Murder was the Case they Gave Me

Chapter 8

It was late at night and all I could think about was Eli and the giant, gaping empty spot beside me. I had put a body pillow under the blanket on his side of the bed, but it had done nothing to comfort me. It was chilly out as I curled under the blanket, crickets chirping outside of my window.

I just stared at the ceiling, the clock stating that it was two in the morning with its bright red numbers. Henry was asleep out in the living room, but I didn't want to wake him. He had come over straight from work, he needed a good night's sleep. There was nothing to do but get stuck in my own head thinking about my favorite memories with Eli.

"What are we going to do today?" I asked curiously.

"Well I was thinking that maybe we could unpack a little bit more and then we can go out to that carnival," Eli said.

I nodded excitedly and opened up a box. Eli had moved into my apartment and we were still trying to get everything organized and settled. I didn't have a very big apartment so fitting everything in was a bit of a struggle, especially all his music supplies. His clothes were definitely tough trying to fit them into my closet and dressers. Thankfully, I did go through and donate some of my old clothes that I didn't wear anymore.

"I really wanna go on some of the rides there," I said. "I haven't been to an amusement park in so long, I've been missing rides like that. Also, I really want to try and win a stuffed animal from one of the games. I swear I am the best at the game where you throw darts at the balloons on the wall."

Eli smiled and simply leaned over to kiss my forehead. "You're the absolute cutest, you know that? God, I am so happy that I have you in my life. I love you so much."

"We have to be careful about money, though, so make sure to keep me in check," I said. "Maybe we can grab some food there for lunch or something. Depends on the prices there."

"Chances are it's going to be pretty expensive," he said. "We can just get some food at a fast food place to save money so we can spend more money on game prizes and try to win all of the prizes out of every booth."

I grinned, nodding my head.

"Also, me and the guys have a gig coming up this weekend if you wanted to come by and watch," he said. "And Jimmy was gonna come by to pick up a guitar."

"You guys have another gig?" I questioned curiously. "You haven't had a gig in a little while now."

"Yeah, it's been kind of dry but we're working through it," he said. "Been posting flyers at bars and clubs and things like that. We also may be performing at a party in a couple weeks. It's just some college party that they want a live band so it's nothing too big but the people throwing it are pretty rich so hopefully we'll be able to make some good money so I can buy you something cute."

"You don't need to spend your money on me," I denied. "we'll save it for bills and that. Maybe put it into a jar as a rainy-day fund."

Eli smiled, reaching over to hold my hand. He was about to say something but was interrupted when there was a knock on the door. Jimmy came in, smiling happily. He had trimmed his red beard a bit, his red hair tucked underneath a black baseball cap.

"Hey, Emma, hey, Eli," he greeted.

"What's up, Jimmy?" Eli asked. "I put your guitar over in the corner."

"Thanks, I also brought some flowers as a little housewarming gift," he said.

He handed me a little bouquet of roses and I smiled, taking them and smelling them. I put them in a vase with water before setting it onto the table.