Page 10 of Nothing Even Matters
Breakdown
She’d forgotten how incredible Eli was in the kitchen.
Faith watched with amazement as Eli seemingly created eggplant Parmesan from scratch. Even the bread was freshly baked.
He made it look so simple, yet he was in the kitchen for well over two hours. There was no recipe book, no instructions printed off the web, or phone +calls to his mother to make sure he got it right. He instinctively knew.
It was then Faith remembered that’s how all of the D’Amato brothers were raised. They all knew how to cook. Whenever Nicola was too busy or simply too tired to do so, a brother stepped in and prepared dinner for the family that night. They all took turns with cooking and cleaning so there was never one who had to carry the sole load. They were all amazing cooks.
Eli wore simple jeans and a white tank top, something that was pretty much his standard outfit. His normally slicked back hair was loose and fallen on both sides of his face. He hummed along with some R&B Christmas songs and didn’t speak much to Faith as she watched him.
She would’ve been offended but she didn’t want to interrupt him when cooked. It never bothered him but she also didn’t know how long she was going to be in his apartment. She wanted to keep the mood as light as possible.
She looked around the sleek, yet contemporary kitchen. State of the art appliances surrounded the marble countertops and see-through refrigerator. The long island had six step stools, a sink and an additional stove. Faith counted no less than twenty-five cupboards with a spacious pantry to boot. It was clear Eli’s favorite room was the kitchen.
Faith studied his two full sleeves and noticed he’d added a few more since she’d last seen him. She didn’t care about those, if she wanted to be honest. She was more concerned if the one tattoo that mattered was still there.
When Eli turned around to check on the sauce, Faith smiled a breath of release when she saw it. Clear as day on his forearm, in old English writing, was her name.
He could’ve gotten it covered up and Faith certainly gave Eli plenty of reason to do so. He hadn’t spoken to her personally in two years and had she not showed up tonight, there was no telling when he would’ve spoken to her.
It wasn’t so much his silent ban towards her that bothered Faith; he never inquired about her at all to anyone. He never spoke of her. It was as if she’d never existed in his life. At least most people could think of an ain’t-shit ex they loved to rag on and Eli did nothing of the sort.
No shade. No subliminals. Just silence.
“I noticed you didn’t cover up the tat,” she finally broke the silence.
Eli focused on kneading the garlic bread. “What tat?”
“The one with my name,” she mentioned. He got the tattoo before they were even married. She sometimes wondered how the other women Eli was with during the breakups felt about the tattoo. “I thought you would’ve gotten it covered up by now.”
“It’s not a priority right now.” He softly answered. Truth was, each time he wanted to cover up the tat, a yearning inside him told him it was the wrong move. “Too busy with events. I have a few tats that I need to freshen up and just haven’t had the time.”
So, he planned to get it covered, after all. Faith noticed the small drop of emotion hit the pit of her stomach and she swallowed some more wine. “I’ve noticed,” she replied, “I heard what you did with the Ferguson Gallery,” Faith mentioned, “I saw the pictures of the garden and it looks incredible.”
It was a last-minute request from one of Nick’s friends, and Eli had to fly out to L.A. to get it all done in an incredibly short amount of time. It was a rose garden in honor of an employee’s mother, and Eli was proud to work on it as a surprise to her.
The result was a garden the size of a football field and filled with multicolored roses from all over the world. Several small benches surrounded the garden as well as a gazebo. It boosted Eli’s profile even higher. He was now one of the most sought-after floral designers in the world.
“Thank you,” he nodded, “it was stressful to do but it was all worth it. I heard the girl broke into tears of joy when she saw it and that was better than any pay day.”
Faith wanted to ask how much Eli was compensated but knew it wouldn’t come out right. As her husband, Eli was happy to share how much a wedding or special event cost. As her ex, he had no reason to divulge.
It also occurred to Faith Eli did the project when he was in L.A. She might have been there at the same time. Even if they couldn’t have seen each other, it would’ve been nice if he called her. “Do you travel often?”
“Not much,” Eli lied. He traveled several times a month and left the kids with his mother or Faith’s parents when he couldn’t be around. He didn’t know if it was a coincidence that Faith was gone at the same time he was or it was just luck of the draw.
He didn’t want his work schedule to give his ex any ammunition against him.
Faith felt the air shift to an uncomfortable tension between them. They both were carefully avoiding the sole reason why she was in his six-million dollar apartment. “I wanted to talk to you about the move.”
“I’m not signing off the papers,” he looked up and met eyes with his ex. A sensual air passed between them, yet Eli ignored it. “So, if that’s what you wanted to talk to me about, I just saved you time.”
Faith took another sip of wine and swirled it around her mouth. The way he stared into her soul like that made her tightly close her thighs as the soft thump ofwantbeat against her panties.
She knew Eli was going to be hard to convince why and it was time to play hardball. “This wasn’t an easy decision for me, Eli. The kids like L.A. They have fun out there. They used to have so much fun visiting Kieran and Tiana when they lived out there.”
“And K and Tee live out here.” The pair moved to New York not that long ago and lived in a very expensive apartment on Park Ave., not too far from Nicola and Art.
