Re: coffee: sam & neil Did he get tired of it? That was a thought. Once, a life like this was all he'd wanted. Wealth. Influence. Importance. Maybe he wasn't saving the world, but Neil wasn't passive either. He ran businesses. He kept people employed, he provided a service. He was no saint but he wasn't a devil either. "Sometimes, I guess," he said with a thoughtful sort of shrug. "It can get tedious. But I don't mind as much as I used to. It's different now, though. I don't feel like I'm being controlled or living in someone else's shadow." It was good, he thought, that she was doing something she liked. Maybe not her dream job, but at least connected to her interests. He raised his eyebrows when she stood on her chair, but he didn't avoid eye contact with others or try to sink down in his own seat to make himself less visible. No, he just offered a slight smile to those who turned to look, and then looked up at her as she sat on the table. It wasn't an ideal situation, no, but he refused to cop to embarrassment. "Mildly amused disapproval," he remarked dryly, and he finished the rest of his coffee in a deep gulp when she said he didn't have to be okay with her. Right. Fine wasn't going to work, he should have remembered.
"I mean I'm fine as in I haven't fallen off the wagon," he said. "I'm not drinking again." Which didn't mean he was fine, but if he was really not fine then it would be a lot worse than this.
At least she was taking her pills and seeing doctors, he thought. She didn't have to let it control her but she ought to be careful. Not wearing her bracelet continuously didn't seem very smart, though. "Shouldn't you wear it all the time? What if something happens? People look for medical bracelets in emergencies." Neil tried not to sound overly concerned, but he couldn't help it; some slipped through anyway.
"Wow. You're not kidding." But the words were distracted, and he made himself let go of the pencil with a sigh. Maybe she was right. Maybe making Meredith feel wanted could only help, not make things worse. "Okay," he relented, though with Silent Hill and the tension because of his family, he wasn't sure how he'd do it, exactly. "I'm not saying you blame her," he said, hesitant. "But... yes, you and Louis." Then she suggested going somewhere, the four of them, and he was torn between thinking it was worth a shot and thinking it was a terrible idea. Mere and Sam clearly weren't fond of each other, and he knew Cris wasn't his biggest fan. It could very well be a disaster. "Like a double date? That might work. Would Cris agree to something like that?"