Chapter 7

"I— I'm sorry but I can't."

Gavin stopped in his tracks, recalculating his steps. He stepped back and cleared his throat awkwardly. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. That was way too strong," he scratched the back of his neck, embarrassment engulfing him.

"I should not have. I think I'll leave." He turned to leave but she stopped him. "It's okay, I enjoyed today."

"Me too, but I really should leave." Elena shrugged off his jacket and handed it to him. It was a lot bigger than her so it swallowed her. "Here," Gavin took his jacket and put it on.

"Thank you for tonight, and the jacket, " Elena said, trying to lighten the mood.

"I should be thanking you. It's been so long since I felt this normal,"

Elena wanted to ask him what he meant but he had already begun walking off. Once more her thoughts drifted to Marcus and he had driven off that night after giving her a bundle of dollars.

As she thought of it, her phone rang. It was Marcus. She was so shocked she watched it ring for a few seconds before picking it up.

"Hello?"

"Elena," Marcus said, his voice sending chills down her spine.

"Yes?"

"You're up." He stated. Elena did not know what to say to that, so she just waited for him to say something else but it was eerily quiet for a while till she decided to speak up.

"Are you— are you done with work?"

"Yes. I just rounded off my last meeting. I wanted to come pick you up from work but I guess you are already home. You are at home, right?" Elena felt her pulse quicken up a bit, since when did he care?

"Yes. Yes. I just decided to come out for some fresh air." Marcus was quiet again, it made Elena angry, she did not know what he was thinking most of the time.

"Marcus? Are you still there?" Elena asked after a long moment of silence.

"You should not stay outside so late. It's dangerous, maybe you should look into houses with a balcony. I never liked your apartment complex anyways," with that remark he hung up.

Elena was shocked, she stood still for a few seconds trying to understand the complex human that was Marcus but she gave up. Could it be that he cared about her? And was he serious about getting her an apartment with a balcony?

Elena made her way up her apartment, the stairs creaking with every step she took. If Marcus was willing to pay for a new apartment would she take it? She was already digging herself into so much debt to this man that she could not imagine asking him for more.

Her phone buzzed two times with two different notifications. One from Marcus and one for Gavin.

She clicked on Gavin's own instantly, 'Got home safe ;) sorry about today. I hope we can meet up soon. Goodnight :)

And then she opened Marcus's own, 'Take the day off tomorrow, we are going out.'

Elena stared at the two messages. What was she going to do now?

Elena woke up the next morning exhausted. She had slept off on her couch. She groaned in exhaustion knowing her back would pay for it for the rest of the day.

She got around her daily routine. Her mind replayed the events of last night, her enjoying Gavin's company and almost forgetting about Marcus's existence entirely. Then Marcus surprised her by calling to check up on get then announcing an outing today. She could not also forget staring at Gavin's message all night, thinking about how he was the perfect man for her.

As she enjoyed her breakfast she could not help but wonder what it would be like to be dating Gavin instead. Would he be so cold? Would he be so quiet and in his headspace most of the time? Would he call her beautiful every day?

Her phone ringing jolted her from her thoughts. It was Marcus.

"I'm outside." He said simply when she picked up the phone, then he hung up almost immediately.

Elena slowly made her way downstairs, clearing every thought of Gavin for the time being. It would be rude to be thinking of another man while in the presence of her boyfriend.

Marcus was leaning against his car as he waited for her, he was spotting a blue designer suit today and some sunglasses. Once he saw Elena he opened her door for her before walking around to enter the car.

"For a minute there I thought you were not coming," Marcus said immediately after she got into the car.

"I took the day off as you suggested,"

"I did not suggest it. I told you to," Before Elena could reply, the revving of the engine cut her off.

"Why did you anyways?"

"Your job is too consuming," Marcus stated.

"So is yours." Marcus turned and stared at Elena for a moment.

"I am my boss, I choose when to work."

"And you do it all the time,"

"But here I am, today."

"Why?"

"You ask a lot of questions," Marcus said, an exasperated look on his face as he drove out of her street.

"You ignore my questions,"

"I knew you were sharp-mouthed and witty, but not to this extent." Elena wanted to start an argument with this and but he was too calm. Like she was a fly and he could flick her off with his fingers.

"You're still ignoring the question," Elena noted.

"Do you have a car?" Marcus asked suddenly.

"Yes, but it's broken down."

"Do you want one?"

"Why do you keep offering to buy me things? First an apartment and now a car, you're putting me in your debt." Elena said, frustration in her tone.

"I never said you had to pay me back," Marcus said calmly as he took a right turn.

"I know but I am still in your debt."

"Aren't partners supposed to help their partner out?" Elena was getting even more frustrated but Marcus kept his tone plain, and calm. "We are in a relationship, right?"

"In the official sense, yes."

"Excuse me?" Marcus asked, staring at her from the corner of his eye.

"We— You— we have not even held hands and it's been three weeks since you asked me out. Is it going to take a year before you kiss me?" Elena gasped and covered her mouth. She did not mean for that to slip.

Marcus parked the car almost immediately and Elena feared he was going to kick her out but he just turned to her, a blank look on his face.

"So our relationship is only in the official sense unless we kiss?" Elena did not know what to say again, she already hated herself for talking too much.

"I— I don't know."

Marcus unbuckled his seatbelt and moved closer to her. " Do you want me to kiss you, Elena?"