Slow Down | ✓

02. TIPSY

He watches as she turns her head to look at him, her eyebrows furrowed.

The first thing he notices is that she's beautiful. Her face is free of any marks, her baby hairs laid neatly. Her eyebrows arch perfectly and he could drown in her pool of brown eyes.

He also takes notice of her business outfit. A pencil skirt that stops right above her knees and a silk top. His eyes are drawn to her curves that seemed to be accentuated by the way she sat.

Before his eyes could travel any further, his mind goes back to what happened between him and Gianna just a couple of hours ago.

He looks away and so she does too.

Despite the loud bar they're sat in, an awkward silence passes between the two.

Until the woman clears her throat and tilts her head, her hand reaching out hesitantly, "I'm Aliyah."

He's quiet for a second, leading the woman to believe that he doesn't really wanna engage in a conversation so she backtracks, pulling her hand back, "Uh, nevermind. I don't really know why I said that. You don't care."

She's drowning in embarrassment when he says nothing. And then, he speaks, "Elijah."

Her face remains stoic as she sips from her glass. When she rests it back on the counter, she speaks, "So, bad day?"

Elijah was kind of taken aback. He looks at her, blue eyes meeting brown. He nods, "Uh, yeah, you could say that."

Aliyah looks away, in awe of his eyes, "Wanna talk about it?"

The doctor smirks, sadly, when he sees the melancholy that she tries to hide in her eyes, "You first."

Aliyah chuckles, "I'm fine. Nothing there for me to rant about or anything..."

Elijah raises an eyebrow at her, "Really? I mean, you look like a busy woman and you're at a bar, sipping on a vodka tonic on a Wednesday. And there's nothing you wanna talk about?"

The two stare at each other, Aliyah contemplating spilling her business, just as she was asking him to do just seconds before.

And the drinking begins.

She groans, amusedly, "So, I'm a wedding planner. I love it. The organizing, the calling people and setting things up, making people happy. Apparently, I'm the 'best in Charlotte,' hence why my highschool sweetheart and ex-best friend decided I was their best option."

Elijah hisses in through his teeth, "Damn. That's fucked up. Are you gonna do it?"

Aliyah laughs at his words, "Unfortunately, yes. I just charged them extra," She gets caught in his gaze as she looks at him, her breath hitching in her throat. She looks away, "Your turn."

"Ah," Elijah chuckles, downing the rest of his drink. He feels the alcohol start to take over, "My girlfriend of eight years broke up with me."

Aliyah's eyes widen in surprise. Who in their right mind would break up with this fine ass man? She catches herself praying quietly that he's not an asshole. She slurs, "Eight years is a long time."

Elijah's smile drops, his fingers fiddling with the empty glass, "Yeah, it is," He pauses, "Her reasoning was that I never spend time with her. But, I'm a doctor, what the fuck did she expect? And then, she didn't tell me about her losing her job and she also blamed that on me not being there ━"

"Her losing her job or her not telling you?"

"Her not telling me," He huffs, "I even tried to get her to stay by bribing her with a ring."

Aliyah whistles lowly, "Damn. That's fucked up." She repeats his words, jokingly.

He throws her a playful glare, before bursting into laughter, "Yeah, I realize that now."

The laughter dies down as they hone in on each other. The two, subconsciously moved closer until they were only a couple of inches apart.

"I'm drunk right now," Aliyah whispers, pointing to herself. She glances down at the three glasses that she rammed through while they were talking.

Elijah's eyes scan her beautiful face, "Me too."

The planner hums, her drunken brain working overtime, pumping out thoughts that she shouldn't be having for a newly single man.

Elijah leans in closer, "Would you wanna get out of h ━"

Before he can finish his question, Aliyah wastes no time in answering, "Yes."

And with that, the two grab their things and catch a cab to Elijah's apartment, their minds overrun with lustful thoughts and careless actions.

im saving the smut for another chapter cause why not

anyways, here ya goooo and i know some of y'all might be thinking this is going really fast but that's why the book is titled *slow down* 😂🤣 i crack myself up yo

might publish another chapter tonight

enjoyyyy