Chapter 3

Driving home from the hospital, Monday afternoon, Eleanor was feeling very sad. Obviously, because she hadn't heard the words she was expecting or hoping to her from Walt Whitman. A man whom she has been desperately trying to pursue for a couple of years now. Actually, from his wife had died and he and his five-year-old son moved into the very quiet community of Hillcrest Drive across from where she has been living for a while.

In her state of disappointment and frustration while driving from the hospital, Eleanor made a sudden detour, and instead of going straight home, she decided to make a long drive leading her all the way to a little beach in a town called Prospect.

It was around an hour and a half away from where she was living and she always loved the serenity of it there and thought it was the perfect place for her to be; just to get away for a while and clear her head.

And even though, it was a spontaneous decision for her, Marx loved that she had made such a move, and brought him along with her. Especially since he was so fascinated with the water... so much in love with watching the high and mighty waves crashing on the sea shore next to him and against the pointed rocks. He also loved the tingling sensation of the sand between his tiny toes and giggle as the waves came ashore and wash them away from between his toes. But most importantly, Marx loved the sea shells randomly spread out on the beach for anyone to collect, especially, the broken bottles that the ocean and the sand had smoothened the edges and shaped them into its own art work.

Moments later, after realizing that his little hands were unable to carry anymore of nature's art work, he asked Ms. Eleanor, if he could put them inside of her shoes until they had gotten back to the vehicle since she was only carrying them in her hands.

Smiling down at him she said yes, and with her permission, Marx packed her running shoes with every sea shell that had caught his eyes on the beach because he anxiously wanted to bring them home and place them inside his bedroom for decorations.

Walking along the beach with Marx toggling behind her picking up shells, Eleanor spotted a stranger in the distance, fully dressed in white, and she wondered what he was doing on the beach walking along the shores by himself. Soon it hit her thoughts that just like her, he too could be trying to clear his head from someone whom he thought could be his potential lover or even more.

As her and the stranger had gotten closer, she had second thoughts, and began wondering if he could be dangerous; out to take out his revenge on anyone who had misplaced his trust or had broken his heart. From a distance he appears to be sooth and elegant looking, with his hair hanging at the nape of his neck, the releasing of breeze blowing against his loose clothing as he slowly strolled along the beach gazing at the ocean.

Soon they were in close proximity of each other, and Eleanor could tell that he was gazing at her, but whether it was in a good way or a bad way, she couldn't really tell for sure. And just as he was going to pass by her, Eleanor turned around to Marx and said.

"Come on Marx, let's start heading back home!"

Marx began picking up speed, running and stopping while picking up more and more sea shells while still hastily making his way to catch up with Ms. Eleanor.

And by the time Eleanor could turn around, the tall strange wearing the loose fitting linen white suite was upon her; causing her to jumped and shimmer with fright since she hadn't calculated that he would be that close to her that quickly. And just as she turned back around, his husky voice said to her.

"Hello, my dear lady!"

While giving her a smile that definitely caused her heart to smile back at him, even though her lips weren't. She was too mesmerized by his presence and thoughts about who he is and where he had come from sped through her head while she gazed upon him with strangeness in her eyes and curiosity covering her face. She felt that he was no ordinary man and the scent of his cologne fumigating and mixed with the fresh air told her that he must be a rich man.

Eleanor wanted to be polite to him and so she replied.

"Hello, Sir! How are you doing?"

"I'm doing just fine! Thanks for asking! Just enjoying this lovely weather out here!"

The stranger replied.

Eleanor tried coughing up a smile but realized that she couldn't. Because the stranger's presences was too intense for her and had her heart pounding rapidly in her chest.

Marx could see that Ms. Eleanor was quite nervous and dropped her shoes with all the sea shells he had collected and held onto her hands and began squeezing her hands tightly, as though, he was squeezing away every drop of fear she was harboring inside her.

His contact made a difference and she wrapped her hand around his neck and rubbed the back of her hand against his smooth dark skin while the stranger knelt down and began picking up the shells and placing them back inside Eleanor's shoes.

"Thank you very much for picking them up for us!"

Eleanor said politely.

"That's okay! It's the least I can do for a beautiful lady like you, and your..."

The stranger try expressing while not sure of what to make of Marx because he was so dark and Eleanor was so fair in complexion, he couldn't really conclude if he was her son or not.

Seeing that he was confused about who Marx was to her, Eleanor eliminate his curiosity and told him that Marx was her friend's son who was now in the hospital recovering from a bullet wound.

Looking down at Marx, the stranger spoke.

"Sorry, to her that your old man had gotten hurt! That must be real painful and frightening for you, augh!"

And with sadness in his eyes, Marx nodded his head to indicate to the stranger that he was indeed really hurting over his father's injuries, and also him being absent from the home.

With very slight acquaintances being made, the stranger decided to properly introduce himself to Eleanor and Marx while apologizing for not having done so earlier on.

"My name is Nelson Zuckerberg and I'm an artist, and I also run a small computer business in the heart of Morristown!"

The stranger stated.

"Please to meet you Nelson! This is Marx, Marx Whitman and I'm Eleanor Ford! I'm a manager for a database company, but I mostly work from home and sometimes rush into the main office once per month to go over details with my boss!"

Eleanor revealed with a broad grin of nervousness written all over her face.

Soon, her right hand was being folded in both hands of her new acquaintance as they share handshakes and gazed into each other eyes while displaying their pearly whites.

Now they began walking in the same direction and Eleanor took it upon herself to ask Nelson what had brought him to the ocean front today since she had considered Prospect Beach to be her favorite getaway spot. And all the other times she had been there to relax, she had never seen him there before. His reply to her was that he often came there to gather inspiration for his work and because he love feeling the fresh sea air against his skin because it made him felt rejuvenated whenever he came there.

She now began letting him into her world as she divulged him in conversation about how she love coming to the beach to clear her head and watch the rippling waves of the ocean while walking along the sea shore like they were doing just now.

"I really love this place!"

Eleanor exclaimed.

Reaching up to where she had left Walt Whitman's car parked in the shade under a tree, Eleanor and the stranger said their good-byes. But soon, Nelson had a change of mind about not getting to know her better and began rushing back to her car to deposit his phone number in her hands while she started the car engine.

"I'm expecting to hear from you!"

He said with sincere eyes while placing his phone number in her hand.

"I'll try and give you a call tomorrow!"

Eleanor responded before backing the car out of its parking spot.

"Please don't try, just call me! You can call me anytime of the night or day, okay!"

Nelson shouted as he watched Eleanor and Marx pulling away from the parking spot and began turning the car around to leave the breezy vicinity of the beach.

Standing at a distance from Walt Whitman's car, Nelson keenly observed Eleanor turn the car around and slowly began driving off onto the unpaved road leading onto the main streets of Prospect. With the car rocking back and forth on the graveled strip of road while barely tooting the horn to say good-bye to the handsome man she had just met.

Eleanor, had almost forgotten about all the crush she had on Walt Whitman and was now in deep thoughts about the handsome stranger she had just met on the seaside of Prospect Beach. She began thinking about his soft touch, how his hands felt against hers when he took her hand and shook it; firm, strong and welcoming, even though, the palm of his hands felt so delicately smooth and tender. She began fantasizing about him holding her in his arms at nights, and what a wonderful blessing that would feel like to be held by such strong, secure and comforting hands.

Her mind was taking her deeper and deeper in thoughts as she try undressing him with her mind allowing her imagination to take her where is body was completely nude in front of her and ready to give himself to her until Marx interrupted her seductive fantasies and asked out loud.

"Ms. Eleanor, can we stop by the store and get something to drink?"

His words almost had her flying of the main road trying to escape from jamming into the back of another vehicle in front of her. She had completely forgotten that Marx was inside the car with her, and turned her head to see if he was really there and asked him to repeat himself.

Again Marx said.

"Can we stop by the store and get something to drink, please?"

"Of course we can do just that, Hun! We probably need to go a next mile down the road where I believe there is a store there, and there we can stop and get ourselves something to drink; okay Hun!"

Eleanor spoke consolingly.

Now Marx was nodding his head at her before going back to play with his sea shells while Eleanor started paying attention to where she was going and stop with the daydreaming about the man she had just met.

Eleanor not wanting to miss the exact spot of where the convenient store was located along the road because she was engrossed with fantasies about getting Nelson in the nude. Few minutes later, they were there and Eleanor pulled over, parked the vehicle and entered the store whit Marx tightly holding onto her fingers.

Seeing the ice-cold beverages in the refrigerator, Marx got excited and immediately loosen his grip from Ms. Eleanor hands and went straight for the fridge door, opened it, and grab one of the bottles of very cold strawberry juices. Quickly, he then opened it, brought it to his mouth and began drinking it. Realizing how thirsty he was, Eleanor pulled three more bottles from off the shelves, one for her and two for him. She then brought them to the counter to pay for them, and after done doing so, they were back in the vehicle and on their merry way again.

Back inside the car once more with one hand on the steering wheel and the other, gradually allowing her to sip on her strawberry juice. Eleanor's mind began drifting away again, thinking about Nelson Zuckerberg and if he was actually interested in her or was he the type who only wanted to fill her head with whatever she wanted to hear and then be done with her after braking her heart?

She began remembering the words of Marx's father telling her that she was very beautiful and there was no need for her to try too hard when looking for that special someone to be in her life. She thought about telling him about the stranger she had met along the beach, but then changed her mind. Hoping and anticipating that he might just come around and fall in love with her after seeing how attentive she had been to him and his lovely son, Marx.

And soon, the realization hit her in the gut; causing her understand that since he hadn't fallen for her all these years of her trying to woo him over to be with her; he was never going to fall madly in love with her like she was about him now and put a ring on her finger.

In Eleanor's moments of deep meditation and pondering over her indecisiveness, she finally concluded that she was going to give Nelson Zuckerberg a chance in her life and release Walt Whitman from her mind romantically. But one thing she was certain of, he was never going to break her heart; because she was going into the relationship with one foot in and the other foot out. And any sign that showed that he was playing her like a gig, she would be gone without looking back or he could say; hear me out please.

Consumed with the many thoughts of all her potential relationship associations and possible outcomes, Eleanor drove past the street where she was supposed to enter on that was supposed to take her to where she was living.

Thankfully, Marx wasn't asleep and was observing every landmark along the streets that he knew usually bring him back to his father's house on Hillcrest Drive.

Seeing that Ms. Eleanor was off course, Marx enquiringly asked.

"Ms. Eleanor, are you going site seeing or are you going back to the hospital to see my Papa again?"

Realizing that she was way off course Ms. Eleanor exclaimed.

"Holy S**t, Marx! Thank you for bringing this to my attention!"

As she desperately try finding the nearest street to make her exit onto that would allow her access to her very quiet community on Hillcrest Drive and Walt Whitman's house.

Entering the toll-booth on Garden State Parkway, she saw a police car parked on the shoulders of the busy highway and so she decided to pull up beside it and then get some direction to wherever she was heading.

Tooting her horn, the officer rolled down his window and asked. "May I help you, Mam?"

"Officer, I'm a bit lost right now! Can you please direct me to the exit that leads to the Hillcrest Drive Community?"

Eleanor asked politely.

"Sure, follow me!"

Just like that the officer replied, as he sounded the sirens and sped off from the shoulders of the highway.

Five minutes later, the officer was slowing down oncoming traffic and directing Eleanor to go past him and turn right onto Madison Avenue and that road would lead her straight into the Hillcrest Drive Community.

But, as soon as Eleanor had drove past the officer, he noticed the small body of the little black boy sleeping on the back seat of the car and jumped back inside his cruiser, started blazing the sirens and bidding Eleanor to stop the car immediately.

Nervously shaking, Eleanor pulled over to the side of the road and stopped the vehicle she was driving while questioning herself about what she had possibly done wrong now as the officer pulled up his vehicle behind hers, got out of it and asked.

"Whose vehicle are you driving, Mam?"

"It's my neighbor's car! His name is Mr. Walt Whitman!"

Eleanor replied.

She then handed him all the credentials after he had asked her for them; and he noticed that they were all in good standing. But he hadn't stopped her about any warrants being on the vehicle, but because he saw the little black boy fast asleep in the back of the car and wanted to know how she came about having a black child riding in the back of her vehicle.

"Whose child is this?"

The officer asked sternly.

"He is Mr. Walt Whitman's son!"

Eleanor replied.

"How does he has a completely black son when is registration says he his white and you are obviously white also?"

The officer asked with looks of quizzing concern written all over his face. Because he sincerely thought, the child was being kidnapped, and used for one of those slave-rings or sex trade operations. And especially, since it had been reported on the news that such profile usually fits persons of different races and different languages.

Gladly, Marx awoke from his sleep and began asking Ms. Eleanor why was she talking to the police man?

But soon the police officer bent his head inside the vehicle to ask Marx if he had actually known her and were they living in the same community or household?

But, as soon as the officer saw the blueness in Marx's eyes and the whiteness of his tenth, the officer sprang backwards from the car, as if, he had seen a demon. Now he was holding onto his chest and cussing.

"Holy shit! Kid you almost scared the crop out of me!"

Even though, he too had blue eyes, he had never seen anyone with that shade of blue eyes before, especially, having such a very dark mid-night black complexion on their skin.

He was an unexplained phenomenon and now the officer was in a state of complete shock!

Trying to calm himself down and stop having his heart racing inside his chest that aggressively, the officer returned to questioning Marx about his father and Ms. Eleanor, after he had removed him from his father's vehicle to interrogate him about who Ms. Eleanor was to him.

Feeling satisfied with Marx's answers, the officer allowed him to return to the back seat of the car, and soon, Eleanor and Marx were finally on their way back home to their lovely dwellings at Hillcrest Drive community where it was not only very quiet and peaceful, but was also very beautiful with massive trees and very cool and shady from the archness of the sun.

Haven't entered her own house for days now, Eleanor pulled up Walt Whitman's car in front of her gate, exited it, and when straight inside her house with Marx's little feet slowly trotting behind her with some of his sea shells in his hands. She had only stooped there so she could get some fresh clothing, water her plants and check on her mail, if anything of great importance hand arrived there for her. Soon Eleanor was making an illegal U-turn in the middle of the street, swinging the car around and forwarding it into the garage of Walt Whitman's house.

They were both quite happy to be home now and while Eleanor moved her bags to Walt Whitman's bedroom, Marx dragged her shoes to his bedroom where he unloaded the sea shells from within them and happily started counting them and placing them on his bedroom vanity.

Eleanor was bearing down with tiredness! She had had enough for one day! All she wanted to do now was stretch out on the sofa, catch her breath and relax for a moment while her thoughts carry her to a pleasant place with the possible outcome of her relationship with Nelson Zuckerberg, her potential love interest.

She was optimistic about calling him, seeing him again and testing the waters with him and she forcefully, imagined for the outcome to be nothing, but a positive one.

But what was his heart like?

What was he thinking about her?

What was beyond that beautiful exterior of a man, who Eleanor had imagined could get just about any woman he wanted?

Why her?

Then again, why not her?

Walt Whitman who has very peculiar taste in women, told her that she was indeed beautiful, and she believed him; causing her to feel empowered and confident that she would find, ‘Mister Right' and when she did, he would be gawking, gawping, and goggling over her and just only her!

Resting on the sofa chair, sipping on the strawberry juice she had bought earlier from the convenient store, Eleanor psychologically convince herself that Nelson Zuckerberg must be the one for her. However, he would only receive little tits and bits of her heart until he had knelt down on his knees and ask her to marry him. Because she had subsequently learned from the last love relationship, which she had with a man whom she had given her heart to, and too quickly. And all the dreadful heart ache it had caused her when she had found him pleasuring another woman in the back seat of their car.

The sight of it had caused her devastation for years.

It also had her not trusting in men completely until after witnessing how Walt Whitman cherished the memories of his darling wife long after she had gone to the grave.

She wanted someone in her life to love her just like how Walt loved his wife. And she had done almost everything in her power to get his attention, but to no avail. It just wasn't happening with her and him connecting together; as persons who were attracted to each other. And with him letting her down nicely in the hospital room, told that she shouldn't put any more effort in pursuing him any further, but start making her searches elsewhere.

With the thoughts of a new love interest fumbling through her brain, Eleanor fell asleep on Walt's sofa and woke up a little over an hour later with Nelson, the stranger she had met one the beach, totally consuming her thoughts. She just couldn't shake him from the depths of her mind, and thought about giving him a ring, soon after putting Marx to bed.

But it was now time to prepare dinner for two, and so she made her way to the kitchen and began fixing something to eat for her and Marx. She knew that he loved fish, especially salted and papered and placed in the oven until it was gold brown; and she knew that he liked it with steam rice and doused with tomato gravy. And so she fixed that for Marx and fixed broil chicken soaked in lemon juice and a dash of curry for herself. Couple minutes later, Eleanor and Marx were seated around the island in the kitchen, enjoying the attractive platter of food she had just prepare for the both of them.

All during the meal, Eleanor was having a conversation with Marx, talking to him about the sea shells he had collected at the beach and where in his room he had placed them and if he like having them there. Which Marx in returned told her that he had made space on his vanity for them and love looking at them there.

Right during her conversation with Marx, Eleanor still had Nelson on her mind and she just couldn't wait for Marx to finishing eating, get under the shower and jumped into his bed; so she could lock herself in his father's bedroom and make that call to the stranger, she had met on the beach today.

Around forty-five minutes later Eleanor and Marx were done eating and had the kitchen cleaned up, spick-and spank – everything put away in its own places. Soon, Eleanor was ordering Marx to get into the shower, wash himself and get into his bed. But, Marx was quite ready to get under the shower, but certainly wasn't ready to get into his bed as yet.

"May I go to bed after my show? This is the show that I and dad watches every Monday night on channel fifty-eight!"

Marx stated.

With disappointed written all over her face, Eleanor asked.

"What's the name of it?"

"It's Geo... Geo... the channel with plenty of animals on it, or I think, dad calls it the wild life channel!"

Marx expressed.

She definitely didn't want to deny him the pleasures and the finest moments he and his father had shared together in this house for so long; that would be just cruel. So she rushed him off to the shower to get washed, and return to the living room to watch the television show that he and his father loved watching so dearly.

Certainly, Marx had gotten the channel number right, and when Eleanor flipped the television to channel fifty-eight, Marx burst our screaming and laughing at the same time.

He was now so excited to be watching this Geographic television channel, showing all the various parts of the world and the different animals living in them. Keenly, he laid there on the carpet with his hands under his chin, observing every move and every sound of the animals as they frolic around and sometimes fight to the death, in their own habitats.

Marx show started eight o'clock and was done by nine-thirty, and when that episode was done showing on the television, Marx was all happy and hoping for another episode to continue broadcasting on the television.

Now he was playfully making sounds of frogs, lions and other wild animals he had seen on the television while grabbing at Ms. Eleanor's neck and laughing out loudly.

"Come on, Marx, it's time to get into bed!"

Ms. Eleanor stated while accompanying Marx half-way to his bedroom, giving him a loving hug then patted him on the buttocks, while he laughingly shouted.

"Goodnight, Ms. Eleanor!"

Joyfully smiling, she watched him entered his bedroom and shouted back at him.

"Goodnight, Marx, and have a wonderful night's sleep, and I'll see you in the morning!"

Before turning off all the lights in the house and entering Walt Whitman's bedroom, Eleanor was finally settled in and quite ready to make that special call to Nelson Zuckerberg. And since she had already taken her bath while Marx was watching his television show, she was now feeling very relaxed and in the mood for an adult conversation. Something she hadn't had in very long time; learning more about the tall and handsome stranger who she had met on the sea shore earlier on that day.

Removing her robe from her body and pulling up the bed covers under her arm pit, Eleanor was just about ready to dial the number and call Nelson Zuckerberg and indulge him a loving and enquiring conversation. But, as soon as she was about to dial his number, the house phone rang and it was Walt Whitman on the phone line.

He had called to enquire if his son had already gotten the chance to watch his geographic television show and if he had gone into his bed already. Surprise to hear him calling at that hour of the night, Eleanor nervously broke the news to him that Marx had indeed already seen his television program, took his shower and was now resting peacefully.

"Okay, I'm very happy that he had gotten a chance to watch his show, because it is a show that we find time to watch every Monday night before heading to bed!

What Whitman explain.

"Yes Walt, that's what he told me, and I just couldn't deny him of such wonderful pleasure. But now, he is probably very tired and fast asleep because he is supposed to be wear by now since we had been on the road all day!"

Eleanor revealed.

"So how are you doing, Eleanor? Is everything alright with you?"

Walt Whitman ask.

"I'm doing just fine right here! Marx and I had dinner earlier on this evening! I cooked him a parcel of the fish you had in the freezer and fixed it the way you told me he liked it, after returning from the beach today!"

Eleanor informed the owner of the house whose bed she was now relaxing in while she was about to call another man.

"You really drove all the way to the sea shore today? I know that my son must really love you for that; because he enjoys being at the ocean a lot!"

Walt Whitman stated happily.

"Well, he really enjoyed himself and brought home my pair of running shoes filled with sea shells which he told me, he had placed on the furniture in his bedroom."

Eleanor informed him.

"I'm very happy that you were able to do that for him! Now I have to give you double of what I owe you! Thank you for everything you are doing and have done for me, Eleanor! I really appreciate every bit of it!"

Walt Whitman sincerely expressed.

"Don't mention it! That's what friends and neighbors are for!"

Eleanor interposed.

"I must leave you alone now so you can get some rest, and please know that you are welcome to anything you want to eat in the house! And tell my son that daddy sends his love, and hope to see him soon!"

Walt Whitman expressed.

Expressing to her his final thoughts, Walt told her goodnight and good-bye and she in turn, returned the same gesture, telling him to have a good night's rest, although, she was pretty much aware that there was not too much of a pleasant rest he could get, sleeping on that tiny hospital bed with its plastic mattress while in pain.

And just after hanging up the phone from Walt Whitman, Eleanor checked the clock on the nightstand and concluded the it was just too late to give Nelson Zuckerman a call, even though, he had told her to call him any time of the night or day that she wanted to.

Out of respect to herself and him, her conscience wouldn't allow her to dial his number that hour of the night, because, she wouldn't necessarily want for anyone calling her at that hour of the night. Unless, they were a very close friend or relative who were in some damn serious trouble at that hour of the night and badly needed her assistance.

Therefore, Eleanor postponed calling the stranger whom she was so quite anxious in knowing about and possible started venturing out together in having a love relationship with him; and just maybe, build a life together. She was very interested in finding out his likes and dislikes, and hear from him what he really thought about her. And also, where he thinks their relationship would be heading in the not so distant future.

Eleanor had learnt from her past relationships. She had put in the time and effort to rebuild herself... to restructure her life and her self-esteem which had been wallowing in the mud for a very long while. She had worked hard on her self-confidence, read all d sorts of self-respect books and gone to many couching seminars; just to be where she is today, mentally. And now, she was ready to trouble the waters once again and dip her feet in it; hoping that this time around, her man would be sharing an even yoke with her.

But, was Nelson Zuckerberg rally the man for her?