Obsession||BWWM

V. We're already friends

Continuation

"After you," Elijah said cheekily, opening the cafe door for her. Nadia shook her head at him with a smile, walking in with him trailing behind. And, he may or may not have checked out her ass as she walked by.

They ordered two cups of coffee and left shortly after, the place thankfully not being too busy, walking closely together with no real destination in mind.

Nadia left work with Elijah after he showed up unexpectedly, asking a close colleague of hers to cover for her when needed.

He came in asking to talk to her, insisting it needed to be somewhere more private, away from prying eyes. Nadia, of course, was very hesitant to even be talking to him in that moment. 

The conversation with her father was still very fresh on her mind, and God forbid  he saw the two of them together right then. He'd probably have a heart attack.

She wasted no time in gathering her things and leaving with him. So, now here they were, side by side, wandering aimlessly around downtown in a comfortable silence.

"So..." Nadia started, glancing at Elijah from the corner of her eye as she took a sip of her coffee. But, she immediately regret it, realizing it was still hot when it burnt the tip of her tongue, making her let out a hiss.

Elijah hid a smile behind his cup, reiterating her question back to her, "so..." trailing off just like she did.

Letting out a huff, Nadia swatted at his arm. He chuckled, switching his drink to his left hand as he casually took in hers that was swinging freely between them.

Nadia looked down at it then looked back up at him with a smile plastered on her face. "What was so important that you had to pull me out of work to tell me?"

They somehow found their selves in a park scattered with people. Some jogging with earphones in, walking their dog, or just simply sitting around on the the park benches. Elijah led her to an empty bench right under a tree, sitting down with her.

He shrugged, dropping his coffee cup on the space beside him and scooted closer to her, taking her hand in his.

"I want to try this out," shaking his head as he added under his breath, "whatever the Hell this is". But, Nadia heard it anyway, letting out a small laugh in agreement. "I mean..." Elijah stopped mid-sentence, looking at her in confusion as he asked, "are we even friends?"

"Y-yeah, i'd think so". Nadia answered with a slight stutter, nodding as if to reassure herself. "If not, then wow," she murmured. She wanted to be more than friends though. But, if that's all he wanted at the moment, then she'll go along with it.

For now, that is.

Elijah raised a brow at her. "Acquaintances?"

"What?"

"You said so yourself". He sat up straighter. They were sitting much closer now. "If not friends then, at the very least, acquaintances".

She was cuddling into his side at this point. She blamed the autumn air, it's way too cold. Thankfully, Elijah didn't seem to mind.

"Let's change that," Elijah continued. He stuck his hand out in her direction. "Elijah," he introduced himself.

Nadia rolled her eyes. "We're already friends". She shook his hand anyway. "Nadia".

"Then, i want to be more," he replied, absentmindedly playing with the ends of her hair. She held back the huge smile that was threatening to show. "We can just ride this out and let time tell, yeah?"

There was no real rush to label anything right that instant. Nadia nodded in agreement.

Taking one last sip of her coffee, Nadia dropped the cup down on the floor. "Alright, first order of business as friends; i'm going to need your phone number. I can't keep hoping to bump into you every time".

Sliding her phone out from her pocket, Nadia handed it over, "i mean, i'm pretty sure that's how people did it in the olden days".

Elijah laughed, turning the iPhone to her for the password, which she typed in. "Good thing we weren't born in the 'olden days', yeah?"

"Definitely a good thing".

_________________✍

"What do you do?" Nadia asked suddenly, grabbing his attention as they were walking around the park. "For a living, i mean".

He absentmindedly scratched at the scruff on his chin, briefly glancing at her. "I'm a, uh,  computer hardware engineer," stuffing his slightly trembling hands in his trouser pocket.

Nadia gave him an impressed look. "Having a job like that, congrats by the way, has got to make you at least twenty-four". He nodded in agreement, "that's your age? You're twenty-four?"

He shook his head. "No".

"Then how old are you?"

"I'll answer that question if, and only if, you tell me your age. You know, since we're friends and all, i'm going to need to know these sort of things sooner or later".

"You should know better than to ask a woman her age," Nadia tutted playfully.

Elijah bit back a smile from slipping through, "suit yourself then. At this rate, we're just two strangers walking side by side, who just so happen to have fucked each other on more than one occasion". He shrugged, "whatever, no big deal".

Nadia rolled her eyes. "If you're trying to guilt me into telling you," she smiled widely, "it's working. I'm twenty-four".

"Cool. You hungry?" Elijah brought his hand out his pocket, slotting it with hers, thanking God he wasn't fidgeting anymore. "I know this great diner somewhere around here". He began walking at a faster pace, pulling Nadia along with him.

"Wait, hold on," Nadia said in a slightly raised voice, tugging at their intertwined hands, successfully halting his movements.

He turned around to face her fully. "Don't worry, i'm paying".

Her brows furrowed for a second, "no, that's great, but you didn't hold onto your end of the bargain".

Elijah raised a brow, "which is?"

Nadia let out a breath, exasperated, a little puzzled at how someone could forget things so quickly. She spoke slowly, "your age. How old are you?"

He gave her a confused look, tilting his head to the side. "I'm twenty-seven, why?

"I— " But then she just shook her head. "Nevermind".

_________________✍

Jessica

Your dad's been asking where you've been. You need to get back, like right now.

Received: 4:53 pm

Nadia turned her phone back off after reading the text, looking up at Elijah. "Apparently, i need to get to work like right now," she told him, quoting the text from her colleague. 

"Alright". Elijah beckoned the waiter over for the check and to pack up their left overs, handing the man his credit card. "D'you want me to walk you there?"

The waiter came back shortly after, giving Elijah back his card and placed a plastic bag containing two take away boxes on their table.

"Sure".

They left the diner shortly after, walking in silence all the way back until they reached the front of the building.

"See you later, i guess," Nadia spoke up. 

He hummed, leaning down to give her what she thought was a friendly peck on her cheek, but, to her surprise, he gave Nadia a soft kiss on her lips.

Elijah smirked at her dazed look. "Get back to work, Nurse Ohaz".