The Marvelous Elijah’s Return

A mother’s plead
As Ryan tested his suitcase on the bed, he looked back when his room door burst open, and Mall rushed into the room.
“What?” Ryan asked, tossing a t shirt into his suitcase,
“Rookie just showed me this!” Matt said, holding up his phone in his hand.
Annoyed, Ryan snatched his phone with a blank expression on his face and played the video, his eyes widened slightly
“So when Boss and Peach went out... Damn!!” Ryan gasped as he listened to Peach confronting Jessica on the video.
“Damn indeed...” Matt agreed with a chuckle.
“Does the boss know that someone uploaded what happened at the bar onto the internet?”
“Yeah, Rookie told him.”
The room fell silent after Matt stopped talking, but eventually, Ryan broke the silence as he mumbled, “With the lies that Melina
spread and now video of this Jessica person confronting boss, he‘s never going to escape the rumors.”
There was a long pause, and then Matt frownes and said, “You think! The fact that he carried her out of the bar like that is going
to make it harder for him to clear his name.”
Sighing, Matt watched Ryan toss another pair of trousers in the suitcase and then mumbled, ** So you and Rookie are leaving
today?”
“Yeah,” Ryan muttered sarcastically, pulling another shirt out and throwing it into the suitcase. “We have the location of where
Bryan lives and Rookie found out the perfect place to stay for the one month... Um... he has our hotel room book.”
“That was easy,” Matt said in amusement.
Closing his suitcase lit, Ryan turned around and said, “Let‘s just hope it goes smoothly.”
As Miss Grace was walking toward Elijah‘s room, the door suddenly opened, and he walked out, stopping when he saw her
standing in the hallway. “Has Peach woken up yet?” He asked, feeling uneasy that he brought her daughter back drunk “She‘s
still sleeping... But I am here to ask if we could talk,” Miss Grace answered softly, trying to remain calm.

Reading her expression, Elijah could clearly tell something was bothering her, and he sighed heavily and looked away from her,
before turning back, “Of course, we can talk,”
When both of them entered his room, Miss Grace shut the door and then looked at him with an anxious expression and asked, “I
know this is none of my business, but when... when you and my daughter start getting entangled in so many indecent rumors, it
becomes my concern
Looking at Miss Grace and feeling guilt rise in his chest, Elijah replied, “I‘m sorry about yesterday and that –
“What are your plans, Elijah?” Miss Grace interrupted him quickly.
Confused by her reaction, Elijah raised his eyebrows and repeated, “My plans?” “Yes,” Miss Grace replied seriously. “In the
nearest future, do you plan to remarry?”
The question was hard for her to ask, knowing that Elijah had recently gotten a divorce from Melina, and asking him such a thing
was probably hard for him, but she wanted to know the truth for her daughter‘s sake.
“No,” Elijah plainly stated, answering with honesty in his voice.
His response left Miss Grace with a sickening feeling and a look of disappointment painted all over her face. She lowered her
gaze to the floor and quietly murmured, “I see...”
Now, she feared for her daughter, for her reputation, for her future, because she knew that this kind of scandal could destroy
Peach and her chances of finding a good man to marry or having children of her own, and it frightened her!
Shaking her head and closing her eyes briefly, Miss Grace lifted her chin, looked directly into Elijah‘s eyes, and softly uttered, “If
you don‘t have any long–term plans for my daughter, can you promise me not to touch her... please don‘t hurt her image or her
character... please, Elijah...”
A small smile came to her lips and she added, “I know I should be asking this of Peach because it‘s not your job to protect my
daughter‘s image or character... It‘s hers... But please... Peach doesn‘t know how to act properly around you because...”
A brief pause followed as her throat constricted with emotion once again, and she whispered,” Because she hasn‘t met anyone
else, except me, who truly cares about her for a while... She spent her youth taking care of her sick mother... I stole her time to
go out there and live... So you must understand why this situation might be really hard for her.”

Tears filled her eyes once more, and she closed them briefly as she took a shuddering breath, before continuing, “Please... Don‘t
hurt my daughter... And if you can‘t love her... don‘t make her fall for you. It has already happened... I‘m her mother and I can
see what she feels for you in her eyes, so I‘m begging you to end whatever relationship you two may have formed right now.
Please... Promise me...”
Silently, Elijah ran a hand through his hair in frustration and looked into her watery eyes, and then he nodded slightly. “You want
me to create a distance between Peach and me, right?” Elijah asked softly.
A tearful smile appeared on Miss Grace‘s lips at those words and she nodded.
“You guys can still be friends, but try and avoid each other in public. Avoid any sort of intimate contact,” Miss Grace explained
softly, “You can spend as much time together, but keep that distance.”
After a long pause, Elijah stared at her for a few moments, before nodding slowly and saying, “ I promise,”
With a weak smile, Miss Grace wiped away the stray tears from her cheeks and gave a slight nod, and mumbled, “Thank you,”
Then she walked out of the room, leaving Elijah alone with his thoughts. As the doors closed
behind her, Elijah let out a deep sigh and shutting his eyes, he tried desperately to erase from his mind the memories of
yesterday... Memories of kissing Peach.
After quiet moments, a knock on his room door made him open his eyes and he noticed that Ryan was standing awkwardly in
the doorway, shifting on his feet. “Are you guys ready to leave?” Elijalı asked as he sat up from the bed. “Yes,” Ryan responded,
watching Elijah walk over to him. When the brightness from the sunlight beamed through the window, Peach rolled over, opening
her eyes slowly to stare up at the ceiling, and she let out a soft hum. “Mama,” Peach called out softly, her voice hoarse from
sleep and hangover as she stared at Miss Grace, “Can... Can you turn off the light?” Walking away from the window, Miss Grace
walked over to Peach‘s bed and sat down.“ Honey, we need to talk...”
Seeing the serious expression on Miss Grace‘s face, Peach immediately sat up, staring at her mother with worried eyes, and felt
a sense of dread wash over her stomach and her heart. “What is it, Mama? Is everything alright? Did something happen?” Peach
said almost in a whisper.
Clearing her throat, Miss Grace sighed softly and looked down before looking at Peach, “Um, yeah. Everything is fine Peachy,
everything is alright... It‘s just that you and Elijah...”

The sense of dread that Peach was experiencing became even stronger than before, but she forced herself to focus on what
Miss Grace was saying, “Well, what about Elijah and me?” Miss Grace shifted a bit and then looked up at her daughter, grabbing
her hand and cupping it with hers as she smiled weakly. “Did you know he has no plans to marry again, and he doesn‘t want a
wife?” She asked gently. Feeling a lump forming in her throat, Peach blinked several times and shook her head slowly, shaking
away the emotions she was starting to feel in front of Miss Grace. “Do you like... do you love Elijah, Peach?” Miss Grace
questioned softly, squeezing her hands tightly, while she searched for answers inside of Peach‘s eyes. Nodding slowly, Peach
took in a deep breath before responding, “Yes, mama.” Even though she knew the truth, hearing it from her daughter left Miss
Grace heartbroken and emotional. She never wanted to hear those words coming out of her child‘s mouth because it made her
realize that nothing was ever going to work between her and Elijah and she wished she hadn‘t asked anything. “Peach, you are
not a child anymore, and as your mother, it‘s not my place to say these words to you, but I spoke with Elijah this morning.”
“Mama!!” Peach gasped in shock, staring at Miss Grace‘s pale complexion in panic.
“I‘m sorry, Peach, but he made it clear that he doesn‘t plan on marrying ever again, and I think you should understand that, and
get rid of any emotion or attraction you feel towards him,”
Holding all her emotions squeezed inside of her. Peach swallowed hard and tried to calm down
and breathe, because she knew what would come next.
“You are a woman, Peach, and your reputation and dignity are one of the few things you should care about more,” Miss Grace
continued. “And I‘m afraid you‘ve been exposed enough. so, please... I want you to stop having feelings romantically for Elijah.”
“Mama...” Peach whimpered softly.
Reaching out and touching her cheek, Miss Grace stroked Peach‘s face lovingly and said, “ Sweetheart, within a heartbeat I
would have blessed you guys‘ relationship if he was interested and wanted to give you a chance. But after what he told me this
morning, I can assure you that he is not, so I am asking you, honey, please stop.”
Unable to form a reply, Peach simply stared back at Miss Grace, with a look of sadness written upon her beautiful face.
She knew that her mother had spoken the truth and the fact that Elijah didn‘t intend on ever getting married again hurt her
deeply, but there wasn‘t anything she could do to change anything.
“I am begging you to promise me.” Miss Grace murmured, staring intently at Peach, holding her gaze with hope and love, hoping
that her daughter would agree to stop seeing Elijah romantically.

Peach hesitated a moment before nodding slightly, letting out an unsteady breath holding in her tears and smiling weakly as she
whispered, “I promise,”