Fear

Chapter Eleven

Mario opened her apartment door after hearing three knocks coming from the wood. Her lips curled upwards as she spotted Elijah standing there with a large bunch of roses in hand. They were a deep rich red wrapped with brown paper.

"Elijah, come in. I'm just about ready." Mario told him as he stepped into her apartment. The first thing that hit him was the sweet smell that floated in the air. His eyes shut for a second as the smell gave him a momentary euphoric high.

"These are for you." He said as he handed the bunch of roses over to her. Mairi smiled a toothy grin as she took the flowers and smelt them. "They are gorgeous, thank you."

"Anything for you." He smirked as Mairi turned away and walked towards the kitchen to put the flowers into a vase of water. "I like that outfit," Elijah muttered as he walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her east from behind. He dipped his neck to gently brush his nose over her warm pink skin.

"You don't look bad yourself." Mairi chuckled at his actions. She put the vase full of flowers onto a table next to a window for the world to see. Mairi turned around and saw Elijah looking at her with a small side smile. 

He was wearing black formal trousers held up with a black leather belt and silver buckle. A white collared shirt buttoned up leaving the top two undone. Then a beige thick wool trench coat covered his shoulders. His thick black hair was gelled back and his stubble gone, showing his strong squared jawline.

"I'm just going to grab my bag then we are good to go," Mairi told Elijah as she walked past him to her room. Her bag was laying on top of her bed ready to go. Lifting the strap over her shoulder Mairi turned to look at herself in the six-foot mirror. She wore a greyish blue jumper that had a baggy turtle neck and cuffed sleeves. She paired it with black jeans and black knee-high boots with small chunky heels heel. Her hair brown hair in loose curls over her shoulders. 

"Alright." She muttered as she left her room and saw Elijah looking at a framed picture that he held in his hands. "My family," Mairi muttered to him as she walked over she reached over and gently took the picture frame from him. She looked down at the picture with sadness in her eyes. "They died two years ago in a plane crash." She told him as tears brushed her eyes. 

"Mairi," Elijah spoke placing a hand onto her upper arm to give her reassurance.

"It was the first time I didn't go with them." She told him as she stared at her younger brother, mother and father. "It has been a hard two years." She muttered gently as memories flew through her mind.

"Mairi," Elijah spoke firmly as he carefully took the picture from her hand and placed it back onto the desk. "You are not to blame for that. It was a complete accident." Elijah told her as he placed his hand under her chin and lifted her face up to look at him. A single tear started to fall down her cheek, to which Elijah brushed away. "Now come on, we don't want to make Sharon wait." 

"Yeah, that's not a good idea." Mairi chuckled along with Elijah. He offered her his arm before leading her to the front door. They made their way out of the apartments and down to the snow-covered streets. They walked to the diner which was almost pitch black. 

"Sharon?" Mairi called out through the pitch black. Holding tightly to Elijah's arm so as not to lose him. All of a sudden, golden fairy lights began to twinkle above their heads, almost like stars twinkled in the night skies. Elijah smiled as he gestured towards the table in front of them. The whole diner had been rearranged so that only on table two with two chairs remained. On top of the wooden table was a single candle yet to be lit. Two glasses filled halfway with red wine and cutlery set ready to be used. 

"Elijah, it's beautiful," Mairi muttered as they walked over to the table. Elijah pulled out her chair and allowed her to sit down while he pushed the chair back in.

"You really should thank Sharon. She was the one that done all this." He told her as he made his way to his chair facing her. 

"She's done an amazing job." Mairi smiled in awe as she looked up at the twinkling lights. 

"Thank you," Sharon smiled as she appeared to their right holding one bowl in each hand. She carefully set them down in the middle of the cutlery. "For starter, we have tomato and basil soup." 

"Thank you, it smells amazing." Elijah smiled at Sharon who nodded before turning and leaving the pair alone. Mairi picked up her spoon and dipped it into the red liquid. Lifting a spoonful up, she gently blew over it to cool it down before having a taste. 

"This is so good." Mairi purred as she savoured the taste of the soup. 

"Have I told you how beautiful you are?" Elijah spoke catching Mairi by surprise at his comment. The soup that was in her mouth flew to the back of her throat causing her to cough slightly. She reached for a napkin and covered her mouth before looking up at his amused face. 

"Where did that come from?" Mairi asked as she calmed down but a blush had crept up onto her cheekbones. 

"I just can't remember if I ever told you. So I thought I would just say it." Elijah smiled at her with a breath-taking smile.

"Well, thank you." Mairi smiled back gently before looking down at her soup to take another spoonful. 

"I hope you are hungry, the main course is beef and ale stew with mash potato," Elijah told her as he took his last spoonful of soup. 

"I love beef and ale stew!" Mairi exclaimed as she too finished her soup.