Broken Pieces

36

36

"How are you doing, sweetheart?" Elliot came into the room with two plates of delicious looking pizza.

"Alright, I guess." I looked up at his much more relaxed composure and he smiled slightly at me.

"Relax, Sam. Everything's fine. It's being taken care of." He sat next to me and put the plates on the coffee table. "Now let's forget all about it and have a nice, really late lunch together."

"Okay." I leaned forward and gripped one of the plates in my somewhat shaky hand and brought it toward me.

"So you had fun?"

"Yes. I always wanted to learn how to ice skate. Thank you for taking me," I replied honestly.

"It was my pleasure, darling."

"This is really good by the way." I motioned to the pizza in my hand and Elliot grinned proudly.

"Why, thank you."

We ate in silence that hung ethereally over us. Every bite seemed to echo in the small space between us as the seconds seemed to crawl by. What if she shows up here? This is all your fault, you know? You've put not only yourself but Elliot in danger of this unstable woman.

"Sam?" Elliot waved his hand in front of my face causing my empty thoughts to bolt from my mind.

"Huh, yeah?"

"Are you done?"

I glanced down at the empty plate in front of me and wondered exactly how it got to be that way since I didn't remember eating anything. "Yeah, I'm finished. Thanks."

He glanced over me-obviously assessing my mood and my thoughts-and stood, silently taking the dishes back into the kitchen.

"You okay?" He called while he rinsed the plates. "You seem a little... distant."

"Yeah, I'm alright. I'm just worried," I said quietly.

He turned toward me-I was honestly surprised that he'd even heard me-and frowned. "Stop worrying, Sam."

"I can't!" I sighed and stood to walk to the breakfast bar. "She's demanding to see you, to talk to you, and for what? To make a bad situation worse? And who knows what she's going to do when she figures out that you aren't there? Hell, she'll probably show up here! Then what?"

"Then we deal with her. Or we pretend we aren't here," he chuckled trying to lighten the mood as he stepped up to me and ran his fingers gently up my arm. "It's nothing to be anxious about. Okay? I'm not going to let anything happen to either one of us. I promise."

I sighed and felt a small smile play at the corners of my mouth. "You always know exactly what to say."

"It comes naturally," he smirked.

"Stop being such a prude!"

He wrapped his arms around me and kissed my forehead. "I love you, you know?"

"I love you too, Elliot."

...

Bang, bang, bang!

I dropped my book into my lap as the sudden noise boomed through the quiet home. I glanced up at Elliot-probably looking terrified out of my mind-who had a finger pressed to his lips. My eyes widened considerably when his lips twitched into a small smirk.

"How the hell are you finding this amusing?" I whispered to him as I recovered the book from my lap.

He shrugged and his grin widened. "It's an interesting situation-"

"Elliot, open the door! I know you're here! Open up!" I recognized the shrill, demanding voice from my first encounter with Brittany and almost shuddered at the thought of it. "Elliot! I need to speak with you! Open the damn door!"

Bang, bang, bang!

Elliot stood from the couch and turned to me. "Stay here. She won't be able to see you."

Before I could argue, Elliot was running his hand through his hair and reaching for the door handle with the other.

"Elliot! Finally! What the hell was all of that at the office? I need to-"

"Brittany, what you need to do is leave."

"But I need to talk-"

"I'm in the middle of some important business and need to get back to it..." He glanced at me from behind the door and winked.

"Now you listen to me! I worked for you for over a year and I was a damn good employee and now you're off with that whore-of-a-girlfriend that you have and she-"

"I don't know who you're talking about. I have a girlfriend, yes, but she's not a whore. And sure you were 'damn good' enough to screw yourself over. You were fired and you aren't getting your job back. Good talk! Bye!" He closed the door quickly and turned to me with a smile on his face. "That was honestly kind of fun."

Bang, bang, bang!

"Elliot! Open the damn door! I'm not going away!"

"Sure she will," He said confidently as he took his place next to me on the couch. "We can wait."

I giggled and laid my head in his lap. "You're crazy!"

"I made you smile, though, didn't I?" He brushed a piece of my hair back behind my ear and gently smoothed it in with the rest of the strands.

"You usually do that really well though."

Bang, bang, bang!