Chapter 9 Daniel #2
My heart nearly burst in my chest because his eyes met mine just as he spoke that word—amour—and I had to cough to clear my throat.
But looking back at him, I noticed the slight annoyance on his face. Did I make him angry in a way?
Claudia’s cell phone rang, and she pulled it out of her purse.
“Oh, I have to take this,” she said before flipping it open and getting up to take the call outside. By doing so, she left me completely alone with Elliot.
At last.
Only Elliot didn’t seem to care as he moved to walk away, but I caught his wrist.
“Hold on,” I said before he could run away.
He glanced at my hand that held on to him before he looked out of the restaurant to where Claudia went. She couldn’t see us right now, so I didn’t care.
“I’m sorry if I upset you somehow—”
He grunted.
“I mean it, Elliot. Claudia insisted that I take her here and—”
“I’m not upset because of you.”
I scowled. “You’re not?”
Rolling his eyes, he huffed. “How typical, a man thinks it’s all about him.”
His words would have hurt if they weren’t true.
“What’s wrong, then?”
Pressing his lips together, he looked away, and I noticed the unshed tears in his eyes. He was quick to wipe them away. Feeling hopeless and in the dark, I tightened my hold on his wrist and pulled him a bit closer.
“Tell me what’s wrong so I can help.”
At last, he looked at me, and the trust in his eyes was all the reassurance I needed.
“Marrie is closing the restaurant.” His lips quivered before he took a deep breath. “The business isn’t doing well, and she can’t keep the place open.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
Elliot shrugged, tears returning to his eyes. “What am I going to do? No kitchen would hire someone who doesn’t understand English—”
Slipping my fingers down, I took his hand in mine and squeezed him firmly.
“First of all, you do understand it. You just struggle, and that’s absolutely fine, Elliot. Learning a language is not an easy thing.”
He sniffed while looking doubtful.
“Secondly, it will all be okay.”
He grimaced at my words. “How can you be so sure?”
“Because I’ll make sure of it.”
With his eyes locked with mine, he bit on his bottom lip, an expression so captivating I didn’t know what to do with myself. Luckily, the doorbell rang, letting me know it was time to let go of his hand. I did and watched how Elliot collected himself back together right before Claudia joined us.
“I’m telling you, Daniel, finding trustworthy staff nowadays is nearly impossible,” she hissed while sitting down.
She seemed distressed.
“What’s wrong?” I asked as she reached for her glass of water and nearly emptied it in one go.
“What happened is that our private chef just canceled on us. This means we either learn how to cook or order takeout the whole summer.”
Assuming she was being dramatic, I sighed. “Can’t you hire someone new?”
“Now?” She gasped. “Do you know how hard it is to find decent chefs?” Grabbing her plate, she dragged it closer to her before picking up her fork. “This one took me months to find, Daniel. Months.” Now, with her mouth full, it was a bit harder to understand her words.
From beside me, I noticed Elliot shifting uncomfortably. I assumed the poor guy wanted to slip back into the kitchen but got stuck in the middle of my wife’s meltdown.
“Damn it!” Taking another bite, she chewed her food as if it had wronged her. “I will never find someone in time… and to think I was looking forward to the Hamptons.”
Oh, dear Lord, I’d completely forgotten about it.
“Hamptons?” Elliot asked, catching both of our attention.
Still eating, Claudia turned to look at him. “Don’t you know what the Hamptons are?”
His cheeks turned red. “T… Tampons?”
Elliot’s innocent mistake made Claudia burst out laughing, and she put down her fork.
“Oh my, you’re adorable. It’s the Hamptons, sweetie, not tampons.
” She chuckled. “Anyway, the Hamptons are a part of Long Island. Do you know where that is?” Not waiting for him to reply, she went on.
“It’s like a vacation town, you know? By the beach? ”
Elliot seemed even more confused than before, so I quickly explained to him what this Hamptons nonsense was all about. Once done, he frowned at me.
“So you’re going there, to that Hamptons?” he asked in French, and thank God, because the last thing I needed was for Elliot’s jealousy to translate.
“Yes,” I answered, in French.
His eyes narrowed down on me. “For how long?”
“I’ll be there for a few weeks, but I’ll be back on weekends for some work.” Noticing how the muscle in his jaw tensed, I sighed. “It’s only for the summer.”
“Again with that ‘only for’ nonsense?” he snarled and crossed his arms over his chest. “One week is too much.”
“Elliot, please calm down—”
“What are you talking about?” Claudia asked, her eyes jumping between us.
Taking a deep breath, I forced a smile. “Nothing, darling. He just asked more about the Hamptons.”
“Are you sure? It’s looks like you upset him—”
“No.” Elliot cut into her question, a big smile plastered on his lips. “I am sad not on Daniel. Restaurant is… How I say… Oh, oui, close.”
Understanding where he was going with this, my eyes immediately snapped to his. And the moment I saw the barely there smirk on his lips, I realized I was screwed.
“Close?” Claudia frowned before realization struck her, and she jumped to her feet. “Oh! The restaurant is closing. Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” She took Elliot’s hands.
“Oui. Yes, yes.”
She yelped before pulling him into a hug I didn’t at all appreciate. In fact, this little stunt Elliot just pulled off was highly inappropriate, and I wasn’t about to allow it.
“Claudia, please calm down.”
Still hugging Elliot as if he were one of her new fur coats, she huffed. “I just found us a new private chef, Daniel. I’m allowed to be happy.”
“Oui, Daniel. Be happy,” Elliot said in his broken English, a knowing smile accompanying his words. “I go the Hamptons with you.”
Apparently, Elliot didn’t at all need my help in finding himself a new job—he’d just sorted things out for himself. And while doing so, he made sure to screw me over, and enjoyed it, too, given the glee on his face.