The Delivery Girl

28. Eliza

Callen

I stare at Eliza on my doorstep, looking up at me frustratedly.

"Aren't you going to let me in?" She doesn't wait for me to respond before pushing past me and into the foyer.

"What's going on?" I ask, turning on the lights. She's wearing an oversized hoodie and pyjama pants, carrying a large tote bag.

"Can you leave me alone for one second?" she snaps, rubbing her temples. "God."

I raise an eyebrow. She barged into my home at midnight and is giving me attitude? "Eliza," I raise my voice and cross my arms. "Start talking or get out of my house."

She buries her face in her hands and sighs deeply. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she mumbles. "Luke and I had a fight."

My hands clench into fists. "Are you ok? Did he hurt you?" I demand. I swear to god, he better not have done anything.

"Chill out, I'm fine," she says. "Just some bickering over a touchy subject."

I sigh and tiredly drag my hand down my face. "So why are you here?"

She looks up at me with wide, doe eyes. "Is it ok if I stay here tonight? I just need some time away from him."

I roll my eyes. She knows that I wouldn't say no. "Fine, I guess..."

She looks at me hesitantly. "Is everything ok?"

I rub the back of my neck and look away. I'm nowhere close to ready to tell her about Julie. "It's just that I have a... guest over right now."

She perks up, curiosity lighting up in her eyes.

"A guest?" she asks with a sly smile.

"Yup." I choose not to add any details. "Let's get you settled in."

I take her tote bag and begin leading her to one of the guest rooms – the one furthest away from the living room.

"Can I meet-"

"Absolutely not." I place her bag on the bed. "You know where everything is, please don't bother us."

She giggles. "Ok."

–

"Is everything ok?" Julie asks as I return.

"Yeah, my sister had a situation with her fiancé so she's staying the night."

Her brows worriedly furrow together. "Is she ok?"

"She'll be fine, don't worry," I say. "Sorry to cut the night short, but I think it's best to call it here." Eliza has killed the mood, and I really don't want to risk having her eavesdrop.

She nods. "No problem. I'll get an Uber and head home."

I'm about to say ok, but something stops me. I swallow nervously. "Actually, do you want to stay over? It's pretty late."

It's been ages since I've had a girl stay over, prior to Julie. Though I don't know if I would even consider that night staying over. We were separated by two floors, and I didn't sleep a wink. Back then, I had started having one night stands in my car instead of bringing girls back here. It saved me from the awkwardness of the next morning, and it was a much more efficient use of my time.

On one hand, Julie leaving early means getting to squeeze in a little more work before bed. I'd have time to finally review those applications for the new board member position. It keeps getting pushed to the backburner, and Lucille is using that to make me look incompetent to the board.