The Seven, and their Wealth.

XVIII - Elijah.

'It seems like Sabine is warming up to you,' Elijah observed, after placing the cold, sweaty glass of Sprite on the table and throwing himself on the round day bed on the veranda.

Since Tshiamo's arrival earlier today, the Rottweiler had not left her side - opting to follow her even to the bathroom. Elijah did say she warms up to people that are the least hostile, however, she was not sure of the validity of that statement because Tshiamo was nothing but hostile to her. Since first showing up at Elijah's family mansion, she had been avoiding Sabine out of fear for the breed she was. Rottweilers always had a not-so-great reputation that preceded them, and Tshiamo was most certainly among those who believed that the dog simply could not be an ideal pet.

Unless you were some drug dealer, police officer or outright psycho.

'I really am waiting for the day she finally turns on me,' Tshiamo joked.

'Nonsense, Sabine would never.'

Tshiamo sat back and rested her head on Elijah's chest, as they sat in silence enjoying the calm afternoon ambience. This was not the first she did this, and the fact that it was now a reflexive action could only be seen as great for Tshiamo. At this point, her feelings for Elijah were quite evident and he could see that she was falling for him. He was indifferent to it. Elijah took no issue with it; she was someone he could get along with, someone he felt free around, and she was extremely attractive. Attractive enough to have Elijah's friends enquire if she has friends who are equally as pretty as she is.

However, the problem did not lie with Tshiamo. It was Elijah, doubt surely was creeping in about how much longer they would go on because as much as he was not too bothered by the fact that she was falling for him, it was not necessarily a part of the plan. By now, you've figured that Tshiamo was nothing more than a pawn in the messed-up game of chess that Elijah initiated against Naledi - and judging by the past few sets of events, he was losing. By a huge margin, at that.

He'd hope for two things by this point; either Naledi comes back, profusely begging him to give it another shot or at least she would give him a chance to explain himself. Instead, he found himself insisting on speaking to her. And that little stunt he pulled on Clinton certainly did not help with his case.

If there was going to be any redemption, Elijah would have to heavily reconsider his manner of approach because there was nothing, he hated more than losing.

They looked damn happy together, being all over from Instagram to Twitter while he was here in a one-way relationship. That Clinton boy is one lucky bastard, he often pondered every time Naledi crossed his mind.

Believe me, that was pretty often.

In a day, his visits to her Instagram page would average fifteen times while her Twitter would be at least twice that amount. Naledi was far more active on Twitter because it was far more entertaining. He had her email address handle, but outright refused to contact her through that - his pride would not allow him, to stoop that low for a girl that he had broken up with.

'What's your take on marriage?' Tshiamo asked suddenly, as she watched a hadada glide and make a landing on the roof the neighbour's roof. These birds and their loud wails were outright annoying; often regarded as nature's alarm, hearing them in the morning would be enough to wake up without feeling like you want to go back to bed.

'That's an interesting question,' Elijah chuckled.

'I know, it's why I asked,' she grinned, reaching for the Sprite on the nearby end table.

Elijah fell back.

He never really was asked this question by anyone outside his parents.

'I like the idea of it.' He was being purposefully blunt.