Page 39 of The Promise of Tomorrow
Elena stared at the ground, between her legs, shaking as she zoned back into the present, sitting on the steps leading to the Sacré Coeur, with Rory’s hand, warm and reassuring, in hers. It must have slid in whilst she was talking about her childhood.
‘You’re not ill, then,’ said Rory, his voice scratchy as if the words had left a mark.
Elena tilted her head. ‘Why would I be?’
‘Your attitude seemed to change… You becoming less careful… after that doctor’s appointment you had the day before we went to the pool. You didn’t mention what it was about – and why should you?’ he added.
‘Rory, it was for a cervical screening. I didn’t think you’d want to hear of its ins and out – literally.’ Through the dim light, they both managed a smile and Rory held her hand even more tightly. But Elena’s face soon became as dark as the Parisian sky again. ‘I never told anyone the truth about that night on the common. My parents would have been furious about me creeping out like that and talking to a stranger. Gayle would have got into trouble and… Mum and Dad would have also been so sad at the idea of their little girl making such a pact, whether… whether they believed it was true or not, because I did.’ She side-eyed Rory. Did he think her foolish, delusional? His face was impossible to read, like a plain book cover with no fancy font or illustration.
‘I found out more details in the following weeks that only confirmed everything that had happened,’ she said quickly. ‘Mum’s condition had deteriorated badly. And then, five minutes before midnight, she went into cardiac arrest and needed CPR. As the clock’s hand turned to twelve, the doctors were about to call an end to their efforts when Mum took a deep breath and came back – on her own, the staff said. Medical staff, Dad, Gayle, they talked about what happened as some miracle. Then Lucy’s gran winning the lottery and coming into big money, in accordance with what the fortune teller had mentioned, enforced my belief that the deal I’d made was real. As did Gayle going to the dentist – it turned out she had the early stages of oral cancer. It sounds stupid all these years later, but if you’d been there, Rory… People always told me I was a sensible girl. Down-to-earth. I kept my room tidy, almost too much so, my parents said – and I saved my pocket money apart from buying books. I didn’t just make up what happened and?—’
‘Whoa!’ Rory held up his free hand. ‘You don’t have to justify your story, Elena, not to me.’
‘I don’t?’ she croaked.
He shrugged as if it was obvious. ‘Of course not. Never. Nothing’s proved wrong until there is evidence against it.’
‘You don’t think I’m as crazy as Carl with his flat earth theory?’ she said in a barely audible voice.
‘No way. This is completely different and based on personal experience. I doubt Carl’s ever chartered a spaceship and seen the proof against his theory for himself. Whereas you were therethat night, it’s not hearsay. This doesn’t mean I believe the outcome of what you said happened is set in stone.’
‘That… I’ll die?’
Rory hugged himself. It was cold. That must have been why he couldn’t reply straight off. ‘Yeah. I find it hard to accept that some stranger… some mystical power… would perform the good act of saving your mum, only to take a different life instead and take you onto – what did the fortune teller call it?The next stage of our world– as some punishment. And dark forces involved? I don’t know… There are lots of good, natural forces out there too, counteracting any bad.’
Elena leaned forwards.
‘If you nurture a plant, say – feed it, give it water – your kind act will be paid back with beautiful flowers. And Pilot fish keep sharks clean of parasites and in return, the shark wards off predators. I learnt that once, when I went snorkelling. All I mean is… I hear what you’re saying, I’d be bricking it too, but… Perhaps going onto “the next stage of our world” doesn’t mean death. Maybe the outcome of this deal isn’t what you’ve always thought. This fortune teller did make sure you got home safely, after all. If it was a life for a life, why not just take yours then and there? Why let you live until thirty?’
Elena had never thought about that.
‘All kinds of beneficial deals are made in nature. Like bacteria living in our guts. They help us digest food and we effectively feed them. It’s called mutualism and it helps our planet thrive.’ He looked sheepish. ‘Sorry. Going off on a tangent here…’
‘Is it like me letting you live in my home? You repay that by bringing in stick insects, eating my biscuits and relegating me to the kitchen when your elderly football buddy comes around?’
‘Exactly.’
Tentatively, they smiled at each other once more.
‘Am I being a dick again?’ he said. ‘I totally get why you’re so fucking worried. I’m just trying to give a different perspective. Not saying I’m right.’
Her body relaxed further as he pushed her arm playfully. Rory jerked his head towards the bottom of the steps. ‘All of this is why the fortune teller, at the underground station, freaked you out?’
‘She was wearing purple, like the woman I made a deal with.’
‘This promise you made also explains why, a few months ago, you started to take more care, putting bolts on your door and taping down the rug by the office entrance?’
Elena simply stared back.
‘Then what made you change and become so careless very recently? Like not listening to every bit of bungee jump guidance, or that date with?—’
‘Several reasons – one being you. The adventurous life you lead inspired me. Then there’s Brandy and Snap, who shed their skins… I felt tired of the Elena who’d been living her life in the shadows. I long for a sense of renewal. To be honest, Rory, what have I got to lose? You want proof of my looming death day? I’ve been sent clear signs that my promise is going to be called in: that firework nearly exploding in my chest, almost slipping on Gary’s coffee and cracking open my head, and that man diving on top of me in the pool… Three near misses in such a short space of time.’
‘Near misses or coincidences?’ he asked.
‘But three, Rory? That firework could have instantly killed me.’
Rory stood up and paced up and down as a mime artist started his act several steps away.
