Okay, a little heads up. Chapter 38 is three parts long sooo very long basically but it was my favourite chapter to write and I actually had it planned out in my head when I started the book. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!!!
Thank you, gorgoeus people!! You are wonderful!!
38. Thursday Week Fifteen (the invitation.)
The week had gone by agonizingly slowly. The absence of my Nan and brother enhanced my loneliness as all my friends distanced themselves from me in the hopes that I would tell them the truth.
Trying my hardest to stick to normality, I was continuing my tutoring sessions with Riley despite Eli's demands that I stop.
"You've improved so much, Riles," I informed him as we packed away our stuff.
"I know," the arrogant smirk which accompanied his statement yanked at my heartstrings â he was so similar to Eli.
Like I had been doing for weeks, I put up a front, I rolled my eyes at him and gave him a smile which I didn't really mean.
"I'll see you next week then, kiddo."
He nodded at me then left the dining room. I exhaled a breathe and ran my hands through my hair again, time to go home.
Or so I thought.
Debbie came rushing into the dining room, she looked a mess, her hair was soaking wet, she was wrapped in a dressing gown and I'm fairly certain her slippers were on the wrong feet.
"Oh, Rei, honey, thank god you are here," she caught sight of the fading bruise on my cheek, "oh, sweetie! What did you do?"
She raised her hand to move my hair aside, allowing her to get a better look but I flinched away, "I just fell, I'm okay."
It was weird having to lie about the physical bruises, in the past, Marcus had always been so careful to make sure that there were no visible bruises anywhere on me.
"Do you want me to take a look at it?"
I shook my head with a smile, "Is everything okay?"
"Okay, sweetie. But no, yes, oh god," she was stressing herself out, "could I ask you a favour?" At my nod, she continued, "we are having guests over for dinner tonight so Rose is busy cooking in the kitchen, Raven and I are trying to get ready ourselves and I just don't have the time to get the girls ready. Could you please give them a hand before you go?"
My lips parted on a breathe because I felt it was strange that she was asking me, her son's ex-girlfriend, to help her; but still, I agreed. She thanked me profusely before handing me Ivy's pink dress and Aspen's yellow dress. I looked down at the frills and sparkles adorning the coloured fabrics and raised my brows, these sure were fancy, must be very important guests.
Okay, Rei. You can do this, Eli's not home, you will be fine.
After my little pep talk, I made my way to the girl's room to help them get dressed. They were adorable, of course, they let me braid their silky hair and pick their glittery shoes. By some miracle, I had them ready in about 30 minutes. Exhaling in relief that now I would finally get to leave, I left the girls room in search of Debbie, acutely aware that the longer I stayed here, the higher chance I had of bumping into Eli.
And then, because the world worked in cruel and evil ways, I did.
Shock registered on his face as he steadied me. It felt so comfortable, being in his arms, so familiar, but then everything he said flashed through my mind and I stepped back, out of his hold. He looked the same, gorgeous as always and no visible bruises that I could see. He was dressed in black slacks and a black shirt that had the top few buttons undone. His hair was styled but was still messy from where he had run his hands through it. He basically just looked sexy as hell â fucking fantastic.
"What are you doing here?" He asked, his voice was still the same deep rumble it always was, and despite everything, a calm washed over me at the sound of his heavy baritone. The weight of everything that had happened lifted off my shoulders briefly in his presence; I didn't understand it.
"I was just, I-uh," god this was pathetic, I cleared my throat, "I was just helping the girls get ready, your mum needed a hand."
"Won't your Nan be wondering where you are?" The indifferent look on his face as he spoke to me cut me deep and left a jagged scar across my chest.
"Uh, no. Nan and Ty have gone away for the week, school camping trip, or something."
At that moment Debbie poked her head out from the door we were standing in front of, "you're home alone right now, Rei?"
I nodded at her, "yeah, I should be going, though."
Debbie stepped out of her room, her hair was now done and part of her make up also, the dressing gown remained wrapped around her, "nonsense, you should stay for dinner."
At this, I frowned, "oh no, really, I should head home."
Debbie chuckled, "no, you will stay for dinner. I'm not going to let my son's girlfriend go home and eat dinner alone when we are hosting for the evening. I'm sure Raven will let you borrow a dress off of her."
With that, she closed herself back inside her room and I faced Eli, confused beyond words, "you still haven't told her yet?"
Eli looked down at me, face still impassive and then something flashed across his eyes but as quickly as it was there, it was gone, "no, I don't know how to."
I gave Eli a soft smile, "well you should figure it out, Ryker."
Calling him 'Ryker' left a bitter taste in my mouth but calling him 'Eli' to his face now just seemed too intimate and my feelings were too raw. So instead, I turned away from him and searched for Raven and a dress.
I found Raven in her room, getting ready. She was wearing a black layered playsuit with fishnet stockings and velvet burgundy heels. Her makeup was dark and her hair was in a messy bun on top of her head â she looked really good.
"Rei? You okay?" She asked upon seeing me, I hadn't spoken to her since we introduced her to the whole group a couple of weeks ago.
"Debbie wants me to stay for dinner and I need a dress."
"You don't have to stay if you don't want to, Rei. I can talk to her, if you want," Raven offered me a kind smile as she spoke but for some reason, I didn't want Debbie to know about the breakup until Eli told her himself.
I shook my head, "no, it's okay, I don't mind, but this dinner does seem really formal and I don't think this," I motioned to my cream joggers and cropped blue jumper, "will cut it."
Raven nodded in agreement and then proceeded to raid her closet for something for me to wear. Tired, I sat on her bed, swinging my legs back and forth under me, contemplating what the hell I was doing.
"Here it is, I was supposed to wear this to a wedding but it doesn't fit me around the chest area," she handed me the dress, "so hopefully, it should fit you perfectly."
Before I could go to the bathroom to change, Raven called my name, stopping me, "Cayd and I are coming with you guys on New Years," she chuckled, "wherever you end up going."
My smile was genuine as I looked over at her, "I'm glad."
"Actually, Kiara asked me last night on the phone and she told me some other stuff too," I looked at her expectantly and she continued, "um, Noah and Kinsey slept together last week when you fought at that house party," I sucked in a breath of air, "Kinsey had broken up with Derek that day and they were both really drunk after they argued with you so they kinda just did it."
Guilt overwhelmed as I thought about how I didn't even know about Kinsey's break up with Derek. Or about the fact that two of my best friends had slept together.
My head moved up and down as I nodded, "thanks for telling me."
I turned on my heel and went to change, pushing all thoughts of Noah and Kinsey out of my head. The dress was stunning. It had a corset top which was sheer around the waist and then cups which linked to two thick straps that ran over my shoulders. The dress flared at the waist into a tulle skirt which was black and sparkling deep green. The dress was very Raven but the snug fit against my chest informed me that the dress would never have fit her.
Dressed, I stepped out of the bathroom, "that looks fucking amazing on you, do a twirl for me."
Despite the circumstances, I found myself laughing and actually having a really good time as Raven did my hair and makeup.
"All done," Raven announced after about 45 minutes.
She had done a really good job. My makeup was simple with dark green glitter on my eyelids, bold eyeliner, and my clear gloss which I had in my bag anyway. Raven styled my curls into a loose low bun with strands of my hair falling out of the bun, tickling my shoulders and framing my face.
"Now for shoes, we aren't the same size babe, and those," she motioned to my pink converse, "will not cut it."
Agreeing, I laughed at her words, "I think I left a pair of black heels here once, I'll go ask Ryker for them."
Raven gave me a sympathetic smile, "I can go ask him if you want."
"Don't be ridiculous, I'm having dinner with you, I can't just avoid him." Raven nodded in agreement and I left her room, going down the hall to Eli's.
Just as I raised my hand to knock, Eli's door swung open. He froze in his tracks and his eyes perused me up and down. His crystal orbs darkened multiple shades when he spotted my sheer corset top and my chest which was dusted with glitter thanks to Raven. They then travelled down my legs and his eyebrow rose when he spotted my bare feet or more specifically my white painted toenails.
"Urgh," I started, "I'm pretty sure I left some shoes here, could I have them please?"
Eli didn't speak a word, just peered at me before he nodded and opened his bedroom door for me to come in. His scent immediately engulfed me and contentedness doused me and I took in the familiar sight of his room. I shook it off however and scanned his room looking for my heels. I spotted them right where I had left them by the foot of his bed and made my way over to them.
A memory bombarded me from the Saturday we returned from the lake. Eli brought us back here because he wanted to train, he never said why he didn't drop me home first and I never complained because I liked watching him train. When my Nan messaged me asking where I was, I had complained to Eli about having to put on my stupid black heels again so he had rolled his eyes, grunted, and carried me to the car. And then when we got back to mine, he had carried me all the way into my room before dropping me on the bed, shaking his head and saying, "only for you, tigru."
I was shaken out of my memory by the sound of Eli's voice behind me, "you're fucking stunning," he said. Just like he had said countless times before only this time my heart clenched in my chest instead of bursting with joy and my eyes fluttered closed in sadness instead of widening with excitement.
I turned around to face him but he was gone. I took another deep breath before slipping on my black heels and schooling my face so that I could easily hold up my facade all night.
Here goes everything.
â â â â â â â â â
Does anyone get this reference??^^
Long one but I couldn't find a way to shorten it without losing details about how she is coping/dealing with everything that is going on in her life right now.
pt 2 next
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Thank you for reading, lovely people!
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