Page 43 of Forever Flustered

Eli stood up, backing away from her, and coughing wildly – only to rush into the bathroom in the distance. She let him cough, hack, and take a moment to recover as he closed the door to put yet another wall up between them… but that didn’t discourage her.

No, the last twenty-four hours had been the ultimate highlight of her life – and her sweet stodgy man would just need to warm up to the idea of them being a couple, so it was best to light that fuse now so he could get used to it eventually. Letting him go was no longer an option, not when she would forever see him with a blanket over his head as a costume, singing ‘We don’t talk about Bruno’ as he spun her around the living room. No, people you could be yourself with, act stupid with, share a single look that spoke volumes… those were your people – and Eli was so much more than all of that combined. Something about him spoke to her soul, and her soul was right there and ready – waving glowing batons, easing her flyboy in for a landing into her world.

Eli opened the bathroom door – and stared at her from there. She lifted a hand and wiggled her fingers at him, fighting back a laugh as he eyeballed her warily. Gosh, he was going to be such fun to fall in love with, she mused, and her hand sagged slightly as she quickly recovered. Heck, she was already headed off that cliff with all the grace of a high-diver preparing to do a belly-flop into nothingness.

Bring on the splat…

“Are you okay?”

“I should be asking you that,” Eli rasped, looking obviously concerned. “Maureen, we’ve known each other a day – a day,” he stressed, but his eyes told a second story. He was scared. It wasn’t that they’d just met, but he was internally shaken to his core, and with his past and all his worries, she understood. “I never… I came here to talk,” he began again, fumbling for the words to convey his thoughts, and she couldn’t be prouder of him for speaking up. “Talking doesn’t mean marriage, heck, I’m barely boyfriend material… and do we even call it ‘boyfriend’ when I’m nearly thirty-five?”

“Ew,” she said immediately, knowing he would flip.

“Whaddya mean ‘ew’?” he launched, latching onto that immediately. “I’m fit, healthy, I could take care of us, well – I could give you children or…”

“Not without a ring.”

“I’m not getting married.”

“I’m not asking you,” she tossed back coolly, knowing he would explode – and wasn’t disappointed.

“You just said we should get married because I’ve ruined your reputation – wait – no, you said you ruined my reputation and…”

“Look, old man,” she teased. “It’s not the sixteen hundreds, and you didn’t ruin anything…”

“I’m not old.”

“You sure?” she taunted. “Because that’s either a broomstick up there or a heckuva suppository.”

“What kind of sick fascination do you have regarding my butt?” Eli wailed in disbelief as she changed the subject again, mentally cackling the entire time.

“Well, it’s cute,” she said simply and then held up his phone quickly, turning and snapping a selfie of the two of them that she immediately texted to the thread. His hair was mussed up, his shirt wrinkled, even if the crease on his cheek had finally faded. It wasn’t hard to guess that he’d been sleeping – and she loved it.

Bed hair, don’t care!

“Gimme my phone,” he yelped, reaching for it, but this conversation wasn’t going to be over if she had anything to say about it. Maureen wrested the cell phone from him and immediately dropped it down the front of her T-shirt. Eli shot back in shock, staring at her like she’d grown a second head.

“My phone…” he croaked, gawking at her in disbelief.

“Come get it,” Maureen taunted, knowing she was playing with fire. The phone dinged a second later as they stared each other down. Then a second ding, followed by a third ding… and neither moved.

Was it childish? – Sure.

Would she do it again?

The phone dinged a fourth time, and Eli moved, springing into action. Maureen immediately bellyflopped onto the couch, protecting the ‘treasure’, only to feel him tickling her sides wildly.

“Eli!” she shrieked, bucking to get him off of her. “Stop! Eli… ELI!”

And then he did…

She cracked open her eyes slightly, feeling something in the air change between them, as she looked directly into his soul. His expression was there before her, bare and unfiltered, as she gazed into those molten orbs that held her so fascinated and entranced from the moment she met him.

“You deserve so much better than me,” he whispered softly, his eyes searching. “I would kill to have a future with you, moments where we could escape the world and play, to hear your laugh every single day of my life… but M-Maureen,” he paused, his voice breaking with emotion. “Maureen, I don’t know if it’s in the cards for us, and I don’t want to disappoint you.”

Turning over slightly, she cupped his face tenderly, she knew her own expression was just as transparent as his own and felt that indecision, that fear, that longing that was there simmering beneath the surface. “I know,” she breathed softly, every word so hard to speak, but so necessary in so many, many ways. “I know this is a lot, and we’re new. I know you’re scared, that you have a past, and I don’t blame you for anything you’re feeling. I respect you even more because you feel comfortable enough to tell me, to share it with me… but I’m here,” she offered faintly, her eyes searching his. “I’m here if you decide that you want to take a chance, to try something new, to grasp at happiness for yourself,” she urged, knowing that while it would break her heart – it was also brutally true and what he needed to hear.

“And if you can’t – guess what?” Maureen paused, her voice cracking with emotion, and felt the sting of tears behind her eyelids, realizing that there was a very good possibility that when he left, she’d never see him again. Only Eli could decide whether he could live with a drastic change to his life – mentally, physically, financially. It wasn’t up to her – but him – and the volume of trust that would be involved in shrugging off everything, leaving the world he knew behind, and putting your faith into someone who has nothing to give but love… that was torture for someone as strict and driven like Eli.