All She Wanted

The bold red lettering of the For-Sale sign perched in the little shop's window looked rather grim. Evangeline felt sorry for the place; the person before hadn't taken very good care of it. It was a fine place, all it needed was a bit of fixing up. She looked over her shoulder at her brother, Elijah, who had brought her to the site.

"I know it might not seem like much, but it has potential. Doesn't it?" she was worried that he wouldn't be impressed.

Elijah assessed the building with his arms crossed over his chest, he wore his usual impeccably neat black suit and tie. His eyes narrowed while his lips pursed into a thin line. Eve watched him inspect the exterior of the building.

He finally spoke, "It will certainly be a lot of work. You must have a contractor and inspector, but I do think it has some potential for the…" he searched for the right word, "work you plan to do here" he flashed a smile at her.

Eve's eyes sparkled with joy "Oh I just knew you'd like it. Should we look inside then?"

"Of course," he said and stepped ahead, pulling the door open for her to enter first.

Once inside, Evangeline was surprised to find it was more spacious than she had assumed. That was why one should never assume, it only ever made a fool out of the person. Well, her brother used a different term, but she refused to say that.

"It's lovely, I mean of course there are negativities, but it isn't as bad as I thought it would be," she had an image in her mind of unkempt floorboards and cobwebs in the corners. It had a spacious front room; at least twenty feet from the front door to the back where must be office space, and at least thirty feet wide. It was a perfectly fine size, she could already imagine the seating arrangement for customers to enjoy their baked goods.

Everything had been cleared out by the prior owner, and the walls were bare and lonely. A splash of color would do them well, she thought. She walked towards the back behind a small wooden counter that had been nailed securely to the floor. She ventured back and walked down a narrow hall. There were four distinct rooms. Two for office use, one for maintenance, and a small bathroom.

Evangeline wrinkled her nose and looked over her shoulder at Elijah, who had busied himself looking for any sign of mold in the crevices. "It's rather small, isn't it?"

"Perhaps, but great things can come from very small packages. You taught me that," he smiled softly as he walked towards her, resting his arm on her shoulder. She took his hand and held it there looking around at the tiny spaces.

"There's not much room for baking" she sighed softly, her spirit diminishing. She truly had thought this would be her start in her new life. Some dreams were just too good to be true.

Elijah frowned and furrowed his eyebrows together, his voice kind as he spoke, "Not necessarily. You don't need two office spaces here, and the rooms are large enough alone, but if the wall separating the rooms were gone then you'd have plenty of room for a kitchen space with all of the appliances you'd need."

She turned to look at Elijah and grinned widely "You think so? Oh, but I don't know anything about removing a wall."

"I'll make a few calls and hire a contractor. It won't be too difficult. However, the first step would be purchasing the place," he shook his head with a low chuckled, "That did occur to you, didn't it?"

"Of course, it did. That is why you're here," she looked around and headed back out into the main room, "The current owner should be here, I did send an email. I mean… I thought I sent the email" she puckered her lips as though she'd tasted something sour.

Elijah shook his head and placed his hand on his forehead, "Oh, Eve. Next time make a call and do not rely on email. It's a dying means of communication." He sighed looking around one last time before heading out the door again, holding it open for her. "I also have a feeling the owner may not be very, how should I put this, caring. As it were, the front door was left unlocked."

"What are people going to steal, Moth Balls?" she asked with a light giggle.

"Funny," he smirked and the paused, "How about you and I spend some time on the strip?" he asked.

A funny feeling entered her tummy as she looked over at him. It was the way he looked at her that made her nervous. That knowing look. He was a smart man and always had been, she knew she couldn't fool him. She nodded, "Where will we go?" she asked, a breeze ruffling her chiffon white sundress.

He adjusted the cufflinks of his suit as he spoke, "That would depend on where you would like to go."

Eve thought, eyes rolling up to the cloudless sky as if her answer was somewhere in the blue. She then looked at him with excitement, "Ice cream. Rebekah took me last week and it was delicious. Though, the flavors worry me sometimes," she crinkled her nose like a bunny might, "Who in their right mind would ever order pickle flavored ice cream?" The very idea made her shudder.

Elijah chuckled lightly and nodded, "Ice cream it is, and be sure we will not order pickle flavored" he smirked offering her his arm.

They walked together down the sidewalk. It was a nice time with her brother and she could further enjoy the jazz on the stretch of Bourbon Street. Everybody seemed so lively and it excitement bubbled in her chest.

"Perhaps in the time that we have, Evangeline, you might explain to me the purpose of trying to keep secrets from me," Elijah said, his tone still mild; casual.

She felt her heart almost stop and she found herself silent for a moment. How could she answer his question when her greatest fear was what Nik might do to Ian? "I don't know what you mean," she said in a soft, defeated murmur. He'd caught her and now she had to judgment.

Elijah shook his head and looked down at her, pausing there walk so she had to look up at him and meet his eyes, "I'm not upset with you, Eve. I'm concerned that you felt the need to hide this from me," he let out a tender sigh, "I know your fears of Niklaus are strong, I've had those same fears for every day that I've lived with him."

"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you. I was just so afraid that…" she felt the tears start to prick her eyes, "I can't let him be hurt, Elijah. I can't. I care for him."

Elijah's soft touch smoothed away the tears that fell down her cheeks, "Our brother will not hurt the man you've been seeing," he said, tilting her chin up so she had to meet his eyes, "I give you my word, Eve. No harm will come to him for while I'm around."

They shared a tender moment of embrace, Eve tucking her head under his chin and his hand protectively over her back. "Thank you," she said and then pulled away to look up at him, she wiped her eyes once more, "How about that ice cream then?" she asked.

With a nod, Elijah walked with her towards the ice cream parlor where they would be able to sit and enjoy each other's company as they had done so many centuries ago over blackberry bushes. These were the moments that Eve savored most and stored into her lasting memories.