“The coffee here is so good,” she says holding the huge cup in her small hands.
“Yeah, it is.” I don’t mean to be short, but Andrea has my head twisted. Inside, I know I should tell Elania, but…I can’t. I can’t bring up the whole situation again, especially when we have come so far and she’s about to leave town. I don’t want her to have doubts when we are apart.
“Are you two ready to order?” the waitress asks us.
I look to El, and she spouts off what we want. Man, I’m grateful how well she knows me already. I stare at her, she’s so gorgeous. And today she seems different, really comfortable with us. Finally she’s putting her walls down again, but I’m disconnected. Damn Andrea. Hopefully Elania won’t catch on.
“Are you okay today?” she asks me.
Shit. “Yeah, why?” I immediately respond.
“You’re quiet.”
I grab her hands over the table to let her know that I’m good. She looks deep into my eyes. “I…I think I might be getting sick,” I lie. Knowing right away that it’s wrong, but it’ll explain my quietness.
“Really? I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right. I might not be, I just feel a little off.”
“I can cancel my trip. Mads, would totally understand.”
“Absolutely not,” I demand. “She’s your cousin and this is her time. Go and enjoy her bachelorette party.”
“You sure you don’t want me to stay?” she asks.
“Yeah.”
“Okay. What do you think if when I get back we…” She trails off, looking down at our intertwined hands.
“What?” I ask nervously swallowing hard. All of a sudden, she doesn’t look herself.
“Can we talk about taking the next step and moving in together?”
I can’t believe what she’s saying. Am I hearing her right? I sit there dumbfounded for a few minutes, which feels like an eternity. I need to say something, but I’m speechless. Honestly…lost for words.
“What…” I stop, swallowing hard. “What made you change your mind?”
“I don’t know how to explain it, Nate.” She lifts my hand, kissing my knuckles. “I guess it’s just a feeling.”
“El, I’d love nothing more than to move in together, you know that. So if you wanna talk about it when you get back, that’s fine with me.”
She smiles from ear to ear. The waitress interrupts us, setting our food down, and I’m bereft at having to let go of her hands. But I find solitude in the look in her eyes – it’s still there. I can’t believe she’s ready. If it were up to me, I’d move her in right now. But I’ve learned my lesson with pushing the subject. This time, I’m leaving the ball in her court. She has her reservations, whatever they are, and that’s okay. I won’t push her. If she says that she wants to talk about it when she’s back, then that’s what we’ll do.
After breakfast with El, I watched her pack and now just dropped her off at the airport. During it all, my phone never ceased ringing. It got to the point that I had to turn it off. As I drive away from the airport, I turn it back on and am contemplating calling Andrea. But then I decide against it. I can picture El’s face if she knew and I cannot bear to disappoint her.
I decide to call Amanda instead. It takes her a few moments to answer, but finally she does.
“I need some advice.”
“What’s the matter? Things okay with Elania?”
“Yeah, things are really good. She actually said she wants to move in together.”
“Really? That’s great news. What’s the matter then?”
“Andrea started blowing my phone up again.”
“Fuck. What’s her deal?”
“I have no idea. I wasn’t nice to her the last time I saw her, and she knows about El, so I don’t know what she wants.”
“Nate, you need to tell her that what she’s doing isn’t okay. Especially since you and Elania are doing so well. Did you tell Elania?”
“Fuck, no. Hang on.” My other line is ringing, I check to see that it’s Andrea’s number. “It’s her again.”
“You gotta be firm with her and handle it. Stop avoiding it in hopes that she’ll go away. Because clearly, she won’t.”
“Thanks, Amanda, I’ll call her.”
“Oh, Nate, you might want to tell Elania about it all, too.”
We hang up and I know she’s right, but I just don’t want to do that with her being so far away. Heading down the freeway, a text chimes in on my phone; it’s El. Just boarded my plane, turning my phone off…for now. I’ll call you when I land.
As I get off on my exit, I contemplate calling Andrea. But I figure I better have a little game plan before getting knee deep in the shit-storm that is her life.
What I want to do right now is tell her that I am absolutely not fucking interested in her or anything that has to do with her. I’ve basically said that, but maybe if I am a little harsher this time, she’ll get my damn point.
Then…she calls, again. I answer, knowing that I just have to get this over with. There is no game plan that can help me; I just need to be a royal asshole.