Cat and Mouse game

Chapter Nineteen

The event lasted a little longer than Elias and Eric had expected. The agents found the tedious and pompous speeches of NeoLab researcheres regarding new developments and future plans especially long. The final words of each speaker were accompanied by the irritating clinking of champagne glasses.

The official part of the event was ended with an equally long and tedious speech by Vasques. The faces of the NeoLab employees broke into fake smiles when the owner spoke words of gratitude into his microphone.

After all this, the music faded away, and the guests did not hesitate to finish their alcoholic drinks and enjoy the appetizers. By the time the "star" of the celebration, Rhino, left the place, some of the guests were already quite drunk.

Following the crowd of partly sober and partly drunk upper-class individuals who were heading to their cars, the agents also left the gallery.

During their short ride home, which for some reason seemed to take forever, Elias didn't say a word. Neither did he say anything during the elevator ride up to their floor. 

Slowly opening the apartment door, Elias took a deep breath and allowed Eric to enter first. Following behind the blond, he slammed the door especially loudly and threw the apartment keys on the drawer just as loudly.

With a quick pace, Elias stepped around his partner and stood in front of him. The next moment, he suddenly grabbed the collar of Eric's shirt and tugged it to himself with a tight grip, thereby bringing the guy closer to his face.

"Are you a complete idiot?!" he shouted at Eric, fiercely looking into his eyes. "What the hell have you done, huh? How could you even think of answering 'yes, we're dating' like that? What the fuck 'dating'? That wasn't part of the plan!"

"Elli, calm down..." Eric replied, wrapping his hands around Elias', "In that situation, we needed to maximize our benefits, you know. So I improvised. And it worked out great, if you ask me. We managed to get Rhino's attention. And if I'm right, it will also make him more interested in us. Well, specifically, in you."

"Worked out great, you say? Huh, yeah, it worked damn great!" Elias couldn't calm down and continued to speak in raised tone. "You and your filthy mouth... Shit, I don't understand what the hell is going on in your head!"

Eric squeezed Elias's hands slightly tighter and pulled them away from his collar, which was about to tear up. He then released his partner's hands.

"At least we're 1-1 on improvisations now," the blond said with a playful smile, trying to ease the tension. "You went to the gallery without coordinating with me, and I used the conversation with Rhino as I saw fit."

"Um, these situations are basically incomparable and..."

Elias wanted to say something else, but he paused and, taking a deep breath, fell silent. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, giving himself a moment to reflect on the situation.

"Okay, there's no point in getting mad now. What's done is done," he commented with disappointment in his voice. "And what are you going to do with what you've done?"

"What do you mean, 'what'? We are going to play our new roles," Eric replied, looking confidently at Elias.

"Huh, are you suggesting we play a couple?" Elias asked ironically.

"Exactly! You think you can't do it?" Eric suddenly took a step forward and gently took Elias' hand in his, "I think you and I have pretty good chemistry. Though it's going to take some practice to make it look plausible," and he squeezed the guy's hand tighter.

"Damn, what I did to deserve this..." Elias muttered under his breath, pulling his hand out of Eric's grip. "Well, have it your way. Since there's no other choice anyway... Let's play lovers to the hilt!"