Who: Kathy and Eli What:Girltalk Where: A local restaurant When: This evening Warnings: None
There was something about a night among adults, even if it was just one other adult, sounded promising. She’d left Georgie in the very capable hands of Benedict and Evie and she’d been so excited she barely noticed when she’d left.
She wasn’t wearing the suit she’d worn to work, she’d changed into a pair of jeans and dressed them up nicely with a purple blouse and she’d, quite literally, let her hair down. She doubted it was going to be a partying kind of night, but she hadn’t been “officially” out in ages. Eli was easy for her to talk to, which wasn’t normal for her to find. She’d take this kind of friendship where she could manage to get it!
She was a bit early at the restaurant so she waited in the lounge with a glass of wine, she was sitting near the entrance so she could keep an eye out for Eli, just in case he needed a cocktail upon arrival as well.
Eli arrived a few minutes later. He was dressed simply in jeans and a dark sweater that brought out the blue in his eyes, and any vestiges of swelling from Blake’s fist was long gone. He, too, was immensely looking forward to the evening out. He considered Kathy a good friend, a confidant, and the protectiveness he felt for Georgie only strengthened the bond. Coffee, at this point, seemed a silly point of contention, and all he felt a the prospect of the evening out was pleasure.
He noticed her immediately, and he walked up to her and motioned to her glass, letting the waitress wandering the lounge knew he would like the same. He definitely needed a cocktail. “You look lovely,” the told her, resting his hand on her shoulder as he sat on the stool beside her.
Kathy grinned when Eli sat down and finished off her drink so she could join him in a full glass. It was only polite. “I pull out all the stops for a night out among adults,” she said chuckling. “It’s good to see you.”
“It is good to see you, too,” he said honestly, taking the wine glass when it was brought to him and swirling the liquid before taking a slow sip. “Georgie is with your neighbor?” he asked, smiling at the thought of the little girl who he was quickly coming to think of as a daughter in so many ways.
She took a drink of her wine and nodded, “She loves it over there, and they seem to like having her,” she laughed, “Well, you’ve met Evangeline she’s got boundless energy a dog to play with and Evie’s father has plenty of experience with rambunctious children so I’m hoping between the two of them they’ll have her good and exhausted,” she laughed and moved some of her hair behind one of her ears, “How have you been?”
“I’ve had better weeks, admittedly,” he said, putting his wine glass on the bar and looking over at her. “The carnival,” he explained, as if that made everything clear. “I saw you attended with Georgie,” he said, giving her a curious smile. “Is he a suitor?” he asked, tipping back his drink a moment later.
She nodded a bit, she didn’t know much about what had happened at the carnival, she had gone early with Georgie and been home before the sun went down. She didn’t much stock in the tabloids, but she gave him a sympathetic smile and patted his arm gently, “That is why we’re having cocktails,” she said happily. “Georgie and I had a nice time, you should have come and partied hard with us, we were home by 4 and in bed by 8,” she teased.
The question a suitor actually had her chuckling outright, or maybe it was the wine, she shook her head and sighed a bit, “I don’t think we could say suitor, just a friend who lives next door and doesn’t mind volunteering himself and his daughter to look after Georgie if I have to work late, or go to a work function, and apparently on the very rare occasion that I do something other than work.”
The sigh and the head shake seemed telling to Eli somehow, and the words that followed seemed even more so. He smiled thoughtfully. “Is he single, this neighbor?” he asked, already supposing the answer to be yes. “Georgie has mentioned their dog, so I can only assume you see them often?” He finished his wine and asked for fresh glasses for both of them, not wanting to get drunk, but enjoying the warm smoothness of the vintage. “Come now, you know you can tell me,” he added honestly.
She nodded, “Yes he’s single, but he’s also Evangeline’s father and thus has his hands incredibly full, I don’t think his being single is his top priority.” It was as honest an answer as she could manage at the moment. The last thing she wanted to do was explain how obviously uninterested he was. She furrowed her brow a bit and smiled a bit, “Yes we see them fairly often, we’re neighbors, but nothing beyond that. It’s completely platonic,” She was interested, at least mildly, but she put the platonic nature of their relationship off to the fact that he wasn’t at all interested, and she was certainly fulfilled in her current life situation. Certainly.
Eli chuckled. “Evangeline, while a handful, is a grown woman. I think perhaps her father could use some non-parental distraction, and I believe she’s involved in her own romance at present.” He liked Evie, and he knew she was the kind of girl to give a father gray hairs, but he liked her all the same. “Are you interested in this man?” he asked, the question a nosy one, but one he felt safe in asking her. “I know little about him - only the small amount Evie chose to share with me. If you’re interested in him, I feel certain Georgie and I should be allowed an interview so that we may ascertain his intentions toward you,” he teased, waving over the bar hostess and asking for an hors d'oeuvres plate be brought to them at the bar.
She almost dared him to state as much to Benedict, but it was more for her own amusement than anything. “I’m sure he could, and we manage a good conversation once in a while, and I can assure you her romance has him fit to be tied,” she said smiling fondly. The protectiveness was admirable, and she understood it. She had a feeling that there was something less than awesome in their past, the two had an odd relationship but she could tell there was something they were eager to put behind them, but at the same time it was clear that “something” still governed their lives. She’d never asked, had never really thought about asking, it wasn’t her business.
“Interested?” she paused and finished off her glass of wine and leaned against the bar with her elbow a bit and shrugged, “I haven’t got any idea what that word means much these days, I don’t really...Date. I assure you, no interview process is necessary, his intentions are likely much more innocent than mine would be,” she said laughing.
“Yes, but would you like to date him?” Eli asked, forever pushing for information. “If you would, have you mentioned it to him?” he took another sip of his wine and set the goblet aside, turning slightly on the stool to look at her. “Not all men feel comfortable approaching a successful, beautiful woman,” he told her truthfully. He grinned. “And not all men realize they need one in their lives. If you find this man interesting, perhaps ask him to dinner. How long have you and Georgie’s father been separated, if you don’t mind me asking?” It seemed so simple, this conversation, so much more so than his love life. Meet a nice person, ask them out, possibly have sex. Much simpler.
“Oh I have no idea,” she said shaking her head. “I haven’t been out on a date since before I got married, Eli. I don’t think the rules are the same, and I think I’m a little too old to be...Dating. It seems ridiculous, walking around calling someone a boyfriend,” and honestly calling Benedict anyone’s boyfriend was hilarious in and of itself. He was definitely not a boy. At all. “I would never mention it to him, I don’t want to make things weird, we do have to live next door to each other, and I’m sure if he was interested he would have said something. He doesn’t seem the type to sit idly by and wait for things that he wants. And I’m certain that he doesn’t need anything,” that was her MO in any case. She certainly didn’t need anything at all. Obvioulsy she was fulfilled in every possible way. She thought for a moment, at his next question and the answer shocked her once it came out of her mouth, “Oh God, almost three years I guess.” She tried to seem nonchalant about it, as if it weren’t that big of deal.
“I think the preferred term at our age is lover over boyfriend,” Eli told her, a smile touching the corners of his mouth at her declaration about boyfriend being an inappropriate term. “And, love, nothing ventured nothing gained,” he added. “Three years is a very long time, and you’re a smart, lovely woman. Ask the man out. Blame me. I can’t figure out my own love life to save my soul, as the carnival insert clearly shows, and I would like to see someone else manage it successfully.” It was a sign of how comfortable he was with Kathy that he was willing to bring up the carnival insert at all, even if color did climb up his neck when he said it. When the appetizer platter came, he picked up a small item and used it to point at her before popping it into his mouth. “What is it you fear?”
“I hate that word even more,” she said sighing, but she smiled at him just the same. “Nothing ventured, no chance of making an ass out of yourself either,” she countered. She did not like to go into things without a game plan, or without some kind of assurances that things would work out in her favor. It made negotiating with her damn near impossible, and that’s why they sent her into the board room to do it. Matters of the heart had always been treated like business decisions with her, and this particular matter of the heart held no guarantees at all except for a silly little crush on her incredibly good looking neighbor.
“You’re telling me,” she replied when he said how long three years was, suddenly it felt like a hundred years, “I’m settling nicely into the middle aged divorcee stereotype nicely I think, I’m not afraid of anything outside of making the same mistake twice. I’m a sensible woman, I do sensible things, my last relationship was approached with a plan and even that didn’t work out. I have no reason to believe that throwing caution to the wind will work out any better, and there is Georgie to think about.” She then went for something on the appetizer plate that looked delightfully fattening.
She grinned at him and put her hand on top of his gently, but spoke encouragingly, “I like this change of subject, lets work on your love life instead! It seems much more saucy and exciting. Mine involves a warm bath, a bottle of shiraz and an entire box of truffles that I pretend I ate over the course of a week.”
“I understand that Georgie adds complexity to your romances,” Eli said. “That there must be care and criteria and things foreign to single women without children, but let us take it as a given that this man is honorable,” he posited. “Romance isn’t about planning, Kathy. You should, perhaps, date the person I’m seeing. He, I believe, would say relationships are all about planning and should work like fine oiled machines that make little noise and require little upkeep. Bollocks. Relationships are about passion and feeling. It’s the feelings that make all the difficulties bearable. If you find that this man interests you, truly interests you, throw caution to the wind. Leave the planner behind.”
“Well of course he’s honorable, but I feel like the fact that I have a five year old not only adds complexity on my dating life but it’s asking someone with a grown daughter-single parent or not-to go through something he’s already done. It’s asking a lot of any man, let alone a man who has already raised a child. I’m not saying he’s not a good father, or that he wouldn’t treat Georgie well, I’m just saying that as the single parent in question here...I’ve got no business putting myself out there, which is why I am content to assume if he were interested in this particular package deal he’d let me know.” She wasn’t sure if she was making sense at all. No she wasn’t looking for a father for her child, she certainly wouldn’t expect a man she was dating to be that, but she also knew that dating someone with a child was outside the realm of possibility for some men. And that was fine with her. She was difficult, and apparently quite bad at relationships, her failed marriage was evidence of that.
“Passion and feeling are not exactly my strong suit, I have been told as much, and I’m more than willing to accept that about myself. I’m not impulsive, and I have weighed every decision in my life carefully. Pros and cons, the whole obsessive compulsive nine yards...Before I got married I was careful when I chose to date my ex, we worked out the plan for getting engaged and the eventual marriage in detail, the decision to have Georgie was carefully planned out in advance. Which is why when he informed me that he wanted a divorce I was more angry that he hadn’t decided to discuss it with me before coming to the decision. He sat me down, told me he was leaving me, informed me exactly why, and that was the end of it. I wouldn’t say I wasn’t aware that there were problems, there were certainly problems, but before I had time to work out a plan he was gone and I was raising a baby on my own. I had to make a whole new plan based on someone else’s poor planning abilities. He knew exactly what he was getting into when he decided to get married and become a father. He threw caution to the wind when he decided that life wasn’t for him, and yet I’m still here being a working mother. I’m not sure I can afford to throw caution to the wind, it doesn’t seem to work out well.”
Eli frowned. All that planning actually made him feel a sort of hopelessness, and it wasn’t even his life they were talking about. He closed his hand over Kathy’s on the bar, and he looked at her with serious eyes that were intently focused on her. “Planning is a wonderful thing for business ventures, Kathy, but it doesn’t work very well in matters of the heart. The heart doesn’t listen to plans. Yes, making smart choices is always important, and perhaps more so in your case, but you have to listen to what you feel, love. Did you love him, Georgie’s father? Was it partnership or love that kept you together?” He smiled, then, reassuring. “I suspect I would agree with Georgie’s opinion on matters of the heart more. She still thinks Prince Charming will show up on any given day and buy a cupcake and a coffee.”
She looked at him seriously in return and swallowed as he made his point, it wasn’t a bad point, she just wasn’t sure if this was a point that she could afford to concede to. It made perfect sense in his mind, probably in the minds of a lot of people, but she didn’t know if she could reconcile the feelings of the heart and her innate desire to make good choices. She took a deep breath and looked away for a moment, she wanted to give him an honest answer, but she was fairly certain she didn’t have the answer to his questions.
“Oh honey,” she said finally when she turned back to him, “I don’t know if I loved him, I was fond of him, we got along well. It was a smart choice. We were both smart, young professionals, on the career track. I thought it was love, it made sense at the time. And I don’t know what kept us together,” she furrowed her brow, “Though honestly, in the end nothing kept us together and that’s my failure. I understand that, I can accept that about myself, but my shortcomings in relationships are affecting my daughter already, Eli. They took her father away, and if I screw up another one who knows what it’s going to do. I know I sound bitter, but really I want her to believe in Prince Charming and cupcakes for as long as she can.”
“Two people make up a relationship, Kathy. Whatever happened, why ever he left, it wasn’t your failure, not any more than it was Georgie’s. Eli sounded absolutely certain of that, because he was absolutely certain. Relationship took two people, and though his own personal relationship history involved a great amount of serial monogamy, he understood things now in a way he hadn’t before. “Two people have to love, and two people have to try,” he said, letting go of her hand and reaching for something from the plate and holding it out to here. “Here. I’m certain that would make anyone feel better,” he told her with a smile. “This suitor of yours, remind me what his name is? I’m accustomed to thinking of him as Papa, which hardly seems appropriate.”
“I know that,” she said easily. “It takes two people willing to try, and when one stops being willing to try it’s a bit of a slap in the face to the person who would have driven themselves crazy trying to stick to the damnable plan,” she said taking the food from him quite happily and taking a bite. “It’s helping,” she agreed with a smile. She was fantastic at eating her feelings, not in a bad way really, but it helped. She laughed then, it would seem anyone who knew Evie at all would only think of Benedict as “Papa.” Georgie was sure that was his name half the time. “Benedict, his name is Benedict.”
He smiled at the thought of sticking to the damnable plan. “You should meet the person I’m seeing - was seeing - I suspect they would agree with you about damnable plans.” That blush again, and he took a sip of the wine when it was refreshed. “Well then. What are we to do about Benedict?”
“I suspect this person is driving you crazy with the damnable plan, a word of advice from my point of view?” she said grinning at him and taking a drink from her own wine. “If it is something that you deem worth continuing, someone you want to continue to see, give said person a little bit of a break. We like to stick to our plans, and when wrenches get thrown into them we have a ‘back to the drawing board’ philosophy. And where matters of the heart are concerned we tend to have tunnel vision, we can’t quite figure out why things didn’t work out and we’ll drive ourselves crazy trying. But that doesn’t mean we don’t need to feel validated, we get very...Frustrated when our perfectly thought out plans don’t work. So when we go back to the drawing board it helps to have someone else on board, even if we all have to learn to meet in the middle, plans and hearts can be nurtured at the same time I think,” she gave him a soft smile, “If not there’s no hope for us type A personalities,” she gave him a wink and took another drink of her wine.
And yes. What to do about Benedict Sablier? She shrugged, “That’s the question isn’t it? I suppose I can get tipsy enough this evening to show up there feeling a bit more brave than I usually do, maybe unbutton a few buttons on the blouse, or I could just show up refreshed in the morning with a powerpoint presentation,” she said with a genuine laugh.
“I shall ask about their plan,” Eli said, still smiling from her explanation of type A personalities. Perhaps she was right. She certainly seemed to understand better than he, but there was still something that tripped him up. “I sense passion beneath the surface,” he said. “Is it so with all type As? Perhaps you just want someone to shake you from the plan, take you off the course and make you forget to think about what is logical and what makes sense.” He smiled. “Even you, Kathy.”
When she asked about getting tipsy, he waved over the bartender and asked for the bottle of wine. When it arrived, he poured her a fresh glass and he took something from their shared plate. “I think getting tipsy sounds like just the thing. Do, drink up. Once we’re done with the bottle and appetizers, you’re being sent home to do just that.”
“I think that more than anything I want someone to respect the plan, but someone to shake me out of it when I need shaking, preferably not by walking out the door when they decide being a husband and a father is a bit more “complicated” than what they were hoping. I’m not against passion, I just don’t think that’s something I’ve ever experienced,” she said shrugging. “Looks great in the movies though,” she said with a smile. “I don’t think anyone in their right mind would be against the idea of passion, but for us Type As we need a little bit of structure too. Someone who understands that we’re turned on not just by a perfectly formed ass and a wicked tumble in the sheets but by accountability and a certain degree of respect and responsibility for the people we care about.”
She laughed when he called the barman over and refilled her glass, apparently he was on a course he wasn’t going to let her get out of. Hopefully she’d have enough sense not to make a complete ass out of herself when she went to pick Georgie up. “Glad I have you to look out for my best interests, Eli.” She said smirking, but she held her glass up to him just the same, “Salut.”
“I think you might be too tied to being type A, and the right man for you is the one who makes you forget all those things, if only for a moment.” He wondered, for both her sake and Georgie’s, if Benedict was that man. In the end, he decided it was better if she tried than if she did not, even if failure was a possibility. “I shall always look out for your best interests,” he said, and though he was smiling playfully when he said it, there was still a real kernel of truth there.
“Salut, Kathy,” he said, lifting his own glass in a toast.