Losing Love

43

Hope's POV:

I arrive at the venue at 7:20pm and instantly walk in, avoiding eye contact with everyone in sight. The place is filled with women in long dresses and men in tuxedos. I hate it already. I gaze around the room before finally spotting Kyle speaking to two women with Elisa by his side, I storm up to them. "I'm here" I interrupt whatever Kyle is saying to the women, "Hi Hope, thank you so much for blessing us with your rare presence. Now stop being rude" be sarcastically remarks,  I offer Elisa a small smile as I roll my eyes and turn to face whoever he's talking to.

I instantly recognise them as Skulls and Scythe, "shit I'm so sorry, how have you guys been?" I question them, genuinely interested. We catch up as the girls tell me all about their love life, I was surprised to hear that Scythe has a son with Ace, or that Elijah has a new 'love'. Eventually, the conversation dies down and the girls inform me that they need to be somewhere. I agree, thankful that I don't need to converse with people anymore before informing Kyle and Elisa that I would be right back.

I head to the bar, "just give me your strongest drink please" I practically beg the bartender. "Tough night?" He asks, I'm instantly taken back to the memory of when I once got too drunk at the Christmas dinner and Dominic had to take me home. I shake the memory out of my head before looking back up at him, "you could say that" I give him a slight smile before looking back down at the table. Thankfully, I hear a glass be placed on the table and look up at it.

I take a few sips before I hear shuffling besides me, I look up to see a gorgeous girl wearing a long red dress. "Hi, it's nice to meet you. I'm Iliana" she introduces herself with a bright smile across her face while holding a hand out to me. She must be Elijah's new 'love". I don't feel like speaking but I do anyways, "hey, nice to meet you too. My name is Hope" I say lifting my hand up to shake hers. "You have a beautiful name" she compliments me, I'm slightly taken back. I don't think I've ever met a girl that gorgeous be so kind. "Thank you" I respond. "What got you here?" She asks me. Originally, I didn't want to speak to her, or anybody really. But there's something about her that makes me want to speak to her.

"My brother forced me to come, something about my cousin, I'm not sure" I feel obligated to be honest with her. She hesitates for a moment, as if she's thinking, before continuing to speak. "Would you like to come to my table and have a few drinks?" She questions politely, "we could maybe be friends and hang out". Jeez, this girl might have just saved my night. "I would love to" I respond with a smile across my face.

I lift my glass up and walk towards the table with her as we got to know each other a bit more. I notice her head turn towards someone specific, I follow my head and turn to look at who shes staring at intensely. She staring at Elijah with a spark in her eyes, his entire body is inked with tattoos. He's grown tall, around 6'2, and muscular as he wears a tuxedo that contrasts perfectly with his jet black hair. The pocket of his tuxedo holds a red handkerchief, the same shade as Iliana's dress. My eyes leave Elijah and focus on the person behind him. My heart stops beating and I feel my knees begin to weaken. I stare at Dominic who is deep in conversation with Elijah.

My mind is instantly taken back to the last time I saw him. It was around two weeks after I broke up with him and Elisa had somehow convinced me to go clubbing with her. I was dancing when some guy came up and started speaking to me, we continued to dance together and a lock of hair fell in front of my face. The guy pushed it back and the next thing I know, he's laying on the ground with Dominic on top of him. Dominic was throwing hard punches at the guy repeatedly, I tried yelling at him to stop but he wouldn't listen. Long story short, Dominic put the guy in hospital in front of everyone, little did he know that the guy was actually gay.

I feel a grasp on my wrist and look up to see Iliana, who is already looking at me with concern plastered across her face. She gently pulls my wrist and leads to a table where she sits next to Elijah, I sit next to her.

Elijah turns to Iliana, his piercing blue eyes brighten as he lays them on her. I can't help but feel my heart clench. "Hey Ilia-" he begins before cutting himself off, "Hope?" I notice Dominic's head snap up and he begins to stare at me with a blank expression, I turn to look him in his eyes as I notice it holds pain. Before I get the chance to reply, he continues "hey cugino, how are you? I haven't seen you in so long" Elijah stands up and begins to walk towards me, I stand up too and he wraps me in a warm embrace. "Hey, I'm doing okay. I missed you. How have you been?" I answer his questions.

Cugino=Cousin

"I've been good, I missed you too" he turns his head and looks down at Iliana with a grin, "I see you met Iliana." I nod my head "yeah, she's great". Elijah smirks at me before walking back to his seat and sitting down. As he sits down, he turns to Dominic, who is still staring at me blankly. "Hey Dom, you okay?" He asks him with concern. This is enough to break him out of his stance with me, "hmm, oh yeah, I'm good" he says to Elijah before turning his eyes back to me. "Hope is your cousin?" He questions Elijah while still staring at me. I begin to feel uncomfortable as I sit back down on my chair. "Yes, why?" Elijah answers. "Oh... she's kind of my..ex-girlfriend." I feel my heart crack as he calls me his ex, it's been two months and I still can't accept it.

Iliana's gaze leaves Elijah and Dominic as she turns around to me, "you guys dated?" She asks in a whisper, I nod my head, "yeah, we broke up two months ago" I reply back quietly. "Oh, I'm sorry" she says, she hesitates before continuing, "what did he do?"

I think hard about how I should answer this, I chose to just be as honest as I can be, "he let his anger get the best of him, and I thought it would be better for us to take some time apart." Which is true. I didn't end things with him because I didn't love him. I did it because I love him not because I wanted to, I felt like if we had stayed together then it would have permanently ruined our relationship.

I'm taken aback by Iliana's response, "have you two tried talking since?", I shake my head no. "I wasn't ready" I answer. A small smile forms across her face, "you should try today." I think about it seriously for a bit before I see Elijah lean over to her and whisper in her ear.

She nods slightly as she whispers back. She turns around to me once again, "I'll be right back, maybe you two can try to fix your relationship. You guys seem perfect for each other and I see the way you look at each other" she suggests in a low voice. She stands up and takes Elijah's hand as they head to the dance floor. Leaving me alone with Dominic.

I'm not ready to face Dominic just yet so I continue to watch Iliana and Elijah. They mumble to each other before smiling and laughing.

- - - - -
Iliana, Elijah, Skulls, Scythe and Ace are all characters from hennyyy_23 's book - FOUND BY THE MAFIA.