8. That Bad, Huh? #2
“I know I don’t. I’m doing it because I want to.” His voice is tender. His caring side is extremely attractive. I sigh and begin my ceiling staring again. Moments of agreeable silence pass between us, with Eliam gently kneading my feet.
“Want to tell me what’s wrong?” His question dissipates the tranquility instantly.
Nerves make me hesitant to tell him because I don’t want to offend him. But I opt for honesty instead of lying to spare his feelings, even if I’m being selfish.
“There’s a man who’s getting on my nerves,” I half-groan the words.
Eliam pauses his rubbing for a split second. I peek at him from my periphery, watching as his face betrays his inner turmoil.
“Go on.” He looks at me kindly, which lets me know he isn’t going to say anything more until he has the full picture.
“There’s not much to say. He was at the restaurant when we went to dinner. Then at the pool last night. Then he tried trapping me in the elevator earlier, and when I—”
“He what?!” Eliam stops moving, his eyes trained squarely on me. The tone of his voice has dropped, something dangerous creeping into it.
“It might be time for you to relax. Do you need me to rub your feet?” I ask, causing him to crack a smile as he resumes the massage.
“Is he following you? Did he try to hurt you?!” His words drip with concern .
“No! Nothing like that. He thinks he’s beguiling when he is mostly annoying. But we accidentally touched and I could have sworn I saw energy flares!”
“Did he see them too?” The massage has paused once again and Eliam is staring at me; I finally turn to look at him.
“He didn’t act like he did. He got pissed at me and released me. I ended up feeling bad about my reaction but I didn’t have the chance to apologize.”
“And you shouldn’t.” Eliam’s energy has shifted but I can’t tell if it’s jealousy or if he’s just looking out for me. “Humans and stars shouldn’t interact, at least not intimately.”
“Okay, slow down.” I jerk my feet from his hands. I already miss his touch but I need to focus. “Who said anything about being intimate? We were trapped in an elevator and he’s a stranger!”
“I didn’t mean to upset you. I was just saying you should be—”
I cut him off, not wanting to continue the conversation. “I need to call my sister.”
Eliam gets up and clears his throat, with the knowledge that the comfortable space has evaporated.
“I can set it up then leave you to it.” There is a formality he hasn’t used with me before, now present in the way he’s speaking .
I nod in response, unsure how to proceed with our conversation. Eliam moves to set up the orb in the same manner that Nyari had.
“Call me when you’re done since I’ll need to pick that up.” He points to the set-up, then vanishes.
I sigh exasperatedly the same time Ambra materializes. “That bad, huh?”
“Funny, that’s the exact same thing Eliam said. Well, almost.” I sit with my legs crisscrossed on the couch and her astral form topples down next to me.
“Who?” Ambra is wiggling her eyebrows at me; it’s her excited-for-information expression.
“Eliam. He’s one of the Pillars of Crea—”
She cuts me off before I can finish my statement. “A Pillar of Creation?! No way. I heard they’re fine as fuck!” She is delightfully squealing, and her happiness makes me smile. “Lea Pea, are you blushing?!”
I look down as I fiddle with the big toe of my right foot. “I’m not.”
“Oh, but you are. Wait, is this what you’re doing down here? A Pillar of Creation?!” She stares at me, waiting for confirmation.
“Well, I—” I don’t know where to start. “That’s why I needed to talk to you. There’s so much going on.” I tug my hair out of the high ponytail and bask in relief before I remove my jacket.
Ambra moves closer to me and leans in; her eyes are lit up with curiosity. “Tell me everything !”
I recap what has happened so far, including the strange human and our encounter in the elevator. The more I talk about it, the more confused I feel.
“I don’t know. There’s Uziel and all the history there, Eliam makes my heart race, and this human? He irritates me so much but I want to be around him.”
“But we aren’t supposed to spend time with them.”
“You’re the second celestial to tell me that today and you’re all cagey on the why. Did you kiss any of them when you were here?” The question slips out before I can stop myself.
“Did you ?” She eyes me a little more intensely than before.
“I just— Ambra, no . Are you even listening to me?”
She laughs. “I am, but I’m more interested in your plans for your human.” In her astral form, she is glittering every time she shifts. Her hair lights up as she playfully runs her fingers through it.
“I don’t have any plans, and he’s not my human—I was only wondering. But forget him for a second. What am I going to do about the other two?”
“I guess that’s the question, isn’t it? What are you going to do?
Uziel clearly wants to be with you but he’s the one who fucked it up.
He is your fiancé though.” She twists her head from side to side as she continues talking.
“The Pillar seems fun, and I’m not leaving ‘til I see what he looks like. But you can’t have a future with him, can you? Do you even want to?”
She’s asking valid questions I can’t answer. I want to have fun and ignore everything else, but I’m a princess and I need to figure my shit out.
“Maybe I can just stay down here forever and not have to make a choice?” I laugh awkwardly but my sister doesn’t.
“Don’t even joke about that. I’ve heard the sickness is intense. Now, when are you coming home?”
I just shrug, since I don’t have an answer for that question either.
“Well, I’ve got to go. Eldest daughter responsibilities, ya know. Especially since my brat of a sister is a delinquent.” She winks as I call for Eliam, knowing she refuses to leave until she sees him.