Page 38 of A Noble Affair
“Hm.” She chewed her lip. “Did you ever think that maybe someone was slipping something into your drink? Do you know anyone who would do that to you?” Eloise added, “You know, since it happened twice?”
A teacher, leading a line of elementary students towards the gate, passed them, crunching over the pebbles in the courtyard and instructing them to keep to their line of two-by-two.
“Hey, Eloise.” A tall, lanky boy called out to her at the same time, causing her to break off and smile at him. “Do you want me to walk over to class with you?” He indicated the outlying buildings across the street.
“Hey, Pierce. No thanks. I want to finish talking to Louis, and we still have time.” Pierce shrugged and loped off, and Louis smiled at that, his cheeks stiff and unused to turning up. Whenthey were alone again, Eloise turned her attention back to him. “So, we were saying…?”
“You were asking if someone could have slipped something in my drink, but I can’t see why anyone would do that.”
“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “To humiliate you? To steal from you?” Louis flinched.
“Did someone steal from you? I hope you weren’t carrying anything valuable.”
“No, no, it was nothing.” Louis hid from her the realization that for the second time, the money he had collected for drugs had been taken from him while he was passed out at a party. For the past week, he had been racking his brains trying to figure out what he was going to tell Jean about not having the money, and he hadn’t given much thought to howodd it was that he would be robbed twice.
“—and so, because of that, I never drink or eat anything at parties. Unfortunately, I have a friend who lost consciousness at a party after only having had one drink.”
Louis snapped to attention. “Was she okay?”
“Yeah. Luckily her friends were there and they took her home. She reported it and the police are looking into it. I wouldn’t think they would target a guy, which is what makes me think they either thought to steal from you, or—” She reached her hand out and touched his arm,“humiliate you. I’m sorry it happened,” she added.
Louis seethed as he remembered the sequence of events that night. Someone was definitely working against him. When he didn’t respond right away, Eloise spoke up again with obvious reluctance. “I know you’re friends with Max, but I can’t help but think he goes with a bad bunch.”
“We’re not friends,” Louis said firmly. “And he doesn’t go with a bad bunch. Heleadsit.”
"Okay, so you know your own mind then. That’s good,” Eloise said.
“Not as well as I should. I can’t believe some of the situations I’ve gotten myself into,” he said with uncharacteristic candor. “That’s going to change.”
“Hm.” She smiled, pulled her bag on her shoulder, and started to walk away.
“Eloise,” he couldn’t resist calling out. She turned back. “I just didn’t want you to have the wrong impression of me. You know—after what you saw at the party.”
“I don’t think I do.” Her serene reply and twinkling eyes warmed Louis’s heart and stayed with him after she left.
“Mom,”Thomas whispered. It had been the first word he spoke, and that was three days before her mother arrived. In those three days, he had impressed the doctors with his improvement, establishing set periods of sleep and wake. He wasn’t talkative, but he had been able to answer every simple question they asked him, except for what had happened the days leading up to the accident. He had been able to communicate his desire to drink some water almost right away—in French. It was more than Chastity couldhave hoped for.
Marc accompanied her to pick her mother up at the airport. It seemed like an easy way to lure him away from staying with Thomas while she was gone. She couldn’t quite place why, but she would rather have Maude or Elizabeth at Tommy’s side than Marc. “I’ll stay out of your way,” Marc said as he drove. “I know you need lots of private time with your mom. It’s going to be good for you to have her here.”
She turned to him in grateful surprise. “That’s sweet of you. I agree. It will be good—for both Thomas and me to have her here.” After a moment’s silence, she added, “I’m sorry you don’t have this. I wish you still had a good relationship with your parents.”
“Actually, there is something I’ve been meaning to tell you.” She looked at his profile expectantly. “My mother made contact with me."
Chastity gasped. “You’re kidding me. That’s great.”
“Yeah.” Marc nodded. “Apparently she heard through some mutual friends that I was showinginterest in my son and that pleased her enough to forget some of her anger. She’s hoping to be able to meet Thomas.”
“Oh.” Chastity was caught off-guard. “It’s not possible right now, obviously.”
“You don’t think she could come visit him in the hospital and bring him a gift?”
“No, Marc. He just woke up from acomaand needs as little stimuli as possible.” She peered out the window on her right, hiding thered spots of anger on her cheeks.
“Yes, but your mother is coming to see him,” he argued back.
“Thomas already knows my mother. She’s not a stranger. So please forget the idea. It’s not going to work.”
“I’m sorry for asking.” Marc huffed and stuck his lip out.
