Nine Ways How

Chapter 15| warm arms

E L A R A

He cups my face, studying me, as I shiver beneath his warm touch, which I expected to be as cold as ice for me.

He gives everybody here a death glare, which can burn anything down. He takes my hand in his and leads me out of the crowd.

"Can I get a self-" the girl who startled me from behind earlier try to come near Neville, but the look on his face couldn't stop scaring her away.

The ride back to the apartment is silent. I couldn't help but gulp, watching him grip the steering wheel tightly, making me feel anxious because of the anger on his face.

Not just for Calvin, but for me.

He beats the steering wheel tightly and speeds up, running his hand through his hair due to the rage consuming him.

"Neville, slow down," I say, looking at him clenching his jaw.

When we finally get to the parking space, he gets out of the car and shut the door with a huge thud. I walk behind him to the apartment, trying to catch up with his speed.

I can feel what's coming.

"Why did you do that?" he snaps as I close the door behind me, "Didn't you understand what I said? You should have stayed away from him! And he-" he runs his hand through his hair and kicks the table beside him, making a loud noise.

I tremble. I try to say something but nothing comes out of my mouth. What to even tell him? That he invited me and I gladly accepted it?

"I'm sorry." I whisper, looking down at the floor as his fists tighten on his sides.

He shakes his head in strong disbelief, breathing heavily.

"Why did he do that? Why they were calling me with all those words?" tears pool in my eyes, I feel a deep agony inside my heart, "I had no idea it's going to happen"

Neville's frustration softened, and surprisingly, he moves closer, extending his arm to comfort me. He takes me in his warm arms. And before I realised, I let the tears flow, feeling his comforting presence ease the pain that had been building up inside me.

Neville, wrapping his arm around me, pulls me close. I don't want to do anything about it. I just want to forget it like it was a nightmare.

"Neville!" I hear Neville's manager screaming his name and wipe my tears quickly. She comes inside the apartment without knocking on the door. Behind her, I see Darla, Ara, Leo, and Erin entering one by one.

Why they all are here?

Darla and Ara hug me gently, "Why didn't you see my messages? You went off just after messaging me you're going with Calvin at his college?!" Ara shouts near my ears, hurting.

They pull themselves away, "I'm sorry my mobile was on silent and-" I say, turning my mobile on and seeing her messages saying 'Don't! pick up my damn call'.

Neville stares at his manager, "What happened, Cara, why you're crying?"

She rolls her eyes at him, "I'm not crying first of all. Now mind telling me what's this?" Cara sits on the couch and puts her laptop on the table, showing him something. I gulp as I hear those voices. Those harsh words. She's showing him the video of him fighting with Calvin.

"Do you know how this video of you fighting with that college student is getting viral all over the world? Half a million views already on Twitter alone already, the video has got everyone talking online!" Cara exclaims. 

"He deserved it." Neville hisses.

The sound of punches, groans in pain, and hooting by people there, all plays in the video. And I shiver to remember those feelings coming back into my mind, "Please stop it" I mumble, my voice weak.

Cara stares at me. She finally sighs and closes the laptop. "There will be an investigation regarding that. Besides you've ruined your reputation in the music industry, what-"

"He didn't ruin anything, his actions were obviously what he was supposed to do at that time," Ara says confidently, crossing her arms on her chest and getting annoyed by all this discussion.

"Yeah, his fans liked his moves, I didn't see them complaining," Leo tells, smiling.

"But what about Elara? She was in that video too and for your kind information, the reason behind all of this isn't hidden from anyone. Paparazzi won't leave her!" Cara exclaims. "I'm sorry Neville but taking a patient from the hospital straight to your home was not your best decision!"

I feel regret. Regret of trusting Calvin. Regret of pulling Neville into all this mess. I sigh. I'm fucked up, what I'm supposed to do? None of that was supposed to happen this way.

"Who asked for your opinion first of all?" Ara frowns. Cara opens her mouth to say something but no word comes out of it, she stares desperately at Ara before turning her gaze at Neville.

Neville stares at me before speaking, "You can easily manage the investigation thing, and Erin will handle the media" he says to Cara and walks away.

Cara stands up too, she gives me an irritating look for three seconds before passing by me to the exit door.

"Don't worry, I'll handle it and delete as much videos possible from socials. Nobody will give a damn about all this after a few days, it's all about a trend for them" Erin says and smile.

🪐

I groan, sitting up on the couch and stretching my arms. A glimpse at my mobile tells me that it's almost evening. I wonder how long have I been taking a nap?

They said it wouldn't be a good idea to go to the store today, so I messaged Mrs. Harris and took a leave. I felt relief knowing that that sweet old lady has abandoned every social media living a peaceful life, and didn't watch the video.

I would have lost my last two brain cells while explaining everything.

Suddenly, a message pops up on my mobile from Darla.

'Hi El, get ready we're coming to pick you up. We're going club' I read.

🎸