CHAPTER:14

The three of them stand in silence, not knowing what to say, it's clear the the stalker is now gaining the confidence to be near her. It seems as though he's ready to harm her. Any given moment. All because, Elara got married to Marshall. That seems to have unleashed his fury.

Elara lets out a soft sigh, she looks at Marshall, her voice almost a whisper as she speaks; "Are you okay? Sorry for dragging you into this mess."

"You are Mrs. Marshall if you're forgetting. As your husband, the least I can do is rush over here for your safety." -Marshall interjects.

Elara lets out a sigh. Her mind wanders off to if Marshall pities her, maybe that's why he's being so kind, right now.

She shakes her head a little, Hana continues to pat her back.

"Thank you, Marshall." -Elara. Finally says, her voice soft, almost breaking.

"You should go back home, El. I'll close off the cafe today. It's not safe for you to be out here now." -Hana speaks softly, as she continues to rub Elara's back, comforting her. Marshall nods; "Your friend is right. Pack your things, I'll drop you back home."

Elara lets out a sigh, nodding along in agreement as well. "Very well then. I'll go get my stuff." -she declares, going back inside the staff room to retrieve her things.

As Elara goes inside, leaving Hana and Marshall alone, standing in awkward silence. Hana lets out a cheeky smile as she scoots a little closer to Marshall. Seeing this, Marshall quietly takes a step back, moving away. But Hana takes the initiative to move closer to him again.

She chuckles as she softly whispers to him; "So.. I heard you two already kissed last night?"

Marshall raises an eyebrow at her words, he lets out a soft scoff. "Words do travel fast among you ladies." -he mutters under his breath, shaking his head. "It was a simple peck, Ms. Hana. And she's my wife." -He replies, staring at Hana. A smug look on his face, as he shrugs.

"Was it though? Was it just a 'simple peck'?" -she says, teasingly. After a moment, she nods, "True, true. But!" -she suddenly yelps, pointing her finger to his face, "You're not allowed to go any further than that!" -she warns, narrowing her eyes.

Marshall stares at her, baffled. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me." -Hana shrugs this time, "You can go all french kissing or tongue, I don't know what you're into. I'm not interested in knowing, either. BUT!" -she yelps at him again, keeping her finger pointed at him. "You are not allowed to go any further than that. Okay, Mr. Marshall?" -she smiles cheekily.

He leans a little closer to Hana, but far away from her personal space, as he whispers; "I don't think I need your permission to do 'things' with my wife, Ms. Hana. And I don't intend on touching Mrs. Marshall until she wants me to."

Hana stares at Marshall, clearly taken aback by his words. "You forced this marriage, if you're forgetting. I don't think she's going to warm up to that idea that easily."

"I didn't force her for fucks sake." -he retorts, sighing. "I had to do what was right in that situation. You think any of this would've happened if Naia ran away? Your friend helped her run away, so shouldn't she be the collateral and 'fix' the damages she's done?" -Marshall grits, clearly getting annoyed.

"Elara isn't responsible for Naia running away! Stop being such a blind dick!" -Hana glares back at him. Marshall lets out a soft chuckle.

"Maybe when Elara can prove herself innocent in all this, I'll stop being a 'blind dick'. Till then I'm allowed to hold Elara as the culprit." -he smirks smugly.

"I'm back, let's go." Elara interjects, her bag in her arms as she stares at them both. "What's going on?" -she asks, sensing the awkward air around them both.

"You told your friend that we kissed?" -Marshall inquires.

Hana whips her head, staring at Marshall as if he's revealed a huge secret. Elara's eyes widen as she stares at Hana. "Hana!" -she walks over to her, smacking her arm lightly.

Marshall shakes his head and walks out of the cafe, not waiting for Elara to follow him. But he cannot hide the small smile creeping up on his face. It's amusing.

"You idiot." -she whispers to Hana as she follows Marshall out of the cafe.

He walks over to the car door and opens it. Motioning Elara to get in. His dark brown eyes staring at her, a smug smirk on his face. "Get in." He simply says.

Elara speaks no words and quietly moves to sit in the passenger sat. Marshall closes the door and walks over to the driver's side. "Seatbelt, Elara." -he simply says as he puts on his own seatbelt. Elara obeys, putting on her one as well. As he finally turns the engine on, roaring to life and drives away.

"At least my kiss was fascinating enough for you to share about it to your friend." -Marshall says, breaking the silence after a moment.

Elara coughs, caught by surprise by his words. "Does that count as a kiss though?" -she asks, softly. "I mean, i don't know who told you, kissing someone during a panic attack helps." -she says, staring at him, as he continues to drive.

"Well, it did work, didn't it?" -he questions back. An egoistic smile on his face. "And, I've read a few romance books in my free time." -he reveals.

Elara's eyes widen at this revelation, "You what?-"

Before Marshall can defend his choice of words, Elara bursts into laughter. "That's so cute? When do you find time to read romance novels?"

"Ha ha, very funny, Mrs. Marshall. What? You think all I do, is work all day long?" -he asks, taking quick glances at her, a small smile plying on his face.

She nods, "I just didn't assume you're the type to read." -she says, wiping the single tear that fell from her eye due to laughing too hard.

"So many things you might discover bout your husband, Mrs. Marshall with time." -he says, a quick wink as he turns his head a little to look at her.

"You plan on staying in this marriage, even if… let's say Naia returns?" -she asks, hesitantly. Her eyes fixed on him as. He continues to drive.

Marshall frowns slightly at her words. "I don't think she's going to return anytime soon. Especially considering she's pregnant with her boyfriend's child. Why're you even asking that to me? Didn't you help her run away?" -he says, his words hitting her almost like a dagger to her chest.

-Elara stares at him, she seems a little upset by his words, but doesn't show. "What would take for you to believe me?" - she asks softly. He takes a quick glance at her. Seemingly noticing her upset face. Marshall lets out a sigh, his hand gripping the steering wheel a little more tightly. His free hand running through his hair as he finally speaks; " I need proof, Elara. You cannot expect me to believe you, when Naia's letter stated the opposite. Give me the proof I need to believe you. Give me the proof that you're innocent." -his voice is soft and gentle but it also holds a cold, stern and harsh tone to it.

Elara sighs. "I wish it was that easy, Marshall. I wish it was easy to just present the proof to you. But that is the truth. I'm still trying to figure it out myself as to why she framed me before running away?!

Marshall lets out another sigh, "Look, Elara. I'm still willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, I'm willing to believe you over anyone else, since you're my wife. And I want you to not break that little trust I'm willing to put in you." -he says, sternly.

Elara nods, smiling softly. "That's all I need." she pauses for a moment; "Until I can figure out the truth myself." Marshall doesn't say anything else, he continues to drive in silence.

"Your friend gave me the permission to French-kiss you." -he says, an amused chuckle escaping his lips as he continues speaking; "Or tongue, but nothing more than that." -Marshall glances at Elara to see her reaction. She simply lets out a nervous laugh. "She's always saying random stuff. Just ignore those silly remarks. And I-"

Before she can continue her sentence, a car swerves in front of them, nearly causing a collision. Marshall quickly hits the brakes, making the car come to a sudden stop. He instinctively reached his hand out, to protect Elara from the sudden jerk, placing it firmly on her chest. Elara looked at him with fear in her eyes, slightly panicked by the sudden jolt. But she could see his calm and collected altitude. He had a slight frown on his face, as he checked the rear-view and assessed the situation, the car that had cut them off had swerved again, and was now speeding away.

Marshall looked over to Elara, "Are you okay?" -he asked, moving his hand over to her shoulder, trying to reassure if everything is okay.

She nodded slightly, still feeling the adrenaline pumping through her veins. "Thank you, yeah. I'm.. I'm fine." -she said, breathing a little heavily. Marshall nods as well, and starts to slowly start driving the car.

The car had grown silent, none of them saying anything anymore.

Her eyes began to focus on him. Watching his every moves.

Elara couldn't help but gawk at the skill and ease with which Marshall navigated the car. He had a confident grip on the steering wheel, his eyes focused intently on the road ahead. As his muscles tensed and relaxed in perfect times with the curves and bumps of the terrain. She could feel her heart race as she took in every small details of him. As the car accelerated around each bend, she couldn't help but admire the effortless grace with which he handled the machine. The wind blowing his tousled hair around, accentuating the ruggedness of his features, making her realize how attractive Marshall truly is. She couldn't take her eyes off of him. Her gaze locked on his strong jawline and piercing dark brown eyes.

She felt the urge to reach out and trace her fingers along Marshall's jawline.

Marshall probably did notice her staring at him, but he doesn't say anything. He simply stares ahead, focused on driving. A slight smile on his face.

Elara shakes her head, trying to shake off thoughts of Marshall. Thoughts of him.. with her. She imagines his hand over her body, exploring all of her curves. His fingers laced around her neck when he'll kiss her. His soft lips against hers. His body against hers. Elara could feel a small hint of heating red creeping up in her face, as she imagines all that. She clears her throat, trying to shake off those imaginations.

"I can practically feel your gaze burning me. Do tell, Mrs. Marshall, what're you thinking of?"

Elara quickly looked away, a red hue spreading across her cheeks upon getting caught.

"Say, would you like to entertain the idea of another kiss? From your husband?" -he whispers, his tone slightly seductive.