Chapter 1
Elijah's P.O.V.
Elijah’s P.O.V.
My daily routine was pretty simple and established. It started with waking up at five in the morning, then working out until 6.30 am, followed by a quick shower and dressing up for the day. My wardrobe included hand-stitched suits, made the way I liked them from the place I preferred, so they were all unique and quite expensive. Then I sat down with my family for breakfast, after which I usually left for work. My younger sister is a Fashion Designer and owns a boutique near my office. So, dropping her off at work was also part of my routine. Dropping her off at her destination, I always made my way toward ADLER'S, my first and most crucial restaurant. This restaurant is my tribute to my mom, which is the only reason I always come here to check on it daily. Once I'm happy with how everything is going at my restaurant, my next destination is my construction firm, Adler & Campbell Pvt. Ltd. This place is ruled by two people on a 50-percent partnership; those two people being me and my best friend, Ethan.
I am always the first to arrive, unlike Ethan, who likes to sleep in and walk in somewhere around 12. I have a fixed time to reach work but not the other way around. My day is filled with meetings and planning, discussing, handling, visiting, and more. All related to the business ensuring that it runs smoothly. So, there are days when I don’t take note of the time—a lot of them. My family thinks of me as a workaholic, and I don’t get offended over it. It's a fact, after all, so why even try to deny it? The last time I checked, it wasn’t bad, so I’m cool with it. But are there times when I regret it? YES!
There are days when I just want to go home and enjoy a quiet evening with my family. Maybe have a nice dinner at my family restaurant with them or watch a movie that my little Matty would suggest. But I cannot do it because I have to take care of all the pending work. So, by the time I reach home, everyone is asleep, including the maids and the butler. The time when I get home is somewhere around midnight, sometimes past midnight, and the house is dead silent. So, I have to tip-toe myself into the house like a burglar. It’s funny at times, but yeah! This is my life.
Today though, things weren’t going as per usual. I was all dressed up and waiting for my sister at the dining table, but she was nowhere to be seen. Her and the breakfast, of course. It was a rule my Grandma made. No one would be served breakfast unless and until everyone was at the table; we were only given exceptions if and when we were sick and bedridden. And as Matty was missing, I had to starve a little more. I took this time to check the emails I asked my assistant to forward me. Reading and confirming the details of the first one, I was midway through replying to it when I heard it. More like, heard her.
Her voice was something I could recognize even in my sleep, not because she was someone important. No! It was because sometimes I felt that she lived here; Sofia, my sister’s best friend. When my sister and I moved here, we joined a new school. And the thought had our grandparents worried about us. They were pretty concerned that we wouldn’t be able to adjust and might get bullied. But to our surprise, when Matty walked out of school, she was latched onto a girl’s arm. That girl was Sofia. That isn’t even the worst part; Sofia was my Grandpa’s best friend's granddaughter. Like Hell! What a bloody coincidence? That was the day, and since then, she and Matty have stuck together like glue. These two and, of course, not to forget, Sofia’s boyfriend, Leonardo Russo. He has been with them since school as well. They are always together, and sometimes, I wonder how Matty feels thor-wheeling around those two. I hinted at it quite a few times to her, but my sister is too naive to take the hint.
I feel her plop in the chair beside me as she babbles about something quite animatedly to grandma. I ignored her and tried to focus on my work at hand, but to my dismay, I couldn’t. Here’s a thing about Sofia. She is Spanish. No, I’m not being racist. She comes from a joint family, and her family is quite close to their traditions; that means a lot of celebrations, and God! they are loud. You can hear them talk and laugh from a mile away, never have I gone to a party and not noticed her or her family. It’s not that she is pretty; Sofia is glamorous. With curves etching her body at the right spots, smooth olive skin, doe-shaped hazel green eyes, and a beautiful face, she is as perfect as God could make a human. Sofia looks even more gorgeous when a smile latches onto her lips. Her eyes twinkle whenever she smiles, and those sparkling eyes light up the room wherever they go. Though I didn’t attend many events, I never missed one related to business, and that’s where I spotted it. Her aura radiated happiness off her, and the moment a person walked into her vicinity, they would instantly be affected by it.
Everyone but me.
I never liked her. She and her boyfriend, that Russo kid. It was creepy that they had known each other since they were kids and now were dating. The thought of them being together always brought unwanted images to my brain, my throat tightened at the thought, and I could feel bile coming up my food pipe. I was disgusted by it. She was sitting beside me, unaware of what I felt about her. She wasn’t the one to blame. I was never vocal about my thoughts towards her as she made Matty happy. As time passed, I realized that all that mattered to me was Matty and if she was the one who could keep her happy, so be it. It has been 20 years since I’ve known her, and not once have we spoken. I think she understood the memo and decided to stay away from me, just as I prefer to stay away from her and Russo. Well, good for them.
Unknowingly, my attention moves toward what she’s saying, but all I hear is, “It’s okay, Grandma. I’m used to it by now.” That statement grabs my attention. What is she used to by now? My mind makes me think of the worst-case scenario, and my eyes move along her body, from head to toe, to check for any injury. My hand holding the phone, wounds tightly around it, forming a fist. The thought that she has to go through something so much that she got used to it pisses me off. The anger in me is directed toward the Russo kid, as he is the only one who could be making her go through s**t. I’m distracted from my thoughts when I hear Grandma say, “Spare the poor phone, Eli. You’re going to crush it.” I turned to look at her and then at my phone, which was indeed about to break any minute. I come up with an excuse and say, “It’s Alex. He has a knack for messing things up.” Grandma shrugs at my statement and replies, “Oh! Leave that boy alone. He tries his best.” I nod, agreeing to it, as I know that he genuinely tries his best. Meanwhile, moving my attention back towards my phone, my eyes move towards Sofia for a second to find that her eyes are already latched onto each and every movement of mine. She directs a slight smile towards me, but before I can respond with a smile of my own, Matty’s voice comes barreling down the staircase, “I’m ready.”
