FRAGILE: Part 1 (7 page)

“Were you born at this point?” Eli asks.

“No, it was just before she met my dad.” Eli hasn’t let go of my hand yet, and I’m well aware of his fingers intertwining with mine. “That was really nice of you to give a donation,” I say quietly. “That means a lot to Erin, and to me.”

“They seemed like a good group of people.” Eli smirks at me. “At least, most of them.”

“Yeah, that one crazy lady, I don’t know about her,” I say. “Ruby can be a kleptomaniac sometimes.”

Eli laughs and gives my hand a gentle squeeze. “Hardly. I think she’s brave and has a heart of gold.”

And you’re melting that heart,
I think. I give him a smile, dizzy with desire and joy. I still can’t believe that Eli’s taking me to his place again.
Maybe our relationship is more than professional?
I wonder. At the very least, Eli wants to see me again, and that alone makes my heart soar.

We arrive at the skyscraper where Eli’s condo is, and Eli escorts me inside and up to his place. It’s weird for me to be back here; it’s as fancy as it was when I left it, but this time I feel way out of place in my jeans. The only way I could feel even more out of place is if I had shown up in pajamas, and even then, I have some pajamas that would fit a romantic evening lounging in a place like this better than what I’m currently wearing.

No sooner do we step inside and the door closes than Eli pulls me in close and kisses me. There’s a slight energy in his kiss that I recognize, and a tremor of passion runs through me, making me weak in the knees. After a long time, Eli leans back, letting me catch my breath.

“Ruby,” Eli whispers, “I’m going for a hike tomorrow.” He kisses me on the lips again. “Would you come with me?”

“Yes,” I say.

“Do you want a drink?” Eli kisses my cheek.

“Yes.”

Eli unzips my jacket, as he kisses my neck. “Do you want me?”

“Yes.”

My shirt disappears, and Eli’s mouth moves down from my neck.

“Yes,” I murmur, even though Eli hasn’t asked anything. I wrap my hands around his head, my fingers playing with his locks of hair, and I close my eyes. “Yes.”

Eli’s idea of a hike is my idea of a hike—a six-mile, partly rock-climbing expedition, complete with a packed lunch and a backpack with supplies just in case we get adventurous and become stranded out there. It takes us a little over an hour to drive to the trailhead (via a cab at Eli’s suggestion, and I don’t mind the opportunity to sit beside Eli and chat with him). The entire time we ride out to the park—and while we hike—I play a game of edging Eli with questions until I sense he’s about to shut down, and then I talk about myself.

I find out Eli’s been the CEO of Marnvell Jewelers for four years, and that for two years prior he worked for Marnvell Jewelers in another position—although he won’t go into much more detail than that. I also discover that he has parents and a younger brother, but Eli definitely doesn’t like talking about them. Still, it’s something.

“So why Marnvell Jewelers?” I ask at one point when we stop for water. It’s a rather humid day, but at least it’s fall, and not quite as hot and heavy as it is in the summer. My curls don’t care, however, and they’re sticking out every which way behind my head despite the purple bandana I’d put over them to help hold them down.

Eli’s lips purse, a sign that I’m getting into territory he’s not sure he wants to discuss. Then, he looks at me, and his face relaxes again. “It seemed like a great option for me six years ago,” Eli says.

“What about long-term?” I ask.

“I actually really like it,” Eli says. It’s the first time he’s admitted to enjoying his work. “I often worry whether I’m doing a good job though.”

I chuckle. “You? I haven’t looked at your numbers recently, but based on everything I saw before, and our numbers through Marnvell Jewelers, suggests you’re doing fine.”

“I don’t have the passion you do,” Eli says. He gives me a longing look. “I like what I do, but it’s not the same as how you love your work.”

“What do you get excited about?” I ask.

“You.”

My cheeks heat up, and I wag my finger at him, grinning sheepishly. “I asked for that one. But you know what I mean.”

Eli looks off down the rocky hillside we just climbed. He looks incredibly appealing with the sweat dripping down his forehead, his gray t-shirt tight against his muscular chest.

“I don’t know,” Eli says.

Silence hangs over us, as we stare down the beautiful drop. “I’m a very expressive person,” I say.

“I know,” Eli says. He looks at me and smiles. “You make the most amazing sounds in bed.”

“It helps that you…stop distracting me!” Eli chuckles, as I shake my head. I close my eyes, nearly losing my concentration, as my body trembles at the memories. “What I was going to say was that I’m an expressive person to the point that I very adamantly show my feelings for things. A less expressive person could love something very much and not show it like I do. It looks different from the outside, just not on the inside.”

“That’s very true,” Eli says. “But how do I know that what I feel on the inside is how you feel when you express yourself though?”

“That, I’m not sure,” I say. “Do you dread going to work?”

“No,” Eli says, but it comes out hesitantly.

“What do you dread then?” I ask.

Eli’s watching me now, his green eyes holding me in place. Then, he glances up at the path as it continues on ahead, and then back the way we came. His face doesn’t harden completely, but by the way he draws his shoulders back a little, I can tell he’s about to change the conversation again.

“I dread this decision I’m about to make,” Eli says. “I’m having fun, but I really want to do you.”

“Oh really?” I’m taken aback and excited at the same time.
Fine, I’ll accept your distraction this time,
I think. “Right now?” I ask.

“Right now,” Eli says. “Maybe we should head back.”

I smirk and pull a condom out from my pocket. “Ta-da! Problem solved.”

Eli blinks in surprise, and then he laughs. “Are you always this prepared?”

“Around you? I have to be. I can’t figure you out, and it’s driving me insane,” I say.

Eli steps towards me, and I can feel the heat radiating from him. “I drive you insane?” Eli asks, his tone musing. “That’s funny, because you have the same effect on me.”

I take it as a good sign that our relationship really is progressing into something even more. I certainly feel like it is, what with the way his barriers have started to ease back, especially today.

We hold hands, as we step off the trail, ducking around trees to find a secluded area that isn’t easily visible from the trail. Snickering, we lay out the picnic blanket we’d brought in a spot that’s hidden.

“We could be in huge trouble if we’re caught,” Eli murmurs.

We’ve seen people out and about today but not recently, and I’m feeling rather reckless. And horny. I shrug my shoulders. “I don’t care when I’m around you.”

As Eli wraps his arms around me, his intense eyes lock with mine, and he holds my gaze the entire time. I’ve never felt like someone could see me, truly see me, and I lose my breath. I watch thoughts rage in his eyes, centered on me, until at last I see an emotion…sorrow.

I’m surprised. It’s brief, hidden away behind his confident self-assurance, but the sorrow is there. As I press against Eli, I want to ask him why he’s sad. I want to draw the truth from him and quit playing games with him, as I search around his walls for a way in. My heart wants to connect with his, and I want him to stop holding me away at arm’s length.

But Eli’s not ready, I can sense it. I can tell that it took a lot of courage for him to even drop his guard this much. So, for now, I just watch his eyes. I soak in his brief emotional honesty without question and let him be himself, just as he’s letting me be myself with him.

***

For most of the rest of our hike I am shaky on my legs, and Eli and I can’t help grinning at each other every time we pass other hikers. We slowly make our way down, back to the parking lot, and while we wait for a cab, we refill our water bottles at a water fountain. My headache’s returned, and I eventually admit defeat and take more medicine.

Eli frowns at me, as I take a sip of water. “You have a headache again?”

“Yeah.” I shrug. “It was a vigorous workout.”

Eli’s lips turn upward into a smirk, his eyes twinkling with mischief. “It was a good hike.”

“It was a very good hike. Probably the best hike I’ve ever had. Hot and hard, just how I like it.”

Grinning, Eli checks his phone now that we have a better signal again. I take the opportunity to glance at my phone too and send Larisa a “Just checking in on you” text. She responds that she’s having a good weekend—and might have found a new boyfriend. I’m eager to hear more, and I send her a message that we should catch up first thing tomorrow morning.

“Do you—” Eli starts to ask me.

“Help!” a boy screams, his voice echoing through the trees.

Eli and I spin, looking back up the trail. Three other hikers, an older couple and what looks like their young daughter, stop and stare up the trail as well. There’s more shouting, and Eli and I jog down the path. I start to make out multiple people calling for help, and I’ve got my hand on my phone, ready to dial 911.

We come around a tree bend, and I pause. There are two teenage boys and one adult reaching over the wooden fence that follows along the path. They’re looking down at another teenage boy on the side of the precipice. It looks like he had slipped off the side of the path under the fence or maybe toppled over it. I’d seen a few boys take a dare to walk the fence line, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if that is the case here—and now he is clinging to the cliff side above a stream that is forty-feet below the path. His blonde hair is slick against his face, and he’s staring up at his friends with terror.

“Jason, just hang on!” one of the teenagers up top shouts.

The boy that’s hanging onto the rocks whimpers.

“Do either of you have rope?” the adult asks Eli and me. She’s very petite and looks older, maybe in her fifties. She’s got a phone to her ear, and she’s leaning over the fence, looking at Jason, her other hand on one of the other teenager boys to keep him from climbing over.

“Yes,” Eli says. He drops his pack and pulls out a cord of rope. I set my pack by his and we hurry over.

While Eli ties the rope around a tree nearby and then loops it through the fence, I climb over the fence. Making it to the other side, I lie down as flat as I can while still keeping my grip on the fence, and I reach out to the boy, but Jason’s still three feet down—further than I can reach. There’s no way anyone’s reaching him without a climb.

“Keep the rope secure,” Eli says to me.

I nod, climbing back over the fence to safety, and grab the rope while Eli climbs the fence and leans over the edge, looking down. The family of three that had been by the parking lot arrives, and they lean on the fence, all of us watching with wide eyes. The petite female hiker sounds like she’s talking with a 911 operator, giving the location and details, and I catch that her name is Martha.

Eli eases himself down a little. “Jason, just hang tight until I can get beside you.”

Jason nods his head once.

“You’re doing really well, Jason,” I say. Jason looks up at me, and I give him a smile. “You’ve got this. How old are you?”

“Fourteen,” Jason says.

“What grade are you in?” I ask.

“Ninth.”

“Wow, this has to be a rough couple of months for you,” I say. “Being a freshmen in high school.”

Jason gives me a small smile. “Yeah. But it’s cool.”

“Any favorite classes?” I ask.

“Lunch period,” Jason says.

I chuckle. “Lunch is everyone’s favorite time.” Jason gives me a more solid grin. “Besides lunch?”

“I like history,” Jason says after a second. “My teacher’s a lot of fun.”

“That’s good!”

By this point Eli’s climbed down beside Jason. Eli maneuvers himself sideways so that Jason can grab a hold of the rope. Then, just as Jason reaches a hand out to Eli, he slips and falls again.

“Jason!” I shout.

“Shit!” Martha shouts, still on the phone.

Eli drops the slack he had remaining. I cling to the rope as it goes taut, thrumming against the fence. Jason manages to find another catch in the rocks, enough to slow him, and Eli grabs his other arm. There’s a collective cheer, and I smile, exhaling in relief. I glance back, checking the knot on the tree, but it looks fine.

“No, no, he’s okay, the man got the boy,” Martha says into her phone.

The fence we’re all leaning on suddenly gives out, dropping over the edge. Everyone gives a scream and scrambles back. Except for me. The rope’s hooked through the fence, and I’m afraid that it’ll hurt Eli and Jason when it falls. I grab the fence, groaning as I try to hold it up.

“Woman, you’re going to fall!” someone shouts at me.

The fence continues to tilt over, just slowly now, and it’s pulling me along with it. It dawns on me, as I struggle with the fence, that this is probably it. I’m about to get pulled over. I’m literally about to be dragged off the edge of a cliff and fall to my death. After finally meeting a man that fascinates me to no end, a handsome man that I have strong feelings for, that I’m crushing on and hope desperately likes me as much as I like him, this might be my last breath. And his too, and Jason’s, if the fence or me falls on them.

Shit
, I think.

~~~