Center Courtship (24 page)

Elsu looked at me. His caramel eyes were yummy in the current lighting. “A bit,” he agreed.

“A bit? Why?” I asked.

“Really? Are you stupid?” asked Carl.

Elsu rounded on Carl with his fist raised. I grabbed his arm before he could make contact with Carl's chin. “No!” I turned Elsu to look at me. “Why?”

“I don't want to get into it now.”

I sighed and looked to Aaron. “What am I doing, Mae?” he asked.

I looked between him and Elsu. “I don't know.”

“I do,” he said as he pulled his keys from his pocket. “Have a good evening, Mae. I'll talk to you later.” He smiled at my slyly and walked away.

“But,” I said as I turned to where he had disappeared into the crowd. “Now what?”

I turned to face Elsu who was staring at me. Carl was still beside us. “I will take you home.”

“No,” said Carl. “I've warned you, Mae. This has to end. Your kind aren't good for the team!”

Elsu grabbed ahold of Carl's bowtie and pulled him to his toes. “Shut up you weasely little useless piece of crap! Mae is my friend. If I have anything to say about it, she's going to be around for quite a while! Figure out what needs to be done to
make sure her presence is good for the team.
That
is your job. Do you understand?”

“What about Saraya?” asked Carl. “People aren't going to like you breaking up with the sweet girl.”

“We both know she's anything but sweet. We're over. Now get out of my sight!” He let go of Carl roughly who quickly rushed off to the front of the room.

“Thank you,” I said to Elsu finally.

“Not a problem. This has to end. He's been a pain in my ass all week. Hopefully he's taken care of.”

I nodded gratefully. “Well, are you ready to go?” I asked him, really wanting to go home.

“Yes, but I was watching you earlier talking to the wives and I couldn't get over how absolutely gorgeous you are. That outfit you're wearing is pretty much the sexiest thing I've ever seen. I decided I was going to dance with you once before we left.” He looked toward the DJ's stand, nodded, then turned back to me.

“Oh, Elsu, that's sweet. But I don't know how to dance. And that dance floor is packed. I'm not in the right frame of mind right now.”

The lights in the room changed to a romantic golden glow. I looked up and suddenly had a really weird feeling it wasn't by chance.

“Come on, they're about to play your song,” he grabbed my hand and led me to the platform where we had eaten. There were no other people up there and the tables had all been cleared down to the white linen table cloths. The decorations that had been spread out across both tables were now all lined up in a pretty arrangement of orange and black flowers on the front table. Elsu quickly rearranged the tables so there was one at each end, boxing us in and not allowing anyone on the platform but us. He took my hand and motioned to the DJ. “Just follow my lead,” he said quietly as he placed my left hand on his right arm and held my right in his left.

The music began and I didn't recognize it at first. “What is this?” I asked.

“You'll see,” he whispered.

And then I knew with the first line
‘I've never seen you looking so lovely as you did tonight.'
It was “
Lady in Red
.”

I couldn't help it as a tear streaked down my face. If only Elsu knew the importance of this song to me. Someday I would tell him, but not now. Now, I placed my head on his chest, closed my eyes, and rocked back and forth as Chris De Burgh sang about the lady in red who had never looked as gorgeous as she did tonight. I suddenly
felt
gorgeous with Elsu, I felt special. A feeling I had never known before. I felt like I was falling for this man whose arms were now both wrapped around me, and mine around him. The first hug I had given anyone in a really long time. Where was Carl? This was a picture I wanted to remember for the rest of my life.

“You can just park behind Little José,” I said to Millard after being told by Elsu that ‘dropping me off out front' was
not
ok.

“This is a nice building,” said Elsu as he opened the door of his Escalade and stepped around to help me out on my side.

“Thank you, Max owns it. He's a good landlord. Not a lot of those around,” I said as I reached into my purse and realized that when I packed it, the one thing I had forgotten to throw in was my key. “Shit.”

“What's wrong?” asked Elsu as he followed me into the elevator.

“I left my key here. Let me see if my neighbor is awake.” I pulled my phone out and called Colette.

A barely coherent voice answered the phone. “Mae? What time is it? Where are you?”

“It's nearly two in the morning and I'm just about outside your apartment. I left my key. Can I grab your copy?”

“She has your key?” asked Elsu with concern.

“Yep, and I have hers. And we both have Arnold's and he has ours.” I pointed to the door across the hall.

“Hold on, I'll be there in a second, Mae.”

“Colette, put a robe on, sweetheart,” I warned while smiling at Elsu. She was going to kill me for bringing Elsu to her door in the middle of the night.

I heard the door unlock and it swung open. I'm pretty sure she was still sleeping by the look in her eyes. “Here baby,” she said as she slipped the key out the door.

“Thank you Colette,” I said, waiting for her to realize who was with me.

“How did it go?” she asked groggily.

“Fine, Elsu is just dropping me off, I'll bring this back in the morning, go back to bed.”

“Ok, baby, tell me about it tomorrow.” She closed the door and I heard the locks engage.

Elsu started to walk away but I grabbed his elbow to halt him. I raised my first finger to motion for him to wait. Colette's locks unlocked hastily, the door swung open, and Colette stepped into the hallway. “ELSU?”

I laughed. “Yeah, Elsu.”

Colette looked at him and then suddenly checked her robe to make sure she was presentable.

Elsu held out his hand to introduce himself. Colette let out a squeal and instead of taking the hand, wrapped herself around his torso. “I love you!” she said.

Elsu stepped back at suddenly being knocked off balance and started to laugh.

“Colette, let go. You're going to hurt him,” I said, as I saw she had actually latched onto him.

She finally stepped back and looked up into his face. She seemed to be awake now. “Elsu? But you left with Casper.”

“And she'll never do
that
again,” said Elsu, he looked at me with his brows furrowed.

“Exactly,” I said.

“Ooookay…” drawled Colette looking between us both.

“I'll fill you in tomorrow,” I said. “Go back to bed.”

Colette turned and walked back to her door, shaking her head and mumbling something about bringing strangers to her door in the middle of the night. I'm pretty sure my life was threatened at some point in the murmuring. I just laughed and we headed to my apartment.

I looked up at Elsu and smiled shyly. “I guess I should thank you for everything. Saving me from Casper and Carl, the sweet dance, the drive home.”

“You're welcome,” said Elsu. “Have a good night.”

I was confused. I was expecting him to indicate to me that he expected thanked in another way. Not that I wanted to do that, but most guys seemed to expect certain things. “You don't want to come in to be thanked?” I asked.

“I should go, but if I could just use your bathroom before I leave, I would be forever grateful.” He didn't seem to catch my question, or he was ignoring it.

It wasn't the expected reply, but I wasn't going to deny him the need to go. I unlocked the door and we were greeted by Diesel who was sitting on the back of my couch. His favorite place to sit and wait for me. “Cute cat,” said Elsu, as he allowed Diesel to sniff his hand and then patted his head.

“Thanks, this is Diesel.”

Elsu looked at me with a smile. “Of course it is.”

I pointed him to the bathroom and started to stress at the fact that my bathroom probably looked like it had been hit by a bomb from all of my prepping before the dinner.

I hung Colette's key on my board and removed the wrap I had been wearing since I had sat down with the wives at the party. I looked in the small mirror that hung on the back of the door. I was shocked to see a humongous red mark on my neck. I was quickly reminded of the attack and Casper's branding. I heard the toilet flush in the bathroom and grabbed the wrap again and tried to put it back around my neck to hide the blemish quickly. Elsu walked up behind me and looked at my reflection in the mirror. I knew he could read that I was hiding something by the look on his face.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Just looking in the mirror,” I said, as I turned to look up at him while attempting to cover my neck with the fabric. He had stepped close and my eyes were drawn to the skin that showed where the top two buttons of his crisp, white shirt had been unbuttoned. He had shed his black jacket and tie in the car.

He eyed me curiously, then looked at the wrap. Apparently I hadn't covered anything. He pulled the fabric away and inspected my neck. “Did that fucker do that to you?” he nearly yelled.

I lowered my head in shame. “Yes, I'm sorry.”

“What?” He seemed angry at me now. “Don't you DARE apologize for that ass! I knew when I saw you two together that things weren't going to go well. I wish I had known he was going to invite you. I wouldn't have allowed it.”

I rose my eyebrows at him. “Allowed it?”
I
was angry now. Yes, in hindsight, I might have made a different decision, but how was I supposed to have known? Everyone else seemed to
know but me. “I can make my own decisions, they're not always the best, but they're mine. It's all I've got.”

“Shit, I didn't mean to come across like that. He's a selfish prick. He could charm the last dime from a homeless man and turn around and throw it away if it meant he got what he wanted. He doesn't care about anyone. The only thing that matters to him is what he gets in the end.” He rubbed his neck. “Tonight, you were what he had planned to get.”

“I got away, it's all good,” I said.

Elsu placed his hands on my arms and I flinched in pain. I pulled back and looked at my arms to see black and blue handprints where Casper and Carl had been squeezing. “Shit,” said Elsu. He pulled my arms up to look closer. “That ass.”

I rubbed my arms in disbelief. They didn't hurt until they were touched and now the pain was sharp. “Thank you for bringing me home.” I stepped toward him and placed my hand on a button of his shirt. I owed him for so much tonight.

“Mae, are you ok? Did he hurt you anywhere else?” I wasn't about to tell him Casper had squeezed my breast.

I shook my head. “No.”

“Ok, well I'll leave. If you need anything, please call me.”

I nodded, and trailed my hand down the buttons of his shirt then rested my finger briefly on his belt before I let go. Tears were starting to well and I wanted him to leave before I started to bawl. He bent down and gave me a sweet kiss on my forehead. “Goodnight, Mae.”

He stepped out the door and walked away.

I closed the door and leaned against it. Why hadn't he accepted my attempted seduction? Oral sex was the only skill I had in my arsenal. It was the only thing Bart ever got out of me. I hated it then and knew I'd hate it now, but I wanted Elsu to know how grateful I was. I figured he would have felt
something
with my hand on his chest, but he left.

I started to head to my bedroom when there was a pounding on my door that made me jump. I returned and looked through the peephole and saw Elsu standing there. I opened it quickly.

“Were you offering yourself to me to thank me for tonight?” he asked.

I lowered my head.

“Answer me, Mae.”

I looked up into his eyes. “I thought that's what you'd want.” I lowered my head again and whispered, “or expect.”

He grabbed my chin and lifted my face toward him. “Look at me, Mae.” I couldn't. I couldn't show him the shame that was coursing through my body. “Look at me!” His voice was stern, yet calming.

I finally looked to his eyes. The caramel color seemed darker. There was a pause as he stared at me, glancing from eye to eye. “I will
never, ever
want
that
from you.”

A tear fell from my eye. He was rejecting me to my face. My mom was right, girls like me don't deserve to find a guy like him.

“Don't you take that the wrong way, Mae. I will never
expect
that from you. I want you to take whatever bullshit your mom, or Bart, or whoever else has been feeding you and flush it down the toilet. If I have to take each thing they've ever said or done to you that has broken you down since the day you were born until now and make sure you know it isn't true, I will! You are beautiful, you are worthy.” He placed a third kiss on my forehead. Did he not know where my lips were?

I had read enough romance novels where the characters go on for chapters questioning whether the other character felt the same as they did. I had a crush, an attraction, a
something
and I was nearly certain he did too. If I was wrong, it would be a relief to just figure that out now and move on.

“I have never felt this way about anyone. I don't know what your feelings are towards me, but I'm kind of getting the feeling that they're along the same path. If you and I are going to do this, Elsu…you need to know it's only the second relationship I've ever had in my life. The first one was horrible. I'm sure you've gathered that much. I don't know how these things work. I don't have a lot of positive examples of relationships to base one on. Most people look at me and my life and think I'm an independent woman. But on the inside I'm just an effed up mess. You are too important in the grand scheme of things to be caught up with someone like me. I'm just a junkyard tomboy who likes to play in the creek and take cars apart. A good time for me is fishing for hours in the middle of nowhere, getting lost in my
own thoughts. I don't wear makeup, I don't wear high heels, none of this is me.” I pointed to my jumpsuit. “You deserve someone who looks like Saraya and acts like those wives. They are the only ones besides you who have shown me any compassion. And I'm still not one hundred percent certain theirs was sincere. I don't know how to judge people. I take them at face value and before I know it, I find out they're a joker. I'm…” Before the next word had a chance to escape, Elsu's lips were on mine; gently, sweetly.