Chapter 89: Chapter 89: Research & Preparation (Part 9)
After heading back into his room, Don took out his phone from his pocket and unlocked it while walking over to the bed.
He sat on the edge and swiped through the schedule being shown, then went over to the contacts.
'Right, I should probably get Amanda and Summer's phone numbers later.' After reminding himself of this, Don clicked on Elle's contact and initiated the call.
———
Meanwhile, at the base, Elle was in her room, seated cross-legged on the bed while hugging a pillow.
Trixie sat opposite her in the same posture but without a pillow. Instead, she leaned forward with a wide grin. "Oh, come on Elle, how long are you going to act embarrassed about it? Trust me when I say you did fine."
Elle seemed doubtful of Trixie's words and hugged her pillow more tightly as the blush on her face deepened. "I don't know, Trixie… what if I scared him away again? Ugh!! Why did it have to happen when he was still around? He'll definitely think I'm a freak."
Trixie maintained her grin and jokingly corrected Elle. "Freaky, you mean. I'm kind of jealous, he didn't even make a face like that when I let him use my mouth like a cheap whore."
"You're just saying that to make me feel better. No one can beat you at the… sex stuff," Elle shyly replied, hugging the pillow tighter.
However, Trixie continued to encourage her. "I'm a succubus, and he still seemed to enjoy being intimate with you more than with me. I'm kind of hurt actually. So stop being a worry-wort and call him al—"
*buzz~*
Before Trixie could finish talking, a buzzing noise resounded from the dresser next to Elle's bed.
Both looked in that direction simultaneously, with Trixie showing a wide smile once she saw that the source of the buzzing was Elle's phone.
Even from that distance, the flashy, almost artistic picture of a young Don with Elle beside him was hard to miss on the caller ID. The name on the caller ID, however, was so long that Trixie couldn't even read it fully.
"Don, my one and only, bearer of my heart and conquer—" Trixie began reading what she could see with narrowed eyes but stopped as Elle jolted from her position and picked up the phone from the dresser in a panicked manner.
"Trixie! It's rude to look at other people's phones without permission…" she lectured with a small pout, her face entirely flushed with embarrassment.
Trixie simply shrugged. "Hey, it's not my fault I accidentally saw your super cute name for Don."
"Promise you won't tell a soul, Trixie." Elle narrowed her eyes at Trixie and warned her in the most serious tone she could muster, though it was more cute than threatening.
"Oh, come on Elle, with how many secrets you have me keeping, do you still not trust me to have your back? I'm hurt." Trixie put on a fake sad pout and slumped her shoulders.
"No, Trixie… you know I don't mean it like—" Elle's expression softened, and she was about to apologize, but Trixie showed a wide smile in the next moment, breaking her act. "Just kidding!"
"Trixie…" Elle furrowed her brows, but Trixie waved her off before she could say something. "Oh, you know I just like teasing you, Elle. Now hurry and pick up before the bearer of your heart thinks you're ignoring him."
"!!" Realizing only now, Elle quickly snapped her attention back to her phone. Trixie leaned in closer while still smiling and whispered, "You're such a scatterbrain when Don's involved; it's the cutest thing everrrr."
Elle frowned slightly and used one hand to push Trixie's head away while using the other to quickly answer the call.
———
Back in Don's room, after letting the phone ring for some time, he began to think she might not pick up. 'Maybe she's busy? I didn't even bother asking Gary what the time difference is between Santos and the base. I should probab—'
*click~* "Uhm… Hey, pre… uhm, Don."
Before Don could finish his thoughts, the call was answered, and Elle's soft voice could be heard.
He quickly raised the phone to his ear and responded, "Hey, Elle, are you busy?"
"No! Uh, I mean, no, I was just chatting with Trixie…"
A brief silence followed as Elle didn't say anything more. During the short silence, though, Don could hear Trixie's voice in the background, "tell him *inaudible* come on Elle, don't be *inaudible*…"
"Uh, is everything alright?" Don broke the silence and asked. He immediately received a hurried reply from Elle, "Yes! Uh, yeah, everything's fine… just Trixie being Trixie."
"Hey, don't blam—*inaudible*."
Don showed a small smile and replied, "I see. She can be a handful. How are you feeling, though?"
A part of Don wanted to ask Elle directly about what had happened to her when she initiated their intimacy, but he knew it wasn't a subject he could touch lightly, especially since he wasn't 100% sure the old Don didn't already know.
All he could hope for was that if the old Don didn't know, then Elle might take the liberty of explaining herself. Hence, he chose to simply ask how she was doing.
"Oh… I'm feeling better now, a lot better, thanks for asking." After saying this, Elle trailed off again, and another brief silence followed.
And again, he could hear some talking in the background with Trixie's voice standing out.
"Come on, just *inaudible*… You said it yourself *inaudible*."
"But what if he *inaudible*… I'm *inaudible*."
This back-and-forth between Trixie and Elle continued for a few more seconds before Trixie suddenly spoke more clearly. "Hey Don."
"Uh, Trixie? Hey." Don answered, looking a bit confused.
"Yep, anyway, what Elle here was trying to say was— Hey!"
*shuffling noises* "Owie!"
"Uhm, Don? Sorry about that…" Elle suddenly spoke up after the short interruption. Don decided to just shrug it off and answered normally, "No problem, you were saying?"
"Uhm, yeah… about what happened…"