Chapter Twenty one
1025 Words
Chapter Twenty One
Elara's POV
The tension in the room was getting thicker, so thick that the air was beginning to get suffocating.
The moment Jordan and Gabriel Cross had locked gaze with each other, something shifted, there was this force between them.
It was like a game of contest and it seemed they both did not plan on losing. Gabriel stared and Jordan stared right back, neither if them spoke.
Although their silence said a lot. They were in a quiet battle, their eyes sharp and searching as if they recognized the threat in each other's face.
It felt like they had met somewhere before, that kind of familiarity that came with dark history could not be ignored.
Just as the silence seemed to grow longer, Jordan broke the moment. His jaw tightened as he slowly walked towards the door.
He pushed the door open and stepped into the hallway before turning to yell. "8pm sharp."
Then he was gone.
8pm? 8pm what? Perhaps that was the time he fixed for us to visit my grandfather's place tomorrow.
A gentle nod followed as Jordan disappeared completely out of my sight. My attention shifted back to Gabriel. "What is with that look?" The words fell out my mouth too soon.
His expression was unreadable but his eyes held something that seemed like curiosity. It was quite hard to tell.
Gabriel raised his hands in mock surrender. "Should I pretend like I did not just hear him tell you 8pm?"
Scoffing and feigning confidence, I folded my arms and crossed my legs. "So? What do you think that means to you?"
Gabriel slowly shut the door behind him and smiled at me, mischievously. "Sounded like a date." He blurted out.
Laughter threatened to spill but it was forced down with effort, although the feeling of warmth rising to my cheeks betrayed any attempt at staying composed. A date? The thought of that sounded very ridiculous.
"No! Plus, what are you even doing in my room? Did my mum just let you barge in?" I yelled, struggling to change the subject.
Gabriel's eyes moved to the direction of my door, it was like the echo of Jordan's presence left him unsettled.
"Are you really going to just keep showing up uninvited?" I asked, my voice was now laced with the exhaustion of too many questions and few answers.
He raised an eyebrow, clearly unfazed by all the questions I threw at him. "I could ask the same. I thought you said nothing was going on between you and the boy next door but you seemed pretty cozy with him earlier."
I threw a sharp glance his way before snapping back with a retort. . "Well you seem pretty suspicious for someone who claims to just be catching up with my mum."
Gabriel looked like he was having so much fun from all of this. His lips twitched into something that was not quite a smile. "Dodging my questions?"
"No!" The words slipped out of my mouth too soon but that did not matter. He had no right to barge into my room and question me like some sort of suspect for a big crime.
Gabriel sighed heavily. "Look Elara, I am just concerned about your relationship with someone like him. I just want to know if he is someone you can trust." Gabriel was now speaking in a soothing tone but it did not change anything, this feeling that there was some sort of agenda attached to his interrogations relating to Jordan still lingered around me.
"I am just getting to know him, there is absolutely nothing to worry about." I said, hoping he would just drop the case and leave because he was beginning to make me feel really nervous with the questions.
Gabriel gave a short hysteric laugh, the kind that did not meet his eyes. "You seem awfully protective of someone you barely even know."
My gaze locked onto his with a mixture of anger and suspicion. "I could say the same about you and my mum."
Gabriel did not argue. He shrugged instead and spoke calmly. "Your mum and i go way back, protecting her means protecting you."
What was he protecting me from? I wanted to ask him that but before a word could slip out, mum appeared at the door as if waiting for this moment.
"Everything okay here?" She asked, eyeing the both of us carefully.
A forced smile tugged at the corner of my lips, accompanied by a gentle nod. "Yes, Mr Gabriel was just concerned about what happened today."
Mum slowly nodded, although her gaze lingered a little longer as if she was trying to read the room. Her eyes finally settled on me. "What did he want anyways?"
She did not even have to call his name before I understood she was talking about Jordan.
I sighed heavily and ran a hand through my hair in frustration. Why was everyone so weary of him?
"He just wanted to make sure I was okay like the normal neighbor that he is." I ranted.
Mum did not buy any of that, maybe she was finding it hard to believe that Jordan could be caring enough.
"So you guys are friends now?" Mum pushed further. I had to caution her nosiness by groaning in frustration.
"It is none of your business!"
"Okay okay, I will leave." She turned around and walked out of the room. Gabriel accompanied her from behind.
As he slowly stepped out of my room, something glittering made me glance down.
That was when my eyes saw it.
A flicker of silver tucked outside of his coat. He shifted just slightly, or maybe deliberately enough for me to see it.
It was the exact same knife I had found under mum's bed, now half-exposed in Gabriel's inner pocket.
I gasped lowly and Gabriel's eyes met mine briefly.
He flashed me a gaze that said he wanted me to see it.
Why did he want me seeing it?
Did he know I had found it under my mum's bed before?
Most importantly, what did the knife really mean?
- Writer
