the twenty-first century ellinghams

chapter fifteen: cream containers

~about eleven years ago~

"can i have a cup of coffee, please? black. no need for cream, milk, sugar, anything," stevie says, smiling politely at the waitress. as if a slightly wider smile would make up for david and stevie's... soppingness.
     "and you?" the waitress says, turning to david.
     "i'll take a coffee too. with cream. and sugar. but like... a normal amount," he says.
     "got it." the waitress walks away then returns a moment later with a coffee carafe, container of sugar packets, and a bowl filled with mini creamers. "ready to order?" she asks.
     "maybe a minute more?" stevie replies. the waitress nods and leaves to help other customers. david and stevie quietly flip through their menus. if she knew anything about david, he would order pancakes and scrambled eggs. when asked for his choice of meat, he would deny any, say something about red meat and cholesterol, and then steal a slice of stevie's bacon. if she knew anything about david. did she know anything about him? she liked to believe that she did. he was different now, of course. it had only been a few years, but they were so young. a few years meant so much change for their age. he had graduated college. he had gotten a job. maybe even had another girlfriend. wait. did he have a girlfriend now? was the kiss last night meaningless? or maybe a lapse in judgment? whose idea was it to go see the movie tonight? she couldn't even remember anymore. the thoughts and worries we're getting faster now, like a snowball going down a hill, getting bigger and collecting more and more along the way. what was he even doing here? throughout this jumble of thoughts, stevie didn't even see the waitress return to take their order.
     "miss?" she says with more concern than patience.
     "oh, um, french toast. please. sorry," stevie stutters out. david gives a slight apologetic smile.
     "any sides?"
     "bacon would be great."
     "you got it," the waitress replies with a dramatic flip of her order notepad. she collects their menus and walks away.
     "what'd you order?" stevie asks because she had missed it.
     "must i even say?" david replies with a laugh. he carefully stacks the small cream containers. "pancakes and scrambled eggs."
     "no meat?"
     "these arteries don't just happen, bell." they sit in silence for a moment, and the only sound is the slight crinkling of cream containers stacking. he builds up until it's too structurally unsound and then begins to build supports. she watches intently, mesmerized by how delicately he places the containers and the way he smiles slightly when another container is stacked without falling.
"why did you kiss me last night?" she finally asks. he looks up at her and his hand moves slightly too far, knocking down the cream castle.
"that's unfortunate timing," he mutters, almost to himself, looking down at the destroyed castle. "well," he begins placing the container back into the bowl, "because i wanted to."
"because you wanted to?" she repeats.
"i mean..." he looks up, grinning, "who wouldn't." she scoffs and crosses her arms. he laughs.
"can you please be serious?" she asks.
"can you please lighten up?" he asks back, mocking her tone. he's clearly having more fun with this conversation than she is. "we are having an incredibly successful second date, and i had an equally incredibly successful castle before you distracted me. but to seriously answer your question nancy drew, i wanted to kiss you all of last night. from drinks, to dinner, to walking out, i mean it's a miracle i didn't kiss you twenty times last night." he cringes at the last line, either from cheesiness or from not wanting to admit it. she flushes a bit and nervously grabs for her coffee cup to cover it. she takes a long sip, hoping that the heat of the drink will create an excuse for the redness of her cheeks. she puts it down and turns to see the waitress returning with their food. david sees her as well.
"oh good," he says with sarcastic cheeriness. "an excuse not to talk. just what we needed."

~ present day ~

"they want you to come back?" david repeats. the way he says it reveals no emotion. not shock, not excitement, not disappointment, nothing.
"just for this case. he said they needed me," stevie replies. david considers this for a minute.
     "when would they need you by?"
     "day after tomorrow in houston."
     "and when does he need an answer by?"
     "tomorrow. probably morning. as soon as possible anyways." he takes a sip of his coffee. his phone pings with a notification, but he doesn't check it.
     "and you... want to go?" he asks, looking her in the eyes.
     "i think i do," she replies, because it's true. she isn't sure of anything. yes, it was only a week, but what did this mean for their family in the grand scheme of everything? if it went well, would they want her more? she couldn't just be here one week and gone the next for the rest of her career. and that was if they wanted her more. what if she went back and she wasn't as good as she used to be? what if they took one look at her and said, "you're not the stevie bell you used to be." besides, she had never been away from her children for that long. she didn't know if david could handle it. it wasn't as if he didn't take an active role in parenting, but two kids full time was a lot for anyone. if david had to leave for a week or more, she didn't know what she would do.
     "it's your call," david begins, "but i think you should do it."
     "really?"
     "yes really. if you want to do, i think it'd be really good for you to go and do it. i think it would be better for you to go and figure it out than not and wonder what might have been. i'll make it work back here." she smiles at this.
"you really think so?" she asks.
"i really do," he replies. "it'll be easy."
"easy?" she asks. handling dana and henry along with working a full-time job would never be something she described as "easy."
"easy peasy."

as stevie suspected, it was not "easy peasy."