“ i tend to love people more than they love me. and it’s okay. i don’t mind but…it can be lonely. ” (here's one for you ^^)
His task was simple: find out as much information as possible about Mr. Gatsby and his involvement in the distribution of Emotions. At least, it was to begin with. They were already aware that Wolfsheim was the main man behind the operation, but there was always a figurehead at the front of it. A person to distract the inexperienced away from the true horrors going on behind the scenes. What better way to do so than by covering it up with elite parties? By pulling a few strings here and there, Eli was able to attend them -- hoping that, with each attendance, he would successfully find out more about the elusive host. Elusive, for the reason being that the man was often absent from his own parties; it was proving difficult to catch a conversation with him. But Eli was determined. He wanted to know who Mr. Gatsby was.
Nothing could have prepared him for how extravagant the parties were. It was enough for him to temporarily forget his reasons for being there in the first place, his attention captured by the glitz and glamour of it all. The flowers decorating every corner were absolutely beautiful, and he wondered how one could possibly go about garnering that many. Women wore their prettiest dresses, and men were dressed to the nines -- a flute of champagne held firmly in their hands, topped up most generously. Conversation flowed freely, though the jovial music drowned out a good portion of it. There was no expense spared, quite evidently, but that money had come from nefarious means. He had a job to do, and Elsner was relying on him to focus.
That was his first impression of Jay Gatsby. He exuded a certain arrogant grandeur based off the parties he organised, so Eli was ill prepared for when he finally managed to meet the charming man. Night after night, they found themselves engaged in easy conversation, out here on the dock and away from the cacophony of noises inside. It was becoming a regular occurence and Eli found himself straying away from his original task, lulled into fascinating topics and the allure of pleasant company. But he was successful in finally getting to know the man; that was one of his aims, after all. Tonight was no different, but the conversation was far from light.
“Sometimes, we have to sacrifice our own happiness--” he returned, fingers curled around a flute of alcohol, “--for the sake of those we love. An ideal world is where it goes both ways.” Settling his gaze on Gatsby, light amusement appeared on his face. “I can imagine that plenty of people here love you, Mr. Gatsby, but the love of a party is not the same as appreciating the host, right?” Constantly taking, but never giving. Eli had plenty of experience in people taking advantage of his forgiving nature; he often wore his heart upon his sleeve, and yet he still found himself going home alone at the end of the night.
