Imagining Us

Ch.74- The Fabric of her Heart

Esi could already feel the lancing pain in her legs, and she was sure that she had the bruises to match. Her stupidly charming boyfriend had rented out a whole skating rink for her birthday.

Why?

Because she'd mentioned once in passing that she wished she'd learned to skate. Esi said a lot of things–sometimes she'd ramble for minutes to Porte, who would sometimes interject or just look at her in amusement.

Did she intend for him to take every word to heart?

No, but he obviously did.

She'd made a fool of herself in front of him today, but he was patient even as his lips twitched at her flailing. And it was definitely worth it to hear him tell her that she was doing a good job when she got the hang of it—sort of.

The day was going swimmingly despite the fact that she was awoken at 6:00am to her roommate pouncing on her. Then Porte showed up an hour later with ingredients to make her breakfast which, of course, her roommate was all too happy to indulge in.

He then whisked her away for a time of skating and lunch. She was used to these spur of the moment adventures with him over the past few weeks–from fishing, to antiquing to horseback riding. She was having her fill of Porte Danvers, and she didn't want anything but that.
Of course this day was extra special, there happened to be a very inconspicuously shaped package on his backseat labeled 'do not touch', and of course she tried to see what it was.

"Later", he promised her. Her patience was rewarded, and even more so when they went back to his home, and she was met with a surprise dinner which included Lena, her family and his.

Her eyes would constantly slide to the left as she noticed that Mr. Danvers and her mother were engaged in a  conversation. Knowing her mother, she was imposing her knowledge of mutual funds and liabilities on the seasoned businessman. Esi wouldn't dare to venture near them any time soon.

Seeing her family with his made it all seem so real–the very thing that she thought it might not be--and she was mind numbingly delirious with happiness.

When Teddy and Delphine rolled out the unnecessarily tiered cake, Esi didn't need to make a wish on that single candle.

She was currently living it.

~~~

After an interesting post-dinner discussion, Luka loudly and embarrassingly hinted that maybe Porte and Esi would like to spend some time together. Of course, Lena also had to chime in, much to the chagrin of Esi's dad.

It was after one in the morning and she and Porte lay sided by side on the balcony outside his room. They were talking about nothing and everything. Things that held no significance, and things that held all. They spoke about the day, about their future. He knew that she'd been feeling overwhelmed as the anniversary of Sabine's death loomed closer, and with quiet reassurance, he reminded her that he was there for her. If she needed to talk, if she needed to cry, if she needed to just be.

Unfortunately, the conversation veered to Talia, who according to Porte, was suspiciously quiet and absent. Not that he wanted her to be otherwise, he just felt like it was too good to be true. Esi suggested, for the sake of keeping the mood light, that maybe Talia had some sort of revelation and was on a healing journey.

He scoffed and his next words were laced with bitterness. "Are we talking about the same Talia?"

"You never know," she suggested.

There was a beat of comfortable silence between them as they lay side by side watching the night sky. Then, Porte turned on his side towards her.

"How do you do that?" He asked.