Chapter Six: Elena
Despite it seeming to take forever for the designated time to arrive, Elena soon found herself receiving a message from Gerard telling her that he was downstairs waiting for her. She found it somewhat strange that he chose not to come up to her place for a bit, but given the fact that they had thirty minutes until seven o’clock, it didn’t come as too much of a shock. He was probably worried about them getting to the restaurant late, though the fact that Elena hadn’t heard him say anything about having made a reservation for them somewhere she didn’t understand why he was so preoccupied with being on time. He has always been like this, though. He loves nothing more than being on time.
It had been one of the many things about him that used to irk her when they had first been partnered up. Elena was a far more laid-back type of person and preferred to live her life in such a way that she didn’t have to spend her time rushing from place to place to try and meet up with other people’s arbitrary senses of time. Gerard had been quick to tell her that he didn’t approve of her lack of timeliness, and she had lost track of the number of times that he had chastised her for being late to something. She couldn’t help it, though. She had been born on June 19th, a day that was dedicated to taking your time with things. She believed that had something to do with her carefree attitude, and she wasn’t going to apologize for something that she didn’t think she could control.
This time, however, he would have no reason to complain. She had taken a shower to freshen up, going so far as to spend a half an hour in front of the mirror doing her makeup. She wasn’t trying to seduce him or anything, but she did like to look good when she went out, and this seemed like as good a time as any. As she gave herself one last lingering look in the mirror that hung in her living room, she smiled at how good she looked. If she didn’t turn any heads tonight she would be very surprised. So long as I catch Gerard’s attention, I don’t care if I don’t get a single glance from anyone else tonight.
She paused, a small frown spreading across her face then. Just what was it that she wanted from Gerard? Sure, he had been her partner for quite a long time, but he had never actually shown any interest in her as a woman. To be fair, that was probably because of her having been in a relationship for the longest time, and she had been the one who insisted on repeatedly telling him that she wasn’t interested in him. Add to that the fact that they always seemed to be arguing in the aftermath of her breakup with Jeremy, and she could easily see why he might have chosen to keep himself somewhat distant from her. Now, however, she was single. That meant that she was fair game, and she was going to make sure that Gerard knew it by the end of the night.
The sound of her phone ringing from the small purse that she had chosen to use tonight broke her out of her thoughts, making her blink as she fished the small pink cellular device out and glanced at the screen. Gerard was calling, and she knew better than to not answer his calls. “Hello, Gerard? I’m making my way downstairs right now. I just wanted to make sure that I didn’t forget anything before I left the house.”
“I just wanted to make sure that everything was alright. I texted you but you didn’t send me a reply, and it’s been about five minutes since I sent that message. I don’t mean to sound impatient, but I am rather eager to get to this restaurant. I want us to be able to get a good seat before the other tourists and hotel guests start crowding up the place, which is why I got here a little earlier than I had originally planned to,” he said casually, his deep voice making Elena shudder gently with sudden desire that caused her to blush from just how powerful the sensation was.
She fought the urge to roll her eyes at his words, biting her bottom lip to stop herself from smiling. Despite how subtle he had tried to be, she could tell that he was trying to make it sound like he wasn’t excited for the two of them to be going out, which only made it even more obvious to her. She chose not to call him out on it, though. She would play along with him for now; she didn’t want to risk the two of them arguing when this dinner was supposed to be a way for them to make up for all their previous arguments. “No worries. I’m heading out the door right now. I’ll be down in a few moments.”
“Sounds good,” he replied, the line going dead a moment later.
Figuring it would be best not to keep him waiting much longer, Elena locked the front door to her apartment before making her way down the multiple flights of stairs toward the entryway of the apartment. She could already see the limousine parked in front of the building waiting for her, her heart beating a little faster in her chest at the sight of Gerard standing beside it, waiting for her. He was dressed impeccably in a midnight blue suit and matching pants, a golden necktie serving as the only variation of color in his outfit. His eyes were closed as he leaned gently against the back of the limo, no doubt doing his best to make sure that he didn’t wrinkle his outfit in the process. Pushing open the front door to her apartment complex, she plastered a smile on her face and began to saunter over to him.
“I didn’t make you wait too long, did I?” she asked playfully, a knowing look on her face telling him that she was making fun of him slightly.
“A little longer than I would have liked, but I suppose I won’t complain. At least you didn’t keep me waiting as long as you did that one time back in France,” he said, a smile on his face as he brought up one of our very first missions together.
“I had been kidnapped from my hotel room the night before and had to wait for my captors to leave long enough that I could pick the lock on the handcuffs they had used on me and escape. I’m sorry that my having to break out of Notre Dame and avoid people trying to kill me inconvenienced you,” she said teasingly, sticking her tongue out at him.
“You never did tell me the full story of how you managed to get away,” he said, holding open the back door of the limo for her to climb inside.
“Maybe, someday, I’ll tell you,” she said with a smile, climbing inside and scooting to the other side to make room for Gerard to climb in as well.
“Now that is a story I would be interested in hearing,” he said, glancing toward the driver and nodding his head wordlessly.
The limo began to drive off, Elena allowing herself to enjoy the feeling of the comfortable leather seats. She could smell the slightly tangy scent of Gerard’s cologne, the scent one that she thought suited him quite well. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath to draw the scent further into her nose. She did it as subtly as she could manage, casting a sidelong glance at him to make sure that he hadn’t noticed her actions. “So, what brought about this sudden change of heart? You seemed pretty angry at me earlier when you left Charlie’s place,” she said curiously, resting both of her hands in her lap.
“I figured that I wasn’t being as empathetic as I could have been, and I thought that this would be a way for us to bury any possible bad blood between us. You are my partner, after all. I need you on my side, and having you angry at me makes it so that there is a possibility that you could be persuaded to side against me at some point. I would rather avoid that,” he said, his arms crossing gently in front of his chest.
“Do you really think, after these three years of us working together, that I would honestly ever consider betraying you? Especially since we both know what happens in our organization to traitors?” she asked incredulously, shaking her head in disbelief at his words. “Besides, I might have been in a bad mood lately, but it would never drive me to turn on you. You mean a little more to me than that.”
“What exactly do I mean to you, Elena?” he asked softly, his voice only loud enough so that she could hear him.
She didn’t answer him right away, looking out the window so that she could watch the buildings pass by. They were already approaching the hotel, which meant that she didn’t have much time until they arrived. She bit her bottom lip as she considered how she might respond to his question, worrying that she might unwittingly admit more than she was willing to were she not to carefully consider her words. “You are important to me, Gerard. It is just hard for me to say in what way.”
“I suppose I’ll let that suffice, for now,” he said with a smirk. “However, I do intend to make you tell me eventually.”
Elena didn’t reply to that, simply smiling. “Let’s go eat. I’m starving.”