Elaine had almost not wanted to answer the phone. It had gone off and she had just sat there staring at it without looking at the caller ID for awhile. Her head had told her the variety of people that it could have been and she had not been sure it was worth the effort of checking. Derrick? Her mother? Natalisa? Derrick was insane, still, and verging right on that line where she was going to call the police and have them come and arrest him or enforce some sort of magically enhanced warrant. Her mother was really no better on grounds of... Elaine had no idea, but she did not want to talk to her. And Natalisa? There was nothing wrong with Natalisa, really, but Elaine hurt at the idea of talking to her. Because she had messed everything up. All that she could think when she looked at her or heard her voice was all of the things that she had said or done the other night at the bar with Marius there. It was embarrassing and what was worse? Remembering that Natalisa was just her friend. Having gone out to the movies and seen Layla with Eilidh, looking over at Natalisa and seeing her smile at her and having to accept now that anything she had thought was there was actually... nothing. Just how Natalisa was. Angels are different than us. She smiles like that at all of her wards. If Vicki was here then she'd look at her like that too. It's fine. She had been staying away from her on purpose because of that and yeah it was hard, but she had to.
She had still ended up answering the phone and agreeing to meet the angel for coffee and so here she was. Dressed simply and wishing that she could have brought Cow just to wrap her arms around his fluffy neck, Elaine walked in and immediately smelled Natalisa. That comforting feeling that had always come along with the angel's presence washed over her, tinged with that feeling of regret now, and she gave a bright smile that faded a touch faster than it normally would have done. "Hello Natalisa." It should have been 'Tali', but her spirits were not where they normally were and it was hard for her to use the nickname. When she looked at the angel and was sad... it was hard. "No, I had the day off today, Layla's got control of the shop. Eilidh's probably in there watching her do something or turning the place into something out of a dream to make her smile... she does that sort of thing... think it's a fae-thing. Or an Eilidh-thing, not sure." Her hand went up to brush her hair back, a definite fidgeting motion, and her eyes darted over towards the girl starting towards her. "Yeah, can I just get a french vanilla latte? Thanks." Her eyes finally settled back on Natalisa in a direct stare. "Going to sit back down? I mean, I can stand all day long even in this form, but it's more comfortable to sit."