Chapter 44

"Respectfully no," Helen declined the invitation for meeting his mother. "The image your friends have put in my mind about your mother scares me and you said it yourself, I'm not the type of woman she had planned for you to meet. How about I just don't meet her and everyone is happy? Mostly me."

  "Do you really want me to beg you, Helen?" Eli questioned a plate of assorted fruits as a bribe. He knew the best option to convince her would be food.

Helen used a fork to pick up a piece of sliced apples and put it in her mouth to taste the sweetness from the fruit. "You're on the right track trying to bribe me with food but it's going to take more than fruits Eli."

"I could buy you that cake you like and have it delivered here by the time you return later," He proposed recalling a certain vanilla cake she loved but the bakery was far out of Harlow city.

"What else?" Helen pressed for more. A cake wasn't going to cut it. "And what makes you think I'm going to come back later? I do have an apartment to get back to."

"We both know you'll be back sooner or later Helen. Don't deny how much you loved my home."

"Why are you pushing for me to meet your mother now? A few months ago you didn't care, what changed?" Helen paused her eating and eyed Eli suspiciously. "Don't tell me you're planning to propose to me."

"Of course not," He responded then laughed at how Helen relaxed hearing his answer. She was the only woman he knew who took joy in hearing a man didn't want to marry her. 

Helen dramatically wiped non-existent sweat off her forehead and said, "Whew! Close one."

She continued to enjoy the fresh fruit waiting for Eli to come up with a better bribe. 

"How about I get up your favorite dishes and set up a movie night," He said as a last resort on the food list before he would try other gift ideas.

"Now you're talking but I hope you know I want every dish even if it's from outside the country. You owe me big time for what I believe will be a disaster but at least when it blows up in your face I can say I told you so," Helen patted Eli's back and stood up off the bed to get ready to go to Essence for a while. 

"Why am I the only one trying to be positive?" Questioned Eli. He sat alone on the bed eating the remaining fruits Helen didn't care to eat while she picked out clothes she brought over and placed them in his closet.

It also took a lot of convincing for Helen to leave some of her clothes here. He could hear her voice echoing in his head again. 

"If I leave my clothes here next thing you know I'll be living here so soon."

To even things out, she made him pack some of his clothes to leave in her apartment even though he never slept over there. Helen claimed she didn't want her nosy neighbors catching sight of him entering and leaving the apartment.

Eli saw his phones silently lighting up on the dresser table and placed the fruits on one side to get up and check who was messaging him.

Turned out it was Noah who already knew who had followed him to his home. Of course, Noah worked quickly as always. All Noah had to do now was get the person here without anyone seeing. It was best if Helen didn't return to his home after her work with Essence. It won't be a pretty sight. 

"Helen!" He called for her in the closet. "You were serious about not coming here tonight right?"

Helen walked out of the closet with black jeans, black heels, and a white t-shirt and said, "Yes but now that you're asking about it I feel like coming back here tonight. My suspicion meter is through the roof considering Noah showed up here wanting to discuss something and now you don't want me here later."

"It's nothing to concern yourself with," He promised. He didn't want to involve her in his plans for the little house watcher.

"You know Eli, I'm a firm believer in telling me when something bad has happened right away and not let it blow up in my face because you wanted to hide it from me. It's super-duper annoying. Did something bad happened for Noah to show up so early?" She questioned wanting nothing but the truth.

There was a moment of silence between the two before Eli finally spoke. "He just came to tell me my mother knows I'm dating and wants to meet you. You know I directed all relationship talk with my mother to Noah and she's driving him crazy."

Helen placed her clothes on the bed and said, "I see. Poor Noah. And that's the only thing he came to talk about which was so urgent? Your mother?"

"Yes."

"I feel your lie on my skin Eli but I'll find out. I bet your mother didn't have any nice words about me and you're trying to hide what she said. I promise you whatever she said won't hurt my feelings. Not a lot," She added at the end. Helen wasn't sure how ruthless his mother's words might be yet.

"I don't want you to judge what my mother says before meeting her and understanding her personality. She'll warm up to you. Maybe not in a month but like a year and she'll love you."

"Gee thanks," She said not finding his words to be motivating at all. "You need to work on comforting people Eli. Your personality is stuck on draining the fun out of someone. I'll think about if I want to meet your mom while I'm at work. Have fun," She kissed him goodbye on the cheek. 

"I intend to," He replied.