Third person point of view
" You never found it out of place when a guy proposed to you ? " Joshua smiled a little. " Should I ? " Elijah shrugged. " I don't think gender is an issue for love. And I know a few girls who actually paired me with guys because they thought it was cute. Besides all these, that guy was rich, had decent grades, famous and above all- handsome, so I don't mind it ". " Tsk". Joshua laughed and Elijah shook his head smiling. " What about you ? " " Me ? " Joshua nodded his head. " It has been long since I dated someone ". " So how about the time you did ? "
" I dated when I was in my college as well. That was almost quite a few years ago ". Joshua nodded his head. " How about you ? Were you popular too ? " Elijah shook his head. " Ai~~ Tell me the truth. Don't be so humble ". " Maybe I was. It was long ago so I don't remember a lot of things ". " Oh. But you really didn't date anyone later on ? "
Elijah shook his head. " You might have come across good looking people. It is not like there are no people on earth ". Elijah took a big gulp. He almost answered and told his intentions. But he stopped himself on time. The answer was at the tip the tip of his tongue and would've rolled out so naturally if he didn't stop his thoughts at the right time.
The direction of this conversation was not to his liking. He wondered if there is something he might just say wrong and get Joshua all curious, which wasn't a particularly nice thing. At least it wasn't for him. " There is no particular reason. But my dad used to try setting me up with some girls from some business family ". He changed the direction of it. " You were not interested ? "
Elijah shook his head. " Why ? Are they not nice ? I mean it is good for you and your business too. It is a win-win situation ". " I want to love for someone for love not money ". " I didn't mean it that way ". " I know what you meant. I didn't find the right one. They liked my face and money, not me. So I didn't want it ". " Wise words ". Joshua giggled when he got a side eyed look from Elijah.
" Just kidding. But it is true. I agree with what you said ". Joshua was also almost done with his second can. They were in their last can of beer. Even though he wanted to, Joshua didn't risk drinking too much. He still has to go to work the next day. " You know I find it weird that you came here ? " Joshua spoke looking at the can in his hand.
" What do you mean ? " Elijah turned to look at Joshua who was still looking down. " I am not sure anymore; about why you are here or..... about a lot things about you. I never knew but I thought that, maybe some way I could find out, now I... I am not sure anymore ". Elijah moved closer and put his finger under Joshua's chin to lift his head. He slowly lifted it up staring right back into his eyes.
Joshua stared at him with wide eyes and his lips a little apart. Elijah's face was close to his. It was only a few inches apart and Elijah's head was tilted to the side like he was going to kiss Joshua. Joshua only stared not able to say anything and even his breathing turned shallow. It was as if the the temperature has suddenly gone up. " You will find out soon. Don't worry ". Joshua looked up from Elijah's lips to his eyes and blinked. " Huh ? " Elijah chuckled and pinched Joshua's cheeks.
" You really are very cute ". Joshua was still looking at him not knowing what to say. " Go take a bath and sleep. It is late and you still have work tomorrow ". Joshua blinked and nodded. He put the can aside and walked to his room in a daze. He closed the door and stood at the door. Elijah chuckled and cleaned up. He still has to clean the dishes. He rolled up his sleeves and started with the work. Meanwhile Joshua stood at the door for a while.
He put his hand on his chest to feel his heartbeat which was actually fast. He rewound the whole thing again. He didn't understand if it was the alcohol or the thing that happened. He was flustered and he fell flat on his bed. He screamed into the pillow. He sat up and ruffled his hair. He shook his head. " No Joshua calm down. It is because of the alcohol. Nothing else ". He patted his cheeks to get his head straight.
He decided to take a shower to clear his head. He wanted to take a cold shower, but decided to not and took a warm shower at the end. He sat on the bed drying his hair. He thought back to the scene again. He shook his head. He was mad at himself. He tried his best to not just look into it too much.
He put the towel aside. He picked up his phone and saw messages from some group chats. He was not in the mood. But one particular message caught his attention. He immediately opened it. He didn't check his phone and it was sent quite a while ago.It was a picture of him. He was looking up smiling at something.
The smile was very small, but due to all the lights around, his eyes were sparkling. He liked it, but didn't even know when it was taken. Was he enjoying so much he didn't notice the person beside him clicking a picture of his ? He admired the picture for a while and his eyes moved to look at the contact that sent the picture. ' Grumpy grandpa '. Joshua chuckled at the name. He still remembered how he got the number.
Flashback
Joshua sat and watched the television along with Elijah. He glanced at Elijah who was looking at the screen with a blank face. He turned to look back at the screen. After a while he took a peek again. Elijah noticed and turned to Joshua. " What is it ? " Joshua shook his head. " Nothing ". " You are definitely curious. So tell me what it is ". " You will not answer anyway. So I better keep it to myself ".
" You will not know unless you ask ". " Give me your number ". " Why ? All of a sudden ? " " Actually I realized in case we go out or you need anything or whatever, it might be a good thing if we have each other's numbers ". He seemed a little hesitant but continued. " In case we went separate ways, we wouldn't have been able to contact each other. Unless you already have my number ".
" I don't have yours ". " Woah ! This is a surprise ". Elijah picked up his phone and gave it to Joshua. " Call your phone from my phone. We both get each other's numbers ". Joshua did that and saved the number. He saved it as ' Grumpy grandpa 😜'. But Elijah was sincere and saved it as ' Joshua 🏡'. Elijah put his phone aside.
He smiled at the memory and opened his Instagram and posted the picture. He put the caption -
' It's in the eyes
always in the eyes '.
He put his phone aside and fell back on the bed. He slept and looked out the window. He just stared out for a while and turned to the other side. He closed his eyes tight shut to get himself to sleep. He has to go to office tomorrow.
-MG