It had been a rough night, leaving Eliot tired and angry. When he had gotten to Nate's apartment, he had responded to Sophie's hello with simply an angry grunt. Hardison hadn't been so lucky. When he had commented on the grunt, Eliot had swung around and gotten right in Hardison's face, telling him in exact terms what would happen if he didn't shut up. Nate had then "suggested" that Eliot go out for some coffee before attending today's con meeting. Sophie had nodded her agreement to this "suggestion." Hardison had snickered, which received a look from both Sophie and Nate, and another threat from Eliot. Parker had merely thrown in that Eliot had better come back soon because she wanted some chocolate chip cookies.
Getting out of the elevator, Eliot walked to his car and tried to open it. Eliot swore and tried again. He then noticed that he was using the wrong key and swore again. Using the correct key, Eliot opened the car door and got in. As he was backing out, some idiot walked right behind his car. Eliot honked loudly, and rolled down the window, screaming obscenities. The man responded by giving Eliot a dirty look and walking away. Eliot rolled up the window and drove out of there, even madder than before.
Driving through Boston helped cool him down. He wasn't happy, but he wasn't exactly angry either. He had no idea where he was going, he was just driving.
He spotted a small café on the side of the road. He parked his car, shut the door with a quiet slam, and stepped inside. He sat down at the counter and stared at the countertop.
"Is there something I can get you, sir?" He looked up. The waitress waited expectantly, notepad in hand.
"Coffee" he responded gruffly.
"Sugar or cream, sir?"
"No, just coffee."
The waitress got the coffee pot, poured him a cup, and then asked politely if he wanted anything else. Eliot shook his head and took a sip of his coffee. It wasn't strong enough.
He surveyed the café, mostly out of habit, but also out of needing something to do. By the window, a couple was gazing romantically into each other's eyes. In the corner, a sharply-dressed man typed on his laptop while also taking on his earpiece. To his left, a couple seats over, a collage-aged boy relaxed against the counter while talking on his cellphone.
"Excuse me." Eliot turned around to see a young lady at the counter directly to his right. "Would you mind passing the ketchup?" He picked up the ketchup and handed it to her. "Thank you." Eliot nodded, then turned back to his coffee for another sip. "I noticed you were looking at the other customers. See anything interesting?" Eliot turned back in annoyance. The girl was staring at him, smile on her face.
"No, not really." He turned back to his coffee, hoping to send the message that he didn't want to talk. It didn't work.
"Well, I can tell you that the man in the corner's name is Jeremy Borland, he works for a company that creates computer parts, he was recently promoted to manager, and he has three kids whose names are Jeremy Jr., age 11, Angelina, age 9, and Kelsey, age 7." She ate some of her toast and looked at him expectantly.
"Um, that's very nice." Eliot turned back to his coffee. Couldn't she take a hint? Eliot was starting to get very annoyed.
"Why don't you try to guess about the couple by the window and I'll tell you if you're right."
Eliot was now officially mad. He swung around and looked her in the eye. "Alright, I'll play your little game. The couple over there, the boy works for UPS, the girl's a secretary. They live together. The boy's originally from around here, but the girl grew up in North Dakota. They've been seeing each other for some time and the girl's pregnant." Eliot looked at the girl, smirking when her eyes widened in surprise. "Well, did I get it right?"
The girl nodded her head, staring at him in amazement. "Yes, yes it is. All of it, except the part about her being pregnant. As far as I know, she isn't."
Eliot shook his head. "She's pregnant."
The girl shrugged her shoulders, then looked at him puzzled. "How did you know that Ellie was from North Dakota? I mean, you can figure out their jobs by looking at them, the fact that they're going out is no big leap of faith, and you could even figure out that they live together with a stretch of the imagination. But North Dakota? I mean, where did you get that?" A thought occurred to her and she eyed him suspiciously. "You don't know them personally, do you? Or professionally for that matter. If you do, well, that just about spoils the game."
Eliot shook his head. "No, I don't know them. As you said, everything is pretty easy to figure out. As for where she grew up, she has an accent from that area. If you've been to North Dakota, you'd know what I mean."
The girl considered this for a moment, then nodded in understanding. "I didn't know that there was a North Dakota accent. Interesting."
Eliot nodded and turned back to his coffee. Maybe now she would leave him alone. No such luck.
The girl thrust out her hand, saying cheerfully "I'm Anna. You are…" Again, she looked at him, expecting an answer.
Eliot sighed. He had been in enough fights to realize when he wasn't going to win. He took her hand and shook it, saying tiredly. "Eliot. Eliot Spencer."
She smiled even wider, if that was even possible. "Cool!" She turned back to her plate, ate the last bits of her pancake, drank the last of her orange juice, then turned to the waitress. "Tracie, if you would be so kind as to hand me the bill?" Tracie smiled, nodded, and gave her the bill. Anna opened up her purse, paid for the meal along with a tip, and stood up.
"Tell the cook that breakfast was delicious, as usual." As she left the café, she called out cheerfully "Bye!" Everyone in the café, except Eliot, returned her good-bye with the same amount of cheer. Eliot just sat there, coffee cup in hand, thinking about what had just happened.
In a blur, he drank the rest of his coffee, paid his bill, and walked to the car. As he started to drive away, he remembered something. He groaned. What on earth had driven him to tell her his name, the name he used on the streets? And if he remembered correctly, she hadn't even told him her full name. Why did he have to do that? He groaned again for good measure, and then smiled, remembering her cheerfulness and persistence when talking to him. He admitted he had been rather grumpy
He entered Nate's apartment with a smile on his face. Sitting down on the coach, he leaned backwards. When nobody else sat down, he looked around to see his team staring at him. "What are you all doing standing around? Let's get started!" The team sat down, relieved that Eliot was still with them. Eliot shook his head in mock anger and stared at the screen as Hardison's PowerPoint appeared.
He laughed when he remembered her voice saying "I didn't know that there was a North Dakota accent. Interesting."
The team looked at him, worried. Eliot threw up his hands. "I'm fine, okay. Man, you'd think y'all want me to be mad." He shook his head. "Whatever, you guys." They still stared at him. Eliot gestured his hands towards Hardison. "Hurry up man. We don't have all day."