Warning: Murder in this chapter

Nora's P.O.V

‘I really want those Ralph and Russo vintage Pink Satin Eden pumps… The ones with rose gold leaves on the heels, ugh, I hate rich things.’ I was casually dreaming of the heavenly shoes until the sound of scraping chairs racked against the restaurant floor and I tuned in to hear Elijah speak.

“So, it’s a deal?” He pestered, standing tall from his chair, and watching Nick with a hard face. I hurried and forced myself to do the same, wondering what had happened throughout my daydreaming stupor during the entire professional discussion.

“You’ve got yourself a deal Cooper. You’re good at business negotiations, couldn’t say no to you”, Nick stood up and replied. He chuckled for a second before outstretching his hand and waiting for Elijah to meet him for a handshake.

“I wouldn’t be the CEO if I wasn’t good at my job”, my boss proudly responded, a smirk threading his face as they shook hands and parted. That explained why Elijah had bought the champagne, he knew he was going to get the offer. I smiled over at Nick’s assistant who I’d come to know was called Juliet. She faced me and returned the smile, nodding in my direction respectfully whilst we continued to stay quiet and let our bosses speak.

“I’ll contact your office and finalise the details of the contract later tomorrow, let me know if there’s any issues you want to go over before we sign it”, Nick commented and turned to me, giving me his hand to shake as well.

“Will do, I’ll have my PA on the look out for your email”, Elijah stated and shook Juliet’s hand beside me before she and her boss turned around and walked out of the restaurant to disappear from sight.

I liked Juliet, although we had both remained quiet and avoided getting involved in the discussion, we had made plenty of conversation through the art of facial expressions and body language. We pulled subtle faces at each other when the conversations were heating, and testosterone was building. She was polite, gentle, and hilarious. ‘Definitely a new friend that I’d take solace in and gladly work with in the future’, I recommended and sat back in my seat, watching Elijah do the same.

The long negotiations had me shifting uncomfortably in the chair and now that it was over, I noticed people passing by us and leaving the restaurant. In single file, each one of them headed out of the building and left to go home. I looked through the windows noticing the sky which had originally been bright now turning dark, the city lights cascading on the streets. I heaved in depression. I wanted to go home and rest from the exhaustion taking over my body, but Elijah refused to speak to me. Instead, he was analysing some files that Nick had handed him and was completely unaware of the time shift.

“Pardon me, but can I go home, sir?” I politely asked. I clasped my fingers together under the table, wishing for good luck but Elijah merely gazed up at me with that specific glint in his eyes, not replying, just studying me. ‘What did that look mean? Why did he always show me that look?’ I curiously questioned as Elijah returned to a stoic expression and returned to analysing his documents.

“No. I still have some work to finish, be patient”, he ordered, and I huffed in despair. I slumped in my chair and drowned in my sorrows for a longing I wouldn’t get to accept. Home was calling for me through a siren song and I could feel my arms itching to just pick up my belongings and rush after the melody, but I couldn’t. Orders were orders and I had to carry them out.

After our conversation had abruptly finished, I didn’t bother interrupting him or speaking to him. ‘The quicker he looks through those files, the quicker I get to go home’, so with that in mind I scrolled through my phone and stalked a few people from high school. Nothing interesting popped up but even that activity hadn’t quenched my boredom, so I continued to scroll away for the sole purpose of not reaching over the table and strangling Elijah in anger.

He was doing everything on his own and it infuriated me to the core to know that I wasn’t even needed for this meeting. ‘Why did he even bother calling me over here?’ If all he was going to do was talk to Nick on his own, discuss the terms and conditions, negotiate prices, stocks, and orders, and then sit there and go through future predictions of their partnership, then why was I here? I wasn’t a doll for show, and I wasn’t going to accept just being useless, but he had ordered me to be quiet and then forced me to continue being silent after the meeting as he worked through some papers on his own. It was ridiculous.

I was silently fuming at this point when Elijah raised his hand and the same waiter from before came scurrying to the devil to take another order of champagne. I rolled my eyes and stared at the clock the time striking to show it was eight in the evening.

“Would you like a glass of champagne? We should be celebrating after all”, Elijah suggested with a simple tilt of his head and the waiter watched me, waiting for an answer.

“No thank you. I’ll just wait for you to finish”, I replied as Elijah furrowed his eyebrows, unhappy with my answer but didn’t bother contradicting me. He dismissed the waiter and continued looking through the files, not bothering to ask me why I didn’t want to drink any alcohol.

The truth was, I didn’t want to get drunk. When alcohol and I mixed together, I became the Hyde to my Jekyll. Memories flitted past my eyelids as I recounted a time, I had gathered the courage to drink just a little more than usual. Shot after shot, I downed it all down till the mixtures sloshed in the pit of my stomach and I danced to my hearts content. The music had blurred, and my vision had hazed, senses merging into one. The entire time was a mess and once I woke up the next day the killer hangover was attacking me full force.
I learnt my lesson since then and stayed far away from my worst enemy. It didn’t help that Jane still teased me about it, even after all the time that had passed. When she saw my pitiful state, she couldn’t even believe that I was that carnal animal that had ravaged itself on alcohol. I inwardly cringed, ‘My younger days were much more adventurous and eye opening than the life I was living now.’ I believed in that statement with so much passion that I started to struggle keeping a laugh from bubbling past my lips. Slight giggles fought through the barrier, and it caught Elijah’s attention as he watched me, his face showing confusion and then scorn.

“What are you laughing at? Do I look funny to you?” He asked with the temperament of a grizzly bear. ‘Called it, he always ends up misreading my actions’, I thought as the laughs were getting harder to keep under control. I saw his fists clench and he dropped the papers onto the table, his eyes narrowing under scrutiny. I coughed a few times, hoping to lodge the giggles.

“Um, no. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you, sir”, I replied as my eyes watered and my throat tickled. I avoided looking at Elijah. His entire demeanour of an upset child only fuelled me even more.

“You’re still on working hours so you better remain professional, Miss Jones. Else I’ll fire you for your improper behaviour”, Elijah threatened, and I glared at him hatefully, my body leaning over the table and trying to tower over him. ‘Think of the money Nora, your family needs you and depends on you to help them out financially.’

“I wasn’t laughing at you; I was reminiscing on a memory from a while back. The world does not revolve around your life, sir, please bare that in mind”, I gritted out as I saw Elijah’s eyes rage in the storm I’d gotten used to. His entire body exuded raw dominance and I was struggling to stay upright over the table. I was hoping not to submit to him.

“Learn your place, Miss Jones”, he responded before going back to his papers and ignoring me with a newfound determination. I sat back in my chair and watched him. ‘He was always busy with work. Did he ever have time to do something fun in his life?’ I tried to figure out but judging by his capabilities to negotiate and run a company… I’d guess he didn’t ever get to live life. All that Elijah ever revealed were his grumpy expressions and cold body language.

After a few minutes of fidgeting and shifting in my chair, Elijah finally deemed it acceptable to go home. He stood from his chair, picked up the files and gestured for me to follow him. I meekly walked behind him. He stayed true to his words and paid for the bill, all the while behaving nicely when he didn’t mock me or insult me over the dinner we’d shared. When we headed out the entrance, the restaurant had started to dim their lights with cleaners spraying down the tables and wiping them clean. Shelves were being restocked and the kitchen staff were relaxing after their hard work.  We’d stayed until their official closing time, making the most of the environment.

Elijah didn’t wait for me as he headed off in a direction. Streetlights basked in a yellow glow every few steps and I ended up staring at his back, admiring how the suit material clung to him and how his hair shined in reflection for the light. I surveyed my surroundings, quickening my steps so I could stay close to Elijah within the empty street. I walked beside him now, feeling a small of sense of safety and security.

“Scared are we, Miss Nora?” Elijah smirked when he noticed my arm brushing against his. I frowned for a second before taking a large step away from him and returning a glare in his way.

“You know full well that I’m scared of the dark, Mr Elijah”, I replied whilst jumping when a rat scurried along the edges of the road and squeaked at the sight of us.

“I am aware of your fear but there’s not long to go now”, he cryptically added as the long walk continued in silence. The only sounds afterwards being our mingled breaths and footsteps on the pavement.

I stared at him, confused about what he meant when I caught a glimpse of a black Mercedes standing on one side of the road. It was completely isolated, and it made me wonder whether it was the perfect opportunity for someone to hijack the vehicle, ‘That car costs a fortune and since it’s all alone with no security cameras facing it. Well then, it’d be a waste not to take advantage of that.’

We continued to walk, and it wasn’t until movement from around the car had me squinting to see what was going on over there. From behind the Mercedes stepped two burly looking men, clad in black clothing from head to toe, with faces covered in anonymous masks. They turned in our direction, standing still for a moment before they stepped towards us. I tried to figure out what was going on, ‘Could the men be trying to target us or ask us about the car or are they trying to act inconspicuous about stealing the car?’

I subtly sidled closer to Elijah, hesitant to get any closer to those men as fear gnawed at me. The feeling only heightened when the men raised their arms and an object glinted in the light of the streetlamps. ‘They’re guns, they have guns in their hands, the men have actual guns in their hands, are they real or is this all fake?’ I panicked and my legs trembled in fear, my blood racing to my head and a wave of light-headedness crashed over me.
‘Holy shit! This is like those stick ups where we have to give them the car keys and all our belongings’, I noticed as I began to hyperventilate.

Elijah stopped walking to the car, ‘What are we going to do now?’ I fretted. The men seemed to stabilise their arms to try and aim better. Instead of thinking that Elijah would turn around and yell for us to run, I felt the tightening sensation of a hand pulling me backwards where I stumbled to maintain my balance. I was tempted to scream out from the street and hope that someone could come rescue us but when the hand left my arm and the sudden fear of losing my life crossed me, I closed my eyes. I waited for the impending pain of a gunshot wound to explode in my body, for warm blood to trickle down the length of my arms or my legs to collapse from the brunt force of the bullet, but nothing happened.

I didn’t feel pain, I didn’t feel the trickles of blood, I didn’t feel myself collapsing onto the pavement. It was silent and the only thing I could sense was the slight tinge of smoke that hinted at metal sizzling with metal. ‘What’s happened? Am I dead? Why is it so quiet all of a sudden?’ I questioned with shaky breaths as I built up my courage to open my eyes. The sight before me had me gasping in shock.

In front of me, standing in a protective manner, with his body shielding mine was none other than Elijah. I peered over his shoulder and tentatively stepped away from him as he turned around and looked at me, making sure that I wasn’t hurt. He held a gun in his hand, the smoke I’d smelt earlier was coming from the object in heaps. He lowered the gun when he noticed my obvious discomfort. I checked behind him to try and see if the two men were anywhere nearby but there was no trace of them, like ghosts they disappeared.

My knees buckled and I finally felt myself falling ungracefully, but Elijah rushed to my aid and grabbed me by the waist, his strength letting me down onto the pavement in a gentler manner. ‘They were about to kill us. They had real guns and were aiming for us’, I was trembling under his touch, and it didn’t help that Elijah was still holding the gun, now snugly fit against my waist. It burned like hot lava, and I squirmed to try and get away from it, but Elijah only forced me closer to him.

“It’s okay, Nora. They’re gone, they won’t be coming back, just take deep breaths. In and out”, Elijah motioned as he demonstrated the breathing technique for me to follow suit. I tried to do exactly what he did but my body was still caving in from the aftershock. I could make out his strong cologne, still overpowering my senses even after spending all day at work and now being in the fresh air outside. I hung onto that scent, I let it invade my lungs till it hurt to breath in anymore, but I could feel my head lolling to one side and my eyes teetering to the back of my eyes.

“Hey, hey, no! Stay awake! Goddamn it”, Elijah cursed as he raised his palm and slapped me with a little force. Not enough to hurt me but enough to stun me back awake.

“Huh? What just happened?” I pathetically muttered as my orientation came back and I looked up to see Elijah with concern etched on his face peering down at me.

“Don’t think about any of that. Just look at me and concentrate on breathing, okay?” He stated and I nodded. I didn’t say anything for a while, but my mind was whirling in thoughts as more questions loomed over me. ‘Ever since I came near this guy, danger was following me. I can’t trust this man, what if they attack us again?’

A discomforting tear fell along my cheeks. I was traumatised and I was sure that at the end of the night I’d be having nightmares that wouldn’t let me sleep for a while. ‘I would’ve been dead if it weren’t for Elijah pulling me back and pulling the trigger twice’, I realised and the sobs I’d retained finally bellowed out, my lungs constricting in pain once again. ‘He saved my life, oh my God, I could have died.’

A warm touch tingled my skin on my face, and I automatically flinched at the feeling, it immediately receded before it resumed its attempt and this time, past my blurred tears, I saw Elijah trying to reach for me. I let him try again. This time he wiped his padded thumb across my cheek, picking up the lone tear that had carelessly meandered down. He stroked its trail leading all the way to my chin before he caressed my jaw and tried to pull a gentle smile. ‘He was reassuring me’, I registered, and I leaned into his touch to try and savour some form of feeling alive. ‘If I could feel touch and feel emotions, then I wasn’t dead’, I concluded.

“I’ve got you; I won’t let anyone harm you. Do you think you can stand now?” Elijah asked me and removed his hand from my chin. I wanted that touch back, I urgently missed it, but I had to put on a brave face to act like I was stable.

“I think so, I’m probably a little wobbly but I can manage”, I spoke. My voice had wavered in uncertainty, but Elijah stood up and reached his arms out, letting me place my hands in his until he tugged me slowly upwards and let me stand on my own two feet. He didn’t let go of my hands, not until he saw me step forward without collapsing back to the ground.

At that point Elijah nodded and started to make his way to his car yet again, I stuck to him like glue on paper and never let him get too far away from me. It hadn’t even registered in my mind that he had his own gun in his possession, ‘What kind of CEO has a gun tucked somewhere in his clothes? What made him think he’d need it in the first place?’ More questions to add to my list and I grimly considered if there was more to Elijah than he was letting on.

We reached the car and I shakily looked about the area, hoping that the anonymous men wouldn’t jump out and attempt anything a second time. I wasn’t sure whether it was safe to be near Elijah, whether I could be around him without getting hurt, ‘What if they had played with the car and sabotaged it?’ Elijah headed to the driver’s side but halted when he noticed my resistance to step anywhere near the vehicle. I’d have to risk either being with him or being out on the streets where those men could still be lurking within the shadows.

“It’s okay, you’re safe Miss Nora. Let’s get in the car and I’ll take you home”, Elijah informed me, but I reluctantly stepped away from the car and peered through the windows of the Mercedes to assess its interior. ‘There could be flashing lights or red and blue wires sticking out somewhere. Someone needs to check the bottom of the car too, a bomb could be placed under there’, the car was suspicious in the fact that nothing had been damaged about it.

“No, I don’t trust you. I don’t want to be anywhere near you!” I took another tentative step back, but Elijah glared in my direction for that and forced me to stand still.

“Don’t be ridiculous, I got rid of the men. Now get in the car before you piss me off, I’ve had enough to handle for one day”, he grumbled the last part under his breath, but I was too stubborn at this point to ask him what he meant.

“I don’t see the bodies so that means they must have run away! They’re still out there, they could have tinkered with the car. How can you just blindly get in?” I was practically running out of breath as if I’d ran a marathon myself. Elijah however, lost his patience as his voice lowered a few octaves and he gave me a menacing stare, his hand hovering over the door handle.

“Miss Jones. If you’re going to play stupid, then so be it. If you’d rather stay out here with those men instead of getting in the car with me, then fine. I’ll be present for your funeral.”
That comment had me reeling in shock and irritation. ‘How dare he? He’s such a prick. Death wasn’t something to joke about, but he wouldn’t know that since he was a cold-hearted monster and killing someone or getting killed wasn’t in his dictionary’, I wanted to punch him but what he’d said had made sense. It was either him or those men. I had to choose fast.

“But—.”

“Get. In. The. Damn. Car… Or else I’m leaving you here to rot”, Elijah finished as he opened the door handle to the car and sat in his seat. He didn’t look towards me, but he didn’t turn the engine on either. I sighed and mentally debated my options before concluding that if anyone could protect me at this point, it’d be Elijah. I wanted to go home, and he was the only shot I had to reach home and be with my family. I had somehow kept my purse with me through the entire ordeal, but I tightened my hold on it anyways and forced myself to stay calm.

I sat inside in the passenger’s seat where Elijah turned on the engine straight after and pulled out from the side of the road to drive away. He was deathly silent and the rage that washed itself over the car was making me want to snap at him. Instead, I tried to converse with him as the city lights passed by and skyscrapers towered over us. I noticed Elijah constantly looking through the rear-view mirror to see if anything was following behind us but so far, we were safe.

“Who were they? Who were they trying to kill?” I blurted out as Elijah tightened his grip on the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white. He spared me a quick glance before facing the front.

“They were here to kill me, but you always have to end up being in the middle of everything”, Elijah rudely retorted. I clenched my hands into tight forms of fists hoping that for once I could muster up the audacity to actually hurt him painfully.

“If I wasn’t in between, you and those men, you might have ended up dead”, I snapped to which he tried to assassinate me with his stormy eyes. Eventually a smirk transformed his face and he cockily replied.

“If I hadn’t have pulled you back, you wouldn’t be here to talk. So, how about you shut that pretty little mouth of yours.”

I twitched at that comment, it was getting harder and harder to stay inside this car without wanting to rip his throat apart. He was so smug about the fact he’d saved my life that what little caring nature I had come to learn about him had slowly turned itself into a fantasy I knew was just an act. It was his fault I was in this mess in the first place. If he hadn’t have called me in for some stupid meeting, then this entire situation could have been averted. ‘I hate you, Elijah Cooper! Everything about you, I hate you so fucking much’, I seethed angrily as I faced the window and tried to give him my back in an attempt to make it clear that I was done talking to him. ‘He only ever thinks about himself!’

We didn’t speak throughout the rest of the car ride. We avoided looking in each other’s paths and we didn’t turn on any music from his speakers, so we were left to stew in rage and silence. An hour passed and I saw my house rolling to a standstill as the car parked in front of it. I didn’t want to be near him any second longer, so I opened the car door and forcefully slammed it shut, the car swaying to the side and bouncing back from the force I’d applied. ‘That’s how mad you’ve made me, Elijah. Rot in hell yourself.’

Whenever Elijah made some form of progress at acting nice and caring, he ended up ruining it. We took one step forward and then two steps back and I was getting tired with all of his behaviour. ‘I just wanted a normal life with a normal job but think about the money Nora, think about the finance problems in the family’, I internally whined.

I didn’t look back, I just stormed my way to the front door and stomped my way inside, huffing and puffing like the big bad wolf from the three little pigs. I was grateful for the fact that mom wasn’t home yet, she had to stay behind at the hospital for overtime hours which meant I could rage freely without her prodding questions and concern.

I looked around the hallway, headed towards the living room and then shifted my way to the kitchen. A delicious scent wafted from that room before I walked in and witnessed a home-made dinner waiting for me to eat. Mom must have kept that food for me, but I wasn’t hungry after the seafood I’d ate and the incident I had somehow survived. I packaged the food up and stored it for tomorrow to eat as my lunch and walked up the stairs to my room. Nina was soundly sleeping in her room, her duvet scrunched at her knees as she twisted in her dreams. I didn’t bother disturbing her but the sight of her breathing peacefully throughout the night had me smiling in gratification. I continued on my merry way to my room, sinking to my bed as letting the day’s events sink in.

I couldn’t keep rewinding the scenes without breaking apart and I knew that if I continued this then I’d spiral. It was bad enough that my nightmares were going to keep my awake. I stood up and decided to change into some warm clothes, finally padding my way back to the kitchen to brew myself a warm hot chocolate with whipped cream, marshmallows, and chocolate shavings. ‘The perfect drink to de-stress’, I concluded and sat down on the sofa. Flickering through the TV channels was a waste of time, there was nothing interesting on but luckily mom intercepted my time and called me.

“Hi sweetie, how was work? Are you finally home?” Her concern sent a warm feeling through my stomach, and I sighed, appreciating the fact that I was alive and could hear my mom’s voice.

“I’m fine mom, I just got back home though. I put the food back in the fridge, I had dinner on the way back”, I answered, lying about the last part, and completely ignoring any work-related questions especially since I was still close to breaking down. I was pretty sure I’d spill everything about the incident to the point where she’d be freaking out more than me and advising me to leave the job.

“Honey, you need to eat something warm. At least go to sleep early and get some good rest, you sound tired”, she replied, and I nodded before replying with a deflated tone.
“So do you mom, how’s your work going?”

“The usual—”

The sound of raised voices and hustling in the background caused me to be on high alert as mom scrambled for a second before her voice reappeared, “I’ve got to go, emergency on the floor. I’ll be back in a few hours, don’t stay up for me love.”

The line ended and I placed my phone into my lap. I needed one of mom’s hugs that made me feel infinitely better but that would have to wait until tomorrow. Switching the TV off, I headed back to my room before washing my face and changing into my PJ’s. The night was already dreary but if I tried hard enough maybe I’d survive… ‘Oh who was I kidding?’

Just as I’d predicted the night kept me awake in more ways than even a torturer could try.

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