Eliezer’s Ange by Eden Auclair

XXXI

cassiopeia is twenty-three

she is a first-year doctorate in university

“Cassiopeia,” Eliezer hummed, intertwining their hands together on the booth’s table.

“Yes, Eliezer?” She replied adorably, meeting his eyes and blushing.

“I want to hear about your family, about you. I want to know every part of you, Cassiopeia Leilani.” She immediately shied away from the conversation, covering her crimson blushing face half-heartedly with one hand whilst the other stayed intertwined with his.

“You’re adorable when you blush, darling.” He chuckled, his thumb rubbing soft circles on her hand.

“Filled with terms of endearment today, aren’t you?” A tiny smile curved her lips as she peered at him through her fingers and queried softly.

“Aren’t I always?” He said smugly. Solely focused on the black ink etched on his skin peeking through the two unbuttoned buttons of his dress shirt, she missed his absentminded whispered, “Jesus Christ, I am so lucky,” as he stared at her in pure adoration.

Inhaling and exhaling softly, Cassiopeia let Eliezer slowly pry her hand from her face, intertwining their hands on the table. Smiling tenderly, Cassiopeia’s winter grays collided with Eliezer’s sapphire irises.

“So, you already know about my mama, papa, and little brother, Slater Dante, the devil’s spawn,” she smiled cheekily and Eliezer’s hearty laugh had his eyes crinkling in the corners.

“I know the feeling, I have one brother and three sisters,” he said, his left hand leaving hers to fork food into his mouth.

“Three?” Cassiopeia exclaimed, her eyes wide and an equally wide smile on her face. “Are you the oldest?”

“Christ, no,” he snorted, rolling his eyes, “and I get shit for it every chance they get,” he grumbled under his breath.

“Are you the middle child?” She cooed teasingly.

“Yes.” He growled, stabbing the food in his plate angrily.

“Oh.” Cassiopeia laughed wholeheartedly. “You’re adorable.” She mocked his words, smiling cheekily.

“Cute, sweetheart,” he drawled sarcastically, narrowing his eyes at her.

“Of five children, I had to be the middle child-”

“Baby,” Cassiopeia snickered and he glared.

“My oldest sister, Halley, is thirty-five, my brother, the pretentious tosser, he was older too, then I came, my little sister, Celestia, is twenty-nine, and my baby sister, Ophelia, is four.”

“Aw, she must be adorable!” She beamed, absentmindedly squeezing their laced hands together in excitement. His heart melted from her minuscule gesture and her glowing expression.

“She is,” Eliezer agreed, “and she’ll love you when you two meet, actually no, my entire family will love you when you meet them.” He winked. Cassiopeia merely blushed.

“Tell me about your brother, Slater.” Her face lit up.

“Princess Slater?” She mocked, cocking a brow whilst wearing the most brilliant smile on her face. Eliezer nearly choked from her sincerity of calling him ‘princess.’

“Slater’s... mmm, Slater is…

“A royal pain in my ass. It’s like he’s solely breathing just to get mama’s panties in a twist.” She rolled her eyes and he fell into disbelieving laughter. “I swear it’s like he wakes up early just to piss in her cheerios, metaphorically, not literally, that would be horrifying, though it is Slater, so I wouldn’t put it past him, oh Christ.” She looked mortified at the thought for a moment before breaking into a fit of giggles and his whole body trembled as he laughed.

“But I promise, it’s quite the spectacle every morning for papa and I, and every moment of the day.” She smiled fondly.

“Are you more like your mother or father?”

“For as long as I could remember, I’ve always gravitated towards my papa. Mama says we’re twins since we’re always quiet and ambitious and she says we always have a stoic expression,” she giggled, “and we’re always just doing something. Papa says we’re two peas in a pod because we have a pure heart and love so wildly, passionately, hopelessly, irrevocably, wholly, and utterly.”

Eliezer smiled tenderly, his eyes creasing in the corners as he drank in Cassiopeia in her essence. Her father’s words couldn’t be truer.

Could it be any more possible to fall deeper in love with her? He could feel his heart thrumming violently in his chest, beating in love, in love, in love, for her. The voice in his head sounded much like his mother’s, making him smile to himself.

So, fucking, whipped, a voice warm like his father’s teased. He couldn’t help but smile, remembering every time he’d call his mother and father and their knowing voices as Eliezer went on and on about the one and only Cassiopeia. Hopelessly and irrevocably, for her, Eliezer agreed undoubtedly. A goddamn glowing angel.

“Slater, on the other hand,” she breathed dramatically, making him enticed all over again, “is mama reincarnated,” she deadpanned, making Eliezer burst out laughing. “Even though they refuse to entertain the mere thought.” She rolled her eyes.

“Slater’s a mama’s boy-”

“Like me,” Eliezer whispered, smiling boyishly and she smiled.

“-latching on her from the moment he was born. They’re partners in crime, literally, Slater always fiercely protecting her and her equally defending him. Adorable if you ask me.” She snorted. “But every time papa and I say they’re just the same, they both give us death glares, which are far cuter than they are scary.” She giggled whilst he merely watched her glowing face, utterly enticed.

“My favorite part is always when mama scoffs and starts calling Slater names, or at least tries to find the harshest insult and Slater curses like a sailor, threatening papa and I. We end up laughing, always finding it impossible to take Slate’s promises to heart. Slate and mama are just jealous of papa and I,” she shrugged nonchalantly, giggling.

Turning into soft laughs, they were contagious as Eliezer found himself laughing with her.

His eyes traced over hers with crinkles in the corners and her button nose and plush lips and he felt ready to yell from the fucking rooftops just how much he loved her.

Eliezer breathed deeply, closing his eyes as his hand squeezed hers. “I harbor such a deep regard for you, mon ange.” He said quietly and her eyes fluttered as her heart thrummed chaotically as his words replayed in her head.

“And I have an even deeper regard for you,” she said sincerely, softly, and this time, Eliezer blushed.

“I’ve been talking so much,” she added as an afterthought.

“I like hearing your thoughts, your voice is my favorite sound in the world.” His voice was soothing.

“Yours is mine too,” she said quietly blushing in full bloom.

“Good, baby.” He hummed. “And whose girl are you?”

“Daddy’s girl.” She grinned wickedly and he smirked.

The light-hearted aura of their atmosphere mellowed down as they both became lost in their own thoughts. Eliezer caught sight of her staring behind him, a faraway look in her glassy eyes. He grew disheartened knowing she carried her own pain. He didn’t want her to carry it by herself. He hated seeing her face time and time again tear-streaked and crestfallen. He hated seeing her plastering on a false smile and slipping into a blank façade, pretending everything was okay in front of him.

“Cassiopeia?”

“Yes, Eliezer?”

“Can I ask you something?” He queried nervously.

“Mhm.” She hummed, sipping her bubbly water.

Please don’t hide from me,he begged in his mind.

“Is Slater okay?” The words tumbled past his lips.

Her breath seemed to be knocked right out of her as she stilled, her eyes slipping into desolation and her brows crinkled and uncrinkled and crinkled again. Her lips softly parted into a frown and tears clouded her eyes and Eliezer immediately regretted opening his mouth.

“No,” she whispered, “how much do you know, Eliezer?”

“Cassiopeia, I’m so sorry.” He apologized profusely once he saw her tears slowly rolling down her cheeks.

“No, Eliezer.” She said through her tears. God, how long I’ve wanted to tell him and cry in his arms.

Cassiopeia wantedto tell him, wantedto spill her deepest secrets she couldn’t ever tell Ansel, merely becauseshe trusted Eliezer with everything she had. But she always found herself nervous to bring it up and now that he did, she felt thrust into a limelight she felt onlyunder his intense gaze—she felt utterly naked and vulnerable.

“Cassiopeia, we don’t have to talk about this.” His voice was soft and begging for her to forget he brought it up.

“I want to,” she said simply. “I’ve wanted to, just, I don’t know, how much do you know, Eliezer?” She sighed.

“I… I,” he stuttered, crinkling his brows, “I’ve-”

“-eavesdropped,” she said plainly for him.

“Not purposely,” he mumbled, blushing furiously with furrowed brows.

“Cassiopeia, I swear I know nothing, I’ve just come into your office countless times when you happened to end your call with Slater and found you on the verge of tears. The endless times I’ve found you in your studio, your loft, our bedroom, our home, falling to your knees, crying, and curled up in our bed, crying. Princesse, I worry for you,” he said defeatedly.

Cassiopeia pressed her lips together in a thin line, nodding slightly and looking lost in thought.

“Slater,” her voice cracked, “has an AVM,” her voice was a wobbly whisper. Eliezer’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he wracked his mind for what that was. He might’ve been the CEO of one of the world’s grandest companies, but he did fail every science and medical class in his high school and university days.

“A what?” He stared at her with wide eyes and an adorably lost expression.

“An AVM, arteriovenous malformation, so his arteries and veins easily rupture, causing him to bleed easily in his brain. He gets lots of headaches and seizures. It’s almost become normalfor him, for us, rushing to the hospital in the middle of the day, in the middle of the night, my whole life revolves around Slater fighting for his dear life and staying by his side.” She smiled distantly. “And I wouldn’t give up the endless nights of no sleep filled with worry and fear for a single thing, because a life without Slater, is no life at all.” She said quietly, looking down at her fiddling fingers in her lap.

“Christ, Cassiopeia.” He said quietly, feeling rendered speechless.

“Four years ago when you found me crying on the promenade the day the coffee shop closed, it was a blessing though such a dark time for me. I felt at such a loss, the coffee shop, as high-end as it was, was my only source of income to pay for my loft and help with Slater’s hospital bills. My scholarship was the only thing keeping me breathing, but even then I was contemplating taking a semester or two off until you came up to me.

“My family wasn’t financially unstable.” She bit her lip nervously. Her heart thrashed against her chest as her nerves bubbled achingly within her for this would be the first time she’d tell someone of her family’s battles since bottling them for so many years.

“My papa and grandfather were the faces of Leilani Enterprises.” Eliezer’s eyes lit up in recognition. “My grandfather had built the company from the ground and my papa became CEO when he turned eighteen. You might have known the company as the second-largest in the world, after yours of course,” she rolled her eyes playfully and Eliezer nodded cheekily.

“The company slipped through papa and grandpa’s fingers I remember sometime when I was nineteen. The company was anonymously bought over? I-”

“I didn’t know about this?” Eliezer’s brow furrowed.

“Papa and grandpa did everything to keep it away from the limelight and they put up a façade.”

“Oh.”

“Mhm, and I have no idea how that happens, or works because business isn’t exactly my thing-”

“Liar.”

“Shush. But papa and grandpa had no control, they fought mercilessly for what felt like a goddamn eternity,” her voice broke, “until they were threatened to be,” she swallowed hard, “to be killed,” she choked out.

“Cassiopeia-” Eliezer breathed angrily and worriedly.

“So they gave up and we suffered the bitter loss. My family hit rock bottom, the business was essentially all we had and just as the company fell apart, Slater’s AVM became the eye of the storm, hospital trips almost every week lasting for days at a time became a façade of normalcy,” she whimpered, crinkling her brows.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Eliezer asked in disbelief, nearly raging, staring at her with crinkled eyebrows. “I would’ve helped!”

“Because I didn’t want to be your, or anyone else’s charity case.” She cried helplessly.

“I would’ve given everything, Cassiopeia, to help your family,” he said quietly, “without a second thought.” Because I’m so fucking in love with you, Cassiopeia Leilani.

“I know you would have, and I know Ansel would have too.” Eliezer’s jaw clenched. “That’s why I chose not to tell either of you because I didn’t want help,” she said just as quietly. “If I told him, he would have dropped everything in Madrid to come to help us and we were close then so he wouldn’t even give me a choice and the time the company fell apart, I couldn’t tell you, we were mere strangers, our spark was only justigniting then, I couldn’t bring myself to ask you.” Her voice broke.

“And of course Slater was a grand pain in the ass then, telling me he’d never forgive me if I came home for him,” she scowled. “Jesus Christ, Slater could be laying in a hospital bed recovering from a seizure he had only half an hour prior and be shoving ice chips in his mouth and yelling at me over the call about how he’s alive and if I came home, he’d kill me.” She rolled her eyes. “He’s just worried for me and hates when I worry for him,” she said sadly. Eliezer’s eyes glazed with pain but her words just kept tumbling past her lips. I know he does, ange, I do too.

“But when you found me, I felt so, so fixed, so mended, the remnants of my friendship with Ansel were already crumbling, and when you gave, threatened me with the job of your personal assistant.” She stared at him pointedly whilst he smiled sheepishly. “I was nervous,” she muttered.

“Why?” His brow furrowed.

“You had already found a home in my heart, Eliezer Badeaux, despite only serving you coffee in the mornings, you just brought a smile to my face and a warmth in my heart.” she whispered. Eliezer’s eyes gleamed in surprise as his lips softly parted and the thunderous pitter-patter of his heart rang in his ear.

“I promise to stay by your side till I die.” A soft smile curled his lips.

“And I promise I will never say goodbye,” she added softly and their eyes twinkled together.