We'd been riding around for about twenty minutes now.

"Can I ask where we're going?" I wondered.

"You can ask but that doesn't mean I'll tell you." he shrugged.

He drove casually. I could tell he wasn't nearly as nervous as I was. One hand was resting on the wheel while the elbow to the other was resting on the arm rest and the hand hovered over his lap. His hands looked strong.

"This is a really nice car. And it smells new." I pointed out. The car had a few hints of his cologne which smelled kind of earthy.

"I've had this car for two years now, so thank you."

'How do you keep a car for two years and manage to keep the new car smell?' I thought.

"You don't talk much do you?" I asked.

He chuckled like usual.

"I've known you for four days and this is the most you've spoken, so I think you're being a hypocrite. But I do have a habit of only speaking when spoken to." he answered.

"Oh. Well, if I ask you about yourself will you start a monologue?" I asked and noticed we were pulling into the parking lot of a very fancy restaurant.

"I'll answer any question you want, sweetheart." he promised.

'Sweetheart' made me feel tingly inside.

He parked the car and we got out.

This restaurant looked like I wouldn't be able to afford it unless I saved up for the next three to five years.

"Are you coming?" he asked and I noticed he was a few feet away from me. I began walking to catch up to him and when I did, he walked behind me. We got to the door and he reached past my shoulder and opened it for me.

"Name?" asked the woman at the podium when we walked in.

"Matthews." Eli answered.

'Elijah Matthews. That's nice.' I thought. The name sounds familiar.

"Right this way," she smiled and led us into a dimly lit room with beautifully set dining tables.

We were brought to our table and sat down.

"Can I get you started with something to drink?" she asked.

"Water is fine." I said.

"Whiskey on the rocks. One cube." Eli stated.

"Coming right up." she said before walking away.

"Would you like to begin your questioning now?" he asked.

"Yes, I would." I replied and he leaned back into his chair. "Shoot." he insisted.

"Question number one, how tall are you?" I asked and he huffed a laugh. "I'm 6'4."

'Dear god-...'

I don't know why this was a surprise to me. I knew he was tall when I met him but hearing the exact measurements out loud was shocking.

"Okay, question number two, what law firm do you work for?" I asked.

"Marshall and Matthews."

'Wait...'

That's the law firm I work for.

"Be serious." I said as the lady came back and she gave us our drinks.

"I'm being one hundred percent serious." he claimed.

"That's impossible because I work there. I've never seen you."

All of a sudden things clicked.

Elijah Matthews.

Marshall and Matthews.

'This motherfucker-...'

"You own a law firm?" I asked and tried to refrain from getting loud.

"No." he answered.

"Oh." I sipped my drink.

"My father owns a law firm."

I almost choked on my water.

"Umm." I tried to keep my composure.

People with money don't like when others make a big deal about it.

A different woman from before came and took our orders then disappeared with them.

"So your father is Matthews. Who's Marshall?"

"My uncle on my mother's side. He and my father were best friends before my father got with my mother and they both wanted to be lawyers. Now their firm is number two in the country. One in the state." he explained.

Finally, I got more than one sentence out of him. I could listen to him talk all day if he let me. He has such a nice voice.

"That's amazing." I replied.

'I've been working for his father for a few weeks now. I feel like a peasant.'

"So you decided to become a lawyer like him?" I asked.

"Not necessarily. I'm technically not even a lawyer. I just know the business and how it runs so that, when he's dead and gone, I can take over." he explained nonchalantly. The way he sounds makes him seem like it's not what he actually wants to do.

"And what do you want to do?" I wondered.

He looked at me like he was shocked I asked or it was a complicated question. "How do you know this isn't what I want to do?" he asked.

"Because of how you talk about it. You don't seem enthusiastic about the career, when most people talk about their futures, and it's something they want to do, their eyes light up. Their smile is brightly lit. It's like a boost of serotonin for them. While you just kind of...inform and carry on." I explained.

He looked at me like he didn't know what to say then looked back at the table.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you."

"That's not it. I'm not offended. I just like the way you pointed it out. You're very observant, you know that?" he said and took a sip of whiskey.

I smiled slightly then took a sip of my water.

"Any other questions?" he wondered.

"Age?" I asked.

"30."

I stared at him.

"Are you calling me old?" he asked.

"What? No! Sorry...I just wouldn't have guessed. You don't look older than 24. A bit intimidating, but not older." I explained.

"You think I look intimidating?" he asked and took another sip of whiskey.

"Well, yea."

"Why?"

"You're tall. You're built like you could throw me. You drink whiskey. You have several scars like you often get into fist fights with black bears." That last sentence made him laugh his beautiful laugh.

"And you smoke cigarettes. I've seen you blow the smoke out of your nose like a psychopath. And don't even get me started on how you ordered a large black coffee."

He laughed again.

"Well..." he began. "I'm tall by genetics. My father is 6'3 and my mother is 5'9. I have a habit of working out to control my anger and I am angry a lot. The scars are like you said, I'm clumsy. I started smoking when I was 16. You get used to it. Black coffee is the closest thing to liquor that I can drink in the morning without looking like I should be held in rehab."

"And the whiskey?"

"The entire family drinks. I was gonna get there at some point." he answered and then took a sip as if it was to mock me.

Our food came out and he asked for a refill in both of our glasses.

____________________________________

We finished eating and were walking the route back to the car.

"So, you've asked me several questions and I know very little about you that doesn't seem fair." he said as we hopped into the car.

"Ask whatever you want." I stated as he started the car.

"Question number one." I'm almost certain he was mocking me. "Why did you choose to intern at the firm?" he asked as we got into the road.

"I went to college. I hated it. I just didn't think it was for me, my mom thought that was fine, I just had to get a job somewhere. But lucky for me, my aunt works for Marshall and Matthews so she helped to get me an internship at the nearest branch even though she's out of state. I may or may not have lied and said I was still in school for political science. I'm here because it pays well for an internship."

"Right. Question number two." he began and I snickered a little. "What's your-..." before he could finish his phone began to ring. "Excuse me." he begged and accepted the call.

"What?" he said aggressively.

"What?" he repeated but this time in more of a confused tone.

"I'm kind of busy right now." he responded.

'I wonder what they're talking about.' I thought to myself.

"Fine, if it'll get you to shut up, I'll stop by. For fifteen minutes." he replied. "Yea, whatever. I'll be there in ten." he claimed and hung up the phone.

"We need to make a quick stop." he said and sounded annoyed.