back at the doorstep

chapter 10

At around two-sixteen in the morning, Nick answered the persistently ringing phone with a grouchy “What?”

“Can I speak to Elijah?”

Nick made it from the master bedroom to the guestroom in two seconds flat.

“Hello?” said Elijah, his voice slightly breathless due to the lack of sleep.

“She hates brown bread in the morning, needs to fold the toilet roll into a point, prefers tulips over roses, and must have Mozart playing in the background when she’s trying to recite her lessons aloud,” said Orlando. “And if you ever make her cry, I’ll make you wish you were dead.”

A hysterically relieved chuckle escaped out of Elijah’s suddenly loose chest. “Damn.” He let out another deep breath. “Thanks, Orli.”

He didn’t answer for a while. “Yeah. Cheers, mate. But you’re staying at Ian’s for the rest of your God-damned vacation.”

Smiling, Elijah nodded. "Sure thing."

"And another thing, Wood." There were no words from the other line for a while, nothing that should have made Elijah's throat close up and his eyes shut convulsively.

"I'll take good care of her, Orli," he promised with as much strength as he could muster.

Orlando let out a puff of breath, then went back to that choking silence. Just as Elijah finished mentally composing a speech about fidelity and love and loyalty and devotion, Orlando finally spoke again.

"I know."

~The End~
(finally)