Chapter 50: Chapter 48

Song: "Grown Man Cry" by Maddie and Tae

You'll know when she walks in

She's what the town's been talking about

She got that leather jacket locked in

Hot enough to burn a dive bar down

You can buy her a drink

You can tell her you think

She's got the prettiest eyes you've ever seen

But if you're gonna hold

Her heart made of gold

You should know she ain't the kind you can love and leave

........................................................................

ELIJAH’S POV

Two more days have passed. Two days of me trying to talk to her, but she kept avoiding me.

It’s not just a matter of apology anymore, it’s a matter of ignorance now. After she ran away to her room, I sat there for a while but she never came out. The next day, I tried again to talk to her in the office, but she just acted like she didn’t know me except for me being her boss.

But she doesn’t know you except for being her boss, does she?

Oh, you mean she should act like you’re her husband. Got it!

Even yesterday when she saw me approaching, she vanished. It’s the first time in my life that I’ve been ignored, and that too by a girl.

I’m Elijah fucking Norman, dammit.

And what I am unable to understand is why she would ignore me. It doesn’t make sense. She has never done that before but has rather provoked me more with her presence.

Not this time, though.

But enough with this cat-and-mouse chase. I’m a predator who hunts lurking in the shadows. I make things go my way.

In office, I can’t approach her, but after that, I can.

I made a plan to encounter her where she’ll have no way to escape.

I don’t think I’ll be apologizing now. I just want to put her back in her place.

Now I just have to wait for the day to end.

….………………………………………………………………………

When the clock struck 5 PM, I dialed Marge’s number to ask about her whereabouts. Knowing she must've been about to leave, I told Marge to hold her back for a little longer so she could leave the office after everyone else. Also, to text me when she leaves.

I just can’t risk having an audience.

About 15 minutes later, she texts me that she’s leaving for the parking lot.

I quickened my pace and reached there before her.

It wasn’t long after I saw her coming. Again, she wasn’t alone. The same guy from that day was walking beside her.

I felt my fists clenching so hard, probably cutting off the blood supply in my hands. My already sore mood became worse.

They were so engrossed in each other’s company that they didn’t notice me standing a little far from them.

I decided to make my presence known.

Just as they were about to sit in the car, they saw me walking towards them.

I stopped in front of them, and they did too.

Good.

Standing a few steps away, I noticed her looking at me with a million questions written all over her face.

I guess she also knows there’s no escape now. I kept looking at her, challenging her to defy me. She didn’t dare to look away.

The battle of stares continued.

“You can leave,” only then I looked at the guy to acknowledge his presence, “Daniel,” I said, remembering his name.

He nodded his head and proceeded to sit in his car, but the problem began when she started doing the same.

“Not you, Ms. Evans,” I said with complete authority.

“Excuse me?” She looks more perplexed now.

“You heard me.” If it were any other person, they would have stayed rooted to the exact point I told them to, but not her. Of course, not her.

“My work hours are over, Mr. Norman. Whatever it is can wait till tomorrow,” she stared back at me with much more intensity, unknowingly provoking me. “Come on, Dany, let’s go!”

The fire in her eyes captured the iciness of mine, a clash of opposites. Both of us didn’t back down. I realized that I was no longer bothered by her looking back at me unflinchingly.

She’s the first girl to stand against me. Usually, it’s the opposite.

I’m beginning to notice many firsts with her, none of which I knew could happen.

While her hazel eyes refused to back down, we heard a throat clearing.

Dany.

I forgot he was here too.

“Hannah, is everything alright?” looking simultaneously at both of us, he asked her."

His mere existence is irritating the hell out of me. If only I could ju…

“Everything is okay, Dany, don’t worry.” She folded her arms without letting go of my sight.

“Everything will be fine only if you stay the hell out of this, Daniel,” I emphasized on his name, “If you don’t leave within the next minute, consider yourself fired.” He gasped.

He looked at her in panic, not knowing what to do.

“It’s okay, Dany, you go. I’ll handle this.” She clenched her eyes shut, then opened them. Daniel stood there looking at her with astonishment, “GO!” she almost scolded him and that did the trick. He hurried up and drove away.

“What do you think you’re doing? Do you have any idea how this fucking looks?” she screamed without wasting a second.

Now that we were alone, I finally noticed her. She is wearing striped wide-leg trousers along with a white tank top. Her short hair are tied up in a bun, and just a tiny hint of product is on her face. She looks tired, but not the kind of tired one looks after a hectic day. She seems exhausted.

“I told you I want to talk to you.” I got down to business.

“Like this, by causing a scene? Do you realize how this can blow up in our faces? What happened to that bullshit speech of not knowing each other?” she said in ablaze.

“All this would have never happened if you just listened to me in the first place.”

“Oh, of course, as usual, it is my fault, like every fucking time it’s my damn fault. You got married to me is my fault, you agreed to the partnership is my fault, and joining the company as per the contract is my fault. It’s my fault that you forgot that this fucking marriage is supposed to be a secret. Oh, and if all this is not enough, then the death of my mother is also my fault.” She cried out as her eyes teared up. The exhaustion that was evident before now took over her.

My heartbeat became irregular at the sight of her. I don’t know why, but it’s bothering me seeing her like this. The thought of consoling her came to my mind, but I don’t know how. Her pain is so obvious that for once, I feel like she’s not lying.

Was she avoiding me to hide the hurt I’ve caused her?

Before I could think it through, she spoke again. And what she said left me dumbstruck.

“I’m tired, please, just please, I can’t do this anymore, Elijah. I’m done.” She made a gesture with her folded hands. Her eyes went wide, and I also looked at her as realization hit me.

I heard my name from her mouth for the first time. This happened for the first time that she called me by my first name. On paper, we are married, but in reality, we are so far away from each other that we never came down to a first-name basis.

And though it’s the first time she said my name, my mind feels like I’ve been hearing her call me that forever like this is something I can get used to. somehow it sounded better hearing her say it. The blood rush is an indication of how my body reacted to a single word that came from her mouth.

I found myself lost and at a loss for words all at once. I gulped and cleared my throat to get back to my senses.

What is wrong with me?

“I tried talking to you, but you didn’t listen. I had to come down to this resort.” I mentally shook my head to get back to my senses, and she also looks much more composed now. However, her breathing is still a little erratic from her outburst.

“Is anything else left for you to say that you haven’t said already?” she said putting up a strong look on her face once again, “It’s okay, shoot right away. I was dreading this exact situation but you caught me. Come on, take all those insults out that you couldn’t say the other day. I’m standing right here, in all isolation, alone, just as you wanted. Here,” she wiped the tears that escaped from her eyes and fake smiled through them, “go ahead. Abuse me, disrespect me…”

“I wanted to apologize!” I said in an octave higher than her, otherwise, she would’ve gone on and on if I hadn’t cut her off. She looked at me with an open mouth while blinking her big hazel eyes a few times, “Yeah, I wanted to say sorry, I went way out of line in anger. I didn’t mean to say it.”

Silence reigned in the parking lot as neither of us said anything, only a faint sound of our breathing could be heard.

After waiting a while for her to say something, she finally broke her silence.

“Alright.”

What?

That’s it?

“ Alright?” I questioned back to be sure if I heard her right.

Did she not listen to my apology?

“Yeah, alright,” Saying that she started walking away.

Confused at what was happening, I took hold of her wrist to stop her. She stopped and turned but pulled her hand right away with a jerk.

“Where do you think you’re going?” I asked as it was not obvious to me.

“None of your concern!” she shrieked.

“We’re not done talking yet,” I said sternly.

“Yes, we are. You wanted me to listen so I did.” I tried reading her face if she was playing with me but found no spec of it.

“That’s it? That’s all you have to say?”

“What else would I say?” she yelped with frustration.

“Something other than alright? Or maybe be thankful that I said sorry, otherwise I’ve never apologized to a…” she didn’t let me finish.

“… To a whore? A gold digger? A money-hungry bitch?” she laughed but there was no humor, instead, her eyes were seething with anger, “Yeah, I’m so glad to be the first one amongst “my kind”,” she made air quotation, “My soul feels so much better now. Thank you. Thank you very much!”

She turned around to leave once again and I didn’t stop her this time. I guess she’s not done because she stopped and turned back on her own this time.

“And just by the way, what gold do you have that I’ve dug, please tell me?” she folded her tiny arm as she looked up at me in all seriousness to justify the accusations I’ve made about her, “what single penny of yours I’ve spent?” she continued when I didn’t answer. “None, right? I thought so!” she rolled her eyes.

“Are you done?” I asked as she paused, a little out of breath from ranting so long, “I have been trying to apologize for the things because it was laying heavy on my conscience. I don’t need to hear what you have to say.”

“Ah, here we go,” he said under her breath but I heard it anyway.

“What did you say?” I asked despite knowing already.

“Nothing, what can I say?” she shrugged her shoulders pretending to be oblivious.

“Just maybe try to be less of a sarcastic brat and be more grateful?”

“Grateful?” she sounded surprised, “what for? For an apology, you shoved down my throat without actually asking for it?”

“Yes!” I concurred.

“Do you realize how arrogant you are?” she stepped a little closer, “Did you ever slightly consider the fact that not everything isn’t about you? The world does not revolve around you.”

“I’m arrogant? I just apologized, even though I didn’t need to, and instead of accepting it and being grateful you have the audacity to throw shades at me?” I pointed out.

“Urgh, see, again you made it about yourself,” she made a brooding face, “OOH, I FEEL SORRY, HOW DARE SHE DOESN’T FORGIVE ME?” she made her voice all heavy and masculine.

Did she just mimic me?

She’s so small and insignificant in front of me but seeing her like this is amusing. But what is more amusing is the fact that I am finding it amusing whereas it should’ve made me angry.

I realized this whole conversation is a rise and fall of different emotions.

Wait! Why did I go to this length to confront her? Generally, I just ignore things as I don’t let them bother me. Instead of being happy for conceiving a successful plan, I feel more troubled as to why I did it in the first place.

Ah, this girl is getting on my nerves!

As the realization hit me I got back to myself and looked down at her with stone-like eyes.

Nothing has changed, nothing at all.

“Because everything is! about me” I looked her dead in the eyes to eradicate any confusion.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and huffed, “Whatever.” Dropping her arms down she shook her head and started using her phone.

“What are you doing?” does she not know I am still standing here?

“What now?” she grunted, “I can’t even call an Uber for myself?”

“I’m going home, I’ll drop you.” No, I’m not, why did I say that?

“No, thank you, I can go by myself,” why does she have to contradict everything I say?

“I said I’ll drop you.” I started walking towards my car when she called out from behind.

“Ever thought that I might not want to go with you?” her voice echoed in the empty parking lot.

“No,” I replied without stopping for a second.

I brought the car to where she was still standing. I pulled the window down and waited for her to get in.

She thought for a while then bent over the window. I raised an eyebrow for her to prompt up.

“Are you sure you want an ass print of a gold digger in your expensive car?” she said sarcastically.

“Just shut up and get in”

And she did, finally.

On our way home, a thing came to my mind.

“He was going to drop you home?” I asked as I looked straight ahead on the road.

“Yeah,” she said right away.

“Have you lost your fucking mind?” I finally looked at her to see her already looking at me, “You were going to bring him to my house?

“Yeah, and after that, we were going to have sex, ON YOUR BED,” she said without a flinch, then rolled her eyes once again “I’m not as stupid as you think I am. I wasn’t going to your house.”  My grip on the steering wheel tightened.

“Then where were you going?”

“To his house.”

She looked away but I couldn't.