Chapter 5

"What are you doing here?"

"Craig as in Craig from the birthday?" Her mum asked, appalled.

"Uh...meet my mum," Eloïse casually introduced.

"Zaphrina Woods," Zaphrina gleefully extended her hand which the young boy kissed its back instead of shaking it. "Oh."

"It is an honor to finally meet you in person, Mrs. Woods," Zaphrina barely tilted her head with questioning brows. "I am Craig Donnelly, nothing but an ordinary devotee of yours."

"A fan? How incredible."

He singly nodded with gentleness then diverted a placid gaze to Jeremy. "What happened?"

Zaphrina and Eloïse's eyes fluctuated from one man to the other, bewildered.

Jeremy lowered his head remorsefully.

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience, Mrs. Woods. My cousin here messed up a good fraction of the show and I'm immensely ashamed," he shot Jeremy a deadly stare, "My pleas of being extra careful and alerted, considering how important this show is to you, unfortunately, was water on a duck's back."

"Your cousin," Zaphrina's brows rose in surprise as she stated.

"My apologies, Mrs. Woods, Craig," His desperate face couldn't go unnoticed beneath a dirty old baseball cap that accessorized a flaxen tee inside an undersized mink jumpsuit.

"Besides negligence, none of this was my intention."

Jeremy exaggeratedly bowed causing a portion of his tucked in right foot pants to lay out of place.

"It's okay, Jeremy, just be sure to be more careful next time, have everything checked and make-"

"No, Mrs. Woods," Craig objected, "do not give him a next time even if the opportunity showed up. We're not sure of cautiousness."

"Oh, Craig," Zaphrina emphasized on his name, "it really was nothing. We all make mistakes. We are only human. The show is still ongoing as we speak so there isn't any need to take this trivial matter to the cardiac."

"If you say so, Mrs-"

"Oh dear, quit the formalities," she flapped a hand, "just call me Zaphrina or mum, whichever suits you," she beamed, held him by the arm and led him together with the three girls out of the electric power room. "You're such a chivalrous young man and oh, you're face looks quite familiar. Did you grow around here or school here maybe at some point in your life?"

Craig lashed out a faint smile. "Neither of them, Mrs-"

"Zaphrina."

"Right. Neither of them."

"What a pity. You know, I used to know a-"

Eloïse interceded with a feigned throat clear, "mum, Pete needs you."

"Nah, he has everything under -"

"Oh my gosh, how forgetful of me," Marila cut the early forty age woman off, "We met Mr. Woods on our way here and...and," she slightly nudged Bennie on the waist.

"Y-yeah...he uhh...he said you forgot to restock the fridge with maple syrup."

Marila narrowed her eyes at the level of lameness in her friend's excuse.

Eloïse heard her mum's retort recede as she walked away with Craig. She still couldn't believe that he was there, walking abreast her after his sudden disappearance from Marila's party. Did she go wrong somewhere? She hadn't stopped asking herself. Perhaps Bethany was right: she must have bored him with her stutters to stupor.

He was still as handsome as she could remember, if not so, then more. They briefly sauntered to a quiet place even though such places were hard to find given the situation the vicinity was facing.

After finally sighting a manageable spot which was an attached shade at the back of the auditorium formally used as a concession stand, the duo proceeded their journey towards it in ear-splitting silence.

"I'm sorry," they both said once seated causing Eloïse to smile.

He returned the gesture, "Ladies first."

Eloïse fiddled with her fingers. "I'm sorry about what happened back there with my mum thinking to have met you before and all. Old age is beginning to take a drastic toll on her."

"It's fine. Such things happen." His intense gaze sculpted her facial features.

"What about you, uh, what is it you're apologizing for?"

"Everything," Eloïse questioningly looked into his midnight black pupils for the first time, "for the night I vanished without a word and for my cousin's negligence."

Eloïse who had immediately pulled out her gaze from his as if it stung said, "it's all good."

It was, truly, but she wanted to know only one thing. Why? Why he left.

"I got a call from my boss the minute you went forth with your friend to present myself in his office within a short span. That's why I didn't have time to bid you goodbye or goodnight."

"Is that so?" She returned to fiddling, "I thought..." She trailed on her words, not sure of what to say. "Well, you made me think...I..."

"You thought your company bored me to my wits? On the contrary, your company's the best I ever had in so many years, trust me on that," he absentmindedly settled his distant gaze on the wilting rusty brown leaves the autumn wind had to offer with his forearm resting on his knees.

Eloïse grabbed the opportunity to freely flush all possible combined shades of red while it lasted.

"And I'm not saying this for personal interest," he added.

That never crossed her mind even though she was well aware that he was a lot older than she was and could possibly be using his intelligence, charms, and years of experienced lady bait expertise to get her heart or body and break or abuse of it like she saw the highschool jocks do to half the girls.

Personally, she felt him different, age apart. So different that she wanted to know him more, see him more, and oddly, hold him more.

"I didn't expect to see you here," she diverted the topic for her sanity.

"I couldn't miss this peculiar show for anything in the world, plus, my cousin was going to be in charge of the electrical field. I feared something as such would happen. Don't get me wrong, he's good but not as good as uncle. The last thing I wanted was to let an imprudent acquaintance jeopardize my idol's show."

"That's kind of you. You must be a devoted fan," She paused waiting for him to say something which he didn't. "Small world isn't it?" She chuckled, "I would never have thought you were related to Rodriguez."

"Destiny has its ways like my grandma always says. Impossibilities become possible."

There was a wind whistle of silence after that.

"Will I see you, again?" She boldly asked after several interior debates. It was fashion week after all so there was a big probability that he will show up. If not tomorrow then someday before the week ended.

"No," he sadly retorted, "I'll be leaving New York in three days. For good."

Her heart fragmented. "What about your job, your family...your friends, will you give up on it all just like that?"

He lifted his eyes to the sky, took a deep breath of the autumn air then said, "I lost my job, and I have no family and friends here. So I got nothing to hold me back."

What about me? She wanted to say but thought of how stupid it will be for someone to stay back because of a bump and pass.

"What about Mr. Rodriguez, Jeremy?"

He sighed, "they aren't really...family," his voice seemed distant.

Eloïse frowned, ached to know what more his sudden change in demeanor had hidden inside. When he said nothing further she stayed shut.

"If you...if you found a job within three days will it deprive you of leaving?"

He turned to her and she immediately shrunk from the little audacity she had. His eyes then journeyed to roam her again, she couldn't see it but could feel it. His gaze made her feel like she was barren from the fuchsia Shein dress she had on.

How does he do that? She thought.

"It depends," his voice came out as silky as satin. "On the kind of job, of course, and earnings too."

She didn't know how much he earned in his previous job and wasn't sure if her job offer would be enough to meet up to his expectations. Enough to keep him from leaving.

"I doubt what you did before and how much you earned but I'm sure my offer will be enough to make you st—" she pursed her lips before completely validating her obvious desperation. Her countenance had done more than sufficient. "Consider modeling."

He chuckled, "We're still on this, huh?" He rubbed his palms and funny enough, she began to picture the wonders that could come out of them. Marila would preach a sea if she ever burst through her thoughts.

"So tell me, what criteria would make me eligible for modeling?" He impishly smiled.

Eloïse profusely hyperventilated inside, as a result, her palms had begun to perspire. She still didn't understand why and how Craig's words and presence thawed her to a pulp so much. As an expert auditioner, that wasn't supposed to be a big deal but now and then, she was unable to utter a word as her mind twisted into gibberish.

How was she going to say 'everything' without sounding awkward? Because yes, he did have all criteria. 

Eloïse's eyes wandered around his mid-body where his blackberry suit flawlessly hugged his arms, back, and chest. It was quite a sight. How much more will it look without them? 

"Yes?" He questioned in eagerness.

"There you are," Bennie said, "your dad's trailing you. You have two minutes to be done with the 'restroom' before he storms in there." Bennie childishly waved at Craig with a sheepish grin before disappearing behind the walls.

"I'm sorry, I have to go," she instantly vacated the old piece of wood of an excuse of a chair. Hope to see you again, her mouth readied to say but, "It was nice seeing you again." shot out instead.

He mimicked her action and took a step closer to her. "Too bad we didn't come to the end of this conversation," a pinch of impassiveness in his tone simultaneously with a tiny gesture of nonchalantly pocketing his hands made Eloïse's belly flip as it reminded her of an anime character she had spent her whole teenage years fantasizing about.

As if realizing his scary yet alluring change of deed, he stiffly smiled and relaxed his countenance. "Would've loved to consider your offer if my mind wasn't made up."

Eloïse disappointedly twisted her lips but quickly converted it to a smile and said, "I wish you a safe journey, then." Pivoted on her heels and off she went with a heavy heart of never seeing him again.