Chapter 26

"Nick..." I called out to him as he had just returned to my room. Nick had changed into pajama pants and a t-shirt belonging to Greg. He turned towards me, raising an eyebrow with a questioning look.

"Are you going to sleep here?" I asked, looking at him and then at my bed.

Nick placed his phone on the small table next to my bed and turned back to me. "Do you mind?"

I shook my head and shrugged. "Greg never used his apartment, and now you neither. So why did you guys rent it?"

"Greg needed a place for his things." Nick sat on my bed, still looking at me. It felt strange seeing him in my room—or on my bed. He didn't seem to fit with my lilac-colored bed cover. Not to mention, I was used to seeing him in his formal suits; seeing him in pajamas and a casual t-shirt made me—

"Eleanor," he interrupted, "are you going to stand there staring at me all night or join me?" He pulled a corner of his mouth up, forming a slight smile. His messy brown hair framed his handsome face. I returned the smile and walked over to my bed.

***

"What do you mean you have to leave now?" My orange juice glass stopped just before touching my lips. I glanced at the kitchen clock briefly before turning back to Nick, who was already back in his work attire, a light blue shirt minus the tie, one hand carrying his jacket.

While I was still in my pajamas.

I had woken up half an hour earlier than usual this morning, Nick was still asleep when I left the room. But now he was standing in front of me, saying he had to return to Manhattan.

I lowered both corners of my mouth. "Are you serious? But it's the weekend, Nick. You only arrived last night." From the corner of my eye, I could see Lana and Greg watching us alternately, both standing in front of the kitchen counter in silence.

"Eleanor..." Nick looked at me patiently, as if he were trying to talk to a child. He slightly reminded me of Oliver.

"Yeah, whatever." I averted my gaze from him, finishing my orange juice.

"Eleanor, I didn't mean—"

"I understand." I cut him off, trying to smile. "You're busy."

"I'll be back." He muttered before kissing my cheek and saying goodbye to Lana and Greg.

He had arrived in San Francisco less than 24 hours ago; we had barely spent any time together, mostly just sleeping. If I had known he was going to leave so soon, I might not have wasted my time sleeping last night.

The next day, my mood hadn't improved. Greg and Lana invited me to lunch after seeing me spend the whole week of my vacation in front of the TV. Nick sent a short message this morning, just letting me know he would stay for two nights when he visited me again next week.

Greg chose a restaurant close to Lana's office. He had to ask the waiter for an extra seat for me because he had originally booked the table for two.

Just like Nick, Greg liked fine dining restaurants. He chose the same restaurant as when Nick came to San Francisco a few months ago. I frowned as Greg smiled at me.

"What?" I asked, not too kindly, after sitting at our table. Lana glanced up from her menu briefly before continuing to read it.

"Nothing. You and Nick really are alike." His smile widened, showing his dimples. Greg's slightly messy black hair had grown about an inch longer, almost touching the collar of his shirt.

"What do you mean?" Both corners of my mouth turned further downward.

"Nick sounded just as grumpy as you this morning when we were talking."

"He called you?" I asked, disbelieving. Nick only sent me a short message!

"Yeah, he wanted to talk to you, but you seemed really angry this morning... So I told him you were still asleep." He answered casually. His blue eyes looked at me as if I were something funny to him. I glanced briefly at the salt and pepper shakers in the middle of the table, briefly wanting to throw them at him. I sighed and read the menu in front of me briefly, suddenly not feeling hungry anymore.

"Hey, Ella... He's your boss, right? Mr. LeBlanc?" Lana's question made me shift my gaze from the menu. Both of my eyes followed Lana's gaze, and she was right, Mr. LeBlanc was leaving the restaurant with Ellie. They didn't see me because our table was far from the door, and the restaurant was quite full.

"Yeah, the one next to him is his girlfriend. Ellie." I replied, looking back at the menu. Lana remained silent for a moment before speaking again, "He looks a lot like you."

"Huh?" I mumbled without taking my eyes off the menu, "He just has the same height and hair color as me."

"Well, from this distance, he looks a lot like you."

I snorted at her, "You should see him up close during Wednesday's lunch, Lana."

We ordered the lunch special and a 7-year-old bottle of wine. Greg still managed to annoy me with his wide smile, and Lana kept comparing me to my boss's girlfriend. She thought Mr. LeBlanc still had feelings for me because Ellie looked so much like me. I had to change the topic of conversation three times before Lana actually forgot about Mr. LeBlanc and Ellie.

Dessert arrived while Lana was in the restroom. I ordered a plate of molten cake with peach ice cream and a cup of Earl Grey. Greg ordered blueberry pavlova and an espresso, while Lana didn't order anything at all. The sound of piano tinkling and the murmurs of people talking around us filled the silence between us.

"You know... you could visit Manhattan if you really want to see him." Greg looked at me while sipping his espresso.

"Why does Nick have to stay in Manhattan while you're here?" I asked, annoyed.

"Because Nick still has a Leech haunting him, and I don't." He replied shortly. My dessert spoon sliced through the top of the molten cake, causing the chocolate to ooze out, then I scooped up the top.

"But Nick is stronger than his Leech, why hide like this?" Greg shrugged, answering me.

"Nick is stronger than his Leech, but you're not, Eleanor."

I furrowed my brow, then Greg continued, "You are human. If that Leech wants to destroy Nick, you are the perfect prey for him. He has been waiting a long time for moments like this."

The molten cake I swallowed felt stuck in my throat. "So, this Leech is after me."

"I don't know, but that's the best scenario so far." He shrugged in response.

"Then... if the Leech succeeds in hurting me, what will happen?"

Greg snorted, his eyes looking at me with a slightly annoyed expression. "You forgot about me?"

"What?" I blinked at him, a little confused.

"If he wants to hurt you, Eleanor, he has to get through me first."

We were silent for a few moments, then all the recent events started to make more sense in my head. "Wait... did Nick ask you to stay here?" I asked with a bit of venom. Greg had mentioned before that Nick was planning something. Lana and Greg? So, was all of this part of his plan? My mind went back to when Lana and Greg met in the hotel lobby a month and a half ago, then when I visited his house... my stomach felt a little queasy. Had he planned all of this?

"What do you mean, me and Lana?" Greg asked, a slight frown on his face.

Lana... she seemed happier lately. What if she knew Greg was just pretending with her? I didn't want to imagine it at all. "You and Lana... Does she know?"

"Know what?"

"All of this... you're just pretending with her, right? To protect me from the Leech." Oh, damn. I didn't want Lana to get dragged into this.

Greg put his cup of espresso down and looked at me with a very serious expression, which made me almost believe him. Almost.

"I'm not pretending, Eleanor." He said seriously.

"I don't want to involve Lana in this, okay? She seems... really in love with you." I said, trying to sound calm. "You should stay away from her before it's too late, Greg. And you better not hurt her when you distance yourself; I'll help you."

"Help me with what?" Greg's voice was as serious as his expression.

"Help you with the problems in your company. I've helped you once when auditing your company."

Greg didn't help me answer; he just stared at his espresso cup with a serious expression. Lana took Greg's untouched dessert plate and began eating. "So, you're going to help audit his company again. Oh, I have to stop by the office after this; my boss lost the audit data for the company I was working on. He just called me." Lana stabbed her fork into the pavlova, breaking it, and sighed. Her beautiful face looked a bit pouty.

"Okay, we'll wait." I replied, feeling relieved that our conversation had changed. Besides, Greg and I still had a lot to talk about, so this was a good opportunity.

"No, no need. I'm sure he'll keep me all afternoon; you guys go ahead." She glanced at me and then at Greg, "Don't fight when I'm not around, okay?"

I snorted at her request. Well, we always fought when we were alone, Greg always managed to annoy me. It was not my fault at all.

Greg replied to Lana with a small smile, all the annoyance that was visible in his eyes before disappeared, replaced by another expression. I averted my gaze from them and reached for my phone in my pocket. Nick hadn't replied to my last message I sent 2 hours ago; I swallowed a little sadness that suddenly appeared.

After paying the bill, we parted ways with Lana in front of the restaurant. Lana headed to her office, while Greg and I headed to his car. We walked in silence until we got into the car; I fastened my seatbelt and looked out the window. Greg wore his sunglasses to shield his eyes from the afternoon sun, glancing at me occasionally. I tried to ignore him throughout the journey until I couldn't take it anymore.

"What, Greg?" I asked, pulling both corners of my mouth down.

"I..." He replied without taking his eyes off the road. "I just want you to know I'm not playing with Lana." He added with a serious tone.

"And I just want you to know I'll hunt you down if you hurt Lana." I muttered, trying to focus on the road. Suddenly, I couldn't hear my own voice over the buzzing sound in my head. Then I saw a sharp piece of metal covered in Greg's blood... protruding from Greg's neck.