"You wouldn't create such a lie... " she said with disbelief.
"Oh I would... " Clayton countered, his fingers creeping over to the telephone. Elaina quickly rushed over and disconnected the receiver. Getting down on her hands and knees, she apologized profusely for ever trying to threaten him & that she meant him no harm. It was apparent that Clayton got extreme satisfaction from seeing her grovel for his forgiveness, so he let her continue for a few minutes before standing up.
"Quit your whining, you prude," Clayton said with mild disgust. He grabbed the papers which Elaina had placed on the floor beside her & shoved them into his briefcase,"I'm not going to call the police. But there are a few conditions..."
Elaina, knowing she faced losing her child once again, nodded anxiously,"Anything, anything!"
"You've seen the plans," he said, patting his briefcase,"And I can't have an enemy waiting for just the right time to spill them."
"I won't say a word! I swear on my life..." Elaina promised, shocked at how quickly she had become a slave to Clayton's whims.
Clayton made his way downstairs, to the living room, with Elaina following. He picked up Elizabeth, who immediately began exploring his face with her hand and releasing small squeals of delight.
"Everything has to be ready to be moved out in three days," Clayton said, taking Elizabeth's hand and releasing its grasp on his nose,"I trust you will gather all of Elizabeth's belongings?"
"Move? Why? Where??" Elaina asked, silently dreading having to leave the beautiful home.
Clayton sighed,"The cost... I can't afford the upkeep of this place. But once the, uh, plan is successful, I'll build a mansion ten times the size. As for 'where', I found a quaint little place out in the country. It was quite run down, but I've had that taken care of. Just wait until you see it... You'll absolutely love it, darling!"
Elaina wasn't sure if she should be more shocked over Clayton's use of the word 'quaint' or his calling her 'darling'. She chose the latter.
"Darling?"
Clayton's face turned beet red,"I meant... Elizabeth. Isn't that right, my little pumpkin?"
"Yes, Daaaady," she mumbled, toddler-style, though naturally she didn't have a clue what her father was asking her.
Clayton smiled & placed Elizabeth back in her play-pen,"Thank you, sweetie. Anyway, the house will serve as headquarters. You will be in charge of cleaning, cooking, etc., if that's all right with you."
Before Elaina could protest, he continued,"Everything will work out fine. You'll see Elaina. In a few months time, the three of us will be living the high life. Elizabeth will have every toy she could possibly want. And you... Elaina, you will be the happiest wife on earth..."
He turned and left the room, leaving Elaina to absorb all of the information that had been thrown at her so rapidly. Plan... Moving...
... Wife?
Within a week, the move was complete & the three had settled into their new techno-home, as Elaina liked to call it. The outside was definitely 'quaint', as Clayton had put it, but the inside, particularly the living room, was full of computer equipment & data devices that she had only seen in massive ads found in business magazines. A new duty had been placed on Elaina, that of 'communications adivsor'. In simple terms, it meant she was in charge of faxing, e-mailing, copying, printing, typing, etc.
"Now, Rod knows nothing of my... past," Clayton said, gesturing to both Elaina & Elizabeth,"And I wish to keep it that way. He will be arriving later today. Don't tell him anything & do not let him see Elizabeth. The last thing I need is for her to become a target in all of this..."
Elaina frowned,"You mean you want me to keep her cooped up all day? Clayton, I can't possibly-"
"Her room is large, the walls are sound-proofed, and she has 5 times the toys than most children. She'll be fine, and occasionally you can take her outside, as long as you stay out of sight & are careful bringing her back to her room.
"Your rooms have adjoining doors, so you won't have to worry about disturbing anyone when you tend to her at night. Deny it all you want, but I'm the reason you can see Elizabeth. Without me, Elaina the Mother would cease to exist. And I will not have you hampering this operation whatsoever. I can be kind, Elaina, but I can be cold-hearted in the blink of an eye."
And that was enough to re-fuel Elaina's anger. She would go on to fulfill each of her tasks & be sure that Elizabeth was happy, but her deep-down hatred for Clayton was constant in emotion, though not action. She feared the consequences of gaining even his respect, knowing that he could easily see it as a way of gaining power.
After the day that the 'operation' was revealed to Elaina, Clayton's verbal admiration & pining for his ex-wife vanished without a trace. Elaina had no desire whatsoever to re-kindle their relationship, even if he was to make a significant move of any sort. Still, she couldn't help but let her mouth twist into a half-smirk, half-smile when she occasionally saw Clayton watching her from across the room from the corner of her eye.
Clayton refused to allow Elaina to give their phone number to her parents, whom Elaina pleaded would be completely harmless. So on the last day at their old home, she had made a long-distance call to Montana, and given them a rather detailed story about Clayton winning a all-expenses-paid vacation through Europe & Asia. When her father asked how long she would be out of the country & if they could call her, Elaina told them that she hadn't been given the final details, but that she would be sure to send them postcards when she had the chance.
It was yet another lie in an ongoing circle. For many years, Elaina, feeling somewhat sheltered living in Oklahoma while her parents were in Montana, had created and fed fabricated versions of her life to her parents...
...Elizabeth was doing marvelous... Too bad the trip to Montana is so long... Clayton sends his best wishes... Wedding anniversary coming up next month...
They knew nothing of the divorce, her stay at Southwinds, custody trials, etc. Though Elaina felt guilty for extracting them from her life, she decided it would be easier on all three of them if it was kept a secret... They had been such a close-knit family at one point, but now Elaina felt removed entirely. She wasn't sure of Aurora's situation & had no intention of communicating with her in the near future, while her parents already anticipated glossy postcards from exotic locations; messages of Having a great time! Wish you were here! scrawled on the back.
So now it was all set. Their whereabouts was concealed, Rod had arrived... nearly 2 hours late after claiming to have driven down "the wrong Felton Road", the grid road that Clayton had instructed him to travel. Upon arriving, Rod took no time to claim that there were, in fact, two 'Felton Road's just north of Tulsa, to which Elaina & Clayton just shook their heads.
A couple of weeks later, Simon arrived. Escorted into the house by Rod, the boy had seemed very timid and shy. And it didn't help when Elaina paused a few feet in front of Simon & began to eye him from head to toe.
"Hey... I've seen you on TV before!" she had cried, with more of an excited-teenybopper tone than she had realized, when it finally came to her,"You're the middle one in that ba-"
Before she could finish, Clayton had his hands on her shoulders and was swiftly directing her down the hall. Simon gave Rod a questioning look, and received an "I dunno..." in response.
"Check on Elizbeth, then fetch Simon from my office and show him to his room," Clayton had ordered. He gave a stiff nod & headed back towards Simon.
Pulling a set of keys from her pocket, she chose one & unlocked the door to her daughter's room.
"Elizabeth?"
"Mama!" the little girl cried excitedly, abandoning a small doll she had been playing with in one corner of the room & manoeuvring herself to her feet. Elaina shut the door behind her & quickly scooped up Elizabeth into her arms. For the next few minutes, Elaina listened as Elizabeth told her about how last night, she was sure that her plastic toy horse had come to life. Her face serious, the almost-3-year old told her mother she had heard a loud noise from inside her toy box. When she had gotten out of bed to investigate ("I was vewwy, vewwy brave girl.") the dark brown horse had jumped out right next to her and had even started to talk!
Elaina smiled & agreed that Elizabeth was indeed very brave & special to have a talking horse. Glancing at her watch, Elaina realized she had best be going, & quietly told her daughter that Mama had to go see Daddy for a little while, so she had to be a good, brave girl & play with her toys.
Elizabeth was somewhat reluctant to let her mother leave & be left alone once again. She trailed behind Elaina, clutching to her skirt. Before opening the door, Elaina knelt down & loosened her daughter's clenched fist from the material of her skirt.
"I'll be back soon, honey-bunch."
Elizabeth's grey-blue eyes, full of trust, searched her mother's face for a moment,"Mama no lie to Elizabeth?"
"Mama no lie to Elizabeth..." Elaina said, her heart quivering at the fact that her child hadn't accepted her words & promises innocently without having questioned them first.
~Chapter 38~
~Chapter 36~
~Chapters Index~
~Home~
