Diamonds Are Not Forever

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Juliette 

Mrs Truman didn't look up at us straight away, neither did the model she was talking to, until we were right by their sides.
Elliot still hadn't wiped the stern look off his face when he bent to greet his mother by kissing her cheek. Mrs Truman's face faltered as she looked from her son, to me, then to the beautiful woman next to her.
"Elliot darling, I didn't realise you were coming." She stuttered as she placed a hand on his forearm and eventually managed a weak smile, before turning to me. "Jewel, what a pleasure to see you again so soon. How do you like the art?"
Elliot and the model were sharing an obvious and burning stare; I eyed them slyly as I accepted Mrs Truman's greeting of a kiss on each cheek.
"I haven't seen much of it yet; I've only just got here." I admitted, awkwardly taking a step away from Elliot and closer to Mrs Truman as his closed fist tensed against his side, the other hand gripping the stem of his champagne flute so tightly I thought it would shatter in his hand.
Seeing him and the mystery woman locked in blistering eye contact felt uncomfortable to watch, like I was intruding on something private – even though we were in a crowded room.
Mrs Truman cleared her throat, and eventually they broke away.
Elliot turned his sights to his shoes, meanwhile the model glanced over me, her eyes not landing in any particular spot on my body as her lips pursed so tightly it made her defined cheekbones stick out further on her slim face.
"Juliette, may I introduce Maya Austen-Smith, Millie's friend." Mrs Truman gestured to the mystery woman as she held out a hand to me in a feeble greeting. I took it with caution and gave her a week handshake.
The name Maya seemed familiar, but I couldn't place her. Maybe Millie had mentioned her at the bar?
After silently scrutinizing me with her cold gaze, Maya disregarded me in a split second and turned her attention back to fully focusing on Elliot. Reaching up, she placed a red-taloned hand on his chest and adjusted the open collar of his shirt.
"Elliot, I'm surprised to see you here. You never come to these things." Her voice was smooth and sultry, her tongue caressing his name as she said it aloud.
Elliot's jaw hardened in response to Maya's touch, his whole body going stiff until she dropped her hand back down to her side. They were obviously very familiar with each other, enough to touch, whatever that meant.
Mrs Truman awkwardly shuffled her feet against the marble tiles on the floor as she timidly regarded the two of them, I didn't know where to look myself. I knew I was supposed to look away, but the exchange was fascinating to behold. It felt like they were suspended in time, stood in the centre of the gallery like they were a piece of art ourselves.
Elliot shot Maya another deathly stare, one I wouldn't have wanted to be on the other end of, as he regarded her cooly.
"Maya." His voice was terse and clipped. "If I had known you would be here, I wouldn't have come at all."
Me and Mrs Truman gasped in unison.
"Elliot!"
He flashed his mother an apologetic look, but he didn't verbally apologise for his words.
Maya scrunched her face up, then laughed a shallow and empty laugh. "Some things never change." She turned to Mrs Truman and smirked. "You're with a man for nearly a year and he can't even say hello to you without bursting a vein."
Didn't Elliot say he had an ex named Maya, the night we met in the club?
It was all starting to make sense.
Maybe he still had feelings for her? Hence his less than lukewarm reaction to bumping into her unexpectedly. Then again, if that was the case, I'd hate to see how he behaved with a woman he didn't still have romantic feelings for. The heat was radiating off him.
I secretly liked seeing him squirm, it made him seem more human.
Taking a drink of my champagne, begging for something to distract me from the awkward scene playing out before me, I picked an imaginary piece of lint off the waistband of my skirt.
Maya spotted me and finally addressed me directly. "That's an interesting skirt. Julie, was it?"
"Juliette." Mrs Truman corrected her, a flash of a frown crossing her otherwise perfectly made-up face.
The way Maya used the word interesting; I knew she was mocking me. I must have been obvious in my poverty – its something rich people could smell a mile off, I'd learnt. I wasn't ashamed of being poor, poorer than these people anyway, and I wasn't going to let the likes of her make me feel anything different.
A flush of heat filled my cheeks as I flashed Maya my sweetest smile. "Thanks, it was on sale at the outlet."
Maya brought her hand up to her lips to hide the smirk that had formed on her mouth, she bit back a laugh as she nodded and ran her eyes across me once more. "How do you know the Trumans?" She eventually asked once her smug grin had subsided slightly.
"I work for Goulding Jewellers; they just became part of Truman & Sons."
I wasn't sure if it was common knowledge, or if I was even allowed to say anything about the merger with the contract only just being signed. But the champagne had gone to my head, and Maya was fraying all my better judgement.
"That makes sense. I did wonder when I saw you with Elliot, but now I understand." She gave Elliot a sideways glance before her pale eyes landed back to me, "You're staff, that's why you're here."
"That's enough." Elliot barked, running a hand through his hair in frustration. He was coiled up like a spring, you could tell he was one jolt away from unravelling in the middle of the gallery.
Mrs Truman didn't correct his behaviour this time, probably because she was looking just as unimpressed with Maya's behaviour as Elliot was.
"There you all are!" Millie's voice carried across the room, parting the crowd and moving people out of her way as she pulled Teddy behind her. When she reached us, she let go of Teddy's hand and assessed the frosty atmosphere.
She looked at each of us in turn, before landing her gaze on me and shooting me a confused look. "You didn't come find us Juliette, we thought you'd got lost."
"Mrs Truman was just introducing me to your friend." I forced a smile and downed the last of my champagne.
I needed to slow down on the drink if I had any hope of holding my nerve.
Teddy looked at me all concerned, like he could see right through my fake politeness. I raised my eyebrows at him and rolled my eyes slightly, my silent signal to him that I was okay - but things were heading a bit south.
Millie shot Maya a skeptical look, it baffled me that someone as warm and friendly as her could be friends with such a bitch.
"Well, I need something stronger to drink that this champagne. Shall we head to the bar?"
When no one answered Millie, the rest of us staring at one another in a mixture of shock and discomfort, she frowned and popped her bottom lip out in a sulk. "Jesus, what the hell have I missed?"
"Nothing." Elliot blurted quickly, before anyone else could say anything. "Why don't you all go to the bar and we will catch you up."
Maya flashed me a satisfied grin, edging closer to Elliot. But when he side stepped her so he could rest his arm on my back, indication that when he said 'we' he meant me and him, her face instantly dropped. She looked confused and furious as Millie grabbed her arm and pulled her away. Teddy followed closely behind them, then Mrs Truman also turned to leave. She offered me an apologetic smile over her shoulder as she lined up next to Teddy and greeted him warmly.
I let out a sigh of relief.
That was fucking intense.
"Well, Maya seems nice." I deadpanned. 
Elliot practically growled at the mention of her name, his darkening eyes finding mine in a tense glare.
"She's a fucking bitch." He muttered, downing the last of his drink and handing the empty glass to the closest member of staff. "Do you have a cigarette on you?"
I was taken aback by his question. Feeling the outside of my small shoulder bag, my hand came into contact with the stiff rectangular outline of my packet. "Yeah, you smoke?"
He huffed and grabbed my hand, pulling me behind him through the gallery and to the back entrance. "Not usually. Not in a long time. But after that, I'll take what I can get."

Out back, through a service entrance, there was a turned over crate that the staff must have used as a makeshift bench on their smoke breaks. It served its purpose as I threw my backside down on it and rummaged in my bag for my lighter. Elliot was pacing back and forth in the alley, his hands thrust in the pockets of his jeans as he did laps in front of me.
Maya had really gotten under his skin, something I figured she did often – by the looks of things.
The sun was long gone, autumn loomed in the cold chill that breezed through the night and onto my skin. I wished I had my coat, but the pretty blonde had taken it when I arrived, and God knows where it had ended up.
Elliot seemed unfazed by the weather, enough anger radiating off him to start a fire.
He eventually stopped his pacing and took one of the two cigarettes in my outstretched hand. Leaning over so he was at my height, he put the filter between his lips and let me spark up the end of his cig.
With him being so close, I got a good whiff of his aftershave, he smelt divine.
After a few puffs, once he was satisfied it was fully lit, he straightened up and started pacing again as I lit the end of my own cigarette and watched him closely.
 I took a drag, then laughed to myself.
I felt like I was sneaking round the back of school to smoke with the bad boy, it felt bizarrely thrilling.
When he heard me laughing, Elliot froze on the spot and turned to me, his blue eyes piercing through the darkness like a beacon. "I'm glad you find this amusing." His tone was riled, but his face softened a fraction.
"I'm sorry." I tried to stifle my grin, but it was no use. Maybe it was the champagne, or the release of tension from witnessing his show down with his ex, but I erupted in a full on fit of giggles.
Elliot slowly stalked towards me, and with each step he took closer my laughter dipped lower, till he was stood towering over me and we both were in silence. He took a long drag on his cigarette, grimaced at the taste, then threw the remainder to the side of him so it hit the pavement and a few embers went flying into the darkness.
"I really am sorry. I wasn't laughing at you." I repeated, all traces of humour in my voice gone.
Lowering himself by his knees, Elliot brought himself to my head height, so we were eye to eye. Crouched down in front of me, his arms resting on his thighs for support, he looked ready to pounce.
"Juliette, I want my answer."
Ah yes, the proposal. How could I have forgotten.
I took another drag and blew the smoke sideways out of my mouth, I was locked in his gaze, unable to move my head an inch, and I didn't think he would appreciate a cloud of cigarette smoke being blown directly in his face.
"Your answer?" 
I was stalling, nerves building up in every ending of my body. He was so close.
How was I supposed to tell him to his face? It was overwhelming and exhilarating all in one.
Elliot's brows furrowed; he was always in a permanent frown it seemed. I wondered what he would look like if he smiled, I bet he'd look so handsome. Even more so than he already was.
When I remained silent, he yanked the cigarette from my hand and discarded it next to his own.
"Juliette." He warned. Elliot Truman wasn't a patient man.
I knew I had to just come out and say it, or who knows what he'd do to get the information from me.
"Yes." My voice was barely a whisper. My heart beating so ferociously against my chest I thought it was going to bust out of my ribcage at any moment.
"My answer is yes."