"Somewhere Beyond the Sea"
Chapter 16
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Hallie consorts Elijah when she realizes her situation is more difficult than she'd imagined.
Feedback?: Oh yes, please, I love that stuff. ;)
Disclaimer: I don't know these people, how they talk or anything. Nor am I Al Roker. Just to clear that up!
She couldn't believe she had fallen asleep. Her room was dark but outside her window she could hear the triumphant popping of fireworks in the sky. Austrailian Freedom Day had fallen upon her own day of emancipation, only not quite as freeing as she'd hoped. She got up and dressed to see her father and was out the back door of the Opera House a few moments later. Looking around, it dawned on her. She had no car. She dug around her purse for her cellphone.
"Maggie?" she spoke softly into the reciever, expecting her friends voice but alarmed when the greeting from the other end had come from Elijah.
"Yello'?" he chirped sounding strangely comfortable answering his new girlfriends phone. Hallie's brows knitted.
"Elijah?" she asked, sounding a bit redundant.
"You've got 'em. Speak your peace." he replied, as if he was pretending to not know it was her.
"Stop being a moron and listen to me." she began rushed, "Get Maggie." Hallie shocked herself by her forcefulness. Must be the new rush of hormones in her body.
"She's in the shower. Are you okay?" he asked her, concerned.
"I need a ride to the hospital," she said in a voice she hoped sounded close enough to an order.
Elijah answered this with a sharp, hurried, "Are you okay?!"
"Yes! God, please can you just pick me up? I need to see my Father."
"Oh hyeah..." he said, chuckling, "I forgot." Had he been within arm reach he'd have gotten a good whack for that.
"Yes, well, okay...please, come and get me." she pleaded, irritatedly.
"I don't have the car." he told her plaintively.
"What?" she asked, confused.
"Uh, Billy and you have it. Remember?" replied Elijah sounding close to saying 'Duh!' before finishing,
"Wait, did something happen? Why don't you have my car?"
"Its a long story and not one I have time nor patience to tell you at the present time."
"You guys didn't crash it, did you?" he asked, to which Hallie scoffed, "Well, its either that or you had a fight and he left." Hallie remained speechless by this revelation. She had to hand it to him. He hit the nail pretty much on the head there.
"The second one. Look, I really don't want to talk about it." she told him as she slowly rubbed her forehead over with her hand, then added stressfully, "You should know of all people what he did,
Elijah." She wasn't sure she should even have insinuated that to him. That he knew what Billy had done in New York City. But the words had already left her mouth and hung in the air, so to speak before he answered her.
Sounding confused, he interjected, "Excuse me? I'm confused. You mean, the pregnancy? You two fought over that?"
"Look, as much as I'd love to use you as a way to prove how daft men really can be, I'd rather go see how my sick father is. Is there anyone else you know of that I could call?"
"There's always Dom," said Elijah as Hallie cursed beneath her breath. She had expected him to say that. That would go over real well with her parents, for sure. 'Hey guys, look the other one was kind of a dud, so I'm going with this one again. Okay?' like she were placing bids on prizes for the Price is Right and it was looking more like the dining table and chairs were in her price range.
"Dom? That's it?" she asked him helplessly.
"Or there's Ian. That bloke that works with Dom. I hear he's up around these parts." informed Elijah.
Hallie scoffed.
"Thanks but no thanks. I know all about that one."
"Alright then, just call Dom." Elijah persisted. Hallie bit her bottom lip.
"I don't know if that is such a good idea."
"Are you guys still not talking?" he asked, almost sounding like he'd forgotten the recent history between the two. But that was Elijah, never coorelating the facts with the present situation.
"We are, we are talking. But I'm not going to call him up for any favors, Lijh." she reinforced sternly, almost reminding herself.
"Whatever, Hallie, but look - we can't take yeh unless you or I get ahold of Billy and he hasn't been answering his cell." Hallie stopped short of breath and froze mid-step.
"He hasn't been?" she asked, in a tone close to sounding worried, "Well, does anyone know where he is?"
"I have good reason to believe someone might, just not anyone we know." he told her, which sounded like some cheeky quip of Dom's. She harassed a bug bite on her arm as a way of attacking something and huffed.
"Well, I wonder..." she thought aloud, "We did get into a fight. A rather bad one."
"I'd check the pubs first then." replied Elijah, finishing her thought. Hallie gave a sigh.
"Yeh, just what I want to be doing on Freedom Day. Walking in and out of pubs for that no good wanker." she grumbled, tugging at her purse strap and looking off at the fireworks with a glare of vengeance, as if they were the reason for her problems.
"Technically, you won't be able to unless you find someone to drive you." interjects Elijah with yet another one of his famous rhetorics.
"Yes, thank you, Captain Obvious." came back Hallie rolling her eyes.
"Anytime." he added with an unwavering tone of optimism in his voice. "Well, I better get off so you can call Dom." he finished, just as Hallie had forgotten about that suggestion.
"Why do you keep telling me to go off with Dom?" she asked, irritatedly but curious.
"Have I been?" replied Elijah, cheekily, knowing full well he had been.
"Only like every other sentence." Hallie reminded him.
"Because..." he elongated the word, then added, "you said you wouldn't call Ian and no one else around here but a cab could take you and it could take up to an hour to get a cab on Freedom Day."
Hallie sighed, "Good solid point you've got there."
"Thank you, I was quite proud of it."
"So I guess I call Dom?" asked Hallie, still unsure and willing any suggestions at this point, even if they were from someone she couldn't even trust playing Go Fish.
"Atta girl." said Elijah, leaving Hallie to wonder if maybe he had winked when he said that as her uncle did just before patting her away on her bottom when she was four.
"Okay, don't say that...it comes off sounding like my Uncle Nes and thats a bad thing."
Elijah laughs, "Okay. Cross my heart and hope to eat pie."
"Ooo, don't say that word either." she chuckles lightly, salivating at the mention of food.
"What? Heart? Cross? Buns?" he said, even making himself chuckle which was pretty sad considering the pun wasn't one of his bests.
"No," she laughed, "you psycho! Pie! I've been craving it all week."
Once more, Elijah lets out one soft, gutteral laugh, "Okay, then I will not say the 'P' word." he says, Hallie imagining him mouthing the words just to spite her.
"Appreciate it. Got to keep my girlish figure, ya know..." she says, laughing alittle as well, which she didn't even feel like doing but out of appreciation for Elijah's good mood, did anyways.
"Not for very long," he reminds her. Hallie lets out a soft puff of cold air from her lungs and looks down slowly to her stomach, feeling so tired she almost thought she noticed it had gotten bigger. She felt her stomach lightly over with her fingertips for a moment.
"Elijah," she began shockingly sweet, "I'd love to stay on the phone with you but I've got to call for a ride."
"Dom?" asked Elijah.
"Again with that?" replied Hallie, chuckling, "Look, I hear his name out of your mouth one more time and I tell Maggie your in love with him. Don't tempt me. I've got pictures."
He chuckles at this, "Fine. Be that way.", which makes a Hallie smile.
"Tell Maggie I will call her soon. And Elijah?" she began, to this Elijah let out an enthusiastic 'hmm', "Take care of my girl." she smiled.
"You know I will. You take care, Hallie. And oh yeh, if you hear from Billy, tell him I want my car back!" he nearly shouts and laughs off beat. Hallie nods but forgets he can't see her a few moments too late.
"Bye Lijh." Hallie says just before hanging up. She looks into the glowing screen of her cell phone and begins dialing Dominic's number, a number she had wondered if maybe she'd forgotten. She began punching in keys, which all appeared to composite the correct number. She hit send.
She'd considered hanging up several times in the few moments it took between her dialing and him answering the phone, each time ending in a new and irritating excuse for her to stay on the line.
"Hallie?" came his British accented voice through the other end, startling her at first.
"How did you know it was me?" she asked, accusingly before hitting her forehead, just as she remembered the grand invention of Caller ID, to which Dom was gracious enough to remind her about.
"I, uh, wasn't expecting you to call this soon," replied Dom, impishly. Hallie wrung her hand across her purse strap once or twice before answering.
"Yeah, uh, me too." mumbled Hallie and continued, "Dom, I need your help." she decided to just flat out ask and get it out of the way. She heard some shuffling over the other end and a door shutting.
"What do you need?" he finally asked, speaking slightly louder now.
"Nothing big. Just a ride. I need to see my Father. He's in the hospital. He had a heart attack. He's okay though, this happened yesterday but I need to see him before the visiting hours are over and I get kicked off the family Christmas card this year." she informed him, in one long breath of words that seemed to slur together. She stood still a moment, wondering if he had caught any of it.
He let out a sigh, "I uh...uh...okay. Okay, yeh, I'll be right there. Wait, where is there? The opera house, still?" he asked her, sounding very distracted.
"Yes." she replied softly but flatly. This felt more awkward than she'd thought it would be. Her stomach was doing backflips as she finished, "I appreciate this."
And Dom replied, as if he hadn't heard any of the gratefulness in her voice, "Okay, I'll see you there soon. Ta." and hung up. Just like that. The sour feeling in her stomach curdled. This had been a very bad idea.
To Be Continued!
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Hallie consorts Elijah when she realizes her situation is more difficult than she'd imagined.
Feedback?: Oh yes, please, I love that stuff. ;)
Disclaimer: I don't know these people, how they talk or anything. Nor am I Al Roker. Just to clear that up!
She couldn't believe she had fallen asleep. Her room was dark but outside her window she could hear the triumphant popping of fireworks in the sky. Austrailian Freedom Day had fallen upon her own day of emancipation, only not quite as freeing as she'd hoped. She got up and dressed to see her father and was out the back door of the Opera House a few moments later. Looking around, it dawned on her. She had no car. She dug around her purse for her cellphone.
"Maggie?" she spoke softly into the reciever, expecting her friends voice but alarmed when the greeting from the other end had come from Elijah.
"Yello'?" he chirped sounding strangely comfortable answering his new girlfriends phone. Hallie's brows knitted.
"Elijah?" she asked, sounding a bit redundant.
"You've got 'em. Speak your peace." he replied, as if he was pretending to not know it was her.
"Stop being a moron and listen to me." she began rushed, "Get Maggie." Hallie shocked herself by her forcefulness. Must be the new rush of hormones in her body.
"She's in the shower. Are you okay?" he asked her, concerned.
"I need a ride to the hospital," she said in a voice she hoped sounded close enough to an order.
Elijah answered this with a sharp, hurried, "Are you okay?!"
"Yes! God, please can you just pick me up? I need to see my Father."
"Oh hyeah..." he said, chuckling, "I forgot." Had he been within arm reach he'd have gotten a good whack for that.
"Yes, well, okay...please, come and get me." she pleaded, irritatedly.
"I don't have the car." he told her plaintively.
"What?" she asked, confused.
"Uh, Billy and you have it. Remember?" replied Elijah sounding close to saying 'Duh!' before finishing,
"Wait, did something happen? Why don't you have my car?"
"Its a long story and not one I have time nor patience to tell you at the present time."
"You guys didn't crash it, did you?" he asked, to which Hallie scoffed, "Well, its either that or you had a fight and he left." Hallie remained speechless by this revelation. She had to hand it to him. He hit the nail pretty much on the head there.
"The second one. Look, I really don't want to talk about it." she told him as she slowly rubbed her forehead over with her hand, then added stressfully, "You should know of all people what he did,
Elijah." She wasn't sure she should even have insinuated that to him. That he knew what Billy had done in New York City. But the words had already left her mouth and hung in the air, so to speak before he answered her.
Sounding confused, he interjected, "Excuse me? I'm confused. You mean, the pregnancy? You two fought over that?"
"Look, as much as I'd love to use you as a way to prove how daft men really can be, I'd rather go see how my sick father is. Is there anyone else you know of that I could call?"
"There's always Dom," said Elijah as Hallie cursed beneath her breath. She had expected him to say that. That would go over real well with her parents, for sure. 'Hey guys, look the other one was kind of a dud, so I'm going with this one again. Okay?' like she were placing bids on prizes for the Price is Right and it was looking more like the dining table and chairs were in her price range.
"Dom? That's it?" she asked him helplessly.
"Or there's Ian. That bloke that works with Dom. I hear he's up around these parts." informed Elijah.
Hallie scoffed.
"Thanks but no thanks. I know all about that one."
"Alright then, just call Dom." Elijah persisted. Hallie bit her bottom lip.
"I don't know if that is such a good idea."
"Are you guys still not talking?" he asked, almost sounding like he'd forgotten the recent history between the two. But that was Elijah, never coorelating the facts with the present situation.
"We are, we are talking. But I'm not going to call him up for any favors, Lijh." she reinforced sternly, almost reminding herself.
"Whatever, Hallie, but look - we can't take yeh unless you or I get ahold of Billy and he hasn't been answering his cell." Hallie stopped short of breath and froze mid-step.
"He hasn't been?" she asked, in a tone close to sounding worried, "Well, does anyone know where he is?"
"I have good reason to believe someone might, just not anyone we know." he told her, which sounded like some cheeky quip of Dom's. She harassed a bug bite on her arm as a way of attacking something and huffed.
"Well, I wonder..." she thought aloud, "We did get into a fight. A rather bad one."
"I'd check the pubs first then." replied Elijah, finishing her thought. Hallie gave a sigh.
"Yeh, just what I want to be doing on Freedom Day. Walking in and out of pubs for that no good wanker." she grumbled, tugging at her purse strap and looking off at the fireworks with a glare of vengeance, as if they were the reason for her problems.
"Technically, you won't be able to unless you find someone to drive you." interjects Elijah with yet another one of his famous rhetorics.
"Yes, thank you, Captain Obvious." came back Hallie rolling her eyes.
"Anytime." he added with an unwavering tone of optimism in his voice. "Well, I better get off so you can call Dom." he finished, just as Hallie had forgotten about that suggestion.
"Why do you keep telling me to go off with Dom?" she asked, irritatedly but curious.
"Have I been?" replied Elijah, cheekily, knowing full well he had been.
"Only like every other sentence." Hallie reminded him.
"Because..." he elongated the word, then added, "you said you wouldn't call Ian and no one else around here but a cab could take you and it could take up to an hour to get a cab on Freedom Day."
Hallie sighed, "Good solid point you've got there."
"Thank you, I was quite proud of it."
"So I guess I call Dom?" asked Hallie, still unsure and willing any suggestions at this point, even if they were from someone she couldn't even trust playing Go Fish.
"Atta girl." said Elijah, leaving Hallie to wonder if maybe he had winked when he said that as her uncle did just before patting her away on her bottom when she was four.
"Okay, don't say that...it comes off sounding like my Uncle Nes and thats a bad thing."
Elijah laughs, "Okay. Cross my heart and hope to eat pie."
"Ooo, don't say that word either." she chuckles lightly, salivating at the mention of food.
"What? Heart? Cross? Buns?" he said, even making himself chuckle which was pretty sad considering the pun wasn't one of his bests.
"No," she laughed, "you psycho! Pie! I've been craving it all week."
Once more, Elijah lets out one soft, gutteral laugh, "Okay, then I will not say the 'P' word." he says, Hallie imagining him mouthing the words just to spite her.
"Appreciate it. Got to keep my girlish figure, ya know..." she says, laughing alittle as well, which she didn't even feel like doing but out of appreciation for Elijah's good mood, did anyways.
"Not for very long," he reminds her. Hallie lets out a soft puff of cold air from her lungs and looks down slowly to her stomach, feeling so tired she almost thought she noticed it had gotten bigger. She felt her stomach lightly over with her fingertips for a moment.
"Elijah," she began shockingly sweet, "I'd love to stay on the phone with you but I've got to call for a ride."
"Dom?" asked Elijah.
"Again with that?" replied Hallie, chuckling, "Look, I hear his name out of your mouth one more time and I tell Maggie your in love with him. Don't tempt me. I've got pictures."
He chuckles at this, "Fine. Be that way.", which makes a Hallie smile.
"Tell Maggie I will call her soon. And Elijah?" she began, to this Elijah let out an enthusiastic 'hmm', "Take care of my girl." she smiled.
"You know I will. You take care, Hallie. And oh yeh, if you hear from Billy, tell him I want my car back!" he nearly shouts and laughs off beat. Hallie nods but forgets he can't see her a few moments too late.
"Bye Lijh." Hallie says just before hanging up. She looks into the glowing screen of her cell phone and begins dialing Dominic's number, a number she had wondered if maybe she'd forgotten. She began punching in keys, which all appeared to composite the correct number. She hit send.
She'd considered hanging up several times in the few moments it took between her dialing and him answering the phone, each time ending in a new and irritating excuse for her to stay on the line.
"Hallie?" came his British accented voice through the other end, startling her at first.
"How did you know it was me?" she asked, accusingly before hitting her forehead, just as she remembered the grand invention of Caller ID, to which Dom was gracious enough to remind her about.
"I, uh, wasn't expecting you to call this soon," replied Dom, impishly. Hallie wrung her hand across her purse strap once or twice before answering.
"Yeah, uh, me too." mumbled Hallie and continued, "Dom, I need your help." she decided to just flat out ask and get it out of the way. She heard some shuffling over the other end and a door shutting.
"What do you need?" he finally asked, speaking slightly louder now.
"Nothing big. Just a ride. I need to see my Father. He's in the hospital. He had a heart attack. He's okay though, this happened yesterday but I need to see him before the visiting hours are over and I get kicked off the family Christmas card this year." she informed him, in one long breath of words that seemed to slur together. She stood still a moment, wondering if he had caught any of it.
He let out a sigh, "I uh...uh...okay. Okay, yeh, I'll be right there. Wait, where is there? The opera house, still?" he asked her, sounding very distracted.
"Yes." she replied softly but flatly. This felt more awkward than she'd thought it would be. Her stomach was doing backflips as she finished, "I appreciate this."
And Dom replied, as if he hadn't heard any of the gratefulness in her voice, "Okay, I'll see you there soon. Ta." and hung up. Just like that. The sour feeling in her stomach curdled. This had been a very bad idea.
To Be Continued!