Bernard's POV:
"Why did I think bringing her to my house was a good idea?" I thought to myself. I nervously fiddled with my keys when we reached the front door. It took me way too long to find the right one, but she didn't say anything. She was probably just being polite.
Sure, it was my idea to bring her here. I couldn't get cold feet now, but all that was looming in the back of my mind was how I haven't had anybody over in... forever, and I should have cleaned more.
"This is my house here," I opened the door for her.
"This is your house??" Angie responded with her eyes wide. I hoped that was a good thing.
"Go ahead and make yourself at home. I'll put on some tea." I slipped off my coat and hat and hung them up. She was watching me for some reason, so I quickly turned and ducked out of the room, running a hand through my hair. I had to relax, but I was feeling very tense about this whole thing.
We both had our share of discomfort since a "little rumor" began floating around the North Pole, so I was trying to be careful so nobody would say anything more. I was glad that all my curtains were already closed, so that I wouldn't have to do that in front of her, and have to awkwardly explain why. I've been feeling tenser like that around her lately, it was a feeling that was hard to explain. I summed it up to the rumors though, and not wanting them to spread. I did talk to Judy about it though, and she mostly giggled incoherently at me, which only made me more confused about the whole thing.
After grabbing two mugs from the cupboard, I turned on the stove and placed the old cast-iron tea kettle on top. After the water was hot, I poured us two mugs of peppermint tea and walked back towards the living room. I heard her talking to something, and I came out to see my cat, Nina sitting on her lap.
We started talking about Nina and cats, which fine of conversation as it was, I did bring her there for a reason.
"-What I really wanted to show you was this," I walked to my old china cupboard and pulled out my snowglobe. It always sat there on its little pillow where it wouldn't be knocked over by Nina. I picked up the snowglobe and it flashed pink for a split second, something I'd never seen before, so I paused, looking at it confused before it returned to glowing gold. I shrugged to myself before walking over to Angie to show her. "Odd," I thought.
"Wow," She looked at it with wide green eyes. "This is your snowglobe isn't it?"
I nodded and explained how it was made hundreds of years ago by practiced elves. It was one of the earliest snowglobes in existence really, which I thought was pretty amazing too sometimes. I watched her face while I talked, she was listening intently. I'm not totally sure why, but I found myself holding it out for her to look at closer. There wasn't another elf or person in the whole world I would let hold my snow globe other than me.
"Is it alright that I hold it?" She asked cautiously, but I could see her eyes eagerly watching, one of her hands paused in midair. In the soft glowing of the fireplace, her reddish blonde hair appeared like the light orange color of unbaked gingerbread cookie dough.
"I trust you," I responded. It was true, she was the only other elf who understood the importance of our snowglobes, so I did trust her. I trusted her more than most other elves here too, which was strange considering I've barely known her for a year.
I watched as she turned it, analyzing it with her soft green eyes. I sat down on the couch next to her, and she immediately looked up and met my gaze. "Did you used to help deliver gifts?"
This was a topic I knew would come up, but I wanted to avoid it for as long as I could.
I took a deep breath and nodded. It was embarrassing really, I didn't want her to think I was a disappointment like others had.
"What happened? If you don't mind me asking?"
I did mind. What was I supposed to say? I failed at my one and most important job? I continued to think hard about this for a moment, but when I looked up to respond, she didn't look like she was asking judgementally. She tilted her head to the side with her eyes curiously scanning my face for an answer.
"I fell out of the sleigh," I waited for her to laugh at me but she didn't. Instead, her face filled with concern, and it looked like she was worried.
"How does that happen?" She asked slowly, petting Nina more intently than she had before. Nina opened her eyes to look at Angie, a bit disturbed by the sudden change in "petting pressure".
"It was 1947..." I went on to explain everything. I was ashamed of this still, even though it was so long ago. I was foolish to not be as careful as I should have been.
Her mouth dropped open and I quickly caught my globe from her hands before she could drop it. She glanced at my hand where one of my scars was, and I instinctually moved my sleeve up to cover it.
"So you're saying that I might get seriously injured like you and that's just a normal fine part of everything?"
I tried explaining to her that we now had many precautions in place to protect both Santa and his helper elf, but none of this seemed to make her feel better. She brought up the last Santa falling off her roof. I wished I could explain to her that was not an accident, and she didn't need to worry about falling off a roof. But it's not very easy to say, "Your dad was chosen to be Santa, so the last Santa only pretended to die by falling off your roof."
"Angie everything we're doing is to prepare you. I won't let you get hurt out there. I care about you too much to let that happen- I mean we all do."
Did I really just say "I care about you?" to her face? My words surprised me. Of course, I care for her, I wouldn't let anything happen to her. If something did, I would feel awful. I just didn't think I would say that so freely to her.
"I think that's why the other elves are so invested in us. They've been waiting for you to get here for the last... what, 15 years maybe? We have been putting together a plan since then."
She sighed, but this seemed to comfort her a little bit. "Okay fine, I trust you... I guess if I was able to get through last year without incident, I should be fine," She was looking at me again, her eyes searching my face for something, but I couldn't tell what. She was probably wanting to go back. I glanced at my watch and saw that it was now 6:30 in the evening, no doubt she would want to leave and go back to her room. I realized this and felt bad about keeping her for so long.
"Well, I guess I should get you back. It's getting late and I wouldn't want you to miss dinner." I stood up, looking at her expecting her to stand up also, and start gathering her things.
"I don't mind, really, unless you want me to go. If you are getting hungry I can help you cook." This looked like it surprised her to say, as she made a startled face as soon as the words left her lips.
"Oh, really?" I responded with just as much surprise. It was nice to have company, although I wouldn't so easily admit it to her. Although maybe I should... after all, she did admit the same thing to me. Perhaps she really did enjoy being with me. Or, more realistically she maybe didn't want to move since Nina was still curled up happily on her lap.
"To be honest, I've missed having human food. The chefs at the workshop are great, but nobody serves stuff I'm used to. I was hoping you wouldn't mind as much." She nodded, looking at me with a hopeful smile.
I noticed that my heart was beating faster than normal, maybe I had drank too much tea earlier.
"Yes, I don't mind at all," I answered her. "What would you like?"
"What were you going to make tonight? I don't want to make you to change your plans too much."
Realistically I was going to have a nice glass of wine and maybe some toast for dinner. She probably wouldn't be very excited to have that though, so instead, I offered up another idea.
"I do make some really good spaghetti." I said thoughtfully as if I was thinking of this all along. "Regular spaghetti! Human spaghetti." I emphasized after she looked at me suspiciously.
Angie seemed to like this idea. It was true, us elves had some strange foods, and it was common to see spaghetti here paired alongside candy and maple syrup. Some would argue that "elf spaghetti" checked all the marks for the elf food groups, that is when prepared correctly. The first time I went to dinner at Shirley's house, she prepared "elf spaghetti", claiming that it was a generations-old recipe from her great great great grandmother. Her great great great grandmother really liked candy cane, I'll just say that. I myself was not a fan of elf spaghetti, and it would appear Angie was not either. There's no way to prepare a human for how elf spaghetti is going to taste until they see it for themselves.
I picked up Nina from Angie's lap so she wouldn't feel bad about moving her, and I placed her in her favorite windowsill spot. Angie stood up and followed me into my kitchen.
"What is the elf drinking age? Is there such thing?" Angie randomly asked me.
I raised an eyebrow, "Why? Is that something you want to do?"
"Well Dad would give me glasses of wine every once in a while, and I wasn't sure if there was much different between being 900 and 902, when my human age will actually be 21."
I walked to the pantry and pulled out some cooking supplies. In my arms, I had a box of noodles and some tomatoes and onions. "Well, I guess it depends." I shrugged, "Here it is mostly adult age at 900, but it sort of depends. You technically, are not 900 though, and I'm not sure what your dad would think of me if I let you have any."
She frowned but nodded slowly. "Judy brought over a bottle of wine and let me drink with her."
"What are you, a child?" I laughed, "You don't need my permission if that's what you want."
Angie smiled at this. "Good, because I remember my mom telling my dad that spaghetti always needs a glass of chardonnay on the side, and I figured if we were going to be making spaghetti and eating like the proper adults we are, it might be fun."
Spoken like a true young adult who didn't drink wine often. She was 20 after all, It wasn't necessarily my place to stop her. I chuckled and shook my head. "Well be my guest, you can choose one from the shelf if you'd like."
I started flipping through my recipe book and pulled out the handwritten page on spaghetti. "Okay, I'll have you cut up the veggies, and I'll start making the sauce," I told her.
Angie came back over and set her chosen bottle on the counter. She leaned over next to me to read the instructions. "One large white onion diced, two chopped tomatoes, seven cloves of crushed garlic..." She started looking around to grab everything.
"Cutting boards are under the sink, knives are in that pull out shelf on the wall, you'll find most of the ingredients in the pantry." I spoke as I opened up a couple of jars of tomato paste that Shirley had given me from her garden and added them to a pot.
Angie handed me a cutting board full of the chopped veggies and I added them to a pan with some oil to fry them. I've never cooked with another person before, but I had to admit that it was nice having someone other than Nina to talk to while I did something.
"Where did you learn to cook, Angie?" I watched her as she continued to add some spices and ingredients to the sauce from the recipe.
"Try eating my dad's food for nearly 21 years." Angie laughed, "I started cooking for us when I turned 13, and never stopped. This last Christmas he begged to cook dinner, he had taken a class and even rented an instructional video. You know, I actually thought he was going to pull it off." She shook her head with a grin. "I shouldn't have overestimated him. We ate at Denny's."
"Is Denny a bad chef?" I asked her. She gave me an amused grin, which I couldn't tell why until she explained.
"Yes, Denny is a bad chef. It's a restaurant where drug dealers... and Dad's who can't cook for their kids for the holidays go."
"Oh, okay..." I nodded slowly, looking at her with a strange expression.
"There are restaurants here, right?" Angie tilted her head. She grabbed the wooden spoon from my hands and took over my spot at the stove.
"Yes, there are restaurants." I answered obviously, "We just don't name them after people. That's sort of odd."
"They do that if it was a family owned business... or, after the person who made up the restaurant. They don't-" She thought for a moment. "I guess it is a little weird to name a building after a person."
We finished cooking, the savory smell of garlic bread and tomato sauce filling the small kitchen. Angie set the table after I served up our plates. "Go ahead and sit down," I motioned to the chair.
Buying the additional chair proved to be a good investment, as I had debated doing so when I bought my table. It was a small wooden table made of dark oak, and a gold trim painted around the edges. Two chairs sat opposite to eachother, and I had to move the small cat bed I had placed on the extra chair. Nina watched curiously from the floor as someone else sat in the spot she normally did when I ate.
Perhaps I would need to buy a third chair.
I brought over the two glasses of wine. I poured only a tiny bit for Angie because although she was an adult who was capable of making her own decisions, I didn't want to get on the bad side of Santa when he already seemed to dislike me. Elves also had a very bad alcohol tolerance considering we were so small. It was when I sat down that I realized that the set up of the table reminded me of the film "Lady and The Tramp," and that the only thing missing was an Italian man playing music for us.
It was most certainly not a date if that's what you are thinking. It was at my house, not a restaurant, and despite the fact that the lights were slightly low, that was because one of the lightbulbs in my light had gone out and had just not gotten around to replacing them yet. So what, yes I added the candle because it was dark and I wanted her to see her food. It's not a date if I never ask, and besides, dates don't have cats that sit on your lap as you eat. My heart began beating uncomfortably quickly again.
Angie's POV
He looked so nervous, but I couldn't figure out why. He sat there not speaking at all, obviously thinking hard about something that he wouldn't talk about. It was not the first time we had eaten together, there had been many nights when he would eat dinner with me in my room. Perhaps I overstayed my welcome, and I really should have left when he mentioned it earlier. He acted fine all the way through while we were cooking, but one glance at me as soon as we sat down made him really quiet really quick.
Maybe he thought that I was being a "lush" as my dad would call my Great Aunt Sarah when she would drink more than one glass of alcohol. I wasn't trying to be weird about it, but I thought it would be a nice addition to the dinner. It was what Dad and I would do when we made spaghetti, even if it was a little "illegal" where I lived.
Look at me, having a fancy dinner with Bernard, but both of us had nothing to say. There was me, afraid to have offended him, then Bernard, sitting with his eyes furrowed and his lips slightly pursed.
"This isn't a date!" He finally announced loudly, his hands pressed to the table and his eyes slightly wide.
I just stared back at him, confused at his sudden declaration. "I... I know?" I looked at him with a confused expression. "I assumed it wasn't." I answered slowly.
I guess it looked like it could be a date. There was spaghetti, candles, and wine, but that was not even a thought that crossed my mind. We were simply friends eating dinner together. Friends did that all the time.
He turned pink and looked off, avoiding my bewildered gaze.
Bernard's POV
All I could think about is about what Angie must be thinking right now. Between this whole thing with Curtis, and me telling her she should stay longer, I had a strong feeling that I needed to clarify this idea.
"This isn't a date!" I blurted out.
That was not what I meant to say, but it was too late, the words were already out of my mouth. I just stared at her, with my eyes wide. I wanted to say something else but my mouth was frozen. I couldn't believe I actually just did that. I felt my cheeks heat up and I looked away. How awkward.
Angie stared at me with the most confused weirded-out expression. "I... know?" She furrowed her eyebrows together, obviously not expecting me to shout that at her. "I assumed it wasn't..."
"I was just trying to clarify in case, you know, the other elves ask or see me walk you back-" Gosh, I sounded like such an absolute idiot. I picked up my glass of wine and took a big gulp.
"Bernard, I don't really care what the other elves have to say. I think it is clear to us that we are friends, so you don't need to worry about clarifying for me." Angie reached across the table and rested her hand on my arm.
Something about this didn't give me the reassurance that I wanted. All I wanted to do was have a good night and enjoy our dinner, but I felt like my lungs were going to burst. This was a feeling I'd never experienced before. My eyes flicked to her hand on my wrist and back to her. She moved it back and continued her dinner.
"I'm sorry," I chuckled nervously, trying to play off the weird thing I was feeling, "I knew that, I really don't know what came over me."
Angie's POV
It was nice to see that, as random as his shouting was, it didn't seem to bother him that badly. I've been in that head space before, so I appreciated that at least he was trying to be honest with me.
"I'm sorry," He said with a cool relieved chuckle, shaking his head. "I knew that, I really don't know what came over me."
"It's okay! Now eat your food before it gets cold. We worked hard on it afterall." He had barely taken one bite of his food, but he did as I said.
Bernard's POV
After that one incident, the rest of the evening ran smoothly. I began to relax a little, although my heart was still beating quickly. We began talking about our families, Charlie, and how she liked it here. She commented on how she loved my house, and how cute and magical it looked. Angie refilled our glasses, which I tried to object to mostly for her sake, which of course, with her being almost as stubborn as me, she ignored me.
We finished eating, and she helped me clean up everything and do the dishes. It was growing very dark outside, only the glow of the streetlights could be seen in the streets. It was much later than I thought, apparently we had talked a lot more than I thought over dinner.
She checked her watch after we were finished.
"What time is it?" I asked her, a kitchen towel in one arm as I wiped off the table and walked back to the sink.
"It's 9:30," She glanced back at me. "Should we head back?"
"We can if you're ready," I answered with a shrug. Quite honestly, I felt like I could continue talking to her for the next several hours. I didn't have to come to the Workshop tomorrow, since I had the day off, so I didn't mind staying up.
Angie bit her lip, thinking for a moment. "You know, I wouldn't mind hanging around longer, but I'd feel bad if you had to walk me back any later, it looks like it's starting to snow again," She peeked out the window.
"I don't mind, really," I shrugged, "I have extra scarves and coats, so you won't get too cold."
A/N:
Okay, I wanted to try writing from Bernard's POV, and I know it flips around a lot, so I hope it isn't too hard to follow!