The Marvelous Elijah's Return novel Chapter 14

Whatever it is I need to do

As the silence between them dragged on, Peach felt her anxiety growing inside her. Finally, she muttered, “You know what, forget it. I will find another way to get the money.” Her face hardened as tears settled in her eyes, and she tried walking past him, but Elijah suddenly grabbed her arms, gently pulling hier to stand still in front of him. “How?” Elijah asked, his gaze fixed on her teary eyes as she choked back her tears. 

“It’s none of your concern!” Peach yelled, pulling herself free from his grasp. “You have made it clear that you don’t-” 

“I have made nothing clear,” Elijah interrupted her sharply, glaring at her heatedly. “I asked you a single damn question!” 

“I don’t know, okay!! I have absolutely no idea!” Peach shouted as she clenched both her fists tightly, feeling angry tears burn her cheeks and threaten to spill. “But whatever it is I need to do to help my mother, I will do it!” “What’s going on here?” James asked as he, Matt, Ryan, and Rookie walked towards them with a frown plastered on their faces. 

Not saying a word, Elijah stared at Peach’s wet face, and he slowly breathed, his face becoming serious as his eyebrows drew together. 

Then he signed, turned to gaze at his men, and said, “We are staying here until indefinite!” Those words shocked Matt along with the rest, and neither of them knew how to react. They just stayed there, waiting and watching Elijah’s face as they tried to figure out what was going on in his mind and why he seemed so calm and collected all of a sudden. 

But he suddenly pushed past them and headed for his room, leaving them looking behind him with wide eyes. 

Slowly turning their focus back on Peach, they all stared in awe until James asked, “What happened between you and Elijah?” Chewing on her lower lip, Peach closed her eyes for a few seconds as though she was struggling to find the right words to say, and eventually, she opened her eyes and said, “I offer him a deal, and I think he just agreed.” With a weak smile, she sighed in relief and walked away. 

Once she reached her room, Peach closed the door, laid down in bed, and cried herself to sleep with a heavy heart. 

As the door to his bedroom opened, Elijah’s eyes darted towards James and he scowled, focusing back on the ceiling, annoyed and yet confused. “You agreed to let us stay here?” James asked with uncertainty laced in his tone. Then he sat on the bed, keeping his questions as thoughts and not saying a thing as he waited for a response, but all he heard was silence. “Wel…?” James prompted as he stared at Elijah, who kept looking up as he thought about something 

Finally, after a couple of minutes passed, Elijalı finally answered, “I did. It’s clear she can’t afford the hospital bills, so she offered for us to stay here for twenty thousand dollars.” “We spent fifty dollars for each room in just one night, so we are spending two months-plus now?” James asked with a smile, trying to lighten the situation. 

But his words were followed by a tense silence between them, and after a moment, James continued, “She and her mother are not Melina, Elijah.” 

“That doesn’t change much, James, and honestly, I don’t care if Peach is the same as Melina… But you were right… I have a mother, if the role was reversed, I would want someone to help. This is the only reason I agreed,” Elijah said as he leaned back and closed his eyes. 

James remained silent, staring at him with a sad expression as his eyes focused on every feature of Elijah’s face, and then he said, “Even if that’s the case, I am glad we stayed.” “You really like these strangers, don’t you?” Elijah asked with a sigh, but his words didn’t hold any anger or resentment. “Well, they are nice folks and -” 

“Don’t learn to trust so easily, James. It will fuck you up and make you look like an idiot,” Elijah warned. “They aren’t worth our trust.” At this, James’ eyes widened, but he simply stood from the bed and left the room without another word. 

Tossing on her bed, Peach’s fingers dug into the sheet as tears rolled from the corner of her eyes, and then she shouted, “Mama!!” Sweat dripping down her forehead, Peach jumped from her sleep, panting heavily as her chest rose and fell rapidly. immediately, her room door opened with Ryan and Matt rushing inside, only to stop when she stared at them. 

“You screamed and we thought…” Ryan said but then trailed off, clearly concerned. 

“Sorry guys,” Peach said with a small smile as she rubbed her eyes, “it’s just a bad dream. I’ll be fine.” 

Giving her a faint smile, Matt brushed his palm against his neck, and said, “Well, umm… James made lunch, and he said we should come, get you.” 

The fact that James did something so warm-hearted left Peach feeling slightly overwhelmed and mumbling, “He shouldn’t have. You guys are the customers. I should be the one making you guys food.” 

Both Matt and Ryan shook their heads as they smiled lightly and explained, “It’s not necessary. Believe me, he loves to cook.” Although her heart wasn’t still at ease, Peach pushed the cover off of her body and got out of bed. “Okay, if you guys say so, then I will trust you… so let’s go eat!” Peach exclaimed, eager to distract herself from the nightmare. Then she walked over to them and the three left the room, walking down the hallway, and 

when they got to the dining hall they stopped, staring at Elijah a foot away from them. 

Even though he felt their presence behind him, Elijah walked straight to the table, pulled a chair out, and sat down without saying a word or looking back. 

Quietly, Peach, Matt, and Ryan joined him at the table, sitting opposite of one another as they waited. 

“Please enjoy!” James announced, smiling at everyone with a pleased expression. 

For quite a while, lunch went on, with Peach being mostly silent while she ate. But as the time passed, she found herself glancing at Elijah a couple of times throughout the meal. 

Whenever she caught Elijah staring at her, Peach quickly averted her gaze to her plate, afraid of what she would see in his eyes. 

But a couple of minutes later, she darted her gaze on him, and their eyes locked, making him rest back in his seat and asked, “Do you want to say something, Peach?” 

Surprisingly his tone was calm, and he seemed rather not offended by her stare, which only made Peach feel more embarrassed. 

Clearing her throat, she slowly stirred her fork in her salad before whispering, “I was thinking… It crossed my mind a moment ago… Well… to ask you…” Staring pitifully at her, the four of them pouted, knowing how intimidating their boss can get when he’s behaving coldly and seriously. “Yes?” Elijah asked as he put his elbow on the table, resting his chin on his hand as he watched her intently.