YOU TALKED TO ME
Who would've thought buying tableware could be so fun?
Ellie spent her weekend with Laura and Alex, buying sofas and cushions and a bed and so many other things.
But Ellie had spent a lot of her money on cups, a lot of cups. All different from one another, because otherwise, wouldn't it be boring?
She had also bought dessert tableware, because why not?
Did Ellie know how to bake? Definitely not. But she promised she would make herself learn.
The same happened with cooking. She knew she couldn't possibly live off cheeseburgers and ham sandwiches, so of course she bought a beginner's guide to cooking.
The first time she tried to make something, it ended up so badly, Eleanor didn't entered the kitchen for days.
The second time she tried, she had to call Jarvis for help. Over the phone, he helped her boil spaghetti and make a tomato sauce that wasn't all that bad.
Jarvis told her he could make dinner for her, after all, he had done so for Ellie and Howard for many years now.
But she kindly refused. She now had a goal in mind, and that goal was learning how to cook.
✧✦✧
"You look exhausted," said James worriedly.
Of course, she was. She had been up all night trying to bake a chocolate cake, but to no avail. The thing with Ellie was that she sort of got obsessed with the goals she had.
"I blame the chocolate cake" she said, as if that explained it all.
"I'm afraid I don't understand," he told her.
So, Ellie started talking and she felt comfortable sharing what had happened with James, which took her by surprise.
She told him she had moved out from home and that she now lived alone, and that she had never learned how to cook, and that she was trying to learn.
And she told him she had bought a cooking book, and tableware, and she told him about her weekend with her friends and how much fun she had with them, and so many other things.
And sharing all that with him felt right.
A while later she stopped talking, a smile on her face.
James was as still as a rock.
"What?" she asked.
"You just talked to me," he said, baffled.
"I always talk to you"
"No, this was- Laney, you talked to me. Like, actually talked. About you."
Ellie weighed his words, and smiled nervously at him, "did I?"
"You did!" he grinned happily, "you did"
They both went silent then, and Ellie moved closer to him, her shoulder next to his. She placed her head on the crook of his neck, aware of her heart pounding hard inside her ribcage.
"Thank you" she told him.
"For what?" he asked.
"For not pushing me to talk" she said, her eyes meeting his. In the moonlight, they shone brightly, "I really appreciate it"
"You don't have to thank me Laney"' he said, placing his head above hers, "it was worth the wait"