Sarai quickly stumbled to her feet.
As she was close to the door she managed to get through her stammering to properly greet and bid goodbye to Ely. Then quickly shut the door behind her with a cunning grin.
Tamari quickly filled the spot Sarai left beside him. She smelt of a nice fragrance that wasn't too harsh and her hair soaked the back of her shirt. She quickly put her arm to the side of Ely's outer thigh to have their faces meet closer together.
"She didn't say anything weird right?"
'Did she rush because she could hear us? How could she hear our whispers over the sound of the water?'
Ely met her eyes with a soft gaze, "No, go dry your hair."
Contented with his answer, she stood up reaching for Ely's pair of clothes, "I hope you don't think I'm weird or something, Mrs. Calvillo told me your size."
Ely stood behind her lowering his head to the side of her face before nuzzling his head onto her, "That's quite alright."
His thoughts were of the contrary, 'What kind of girl asks his mother these kinds of things?'
Tamari quickly stepped away from him, holding the place he touched, "I- I'll go dry my hair so you can take a shower," she stepped away without meeting his eyes.
It wasn't out of the ordinary, but it was Ely's first time seeing the bathroom connected to the bedroom.
Once he heard the door shut he started looking at the room more intently.
What else was she hiding?
The only other place he could consider something was under her pillow. Or maybe she hid it in her pillowcase.
He slowly reached to pick it up, it was a silk cover. There was no weight to it, he slowly submitted the pillow—to make it look as if he had never touched it.
Nothing.
There wasn't anything else he thought he could find in the room. If everything else was empty, did she intend for Sarai to show him the box?
He slowly returned to where he sat with the clothes on his lap. Again, there was the eerie silence following throughout the home, 'Since when did she finish blow-drying her hair?'
The bathroom door creaked open. Ely's head quickly looked to see if Tamari had seen him searching under her pillow.
Tamari slowly stepped out of the bathroom towards him with an ominous face, "How do I look?"
Ely's jaw tightened, 'Was she trying to act cute?'
As she reached him she rested her hands on his shoulders as she looked down on him. Her heart rapidly drummed in her rib cage as she watched him with a face the same as a criminal's.
Ely had experience with this kind of seeking of attention. He once had to play a scene where a girl tried to profess her love to the blunt character he played.
The girl was a classmate of his in the episode, in small ways she slowly reached out to him. She'd increase their skinship, changing how she smiled, and the questions she asked.
People who are interested in you always ask similar questions. They'll always ask about what you liked—if you liked the way they looked, and what you disliked.
Most times when they find out these things they try acting and dressing in the ways that would appease you. And sometimes they have the same charisma as if they were still a little kid, easily humored by your jokes and hopeful for you to return their feelings.
But Ely did not want to fall in love.
In the end, the episode ended with the two drifting away and she met someone else to share her warmth.
Though Tamari wasn't an actress, this wasn't a place he could ask to leave the set early.
'The only one acting here—is me.'
Ely faced his eyes to Tamari's lips to avoid her peering eyes, "Beautiful."
His stomach started to twist, his behavior disgusted him. Yet it had the opposite effect on Tamari, who took his words at face value.
She hoisted him up from the floor with a euphoric smile, "You can use anything you want from my bathroom."
Ely nodded taking the clothes he had with him into the small bathroom. This was the first time he'd shower in a girl's bathroom. Once he closed the door behind him, he inspected Tamari's bathroom.
'What if she had cameras in here?'
He checked the door frame, the toilet stand, and the corners of the ceiling. Everything checked out, and the tenseness in his breath settled down.
She didn't seem to be with him to profit off the money given that she could pay off a doctorate school debt. But Tamari could still be rich and a creep. It was human of him to suspect her first before letting his guard down.
Today he didn't mind sleeping besides Tamari and nothing more than that. There was no attraction he felt towards her but with how he acted since earlier she'd say he had ED.
If anything he wouldn't have minded sleeping on the floor to prevent any unwanted interaction with her
Ely stepped into the shower, turning the level to the coldest setting.
'How do I tell her to let's get married quickly?'
To Ely, Tamari still seemed naïve to when it came to falling in love.
He could tell her that they should save themselves for marriage, an empty promise nonetheless. But it'd get her on board to getting married, he didn't want to spend time on promise rings or engagement.
He looked at the things Tamari kept inside the shower, a loofa, skincare, lotion, herb oils, and-
'A rock?'
On the overhead shower caddy was a large smooth pink rock by the other things. He held it in his hand, markings covered the bottom. While the rest was untouched.
'What language is that?'
He rolled the rock in his hands, he had never seen something like this.
She didn't seem like the type to have a [Divinity], but there are some ways to tell. It could be how they speak if they had 'decors' and symbols on their body.
Tamari wasn't obnoxious and unlike his mother who kept a candle to worship her [Divinity], Qi before and after meals—he didn't want to conclude that a rock was Tamari's decor. The only thing he could use to check is if she had symbols but he didn't want to do anything further than skinship or kissing.
He'd just hope that she didn't have an unwanted one, he'd heard tales where cursed worshippers could pick up on things through ghosts or another person's eyes. It wouldn't have been courteous of him to come out right and ask Tamari if she had a [Divinity] like Andy had done with him.
He placed the rock back and then rinsed his hair through the water. An excuse to take longer.
The clothes Tamari picked out for him were a bit childlike for his age, he wondered if Tamari ever did something 'grown' for her age.
She acted like a young girl in an older woman's body.
Going out of her way to find things about him through his mother, emptying her room to make sure there wasn't anything he'd be bothered by, and then keeping up formalities in his presence.
'Did she have a thing for older guys?'
Ely dressed in the clothes, taking longer to put on the shirt it bothered him to wear a shirt to bed out of habit but he didn't want to be shirtless in front of Tamari.
To his surprise, there was a toothbrush still in its packaging next to the sink, he picked up the dryer and the toothbrush letting the hot air dry his hair, and brushed his teeth with the other hand.
'She must've been confident that I'd come over.'
Ely took a few breaths and looked at himself for a few minutes in the mirror before coming out.
Slowly opening the door, he stepped out of the bathroom.
Tamari was reading a book while she brought her legs closer to her chest with the book on top of her thighs. She wore shorts and an oversized shirt.
She didn't look at Ely immediately like he expected. He sat next to her and she brought herself closer to him as well.
He wasn't able to read the pages of her book because her head covered most of it, "What are you reading?"
"This is a book my mom always read to me."
Ely didn't want to pry in case her mother had passed away, then the mood would go to the floor. So he decided to leave her words as it was. All the lights were turned off, it was hard to read Tamari's expression but he knew she was no longer reading the book.
"Yeah?"
She didn't answer him, instead, she slid the book further from her and cupped herself to the side of Ely. He adjusted his position to hold her with one arm as she put her head on his chest.
He never needed to work out since his build wasn't scrawny or too masculine.
"I don't want to waste time Ely,"
He tilted his head in her direction, 'What the hell was she referring to?'
"You could meet my parents and we could...go from there?"
Ely smiled, he'd have no trouble convincing her to the idea of getting married quickly. She was stupidly trying to bind down the love of her life to her. While he wanted to use her as an escape.
A fair trade.
A deadman's wedding shouldn't be expensive, he didn't mind if she was left with his assets or gain possession of his things. It's customary for her to have that while he left her to an empty bed.
She had the chance to meet other people yet she still chose Ely to stay with and pursue. There was nothing he could do to persuade her to find someone else since he wanted to end this early on.
This opportunity was better than for him to go on more useless dates scheduled by his father.
Ely tightened his grasp around Tamari putting her hand to his chest, "I feel the same way."