Celestial Beginnings (Nephilim Series) (29 page)

She watched as he healed her as well, and then once again felt his emotions.
Relief and protectiveness flowed through him when he knew she would be alright.

Trinity had no idea if what she was experiencing was real or just her mind playing tricks on her.
She was more confused than ever now. There were so many things out of this dream that resembled her previous dreams. Was she reliving Malachi’s memories this whole time? No, that couldn’t be true; some dreams dated back hundreds of years. One thing she had learned in the last few months, was not to disregard her dreams, but it was exhausting trying to decipher them.

She wanted to wake up and tell Malachi everything she had been dreaming about, but now more than ever, she had to keep quiet.
Would he consider it an invasion of his privacy? It didn’t matter anyway, she thought. She had put a stop to the closeness between them.

“Malachi…”
The tightness came back to her chest at the thought of waking up without him. She felt empty.

Maybe it wasn’t too late.
If her dream was accurate, he had some intense emotions toward her at one time. Maybe if she worked hard enough, she could make him feel that way again.

Trinity fought to wake up.
Her mind was not ready to give control back to her, but she won out.

Slowly opening her eyes, she took a minute to get her bearings.
She was in her bed, at her house, and she was really warm. There was someone up against her in her bed. Knowing that she went to bed on her own, she gasped and quickly pulled away from the body.

When she jumped up, she was surprised to see Malachi in her bed.
 

“What are you doing?”
The words came out of her mouth before she realized what they sounded like. She watched as a hurt look fleetingly passed over his face, before witnessing him shut down completely.

“Nothing.
You sounded like you were bothered by your dream and I came to your side. My mistake.” He started to get off the bed to leave, and before she could register what she was doing, she flew at him and knocked him back down.

“No!”

Malachi gave her look like she had lost her mind.
She probably had, but she was not about to let him leave without her saying her piece.

“Please don’t go!”
She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest so he couldn’t see the tears.  “I’m sorry.” She knew she was close to begging, something she hadn’t done in years, but she didn’t care at this point.

“What’s going on, Angel?”
He relaxed onto the bed and wrapped his arms around her. Trinity was relieved that he was calling her Angel again and not Princess. That was a good sign; along with him not pushing her away.

“Nothing.
I just realized I overreacted.”

“Come on.
I know you better than that.” He started to run his fingers through her hair, talking in a calming tone. “What changed your mind? Was it your dream; what was it about?”

Trinity just shook her head.
He would hate her for sure if he knew, and then she would lose all chances with him.

The look on Malachi’s face showed that he was not happy with her silence.

“Why won’t you trust me? Maybe I can help.”

“I trust you.
I just don’t want to rehash my dreams is all.” She watched as, disappointment crossed his face.

With gentle hands, he started to detangle her from him before setting her away.
“I can’t do this anymore Trinity. Maybe you were right earlier when you said our time was up.”

“No!
I was wrong.” She reached for him as he rose and stepped away from the bed. “Don’t do this, Malachi.”

“Then show me you trust me!”

She remained silent and he started walking towards the door. “Ugh, why do you have to know so badly?” She snapped.

“It’s a matter of being all in, Trinity.
I’m all in, and need you to be as well.” He turned around at the door.

“All in?
What’s that supposed to mean?” Trinity didn’t know how they got to this.

“I envy the guy that you figure that out for, and it’s something you want to do and aren’t forced into it.”

Those were his last words before he left the room. She knew he wouldn’t go far until someone else got there, but she felt as if he were miles away.

Falling back down on her bed, she cried into her pillow for the remainder of the night.
She had really messed all this up. Stupid dreams!

C
hapter 15

Trinity finally pulled herself out of bed and made it to the bathroom.
Looking in the mirror, she noticed that she would have to double up on her make-up, less everyone would know she had been crying.

She showered and got herself ready for work.
Heading down the stairs, part of her hoped that he was still here. The other part of her didn’t think she could keep it together if he was.

Entering her kitchen, she saw a large figure leaning over and looking into her fridge.
Her heart leaped and then crashed when he spoke.

“Hey, you got any tomato juice?
I got a massive hangover.”

Gemariah stood up and turned around.
The look he gave her said that he had a pretty good idea what was going on. All she did was glare. It wasn’t his fault, but she found herself mad at him none the less. She needed comfort…she needed her friend.

“I’m going next door, don’t follow me!
And don’t eat all my food either!!” Trinity walked out the back door without giving him another look before making her way over to Nicci’s.

She grabbed the knob to walk in and found the door locked.
What? She never locks the door in the mornings. Of course it had been forever since she had been home to notice anything different. She chided herself once again for being a bad friend.

Knocking on the door, she waited.
She had almost turned around to go back when she heard a faint scratching noise. The door finally creaked open to reveal a much skinnier and much paler Nicole.

“Oh my gosh!
What’s going on?” Trinity pushed her way inside and noticed that all the curtains were pulled and the house was almost all dark except for a few lit candles.

“I’ve been sick.
It’s no big deal.” Nicci didn’t give her another thought as she made her way into the kitchen. 

“Of course it’s a big deal!
How did I not know this?” Trinity was shocked.

Finally, Nicci raised her eyes toward her.
“You’ve been busy lately.”

Trinity felt horrible.
It was true, she had a lot going on, but she had all but ignored her best friend. “I’m so sorry. What can I get for you? Have you seen a doctor?”

Nicole waved off her concern.
“It’s not as bad as it looks. I just can’t seem to keep any food down. Everything makes me queasy; food, moving around, sunlight, just the basics.”

“That’s a little more than the basics, don’t you think?”

She lightly lifted her shoulders in a shrug while pouring herself something to drink.

Trinity started tidying up the house.
“I would stay and take care of you today, but I’ve scheduled a few meetings with different parents today. When I get home…” She stopped talking to rush towards Nicci before she poured chocolate syrup into her drink. “Wait, Nicci! That’s orange juice, not milk. Do you want me to make you some chocolate milk?”

“No.
I know it’s weird, but it settles my stomach.” Trinity watched in disgust as Nicci made herself a chocolate…orange juice?

After picking up a few more things, Trinity had to leave for work.
That means going back to her house and collecting her escort. The thought reminded her why she came over to begin with, but now all she could think about was how worried she was about her friend.

“I meant what I said.
It might be later, but I’m going to come check on you when I get home.”

All Nicci did was nod her head and snuggle herself onto the couch.
The place Trinity had found out she had been sleeping, to avoid using the stairs.

Trinity quietly slipped out the back door after locking it and made her way back to her place.
When she got there, Gemariah was standing by her front door and holding her jacket. When she got close enough, he held it open for her.

“I don’t need your sympathy.”
Slipping one arm in, she turned her back toward him to maneuver into the jacket.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
He responded to her in a nonchalant manner.

As they were walking out of her place, Gemariah nodded towards Nicole’s side of the house.
“Everything alright over there?”

“Yeah.
She’s got the stomach flu.” Looking up at him, the expression on his face looked a lot like concern, and Trinity smirked. “What’s this? I thought you hated her.”

“I don’t hate her; I just don’t like her much.
There’s a difference.”

They got in the car and he started driving towards the school.
When she pulled out a granola bar for breakfast, Gemariah looked scandalized. “What the hell is that? Please don’t tell me that is all you’re going to eat this morning.”

“There’s nothing wrong with a granola bar.
It’s quick and easy.” She was already in a bad mood and did not need her breakfast insulted as well.

“What are you…a bird?”
He groaned and reached into the back seat. “Here” He placed a container on her lap that was emanating the most wonderful smell. Opening the box, she saw a breakfast fit for a king. More like two kings with the amount of food that was there; all double servings of eggs, bacon, biscuits and gravy, the works. “It’s mine, but I guess I could spare a little.”

“Thanks, but I’m not that hungry.”
Trinity would love to dig right in, but her stomach was telling her it was a bad idea.

“Sure you are; I worked hard on it.
Now eat up.”

She looked over at him skeptically.
Gemariah never shared anything. “Why are you doing this?”

He just shrugged his shoulders and glanced her way.
“You’re Mal’s girl. That’s almost like family.”

“I’m no one’s girl.”
Trinity looked out the window, already wanting this conversation to be over. It felt like the knife that was lodged in her heart had just gotten a swift twist.

“Just eat the food.”
Gemariah grumbled as he focused back on the road.

Those were the last words spoken between them until lunch, when Gideon came to take his place.
The start of the day went by incredibly slow, but eventually she felt herself relaxing and enjoying what she was doing. That’s what happened whenever she came to work. It was the same reason she chose the interest she did. There was something about the sound of a shutter and the smell of developer that soothed her and helped clear her head. Of course Nicci always joked that she was getting high of the chemical fumes, but she knew it was more than that.

By the time her lunch period came along, she was ready to meet with the parents she had scheduled conferences with.
There were different students that were falling behind in her class, and she wanted to talk with the parents along with the child and see what their options were. One boy’s father called her for a meeting, so she just decided to schedule the other two she needed around the same time.

Two out of the three conferences went better than expected.
The kids were willing to try harder and even do extra work to get caught up. Everyone was happy in the end. What was surprising was, that the man who had called
her
left a message asking to reschedule for later that evening.

Knowing that Nicci was home sick, Trinity really wanted to get back there and help out, but at the same time was not ready to go back home to the reality of what was going on in her life.
Figuring six o’clock was early enough that she could still make it back to Nicci, she agreed.   

Getting ready for the new wave of students coming in, she headed back to her classroom with Gideon obediently following behind her.
She didn’t want anything to burst the euphoric bubble she had created, so she tried to ignore him as much as possible. Just the idea of constantly being followed would definitely do it.

Sitting down at her desk, she started sorting through paperwork.

“Okay.
What’s your deal?” Gideon’s voice broke into her comfortable silence. “I’ve been here for almost an hour and you haven’t said one word to me.”

“And what would you like me to say?”
Trinity tried to sound aloof as she stared unseeingly at the papers in front of her.

“You’re never at a loss for words.
You can think of something.” He responded almost bored like.

“Not today.” Trinity sighed, her bubble slowly thinning.
“I’m just a little tired is all.”

Gideon looked down at his watch.
“Well, your day’s almost over, you can go home and get some rest soon.”

“Not today.
A parent rescheduled a conference with me until this evening. There’s no point in going home then coming back, so we’re here till then.”

He slouched back in his chair and answered sarcastically.
“That’s just wonderful.”

Trinity heard him mumble something under his breath and thought she caught the word “babysitting”.

POP! There went the bubble! Shutting her eyes, she tried to tune him out, but the damage was already done.

Not saying anything and deciding to let it go for now, she buried her nose in her work and she started grading the pop quiz she gave this morning over the techniques of photography.

******

After all her classes were over, she used the time to finish her grading. Gideon was checking his watch and sighing every fifteen minutes, and it took all her will power not to snap at him.

Finally hearing enough of it, she decided to spend the rest of the time in the very quiet and very serene darkroom.
Being a glutton for pain, she pulled out her black and white film strip of Malachi and started making a print.

Looking down at the photo paper immersed in the chemicals, she watched as his strong facial features started to form.
While admiring the portrait, she admitted that his eyes were the main focal point of the shot. They drew anyone in that dared to look directly into them.

Just then the rotating door swung open, and Trinity’s shoulders slumped in disappointment.
The figure that entered the room was dark, but she understood that grumble anywhere. Why couldn’t Gideon have just stayed away from her right now?

He walked over to her and looked down at the picture.
She saw him roll his eyes before shaking his head. “You’re going to break your camera if you keep taking pictures of that ugly mug.”

“Did you need something?”
Trinity sighed.

He walked around; turning knobs and flipping switches on the enlargers that she knew would have to be fixed before tomorrow.
 

“Just waiting to get out of here.”

She replied back in a bored tone. “You know I have a meeting in an hour.”

Gideon didn’t look happy when he glared at her.
“How about the next time we schedule something so late, maybe you could take into account the people that also have to stay here and sit on our ass doing nothing.”

Trinity gritted her teeth but didn’t cower to his remark.
“Wow. You’re an extra ball of sunshine today. Someone push the stick further up your ass?” She never cursed and was surprised by what she had said.

“No.
No. Same old, same old. Everyone gets to go to the different assignments and I get to be with you. It’s not enough that I have to miss one of the more dangerous assignments that we’ve had in a while, happening tonight. No…it’s just insulting that instead of participating and being there protecting my team, I am the one that has to be the babysitter.

There were so many things that Gideon just said that didn’t sit well with her.
She didn’t want Gideon here if it put Malachi in danger. She also had heard the word babysitter one too many times today.

Slamming the tongs down she was holding, she raised her voice towards him.
“Well if you don’t want to be here than just go, because I don’t want you here either! You always act like you’re high and mighty…one of the best, but you get pushed around and told what to do. That doesn’t sound like you’re too important to me.”

It looked as if Gideon’s eyes were starting to glow.
She must’ve really pissed him off this time. Pushing harder, she tried to actually get him to leave.

“Now tell me this…if you’re so “important”, shouldn’t you be at the risky assignment tonight?”

He took a step toward her. “You better be careful little girl, I could easily leave your happy ass to fend for yourself.”

Trinity didn’t even blink.
“Good. Go!”

Gideon growled.
“You are the most infuriating woman!” Turning around, he marched back to the door and stepped inside. Before spinning the door closed, he looked at her. “Fine. I’ll leave, but don’t come crying to me if you need something and I’m not here.”

Trinity picked back up the tongs and turned toward her now overdeveloped print.
When she didn’t hear the door swing shut she said, “You still here?” in the snottiest tone she could manage.