Mindful Beauty

16) Her Date

Their conversation went from their preferences of apples to their favorite colors to their birth dates. By the time that both buckets had been filled, Ella and Damien both knew more information about each other that they knew was bound to be useful within time.

"Stephanie didn't like school, but it worked out for her." Ella explained to Damien who was listening attentively to her words. "Her becoming a model was both a disgrace and a blessing to my parents." Ella chuckled, remembering the countless of celebrations yet arguments that ensued the next couple of months that Stephanie had begun her career.

"To you, though?" Damien asked, looking at her curiously. Ella had spoken a lot about her family and things that revolved around her, but for some reason, she rarely spoke about herself, which was what Damien was most interested in.

"To me..." Ella trailed, blinking in an attempt to recall what she had said and done. "I don't think I ever minded their life decisions, honestly. I've seen them grow up and be mature and intelligent enough to make their choices, so as long as their happy and healthy, my opinion shouldn't matter."

Damien nodded, smiling in pride at how mature and kind Ella was for being so young.

"What about you? I know you're an only child, but you didn't have some that you were close to? Ride or die type of thing?" Ella questioned, and almost as soon as she did, she saw Damien's expression begin to morph from content and tranquil to distant and aloof. "I'm sorry. I didn't know, but you don't have to tell me until you want to."

Damien nodded. He knew Ella, and he knew that she meant what she said. She wouldn't pressure him to open up to her nor would she make him feel guilty about not doing it fast enough. That made Damien feel at peace.

After loading the baskets into Ella's vehicle, which was mostly Damien doing the heavy-work while Ella stood by the side just in case Damien did need an extra hand, Ella convinced Damien to go home with her while they made apple pies from scratch. It was past lunch-time, anyway, so they could have dinner together too.

"The cheese is so good." Ella remarked when she tasted the warm gooeyness coming from the slice of pizza.

"This is the only pizza I can really stand to eat." Damien agreed, almost devouring a whole slice in two bites.

"You're strange. I thought pizza was something that everyone enjoyed." Ella scrunched her nose in distaste at the thought of people not loving pizza as much as her.

"After we grew up, I just kind of... left it." Damien shrugged. He didn't mind eating it though. It seemed as though Ella was ready to fall in love with the pizza delivery guy as soon as he showed up, so Damien knew he couldn't take that away from her.

"Feel free to tell me I'm prodding," Ella warned, wiping her mouth with a napkin by her side, "who is 'we'?"

"Selena, Vincent, and me." Damien responded. That question wasn't too hard.

Ella nodded, pensive. She remembered Celeste, Damien's mom, mentioning Selena a couple of times during dinner. It seemed as though Celeste had been something more than just a friend, and it also seemed like Celeste would be more than happy to have her as more than just a friend of Damien's.

"What are you thinking?" Damien watched Ella curiously. She had pulled her dark brows together in concentration for a bit, so Damien knew something was going on that little head of hers.

"That Selena... was she... was she more than a friend?"

Damien smiled a little. He wasn't used to having Ella ask these types of questions. It made him feel better about the whole Sam situation. At least now he knew that Ella could also get a little jealous.