Perception

XI

Once again she couldn't breathe, but this time for an entirely different reason.
Seriously, this guy had impeccable timing, no? He was asking her out to dinner, now? This week? After all that had happened? She shook her head in disbelief.
Quickly her eyes scanned the message again and she smiled at Eli's Dutch greeting. She had to admit it was a nice touch.
Just like she had to admit... but no. Just no. She'd have to turn him down, didn't she? She was so not going there. Especially not with everything that was suddenly going on in her life.

And then it hit her like a lightning bolt.

Eli had had a headache today. A 'splitting' headache, as James had described it, and she hadn't thought anything of it this morning. But suddenly everything seemed to take on a different meaning now.
Was this a coincidence? Was anything in fact a coincidence anymore? In fact, had anything ever been a coincidence?
She started typing with shaky fingers.

    'Hi Eli, what a pleasant surprise! Yes, I'm feeling much better, thank you. My headache suddenly vanished around midday. How are you feeling?'

She was well aware that she was ignoring his question and that he would realise full well that she was, but she needed his answer. She suddenly needed his answer more than anything in the world.
She could see that he was typing now and she waited, chewing her lip nervously as she did.
Thankfully he typed quickly.

     'Well, that's a coincidence, mine went away too around that time. Feeling healthy as a fish now, don't worry about me :-)'

And there it was.

She would have used an expletive, but that wasn't her style. So she just raised her hand to her mouth and stared at Eli's words, frozen to the spot as the implications of his message sank in. And then suddenly her fingers seemed to move of their own accord.

    'I'm glad to hear it! About dinner... thank you for the invite! I wouldn't say no to a friendly dinner on Thursday.'

There was simply no way she could not go now, was there? She had to know what it all meant. But she also needed to be clear to him. Deep eyes and beautiful dark curls aside, the little tremor she had to admit she felt deep inside every time she thought about him aside; she should just remain his friend. She hoped he'd get that from her message.
She could be his friend.
His answer came in so quickly that she knew he'd must have been waiting with the phone in his hand, just like she had been, but probably for a different reason.

    'That sounds great! Let's work out the details when we see each other in class tomorrow?'

She nodded, even though she was well aware that he couldn't see her, of course.

   'Sure thing. Have a good night, Eli!'

    'Good night, Anna.'

She shook her head in disbelief once more as she quickly typed a message to Sarah, to let her know she'd made it back home alive. Then she put the phone on plane mode and stuck it back in the bag.
No more, no more for tonight.
She forced herself to cook and eat the omelet and then she installed herself in her comfy chair with her long-awaited tea and a book. She was simply going to sit here and she was going to lose herself in a story instead of her confusing reality, and then she would go to bed and sleep and hope that tomorrow the world would look a bit more normal again.