Candescent

Chapter Four, Ellis

THE PAST COUPLE OF DAYS have been particularly tasking for a number of reasons, the first of which is Olivia's reluctance to speak to me. Now she's successfully alienated herself from the King family, and while I understand her actions, I don't necessarily agree with them. If I'm being honest, I think she's being more than a little selfish.

Part of me is beginning to think Mitchell was right.

Speaking of Mitchell, my screen lights up for the fifty-eighth time this morning with a text from him. The notifications haven't all been from my brother — my client from the case I'm working on is responsible for a fair share of them — but as someone with a job, you'd think he'd be a little less...jobless.

A minute after he sends the text, my phone rings with yet another call from Mitchell. With a scoff and no further thought, I turn off notifications and silence phone calls until at least noon. I need peace to work, and if he wont give me that, then he'll have to deal with me going MIA.

It's a little odd that Mitchell's been blowing up my phone all day, especially after what happened the last time I tried talking to Olivia. I sit up straighter, my eyes trailing to the phone I just put down. What if Olivia told him what happened?

Nothing happened, Ellis. You made sure of that. The small voice in my head tries to tell me that it's okay and that my "secret" is safe, but I'm not sure I want that. I want absolution for and from sin so that Olivia and Mitchell and I can live without feelings of guilt threatening to tear a rift between us. I'd let my loneliness and yearning turn into lust, and even though Olivia had uttered the magic word that activated the emergency brakes up in my mind, it's not enough. It should have been me. Hell, the opportunity should never have arisen.

The ring Mitchell proposed with sits idly in my pocket. I retrieve it, examining it in the natural light. It's a 1-carat diamond ring, something I only know because I was there when he bought it. Mitchell wanted to go all out with a five carat diamond, but who would wear such a thing? I discouraged him from buying a five carat ring because I thought Olivia would hate it, but it's clear she hated this one too. Why else would she leave it behind for me to find?

It's a slow day at the office. I have no meetings today, but I came by anyway, desperate for a distraction. Olivia has been to my house more times than I can count on both hands, but this is something different. My senses are on high alert, making me constantly aware of her lingering scent in the kitchen. For my own good, I've written off the guest room she likes as a no-go. There's invisible police tape across the door, the text reading "do not cross" as vivid as can be.

Part of me wants to believe that night didn't happen; that I listened to my head and didn't dare make a move after all that transpired between her and Mitchell, but every time I step foot in the kitchen, I'm bombarded with her scent and the image of her sitting on the counter, beckoning me to eat of the forbidden fruit.

Mitchell is waiting for me when I get home, a deep frown etched on his face. He's leaning against his car, a black Hennessey Venom or something just as expensive — Mitchell gets a new car every season, I get a headache trying to keep up — with his arms crossed. I exit my less expensive Audi without killing the engine.
"Can I help you?"

"You tell me, Ellis." His tone is measured. His foot taps against the pavement, a sign that he's trying hard to keep calm.

I wonder if he knows.

"I don't want any part of whatever this is."

Mitchell purses his lips. "I just want to know what she said but you've been ignoring me for days."

I turn off the car and slam the door shut. "Some of us have jobs, Mitchell. She hasn't told me anything yet."

"You're lying."