Ella's body was tense as Joe spoke, his words going in one ear and out the other as she slowly backed away from him just for Joe to keep walking forward until eventually she couldn't back away any further because of the bookshelf she ran into. She cursed under her breath at his poor attempt of making last night a joke. Please, the rabbit was faster but even the tortoise knew to take it's time.
"Oh Joe-really I-it's fine-" she got cut off by his talking again.
Ella's hands stayed behind her back, her fingers grabbing the spine of a book to use as a weapon if she needed to. Her eyes shut tightly as he touched her chin, leaning it as he kissed her jawline. She only hoped he didn't notice how shaky she was as tears welled up in her eyes. But she quickly blinked them away as he pulled back, swallowing hard, she forced a tight grin for him.
"Okay...come to my place tonight..? Okay. I'll..cook dinner. A *real* dinner" She told him after he finally created distance between them, feeling like she could breath again.
"Oh um.. I just wanted to talk..about last night. I was so angry but now that I think about it, there are worst things..to be angry about" she told him, her smile faltering as she spoke, giving him a dead stare. *Mr. Mooney my ass* she thought. She gave Joe a wave as he walked off, letting out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. She let go of the book she was gripping before sighing and leaving the bookstore to head back to her place.
*
Ella traced her lips with her bright red lipstick, her eyes staring back at her reflection. was Joe..dangerous? And did she just invite him to her apartment, alone. She's been alone with him plenty of times before but..it was different now. Joe was..*different*.
Ella put her lipstick down, a new emotion flashing in her eyes. She had something else bubbling in her stomach. Vengeance. She had...vengeance. But she didn't want to go full blow accusing Joe of things. She had to catch him, catch him in a lie. And nothing can make a man forget his own lies, like a seductive pretty woman. Ella backed up, straightening out her short red low cut cami dress. It hugged her body tightly, showing off every curve and so short that just bending the wrong way would give anyone a show. If Joe thought 8 seconds is bad, try at first glance.
The beeper from the stove went off making Ella's head turn before walking to the kitchen to turn the burner off. The smell of spaghetti filled her apartment as she mixed it one last time and then began setting up her small dining table. When she finished, she looked back at her work. She turned the lights off so the only light was the many candles she lit up around, giving it a dim romantic vibe. She put on low classical music on her record player that echoed through the room. Spraying on some vanilla scented perfume, she heard a knock on her door which she was assuming was Joe. Ella felt a knot in her throat as she looked at the door. For a second, she wanted to cancel. Pretend she was sick and tell him another day. But..she didn't have another day. She needed to do this..for Evan. Swallowing her nerves, Ella put on a fake smile before walking to the door and slowly opening it.
"Hey..you" she said, leaning against her doorframe, she bit her lip as she made sure he could notice her eyeing him up and down. "You look nice..come" she said stepping aside so he could walk in. She closed the door behind him, taking a deep breath before turning to him. "I hope you like spaghetti, it's my specialty" she said, her fingers gliding around his back, letting her fingernails trail up his skin as she walked past to go prepare their food.
"Do you mind grabbing the wine glasses from the cabinets in the living room-just careful with the picture frames there" She asked as she fixed their plates. Yes the picture frames that she put there on purpose, previously being in her bedroom. They were all pictures of her and Evan that she got from her phone, just random selfies but probably random enough for Joe to notice, hopefully. Ella brought the plates to the table, along with the cold bottle of wine before sitting down and smiling to Joe.
"You know, I was thinking, I know you said Mr. Mooney basically raised you, but what does that mean exactly? Were your parents not around?" She asked glancing to him quickly.
