Chapter Three:
It didn't take Karl 5 seconds to come back out only to state: "I think he is puking out his insides."
Even Karl did not miss the worry that played across Rias face. She decided to go inside and be a bit of an aid.
She went into the men's bathroom and walked over to the opened stall. There was Eli, kneeling on the ground clutching the toilet seat as if it was a life ring and heaving over the rim. She bent down to him and slowly stroked his back.
She had to admit; as she saw the scene she felt nauseous herself but ignored it. He looked back to see, who was seeing him in his sorry state and it had to be Ria. As a new wave of heaves overtook his body he only felt the soothing hand on his back and another one in his hair.
Another person came in and he heard Ria order a glass of water and a towel. He felt so open to her. As if she could read everything in him if she wanted to. But he was relieved that she did not. He did not want her to know what he was feeling for her. Not yet. As the nauseous wore off he looked up. His eyes glassy and his breathes ragged. She handed him the glass of water. "Take small sips." she ordered and he followed. After he was done drinking she used the towel to wipe his damp face. She was so caring and loving at that moment that he could have cried. But Dupree entered the room again and was now standing behind Ria.
She led Eli out of the restroom together with Dupree, as soon as they were down the hall on their way to the break room, it was her turn to rush to the stall and lose her breakfast. That was the second time today and she wondered if she had a virus, because she had lost weight too.
As she was finished she exited the restroom and went to the research room. She saw Eli slumped on the chair. He looked really exhausted, but Ria herself was not feeling all to active either.
He was the first to disturb the awkward silence between them: "So you and Dupree now?" Even though he talked to her he could not look her into the eye. He fixed his eyes on the screen. She looked over and somehow it was hard for her to answer him. To that point she was thankful he was not looking at her and analyzing her emotions. "Well, yeah. It kinda works out for us two." She answered, not going into the details too much. She had the bad feeling that Eli went drinking because he was depressed about her being with Dupree. But he did not have any deeper feelings for her. Or did he?
They only had a fling for one night. It is not that they are meant to be together or something like that. It was his own fault. He was not offensive, like on the night they met and that is something she really likes in a man. Eli did make comments on her being sexy and good looking. But he never tried to impress her never asked her if she wanted to go out. And that was what is so tempting about Dupree. He tries to win over her heart.
She started to feel a head ache was building up, so she walked outside to get some fresh air. She walked in the shadows, avoiding the sun, not to get an even greater headache. She played with the thought of taking a few days off, so she could get healthy. She swore she felt some changes and she feared she could get the flu, if she did not rest. Ria resumed back to the research room to Eli, she was very quite not wanting to disturb the concentration he usually had, while doing his work. But as she looked to his working place she saw him putting a hip flask to his mouth.
"What the fuck are you doing, Loker!" she said sternly. Eli looked up to her and just shrugged. After a few seconds he answered "The best thing against a hangover is to drink." As he waved the hip flask around, she snatched it out of his hand. She took a sniff to distinguish if it was maybe just a joke but it definitely smelled of vodka. "Are you out of your mind? If Lightman comes in here and sees you with that thing or even catches you drunk at your workplace, you are done for it. You can find yourself a new job" He turned his chair to look at her and stretched out his hand to get his flask back, but she just put it in her purse. Then she seated herself next to Eli and asked "Eli, what is wrong with you? That is not like you at all. Normally you take your work seriously, you actually love it. Why are you doing this to yourself?" She looked at him, but he did not look at her. He was sure that if he looked at her she could detect his lie. He decided to say nothing. He just sat there and stared at the video.
AN: Please, Please, Please Review, if you like it! .