Chapter 11 Daniel
DANIEL
If I thought Elliot’s icy attitude would melt over the following days, I was miserably wrong.
While he didn’t quit his job, as I feared he might have after our brief exchange of harsh words, he did give me the silent treatment.
Needless to say, around Claudia and Maya, he acted business as usual, but when it was just us two?
Dear Lord… Who knew he was capable of being this cold?
Today was no different, and Elliot had just walked out for his morning cigarette.
Already knowing where to stand to have the best view, I walked there slowly, careful not to make a noise, and positioned myself.
Watching him smoke with his eyes closed filled me with a sense of calm, and I smiled to myself, thinking of how peaceful he looked.
The sound of a phone ringing made me tense on the spot, and I reached for my shorts pocket until I remembered I didn’t have my cell phone with me. Looking up, I saw Elliot picking up his cell phone, the one I’d bought him after he broke the first one.
Curious as to who was calling him at this hour, I moved a bit closer.
“Bonjour, Maman,” he said in French.
Mom. Thinking about it, Elliot had mentioned her a couple of times before. From the sound of it, those two were rather close.
“Oh no, you didn’t wake me. I was already up,” he said, snapping me back to his conversation.
“How am I doing? Fine, I guess.” He took a puff from his cigarette.
“I still struggle with their stupid language, but oh well.” He chuckled before going quiet.
Carefully taking another drag, he blew out the smoke with a deep sigh.
“Everything and everyone is so different here… no matter what I do, I keep feeling like I’m in the wrong.
” He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Anyway, enough about me. How’s Alo?s? ”
Who’s that?
“Oh, great.” He took another drag. “I miss him so much.”
Again, who do you miss, Elliot?
“Tell him I said hey, okay?” he asked his mom before moving on to speaking about some recipe for chicken.
And while I didn’t give a rat’s ass about coq au vin, I did care to hear him speak, even if it wasn’t to me. Therefore, I stayed where I was and listened to him talking to his mom over the phone for probably another twenty minutes until he told her he had to go and get ready for work.
I watched Elliot walking back inside the house and only then moved from my hiding place.
While he didn’t say it in words, his loneliness was vivid.
Whether it was the language, the people, the pace of things…
he struggled with everything, and I clearly wasn’t making his life any easier.
With my occasional jealousy and possessive tantrums, I was sending him mixed signals.
Now, full of remorse over the way I acted, all I wanted was to hug him tight and reassure him this could also be a place he called home.
Sitting by the pool reading a book, I heard Claudia talking to Elliot inside the house.
She’d been trying to explain to him how to get to the farmer’s market for about ten minutes now, and having had enough of her treating him like he was some toddler, I got up from my chair and walked inside to join them.
As soon as I stepped in, Elliot’s eyes snapped to mine. He looked away immediately—the same as he’d done for the past week. And while it was annoying, I also found this stubborn side of him to be sexy.
“Is everything okay?” I asked them.
“If I understood him right, Elliot wants to go out and buy ingredients to cook some chicken for tonight’s dinner.”
“Not some ‘chicken.’” He frowned at Claudia. “Coq au vin,” he corrected her in French, sounding incredibly proud as he did.
Claudia chuckled. “Yes, that.”
“So what’s the issue? Can’t John drive him?” I asked.
“John is on a day off. I would have driven Elliot myself, but I must go out to pick up Maya from your mom’s.” She sighed. “I asked Elliot if he could cook it tomorrow instead, but he insisted on today.”
Turning to Elliot, I gave him a questioning brow. “So you want to cook it today?”
“Oui,” he said, voice tight.
“So I’ll drive him.”
“Non!” Elliot protested while Claudia clapped her hands.
“Really? That’s amazing, honey.” She thanked me with a kiss before she turned to face Elliot. “Daniel will take you, okay, sweetie?”
Not happy with the idea, given his scowl, Elliot huffed. “I take bus.”
Giggling, Claudia pinched his cheek. “Enough with this bus nonsense. Daniel will drive you.” She let go of Elliot and checked her watch. “Okay, boys, I have to run now. I’ll see you two later.”
Without further ado, Claudia grabbed her purse and left the house, leaving me alone with my grumpy French prince.
“So, shall we go?” I asked in French, a big smile on my face.
My cheerfulness didn’t match Elliot’s gloomy mood, and instead of agreeing, he crossed his arms and shook his head.
“I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“Come on, Elli—” I reached to touch his shoulder when he pushed my hand away.
“No. And also, don’t call me ‘Elli.’ In fact, don’t call me at all. I don’t want to talk to you.” After telling me off, he turned to walk away when an idea came to my mind.
“Fine. So how about I promise not to speak to you while we’re there?”
He half turned to glance at me over his shoulder.
“Can you do that?” he questioned, eyes narrowed.
Holding back a smile because his mood was amusing, I nodded. “Yes. We can pretend I’m your driver.”
Elliot pursed his lips, probably considering my offer, until he nodded.
“Okay. But promise you won’t talk to me.”
I crossed my heart. “Promise.”
He tsked, then turned back around. “I’ll go change my clothes and meet you outside.”
Now, with him out of the room, I didn’t bother to hide my smile. Elliot clearly loved bossing me around, and if I were honest, I sort of enjoyed it, too.