The Sonorous Timer

Chapter 28 - Hidden manipulation

Zander was quick to answer my desperate call for help. He had an evident morning voice and sounded nothing but tired. Nevertheless, he didn't hesitate to come here straight away.

Austin said something insignificant, which failed to capture my attention. When he decided to use my birth name, on the other hand, my focus immediately moved to him. "Please, don't address me as Eleanora. It's Elaine, and it will always be that," I said. "Why is it you react so negatively to that name?" he asked. "It's been stigmatised in my family, and I don't wish to bear such a name now." He tilted his head a bit, his eyes closing the slightest as though he was in deep thoughts. "Don't tell me you care about my family history after all the bullshit you've pulled, Austin. I've been around you long enough to know how you mystify people, making them think you care," I scoffed. "I don't care about you particularly, but I'm interested in name changes in general, and so I'm interested in your story too," he shrugged his shoulders.

At first, I was going to neglect all his questions regarding my name rudely, but then I remembered that he had told me about his life. Although I felt somewhat doubtful that he had told his true story, I saw no harm in explaining the simplicity of my name change.

"I'll mainly scratch the surface as I don't have the patience to go into much detail. So, explained briefly, my family consisted of myself, my parents, my two aunts and an uncle. Before I was born my mother made a deal with one of my aunts, her sister, that is. It was a deal based on nothing but trust, so there was no contract whatsoever. All my mother wanted was to be assured that if they were ever to pass away, I would have a place to stay. My aunt promised my mother that she would take me in if an incident ever were to occur, and she promised this because she's a wealthy woman with plenty of room at her house. My aunt had one condition though; I would have to be called up after her. She had no children of her own or any other nieces or nephews. Therefore, my mother saw it as a fair deal, and she gladly called me up after my aunt whose name is Eleanora. Moving on, when I was two years of age, both my parents faced an early demise. Eleanora refused to take me in, and so I was placed with my other aunt who was a widow with a low income. She had to work overtime too often and eventually, she inflicted serious injuries as she wasn't longer fit for working physically. I stayed with her till I was sixteen, then I moved out and began working myself to pay my own bills."

My explanation was somewhat bewildering and messy in my opinion, but Austin seemed to have understood it, impressively enough. "Didn't you have to wait to change your name legally till you were sixteen though?" he questioned. "Not necessarily, but I did wait because of how hectic my days were. I did hate my name. Nevertheless, I didn't feel the need to change it hastily. My aunt and Zander usually addressed me as Elaine anyway. Also, my colleagues addressed me by my surname solely," I answered. "Good thing you've disregarded that name though. In your family, it would've been disgraceful to keep it," he scoffed softly. 

Only some minutes passed before Zander was outside, waiting. "Remember that taking pauses from me is all you'll ever be able to do. You cannot pretend like I don't exist no matter how much you disapprove of me," Austin said arrogantly. "I know, I'll see you around." "Sure will... Elaine."

The first thing Zander said to me when I entered the car worried me quite a lot. He'd stated that alcohol has a strange yet fascinating effect on a person's mind. "I'm aware of that, Zander. Are you sober right now?" I questioned sceptically. "No idea, I think so though," he answered. I stuttered just as he started the engine without any further explanations. "I'm a horrible driver both sober and intoxicated, so we'll have to see how this goes," he shrugged his shoulders. Perhaps I should've called someone else after all...

Zander was right, all too right. He wasn't the most steady driver, though I'd remembered him as a perfectionist back when he was practising his driving. Whatever, I tend to overthink lately, and I'm probably still doing just that.

Drops of rain fell on Zander's hair, causing him to pull his grey hood over his head once we left the car, his eyes meeting mine for a split second only. It was uncomfortably cold, and so I crossed my arms as a desperate attempt at keeping myself decently warm. "We survived, isn't that what your goal in life is?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Well, I wouldn't present survival as my main priority in life if I was ever asked a question regarding my goals. I mean, I really can't look at my life the same way anymore-" I paused, "ah, never mind." "No, no, please do enlighten me," he said, a cheeky smile forming on his face. "Well, it's just that my goals have changed drastically," I mumbled, realising I wouldn't be able to explain it to him. "Is that so?" he asked again before unlocking the door. "I think you're right after all. My main goal is to stay alive as for now," I said impulsively, hoping to change the subject swiftly. He nodded twice, seeming somewhat disappointed, or so I imagined at least.

He hung my jacket in the hallway, followed by him telling me I could do whatever I pleased. "I see you didn't leave your politeness behind," I pointed out. "Of course not. Polite people often turn out to be the best manipulators though, don't they? Ah, so easily done, yet so hard to notice. Hiding the manipulation behind something as simple as kindness, it must be quite tricky," he snickered softly, almost mumbling the last part of his sentence. "That's an interesting thing to say. I haven't really thought about it actually," I answered. "Well, why would you think of such? You needn't manipulate anyone, now do you?" he asked, clearing his throat. He ran his hand through his hair, moving it from right to left, his head tilting to the side. The position he had his head in allowed him to look at me in a rather intense way. He looked to be full of curiosity, yet he was patient with his questions and didn't rush them at all. "No, but I think it's beneficial to know of others' view on manipulation. For all I know, I could be manipulated by the people I trust the most," I answered. "Yes, you're so very right. You should always be careful who you trust, especially the polite ones," he snickered, then he turned serious right after. "Right, anyhow, thank you for doing me this favour," I said, exhaling in relief. "Of course," he said, answering with a smile.

It wasn't hard to tell that Zander had been taking good care of himself. His hair had been cut and styled differently. Also, it is evident that he'd been working out. In some way, he seemed to be in a much better mood now than before. I'm not sure what happened to him, but there was definitely something that had at one point impacted him enough to make him change his ways.