Page 17 of Blue Gold

“Why are you laughing?”

“Sometimes you sound old, and it’s funny.”

I scrunched my brows. “How come?”

“It’s the way you speak… Who says exquisite?”

The way he pronounced the word “exquisite” with his accent was simply magnificent. In fact, it was incredible how everything sounded so much better in French, even him calling me old. But then again, perhaps it was just him who made it sound appealing. I wasn’t convinced that I’d enjoy someone else telling me I sounded old.

“But don’t worry, I think it’s cute,” he added with a soft chuckle.

“Cute?” I grimaced because I highly doubted I’d ever been called “cute” before.

“Yes.” His smile grew before his attention went back to his new Discman. “But why did you buy this for me? My birthday isn’t until summer.”

“It’s so you’ll have something to practice your English with while I’m away.”

Elliot’s smile suddenly dropped as his face fell.

“Why will you be away?” He pushed the headphones down to hang around his neck.

“I’m going on a two-week business trip on Sunday.”

His frown grew bigger, and he shoved the Discman away, his eyes meeting mine.

“So you won’t come to the restaurant?”

“Only for two weeks.”

His expression closed up. “That’s a long time.”

I couldn’t help but huff a laugh. “It really isn’t, Elliot⁠—”

“It is. I bet you’ll forget all about me when you’re back.” His eyes widened before a blush painted his cheeks pink. “I meant to say… I’ll forget the English you taught me.”

A pleasant warmth filled my chest as I nudged the Discman closer to him. “That’s why I got you this, so you can practice while I’m away.”

Elliot frowned at the disk player before reaching for it, but as he did, he not so subtly brushed his fingers against mine.

The slight touch was more than I could have asked for, and unable to control myself, I said, “We can speak on the phone.”

“You know I don’t have one, and I can’t keep the restaurant line busy⁠—”

He quieted down once I placed the other gift I’d bought in front of him.

“Now you do.”

He gawked at the brand-new cell phone I’d gotten him, then shook his head. “No… That’s too much.” He gave me back the phone.

“It really isn’t.” I replaced it in his hands. “Everyone has these nowadays, and you should, too.”

And a lot more.

All that it took was one more glance at me before he grabbed the phone and hugged it close to his chest. My breath caught at seeing the unshed tears in his eyes, and I swallowed back the lump that formed in my throat. It truly was nothing, especially not worthy of his tears.

“T-thank you,” he whispered in his broken English that somehow satisfied my deepest desires.

After a quick shower, I grabbed the room phone and sat by the window overlooking the city of Chicago. Enjoying the rare occasion of being completely alone, I didn’t bother with clothes and stayed in my bathrobe. After a full day of back-to-back meetings, I was exhausted, yet still had the power to make one last phone call before bed.