Chapter 112 - 112: Night of the Banquet

Elle and Erick were now heading home after Erick picked her up at the Cafe.

"Elle..." Erick called out to her.

"Hmm?" Elle simply replied.

"Someone invited me to a birthday party this Friday," Erick said to her.

"Ahuh." She just nodded

"Should I come or not?" Erick asked her out of the blue. He sounded like a boyfriend asking for his girlfriend's approval.

Elle frowned when she heard his question.

'Yeah, I already knew about it. But why is he asking me if he should come or not?' Elle thought to herself.

"Hmm, It depends on you if you want to attend or not. Why are you asking me?" Elle replied as she let out a soft chuckle.

"Well... I am asking you because if I will attend it, I want you to be my date. Can you be my date again?" Erick asked her directly.

Elle paused and stared at him for a moment before she spoke again. Erick was waiting for her response. After a few seconds of silence, Elle smiled at him sheepishly.

"Ahem... Erick, actually I have something to tell you." Elle said to him instead of answering his question.

Erick gave her a questioning look. 

"What is it that you wanted to tell me?"

"Actually, for the past week, I met Selena Arison and we became friends," Elle said to him truthfully.

Erick was a little bit surprised by her revelation. But he was happy to hear that Elle made friends with someone. He knew Selena Arison so he did not ask her further how they met and became friends.

"I am glad to hear that. So... what is the connection between you being friends with her and my question about asking you to be my date? You have not answered me yet." Erick said to her as he laughed softly.

"I also got an invitation to this birthday party," Elle said matter-of-factly. She did not mention that the invitation she got was from James Arison.

"Really! And so?"

"I will be glad to be your date at this party. I thought you won't ask me and I am planning to ask you instead." Elle chuckled after she said it.

Erick burst out into laughter after hearing her.

"Then I should have wait for you to ask me to become your date. It was really rare for you to do that." Erick teased her.

"Hey... I thought you are a gentleman. Why will you let the girl invite you if you can do it yourself?" Elle complained to him.

Erick let out another chuckle. "Because I find it cute when you do it yourself."

Elle just shook her head as she looked at him helplessly. 

"By the way Erick... there is another thing I wanted to tell you." 

"Hmm... okay, just tell me. I won't bite you." He said as he smiled at her gently.

"The truth is I told Selena that I have a boyfriend. She said she wanted to meet him. I said I would ask him first."

"Do you think I went overboard by saying that to her? Don't worry I did not mention your name to her." Elle said to him, unsure whether she did something wrong or not.

Erick averted his gaze to the girl in his passenger seat. There was a spark in his eyes as he stared at her.

He was really glad that Elle was still thinking of him as her boyfriend even if they were just pretending.

"Why you look like you did something wrong? You did the right thing." Erick chuckled. Elle gave him a confused look.

"Then I should be your date! Make sure that you introduce me to your friends as your boyfriend. It is unfair for me if you won't do that." 

"I already introduced you as my girlfriend to all my friends and colleagues. You should be responsible for me!" 

Elle was at loss for words. Sometimes she could not comprehend Erick's way of thinking. 

"Hey, why did you become so silent suddenly? Did I say something wrong." Erick asked her as he did not receive any response from her.

"I do not know whether you were serious or you were just joking just a while ago," Elle said to him truthfully.

"Of course I am serious!" Erick insisted.

This time Elle was the one who burst into laughter."Alright! I believe you. No need to be so worked out about it."

"Hmm Very good!" Erick commented as he was satisfied with what she just said.

"By the way, can you ask for a day off tomorrow?"

"Why?"

"Hmm. The party is the day after tomorrow. Let's go buy our matching clothes as proof that we are a couple." Erick said to her with full of humor.

He was trying to tease her a little. Elle was speechless and just staring at him with disbelief. Seeing her expression, he could not contain his laughter.

"Now, that is how I joke. Can you differentiate now if I am serious or I am just joking?" 

Elle shot him a sharp glare. She had the urge to hit this handsome guy beside her.

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The night of the Birthday Banquet

There were already a lot of guests when Erick and Elle arrived at the RZ Imperial Hotel. The theme of the party was White and Black Masquerade Ball. Everyone was dressed up in their black and white fanciest clothes matching with different types of masks.

Elle wore a white floral lace off-shoulder dress which is two inches above her knee paired with white ankle strap lace-up high heel sandals.

Beside her, Erick wore a black tuxedo paired with black leather shoes. He looked so gorgeous in all black which also made him the perfect action man in that tuxedo.

Of course, Erick did not forget to wear the watch which was given to him by Elle as a gift. And as what Erick had planned, both of them were wearing a silver metal masquerade ball couple mask.

They met with the other task force members at the entrance of the ballroom hall. They greeted each other as they saw each other.

They were not surprised compared before when they saw Erick and Elle together. They noticed right away that the two were wearing a masquerade couple masks.

This made them teased the couple.

"Oh here is our matching couple!" June commented.

"Hey Chief Lee, did you both plan to feed us dog food again tonight?" Carl said as he teased the couple.

Everyone just laughed at the comment of those two. On the other hand, Bryan and Elle met again after the mock robbery incident. Bryan gave her a grateful look.

Elle understood that her brilliant plan succeeded so she just smiled at him meaningfully.

"Hi, Elle! We meet again. I am sorry about last time." April approached Elle.

This was the first time they met again after the event wherein she confessed to Erick in front of her. She felt embarrassed facing Elle after what she did.

Elle just smiled at her and said, "Don't worry about it April. Let's forget it."

April smiled back at her. She was glad that Elle did not mind it anymore.

"Hey Elle, we are glad to see you again. Hope we can all be friends here." It was Rose who spoke up. Elle greeted her with a smile.

"Let's go inside. Captain Jason, Jane, and Allen are already inside. Only Marie cannot make it tonight." Carl said to them.

Selena and James were already entertaining the guests when Elle and Erick together with the other task force members entered inside the hall.

They proceeded to the nearby table wherein they saw Captain Jason and the rest were sitting.

Selena noticed the newcomers right away. Even with their mask, she could still identify them most especially Erick. Her eyes brightened up as soon as she saw Erick.

She whispered to James. "Brother, Chief Detective Erick Lee and his team members are already here. Let's go and greet them."

James nodded in agreement so the Arison Siblings excused themselves with the other guests whom they were just having a conversation.

They started to walk towards the table wherein the Task Force seated together.

"By the way, Selena have you talked with Elle. Is she coming?" James asked her.

"Yeah, I visited her yesterday and she said she will come tonight. Don't worry brother, you will see your savior in a while. Be patient okay."

Selena let out a soft chuckle as she teased her brother. James was excited to see her.

He often saw her wearing simple pants and t-shirts so he was curious about how she would look like if she is wearing a formal dress. 

Now, Selena and James were standing in front of the task force. The task force members stood up and greeted them as soon as they saw James and Selena.

"Hello everyone. I am really glad to see you all here." Selena said to them in a cheerful tone.

"Thank you for inviting us here." Captain Jason said.

"Please enjoy the party," James said to them.

They all greeted James a happy birthday. James returned their greeting with a grateful smile. 

Then Selena turned to Erick. "Hey, Chief Lee I am really happy that you fulfilled your promise of coming here tonight."

'Promise? So he made a promise to her that he would come tonight? Then why bother asking me if he should come or not.' Elle thought to herself as she heard Selena.

The Arison siblings did not notice yet the presence of Elle. They did not recognize her since she was wearing her mask and she was just silently observing beside Erick.

Erick just chuckled with Selena's remark. The truth was he did not make any promises but the girl beside him already gave him a guilty verdict.

Erick was unaware of it so he just went along with Selena. "Well, the task force could not refuse your generous invitation." 

Everyone nodded in agreement. Who could afford to refuse her? Selena was always quite the beauty. She was also generous, kind and easy to approach with. So they did not have the heart to refuse her.

This was what the other members think. Unknown to them, there was someone who can refuse her and that someone was their Chief Detective Erick Lee.

Selena felt touched when she heard Erick. She smiled sweetly at him. It did not escape the observant eyes of Elle.

"Ahem, I am the one who has a birthday today but it seems like you just came here because of my sister," James commented, he pretended to be hurt.

They all laughed except for one person and it was Elle. She did not find it funny.

She stared at Erick who was also laughing with them. She raised her brows as she looked at him with daggers.

As if Erick felt her dangerous glare, he turned to the girl beside her who was very silent since the Arison Sibling arrived to greet them.

"Hey, are you okay? What's wrong?" Erick asked her softly.

'What's wrong your as*! You are the problem here!' Elle thought to herself as she ignored his question and gave him a sharp glare.

Erick was stupefied when he saw her cold stare and sharp glare.

'Hey, why is Elle looking at me like that? What did I do wrong this time?' Erick asked himself quizzically.

Elle moved away from Erick and she walked towards the Arison Siblings.

'Now it's my turn. I could no longer stay silent on the side.'

As everyone was still laughing, they did not notice that Elle was already facing Selena and James. 

Selena and James were now staring at the girl who just appeared in front of them. 

She flashed her signature evil smile before she removed her mask and said "Hi!"

Elle just did a simple action and said that one word but Selena and James were both astounded as they saw the face behind that mask and as they heard her familiar voice.

They both exclaimed her name. "Elle!"

Except for Erick, the other members of Task Force were also shocked when they heard Selena and James called Elle's name. They all had the same question in mind.

'They knew each other?'