Same Time Next Year

Chapter 26 - Year 7

Noah

I didn't expect to be as nervous as I am this year.  It's Friday afternoon of our Beach House weekend. I just left work and am heading straight to the beach.  It was nice not to have to get extra time off work and schedule a flight this year, instead just a short drive.  I still took off early from work this year, there is a lot I need to get done before Elle arrives.  I have big plans for this weekend.

Even though we didn't have a chance to see each other last year, I felt so good about us after we talked.  We had been in a good place as friends before that weekend but I was hesitant to try to push for more until I knew Elle was ready.  But after we talked for hours on the phone, I finally felt like this was our time.  As soon as I could, I talked to Lee to get his input and his help.  I was a little hesitant to ask him because I didn't want him running to Elle to tell her everything and I knew I still had a lot to get worked out before I could make my move with Elle.  Everything needed to be perfect if we were going to try this again.  I hoped that now Lee was in a serious relationship with Rachel that he would understand where I was coming from with my feelings for Elle and how important this was to me. 

I felt like the biggest thing keeping us apart these years, besides our own issues, has been the distance.  At this point in my life, done with law school and just waiting to hear back on my results of the bar exam, my options were wide open.  There wasn't anything keeping me in Boston anymore and so much that I was looking forward to in LA.  I did love my time on the East Coast and the firm I worked for there, but I had done good work there and I knew they would give me a great recommendation.  Everything seemed like it was finally coming together for us.

Flashback

As soon as I got off the phone with Elle, I started coming up with my ideas for a reconciliation.  I didn't let myself think about it for long, though, it was time to make a move.  So, deciding this was the time to put it all on the line, I called Lee to recruit his help.

"Noah?"  Lee answered after several rings. I can't blame him for sounding confused.  The talking we had done over the years had been mostly by text.

"Hey, Lee, how's it going?"

"Everything is good.  You know Noah, I'm actually glad you called." Lee said, sounding as if he had a big idea.

"Oh yeah?" I responded a little nervously. Lee's big ideas always made me nervous, especially when he wanted me involved.

"I wanted to ask your advice."

"Okay?"

"So, you know Rach and I have been back together for a while now and everything has been great.  Amazing really. We've talked about moving in together, which I think would be awesome but . . . what I really want, I think I'm going to ask her to marry me first."

"What?  Wow, Lee, that's awesome.  Congrats!"

"I think you have to wait to congratulate me until she says yes."

"You know she'll say yes, dude, she loves you."

"I know, she does, doesn't she?"

"Yes.  I'm not sure why, but she does."

"I know, it's just that I don't want to mess up what we have and I can't imagine being apart again.  Yeah, I'm gonna do this.  Once I decide how I'm going to do it, can I bounce my ideas off you?  I want everything to be perfect."

"Why do you think I could help? I don't know anything about all that romantic crap."

"Whatever, Noah.  Are you forgetting that Elle tells me pretty much everything?  I've heard about every romantic thing you did while you two were dating.  To hear her tell it, you're an expert at all that romantic crap.  It got to the point where I hated for Elle to tell Rachel anything you did because it always made me look bad."