Thirty Three.

Elena's Pov.

The car was silent as I drove, I did not pay any attention to the woman sitting beside me, I could tell that she was looking  for a way to get my attention because  of the way she was twisting and turning in her seat, she was certainly uneasy and disturbed, but I still did not pay any heed to her struggles, I could not care less about what she felt, only that I cared,and could not bear to make her so uncomfortable, still I wanted to put her under a little more stress so I kept my mind occupied on Annie's case, I received a rude awakening by finding out that I may have put myself and my secret  in jeopardy by helping Annie, if she went to GRILL PLAZA, she would most definitely be asked where and when she met me, to be able to get a recommendation from me, and then they would find out that I might be in the upper and bigger side of town, then I would lose the only people that provided me love, warmth and care and also income in my time of need, even though they did not know much about me, I had not been completely honest with them about my background and upbringing, yes I had told them about my Dad not being around forost of my life, but they did not know that my mum was I'll and not faring so we'll, even though they had earned the right to know, so to them I could have been a nameless lieing woman who was looking for pity, but no, they took me like family, Caleb and his brother Tyler both, Tyler owned GRILL PLAZA and Caleb worked and lived with him in order to earn his bread.

They would understand that I am not a lieing and ungrateful girl who just wanted to use the pity card to curry favor right?, I asked myself inwardly, but even I knew the answer to my own question. I was going to have to let go of that bond I had with them when the time comes, and that time is drawing nearer by the second.

Tomorrow was my shoot and I had to give myself a rest, I needed it, I could not afford to let myself continue worrying over these problems, they were just too much and I did not know where to start solving them, on one hand, I had Amelie on my neck, looking for a tiny loophole to manipulate and put me in the mud, on the other I hadAto worry about upholding the place I had started digging for myself in the industry, making developments to my career, hiding the fact that I had someone that was supporting me, handling Annie's case and making sure that man was put in prison, I know I had promised her that I would not involve the police, but once she was stable and able to fend for herself, I would make sure her ex husband smells the fists of his fellow prison inmates, at least they serve edible food in jail and I also had a murder mystery to unravel, it was all so overwhelming that I just needed to take a huge breath to calm my nerves which were all over the place, my curiosity was at its peak and I becoming more and more paranoid.

I kneaded my temple, all this stressing and worrying was having me easily fatigued and tired out, and I did not like that feeling. I looked at the woman beside me from underneath my lashes, she was also peeping at me. I started to wonder why she kept on hiding her boyfriends identity. I know that his name was Joe, but anybody could be named Joe, even Annie's ex husband could bear the name Joe but what exactly was making her so secretive about the whole thing, I could not wrap my head around it and I refused to worry about it, that would only cause me to be madder at her than I already am, and that would not be good, I would simply call Lorenzo and ask for his help to find out and dig into the background of the man in question, but that would not also work. Lorenzo himself had asked me to let go of the issue and trust Katie to make the right decision instead of pressuring her into doing something she did not want to do, which she might come to regret later, but I was not able to leave the matter. Something was definitely wrong and Katie was hiding it from me, but I would find it out, sooner or later.

I heard a sigh, then another, the silence in the car was unnerving, and I did not make any attempt to break it, instead I turned on loud music from the stereo system and started whistling to the beat, even though I did not know the song, nor it's lyrics.

Turns out I was also uneasy with the whole countenance in the car that I turned off the music and stopped whistling, giving my own low sigh. A small smile tugged at her lips and I could see her trying to hold the laugh in. A smile formed on my face too, but I was determined to not let it show. The little silence game we had been playing ended when I could not hold the laugh in any longer and just burst out laughing, she too joined in and we laughed together as if we had not done so for a very long time.

When I finally  wiped the laugh tears from my eyes, I turned my head to look at her.

"That was awkward" I exclaimed.

"What was awkward, laughing to absolutely nothing, or the silence game we were playing?" she asked.

"Both!" I answered truthfully.

"Yeah, awkward and satisfying" she said, "the laughter I mean" she immediately added and I smiled.

"The silence was too tiring"I confessed.

"Yes obviously, from the sneaked looks and the little under eye stares." She joined in.

"Oh, hold up, that was all you, my eyes were on the road the whole time" I was not about to confess to that.

"Yes, the whole time it was not on my face, you know your ability to multitask is commendable, you really focused your attention on my face and on the road as well, bravo! I must say, you are excellent at such stuff." She said and I felt my neck growing hot  from embarrassment.

"Don't you dare shift the blame on me, I did nothing, you were the one that was watching me the whole time, I mean, if not, how would you know that I was sneaking glances at you" I indicted. "If I was actually looking at you, that is" I added.

"Uhm.. I could see your eye lashes fluttering up and down and sideways too, so I knew that you were looking at me." She said in an effort to defend herself, but I burst out laughing.

"That excuse was so flimsy, it was so shaky, I can not believe that is what you came up with, that is all,my lashes were fluttering, my eye lashes are literally so short that there is no way they could have been fluttering" I said in between wheezes of laughter. " And by the way, you would have to be looking intently at me to be able to  actually SEE my eye lashes fluttering,so either way, that excuse is invalid." I shook my head, wondering what excuse I would have come up with had I been in her shoes, I was sure I would have come up with something better than fluttering eye lashes.

"Yeah, laugh all you want, at least someone out there would have come up with something dumber." She pouted and rolled her eyes, folding her arms and throwing her head to the other side.

"As much as I would like to pinch your cheek, I don't think it's safe to leave the steering wheel, I don't want to die young." I said.

"Hmph, at least the earth would be rid of an ugly person." She retorted.

"I totally agree, you would not be such a waste if you died, but as much as I would like to rid the earth of you, I can't afford to make myself a victim as well, I am too beautiful for that, don't you think?" I said, throwing her a flying kiss and a wink.

She looked like she was fed up of my drama and insisted on keeping silent, at least the huge tension that had been between us was broken now, I was content with that.

"But seriously" she began.

"What?" I asked.

"Never give me the silent treatment, please, I don't think I will be able to bear that kind of treatment a second time, once is enough for a lifetime". She admitted.

I smiled when I heard this, sincerely speaking, I did not like it too, the anticipation of talking to her again was too great.

"I am sorry, I was just angry initially, but I promise I am no longer mad, I understand that you must do your own thing at your own pace and it will not be good for me to try to push things, which might make you end up doing something that you might regret in order to please me or do things at my own pace, so I completely understand and I know that when the time comes, you will do the needful, and I promise not to give you the silent treatment anymore, I was so tired out from the distance between us, the tension was too great, it was almost draining, so I promise it was not anymore easy in me as it was in you" I conceded.

"Thank you, I am glad that you will not treat me to the other end of your silence, and also, thank you for understanding me, I promise it will not be long, please don't be mad anymore, I know that you care about me, but I on the other hand am an adult and have to stick by my decisions, and remember that I am an adult, I mean you can be so over protective at times that I forget that I am about three years older than you, I know you care about me, more than the assistant/manager that I am, but I just need to make decisions sometimes without getting you or any other involved party's feeling hurt, if you understand what I mean" she explained.

I understood what she was trying to explain to me, and I knew she was right, her world does not revolve around me, she sometimes had to make personal decisions which in the process may hurt my feelings due to my overprotective tendencies, sure I did not like the sound of his name, but that did not make him a bad person, just because I did not like him, I had to be happy for her, I should be happy about anything that she is happy about, the only problem was that she did not seem exactly happy about him and that is what bothers me.

"What brought about the change of mind anyways" she asked.

"I just remembered the advise a wise man gave me not so long ago, and I decided that maybe he was right about some of the things he said. Sometimes our insecurities get in the way of our happiness and other people's happiness, especially those around us." I answered.

"Well, whoever he is, I am grateful to him for his multi million advice, it has done me and you a lot of good. Do you mind disclosing his identity, I have an inklit of suspicion that I might actually know him." She said, then winked at me and I laughed shaking my head.

"Then you should take a very thick blanket and cover your suspicions with it because there is no way you can know this person." I lied, she did not have to know that I had tabled her matter before the almighty wisdom man.

"Well, whatever you say, I am still grateful to him, whoever he may be." She responded, and I shook my head, why did I feel like her suspicions were not exactly quenched.

Another silence fell on the car but this time it was not the same uncomfortable silence that had enveloped the car before. This one was more relaxing and we both smiled savouring the sweet silence, I felt at peace, to an extent, and I was sure that she felt the warm feeling too.

I obviously had a lot more things bothering me, but now I felt like I would definitely share them with this woman whom I had formed a sisterly and close bond with, she would definitely chastise me for being careless and standing the chance of exposing myself to my friends, but I was also sure that she would also praisee for sticking up for a helpless woman who was in need of help, the feminist side of her would definitely outweigh the logical side of her. As of now, I would be hoping that a miracle occured to deliver me from this impending doom. What if I was exposed and Lorenzo got to find out, I would definitely be done for, be would most definitely chose to punish me, it is well stated in the contract that I am not allowed to disclose the secret, directly or indirectly to anyone, and that if any of us violates that rule, the other is to mete out punishment in full measure, as far as no one is harmed. My mind was now focused on the kind of punishment that I would recieve, and I found myself getting slightly wet, I was now slightly hoping to be punished, it has been so long since I got some action. I bit my lip unknowingly and a finger snapped under my nose.

"What are you thinking,that you are biting your lip so much, you look like someone that is advertising sexy lingerie" she asked, motioning with her eyebrows.

"Oh don't be funny, maybe, I am actually removing sexy lingerie in my head, that is why I am biting my lip so much." I teased.

"Uhmm... I am speechless. You have a really dirty mind, I must commend you on that one." She shivered dramatically.

I swerved and entered the apartment complex, parking the car in the parking lot and heaving a sigh of relief.

"Home sweet home" I heaved.

"That was one long ride" she added, and I agreed completely.

Author's Note:

Hey guys 🥰, who missed me♥️♥️, so I decided to post longer chapters, I know that the dialogues are long but that is just me trying to make you bond more with and understand Elena. Also, I think I will start posting in third person POV.

P.s: POV means point of view 😉.

CIAO 🥰♥️😘