Date Shark

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Stressor

Leila's first thought when she woke up late the next morning was of Eli. She wanted to tell him everything about her date with Luke the night before. She reached for her cell phone, but it wasn't on her nightstand as usual. Pushing back her wild shock of hair, she searched around her bed for the missing phone. It wasn't there. Leila groaned. She must have dropped it somewhere. Forcing herself out of bed, she started wandering through her apartment.

She found the phone under her couch. It must have fallen when she collapsed there after getting home. The late hour hadn't bothered her much, especially after so many long hours getting ready for Ana's show. Luke's gift had kept her sitting on the couch for quite a while. In the end, she had set the frame reverently on her mantle and gone to bed in a happy haze.

Dialing Eli's number after retrieving the phone took only seconds, despite Leila's groggy state. His chipper voice greeting her did wonders to improve her mood.

"Hey, Eli. You sound very alert and energetic."

"You sound quite the opposite."

"Thanks." She yawned, muffling the phone too

late to hide it. "Got to bed kind of late last night."

"Really," Eli said, his voice flat. The disapproval in his voice was clear.

Leila wasn't even sure how to classify her relationship with Eli, but his opinion of her meant more to her than just about anyone else's. She hurried to explain, but found that harder than she expected. "I didn't ... I mean ..."

Why was it so hard for her to say she didn't sleep with Luke? She trusted Eli. She knew that despite his occasional odd behavior, he was her mentor, basically, and so far out of her realm of possibilities that discussing her sex life with him shouldn't have been embarrassing in the least. For some reason, she couldn't force the words from her mouth.

Luckily for her, Eli seemed to have gotten the message from her sputtering. "You're calling me from your apartment, not Luke's. Is that what

you're trying to say?"

"Yes."

"Good," he said. He sounded relieved, which made Leila smile. It was sweet that he worried about her.

"So, do you want to hear about last night?" "Not over the phone." Rustling carried over the line, making Leila wonder what he was doing. And what he meant by not over the phone. "You caught me just as I was about to head out for a run. Why don't you join me? We can talk about your date as we run."

"Run?" The horrified tone of her voice made giving any further opinion on the matter unneeded.

"Yes, run. Meet me at Holstein Park in fifteen minutes. We'll start there and see how it goes."

"But ..."

"See you in a few minutes."

The line went dead after that. He did that on purpose, Leila thought, so I wouldn't have a chance to say no. If she wanted to discuss Luke with him, she had no other option than to meet him. The good mood Eli had inspired just a few minutes ago evaporated. Leila did not enjoy running. She really didn't like working out in any form. If she hadn't been blessed with good genetics and a high metabolism, she would most likely weigh twice what she did. Leila planned on letting Eli know exactly how much she appreciated being forced into running with him.