Entangled

2. The talk

You were having your meal peacefully while Elijah was checking some files which Abigail brought in there and taking glances at you from time to time, you finished your pancake and stretched your hand to get the smoothy. Before you did that, Elijah got the empty plate from your lap and handed you the smoothy. Your checks turned red. You shyly just look down and take a spoon to eat and the moment that smoothy gets into your mouth you almost spit it out "eww. It's so nasty". Elijah and Abigail instantly turn to you. He grabbed a tissue and handed it to you. " I don't like this god". Elijah instantly understood from your expression and choice of words, that you are a spoiled brat and, yes, you are a spoiled brat and why not, after all, you are the only daughter of your parents.

Elijah turned to Abigail to say "get her another one". You shake your head "no, I'm full anyways". Your nose is still in a scrunchy way. Elijah's eyes fell on your lips, which still had some smoothy in the corner, and without thinking, he grabbed another tissue and wiped it himself. Your heart started hammering in your rib cage. It's just like the moment earlier in the lift when his hand was on your waist, you looked at Abigail and found her looking at Elijah's hand which was wiping your lips. Elijah threw the tissue in the dustbin and asked Abigail to leave and her expression was like she didn't want to. You get confused and an uneasy feeling settles in your heart.

Now it's only you and him. He cleared his throat. "Okay so, let's just clear something", that immediately made you nervous. You nodded at him "you are agreed with this marriage right". No you don't and he also doesn't want you to agree, but now Elijah is having a different thought. He was confused. He was not ready for the marriage this morning. Now he is asking this question, you nod your head because you don't have a choice. It's about your father's hard work. " Do you have anyone ?" This question instantly makes your eyes big and you immediately shake your head. That something did to Elijah's heart. He felt relief but he didn't want to accept anything. He convinced himself by thinking that it was natural to feel this way. After all, she was going to be his wife.

"Do you have one?" Elijah came out of his thoughts and looked at you. "No," you looked down and replied a little, "OK" you don't know what to say further. "If we are gonna get married. It would be better if we understood each other and cooperated,". You looked at him a little surprised. For you, it's only because of your father's business. It's not like he also has some problem with why he wants to marry, so when he told you to cooperate. You were stunned he wanted to work this marriage. You were feeling somewhat happy because you always wanted a happy marriage life just like your parents. You smiled at him warmly and nodded your head. That smile somehow took Elijah's breath away. He looked away. " You can do whatever you want right now. I have some work. After that, I'll take you to college". You smiled and you took out your laptop from your bag.

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"Elijah" you shouted a little and he turned to you. You both come out of his cabin. He is going to take you to college, but on the way outside of his cabin your bagpack fell from your hand and some stuff came out of it. He signed and reached you for help. He observed you all the time in the cabin how clumsy you are the whole time you were making sounds, spilling water and what not. He stuffed those things in your bag, took the bag in one hand and took your hand in another and started to walk to his lift. Everyone was watching you both. You were embarrassed by your clumsiness and Elijah looked unbothered. He knew that now that he brought a girl to his office, it would be good gossip all the time until they got the news of his marriage and he didn't care. After all, it's his office.

The whole time in college, you feel happy and content. You don't know why, because it may be the little affection you got from the man you are going to marry or the assurance you got from him without him telling you that you are going to have a good life. You thought he was going to be arrogant and remind you every time that why he got married to you. After all, that's what your parents told you your whole life, that boys are going to bring you down, so focus on your career. You always wanted to go on a date with someone who is gonna show you the affection Elijah shows you today, because you never got that from your parents. They gave you everything you needed but they never gave you the thing you wanted, the love, the affection, the time you never got those, but now that you are getting married you can at least dream about them now. Yes, you can you smile and leave the campus for home.

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Elijah left the meeting room and looked at his watch. It's your time to go home. He wanted to pick you up but he didn't want to do that. At the same time, he does not like the feeling he is feeling right now. No, he is not the person. He behaved the way he behaved this morning. He is never into affection. He just got what he needed and discard them. He was never in any relationship. He didn't believe in those things. He entered his cabin and Abigail followed him. " Send them the documents." She nodded and noted some details on her notepad and looked at Elijah, who was looking at her. "Hmm. anything else" she asked, smiling shyly. "Hmm sit we need to talk" She immidetly sit down infront of him she is happy that they are gonna talk about something she can have sometime with him even if its about work related "last week whatever happen you know that matters nothing to me and i hope its matter nothing to you too" her face instantly leave every color and eyes turn teary. but Elijah felt nothing bad he was drunk but she was not she took him to her apartment he didn't initiate anything he never did he never involve with anyone who worked with him.

"I don't like the way you looked at Bella" her face turned angry. " I didn't like her" she reported back, "excuse me". Elijah was beyond surprised. " I would like you to warn you second and last time, if you can't act professionally, I will not hesitate to replace you". She instantly looked down and said a little sorry " She is going to be your boss. Give her the respect you are giving me ". "What?" "Yes, and next time she comes and I find any kind of inconvenience, I hope you know what I will do." she nodded without asking anything. She was confused but had no guts to ask how that girl gonna be her boss? " Now get back to work". With that, she left and Elijah huffed in annoyance. His mind was not working.

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"Did you meet her? She is beautiful, right? You didn't scare her, did you?" his mom was bombarding him with question after question. Yes he meet her. Yes, she was so beautiful that he couldn't take his eyes off her. Her eyes, hair, lips, that red tint on her cheeks, everything was so beautiful that it hurt not to touch her and no, he didn't scare her. He was scared of her because she was making him feel something in just 4 hours that he hadn't felt before. He had never desired any woman ever before, now that little 20-year-old girl who was 5 years younger than him made him do some s**t he didn't want to do. But no, he was not going to accept this thing. " Mom, I met her and she is okay. I'm okay. I'm tired. I want to sleep. I'll talk to you later." with that he cut the call and looked at the ceiling and thought about calling you. Should he? After debating so much, he thought of some excuse and called her.

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"Bella, I met Mr Knight today. For now, he wants to be done with the engagement as soon as possible. Then you can both decide when you want to get married, but in one year the marriage needs to be done." Your father told you while eating. You looked at him and nodded. Your parents don't even ask you if you agree with it or not. You can clearly see that they are somehow guilty of this, but they are not gonna show they are not gonna give you the right to decide, and after the meeting with Elijah today, you are somehow relieved that they are not marrying you off with some prick, but still it hurt some time. They pamper you with everything a person can ask for. You just need to name the thing and it will be in front of you, but when it comes to life choices, it feels like it's not your life. You hoped for a better life with Elijah, but the pang in your heart made your eyes teary and you left the table.

You were tossing and turning on your bed. You can't sleep because your mind is all over the place. First you got yourself into some drama at your college which is now making you nervous. Second, your whole family problem. Third, Elijah, you just get your mind off him, maybe because he is going to be the first man of your life. You were in your thoughts when your phone started ringing, and the moment you saw who was calling, your eyes got big and you hurriedly sat on your bed. You bite your lips and pick it up.

"Hello" "Did you reach home safely?" Directly to the point, that is what he asked, not even a hello.. You answer with a little yes. Then the silence fell between you both. You thought of something to carry on with the conversation so you could talk to him a little longer and, on the other hand, Elijah didn't think about anything else before calling, so you asked "how was your day" and you instantly cringed at your question. For you, it's so awkward to ask someone that. You feel like a newly wedded couple and the thing that your parents set you both and they don't even know you are both meeting or talking. It makes you burst into laughter. "It was nice. How is your college going? Any new activity" that grabs your attention as you come out of your dream land, you suddenly remember about your drama. "I enrolled myself in a college drama. There is going to be some activity at our college." Elijah hummed in response. He didn't know how to react, but the next thing slipped from his mouth. "I'll pick you up after college tomorrow". He himself didn't know why he said that. Now he didn't know what to make excuses about, but before he spoke about anything, you replied. " OK", he felt some strange feeling which he didn't want to feel. You want to talk about the engagement thing, but you decide not to. You'll talk to him tomorrow. When you meet him face to face, after that you speak about your college and the subject you choose and after sometime you both wish good night to each other and sleep without any second thought. You both fell asleep peacefully that night.

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