It's quiet in the house.
Completely quiet.
Earlier today, some of Ray's relatives were over, but now, they're gone, including Mrs. Kingsley, to have a dinner outing.
Ray won't be back for two more days.
Elliot, I know, is here.
He was out earlier today, carting his relatives to see the sights.
I heard him come back over an hour ago.
I know because I've gotten used to hearing his door.
Ray's footsteps are hurried, haphazard. She does everything in a flurry.
Elliot's footsteps are sure and steady. Calm and sustained. Just like the rest of him.
The very thought of Elliot sends shocks of nervousness through me, so much so that I can't see any of the clothes that I'm looking at.
When I finally manage to convince my eyes to focus on my things, the butterflies are back.
It's been years since I've felt any sort of feeling towards a guy.
Thinking of Elliot, I'm absolutely certain that I have never been surer of a person in my entire life.
I don't find myself questioning a million things about Elliot.
I just find myself looking forward to learning everything I can about him.
The idea of Elliot in my life everyday gives me a deep feeling of happiness.
The thought scares me because I barely know him.
I try to breathe and decide on what to wear.
I finally decide on a lilac summer dress with tiny white flowers and a pair of white sandals with a small wedge heel.
Elliot clandestinely whispered to me this morning that I should dress casually.
When a knock comes on my door, I look over at the clock that sits on the desk in my room.
It's six-thirty on the dot.
The exact time that Elliot and I agreed we would meet.
Slipping my necklace into place, I cross the room and slowly open the door.
Elliot smiles at me slowly, brilliantly, standing tall, in a grey polo shirt with white edges, and a puffer jacket.
"Hi," he tells me, gently, revealing a small bouquet of baby roses in various shades of pink.
It's the first time that night that Elliot brings tears to my eyes.
"Hey," I return as Elliot holds up the bouquet to me.
"I'll learn your favourite flower soon," he says, decidedly.
Inhaling the scent of the flowers in my hand, I look at him. "Looks like you already know it."
Elliot looks doubtful. "You're just pulling my leg, aren't you?"
"You can ask Ray, or Isa."
A triumphant look crosses his face. "Well, I guess this is a good start. Shall we?"
I nod to him and a few minutes later, I'm sitting in his passenger's seat, trying to guess where he's taking me, but Elliot is being absolutely useless by refusing any sort of clue.
"Does it have to do with forensic science?" I question, exhausting my options.
Elliot laughs and I can't help, but be distracted by the dimple on his left cheek that I can clearly see from where I'm seated.
"You really are a bit of serial killer, aren't you?"
Turning to face forward, I try to roll my eyes at him. "I admit to nothing."
A few silent moments pass, and Elliot turns off the main road towards a parking lot.
"What is this place?" I can't help, but ask.
I hear him say, "I guess you'll have to just wait and see."
The outside of the building is unassuming.
One way glass panels cover the exterior offering absolutely no clue as to what may lie within its walls apart from a slightly cryptic name: The Sky Rooms.
Elliot pulls into the parking lot that is littered with vehicles, kills the engine and turns to me. "Ready?" he asks, with an infectious, excited grin.
I smile back at him. "I have no idea what I should be ready for."
Elliot waggles his eyebrows. "Let's go see."
Getting off the car, he walks over and opens my door. We walk over to the building and Elliot produces two digital tickets on his phone to the attendant.
His hand on the door, Elliot turns and scans my face, probably trying to gauge my expression.
"I hope you like it," he says, softly, before turning to open the door.
The moment I step in, I'm mesmerized.
Despite just having stepped inside a building as dusk fell outside, I feel as if I'm out in the open during the day time.
The entire entry room is about three stories tall, the ceiling hanging high above our heads and as I look up to what I'm sure is the ceiling, it looks like a clear blue sky.
Soft, willowy clouds move lazily overhead and somewhere in the corner, it feels like the sun is shining. There are soft sounds of birds chirping and a light breeze in the air.
Gentle sounds of lapping water make me look around until I find a small trickling stream over which they've built a bridge. People are milling about, some strolling around the vast room, some seated at the white outdoor tables, some laying on picnic blankets, looking up at the sky.
It's almost as if someone took all the components of a perfect day and put them in this room.
Slowly, I turn to Elliot and he laughs softly, because of the probable idiotic look on my face.
I inhale deeply. "Oh, Elliot, how did they make this room?" I ask, turning to look around again.
"I think Scarlett would call it magic."
"It is so magical," I sigh, happily, "It's so serene. It's breathtaking."
When I turn to him again, he's smiling his calm smile. "I'm glad that Jenna hasn't exaggerated your love for the sky," he says deeply, gently.
He gestures for me to walk with him and I fall into step with him as I shake my head. "No, no, she didn't. she might have underplayed it, in fact. I love the sky, Elliot. There aren't many things that are more awe-inducing than the sky."
"Watch," Elliot says, pointing skyward.
We both stop and watch as a wispy cloud passes over the "sun", and the "sunlight" in the room is shadowed until the "sun" emerges again, from behind the cloud.
A strange breath, somewhere between a sigh and a gasp escapes me.
I exhale an amazed laugh.
Looking to Elliot to tell him something, I realize that he's watching me.
He's smiling.
His quiet, calm smile.
My eyes begin to water again.
"Elliot," I breathe, "This is all so beautiful. It's like a dream. How does a place like this exist so quietly? quietly? How are there not throngs of people lining just to get a glimpse of it?"
In his Elliot-like pensive silence, he watches me for a few moments, leans down and softly whispers, "Sometimes, the world sleeps on the most valuable treasures it has. Maybe, that way, the only people who get to appreciate them are the ones who see how special they really are."
My lips part as I listen to him and I'm staring almost in awe. I'm certain that Elliot is one of the world's special things and he doesn't even know it.
He holds out his arm to me. "Shall we have a look around?"
I grin, eager to take the excuse to touch him and slide my arm through his.
As we begin to walk, I can feel his warmth radiating It's almost like the feeling of a mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows on a cold day.
"The day we met," Elliot says as we walk the perimeter of the room, "Remember? When we got stuck in the elevator and you told me that I'm only the third best person to have been trapped in an elevator with?"
"I recollect something of the sort."
"That day, the sky outside looked like this. The purest sky blue with fluffy clouds and a bright, beaming sun."
I narrow my eyes at him. "How can you possibly remember that?"
"I was in a conference room and I zoned out. Looked out the window and this is what it was."
"I don't really think neurosurgeons should be zoning out on neurosurgery conferences," I tease.
Elliot shrugs, smiling softly at me. "Not all neurosurgeons get stuck on elevators with graphic designers."
I inhale sharply, exhale slowly and sigh, "Elliot."
"Aura," he says back to me, wearing the smile I've come to yearn for.
I begin to gently shake my head at him, but he stops.
"Would you like to see the next room?" he asks, hand on a door handle I hadn't noticed.
"There's more?" I'm beaming.
"The Sky Rooms, Aura."
I nod vigorously.
Elliot pulls open the door and lets me walk through.
The first thing I do as I walk through the door is gasp.
The sky is in hues of purple, pink, orange, red and light blue. Its keeps changing as time passes. Clouds are few, but beautifully reflect the colours of the sky.
There seem to be fireflies flying around near the walls and once in a while, a cricket will chirp.
The whole room is dim in the dusk lighting and there are light posts along the length of the room, black and intricate, lighting up the path that we walk.
It's impossible to describe the feeling that's brewing in my chest as I look around the room. I turn to Elliot. "This is the best place anyone have ever bought me to."
In return, he smiles that smile of his. "You're the best person I've ever taken anywhere."
Despite my racing heart, I shoot back, playfully, "You're the best person I've been anywhere with."
Elliot reaches out and takes my hand in his, holding it, no pretense that he was trying to do something else. "I'll win this battle, Aura," he warns, in a low tone, dangerously close to my ear.
"But I'll win the war," I whisper back to him, before I begin to walk along the length of the room.
Elliot follows with no coercion, his hand gripping mine, squeezing it ever so gently, almost as if he knows exactly where I'm going and that's where he was going to go anyway.
As we walk, hand in hand, under the light posts, I spot the "moon" hiding in a corner, waiting to light up the night sky.
Everyone in the room is trying to be as quiet as possible, so I contain my excitement as well, as Elliot and I stroll through the room, trying to take in everything.
It takes a while for me to realize that Elliot is looking at me.
It makes me stop in my tracks and I feel heat rising.
"What?" I ask, as softly as I can.
Elliot takes a step towards me and replies, gently, "You're beautiful."
I laugh and I gasp and I try to remember how to breathe.
My experience with guys may not be wide, but I've read enough romance novels to know that this feeling I'm feeling isn't something people come by often.
Sometimes, with his words, Elliot excites me, with the things he does, he gets my heart racing, but at the crux of it, Elliot gives me peace.
I'm still staring at him, silenced by his compliment, when I feel his fingers releasing mine and climbing slowly up my hand.
"Oh, no, doctor," I refuse, shaking my head and pulling my hand out of his grasp and walking backwards away from him, "Not today."
Elliot laughs and follows, and I have a feeling he hasn't given up. "Not what today?" he asks, innocently.
I roll my eyes at him. "I know what you're trying to do."
Reaching out a long arm, Elliot manages to take my hand in his again, holding me still, almost pulling me closer as he steps closer to me. "And what is that?" he asks, smiling, darkly.
His eyes are imploring. He isn't touching me anywhere other than my hand, but I feel the heat everywhere. "You're trying to play, doctor," I tell him, "And it isn't fair because I have no similar power over you."
I begin to step back, but Elliot holds my hand tighter, a doubtful look on his face. "Aura," he tells me, "You seem to be acutely unaware of the power you have over me."
I'm formulating the next thought in my head, but it's so cloudy in there. Before I can think of anything, Elliot says, "Do you want to get out of here? This place will be open tomorrow. I have a place I think you'll like."
I only nod because all I want is to sit and talk to Elliot.
When we get to the door, Elliot grabs my hand and starts jogging towards the car.
The moment we're both in the car, he starts it and pulls on to the road.
"What do you think of burgers, fries, chicken wings and all the other terrible junk food you can imagine, topped off with soda and milkshake?" he asks, as we speed down the road to wherever he's taking me.
I laugh. "I think you're a terribly mischievous doctor."
Elliot, one hand on the steering wheel and one on the gear, looks over at me and grins, his dimple deepening.
True to his word, Elliot pulls into a drive-thru and orders way more food than he and I could possibly ever finish, despite my protests, and pulls on to the road again.
The music is off, but I don't even realize because we're just talking.
We talk all the way up the winding hilly road he takes away from the city.
When he finally pulls off the road, it's to stop in a clearing, where, from the height we're at, you can look over almost the entire city of Whitfield Hills.
Elliot turns off the engine and breathes deeply.
I'm admiring the view, contentedly, when he turns to face me.
For a moment, he seems thoughtful. "Aura," he says, his tone changing, "I would have planned a dinner at some fancy restaurant or something, but with your love for the sky –"
"Elliot," I interrupt him.
He stops.
"This," I gesture around us, "All of this is absolutely perfect."
Angling his head to a side, Elliot smiles slowly.
Reaching into the center console compartment, he pulls something out.
"Are we having this now?" he asks, brandishing the small pack of peanut M&Ms at me, "Or later?"
* * *
"You did not!"
Wiping my eyes as they tear up even more, I shake my head at Elliot, unable to produce sound because I'm laughing so hard.
Elliot nods very seriously. "I had to."
I break out into fresh fits out laughter. "Nail polish? On a bar of soap?"
"I completely covered it. It wouldn't lather at all. That sucker was not going to be having a proper shower."
I have to put my burger down. "And you put that bar of soap in Marco's gym bag?"
"He walked in through the door and threw it at me," Elliot laughs along with me, "He was stinking up the whole place."
"And then what happened?" I ask.
"Well," Elliot looks triumphant, "He went to take a shower in our bathroom, but I had done the same to the soap there as well."
Covering my mouth, I laugh again.
"We switched to using shower gel after that."
"And all this because Marco actually took the time to paste Kim Jong Un into all of the photos you had in your house?"
Elliot nods. "I brought in a bunch of friends to study and they were really giving me the strangest looks and I didn't notice for a full three hours until one of the girls finally cracked and said, 'Look man, you have to give us some context to this' and handed me a picture frame."
"Did it turn into a prank war after that?" I ask.
Elliot shakes his head. "We called a truce and decided that we would only use our powers against other people and not each other."
"Seems healthy."
"You're telling me Isa and Jenna never pranked you?"
I shake my head. "Not me. Other people. They terrorized other people."
Elliot laughs.
He's seated facing me completely.
I'm turned in my seat, looking at him.
Our stock of food has dwindled to almost nothing.
The M&Ms are long gone.
Elliot's eyes are blazing.
"As far as first dates go," he said, his voice low and thoughtful, "This is a great one. At least, I would say so."
I fold the tissue in my hand over and over. "My knowledge of first dates isn't extensive," I confess, "But I would say this is a great one, too."
Elliot cocks his head to a side. "How many first dates have you been on?"
"This is the second," I answer.
His eyebrows raise a little. "Only two?"
I nod.
"I've been on a couple more than two," he confesses.
Then, he stops.
He looks at me, like he's taking me in.
Despite it being way past seven, the sun seems to be setting slowly, the way it does in Whitfield Hills this time of year.
Soft rays of light are illuminating his eyes and his hair.
Elliot straightens. "I don't really want any more first dates."
I fold my tissue some more. "No more first dates?" I ask, and immediately wish that I hadn't said those words.
Elliot, however, nods. "I think," he smiles, slowly, "I think I want to stop with this one."
"That would mean no new people," I tell him as quietly as possible.
"Aura."
I try to look back at him with as much confidence as he's looking at me, but sometimes, the intensity of Elliot's eyes is too much.
"I don't think I want new people. I like you. I've liked you since that elevator stalled seven months ago."
Breathing is difficult.
My breaths come erratically.
Elliot says nothing.
He only watches my reaction.
I think of a way to tell him that I've liked him from the first time he pressed his fingers to mine and took my pulse.
Slowly, I smile back at him and lean forward. "Remember tonight," I repeat his words to him, almost a whisper, "For it is the beginning of forever."
First, he smiles.
Then, Elliot crinkles the paper that his burger came in, puts it into the paper bag, wipes his hands and gets out of the car.
I turn and watch as he walks around the car and opens my door.
He leans down to me and holds his hand out, his eyes shimmering.
"Come on, Aura. Let's fall in love."
Does Elliot make your heart melt?
Have you enjoyed their growth so far?
Thank you so much for your support.
Don't forget to let me know what you think :)
And don't forget to check out The Billionaire's Driver. (Linked as the external link)
Much love!