Always Eli by Charlie Novak
Chapter Three
Tristan
“Hello, Tristan.”
The man’s voice was oddly familiar and so was his playful smile. I stared at him, trying to fit the pieces together in my mind. It took me longer than it should have, and the realisation of who he was stunned me. Mostly because the last time I’d seen him he’d been wearing a tank top that said, “Training to beat Goku” and sporting both a nose ring and what could be politely described as a mullet.
Now he looked… handsome. At least, more conventionally so than before.
“Eli?”
“There we go,” he said, his dark eyes dancing with an expression I couldn’t place. Mischief perhaps? Or maybe it was scorn? After all, I’d known him since he was ten and I was fourteen. He was my best friend’s brother. The second of his four younger brothers to be precise. “I wondered how long it would take you to recognise me.”
I swallowed, regaining some of my composure. “Well, I’ve not seen you in a suit before,” I said pointedly, trying to get myself back on even footing. “And you’ve cut your hair.”
“Yes.” He touched it with one hand in a gesture that was almost self-conscious as if he were still getting used to it. “The demands of capitalism require me to look the part.” His lip twitched into a smile. I wasn’t quite sure how to respond. That was the thing with Eli, he always threw me. Whenever I spent any time with him, I could never get a read on him. All I had to go on was the feeling in my gut and the picture Richard had painted, which was never flattering. Eli was the last person I’d expected to find working at Green & Wodehouse, but demanding an explanation for what he was doing there was only going to make me look like an arse.
“It suits you,” I said somewhat lamely. Eli’s smile widened. “So, are you covering for Jasmine then?”
“Yes, I’ll be here for the next year or so while she’s on maternity.” His answer was surprisingly civil, and it threw me even further because I’d expected sharp sarcasm.
“Great. Well, you won’t need to do much for me, just send through the occasional phone call. I have my own line, but clients tend to forget and just call the office. And you might have to pop some contracts in the post, things like that.”
“Of course,” Eli said. “Whatever you need, Mr. Rose.”
I got the feeling he was mocking me, but I wasn’t sure why. There was a tight feeling in my chest combined with a sinking lead weight in my stomach. I cleared my throat and glanced up at the clock on the wall. I had a client call in five minutes, which gave me an excuse to escape.
“Thank you. I’ve got a call to get to, but it was nice to see you again, Eli.” I turned tail and walked to the stairs, hoping it didn’t look like I was running away.
I was still confused by the whole thing at the end of the week when I met Richard and his girlfriend, Ruby, for dinner.
I’d spent the week largely avoiding Eli and talking to Pamela when I needed something. I got the feeling he’d noticed, but he hadn’t said anything. Luckily, I’d had a lot of client meetings and stacks of mortgage applications to process, so I’d been too busy to dwell on my new co-worker. Still, it did seem strange to me that Eli would take up an office job given what I knew about him. I knew he was a drag queen and that he’d been doing it full-time for a while because Richard had spent a lot of time ranting about it. Richard spent a lot of time ranting about Eli in general if I was being honest.
Out of all his siblings, Eli was the one who frustrated Richard the most and had for years. Richard was my best friend, so I was happy to let him vent to me, and sometimes I did think he had a point. Creative work was great, but I wasn’t sure it was a particularly stable career, and Eli wasn’t too far off thirty and still living a student lifestyle as far as I was aware. Not that I thought everyone needed to settle down and get married, but didn’t everyone have to grow up at some point?
Although my sister Alexis would probably disagree with me on that. She was a similarly free spirit. Albeit one who owned a very successful interior design business.
“Hey,” I said, sliding myself into a wooden chair opposite Richard and Ruby. “Traffic was a nightmare.”
“No worries. We only just got here.” Richard smiled at me. “I ordered you a drink, and they’ve got a slow-roast pork belly and lamb hotpot on as the specials.”
“Oh good, I really liked the pork belly last time they did it. I hoped they’d do it again.” I glanced down at the menu in front of me, even though I already knew what I was having. I rotated between three or four dishes unless they had a special that really grabbed me. It sounded boring but we’d been coming here for so long that I’d already tried everything I wanted to and had picked my favourites.
Richard and I had been meeting at the same pub for dinner on a Friday night every two or three weeks for the past four years, and it was a part of my routine that I cherished.
We’d been friends since we were fourteen and we’d found ourselves in the same set for science. We’d ended up being paired together, and after an initially awkward start, we’d clicked, and that had been that. We’d kept in touch through university when I’d gone to Oxford and him to Reading, and then afterwards when I’d moved to London to go into finance and him back to Lincolnshire to become a Chemistry teacher.
Richard had been there for me through all my awkward teenage years, my freakouts at university, and my low years in London. He was the one who’d given me the courage to leave banking when I found myself drowning under the pressure, and he was the first person I’d ever come out to. In return, I’d been there for him through the days when his family drove him crazy, listened to him stress about work and debate whether he really wanted to keep teaching, and supported him through every single one of his misguided dating adventures. If I hadn’t known I was gay by the age of fifteen, Richard’s escapades with women would have put me off for life.
Luckily, he seemed to have found someone sensible in Ruby.
It had been nearly a year since they’d started dating, and she hadn’t tried to get him to join a pyramid scheme, convinced him to get their names tattooed on each other after only two weeks, thrown all his possessions out a bedroom window, started a bar fight in his name, or tried to throw him a surprise wedding. And Richard hadn’t tried to propose after three dates, to convince her that jumping out of an aeroplane was the best way to conquer her fear of heights, or spent all his money booking a dream holiday to the Maldives only for him to discover she was still married.
I was praying their relationship stuck if only for my own sanity. Richard was my best friend, but even my patience had limits.
“So, how’ve you been?” I asked after a young waitress had dropped off our drinks and taken our orders.
“Did you know Eli got a job?” Richard said. I stared, not sure whether to answer the question or not. Did Richard know we were working together? Had Eli said something? I wouldn’t have put it past him if he wanted to wind his brother up.
“Er—”
“He won’t tell us where, but mum insists it’s an actual job for once, which is something, but the fact he won’t tell us means it’s probably something really shifty. I bet he’s making porn with that roommate of his.”
“Rich,” Ruby said, nudging his arm. Her tone was gentle, but I noted her raised eyebrow. “Remember what we said.”
“Sorry. I’m just frustrated.” Richard sighed. If he was bringing it up this early in the evening, then it had clearly been bothering him. I wondered if I should say something, but it wasn’t my news to share. If Eli hadn’t told his family, he probably had a perfectly good reason for not doing so.
“I just wish he’d apply himself,” Richard said, taking a large sip from his glass of red wine. Ruby was drinking Coke, so I guessed she was driving. “He’s so smart. He got a fucking first from Leeds Law School for Christ’s sake. I just don’t get why he isn’t doing something with it. I know mum says she just wants us to be happy, but I know all our parents wish he’d do something productive with his life, and Dad’s really worried about him. He’d never say it to Eli’s face, but I know he doesn’t want to watch Eli waste his life and be destitute by forty. I know I wouldn’t want that for my kids.” Richard sighed again, shaking his head. “I mean, if Eli wants to insist on making a twat of himself on stage, then that’s fine, but he can do that part-time. It’s not like he’s ever going to achieve anything with it. Why can’t he just do it as a hobby like a normal person?”
I took a sip of my own small glass of wine to give myself a minute to think. I knew Eli had a law degree, but I’d never realised he had a first. It seemed even stranger to me now that he’d want to spend his days writing emails and answering phone calls for other people. Leeds was a top law school, and while a law career wasn’t for everyone, there were plenty of things he could have done with it instead. Part of me wanted to agree with Richard like I’d done so often in the past, but something stopped me. A tiny pull in my chest that said No like an invisible hand guiding me away from that path.
“Maybe this is him trying to figure things out?” It was more placation than actual answer, but it would do. “Maybe the reason he hasn’t told you is because he wants to work out what he’s doing before he tells you.”
“See?” Ruby said. “That’s what I’ve been telling you.” She grinned and poked Richard in the side. “I wish you’d listen to me. I do actually know what I’m talking about. Maybe Eli doesn’t want you jumping down his throat before he’s worked out what he’s doing. You just have to let him get on with it and realise he’s an adult, and as much as you wish he’d do things differently, you can’t stop him from making poor choices.”
I smiled. I really did like Ruby.
“Why are you so smart?” Richard asked, giving her a soft look. “What did I do to deserve you?”
She laughed and leant over to kiss him. “Don’t let Eli get under your skin, babe. I bet he doesn’t give you as much thought as you give him.”
“That’s definitely true,” Richard said.
The waitress reappeared carrying our food and the conversation broke off to follow other topics. I was glad of the subject change. Something about this situation was bothering me, but I couldn’t put my finger on what it was. At least it was the weekend now, and I could spend two days not thinking about Eli.
That was the plan anyway.