“But what?” he asks, getting onto the freeway, clearly a little confused.
“I’m scared it’s too soon. I’m scared that it will change things for us and ultimately, be the…the end.”
“Nothing could change how I feel for you, El.” He pulls the car over and as the wheels take their final spin coming to a complete stop, he unbuckles his seat belt and turns towards me, grabbing my hands.
“You don’t know that, Nate.”
“But I do. No matter what, nothing in this world could change the way I feel about you.”
“Nate, I’ve done this, and moving in too soon can change things.”
“Not for me it can’t,” he says.
“It can and right now, I don’t want anything to change. We’ve been through so much already.”
He pauses and I brace myself, afraid of what he is going to say. I watch him, obviously hurt, staring out the window.
“Okay,” he says. “Nothing will change.”
As I sign document after document, my mind is a little preoccupied. I wish that today had a different outcome. But maybe Elania is right – maybe it is too soon for us to move in together.
At least right now, we do spend a lot of time together, basically just choosing whose place we will stay the night at. My phone rings and it’s a number I don’t recognize. I ignore the call, finishing up the last few items that I need to sign.
“Who’s that?” Elania asks me.
“I don’t know.”
Then her phone rings and I see her face change. Glancing down, I notice it looks like the same number that just called me. “I’m gonna take this.”
“Sure.”
I watch her walk out, wondering who would have called both of us. As the closing comes to an end, she comes back in, with her usual confidence shining through.
“Congratulations, Mr. Wilcox,” the closing agent says. We all shake hands and disburse from the room.
“Who was on the phone?”
“Just a client.”
I cock one eyebrow at her, not buying what she’s selling, but I let it go.
“Are you ready to go to your house?”
“I am.”
We walk out holding hands and I notice that Elania seems to be more enthusiastic than I am. You would think that she’s the one that just bought the condo, not me.
As I get into her Escalade, she asks me, “Are you excited?”
“Yeah. I guess.”
“You guess?”
“I mean, I don’t know.”
“What’s the matter?” she asks.
“Nothing,” I reassure her. Well aware that bringing up the fact that I’d rather us be moving in today is nagging at the back of my mind, I also know it isn’t going to help anything.
“Good. Then smile, dammit – this is your first place.”
“I am.” I look at her and remember how damn lucky I am just to have her. One day, we’ll move in together.
“We still need to go furniture shopping,” she says.
“Yeah we do, I’m sorry I’ve been so busy lately. Maybe this weekend?”
“Works for me.”
It’s not but a few minutes ’til we are pulling up in front of my new home. It seems like forever since I have been here. Damn, it’s nice. As Elania puts the vehicle in park, she turns in her seat and says, “I’m sorry that we aren’t moving in today. I want you to know—”
I cut her off. “It’s okay, babe.” I can see the stress on her face. As much as I want her to explain, I also don’t want her to hurt about the situation. Clearly my stress is wearing off on her. We talked about it the other night and deep down I realize that she’s only hesitant because of her past. I want to do everything possible to make her comfortable with every step we take. Even if it’s not exactly what I want, she’s worth waiting for. I’ll give her the time.
Leaning over she kisses me and then gets out of the car. I follow suit and we walk up, Elania opens the door before I can get my key out of my pocket and I’m surprised that the condo is unlocked. She walks in, stepping in front of me and then turns to me with the biggest smile on her face. Glancing around, I can tell why. The condo is fully furnished. From the living room, to dining room, everything is brand new. There are still tags hanging from the furniture.
She waits for my response, but I’m fucking stunned. “You did this?” I ask.
“Of course.”
“Why?”
“Why not?”
“Uhhh, because it had to have cost a ton of money.”
“Nate, I used the money the sellers paid me. I wasn’t about to keep that as a profit. I’m sorry that we aren’t moving in today, I wish that it was different. But I can’t make the same mistakes as I have in the past. Plus, you mean so much to me. It’s not worth risking what we have.”