by Rich Amooi
“Of course he does. Well, let’s see what he finds.” Ellie went back to the place she marked in the book and continued reading.
“Where do baby caterpillars come from?” asked Jose.
Great.
Ellie was not prepared to talk about the birds and the bees, let alone the reproductive processes of butterflies. Especially in front of Cedric.
Ellie smiled at Jose and then looked at Cedric. She knew the answer, of course, but didn’t want to get into it. Maybe she could just continue with the story and Jose would forget about it.
“They come from butterfly eggs,” said Cedric as Ellie’s mouth hung open. “The butterfly lays the eggs on the bottom side of leaves so they don’t get wet from the rain. They’re very smart.”
Where the heck did Cedric get that from? What else was he hiding?
“Are butterfly eggs like Easter eggs?” asked Jose.
Ellie turned to Cedric to see if he was going to respond to that one as well.
Good luck!
“No,” answered Cedric. “Easter eggs are a lot bigger and much more colorful. But they do have something in common. Do you know what it is?”
“No,” said Jose.
Neither did Ellie.
“Butterflies like to lay their eggs in March and April. And that’s when Easter is.”
Jose’s eyes opened wide. So did Ellie’s.
Very impressive. Cedric was good with children too. She pictured him as a father and had a feeling he’d be a great one. He was kind and sincere and down to earth.
Pickles!
Ellie applied the brakes on her positive thoughts about Cedric. He was a liar and she had to think with her head, not her—
“Is he your boyfriend?” asked Jose.
“Not yet,” answered Cedric, grinning.
Ellie shifted in her chair. She felt her body temperature rising.
“Do you like to kiss?” asked Jose.
“Absolutely.” Cedric bent down to high-five Jose. “Do you know the world record for the longest kiss?”
“Okay!” Ellie’s hands flew in the air. “That’s enough questions for now. Let’s see what the caterpillar does next.”
Twenty minutes later Ellie and Cedric said goodbye to Jose. Ellie moved the two stools against the wall and placed the book on the shelf.
Ellie tried to act professional and pretend there was nothing happening between her and Cedric. “So, do you have any questions about anything?” She stood there anxiously, tapping her fingers on the side of her leg, waiting for an answer.
Cedric smiled. He was getting to know Ellie well. She had a lot of cute nervous habits. His favorite was probably the one she was doing at the moment…that finger-dance on the side of her leg. Very cute.
Crap.
He just realized he’d been staring at her thighs for the last twenty seconds or so. Ellie’s finger-dancing on her leg stopped, and Cedric slowly lifted his gaze to her eyes. She did not look happy.
Busted. Again.
Cedric scratched the side of his face and shrugged. He wondered if his nervous habits were as obvious as hers. He wanted to apologize to her for his random acts of stupidity whenever she was within a fifty-mile radius. He opened his mouth, hoping a few sensible words would come out.
“Ellie …”
Well, okay, one word. That was a start. Ellie held up her hand to stop Cedric, as if she knew what he was going to say.
“Cedric, let’s not get distracted here.”
He stared at her lips. “I …”
“In fact, can you email me your—”
Cedric kissed her.
And it was the most amazing kiss.
Then Peggy walked in and Ellie slapped Cedric.
Crap.
“Oh,” said Peggy. “I—”
“I’m very sorry,” said Cedric. “I shouldn’t have done that. I’ll go now.”
As Cedric left the library, he caressed the side of his face and smiled. He’d gladly take another ten of those slaps for just one more kiss from Ellie.
Chapter Twelve
“He kissed me in the library!” said Ellie. “That’s my place of work and it’s completely inappropriate.” Ellie forked some noodles on her plate. “I’m up for the biggest promotion of my life and if that kiss has repercussions, I’ll kill him with my bare hands.”
Grandpa Frank laughed. “You’re not overreacting a bit?”
“You don’t go kissing people in their place of work.”
“Well, I don’t know about that. Things happen in the moment of passion and sometimes you just can’t help yourself. I kissed your grandma in the malt shop … a few times.”
Ellie stopped chewing.
“Don’t look so surprised. I wasn’t a prude, you know.”
“I know, but …”
“Is it about the promotion? Or is it something else?”
Grandpa Frank knew her so well.
No. It wasn’t about the promotion, now that she’d thought about it.
The real issue was … she enjoyed the kiss, and she didn’t want it to stop. That scared her, because she still wasn’t sure about who he was. She was attracted to Cedric that was for sure. He was witty and charming, but she had a lot of unanswered questions and doubts about him.
Ellie smiled. “Have I ever told you that you’re a wise man?”
“Yes.” Grandpa Frank chuckled. “But I don’t get tired of hearing it.”
“I enjoyed it. The kiss.”
Grandpa Frank nodded.
“And I slapped him.”
Grandpa Frank grimaced. “Poor guy. I guess this is one of those times where we men don’t understand you women. Why would you slap him if you enjoyed the kiss?”
Ellie shrugged and fidgeted with the salt and pepper shakers. “Nervous reaction, I guess.”
“Okay …”
“Peggy was standing there too. I wanted her to know it wasn’t my idea to kiss and I would never think of doing that in the library.”
“Now we’re getting somewhere.”
“I should pay you for your services. You can become a pro.”
“I think you’re figuring this out on your own.”
“I guess I’m scared.”
“Fear is not good. It can paralyze you.”
“You’re right.”
Ellie stared down at Grandpa Frank’s plate. He still hadn’t taken a bite of his food.
“Speaking of fear, you still haven’t touched your food.”
He smiled. “Touché.”
Grandpa Frank picked at the Mongolian Delight dish he ordered, moving the food around with his fork, like a five-year-old.
“Just try it.”
He wrinkled his nose. “How could this not be meat? Looks like meat to me.”
Ellie patiently smiled. “It’s supposed to look like that. It’s made of soy protein.”
He played with the food a little more and forked a few pieces of vegetables—along with the meat-looking thing—and stuffed them in his mouth and chewed. He gave no indication of whether he liked it or not. He grabbed another forkful and ate it. Then a little more. And a little more. “It’s got to be meat.”
“There’s a reason the sign on the building says Vela Veggie. This is a vegetarian restaurant. Do you like it? Yes or no?”
He nodded. “Not bad.” Then he took another bite. And another. And another.
“For someone who thinks the food is ‘not bad’ you sure are eating rather quickly.”
He smiled. “Okay. I like it.”
“You see? You opened yourself up to something new and look at the positive result.” She took a bite of her pineapple-fried rice and moaned. “Oh God, I love this stuff.”
Grandpa Frank forked another bite into his mouth. “Obviously they add some type of addictive ingredient to the food. That must be illegal. Now I can’t stop.”
Ellie laughed. “I wish you would use that enthusiasm to meet someone new.”
“I’m seventy-five years old, Ellie
. There isn’t a lot of inventory on the market for me, and most women my age can’t keep up with me anyway.”
“Well, you may have a point there. But that’s because you’re a stud, grandpa. You’ve been walking an hour a day for the last forty years. Before that you used to run. You just need to meet someone younger. Then, they’ll be able to keep up with you. Maybe.”
“I won’t rule it out. Never say never.” He ate the last bit of food on his plate. “But I won’t hold my breath either.”
Ellie stared at his empty plate. “Since you enjoyed the food so much, we are going to celebrate by having dessert.”
“Makes sense. We celebrate the food by eating more food.”
“Why not?”
Grandpa Frank chuckled. “Where did you meet him? The amazing kisser.”
“His name is Cedric and I saved him from being hit by a UPS truck. Then we talked at Starbucks.”
“What do you like about him?”
“He’s handsome, intelligent, funny, and sweet.” Ellie shrugged. “I thought we had a connection …”
“But?”
“But … as usual, Dr. Jekyll turned into Mr. Hyde and that was that. He lied to me, basically. He told me he wasn’t dating, but I saw his profile on the dating website.”
“What did he say when you asked him about it?”
“He denied it, of course.”
“Maybe it was just a little white lie. Sometimes people lie to protect others, you know that. I don’t think that’s so bad.”
“I agree. The weird thing was, he was so adamant about not being on the website. If it weren’t for the proof I saw, I would have believed him. In fact, he was looking at me like I was lying.”
“Something sounds odd.”
“Yeah.” Ellie heard the front door of the restaurant open and was hit with an odd sensation and the need to turn around to see who it was. A man walked by her with flowers toward the open-air kitchen where the chefs were preparing the meals. Something seemed familiar about him. And there was no mistaking a butt of that caliber.
Oh God. Could it be?
The owner of the restaurant looked up and smiled as the man handed her the flowers. They did that cute European-kiss-on-each-cheek thing and followed it up with a hug. That’s when Ellie saw his face clearly and froze.
Cedric.
“You okay, sweetie?” asked Grandpa Frank. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“Uh …” Ellie leaned over and grabbed the wine list that was on the table. She opened it and hid behind it, praying Cedric did not see her.
“Wine? Now? What happened to dessert?”
Ellie spoke in a soft voice. “Shush. The man we were just talking about, the man I slapped, is here and is now talking with the owner of the restaurant behind you.”
Grandpa Frank started to turn around.
“Don’t you dare move; he’ll notice! Okay, okay, this is the worst possible scenario ever. I need to get out of here. We need a distraction. Then I’ll run out the door … and possibly just keep running until I hit the border of Mexico.”
Grandpa Frank laughed. “What’s the big deal if he’s here?”
Ellie ignored his question. “Do you have any grenades on you from your army days?”
Grandpa Frank chuckled again. “Of course, I always happen to keep a few in my back pocket, just in case.”
“God, if he sees me I will die.”
“Why don’t you just go and talk to him?”
“Grandpa, he lied to me.”
“I understand, sugar, but there must have been a reason. Look at you. The last time I saw you this worked up was when that singer announced he was gay.” Grandpa Frank scratched the side of his face, thinking. “What was his name?”
“It doesn’t matter. And I wasn’t worked up.”
“You tore his posters off of your wall and said you’d never love again.”
“I was fifteen. Please focus, Grandpa, I’m in crisis mode here.”
“How about if I focus on the dessert menu? Maybe you should focus on it too and pick something.”
She peeked over the wine menu and watched as Cedric and the woman smiled and laughed, occasionally touching one another on the arm or shoulder.
Cedric walked toward Ellie.
Ellie kept her entire head hidden behind the wine menu as Cedric walked in her direction toward the door. Her menu was shaking in her hands, and she had the urge to throw up into it.
She could feel heat from a human being right next to her face, and there was the sweet smell of a man’s cologne in the air. Tommy? Armani? Whatever it was, it made her temperature rise.
She was about to drop her menu, when she heard his sexy voice.
“When you’re done hiding behind the wine menu and I’ve left the restaurant, I highly recommend trying a glass of the Horse’s Ass from Sonoma County. You’ll probably agree they named it after me. But also like me, it’s very good … if you give it a chance.”
Ellie heard the door open, the noise from the street, then the door closing.
Grandpa Frank laughed as Ellie kept the menu held up against her face.
She whispered, “Is he gone?”
“Yes,” said Grandpa Frank, still chuckling. “He’s gone.”
Ellie lowered the menu and let out a loud breath. “What was that about?”
Grandpa Frank smiled. “That was a gentleman, in my opinion. Apologizing in his own unique way.”
*****
What a pleasant surprise for Cedric, seeing Ellie. She was lovelier than ever, and he was pleased with the way he handled himself. He’d apologized and would do so again the next time he saw her, maybe even follow that up with a gift. As he walked to his car, he felt good about his progress. More and more, he was ready to allow a woman into his life, and he wanted that woman to be Ellie. This time, he hadn’t acted like a fool.
Cedric’s smile disappeared when he spotted the ticket on his windshield.
“Not again …”
He pulled the ticket from his windshield and looked for today’s infraction.
“What?”
He did a double take and read it again. “Expired registration. No way in hell.”
Cedric’s registration didn’t expire for another six months, he was sure of it. He walked to the back of the car and—
“Come on!”
The registration tag on the plate was from last year. Someone had peeled off the current tag. He’d heard about people stealing the tags and sticking them on their cars so they didn’t have to pay for their vehicle registration, but he never thought he’d be the victim of such a theft. He knew it was another easy fix; he just had to pay for a replacement tag.
But still, he didn’t like his recent string of bad luck. Hopefully it wasn’t going to continue.
Chapter Thirteen
“A slap is not as bad as a kick in the jewels,” said Julio. “But I agree with Grandpa Frank. He was definitely apologizing. Looks like you’re back in the game!”
“His profile disappeared from the dating website.”
Julio smiled. “Looking again, were you?”
Ellie shrugged. “Maybe I just happened to notice.”
“Just happen to notice … uh huh.”
“Obviously that means he’s seeing someone if he removed it. He seemed close to the owner of the Vela Veggie. They were all touchy-feely. Maybe he’s seeing her.”
She hoped not. She wasn’t sure about Cedric but still wanted to keep that option open, just in case.
“Victoria Vela? Not possible.”
“Why not?”
“Married.”
“You sure?”
“Yes. Her husband is a psychologist. I don’t remember his name.”
That was good to know, but maybe it was something else.
“Must be having an affair,” she said. “I saw them kiss.”
“On the lips?”
“No.”
“If you saw them in a juicy lip-lock, that would be
different. Cheek kisses are innocent.” Julio leaned over and kissed Ellie on the cheek and smiled. “See?”
Ellie laughed. “You’re not taking this seriously. He’s got to be seeing somebody. He’s not on the website anymore.”
“Here’s something you may want to consider. Maybe he’s not on the dating website because of you.”
“Right.”
“You never know.”
Ellie took a sip of her wine and thought about Cedric. “Dating should be a lot simpler than this. Like the way my grandpa Frank met my grandma in the malt shop. So sweet.”
“Very sweet. Ooh, a malt for dessert sounds even sweeter, don’t you think?”
“You be a good boy and you may get a treat. I have a surprise.”
“I love surprises.”
Ellie studied Julio as he grabbed another slice of pizza. He looked so relaxed on the couch, like this was a regular thing they did.
“This was such a great idea,” she said, grabbing another slice of pizza and taking a bite. “We should do this every week.”
“And you thought having a gay best friend was a cliché. Ha!” Julio took a sip of his wine, smiled, and touched Ellie on the arm. “Just mention wine and pizza together in the same sentence and I’ll come running.”
Ellie wasn’t sure why she hadn’t thought of it before, having Julio over. She was seriously lacking in the friends department, but always enjoyed his company at work. They had a lot in common. They loved the same food, the same wine, the same movies, even the same men. Speaking of which …
“When are you going to see Hugo again?”
Julio let out a sigh. “Not for a few more weeks. He’s still in Japan.”
Ellie didn’t know how he could do it. “That has to be difficult.”
“It is, but I know it’s temporary. He’s going to start his own consulting firm so he can set his own hours and be closer to home.”
Ellie rubbed his shoulder. “Well, I guess that means I get to enjoy you even more until that happens!” Ellie smiled and popped the movie into the DVD player. You’ve Got Mail.
“That you do.” Julio pointed to the TV. “Just to let you know, I’m a crier.”
“Me too!” Ellie wasn’t sure why she was so proud of that.
