The Cursed Pharaoh's Bride

Chapter X

Carolina

I cross my arms impatiently as I wait at the south eastern corner of Central Park. Why on earth did I let Tori decide on where I should meet up with Elijah this time?  

“You met up with him?!” Tori exclaimed. 

“Y-yeah,” I respond a bit guiltily. 

“I thought you said you wanted nothing to do with him?!” She yelled. 

“I don’t!” I tried to defend. 

“Oh, yeah? Last time I checked, rejecting someone doesn’t entail agreeing to go on another date with them!” She replied with sarcasm dripping from her tone. 

“We didn’t have a date to begin with and we’re not going on a date the next time we meet,” I protested, “We’re just meeting up and sort of hanging out, I guess.”

She scoffed. “Just tell me one thing. And I need you to look me in the eye and be honest.” She stares at me dead in the eye, “Did he touch you in any way you didn’t want to be touched? Did he hurt you or force you in any way to go out with you again? Do I need to call the police?”

“Well, no, not really,” I said. 

“That doesn’t sound too convincing, girl, and we both know you’re not exactly eager to see him again.”

I sighed. “I’m not,” I said, “The only reason I’m going out with him is because if I don’t, he’s going to start visiting the lab more often so he has an excuse to see me and I guess talk to me.”

She stopped for a moment as if she was in deep thought. “I can’t tell if that’s a sign of him being a stalker or just him persistently pursuing you,” she finally said, “Do you want to meet with him? You can always put it off.”

I don’t know why but I hesitated. “I-I don’t want to see him again. At least not so soon.”

“Wait, wait, wait, are you seriously into him now after you stressed that you didn’t want to be near him before?” She asked. 

“What? No, of course not,” I said. And yet, I didn’t even think my tone was that convincing. 

“Tell me all the details that went down during your lunch date,” she immediately said. It wasn’t a lunch date. 

After I gave her all the details, which she forcibly pulled out of me, Tori started to jump around in my room squealing. Though, I might have left out detail about him threatening to do me on a table in front of everyone. 

“Oh my gosh! That sounded so cute. He sounds like a genuine guy. Though, I can see why you want to keep your guard up around him,” she said, “Alright, I’m going to help you plan your next date with him.”

“It’s not a date!” I groan. 

“Ok well, whatever it is, I think you should take the opportunity to get to know him and get some questions answered,” she said, “Look girl, I know you and you can see a person’s intentions from a mile away. I trust your judgement. If you think this guys is truly a creep, then nip it in the bud on your next not-date. But if he seems genuine, then maybe you should give him a shot. You deserve to be happy.”

And now I’m here. Tori had insisted on putting me in this flow-y, white high-low undressed, which she paired with small nude heals and a matching casual clutch. She even helped me with my hair and make-up; my dark curls are pinned on one side and my make up is natural with a hint of pink on my lips and eye shadow. Tori really went all out and it’s not like this is a date. I guess I could have told her to hold back but a part of me liked getting dolled up. I’m dressed up nice for myself, not so I can impress Elijah, right?

My heart starts to speed up once I see a familiar car pull up in front of me. Elijah steps out of the car to reveal his handsome glory. He’s dressed casual this time and yet he still manages to look completely sexy. He sports a fitted, white v-neck t-shirt and a pair of dark jeans that hug him in all the right places. His hair is combed somewhat up as opposed to back like the last time I saw him. When he spots me, his lips curl into a smile again and his blue eyes are shining almost as if he is excited. 

“Carolina,” he greets tenderly as his arms start to spread as if he was about to come in for a hug. I quickly put my hand in front of him to signal him to stop. He sheepishly takes a step back.

“Sorry, I got ahead of myself,” he apologizes. He then holds out his hand to me and I hesitantly place my smaller on in his. He then brings my hand up to his full lips and places a soft kiss on my knuckles. I can feel my face heat up at the contact. He then shifts back a little in order to allow himself to get a better look at me. His eyes slowly rake my body and for a moment I almost feel as if I’m naked in front of him. His eyes linger at my exposed legs, then he stops at my waist for a second, and finally his eyes rest on my chest and I notice his smile morph into a small smirk.

I can feel my face burn brighter at the feeling of his hungry eyes taking me in. I clear my throat, which causes his eyes to snap up to mine. “Oh good, you know where my eyes are,” I snap sarcastically. His smirk only broadens.

He slowly pulls me closer by the hand. “I can’t help myself. You just look so beautiful,” he coos. His comments do absolutely nothing to help the furious blush that I know is already on my face, and he seems to find that funny because he lets out a chuckle. “You’re so cute when you blush.”

“Ugh,” is all I can muster as I pull myself out of his grasp and take a step or two back before crossing my arms at him. His smirk doesn’t drop though.

“So, what’s on the agenda today?” He asks.

“If you must know, Mr. Seka, I was thinking we walk through the park to Central Park Zoo. We can spend some time there before going to grab something to eat,” I snidely respond. He just chuckles as he moves closer to me and grabs my hand. I pull my hand away and cross my arms before walking off into the park.

We walk side by side a little too closely for my liking. Every once in a while, our arms would brush against each other and I could feel sparks flow throughout my body.

“Do you do this kind of stuff often?” He suddenly asks.

“What stuff?” I ask in confusion.

“Walking through parks. Visiting zoos.”

“Not really. I don’t have time for this kind of stuff, but if I did, I wouldn’t mind doing this more often. Though, this was all my roommate’s idea,” I explain.

“Ah, I see. So, if your roommate didn’t suggest this, what would you have done for a date?”

“A-a date? Who said this was a date?” I stutter.

“Nobody,” he slyly responds with a mischievous grin, “I’m just wondering if this were a date, hypothetically, where would you have suggested we go?”

“I-I don’t know. It’s been a while since I’ve thought about fun date ideas,” I say.

“Wait, you’ve been on dates before?” He asks darkly.

“Well, yeah. I’m 21 and I’ve been on dates before,” I shrug off. His arm suddenly shoots out and wraps around me. His grip on me is firm but not too tight to the point where it’s painful.

“Well, today, you’re all mine,” he says through clenched teeth and a forced smile.

“U-um, y-yeah,” I stutter. I decide it’s best I leave his arm around me, at least until he calms down.

“You said you’re always busy to do this kind of stuff,” he changes the subject, “So, if you get the chance, what do you do during your free time?”

“Uh-um. I…uh…” I stall. What do I say? I don’t want to seem boring. Wait, why do I care if he thinks I’m boring? If he doesn’t like me for me then he’s not worth it, right? No need to impress him or anything. Do I even want him to like me? No, of course not. I’m just here for answers. Before I could answer the question, I see the zoo coming up and I sigh in relief.

“There’s the zoo,” I quickly say as I start to speed walk towards the entrance. He moves his arm so it’s no longer around me and grabs my hand instead and pulls me back a bit. I tighten my grip on him and just continue to pull us forward, which seems to throw him off. 

Against my wishes, Elijah pays for everything, again. I can’t stop myself from smiling when we walk inside. The zoo wasn’t to large but it was still nice. We walk past a few animals that were outside like the seals. We then walked inside one of the bird rooms. On one side there are colorful parrots and perching birds. On the other side, there are hunting birds. I walk a bit closer to one of the hawks and I jump as I feel Elijah place his hands on my shoulders all of a sudden.

“I had one of those when I was younger,” he whispers in my ear. I shiver at the feeling of his lips lightly pressing against my ear. And then I remember: I need to ask him questions about who he really is and why he’s really here.

“You had a hawk?” I ask.

“Well, maybe some larger hunting bird, a falcon possibly,” He says.

“Is hunting something you did in your free time?” I ask lowly.

“Well, sometimes. I have a natural knack for it,” he slowly replies, “Times were a lot different back then than they are now.”

“Are the legends about you actually real?” I whisper.

He stiffens and pulls away from me. “Can we not talk about this now?” He asks.

“Ok,” I reply, “Do you think you can tell me instead how it is I was able to, you know, revive you?”

His breathing becomes rigid. “I told you, we have a special bond. And your blood, which was brought to me through the beetle ring, was able to finalize my revival.”

“What is this special bond? You haven’t really explained anything to me,” I urge.

He silently grabs my hand and pulls me off to the side where there are few people walking around. “Look, I want to explain everything to you,” he starts.

“Then tell me,” I demand.

“I will but not yet,” he quickly says.

“Why not now?”

“Because I don’t think you’re ready to hear everything,” he explains.

“What is that supposed to mean? Do you think I can’t handle it?” I ask hurt.

“Well, yes. Um, I mean, no?” He stumbles with his words. “Carolina, listen, I want us to start to get to know each other before I reveal all the details of my life to you.”

“Have you done something so horrible that I can’t even know about it? What could you possibly have to hide, huh?” I question.

“I don’t want to go into it,” he says annoyed, “And who are you to talk? You barely want to be seen in public with me and you avoid touching me if you can.” 

I heat up at his comment. He has no right to keep something like this so called bond away from me. And he tries to justify himself by saying that I treat him wrong in some way? I push past him and start walking off to some other exhibit. I look back and see that he’s still standing there looking at me.

“How do you expect me trust you if you refuse to have trust in me?” I say before turning away again and walking off.