Chapter 23

"Speak of the devil and he shall appear," Jennifer commented examining the man she had viewed from afar in the past. She knew about Eli before he blew up on social media and thanks to her family connections she was able to get close to the tight circle Eli belonged to. Well, she believed she was close to certain people in that high life of society.

As she previously stated, Jennifer and a couple of her friends were trying to snag the man but it had proven too difficult. Who knew all it would've taken was a car accident. Why didn't she think of that? It felt as if Helen took her place as the main character in a story.

"Is it just me or does it feels like he's walking in slow motion? Did the world just slow down to give this man a dramatic entrance or am I crazy?" Julie questioned seeing how the atmosphere changed when the man arrived or maybe she just hallucinating from the lack of sleep she had last night.

"I see it too," Isabelle stated also seeing what Julie saw. He should've approached them twenty seconds ago considering how he walked with long strides but instead it took an extra thirty seconds. Even the world you had to slow down and appreciate his good looks.

"He certainly is handsome," Jennifer said tilting her head to the side enjoying the view. She couldn't immediately stop her interest in the man but she would give up now that he was tied to Helen. She wasn't the type to go for someone who was dating or dated a friend. Even if Helen swore she wasn't thinking about a serious relationship with Eli.

"Not as handsome as Kevin."

While her friends appeared to be infatuated by Eli, Helen on the other hand was quite disgusted by the sight. How could he just walk into her restaurant and captivate the room again? She should call security on him for stealing the spotlight. Not to mention he turned her friends into some high school girls when their crush was walking by. It was also weird to be with someone her friends were fawning over.

"Good afternoon," Eli greeted when he approached Helen and the three women beside her who he assumed to be her friends. "This is for you. Congrats on this new business," he said giving her a bouquet of flowers.

Taking the flowers Helen said, "Three bouquets in two days. I was kind of looking forward to another surprising bouquet."

"I can arrange that but I don't know how your guest will take it. Maybe next time? Also, I hope you never plan to gift me a piece of your love or heart. I might be scared to open the box," He joked recalling her recent gift.

Helen couldn't help herself from laughing at his statement. "You won't have to worry about that. I promise."

"These are my friends, Isabelle, Julie, and Jennifer. Everyone this is Eli my date," Helen introduced both parties. She turned and took a small sniff of the flowers while everyone got acquainted.

"You're Simon Hodge's daughter," Eli said remembering one of her friends. He knew of her father simply because Simon was known for doing a lot of dirty jobs. As much money as the Hodge's had, they were nothing but a mop made to clean up a mess created by others

Jennifer unconsciously flipped her hair, an action she did more than she realized, slightly flushed the man even knew of her. He barely acknowledged her existence when she was close to him in the past. "I've seen around before but we've never talked."

"I don't go around having too many causal conversations with people I have no interest in," He responded moving unto the next person to greet. Eli knew she quite possibly didn't know what shady business her father was involved in and sadly for her, reality will strike her hard somewhere in the near future.

"Nice to meet you," Julie greeted the God-like man in terms of his face. There was a sudden urge to want to style his hair. He would be the perfect test subject to extend her clientele to men.

Without thinking, she raised her right hand to touch his dark hair but Eli stopped her.

"No touching," Eli said placing her hand back down to her side. Her friend group was getting weirder down the line.

"Oh, my bad. I get I little crazy when there's someone I'm dying to style right in front of me," Julie apologized wanting nothing more than dig a hole and bury herself. She could just feel Helen is going to grill the heck out of them later. Julie wanted a redo button to repeat this moment before she made a fool of herself.

"Nice to meet you," Eli said greeting the last person which was Isabelle. He was hoping she would be a little bit more different than the Hodge and touchy girl.

"Nice to meet you too. You better take care of our girl Helen or I'll.." Isabelle trailed off starting to think about what she could even do to the man. It wasn't like she could fight especially a man. There was nothing to threaten him with but she had to let him know he couldn't hurt Helen in the future.

"Why are you warning him about hurting Helen? Isn't it the other way around when it comes to Helen?" Questioned Jennifer folding her arms. She turned to Eli and said," I've seen Helen make grown men cry or severely hurt their pride. Be careful when it comes to arguments. Her mouth is deadly."

"Is that so?" Eli replied unphased as he had already heard how deadly her mouth was when she cursed him to the moon and back.

It was also humorous to have humans trying to threaten or scare him. If only they knew what their friend was involved in they would run for the hills. All he had to do right now was reveal his true form and all this confidence they had would instantly disappear.

He was curious to experience Helen's reaction to learning the secrets of the world. The truth always happened to break those who were considered normal. Their mind dangling on the edge of insanity afterward.

"That's enough of my friends now. I have a special table for you girls. Enjoy the food today as a treat by me. I have another private table for us Eli," Helen stated interlocking her arm with Eli's.

If she stood here any longer with her friends they might start embarrassing her even more. Normally they were a little bit more composed but they choose today to collectively have a brain fart.

"Seriously. We're not sitting together?" Isabelle whined disliking the idea of having separate tables.

"I'll be moving around from table to table later on and visit you guys on a regular. I can't just sit around and chat all day but I'm having a short moment to speak with Eli," She explained. "Bye-bye," She blew an air kiss their way before escaping with Eli.

"I wouldn't have expected any less your friend group would be filled with those different personalities," Eli told Helen when they were out of hearing distance for her friends to eavesdrop on the conversation.

"It's more fun when the personalities clash sometimes. I wouldn't want to have friends or a relationship with someone who is one hundred percent just like me. You don't get to experience different things no matter how annoying they might be."