Chapter 61: Beautiful Name

Chapter sixty-one: Beautiful Name

Elena

My shift at the bakery just ended, I didn't want to come to work today but I knew I needed to otherwise I would spend the whole day crying my eyes out. I needed to start a life that didn't include Bernard.

"Goodbye, Veronica." I waved her through the small opening to the kitchen.

"Bye, sweetheart. You will feel better soon, okay." I gave her a tight-lipped smile and walked out of the bakery. I had told her that I was having a stomach bug when she asked what was wrong. Although she didn't look convinced, she didn't press me on it further.

I stepped into the cool breeze of the river road and started walking down the sidewalk until I noticed a man standing next to a familiar sleek black car. My steps faltered when I noticed that it was Liam and when he sensed my eyes on him, he looked up. He smiled and waved his hand, gesturing for me to come towards him.

I didn't want to stop or even talk to him but the bus stop was also in that direction. I was tired and didn't want to converse with him any further. After our talk yesterday, I knew he would be back. Liam is not the type to easily give up on things especially when he believes in what he is fighting for. But there is no need for him to fight for me and Bernard, we are done even before we had a chance to start. I walked over to him, reluctantly plastering a fake happy smile on my face. He let out a soft chuckle as I came to a halt in front of him.

"You don't look excited to see me." My fake smile dropped.

"It is nothing personal, Liam. I am just having a hard time dealing with everything right now." He kicked off the side of this car.

"That is why I am actually here. I want to make you feel better."

"No, that is alright, Liam. You probably have work and I am really not in the mood for fun things."

"I actually took off today so I am all free. Come on, it is a small surprise and you will like it, I promise."

"Does it have anything to do with Bernard?" He shook his head.

"No, it doesn't have anything to do with Bernard."

"Fine." His face split into a large grin. He then dug into his pocket and took out what looked like an eye mask.

"You will need to put this on otherwise, it will ruin the surprise." I looked at him skeptical but I took the blindfold from his hand and placed it over my eyes. I allowed him to lead me into the car, we sat in a comfortable silence as he took me to his so-called surprise. As the car stopped, I reached for the blindfold but Liam stopped me.

"Wait, we still need to go inside first?" He muttered.

"Inside?" I asked.

"Just trust me." I nodded and waited for him to come and get me out of the car.

As soon as I stepped out of the car, I caught the faint hint of his scent and my body went rigid, Bernard. I ripped off my hand from Liam's hold and pulled off the blindfold.

"No!" I said firmly, ready to turn on my heel and make a quick escape.

"Stop, Elena." He grabbed my hand with an iron hold.

"You lied to me, Liam. I trusted you." At least he had the decency to look guilty.

"Okay, yes. I lied but you can't tell me that if you knew I was taking you to Bernard, you would have come with me?" He wasn't wrong but that didn't mean his tricking me was justified either.

"I don't want to see him."

"But he wants to see you." He muttered.

"What?"

"Yes, Elena." He nodded.

"He told me to get you, he really needs to talk to you, Elena. I can't say anything because it is not in my place but what I can say is that everything will go back to the way it was after you talk to him."

"What do you mean?" He shook his head.

"You can't hear it from me. Let Bernard have that right, you two are fated whether you like it or not. Life will continuously bring you back together over and over again."

I looked at his house, I wanted nothing more than to see him. These past two days have been completely miserable. My heart had been crippled and fell like it was struggling to beat. I was missing the most crucial part of me, I could feel the mate pull urging me to go to him.

"Fine, I will hear him out." I murmured.

"Good." He let go of my hand and pulled me into a hug.

"I am sorry you have been experiencing all this pain but I can promise you that it will get better from here onwards." I nodded into his shirt and returned his embrace.

Liam had slowly turned into an older brother figure in my life. It felt nice to feel that familial type of care again, it was something I had missed.

"You will find him in his room, he is still healing but he is doing better than he had been." He told me.

I bid goodbye to him and walked towards the door not sure exactly of what I was going to get once I walked through that door. I entered his foyer and took a few calming breaths. I made my way to the stairs and tried to calm my racing heart. It was beating so fast and I am sure Bernard could hear it from his room. Finally, I got to his door and waited. His scent surrounded me and I knew he was inside. I lifted my fist and knocked on the door.

"Come in, Elena." His muffled voice said from the other side of the door.

I turned the knob and walked into his room. I had imagined what his room would look like but I never thought that it would be what I am currently seeing now. His floor was made of dark hardwood, and his bed was set on the right center of the wall. Off to the side was a desk, drawers, and armchairs that sat near a fireplace, and above it was a large flat screen television. He stood by the large floor-to-ceiling windows that gave him a view of the outside.

Seeing him standing there in front of the mountain view had my heart thundering. This is so cute, it physically hurts to look at him.

"Elena." He breathed my name and it caused pleasant shivers to run down my spine. I wanted him to say my name like that again. I stepped into his room and closed the door behind me.

We stood in silence staring at each other. I was drinking him like I hadn't seen him for decades and he was doing the same for me. When our eyes finally connected, he snapped out of whatever trance he had been in. He crossed the short distance between us and enveloped me in his embrace. He nuzzled his nose into my hair, breathing in my scent deeply. My arms came around him on instinct and I buried my face into his chest and I could hear the rapid beating of his heart.

"I missed you." He spoke into my hair, sending pleasant tingles all over my body.

"I missed you too." I pulled away from him so I could look into his eyes. I could see the dark circles under his eyes but I could see a small glimmer in them when he looked at me.

I am sure that my face looked similar, I had hardly slept these past two days. It had been hard being away from him. He cupped my face with his hand and pressed his forehead against mine. He closed his eyes, breathing in my scent yet again and when his eyes opened again, he pulled away from me and smiled.

"You look like you have been through hell and back." I teased him, he let out a low laugh.

"Being away from you these two days has been hell and then some….." The smile slipped from my face.

"Liam told me that you needed to tell me something that will make everything right again." He nodded.

"Yes, I do. Sit with me, please." He took my hand in his and threaded our fingers together. He led me to his bed and we sat side by side. He placed our joined hands in his lap and stared at me.

"My mother told me that you were dating Jack Morgan."

"What?"

That was absurd, I barely knew Jack and if anything we were just friends. There was nothing romantic going on between Jack and myself.

"She told me you were dating him to get me to move away from you. I also learned that you came to my house that day after the bakery incident looking for me but she told you that I was out with Helen doing what I don't know."

"She said you were picking cake flavors for the wedding." His eyes went hard from anger but he quickly released the tension from his shoulder.

He squeezed my hand and brought it to his lips. He placed a gentle kiss on my skin that had my inside fluttering.

"I can assure you, my love. There was no cake testing. I was asleep when you came and my mother used that opportunity to feed you with lies so that you would get upset with me." He explained.

It all made sense now, I should have found something strange when she had mentioned it because he had said from time to time that he didn't want to be with Helen. But my anger and sadness had me blinded.

"I want you, Elena. You are the only woman I want to marry. You are the woman I want to carry my unborn babies and spend forever with you. There is no one else but you for me. I, Bernard Gorge Joseph accept you as my mate." I felt the tears stinging my eyes. I had waited so long to hear this declaration. He is officially choosing me.

I felt this strange sensation come over me. The subtle mate pull that I felt was something I couldn't even put into words.

"I, Elena Rosalie Williams, accept you as my mate." His face split into a brilliant smile.

"Is that your name?" He asked and I then realized that I had told him my real name but instead of feeling instant dread, I felt happy.

"Yes, that is my name." I nodded

"It is beautiful." He stared into my eyes.

"But it is going to change soon. How does Elena Rosalie Joseph sound to you?" I giggled, feeling giddy inside.

"It sounds perfect to me." I replied.

And just like that, everything was back to the way it was before. Liam was right.