Chapter 73 - Elijah

Few Months Earlier (October 2017)

"Do I have to?" I sighed, resting my chin on my palm.

"Yes," Mom glared at me, making me pout.

"Why?" I whined.

"Because I want you to. Go wear the dress I brought for you yesterday," she ordered, and I huffed, getting up from the bed.

"Just so you know, if you're trying to set me up with him, it's not going to work," I smiled at Mom.

"We'll see about that," Mom flashed me a sarcastic smile of her own, making me narrow my eyes at her.

"The dress," Mom ordered. "Go."

"I'm gonna take revenge for this!" I threatened, before taking the grey sleeveless dress from my closet.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm not afraid of you, run along," Mom rolled her eyes, and then left my room. I could not help but smile after she left. I had really missed having these daily arguments with Mom over petty things, the delicious food she used to make, and her comforting hugs. Going to Paris had really made me recognize the value of such things; the value of family.

I put on the dress, and started to doing my hair, whilst my mind wandered to Shadrach. Staying away from my family for four years had turned me into a much different person: not only a pessimist, but a generally bitter person. Meanwhile Shadrach, he never really received that parental love. I remembered how he had once said that he found death to be peaceful, and at that time, I couldn't imagine why. But now I was starting to understand his personality, why he had such a twisted mind-set, why he would take risks without caring to get hurt. He pretended to not care, when in real, he was dying for attention - something he received only from girls. So when one girl showed up in his life who did not really want anything to do with him, he flipped. He wanted to occupy my mind, my heart, he wanted that same attention from me. But I was not going to give it to him.

Someone tell him how crazy I had become about him, how heartbroken I was when I had to leave him.

Actually, don't.

I finished straightening my hair, and got to my make-up. Another thing I had gained in Paris - a passion for make-up. So I did not really care that it was only our old family friends showing up to our house, I still wanted to look as best as I could. I had a new belief: either show up as the prettiest woman in the room, or don't show up altogether. I mostly preferred the latter, but in situations where it was imperative for me to attend the event, I stuck to the former choice.

An hour passed by, and Mom knocked on my door just as I was applying a warm pink shade of lipstick.

"They're here, honey. Come down quick, Elijah asked about you," she called out, and once again, the discomfort set in.

"Okay!" I replied, setting my lipstick down on the vanity table. I really didn't wanna go. I did not wanna meet Elijah. I was afraid that he would not be as fun and easy to talk to as he seemed over text. Plus I had a hobby of avoiding men. All kinds.

I unplugged my phone from the charger and taking a deep breath, left my room. All eyes were on me as soon as I entered the living room, and I flashed everyone a warm smile.

"Alizabeth!" Aunt Delilah smiled, standing up. I smiled back and walked up to her, and she immediately pulled me into a hug.

"How are you?" I asked her.

"I'm great. What about you? Nevermind, I already know. Elijah keeps talking about you," she replied, and everyone started to laugh. I blinked, forcing a smile, before shifting my gaze to Elijah. Ooh. He was definitely much more good looking in person. The poor guy looked embarrassed, and he was trying not to glare at his mother, but apparently it was not very easy for him to hide his expressions.

"I'm flattered," I commented, and his gaze shifted to me, finally meeting my eye. A soft, welcoming smile spread across his lips, and he blinked his eyes once at me, as a form of greeting, along with a curt nod. I simply smiled at him, before making my way to sit beside him. That was the only place available, and I was pretty sure that the move was deliberate. His family, and my family, they wanted us to sit together.

"You look beautiful," he said softly, and I smiled at him.

"Thank you. Likewise," I replied, before realizing how stupid I had sounded. He pursed his lips, suppressing his amused smile, and there was a glint of mischief in his eye.

"Thank you," he nodded at me. "This is the first time a girl has called me beautiful."

"No, I mean," I laughed, feeling embarrassed. I cleared my throat, "I mean you look great. You're much more good looking in person." Another sentence I immediately regretted. Shit. I really did not know how to talk to guys, did I?

"Why thanks," he smiled. "Does that mean you've stalked by Instagram?"

"What do you wanna hear?" I laughed.

"Nothing but the truth," he smiled.

"Well, then, yes. I wanted to see what you had grown up into," I admitted.

"Hmm, and was one picture enough to tell you that?" He asked, his tone teasing. Of course. He was messing with me. He wanted to know where he stood.

"Maybe?" I smiled, not wanting to give away too much. He didn't need to know that Rach and I had stalked the shit out of all his social media accounts. Just because I was not interested in him, did not mean he was not easy on the eyes.

"Hmm, you can tell me. I promise I won't tell anyone," he winked. I suppressed my smile by biting my lip.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Yeah. Promise," he smirked.

"Well then, you looked stupid in your first picture, so I had to look at the others too," I said softly, and he burst out laughing.

"Nice," he nodded, grinning. I chuckled, looking away from him.

"Oh by the way, I was expecting to see Rachael here too. Where is she? I haven't seen her in so long," he said, looking around.

"She is with her parents, sorry," I replied. "She wanted to see you too. She really adores you."

"Aw, really?" He placed his hand on his chest. "I really adore her too."

"Same," I smiled. "She's just that amazing. And beautiful, and caring, and perfect."

"True that," he nodded in agreement. "She is one of the few girls who are a complete and perfect package. I mean she's gorgeous, caring, yet has an attitude, she's feisty, but sensitive. She's really perfection, if you ask me."

"Hmm," I nodded, grinning. "Someone actually really adores her." He blushed at my comment, and looked down, covering it up with a laugh.

"There's another perfect package I know about, by the way," he smiled, looking at me.

"Really?" I asked, pretending to be shocked. "Who is it?"

"There is a certain someone," he replied, biting his lip.

"Ahaan?" I asked, smirking. "Care to elaborate?"

"Someone who again, is beautiful, caring, respectful, sexy," he continued.

"Oh really?" I raised an eyebrow, now forcing a smile. I did not like him calling me sexy.

"Yeah," he nodded. "It's me," he smirked, and I burst out laughing.

"Of course," I nodded laughing, covering my eyes with my hand.

"Yeah," he exclaimed, holding back his own laughter. "Who did you think I was talking about, huh?"

"No one," I laughed, shaking my head. "So you're calling yourself beautiful, huh?"

"Yeah," he grinned. "Someone beautiful called me beautiful a few minutes ago, so I decided to stick with that adjective."

I pursed my lips, trying to suppress my smile. Okay, I was wrong about Elijah. He was even easier to talk to in person, and quite a fun dude. I loved his personality, except it made me wonder if he behaved like that with other girls too.

"What's wrong? No witty replies?" He asked, snapping his fingers in front of my face. I flinched, before chuckling.

"No, not really," I replied. I was lying. I had plenty of witty replies, but all of those would be insulting. So I chose to remain quiet.

He was about to say something, but he was interrupted by my cellphone ringing. I looked at the caller ID, and it was an unknown number. A wave of fear swept through me, and I gulped, cancelling the call.

"What is it?" Elijah frowned, probably noticing my uneasiness.

"Nothing," I shook my head, pretending to be calm. "Just a friend annoying me."

"Ooh," he smiled. "Poor guy. Wouldn't wanna be in his shoes. I'd cry if you'd ignore me."

"Oh really?" I laughed, and he joined in. I slowly shook my head at him, and he smiled, pursing his lips together.

"So what ha-" he started, but wad again interrupted by my ringtone. I once again found an unknown number calling, and I sighed, getting up from the sofa.

"Got to take this. Excuse me," I muttered, apologetically smiling at everyone before leaving the room. I went straight to my bedroom and locked the door, before picking the phone up.

"Hello?" I asked, my tone already showing my annoyance.

"Hey Butterfly," his smooth, deep voice spoke through the phone. I was not surprised.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"You," he replied, and I rolled my eyes.

"Don't call me again," I stated.

"Don't hang up," he replied. "You know I'll show up to your house."

"No, you cannot do that!" I snapped, my eyes wide. He could not come here right now.

"Then keep talking," he replied. "I miss you. I wanna see you. Let's video call."

"No, we are not- we are not doing any such thing. Go video call your girl!" I sputtered.

"That's exactly what I'm asking your permission for," he replied, and I could practically hear his smirk through the phone.

"Shadrach," I sighed. "I meant your fiancee. The girl you actually decided to marry."

"You're the one I've decided to marry, and you will be my fiancee soon. But if you're talking about Joanna, she didn't end up becoming one. I did not get engaged to her," he replied, and my mouth parted in shock.

"What? You broke it off?" I asked in disbelief.

"I'd break it off, if it would have happened. That was engagement ceremony, Butterfly. I backed off before they even brought the rings to us," he replied calmly, as if it was no big deal.

"Why did you do that?" I cried. "Joanna was so-"

"She wasn't. She didn't wanna marry me either. You should have seen the delight on her face when I broke it off," he replied.

"Well then why wasn't she the one to break it off?" I asked.

"Oh, you're really asking that?" He laughed. "You think anyone except you has the guts to reject Maxon Shadrach Bradley? Dad would have her head."

"Of course, you and your psychotic family," I rolled my eyes.

"Yep, and you. The one who keeps me sane," he replied.

"You're impossible," I muttered.

"You're beautiful," he replied.

"You're so annoying, Shadrach," I said bitterly.

"You're so fascinating, Aliza," he replied.

"Ugh. Leave me alone," I snapped.

"Ugh. Love me alone," he replied in a seductive tone, making my heart skip a beat. I gulped, thinking of what to say.

"Shadrach, can I please hang up?"

"Aliza, can we please hang out?"

"No."

"Yes."

"I really need to go," I replied.

"I really need to see you," he said.

"I'll... Okay fine. I'll talk to you later. Please just, let me go right now," I sighed.

"Alright. You can go, for now. But Aliza?" He said.

"Yeah?"

"I don't repeat mistakes, and letting you go in the first place was the biggest mistake of my life. Remember that," he said, before hanging up, leaving my heart hammering in my chest, my mind numb, and my body covered in goosebumps.

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