The Billionaire's One

25. Still Day Twenty Eight of Learning

Silence.

Deafening, gob smacked, perplexed silence.

Never in the history of humankind has there ever been a more surprised silence.

As Ray looks back at me, I want to ask her to reiterate the exact words that she said because of the ringing in my ears, but that would mean that I would have to speak and I appear to be acutely unable to do exactly that at the moment.

More thunderous silence.

Slowly, my senses return and my internal shrieking dies down long enough for me to inhale audibly to try and speak.

Before I can do or say anything, Ray widens her eyes and viciously clamps a hand over my mouth while shaking her head.

"No, no, no, no, no, no. Don't answer that," she says. "I know you hate being put on the spot and I know you don't like touchy feely talks - not with me, at least."

She removes her hand from my mouth and I gaze back at her, dumbfounded.

The smile is small and slow, but it appears across her face. "Besides, Al," she goes on teasingly "Your complete and utter lack of denial is almost answer enough."

I feel my face heating up.

Her smirk appears. "I mean, you're even blushing."

She nudges my knee with hers.

I avert my eyes and press my lips together.

"Al," Ray says after letting me sit in silence for a while, "Can I talk?"

I nod back at her, painfully, not knowing what to expect.

She takes a deep breath. "I've known you for a few years now. I've known you in love, and out of it. I know all of you like to joke that I'm oblivious to things like how I was so in love with my future wife. All of this, I know. I've seen the way you and Eli talk. I've seen the way the two of you are. It took me a little time, but I've come to understand that a lot more than the elevator ride happened in Eastport. I don't want to know what did, but it was only lately – especially after you told me Elliot played the piano for you – that I realized." She stops.

It makes me look at her.

I know she stopped only because she wants me to talk.

She wants my curiosity to get the better of me.

She wins.

"Realized what?" I ask, in a small voice.

"The silence."

I try not to glare at her. "What silence?"

"The silence when Elliot walked into the room that day - your first day here," she explains, "The two of you just stared at each other. I didn't think anything at the time, but it hit me like a thunderbolt the other day. And it's not just the once. It has happened again and again. I just didn't notice it."

I'm still confused and there's a definite frown on my face as I look at Ray.

She rolls her eyes.

"There's a silence whenever the two of you look at each other," she explains, "The moment you enter a room he's in or when he walks in when you're there. There's a silence where the two of you just look at each other. That's the silence when Ace walks into a room and looks at Scarlett before walking over to her. I've seen that silence so many times. I don't know why it took me so long to realize."

I resolve to looking very interested in the bedspread.

Ray reaches out and puts her hand in mine, making me look up at her. "You're always ... sunny, you know?" she says.

I cock my head to a side, squeezing her hand. "And I feel like - as cheesy as this may sound - the house has been a bit gloomy for a while."

Another silence ensues as I try to digest her words.

My heart is hammering and there is one question that keeps replaying in my brain.

My eyes room across the room and my mind races just as fast I take a deep breath: "Why especially after I told you that he played the piano for me?"

Ray's expression grows slightly serious. "Dad bought the piano as a giftfor Elliot," she tells me, "He hasn't played since Dad died."

Well, hello, kiddos! It's been quite a while, hasn't it?

I know I said I'll upload on Sunday, but it was my birthday last weekend, so I got slightly delayed.

Are you excited for Aurora and Elliot???

I'll be uploading a few chapters throughout the day today!

Stay tuned!

Sooooooooooooooooo much love!