Always Eli by Charlie Novak
Chapter Five
Tristan
On Monday morning,I’d been determined to be a better man and stop avoiding Eli, but that lasted as far as walking in the door and being cornered by Holly, who wanted to talk about client services. It was the last thing I wanted to do at eight thirty on a Monday morning, but I’d dutifully obliged. I’d only managed a quick glance at Eli before I headed upstairs. He’d been in the kitchen with Pamela making coffee, a wry smile on his face that made something catch in my stomach.
By the time I’d escaped Holly and her plans, I’d found myself knee-deep in emails, phone calls, spreadsheets, and client meetings, which I spent the rest of the morning wading through.
I put the phone down after a particularly irksome client, who seemed to think just because he was buying a house worth a rather large amount of money, he should get preferential treatment from everyone he encountered. And while the mortgage provider he was applying for said up to twenty-eight working days for the paperwork to come through, he seemed to expect it to be hand delivered to him the next day. I rolled my eyes and rubbed my temples, very glad I had an office to myself so I could mutter darkly under my breath.
Looking at the clock on my desktop, I realised it was nearly lunchtime. I hadn’t remembered to pack anything, so I’d be doing my normal mosey up and down Bailgate to see what I could find. And if I felt very, very lazy, I’d get on Deliveroo and order something to the office.
I wondered what Eli was doing for lunch today.
Did he bring food with him? Last week, I thought I’d seen him eating what looked like a Pot Noodle at his desk, so I assumed he did.
I was up and out of my chair before I’d really thought through what I was doing. I shoved my wallet into my jacket pocket along with my phone and clattered down the stairs to reception. Eli was on the phone and jotting a note down in a little spiral notebook with a purple pen. His head was tilted to one side, his mouth pursed in mild annoyance. He was wearing a rather dashing shirt, waistcoat, and tie combination in a jaunty but tasteful blue-and-purple pattern. I’d never managed to make a waistcoat work for me, but on Eli it looked perfect—the right combination of eccentric and fashionable.
A smile pulled at the corner of my mouth while I watched him.
He hung up and scribbled something else on the jotter, sighing in exasperation. Then he noticed me, and a tiny frown appeared between his dark eyebrows.
“Can I help you, Mr. Rose?” he asked. “If you’re looking for Pamela, she’s just in the kitchen finishing her lunch. She’ll be back in a minute.”
“No, it’s fine. I’m not looking for Pamela.” Why were words suddenly hard? Why was it that whenever I was around this man, I felt like I couldn’t even recite the alphabet without getting everything in the wrong order? “I was looking for you.”
“Oh? And what can I do to assist you?”
“Well, for a start you could stop being so sarcastic whenever I ask you something,” I said. I’d meant it as a gentle rib, but now I wasn’t sure whether I’d gone too far. There was a moment’s pause, then Eli threw his head back and laughed. The sound echoed around the room like a brook bubbling happily over stones on a summer’s day.
“Oooh, you’ve got a shiny spine today. I like it.” He grinned, and I swallowed. “What else can I do you for? Or did you just come to reprimand me?”
“I just wanted to apologise. For avoiding you last week. I guess it kind of threw me, seeing you here, and I was a bit of a dick about it. I just wanted to say I’m sorry.” I watched him carefully as I spoke, taking in the way his dark eyes flickered and his mouth twitched. One thing I’d always been good at was watching the way people reacted. I could tell a lot about a person from the way their expression shifted and body moved when I spoke. I think it was because I’d been a quiet, awkward child, much to my father’s chagrin, and I’d spent a lot of time watching people rather than joining them. That was before my father had forced sport upon me to “build my character”.
Eli had always been hard to read though.
“I accept your apology,” he said graciously. I felt like a peasant being forgiven by a king. “And I suppose I should apologise for speaking ill of you to my roommate because I can imagine I wasn’t who you expected to take this job.” He considered me for a second. “What did my brother say when you told him?”
“Richard? I didn’t tell him anything.” After Ruby had changed the subject on Friday night, Eli hadn’t come up again, and I’d made sure to keep it that way. “He knows you’ve got a new job—your mum told him—but he doesn’t know what it is. And I didn’t tell him because it’s none of my business,” I said, somewhat put out by the insinuation that I’d tattle. Then again, I was Richard’s best friend, and I supposed Eli’s suspicion was justified.
Eli was staring at me slightly open-mouthed. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say I’d stunned him into silence. Then a smile slid onto his lips—the sort of smile a cat gives a mouse it’s considering eating for lunch. My insides twisted, and I suddenly felt very warm, despite the fact the office was quite cool.
“You are a surprising person, Tristan Rose,” Eli said. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” I smiled. “He’s frustrated he doesn’t know though. He, er…” I tried to think of a tactful way to say what Richard had said on Friday. “He thinks you might be doing something shifty.”
“Does he now?” Eli’s wicked smile widened, and I saw something forming behind his eyes. Probably some scheme to drive Richard insane. I wondered if I should have just kept my mouth shut.
“Would you like to get lunch?” I asked, blurting the question out into a moment of silence. I’d wanted to change the subject, and I’d wanted to offer Eli lunch by way of an apology, but that wasn’t quite the way I’d intended to do either thing. “I was going to get some food, and I wondered if you’d like to come too? My treat.”
“He’d love to,” said Pamela, suddenly appearing behind Eli. “Go on. Get your stuff. It’s a nice day, and the fresh air will do you good. And lord knows you could do with something more for lunch than a Pot Noodle.” She raised an eyebrow at him.
“I like Pot Noodles,” Eli said with a huff as Pamela chivvied him out of his chair. “By the way, that purple note is for Alistair. Mrs. Elliot rang about the house in Caythorpe. She has some questions about the plumbing and the carpets. I told her he’d be happy to answer all her questions as soon as he returned to the office.” He grinned sweetly, and Pamela laughed.
“You’re going to get me shot.”
“Oh no, Alistair won’t shoot the messenger. And if he wants to know where I am, you can tell him I’m in a very important meeting with our good friend Mr. Rose here.” Eli patted me on the shoulder and grinned at me as he pulled a battered, denim jacket covered in patches on over his office attire. “I’ll be back in an hour.”
He was already halfway out the front door by the time I’d registered what was happening. I almost had to jog to catch up.
“So, where are we going for lunch?” Eli asked, grinning slyly at me as we walked towards the cathedral. “Am I allowed to make requests?”
“Sure. What do you fancy?”
“Have you been to the Minster Deli before? I’ve had the occasional sandwich from there, and I’m craving some of their meat.”
I laughed. “I have. We can definitely get you some meat.”
Eli grinned. “You see, this throws me because if I’d said that to Dick, he’d have lectured me about making sex jokes.”
“I’m not your brother though,” I countered as we passed a group of old ladies pottering along the pavement.
“True, true, but you are his best friend, so I expected you to have a similarly dull sense of humour.”
“Are you saying you expected me to be boring?”
“Yes,” he said. “Does that bother you?”
I wasn’t sure. I hadn’t expected him to be so honest about it or come right out and say it. “I don’t know. But you might be right. I’m not particularly exciting.”
We passed the post office, rounded a corner, and I saw the familiar green frontage of the deli. It wasn’t a particularly big place, and on some days, there was often a queue out the door. But it was already past one on a Monday, so if there had been one, it had cleared. I just hoped there were still sandwiches available.
“Oh, come now. You can’t be that boring,” Eli said. “What do you do for fun? Do you have any hobbies? You still have the dogs, right?”
“Yes, I do. I didn’t know you knew about them.”
“Mum told me I think. They’re Labradors?”
“Yes, Indy and Solo. They’re three and four now.” I resisted the urge to pull out my phone and show him pictures. Not everyone wanted to see countless photos of random dogs, and while I thought they were the cutest things on four legs, that didn’t mean everyone else did. I was surprised Eli even knew about them, and I was almost more surprised he’d remembered and cared to ask.
“Did you name your dogs after Han Solo and Indiana Jones?” Eli asked, giving me a wry smile as we stopped outside the door.
“Maybe…”
“Interesting.” He hummed and pushed the door open, and I was left to follow him wondering whether that was a good interesting or not.
The deli had a little seating area on the first floor, so we ordered some sandwiches, drinks, and a giant piece of millionaire’s shortbread to split between us before heading upstairs. There was a table available in a corner by the window, and Eli sat down opposite me, placing the tray of food down between us.
“So,” I said, unwrapping the printed greaseproof paper around my focaccia filled with spinach, thick slices of brie, and cranberry sauce. “What made you get this job?” I winced, realising it sounded like I was asking the opening question at a job interview, not a lunch date. Not that this was a date. Just a lunch.
Only a lunch.
Eli chuckled, unwrapping his own sandwich, which was loaded with salami, cheese, salad, and sun-dried tomatoes. “Honestly? I needed the money, and this seemed easy. Plus, it’s only a year-long contract, so all I have to do is suffer through twelve months and then I’ll be free.” His honesty surprised me, and it must have shown on my face. “Did you want me to pretend I’ve always wanted to be an administrator?”
“No,” I said. “I guess I’m just… surprised.”
“Oh?” Eli looked at me, and I couldn’t help noticing how long his eyelashes were. “Were you and Dick hoping I’d finally gotten my act together and gotten serious? Grown up a bit? Started settling down?” He rolled his eyes.
“It’s none of my business what you do.”
“No, but you’re my brother’s best friend, and you know all his dirty little secrets. I’m sure he’s vented to you about me as much as I’ve vented to Orlando and my other brothers about him.”
I had no idea who Orlando was, but the rest was a fair assumption. I took a bite of my sandwich to avoid answering.
“See?” Eli continued, sitting back in his chair and folding his arms.
“I didn’t tell him though.” And for some reason I resented the accusation that I would. I thought Eli had accepted my apology, but clearly he was still suspicious of me. “And I could have. It might have helped. Richard thinks you’re doing porn with your roommate, and I don’t see how working at Green & Wodehouse is much worse.”
“Does he really? How fun.” Eli’s mouth flickered into another of his smiles. “Also, if I ever hear you degrade sex work or sex workers in front of me again, Mr. Rose, then whatever this is will be over before you can speak because I will personally throw you into the sun.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, feeling my face heat. “That was low of me.”
“Good, I’m glad you know that.” Eli fixed me with an interested look. “You know, I can’t figure you out. You’re my brother’s best friend, which ought to make you a huge twat just by association.”
“It feels like there’s a but there.” I’d practically forgotten about my lunch at that point. I was too intrigued by the man sitting across from me. He was everything and nothing like the person I expected him to be.
“But I think you might just surprise me,” Eli said. He picked up his sandwich again. “So, you were telling me about your dogs. Do you have pictures? Because if so, I want to see them right now.”
The rest of the hour passed quickly with Eli cooing over photos of Indy and Solo before the conversation turned to office gossip. Eli wasn’t impressed with Alistair, but then again, I didn’t know anyone who was. How that man managed to sell anything was a miracle modern science hadn’t yet unravelled. Everyone I knew thought he was an enormous knob.
Lunch was fun though, in a surprising way, and I found myself regretting the passage of time.
By the time Eli and I got back to the office, the strange weight I’d had on my chest had been replaced by an entirely different one. One I wasn’t even sure had a name.
All I knew was that it was connected to Eli.