11. I Love You
“Pat? I missed you!” Kim said as she hugged her friend.
“Where have you been? Why didn’t you call me? Are you okay girl?” Pat asked in a worried tone as he tried to scrutinize his friend.
Ely, who was standing on the side all along, couldn’t take that affection a man was showing his woman and he pulled Kim away from Pat’s hands.
“Oh, sorry. Ely, this is Pat, my best friend from middle school and he’s gay. Pat, this is Ely,” Kim introduced in a bid to diffuse the awkward atmosphere and she felt Ely relax beside her when he heard that Pat was gay and he was her long time friend.
“Let’s go and sit down at our table,” Kim said to Ely and then winked at Pat as a gesture that she had tea and she would tell him later.
She pulled Ely to a booth that was at the second floor of the bar and when they were inside, she heaved a sigh of relief.
“Is he really your friend?” Ely asked after they settled and Jamal and the others left them.
“Yes. He’s my best friend and there can never be anything more than that between the two of us,” she said and took the bottle of wine that was served to them and poured it on a glass.
After a while, Kim asked, “can I please go and talk to Pat? It’s been long since we talked.”
Ely looked at her and he was at the verge of refusing when there was a knock on the door to the booth and Jamal walked in.
“Boss…” he asked awkwardly and scratched his head with his nails and if he didn’t know how to broach the subject he wanted to talk about.
“What is it Jamal? Just say it,” Ely asked.
“I… errrm… Miss Claire is here and she insists on talking to you,” Jamal said hurriedly.
“I don’t want to see her…”
“Elyes, what’s the meaning of this? I have been looking for you and making appointments but you seem to be busy always?” A woman that Kim had never seen before asked as she walked into the room even without knocking.
She looked elegant and compared to her, Kim looked like a country bumpkin.
“Claire, what do you want?” Elyes asked with an irritation he didn’t care to mask.
“I…”
Clearly, the woman didn’t expect Ely to use such a tone with her and she stood there awkwardly with her earlier bravado lost.
“Well… seems as if you have important things to talk to your guest about. I will be out. Call me when you are done,” Kim said and stood up and Ely stood with her.
“Don’t go. Please,” he begged her as he held her hand and at that moment, they both didn’t see Claire fist her hands and curse Kim under her breath.
“I will be at the front counter and Jamal will be with me. You don’t have to worry. Just talk to your guest first,” Kim coerced and the man conceded and Kim walked outside but she didn’t forget to smile at the other woman as she left.
After Kim left, Ely felt as if he had Ben doused in cold water.
At that moment, he hated Claire and he had never hated anyone the way he hated her at that moment.
“You have five minutes,” Ely said and his voice showed impatience.
“Ely, darling, why are you like this and who is that?” Claire asked in a voice that even amateurs could tell was fake but she was trying to seduce this stone of a man.
“Claire, my personal life has nothing to do with you. If you have forgotten, there is only a business relationship between me and your family.
You of all people should know that I don’t mix personal matters with business. So, I will ask you for the last time, what do you want?” Ely asked in a tone that he had never used in Claire before.
Claire gritted her teeth and cursed that strange woman who she had never met. She was sure that it was because of her that Ely was cold to her.
“Okay. I’m sorry. About my brother and what he did…”
“Tell him that the reason why he is still breathing is because of the respect I have for your father because he had been a good business partner over the years. If he does it again, it’s how corpse you will be going for,” Ely said and Claire knew that he meant every word.
“Thank you. I will tell him. Ely, may I ask you something?” Claire asked and Ely looked at his watch and said…
“Your five minutes are over.”
“Ely, please,” Claire said as she held his hand.
“Ask.”
“I have told you several times that I… I want to be with you. I love you Elyes. Why won’t you give me a chance?” Claire asked and Ely stood up.
“I will ask one of my men to take you back to your car. Make sure you don’t forget to tell your brother what I have said,” Ely said and ignored her question.
Claire stood up with gritted teeth and looked at Ely, “I always get what I want. You will be mine Ely. You will be,” she said and walked out.
Ely felt and incoming headache and he sat down with a humph and downed a whole glass.
‘It’s not that I love killing but what do you do with someone who is hell bent on provoking you. I hope you won’t be foolish,’ he thought and closed his eyes.
After he had adjusted his emotions, he stood up and walked outside to go and look for Kim.
He went downstairs and the first thing he noticed was the animated way Pat and Kim were talking as if they were thinking if ways on how to help the local government of Chicago come up with ways on how to reduce taxes on its citizens.
He sat down next to Kim and hugged her and kisses her and then laid his head on her shoulder.
“I miss you, let’s go home,” he said.
“Okay. Pat, see you again,” she said and held his hand and helped him up and he kissed her again before walking out hand in hand.
What Ely didn’t know was that someone didn’t go home and had lagged in the shadows so as to follow him and verify some doubts before thinking of the next course of action.