The CEO’ s second choice novel Chapter 41

　　Elena

　　I walk up to Elijah at the end of the lecture with Anabelle in tow and shake my head. “Very sneaky, Mr Somersett. Why didn’t you tell me you were the alumni delivering the lecture this morning?” I ask, and he tries to hide his smile. “I guess I wanted to surprise you. Did it work?”

　　Did it work? More than.

　　“Well, I was certainly surprised, yes. Your lecture was very well thought out and spoken, I think I might just take this course after all.” I say and I see him turn serious at this. “It’s not easy though, Elena. Exeter will test you proficiently, and if you fail, it takes quite a while to come back from it.” He says, and I am taken back at the honesty of his words. Surely it wasn’t that difficult?

　　“Are you speaking from experience, or are you only trying to scare me from applying?” I ask him, crossing my arms in front of me, “Anabelle has enrolled, and she is extremely happy here.”

　　“Miss Thompson is a prodigy from what I have heard,” He says and turns to Anabelle. He holds out his hand for her to take and kisses the back of it. “Lovely to finally meet the beautiful Anabelle that has the lecturers here in a flat spin. I have read your manuscripts and essays and I must say, you have a brilliant mind. Following in the footsteps of your grandfather?” He asks, completely ignoring me and focusing his attention on Anabelle.

　　She nods shyly. “Yes, or trying to. He has always been my inspiration growing up and is the reason I chose Classic Lit as my major.” She says and Elijah nods. “Ah, I see, perfect choice. I wrote my dissertation on his works when I finished my degree here. He truly had a brilliant mind, very much like you,” He says, complimenting her again and I feel an unknown burning in my chest.

　　What was wrong with me? Was I feeling jealous of this exchange???

　　“Thank you for the compliment, Mr Somersett, but I am quite the novice at this,” Anabelle says honestly and I turn to look at her. I shouldn’t be feeling the way I do. Anabelle deserves this so much. She was trying to get out from her grandfather’s shadow and thought this would be the best place to apply, but everyone was always comparing her to him.

　　“I could be your mentor if you wish? There are still a few good years left in me and I wouldn't mind offering my time to you.” Elijah offers and my heart drops at this; I was going to ask him to be my mentor, and I think he knew. Was he doing this on purpose?

　　Anabelle perks up at this, “Oh, truly? I would love that!” She exclaims as she tries to contain her excitement. This actually made me smile and realise that I was being silly for feeling jealous. Anabelle deserves the attention, and so much more than I. Elijah smiles and takes a card out of his breast pocket. “These are my details. Please do not hesitate to contact me whenever you would like to pour over your work or need a helping hand. I will always be available.” He says, and Anabelle nods with a smile. It was then that I thought maybe he could fall in love with Anabelle and forget about me. This would make our relationship so much better, and I would stop feeling awkward around him.

　　If only Anabelle weren’t gay.

　　My heart feels lighter somehow as I took their exchange in with a smile; Anabelle looked so happy this was the first time in weeks that I have known her. Elijah’s attention seemed to renew something in her spirit, and for that I was thankful.

　　During their conversation, Anabelle’s phone rings and she excuses herself as it was her mother on the line. When she walks away, Elijah leans into me and whispers in my ear, “That feeling in your chest is just a snippet of how I feel every time I see you with Sebastian.” He then walks away from me, leaving me pissed off and confused.

　　I turn around and walk out of the lecture hall, not wanting to be close to this man any longer. I don’t want Elijah, not at all! But I couldn’t help but feel intrigued by him and his charm. Would I ruin what I have with Sebastian for him? Definitely not. Sebastian was my home, my love and my future. Elijah was an unwanted distraction who has hurt my husband at every turn. Just being intrigued by him felt like a betrayal.

　　“Elena, wait!” I hear Anabelle call behind me as she trots in her heels to get to me. “What was that back there?” She asks me with a frown, and I shrug. “Elijah Somersett wants to mentor you and I think you deserve it so much,” I told her, but she shook her head, a bit upset. “Not that, Elena,” she starts. “You know exactly what I am talking about; there’s a sexual tension between the two of you and everyone can feel it.”

　　“Uh, no, I think you misread that; Elijah screwed Sebastian over in the past. There is no way I would be attracted to someone like him.” I say and she scoffs, “I said nothing about an attraction, but I think you have just admitted it to yourself.” She says and places her hands on her hips. “Are you sure you want to go down that road, Elena? Think about what you have to lose if this keeps up between you and Elijah.”

　　“I don’t feel anything for Elijah, Belle! I love Sebastian, he is my home and husband, I would never even think of betraying him like that, especially not with Elijah!” I exclaim and walk away from her.

　　How dare she! But Anabelle comes up behind me and grabs me by the wrists. “Elena, I am only saying these things because I am your friend, your real friend who would hate to see you walk down a path of ruin. Even though I can see how incredibly sexy Elijah is and his mind intrigues me a lot, however, I would stay clear of him. He is not called a man whore for nothing; he has bedded so many heiresses and socialites with his slick tongue, and I don’t want to see you fall victim to his charms.” She says, and I am utterly shocked at what she has said. I had no idea Elijah had such a bad romantic reputation and I would definitely stay away from him knowing this piece of information.

　　I sigh, “Thank you, Belle,” I say and wrap my arms around her. “I really mean that, thank you. I can be such a brat sometimes that I don’t even realise when someone only has my best interests at heart.”

　　Anabelle only gives me a knowing smile. “You’re welcome, babe. Now please tell me you will consider enrolling? Exeter will be so much better with you here!” She says, but I had already made up my mind; I would most definitely be enrolling here.

　　I tell her this and after a few more minutes of chatting;, we say our goodbyes and go our separate ways. When I arrived at my car, I told Lionel to take me to my coffee shop in Camden Town so I could spend the day working on my essay. The coffee shop would provide me with a sense of serenity as I typed away at my laptop.

　　When we arrive at the coffee shop, I noticed that it was surprisingly quiet for a Wednesday. But feeling thankful as well. There was no way I could deal with a crowd right now; not when I was in a creative spiral, as I was now. So I ordered my regular and was about to get comfortable with my laptop when my phone rang. I take it out of my handbag and smile.

　　It was Sebastian.

　　“Hey, love,” I say when I answer the phone and can feel his smile through the phone. “Hey, baby. How did things go at Exeter?” He asks and I sigh, what a tale. “Where do I start? For one, Elijah was there as an alumnus and gave a lecture. Why didn’t you warn me that he was an alumnus? Then he goes and offers to be Anabelle’s mentor, which is an amazing thing for her if she wants to get out from her grandfather’s shadow. But in the end, I have decided to apply and enrol.” I tell him and wait for his response.

　　“Ah, love, it completely slipped my mind. I’m sorry. But this is good news. How do you feel?” He asks. His jealousy of Elijah was long gone as our love deepened. “A bit stressed, I must admit. My essay needs to blow them away, but I am completely stumped as to what my subject matter could be.” I admit as I close my laptop again. Gosh, what could I write about?

　　Sebastian chuckles. “I am sure you’ll come up with something, love. For now, I need to go to my next meeting. Dinner tonight?” He asks and I immediately get excited at this. “Of course, anything to see my sexy husband in a tailored suit!” I say and hear him chuckle again.

　　“I love you, Elena.”

　　“I love you too, babe. See you tonight.”

　　We say our goodbyes, then the smile leaves my face as soon as I see my laptop again. Ugh, what could my written work be about? I contemplated the Bronte sisters, but I was certain it had been done to death already. So I just decided to pack up rather and leave for home; I would get nowhere sitting around like this.

　　“Leaving so soon?”

　　I roll my eyes and sigh out loud at the voice behind me. Ugh. “Are you following me, Elijah?” I ask as I turn around to face him. I shoulder my laptop bag, pick up my handbag and pocket my cell phone. Wow, I was carrying a lot of things.

　　He laughs at my question, “Now why would you think that?” Uh, maybe because you’re here now after saying you get jealous of my husband and me together? I scoff at his questions. “I have other things to do, Elijah and I have to leave. Have a lovely day further.” I say and move to walk past him, but he grabs my upper arms and immediately I freeze up.

　　My heart starts beating frantically as I glance down at his hand on my arm and I feel a bead of sweat running down my back. My breathing becomes ragged and I start shaking; the beginning of a panic attack.

　　“Elena?” Elijah asks in a worried tone and lets go of my arm so he can face me. He leans down and sees my bottom lip tremble. “Elena-”

　　“Never touch me again,” I say in a low voice and make my way towards the door, practically running towards the parked Maybach. As soon as I get in, I do my breathing exercises and manage to calm myself down without relying on my meds for a change.

　　I spot Elijah as he exits the coffee shop then tell Lionel to leave immediately; there was no way I would allow him to put his hands on me again. Yes, he was my saviour that night but it gave him no right to touch me without consent. The only man I allowed to touch me in any way was Sebastian. And he would want to know about what just happened and that Elijah was definitely not his friend.