June 30, 2002
Frank taped up the last box and placed it on a pile of boxes beside his door. He didn't have much to move, most of his belongings were still at his mother's apartment. He had packed the majority of the stuff he had at his dorm during the week, but there were still a couple of items left to pack.
He heard the door buzzer and got up to answer it.
"It's me," said Carlos.
He let him in.
"I just got done packing, Mark should be here soon with the truck."
"You don't have a lot of boxes and most of the furniture belongs to the dorm, are you going to be able to fill an apartment? It's not furnished, right?"
"I've got a lot more stuff to grab at my mom, but no furniture to pick up there. We will pick up a bed, a dresser and some boxes at Coralis'. She's in Korea at the moment, but Victoria will be there to help us. As for the fridge, stove and washing machines, Coralis has arranged for delivery and I'll receive them in 2 days. We will see about the rest when she gets back in town on the 5th. She's leaving Asia on the 4th, but will have to make a stop in England before travelling back here."
"I keep forgetting that your girlfriend is a millionaire."
"I don't know if she is a millionaire, I never asked her how much she earns. I guess I am going to have to for tax purposes."
"That probably is going to mess with your scholarship, but if that's the case, she probably would just pay it off without sweating about it."
"We'll see when that time comes."
The buzzer went off again and Frank let Mark in.
"Ready? Please be ready, can't say I'm legally parked."
"Yup, look at that beautiful pile!"
"Awesome! Let's get this done. We're still stopping at your mom and Coralis'?" said Mark, grabbing two boxes.
"Yes, and Vic will help us at her place."
Less than 30 minutes later, Mark drove the moving truck toward Frank's mother, with Carlos in the passenger seat. Frank followed with his car.
"Aunt Lizzy, I didn't know you'd be here!" said Frank when they got to his mother's apartment.
"I wanted to help. Coralis and Sebastian have done so much for us in the past few months, it's the least I can do. If it's fine with you, while you pick up Coralis' stuff, I'd go to your new apartment with your mother to clean up a bit before you arrive there with the truck."
"Sure! Is Audrey here?"
"No, Louis picked her up this morning, she'll spend the day with them."
They had lunch there and went back on the road early afternoon. Victoria let them in.
"Before she left for Asia, Coralis packed everything she had here. Don't worry, she didn't have much, so there won't be many boxes to bring down to the truck."
"Wait, are we talking about a girl who doesn't have for three truckloads of clothes?" said Carlos as he was getting ready to move the mattress out with Mark.
"We're talking about a girl who doesn't have the time to shop and have stuff scattered between two apartments and two storage units… well no… she got three. Plus, she spends about half her time living in her suitcases, considering the time she spends outside the country."
"Three storage units? Damn, are you sure she doesn't have the time to shop?" said Mark.
"Most of what is in her storage units comes from family inheritance, she said, or gifts received here and there. She barely goes there," said Frank.
"Speaking of gift…" said Victoria as she grabbed a wooden crate that was sitting on the coffee table in the living room. "Someone came yesterday to deliver this to her. I don't know what's in it, but was told that it is very fragile, so I'll take it with me in my car. It comes from Chicago."
"Chicago? Does it come from whom I think it does?" said Frank.
"Probably. Remember the crate of old wine she received back in February? Same expeditor."
"Ohhh she got an admirer? Does Frank have competition?" said Carlos.
"He is an admirer, for sure, but he's no competition. That being said, Frank does have competition, but not from the person who sent her gifts."
"Hmm I kind of want my dad to look her up, out of curiosity, but somehow, I think Frank will kill me if I do so," said Mark, which made Frank laugh.
"Bro, I appreciate the thought, but you definitively don't need to do that. You might not know shit about what she does, but I do… and I ain't telling."
They finished loading the truck with Coralis' stuff and headed to Frank's new apartment, which he was going to share with Coralis. It wasn't far from where she lived with Victoria, so they only had a short distance to drive. Victoria had to drive around the block to find a parking spot but managed to find one a street over.
The apartment was on a third-floor triplex located across the street from a very large park, half covered by trees. Coralis hadn't seen it, so Frank hoped that she would like it. It was decently priced and he liked that it was located by a wooded park, which he thought would be ideal for her. He knew that she didn't care about how much the rent would cost, but he didn't want to feel like he was taking advantage of her.
It was a two-bedroom apartment. Considering that they barely had any furniture yet and that he was expecting a delivery in 2 days for appliances, he told Victoria to put the wooded crate in the spare bedroom, so that no one would hit it by accident. The rest of Coralis' boxes could be piled up in what would be their bedroom.
Mark and Carlos left in the early evening to bring the truck back and go home. As soon as they were gone, Victoria pulled a mute-ball and activated it.
"You're one of them?" said Molly.
"Yes. Coralis told me that you found out and about Audrey becoming her protegee, so I figure it's a matter of time before you put two and two together and realize that I'm also like them, as I went to school with her and well… we're been living together for the past 2 years. Plus, I'll be coming with you to the next flyball home game."
"I'll admit, I have no idea how soundproof the walls are here. I wanted to ask when I visited the place but didn't want to sound like a lunatic, so I figured Coralis would know what to do about it, I'm sure your place wasn't soundproof when you moved there."
"Indeed, it wasn't. Gus and the Fullemons twins are geniuses when it comes down to securing premises, Coralis will probably have them over this summer to help her soundproof your apartment and set up wards." She turned to look at Lizzy. "Just so you know, like Audrey, I'm half-blooded. My dad is human, my mom is a mage and yes, they are still together."
"Thanks for telling me this. Frank told us he met Coralis through a friend, I guess you're that friend?" said Lizzy.
"Yes. Unlike her, I'm still a student and I go to the same university as Frank, but like her and Audrey, I was raised among humans. If you have any questions regarding human-elemental relationship… I'm your girl… although Coralis and Sebastian are now becoming experts on that topic."
On July 3rd, a little bit before midnight, the doorbell rang. Frank pressed on the buzzer to unlock the door downstairs and opened the apartment's front door to check from the landing who was there. The visitor opened the door and looked up in his direction. It was dark outside. A tall man was standing in the doorway, wearing a black cloak covering half of his face, holding a large rectangular object wrapped in black paper.
"Is this where Blue Thunder lives?" the visitor said.
"Yes, but she isn't here at the moment," said Frank, wondering who he was and how he knew where she lived when technically, she hadn't come here yet.
"It's okay. Don't worry, I am no enemy to her. Can I come in? I just want to drop off a gift for her."
"Sure."
The past few months, Coralis has been good about telling him what she was up to and about the people in her entourage. He didn't have a face to put on all the names he heard but was hoping that he was indeed a friend.
"Where can I put this?" the visitor said, lifting the item he was carrying toward Frank.
"You can put it there," said Frank, pointing at the living room wall across the door.
The visitor delicately deposited his charge where Frank pointed and turned around to face Frank. He pulled his hood down.
"I am Prince Nuuka, from Korea. I've known her for a few years, but she saved my sister's life a few days ago when she was in my country, so me and my family wanted to give this to her," he said, pointing at the item he carried with him.