Just before dinner, Eleanor left Jackson alone in the bunkie. He was awake and headed off to take a bath before dinner. Eleanor made her way down the short path with determination. She crossed the perfectly mowed lawn and onto the flagstone courtyard. She let herself in the back door and walked toward the library. She was relieved to have not run into anyone else on her journey. The house was even eerily quiet. Eleanor didn’t quite understand how a house with so many staff and people in it could be so quiet.
Eleanor quietly opened the door to the library and slipped inside. She carefully shut the door behind herself. Once inside, she found the laptop and printer. She breathed a sigh of relief and plugged her USB stick into the side of the laptop. Luckily the laptop was not password protected and she was able to start up the computer without any hassle.
She wasn’t interested in what was on the laptop, but based on the few icons that were on the home screen; there wasn’t a lot on the computer. It couldn’t have been used very much. Eleanor brought up the files that were on her USB stick and searched for the one she wanted.
She brought up the text document and quickly scanned it. She had already decided which chapters she was going to give to Lilith. She was going to ask Lilith to read the first four chapters of the novel she had been working on for ages. She thought that if she could at least get an honest opinion of her work, it might ease her stress a little bit. It might make her decision a little easier.
Eleanor selected the print icon and waited. It seemed to take ages before the printer finally clicked and then whirred to life. She drew in a deep, shaky breath before reaching for the pages that were quickly being spit out by the printer.
She knew that in reality, it didn’t take that long to print out the hundred or so pages that she had printed, but it felt like forever for her. She found herself tapping her foot anxiously. What if Lilith hated it?
Lilith hadn’t read much of what Eleanor had written in almost fifteen years. What if she hated it?
Eleanor collected the pages and carefully arranged them. She tapped the stack of papers against the top of the desk to align the pages. She rummaged through the desk until she found a paperclip that would hold all of the pages before she shut down the laptop and shoved her USB stick back into the pocket of her jeans.
She sucked in a deep breath to calm her nerves and quietly let herself out of the library. As she walked down the hall, she noticed Corrine coming out of the kitchen.
“Corrine!” She called, jogging to catch up to her.
Corrine turned in alarm, and once she realized who had been calling her, she stopped and waited for Eleanor to catch up to her.
“Hi,” Eleanor breathed. “Is Lilith around?”
“She’s upstairs in her rooms.” Corrine answered.
“Uh, oh. Okay…” Eleanor said slowly. “Will she be having dinner with us?”
Corrine looked slightly uncomfortable. “Miss Grey sends her regards. She is not feeling well and will not be dining with you.”
This was the first time that Eleanor had heard Corrine refer to Lilith by her real name. She was careful to never use her first name, and to create a level of professionalism when she spoke of her employer. But for now it seemed that Corrine had dropped the facade of calling her “Miss Quinn”, when that was a pseudonym. She was finally calling her by her true last name.
“Is she okay?” Eleanor asked worriedly. “Is there anything we can do?”
“I’m afraid not. Your excursion today took a lot out of her and she needs to rest. Is there anything I can do for you?” She asked, folding her hands in front of her and straightening. She was prepared to do whatever was asked of her.
“Uh… well, can you give her something and ask her to read it? …You know, when she feels better?” Eleanor asked.
“Of course I can do that.” Corrine nodded. “I can leave it in her rooms for her now.”
“Thank you.” Eleanor handed over the stack of paper, feeling slightly uncomfortable. She felt like she was handing over a part of her, and it left her with an empty feeling. “It’s just my novel… or part of it. I wanted to see if she liked it or not.”
Corrine briefly glanced down at the papers she held in both her hands. “Of course, I’m sure she would be happy to read it for you. She has been sent many manuscripts, but this one I think she’ll take the time for. She speaks very highly of you, and the writing you did together when you were young.”
“Really?”
“Yes. She feels she owes her career to that time in her life. She often says that it was at that time when she decided she wanted to be a writer.” Corrine said, and for the first time since they had arrived, she smiled. It was a warm and kind smile, one that calmed Eleanor’s nerves considerably.
“Okay… umm… well… I hope she feels better. Let me know if I can do anything, okay?” Eleanor offered.
“Thank you. Miss Grey will be fine. She just needs to rest.” Corrine said. She tucked the stack of papers under her arm and a waiter arrived with a silver tray. On it was a teapot, an empty mug, milk and sugar.
Corrine took the tray from the waiter and thanked him.
“If you’ll excuse me,” Corrine said gently and politely. “I’ll need to take Miss Grey her tea.”
“Yes, of course.” Eleanor said quickly.
Corrine turned carefully and expertly and started toward the elevator. She expertly balanced the tray in her arms, with Eleanor’s manuscript under her arm. Eleanor watched her step into the elevator.
“Ellie?” Jackson asked. He stepped into the hallway from the sitting room. “How did it go?” He asked. He crossed the hallway in a handful of long strides. “Did you give her your book?”
“Yeah,” Eleanor answered. “Well, sort of. I mean, I gave it to Corrine who said she would give it to her. Lilith isn’t feeling well, so she won’t be at dinner.”
“Oh.” Jackson said, slinging his good arm over Eleanor’s shoulders. “Well, I hope she’s alright.”
Eleanor nodded.
The waiter emerged from the kitchen. “Dinner is just about to be served if you would like to have a seat.” He said.
“Thanks.” Jackson grinned.
Eleanor followed Jackson into the dining room. Their usual spots were set for them. Eleanor sat down in her usual spot as did Jackson.
“I wonder what’s on the menu for tonight.” Jackson mused.
“I don’t know.” Eleanor mused. “But I imagine it will be delicious.”
The waiter arrived and filled their water glasses from a large glass pitcher clicking with ice. “Would anyone like wine?” The waiter asked.
“None for me, thanks.” Eleanor said. “Not tonight.”
Jackson grinned at her. “You know what? I think tonight I’ll have some wine.”
“Red or white?” The waiter asked.
“White please.” Jackson said.
The waiter picked up a bottle and filled Jackson’s wine glass halfway with white wine. Jackson picked up the glass of wine and took a sip. “Very good.” He mused.
Eleanor rolled her eyes at him.
“I’ll be back with your first course very shortly,” The waiter promised.
“Thank you.” Eleanor said quickly.
The waiter left the room, leaving them alone. Eleanor took a sip from her glass of ice water.
“You’re not having wine with dinner?” Jackson teased.
“You know why.” Eleanor narrowed her eyes at him. “Shut up.”
He chuckled. “You don’t know what you’re missing.”
“Yes, I do. I’m missing a headache in the morning.” Eleanor said bitterly.
This made Jackson laugh out loud.
The waiter returned with a silver tray. He placed a bowl of green soup in front of them, swirled with white cream. “Fennel soup. Made from scratch, and completely vegan and gluten free. The chef created the recipe himself.” He announced.
“It looks delicious.” Eleanor said. She was suddenly hungry. She picked up her spoon and blew into her soup to cool it.
Jackson stared at his soup for a moment. The waiter left the dining room again.
“Ellie, what the hell is a fennel? Isn’t that like a duck?” Jackson asked.
Eleanor frowned at him. “What? No. It’s a vegetable. Try the soup, it’s delicious.”
Jackson frowned, stirring his soup with disgust. “It looks like the stuff that came out of the girl in ‘The Exorcist’.”
Eleanor resisted the urge to laugh. “You’re going to hurt the chefs feelings.
Jackson frowned deeper. “Can’t they just make me a hamburger?”
“Thats what you had for lunch.” Eleanor rolled her eyes. “You’re behaving like a two year old. Just eat your soup.”
Jackson sighed unhappily and lifted a spoonful of soup to his mouth. He slurped his soup obnoxiously, and his frown slowly faded.
“What do you think?” Eleanor asked. “Was it as awful as you thought it was going to be?”
“It’s amazing!” Jackson said. “I want to eat fennel all the time!”
Eleanor dropped her head into her hand and sighed.