Earth Blend (7 page)

"Door's open." Eli
called out.

Julie walked in
and grinned at the sight that greeted her. Eli was wearing an apron
and cooking breakfast. "I'm not sure what to ask first. Why are you
cooking when you don't need to eat or where did you get the apron?"
Julie laughed.

"I promised your
Uncle that I would make sure you ate. The apron... came with the
new pots and pans I purchased." He smiled at her. "Now come and
eat."

Julie felt her
heart flutter when he smiled at her. Her mind drifted back to the
clearing in the woods. Eli and his Earthling family had banded
together to help rescue her and Austin from Luke, the evil man who
had tracked her to Virginia. Eli was barefoot and shirtless and
that was the image that flashed through her mind. She lowered her
head and hoped her blush did not show. "Have you heard anything
from Suron?" Suron was the eldest of the Earthlings who was upset
with Eli for using the Earth's forces to help in rescuing them.

"You needn't worry
yourself about Suron." Eli placed a steaming plate of eggs and
sausage in front of Julie.

She reached for
his hand before he pulled it away from the plate. "I do worry. You
should not be punished for trying to help me."

Eli raised her
hand to his lips and kissed it. "Eat." He said, returning to the
stove.

His lips left a
tingling on her hand that she quickly put out of her mind as her
stomach once again growled. She began to eat and relished every
bite.

"So, what are your
plans for today?" He asked.

After taking a sip
of the orange juice he set down, she responded. "Well, before work
I'm going to see if I can find a job that pays actual money. Then
I'm going to the hospital to try and explain my absence."

"I told them you
had a sick relative, remember?"

"I know but that
does not cover the questions they will ask. I hate lying. I want
that part of my life to be over."

Eli walked around
the breakfast counter and placed his hand on her shoulder. "This is
a new beginning. It will take some getting used to."

Julie smiled up at
him.

"If I'd known you
were cooking, we would have been here sooner." Marcus said.

Julie turned to
see Marcus and Austin. Austin was staring angrily at Eli.

Marcus was an
intern at the hospital and was the first person to tell her about
what she was. He and Austin were both Blends. Austin only became
aware of his origin recently.

"Why are you guys
here?" Julie asked. It wasn't that she was unhappy to see them; she
just wanted to get a lot accomplished.

"That's the thanks I get for wanting to feed
your
–
" Marcus
began to say.

"Marcus, it's
fine. Jules, I just wanted to make sure you got something to eat."
Austin interrupted.

"I made sure she
did." Eli said.

Julie stood and
faced all three men. "Okay, here's the deal. Eli, thank you for the
food. Marcus, no thank you. Austin..." She paused. "I'm going to be
okay... and you are too. I just need time. I need to take care of
myself. Now, I'm going to leave you all here... with your
testosterone." She left the apartment.

Marcus was the
only one to chuckle. "So Doc... you get oven mitts to match the
apron?"

Silence permeated
the air as Austin and Eli continued the stare down.

Marcus shrugged.
"Since she's obviously not going to finish this..." Marcus reached
for a sausage link on the plate. Eli moved it out of his reach.

"Leave." Eli
ordered.

Marcus grinned
lopsidedly before turning to leave. "Come on." He placed a hand on
Austin's shoulder. The boy stared at Eli for another moment before
turning to leave with Marcus.

Eli sighed heavily
and closed his eyes. He had not meant to be so rude. "Why am I
having so much trouble controlling my emotions?" He wondered aloud.
He rubbed a hand down his face. "Work, that's what I need." He
cleaned up and left for work.

Marcus drove with
Austin to the hospital. "I'm just going to eat here."

"Can I use your
car?" Austin asked. "I want to go see my mom... step-mom. Uncle
Gordi said he called her."

"Yeah, sure. You
wreck it, you bought it. I'll call you when I need to be picked
up."

They both exited
the car. Marcus handed Austin the keys. "Don't make me regret
this." Marcus closed the door after Austin got behind the wheel. He
leaned in the open window. "Good luck with your mom."

"Step-mom."

Marcus pursed his lips but said nothing. Tapping the car he
turned and walked into the hospital.

Austin drove for
about a mile and a half toward town when he saw Julie walking on
the side of the road. He pulled over a few feet in front of her.
"Need a ride?" He asked as he exited the car.

"Marcus let you
drive his car?"

"Surprisingly,
yes." He smiled.

Julie's heart
skipped a beat at the sunshine that radiated from Austin's smile
straight to her heart. She tried not to let it sway her from her
desire to be independent and take things slower with him. Averting
her eyes from his smile, she began walking again. Austin stepped in
front of her.

"Julie. Please...
don't shut me out. I thought.... we were going to deal with this
together. I need you." He placed his hands on her arms.

"Austin. We are...
going to deal with this. I just need some time. I want to get both
my feet planted on the ground. This is my first chance to be on my
own."

"We can be on our
own together."

They looked at
each other then laughed.

"Okay, maybe that
did not make sense but you know what I mean."

Julie laughed
along with him. She understood what he meant but decided to change
the subject. "So, where are you off to?"

"I talked to Uncle
Gordi last night. He said he called my step-mom to let her know I
was okay."

Julie picked up on
his new term for his mother. "You're going to see her?"

"Yeah. He told me
she is not aware of the whole Blend thing. I just want to know why
I was lied to, you know?"

"What about your
Dad?"

Austin leaned back
against the car. "He's in France. I haven't seen him in over three
years. He calls once in a while. I'm sure Uncle Gordi called him.
Ball's in his court."

"Don't be too hard
on them, Austin. We both have a lot of adjustments to make but I
think it is important for you to not forget the fact that they are
your family. I don't..." She was going to say that she had no
family but bit her tongue instead.

Austin reached for
her and pulled her to him.

"We need each
other." He said, brushing her hair back.

Looking into his
eyes, she felt the familiar sensation. When his lips touched hers,
her knees grew weak. The kiss reminded her of the first one they
shared in the park. She wanted to lose herself in it, but found the
strength to pull back. "Austin." She breathed, resting her forehead
on his.

"I know, I know.
Miss Independent."

Julie smiled.

"Are you too
independent to accept a ride into town?"

As Julie squinted
her eyes in thought, a loud clap of thunder vibrated through the
air. Looking up into the sky she saw dark storm clouds. "Where did
they come from?" As if in answer to her question, a lightning bolt
struck the ground near them. "Oh crap!"

"C'mon!" Austin
grabbed her hand and got Julie safely in the car. He had just made
it into the driver's seat when the sky opened up and released a
pounding rain.

"Oh my gosh. What
is it with the weather around here?" Julie exclaimed.

"We almost got
soaked... again." Austin laughed.

Julie smiled at
the memory of them getting soaking wet during a previous storm.

"So where can I
take you?"

"I want to try and
find work in town. I need a job that pays."

"Why don't you
just use your Numera?"

"Austin... that is
not okay. We can't just go around using our abilities to benefit
ourselves."

"Why not?"

"You are not
seriously asking me this. If all the Blends went around using the
Numera to get rich, it would be like cheating. It's just not
right."

"Jules, we're the
only two other Numeras. Uncle Gordi told me it is very rare. He is
one, and was surprised when he found out I could see numbers
too."

Julie contemplated
the fact that only her, Austin and Uncle G could see numbers. "Did
he say it was okay to use it for financial gain?"

"Well, no. Not exactly, but why not? Marcus
said
–
"

"Stop right there.
Please tell me you are not going to take advice from him."

When Marcus had
explained some of the abilities to Julie, he took his explanation
of the Lure a bit too far.

"He's not that bad. You should cut him some slack."
Austin
suggested.

Julie wanted to respond but did not trust
herself to be civil. “So can we get going? I don't have a lot of
time before work.”

“
Sure.” Austin said and put the car
into gear. It only took a few minutes to get to town. “Is there any
place in particular you want to go?”

They drove past the General Francis
Marion Hotel. “Any place but there. Too many bad memories.” She
said. It was there that one of the desk clerks was found murdered
while she was staying there. Doctor Elsworth had drove her home one
night only to find the nosy clerk snooping around her room. He was
murdered later that night. Julie
realized afterward
that he was murdered by a man
named Fred who was working with Luke to find her.

“
I have some pretty good memories with
you there.” Austin reminded her.

She looked at him and smiled shyly. There
had been some very special moments she shared there with Austin.
“The rain stopped.” She commented, clearing her throat. She changed
the subject. “Just pull over anywhere.”

Austin pulled over. “Good luck with your job
search. Stop by the Laundromat when you are done. If I'm free, I'll
drive you to the hospital.”

“
Thank you. Go easy on your mom, okay?
Listen to her side with an open mind.”

Austin did not correct her noun of choice.
He simply nodded then asked, “Can I get a good luck kiss?”

Julie gave a quick nod and leaned closer to
him. Their lips met in a gentle kiss that left Julie feeling
lightheaded.

“
You okay?” He whispered gently in her
ear.

“
Yes... I think.” She said, exhaling
deeply. She sat back in her seat. “The air just felt heavy.” She
paused and looked at him. “Did you just use Lure?”

Austin smiled. “I might have. I just
wanted to test it out, Marcus told me all the cool things you can
do with it and
–”

“
Austin, no! Using the Lure that way
is wrong. You are taking away a person's control... their will to
choose.”

“
You used it on Luke, I felt it. How
do I know you didn't use it on me when we met?”

Julie was stunned into silence. She had used
the Lure on Luke to get him distracted so he would not go after
Eli. She never used it on Austin, at least not intentionally. She
knew nothing of the ability until Marcus told her about it. He said
her Lure was strong and taught her how to rein it in. She'd had no
knowledge of it when she met Austin. “I... I don't know.” Julie
said, staring straight ahead as she contemplated the
possibility.

“
Julie... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to
insinuate that. I'm still trying to process everything.”

Julie knew Austin was talking but could not
focus on his words.

“
Jules.” He said, placing an hand on
her shoulder.

She looked at him; at his dirty blond hair,
slightly spiked on top, and at his beautiful blue eyes, and sighed.
“I don't know if I did, Austin. If so, it wasn't intentional. I
feel like I messed up your life.”

Austin had not shown any Blend abilities
until after their relationship became intimate. She blamed
herself.

“
You didn't mess up my life, Jules.
The abilities would have surfaced eventually. You can't blame
yourself.

“
I'm going to go.” She said and opened
the car door.

“
Don't... don't leave like
this.”

“
We'll talk... later.” She said and
exited the car before he could try and stop her. Julie did not look
back and was glad that he did not get out to follow her. She walked
for a few blocks before sitting down on a bench with her
thoughts.

“
Julie... right?”

A young woman had stopped in front of her
and asked her the question. Julie thought the woman looked
familiar. She had short blonde hair and was dressed in a business
suit.

“
I'm Cindy. I was your waitress at the
cafe. You were there with Austin.” She added when it looked like
Julie didn't remember.

Julie smiled, “Of course, Cindy. I'm sorry I
didn't recognize you.”

“
Must be the new clothes.” Cindy said,
posing slightly and laughing. “I got a new job. I'm working in an
office off of Elm Street.”

“
I'm job hunting myself.”

“
They may still be hiring at my place.
How fast can you type?”

“
Type?” Julie asked. “I never really
learned. How fast do you have to be?

“
You didn't take keyboarding in high
school?”

“
I was home-schooled. I didn't have
access to a computer or typewriter.” Julie knew what she said was
entirely a lie. Any schooling she had was all done on her own. She
did have access to books, but she was never allowed to use a
computer. She had already learned to read before she was taken. She
read everything she could get her hands on.