Her, Saving Grace

22

Catherine

"I'll bring it down to her." Wiping my hands with the end of my shirt, I took the container Damon had prepared for Ellie. Damon never forgets to bring Ellie something whenever he cooks dinner. And it would take him some time before he got back to the apartment, probably chatting with her.

Ellie had no children. Just Mr. Fluffy and her fellow seniors that played bingo every Saturday night.

Occasionally, I would sit with her for some snacks whenever I got home early. My grandmothers died before I was even born so I had no one cooing or spoiling me when I was young . Ellie was kind of like the grandma I never had. She makes these sweet pastries that you know would give you diabetes but eat them anyway. There are times when I'd see her staring outside her window,where there was this huge tree. Before I even moved in, I used to admire how it gave shade to almost half of the building. Its leaves turning into the color of gold every fall. It was a pain for Mr. Cooch (I don't know the street sweeper's name okay) that he'd have to clean it all up but it would be this beautiful piece of God's work whenever spring arrived.

I was humming a tune as I made my way to Ellie's. She loves macaroni and I'll probably trade them with sweets for Damon. It was a win-win. I fixed a smile on my face as I knocked on her door. It would usually take a minute or two since her hearing's not as great as it used to be. I stood there on the hallway awkwardly, waving at the other tenants as they passed. I started feeling worried when nobody came to the door. She was usually on the living during this time and I'm pretty sure she can hear me from the way I knocked. Pressing my ear on her door, I listened to any noise coming from the other side. Confused as I heard music coming from her cassette player. She has a lot of memorabilia  from uh, different time periods. That may be the reason she couldn't hear me calling her.

I guess it was okay to at least peek in just to check if she was alright,  right?

Slowly turning the doorknob,the music reaching my ears clearly now. It was the same old sing she played every once in a while. I opened the door wider, letting myself in; Ellie completely oblivious of some awkward woman holding macaroni salad entering her apartment. I patted Mr. Fluffy's head as I passed him on my way to her kitchen. I'll let her finish her song. I then got back to the living room to see Ellie slow dancing. Her arms draped around her imaginary partner, swaying to the words sang by the man on her cassette. She was facing the window,the rustle of leaves audible as wind passed it.

I just stood there. Mesmerised on how graceful Ellie danced, smiling to herself.

I frowned as I listened to the lyrics of the song. It was about a man describing the woman she loved. As the song slowly faded, I felt a teardrop falling down my left cheek. I wiped it away, shocked on how a song could be so beautiful yet heartbreaking.

"I love that song." I looked up to see Ellie smiling at me with sadness in her eyes. She knew I was here.

"It's beautiful Ellie." She approached her cassette player and took out the cassette, placing it on a little box that sat on her TV set. "Young folks don't know a love song when they hear one. Always about groping and humping. Back in my day, you were going to get a beating for even staring too long at a woman's face!" I chuckled as Ellie frowned remembering her younger days. She usually told me about things when she was still a little girl. About chasing geese up to when she would wait for her father on the docks whenever he got home from a war.

I walked with her to her kitchen, her cookies' scent teasing my nostrils. "What's your favorite season?" my attention back to her, surprised at her random question.

"Spring. Everything just seems so new at spring." I smiled as she opened the container I brought. "How about you Ellie?"

Ellie took out a bowl and transferred the content from my container. "I always liked summer." She smiled, as if remembering something.

"Why summer?" I tilted my head to the side as I sat on the chair opposite hers. She laughed and showed me her hand. "Well it's warm. I have nice memories of summer. It was when I met my one true love, I was allowed to ride my bike on a summer and because it's in between spring and autumn." I laughed, amused on how she enumerated her reasons.

"One true love huh." I played with the ends of my hair. "How did you even know he was your one true love?" I looked at her curiously as she gently pushed the container towards me.

"Well dear, it's when you meet him and know there will be no one like him. It might not hit you right in the face but you'll feel it eventually. It'll grow on you. And no matter how much you convince yourself that you can go find someone taller,or more handsome, or smarter, you know in your heart that there'll never be anyone quite like him. And you would remember that one boy for the rest of your life. And he would feel it too of course. That's how you know he's your one true love." She smiled as Mr. Fluffy jumped on her lap.

"Where is he then?" she looked at me slightly confused on my question. "Your one true love, where is he?" she continued running her fingers through her cat's fur.  Maybe it was too much of a personal question.

"I haven't seen him for a long time..." Frowning I gave her my full attention. "But he was your one true love." Mr. Fluffy stretched and took off towards Ellie's bedroom. She reached out for my hands and I met hers halfway.

"Sometimes...well sometimes, things just don't go as planned." She was looking at me with sorrowful eyes that I just want to hug her. "Is that why you didn't marry?" she squeezed my hands gently and nodded. I stood up and approached her, her arms already open. I hugged her, wishing that I could do something. Anything to change her past. Make her be with him. But I can't and a hug was all I could give her.

"I'm fine. I know he's watching over a beauty like me." I laughed as we let go of each other. There was nothing to be said.

"Why don't you bring cookies with you?" I grinned and nodded as she started packing me cookies. Maybe this was Damon's sneaky way of getting his hands on Ellie's sweet masterpieces.

She handed me a little blue box and patted my hand. "Well, thank you for the cookies Ellie. I think Damon loves you." she giggled and shook her head. "I don't think it's me that he loves, dear." I frowned as she practically pushed me out of her apartment. I bid her goodbye and went back upstairs.

That was something.

I was about to open our door when I heard laughter from inside. Damon was with someone. I opened our door and went straight to Damon's haven a.k.a. the kitchen.

"Did she give you cookies, bonbon?" I rolled my eyes and showed him the blue box, his face lighting up as he took the box with me. And no, not by dragging me.

He wrapped his arms around me, lifted me from the floor and walked towards a chair, making me sit down. I laughed awkwardly.

Take note: just throw the cookies at him next time.

Hearing someone chuckle as someone closed the fridge, my eyes widened and automatically slammed a hand on my forehead. I turned to Damon, giving him a death glare as he too, widened his eyes, quickly avoiding my gaze as he bit on his cookie.

"Catherine Wright."

I turned to the man and tried smiling. Not easy, since he knows how I ended up seeing him.

"Benjie."