Tutor

Thirty Three

Demi

I sighed as I checked my phone again. I know that he's probably busy with college but I sent the message nearly 2 hours ago. Stop being clingy, Demi. Being clingy drives a man away. I rolled my eyes, dropping my phone onto my lap. I glanced down at Cleo who stood, her tail wagging excitedly as she panted. I glanced to where she was looking and smiled at Lani who ran up to us.

"You okay, Cutie?"

"Yeah" she slumped against me, trying to catch her breath.

"You want a drink?" she nodded so I rummaged around in my bag and pulled out a juice box. I stuck the straw in the box and then handed it to her. I began to stroke my fingers through her hair. "You want to head over to the field and we can throw a ball for Cleo?" she nodded, glancing up at me with a smile, the straw still between her teeth. Cleo perked up at the word 'ball.' "I think Cleo likes the sound of that" Lani giggled as she moved away from me. I stood up from the bench and grabbed my bag off the floor. I unwrapped Cleo's leash from the leg of the bench and Lani held her hand out for it. Cleo isn't too difficult to walk and Lani's held her plenty of times. Cleo is amazing with Lani; they get along so well together. I was pulled from my thoughts by my phone vibrating in my pocket, the smile on my face widened at the notification.

obj: Afternoon Gorgeous 😉😍

ddlovato: It's about time you woke up 🙄 What time even is it in Chicago?! 😂😂

The smile on my face was enormous as I shoved my phone back into my pocket.

"Shall we go over here, Princess?" Lani glanced back at me and nodded, running with Cleo onto the field. I unclipped Cleo from her leash and then handed Lani her ball. "Stay where I can see you, Honey, okay?" she nodded as she took the ball from me and ran off out into the field. I removed my jacket and lowered it onto the ground before I took a seat. I pulled my phone out and recorded Lani and Cleo as they ran back and forth. I loudly laughed at the sight in front of me. My eyebrows furrowed though as Lani's attention was pulled elsewhere and she squealed, dropping the ball before she took off running. I followed her as she ran and my mouth dropped at the people walking towards us. My hand flew up to cover my mouth as I slowly stood, watching as Odell lifted Lani up and onto his hip. Tears began to well up in my eyes at the sight of him. Is this actually real right now?! Is he seriously here?

"Hi Baby" once he had lowered Lani to the ground, I threw myself at him. His fingers ran into my hair as he held me tightly against him. I couldn't stop myself from softly crying into his neck. I finally have my Odell back.

-

"Lani, you're getting that ice cream everywhere" Lani groaned as Heather tried to clean her up with a wipe. Odell and I just laughed at the sight of her. Odell held his spoon of ice cream up to me and I smiled as I took it into my mouth. He shot me a glare as I moaned, rolling his eyes as I giggled, glancing back down at my own ice cream.

"How's work been this week, Baby?"

"It's not been too bad. I feel like I'm learning a lot from Mark, he says I actually have the potential to go far" Odell and Heather beamed. Odell's arm wrapped around me and he gave me a squeeze, his lips pressing to my temple.

"I'm so proud of you. You'll be working for Pixar before we know it. You'll have your name in the credits of the next Pixar movie" I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

"I very much doubt it. I don't think I'm that good."

"Baby, you doubt yourself too much" I flashed him a smile, watching as he ate a spoonful of his ice cream. I glanced back down at mine and ate a spoonful, glancing to Lani who flashed me a smile. She giggled as I stuck out my tongue.

"Demi?" I froze ever so slightly in my seat at the voice and the smile on my face fell. Fuck. What is he doing here? "Well, I never excepted to see you outside of work" my heart instantly began to hammer against my chest.

"Elliot, hi. I..." I glanced over to Odell who kept glancing between me and the light-skinned, tall and muscular man stood at the end of the table. Odell's eyes narrowed ever so slightly and I suddenly had an urge to vomit from how fast my heart seemed to be hammering against my ribcage. I glanced back to Elliot who had this sickeningly sweet smile on his face. His eyes that are normally a bright blue were also suddenly black as they burnt into mine. The problem with Elliot is that he's far too sweet to the people he meets. He's false and if my gut is anything to go by, he's also dangerous. "Elliot, this is my boyfriend, Odell, his mom and his little sister. Guys, this is Elliot, he's from work" Elliot's eyes flashed down to meet mine and I suddenly wanted the ground to swallow me up. Why the fuck is he here? Can he not just leave me alone.

"It was nice to meet you all. I'll see you on Monday, Demi" I flashed him a tiny smile, swallowing down the bile that forced its way up my throat at the smile that spread across his face. He turned and headed towards the counter. He kept glancing back at me and every time he did, I felt like doing a runner. The look in his eyes had my skin crawling. What is with this dude?

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