The next morning, I got up quite early, still thinking about the conversation I heard between Eli and his ex-girlfriend. I had a shower, got dressed and went down to breakfast. My dad was already up tackling the boxes and setting up the place. Even though we have a lot of money, we are very hands on and prefer doing a lot of things on our own. It is one of the reason my dad choose to be a veterinarian rather than take over the family business.
"Morning dad," I said as I went into the kitchen to start preparing breakfast.
"Good morning, Sweetheart, how did you sleep," he asked.
"Surprisingly, really good, but I did get up too early. How was your sleep?" I asked.
"I slept like a baby," he responded laughing.
I laughed and started preparing pancakes for breakfast. After breakfast I took Midnight out for a walk and he ran straight to the garden. I ran after him, hoping that there was no one around on the other side of the fence. As I was searching for Midnight, a voice startled me.
"Good morning Lily-Anne," he said.
I turned at looked up at Eli standing on his balcony with a cup in his hand and a Golden Retriever sitting by his feet.
"Hmmm, Good morning, Eli," I responded. "Beautiful dog."
"Ah, this is Zeus, he's really friendly," he replied.
I smiled as I said, "Well it's nice to meet you Zeus. You are super cute." I turned to find Eli smirking at me.
"What?" I asked curiously.
"Is Zeus the only one you find cute?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
I stared at him and laughed. "Oh no, there is another person I find really cute," I said. "He has black hair and blue eyes and he's really the cutest thing ever," I smirked at him.
He looked at me with a smirk on his face like he was expecting me to say him.
I laughed just as Midnight ran up to me. I turned to Eli and smiled, "Meet the cutest guy ever, Midnight."
He looked at me and laughed. "You are sneaky," he responded. "But you are right, he is cute. Did you just get him?"
I picked up Midnight, and held him close. "Yes, he was a moving in present from my dad."
He looked at me hugging Midnight, and asked, "Was that your dad with you yesterday at the Ice cream parlour?"
"Yes," I smiled as I thought about how lucky I was to have an amazing dad who loved me unconditionally. I looked at my watch and realised that I need to start unpacking soon. I turned to Eli and said, "It was nice seeing you, Eli, but I best start unpacking." He looked at me and responded, "Nice to see you see you as well." I turned to go inside as Eli called out , "Wait Lilly-Anne, there's a party tonight, please say you will come with me. I can introduce to kids from our school. It will be really nice to have you there. Sorry, I forgot to ask, what year are you in?" I looked at him and wondered if I should go and maybe get a feel of the kids in this town. "I am a junior, and as much as I would love to join you, I have a lot of unpacking to do" I responded to him. He looked at me thoughtfully, "what if I helped you unpack, would that change your mind," he asked. I looked at him shocked, "you want to help me unpack, when you could be doing anything else?' I asked him. That is the sweetest thing any guy could have offered me, I thought. Did he feel the connection as well or is he just being sweet, I couldn't help thinking. He laughed as he responded, "well there are a few things but spending time with a beautiful girl beats it all." I looked at him with a smile, "I guess I will added charmer to your list of qualities, huh?" I asked him. He looked at me with a smile on his face as he said, "I only speak the truth Lily-Anne," he winked at me. I laughed at him as I hugged Midnight closer. "Well if you want to get your hands dirty, then we would love the help." He smiled, "Give me five minutes and I will be down." I smiled and nodded.
Five minutes later there was a knock on the front door, I ran to answer it before my dad did, but he beat me to it. He opened it, looking shocked that there was a guy on our doorstep.
"Hi sir," Eli said nervously. My dad looked at him, then me and turned back as he responded, "Hi there, how are you?" "I am good thank you sir, how are you?" Eli asked. My dad looked at him one more with his signature stern dad face and laughed. "A teenager with manners, I am impressed. I am good thanks. Please come in." I looked back and forth between the two trying to figure out what was going on. " Dad, this is Eli, he lives next door and Eli, this is my dad, Ian," I introduced the two of them as we walked into the house. Eli looked around with a smile on his face, when he saw boxes everywhere. "I like what you did with the place," he laughed. I turned to him to him with a stern look, "well you really have your work cut out for you," I winked at him. We chatted among the three of us as we tackled the boxes downstairs. Midnight absolutely loved Eli and kept trying to get him to play with him. I learnt that Eli was 17 and also a junior and goes to the same school I will be attending. He lives with his parents and he is the only child. His dad was a businessman and his mum was a lawyer. He was also the quarterback and captain of the football team. Before we knew it, the was early evening, and we realised we did not take a break aside from the pizza that Eli ordered for lunch.
There was a knock on the door and my dad went to answer it. Eli opened the last box that had all our photo albums and frames. He took out a picture and looked at me, "is this your mum in the picture?" he asked. I took the picture he was looking at and smiled as I replied, "Yes, this is my mum, Kayla."
Eli smiled, "She is really pretty."
"Thank you, she was," I said with a sad smile.
He looked at me as his smile dropped, "I am so sorry. Do you mind me asking what happened?"
"It's ok, I do not mind talking about her. She died in a car accident when I was three years old. I actually do not have any memories of her. I just have these pictures and dad doesn't like talking too much about her. Think it still hurts him, even though it's been quite a long time." I smiled as I looked at the picture again and put it on the stand.
"Lily-Anne, Eli, can you come outside for a second?" my dad yelled.
Eli and I looked at each other curiously. I was trying to figure who could have been at the door. We walked to through the foyer to the front door. My dad was standing at the door with a goofy grin on his face. I looked at him strangely, "What did you do? You have that I am proud of my crazy idea look on your face."
"Well, I think you should look outside," my dad responded.
"Dad, what is going on? You are acting super crazy," I said with a smile.
"Go on, look outside," he said.
I ran outside and stopped short when I saw what was on my front lawn. I was stunned and completely speechless.
"Damn girl, that looks awesome," Eli said.
I turned and looked at my dad and Eli, still completely stunned. I opened and closed my mouth a few times.
My dad looks at me and starts laughing. "Use your words, honey."
"Dad, oh my gosh, you did not get me a Ferrari," I cried out as I turned and looked at the red Ferrari 488 Spider that was in the drive way.
"Lily-Anne, I told I have never really spoilt you even though I could have and you have been the most incredible daughter, anyone could have ever asked for and I deserve to give you something nice."
"Dad, this is too much. It is amazing but are you sure, you want to spend all that money on a car?" I asked him.
"Honey, for as long as I know you have always said this was your dream car, and yes I can afford it. Now why don't you and Eli take it for a spin around the area," he said.
"Oh no sir, I think you and Lily- Anne should go first," Eli replied.
"Let's all go, the back is small, so dad, you should drive and I will sit in the back. I will take it for a spin when we get back."
We jumped in the car and dad gave me instructions on what I needed to know. Once we hit the highway he went crazy and we were driving at an insane speed.
When we got back home, dad looked at me, "unfortunately, young lady, you would not be driving those speeds, but please be safe always."
I hugged my dad really tight. "Thank you dad, I love you more anything in this world. Always remember that."
He smiled at me, "Now, you and Eli should take it for a spin.
I squealed as I jumped in the driver's seat. Eli looked at me with a smile. "You are really close to your dad, huh?" I smiled at him and looked back at my dad as I adjusted the seat. "Yes, he's all that I have and he's been there for me no matter what. I was always the most important thing to him. Now let's take this baby for a spin."
As we pulled back in the driveaway, Eli said, "this car is super sweet. It's like just meant for you. And can I say something that may come across as a bit inappropriate, considering we just met."
I looked at him curiously and nodded.
He gave me that sexy grin, I noticed the first time I saw him yesterday. "Well, you look damn sexy in that car."
My cheeks turned as red as the car as I responded, "thank you, that is the sweetest thing any guy has said to me. And, Eli, it's not inappropriate."
We stood there staring at each other grinning like idiots for a few minutes.
Eli looked at his watch, "I am going to go get ready, shall I pick you up at 7 pm?"
"Sure that will be great."