Compulsion

Compulsion Part 4

After that disastrous date Georgia attempted to steer clear of Elias. That was relatively easy to achieve at school, for his circle of friends and her circle of friends had no overlap. But avoiding each other altogether was simply not possible. Being in the same year, and attending a small school, meant they were in the same class. Not that they spent that much time with each other. Elias was just relieved when his friends' initial curiosity about his date with Georgia gradually waned. The interest died completely when Elias and Annalise started to date once again. Though their second attempt at dating lasted just a few more weeks than their first attempt.

Unfortunately for Georgia, while in school they might as well have been living in different galaxies for all the interaction they had, but she had no such luck outside school. Their families were friends. Which meant Georgia, Caitlin and their father sometimes visited the Mendoca family. And sometimes Elias was home.

Unlike Georgia, Elias decided it was worth getting to know the girl. That's what his parents wanted. In any case since that school date she seemed to have taken up residence in his head, despite the fact he was back with Annalise. Dating Annalise was meant to be the pinnacle. So why did it feel as if he was forcing the issue. As if in his head he wanted to be seen with Annalise, but his heart wasn't really in it. Which brought him back to Georgia, for in his head he wasn't sure he wanted to be seen with her, but his heart seemed to think that would be perfect! He had yet to figure out what he was going to do about this baffling state of affairs. He decided to continue seeing Annalise and see where that took them. But there was no harm in being nice to Georgia. So he smiled at her and spoke to her as if they were friends. He was charming whenever they met.

Everyone appreciated the effort he made. Everyone that is apart from Georgia. Silently she questioned his sincerity and his motives and as a consequence did little to couch her responses in tact or diplomacy. So not surprisingly for the first time since the Fonseca's move to Hamilton it was Georgia's attitude and behaviour toward Elias that came into question!

Elias left school at sixteen and despite his dyslexia he built up a business from scratch. In contrast Georgia stayed on at school and went on to University to study to become a doctor. During that time they saw each other occasionally for their parents continued to be friends. During that time they dated other people and occasionally found they were at the same social event. While Georgia opted for brief acknowledgements for acquaintances whenever they met, Elias opted to treat her as if they were friends.

The years were kind to Georgia. She graduated at 24 as a doctor. Her educational success was never in any doubt. But while at school she'd often wondered whether she was destined to remain gangly and uncoordinated. Fortunately for her, she had transitioned into a long legged beauty she'd wished to have been at school and with the assistance of her friends at University, Georgia had learnt what to wear to suit her frame. She learnt what cosmetics to apply and how to use them to enhance her features. But more importantly to her, she knew she could hold her own on a date with any man.

Elias took the more difficult route to becoming a success. His business thrived now, but its start came from an unusual circumstance. He had the assurance of a cocky youth until the day he had a motorcycle accident.

When they'd brought him out of his induced coma Elias found his leg encased from hip to toe in plaster and his face was swathed in bandages. That was just the start of a long slow process to recovery. What followed over the weeks and months was a series of further operations. Skin grafts. Re-aligning bones. Healing.

To this day Elias thought it was amazing how his surgeons managed to piece his leg together given the number of fractures he'd sustained and the number of pieces they had to work with. However, piecing together the bone fragments had resulted in one leg being slightly shorter than the other. The result was a limp. Not that he worried about that. He was grateful he was alive let alone could still walk.