Chapter 6 Eliott Judd

I stood there in awe of both the luxury of the suite and all the effort he put into this dinner. When he invited me to sit down, apologizing that dinner wasn't ready yet, I politely declined his offer. I preferred rather to go around the immense living room. After all, this might be my last time to step into a Royal Suite. I stopped in front of the fireplace, running my fingers on its ornaments.

All of a sudden, I felt a presence behind me ...

"Do you think it's beautiful?" he asked me.

"Don't you think so ?"

"I do, it's really wonderful ."

He pressed on the last word, looking me straight in the eye with an intense gaze.

I felt a little embarrassed by this gaze.

"Are you actually trying to put me at ease by staring at me that way? Because it does not have the desired effect at all," I said smiling.

"Sorry, but I can't help but look at you. I feel like I'm dreaming, and that you're not real ."

As he spoke, he stretched his hand out to touch me. Feeling rather awkward, I quickly grabbed my phone and texted him.

[Mya:

Hey, it's really me.]

When he took out his phone out to see the message he had just received, I saw my name followed by ❤ on the screen. Just like I did for his contact, he had saved mine with a heart attached to it. I couldn't have imagined that.

He read the message, and then I saw a smile light up his face.

"You are so silly, of course I know it's you ."

He gave me a light flick on the forehead.

"Come on, it's ready ."

"It smells really good !"

Without further ado, he led me to the table.

Just as I was about to seat myself, I heard his voice from behind. "Mya, wait."

Confused, I turned to him with a questioning gaze. Out of the blue, he grabbed my hand and gently pulled me towards him.

"I've been waiting for a long time to be able to do this," he said. As he spoke, he wrapped his arms around my waist.

I sincerely believed that my heart had never beaten so hard in my life; neither had my face ever been so red, nor my body so hot. I even had the feeling that my legs had never been as shaky as they were at that moment ... And despite it all, I felt like I had found my home. A home that I didn't want to leave at all. However, I did not respond to his embrace. I was just too surprised for that, too tense to ...

Suddenly he stepped back, leaving me distraught. I was so stupefied by his pulling back all of a sudden that I didn't know how to react on the moment.

"Are you alright?" he asked me, looking worried.

"I ... uh ... Yeah!" I replied, coming back to my senses.

He smiled proudly, fully aware of the effect he was having on me.

It wasn't just his presence that gave me this enchanting effect. Even when we chatted by message, it was always the same.

[Mya:

What are you doing ?]

[Eli ❤:

Nothing, I'm bored to death. I want to be with you .]

[Mya:

And what more would you have done if we were together ?]

[Eli ❤:

Trust me, lots of things ...]

[Mya:

'-']

[Eli ❤:

For starters, I will hug you really tightly ...]

[Mya:

It is allowed to dream !]

[Eli ❤:

Ha-ha, we'll see some day .]

After a while he finally made me sit at the table. I was so tense. My hands were on my thighs, clutching my dress, while I kept my head down.

I could hear him smile as he made his way to the kitchen. He returned shortly after with a plate of foie gras on a slice of toast.

"Foie gras!" I exclaimed in surprise, with my hands on my cheeks.

"Well, you told me you were French and that you missed your cooking ."

"Did you actually cook it?" I asked astonished.

"Ahem ... I am good at lots of stuffs, but I must admit that cooking isn't one of them. I ordered from a caterer this evening ... I definitely do not know how to cook !"

I burst out laughing and somehow, he managed to relax me. Something suddenly struck me... He wasn't arrogant when he said he was good at a lot of things, he really was an amazing man. So why did he love me?

"You know, I have lots of qualities," I said, imitating him. "Definitely, humility isn't one of them! Neither is modesty !"

he said, laughing.

"Glad to finally have the Mya I have been chatting with for weeks; relaxed, funny and easy going !"

Truth is, I was glad too to have finally met him. I was just overexcited moments ago to be able to relax.

"Are you working tomorrow?" he asked.

"Yeah, 1 p.m.-8 p.m. It's rather annoying ..."

"What if you slept here tonight?!" he asked enthusiastically, like a child.

"I don't think that's a good idea ..."

"Hey, you know, I'm not going to jump on you if that's what scares you. I'll save that for later though." He accompanied his words with a wink.

"You fool," I hissed, laughing.

"And we can go out together tomorrow night, what do you think? I could pick you up after work!" The excitement was very evident in his tone.

"Yes, why not? Apparently, you can't do without me already !"

He laughed at my comment.

"No way. I just want to spend my last week with you, before leaving ."

He pursed his lips.

Smiling, I instinctively crossed my fingers with his on the table.

"I too would like to spend the week with you," I said softly.

Suddenly realizing what I just did, I quickly removed my fingers from his, embarrassed. Noticing my embarrassment, he laughed.

"I see you're even more stressed than me. I managed to relax, you need to do the same now ,"

he said with an encouraging smile. I looked at him earnestly and asked, "Eli, why would you be interested in a girl like me? I mean, I'm just so common!"

Saying that hurt my self-esteem a lot, but I had to acknowledge the fact that he was technically out of my league. So the fact that he seemed to be interested in me was really confusing.

"I'm not sure how to explain it, but I'll try to be as sincere as possible. I lost my grandmother a few years ago.

She was the one who raised me, you know. So, seeing how committed you were to your deceased each year, I felt like this was something I could have done. I have to tell you, that's when I started to take interest in you. Then as you know we started chatting for days, and later on all day and all night too. You took all sleep from my mind ."

Thinking back to those moments, I smiled to myself. However, I didn't say a word and just let him go on.

"And as you know, or rather you don't know, I'm pretty well known. You can't imagine how good it was for me to talk to someone for once who isn't with me out of interest. Add to that the lady is being just so funny and beautiful altogether. There're all chances I will fall in love ."

He winked at me while saying those last words. I wanted to kiss him on the spot ...

He continued, "Seeing you this evening, I have the feeling that I wasn't mistaken; there is actually something that I cannot explain between us ."

"You mean to say some kind of connection ?"

***

"Would you like us to have dessert on the balcony?" Eli asked me when we had almost finished our dinner.

"It's up to you," I replied with a gentle smile.

"Oh, I forgot to ask you. Do you know who I am ?"

"Would you be upset if I don't ?"

"Ha-ha, not at all."

"I won't hide from you that it's not for lack of research. I did indeed google some stupid keywords ..."

He burst into laughter, a look of disbelief written on his face.

"Tell me, what kind of keywords did you google ?"

"You'll mock me if I tell you ..."

I pouted like a child, putting on an innocent face.

"No, I won't ever laugh at you. Tell me !"

I took a deep breath.

"Words like: Eli concert O2 uh ... Or: Eli rock member band, plus a unique random words on things I knew about you."

He couldn't stop laughing, which made me feel a little embarrassed.

"You see you are laughing. At least now you know that I am a psychopath, and I didn't hide it from you!" As I spoke, I crossed my arms over my chest.

"No-no, I'm not laughing at you. It's just that what you did is very cute."

We left the dining room and moved to the terrace, where we sat on a swing. I was speechless. The view from there was just amazing!

"My God!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah, the suites here are breathtaking."

"So, who are you Eli?" I asked abruptly. "Guess that's not your real name, is it?"

He looked at me with a gentle smile.

"You are right, that's not my real name. It's rather the short form of my name. I am Eliott Judd. And to answer the questions you asked me, I was born on January 3rd, 1993, my middle name is Flynn, and I'm a drummer in a band: the Powder Keg ."

Taken aback by this unexpected revelation, I covered my mouth with my hands. My funny assumptions earlier came back to me.