All Chapters of All That Is Left Behind: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Xander’s contract was a little longer than originally expected and he would be in San Francisco for a few more weeks at least. The plane landed around eleven thirty. Xander arranged for a Uber, and I arrived late.A company had taken care of my pets, which was probably better than the alternative, and I moved to the condo-hotel where Xander lived for the duration of this contract.I knocked, and he answered. I got my luggage in and freed Miki and Lily from their cage and they went wild. I got stuck in the whirlwind of Miki jumping on me like a mad man, and my luggage everywhere and getting out of my jacket and

“Is everything packed,” I asked Eloim.“No,” he said, running back to his room.We were leaving in two days, and I wanted everything to be ready. I had my piles of to-do lists and everything working like clockwork. I even calculated everything regarding our food supply, so there would be no waste left when we would leave. And I had already prepared the lunches for our travel. Nearly everything was packed except for the everyday stuff, and it was ready to be packed quickly.

We had needed this. It had been a long while since we’d had some quiet time together. I absolutely adored Eloim, but he was demanding a lot of time out of me, and he had been cheered enough to spend all night and morning with his grandparents.My nerves had broken when we reached that room, alone, and Xander soothed me patiently, then we talked for a long time until he finally indulged in his initial plan. It’s only in the morning that we really saw the bruises, on my legs, elbows and knees, which was where it was worst. It wasn’t as bad as when I fell down the stairs, but it w

Xander took me in his arms. Her tried to get me to stand up, but I was inconsolable and I wasn’t able to get out of my fetal position on the wet ground.“Can you take the dog out of here before he hurts himself on the glass?” said Xander to someone.I was vaguely aware that I could hear Miki going insane at the mess, and I had a massive headache, most probably fueled by the chokin

“The cats,” said Eloim as we got to the car.“They’re with Mammy and Pappy, they’re fine,” Xander replied.I didn’t bother with the back seat and sat in front with Eloim still clasped hard in my arms. I knew this was not legal, but the parish was really close by, and everything should be fine.