Highly tempting to just believe him and continue on like nothing never changed. But something did and Adele was not waiting around to get hurt more than she already was.
“Let’s not kid ourselves, Aziz, the both of us knew that a day like this would come. It’s just sooner than we thought.”
“And you decide that after you hear that I’m no good for you?”
Adele sighed, rubbing her throbbing temple, she could already feel an oncoming headache.
“I just need to concentrate on my career at this point. We’ve had a good thing going for a while, let’s not ruin the memories,” She told him.
“Wow,” Elijah gasped, “You really had it planned out, didn’t you?”
Adele didn’t answer and turned the other way. She swallowed the lump in her throat while her chest twisted painfully. The room was charged as she waited for Aziz to make his decision.
“Fine, we will go our separate ways,” He decided and Adele felt her heart breaking into a million pieces.
.....
She wanted him to fight for her.
This was a fucking test and he failed it. Had he stood his ground and begged her a little more, she had been ready to tell him the fucking truth about her pregnancy. But he took the easy way out. If Aziz can’t stand this, there is no way he could accept the responsibility of being a father.
This was the best way, Adele told herself. It was better to get hurt now than to have great expectations only for it to be shattered alongside her feelings. This was better.
“It’s nice you see reasons with me,” Adele said coolly even though all she wanted to do now was curl up on her bed and cry her eyes out.
“I hope this doesn’t affect our work together. We haven’t even found the weapons, nor Elijah,” He asked hopefully.
“O-of course!” She stuttered, “I told you I don’t mix business with pleasure. It would be as if nothing ever happened between us,” Adele lied through her teeth.
While he moved on easily, she was left with a pregnancy that was going nowhere. There was no moving on for her. She was carrying his child for crying out loud.
“Very well then,” Aziz nodded, staring at her and she stared back. It was awkward, but what were the both of them going to do now that they were not together?
Adele rubbed her hands down her body, “I should probably start packing my things -”
“Or don’t.”
She looked at him surprise, her eyes filling with hope.
“You don’t really have to end things between us, at least not until we are done finding Marcel’s weapon and catching Elijah,” He said in a low tone while studying her reaction and when her eyes narrowed at him, he added instantly, “I mean it’s mere suggestion since you just talked about moving your things. We work together and the stress of moving important contents around can be quite messy and annoying,” He complained.
“So you think we should postpone our breaking up until the case is over?” She wanted to be sure that he wanted this – and not because she was desperate to spend as much time with him before it was really over between them.
“It’s stress-free,” Elijah shrugged, yet felt like a fraud inside. He was selfish to want to have her till the last time even though he would end up causing her pain. He wanted every moment he could catch with her before this paradise right now was over.
“Fine,” Adele agreed, “We would break up then after we find Elijah,”
She would only be the one hurt in the end, Adele knew that. But then, she must be a sucker for pain.
Now that the problem was resolved, there was a great relief in Elijah’s chest, even though he knew this was the beginning of the end. The day Adele finds out his real identity, this will be all over. Then, she would hate his ass for real.
But tomorrow will think about its problems, and right now, he has been given another chance to make sweet memories with Adele. So he stepped forward only for Adele to put up her hand, saying,
“However, that would only happen on one condition,”
His brow raised, “I didn’t realize we were making deals .”
“In football, there are extra minutes, you wanted us to extend our break up, it would be on my terms.” She boldly said to him.
“Fine, what is it?”
“No sex,”
His face fell.
Their intimacy was one of the reasons he wanted more time with her. What would he do without it?
“If you don’t want to have sex with me anymore, what’s the point of this?”
“I believe that’s the question you should ask yourself. Did you extend our time together just so you could have enough of my body? Is that a male thing? Was your ego bruised and now you need me to stroke it? Or do you really want me for who I am? ”
Elijah shifted uneasily on his feet. He was not going to lie, he loved the sex and she was really creative in the bedroom. But that was not all to Adele; she was brave, smart, beautiful, and kind. He wanted everything. He wanted every bit of her.
“I want every bit of you, Adele,” Elijah confessed, and for a moment there, Adele was almost tempted to believe that he liked her.
But even the word “like” was not enough to carry her through. Perhaps, if he loved her, it would have been a different case. Love can endure a lot of things, but like cannot. However, Adele was not a fool to delude herself with such feelings. She was pragmatic and Aziz doesn’t love her.
“Before sex became so rampant, our ancestors found a way to stay together, it’s up to you to do the same,” Adele gave him a challenge.
Elijah said to her, “And that is why I was wondering if you’d go on a date with me tomorrow. Let’s spend the rest of our little time the old-fashioned way, don’t you think so?”