Page 40 of Forever Flustered

“But…”

“The bills will always be there,” she whispered, her eyes searching his. “Your parents won’t be – and in my eyes, you are lucky to have them even if they give you conniption fits.”

They stood there, staring at each other, as her words sank into him – and he realized she was right… again. She had a small house, an older car, worked for herself – but she was alone. She had no family. His perspective was so askew, so far off, because it had been drilled into him that he was a failure. Nothing was ever good enough, but he couldn’t give up; he couldn’t stop trying – and Maureen was standing here, telling him to dial it back a notch so he could stop and smell the roses that bloomed long ago.

“No one is perfect,” she stressed softly. “If you are looking for perfect, it’s a very lonely journey that will never end for you, Eli – but if you can settle for slightly imperfect, then you might find you’re surrounded by people who want to get to know you… the real you.”

“Maureen,” he whispered, his voice aching.

“People like me,” she interrupted, her eyes searching his. “Eli, I’m not perfect in the slightest… but I’m standing here, waiting for you, and we’ve got pie waiting – plus my favorite Disney movie that I cannot believe you’ve not experienced yet.”

A laugh escaped him at how ornery she could be – and how wonderful it was.

“Do you ever stop being right all the time?” he asked softly, giving her a shy smile as she tugged him forward, urging him out of the bathroom.

“Heck no,” she chuckled as they shared a smile. “I was born to tell you I’m right - and you’re wrong.”

It was so out there, so very ‘Maureen’, that he couldn’t help but laugh once more, noting that this crazy woman had made him smile and laugh more than anyone else had in years, maybe ever. While he didn’t think he was the right guy or that he was ready for any of whatever this was – she was undoing every snarl that his brain invented in the simplest of ways… tying his heart into knots.

“Thank goodness,” he breathed, moving to join her on the couch as she winked at him and pressed play on the remote.

CHAPTER 14

MAUREEN

Warmth…

Maureen could feel the warmth of sunlight on her face and hesitated as she heard a cup clatter into the sink, followed by a hushed curse from a voice that she recognized. Opening her eyes, Maureen looked down and saw that there was a ‘toe quilt’ thrown over her – and she’d dubbed it that years ago when she bought it at a garage sale because the crochet pattern had empty spaces just enough to snag your toe into. It was most annoying, so she always wore socks when snuggling under this particular blanket… which is why it was so odd that her feet were barefoot – and it was daylight.

Her feet were bare…

Eli was in the kitchen…

It was morning…

Which meant that he didn’t leave, she realized slowly, sitting up as he walked into the living room carrying two cups of coffee. He’s nervous, she immediately thought, seeing that frown line reappear between his eyebrows. The man always seemed to frown, and that was a shame, because he had such a beautiful smile… and that laugh - even better.

“We should talk,” Eli began, and Maureen rolled her eyes at him, accepting the cup of coffee from him.

“Good morning to you too.”

“That’s what we should talk about.”

“Hang on,” she interrupted, taking a slurpy sip of her coffee – deliberately making it as loud as possible so he got the point. She drew it out so much that he raised an eyebrow at her with that deadly serious look plastered all over his face, which finally got her to stop – that and she needed oxygen. “Do you always wake up with a broomstick up your butt?”

“Your pillow talk is everything,” he threw back, finally backing down as he cracked a nervous smile at her. “You’re not mad I stayed the night when you fell asleep?”

“Um, heck no – you brought me coffee in couch,” she tossed, smiling at him over the edge of the cup. “I would say coffee in bed – but I’m not in bed – so it’s ‘in couch’.”

“I understood what you meant.”

“Just making sure.”

“You’re really not upset?” he asked quietly, taking a sip from his own cup as Maureen drank in his appearance. He must have woken up not too long ago because there was still a crease on the skin of his cheek where he’d rested during the night – and last night had been wonderful.

They watched ‘The Emperor’s New Groove,’ and he laughed with all the boyish enthusiasm she’d hoped for. After that, they watched another Disney movie – Encanto – and shockingly, when she got up to dance during one scene, singing out all the words… Eli joined her. They’d danced, laughed, and smiled at each other, simply having the best time just existing together during this small bit of time. It was heavenly. In fact, she could still see him yanking the blanket over his head, trying to look mysterious like Bruno when she was singing… and then he encouraged her to snuggle against his side, putting his arm around her shoulders. Maureen had almost teased him about making ‘the moves’ on her – but it didn’t feel right. He wasn’t crossing any lines, wasn’t making any advances on her, and was nothing but a perfect gentleman… and she fell asleep – happy, safe, warm, her heart was full of feelings and memories that were precariously close to magical.

Maureen felt effervescent – so the idea of him needing to ‘talk’ and bringing upon the ever-present ‘Gloom-and-Doom’ that Mr. Sourpuss-the-Archangel could deliver to Mother Theresa… nuh-uh… not gonna happen.