... How..? Crap... Yeah... I'm not even asking how the hell do you know that."

"Hmmm... Where's Victor?"

"He checked me in this morning when we arrived and he left saying he was going to take care of the car and deal with some things. He said he'd be back before eleven. So I got up and waited until nine to call you. How a re you, by the way? Loving London?"

"Loving London, Eli..."

"You are?!"

"I am." I said letting my smile as bright as I felt my heart in my chest. We were both in love, in London and with the men we loved. Despite the problems Victor was going through, this had become the most perfect trip of my life. I couldn't wait to walk around with Lumi. We could take our goofy pictures, shop as if we had no bills to worry about... My heart beat happily in my chest. Misery gone, missing Lumi gone, only happiness remained. On an impulse I leaned forward and caught Lumi on a tight embrace. Lumi hugged me back a little ackwardly, but I only laughed. I straightened myself back and looked her in the eyes. She was hurting for the man she loved. It was wonderful. "Get used to being touched, baby. Victor's going to want to do a lot of touching pretty soon. When are you going to tell him?"

"Only after we go back home, I think. He's going through too much now."

"Yeah... Or maybe, hearing that the woman he loves, loves him back, might help heal his wounded heart."

"That was so tacky... but maybe you're right... I think..." Lumi looked to the door for the hundreth time since I'd come down. The elevator's bell rang and its doors opened letting a smiling Eli out. He walked towards us and kissing Lumi's cheek, leaned to kiss me afterwards. Lumi smiled at me and looked back to Eli.

"So, when are you two going out for shopping?" he asked as he put on his brown leather coat. Whenever I saw it remembered that first date on the Café. I loved that jacket.

"Hopefully, as soon as possible. I'm waiting for Victor."

"Oh, are you two together?" Eli asked. I couldn't hold my laugh when Lumi blushed. She too, was very cute.

"N.. not really..." Lumi stammered.

"Hmmm. Okay. Well girls, I have to go. Anne, your conference passport is on the nightstand okay? I'll see you after it, okay?" he leaned in and kissed me. I wanted to tell him, to yell to the whole lobby that I loved him. But as I had decided earlier that morning, I was going to do it after the conference, when they went out to celebrate.

"Okay."

"Have fun. And be careful!" Eli said and walked out.

"He's going on foot?" Lumi asked while she checked the door once again.

"Yeah, The LSE is two or three blocks away."

"Hmm. Nice. Where in God's Name is that man?"

I leaned back in my sofa chair and watched Lumi. I knew how she felt. As if the world couldn't go on until you knew the person you loved was all right. As if you weren't able to do anything else until you knew everything was fine. Thirteen minutes later Victor walked through the lobby. Lumi jumped out of her sofa chair and met him half way. For a second I thought she was going to throw herself in his arms, but she stopped in front of him and yelled her lungs out.

"Where the hell was you?!"

"Sorry, I lost track of time. But I'm not late."

"I know. I was worried. Where were you?"

"You were worried about me?" Victor asked amused. Then he looked closer and saw the glint of tears in Lumi's eyes. She had been worrying about him since the night before, he could see it now. He put his arms around her and held tight. "I'm fine. Really. You don't have to worry anymore. Have you encountered Anne?" Lumi stretched her arm in my direction and pointed her finger at me without saying anything. It was the first time Victor embraced her. She didn't want it to stop, but Victor stepped back and came in my direction. I got up and accepted his hug. Unlike the one he had just shared with Lumi, I felt like hugging one of my brothers. He smiled and looked back at Lumi that was walking slowly back to the chair as if she hadn't slept in a week. Victor looked back at me and raised his brows. Somehow I understood that he was wondering which one of us was going to make Lumi sleep. I pointed to him and smiled. His brows knit as I went to Lumi.

"You go sleep a little, okay?"

"No, I want to go out. Since the jackass has finally returned I..."

The sound of cars crashing filled the air. For a moment neither one of us moved. Deafening horns buzzed and more craches were heard. It felt like minutes, but seconds after the first crash, screams sounded and soon there was so much noise that people were leaving their stores and lobbies to go to the streets see what had happened. Victor, Lumi and I went outside with the crowd and walked slowly to the accident site. We were chatting up normally, Lumi was telling about the Aston Martin and having riden a BMW as well, when someone said that there was a man in the middle of the crashed cars.

***

I remember not caring. I remember being only slightly curious about the supposed man that had been hit by the cars. I remember standing on my toes to see the man. And I remember seeing the leather jacket I loved so much through the people standing around his body, through the cars. I wished I could forget the blood that soaked the leather jacket I loved.