Chapter 1: Back to the dating game

"A tall Clover, please. Elaine"

As she ordered her coffee, fumbling in her pocket for a crumbled 20-dollar bill, the woman barely lifted her eyes from her newspaper. Had she looked to the lady smiling at her from the other side of Starbucks' counter, she would have realized telling her name was unnecessary. Everybody in the place knew who she was.

Not that she was famous – trading stocks was not exactly a celebrity job. Actually, it kind of was, but not for her, at least. Not yet. She still had a couple of zeroes to go.

But then, when you go to the same place every afternoon to sip some coffee while talking to a colleague for exactly 28 minutes before returning to the NYSE for another round of madly stressful work, then people knew who you were.

Elaine Saint-Ries, however, remained oblivious to everyone around her, except for so-called colleague, or rather, friend, who she had worked with for more than six years. She always looked forward to those 28 minutes of chat during her day…

'Actually, 26 minutes, going on 25, due to people being late', she thought to herself, looking at her watch while picking up her coffee and pulling a chair.

"Elaine!"

She turned to look at Neal Cassidy, who had cheerfully outstretched his arms to greet her.

"Cassidy! Cut the crap, it's been what… twelve minutes since we saw each other at the trading floor? You're late, by the—Oh, sorry, I didn't you know you had company", she answered, looking at the blonde woman standing next to Neal.

"Well… Since you insisted so much, I thought you'd be glad to know that I got back to the dating game!" Neal answered, smiling. The woman by his side chuckled a little, and fitted her glasses farther up her nose. "Lydia, this is Elaine. Elaine, Lydia."

"Nice to meet you…" Elaine replied, as Lydia shook her hand and returned the courtesy. She took the opportunity to study the woman's physiognomy, trying not to look rude or suspicious. Blond hair in a ponytail… Blue eyes… Glasses… Cute smile…

"So, Lydia works at the library, and I was late because I rushed to meet her at the subway station so that she could join us today. I'm sorry. I'm sorry", Neal said, as the three of them took a sitting position after picking up their coffees at the counter.

"Well, you know, I was starting to think you'd chosen to head home earlier, since you're taking the rest of the day off", Elaine answered, cheerfully. "But now I know you have other plans for later, I'm glad, I really am."

Before continuing, she sipped her coffee as Neal passed one arm over Lydia's chair and kissed her cheek.

"So, tell me, Tania, whe-",

"It's Lydia", the blond woman corrected politely.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Lydia. It's just that all of you look so… similar!"

The smile on the blonde's face was replaced by a puzzled look. Neal frowned.

"I mean… Tania… Sabrina… What was that other one's name? Angie? Angela?"

"Angelina", Neal whispered, still looking worried.

"Yeah, right, Angelina. All of his dates look exactly the same to me! Do you know what I mean?" Elaine asked, sounding amused.

The blonde obviously didn't.

"Elaine, this is just… silly!" Neal let out a nervous laughter, pressing Lydia closer to him, as if trying to reassure her that was just his friend's joke. "So what if I have a thing for blondes?"

"Neal, you don't have a thing for blondes. You have a thing for Emma Swan!" Elaine replied.

For a second, she could see something shatter behind her friend's eyes. Just then, Neal had grabbed his cup of coffee and looked away, freeing his arm from behind Lydia's chair.

"No, I don't", he responded, staring at the table.

"You do", Elaine said. "And it's-"

"No, no, look. You wanted me to date other people, right", he answered, flustered. "That's what I'm doing, I'm dating other—"

"No, Neal, you're not", Elaine let go of her coffee to hold his hand. "You've been dating the same person for the six years we've known each other, that's the thing. It's always been the same person. And you are not going to find what you're looking for, Neal, because she's gone. Gone."

When Neal looked up from the table, she felt genuinely sorry for her friend. He had a sad, haunted look in his eyes that confirmed everything she had just said.

"Perhaps I should go", Lydia said, faking a smile.

"No, Lydia, wait…" said Neal, trying to hold her back.

"No, it's fine. Really. It is", she mumbled, as she stood up. "It was really great meeting you. Bye".

And then she rushed to the door.

"Gods, Elaine, what have you done?"

"Saved her from worse heartbreak. We both know how that would end", Elaine answered, looking less than worried.

"I have to talk t-" Neal said, as he also stood up and made to move toward the door.

"Neal, don't. It's done. It's better like this", Elaine interrupted, grabbing his arm, and making him sit again. "She will live. You, my friend, you are the one that worries me."

"There's nothing for you to worry about."

"Neal."

The two stared at each other for a while. Elaine had taken a liking to him since day one, on his first day as an apprentice at 18 Broad Street. She really cared about him, and she knew that he had been through his bunch of rough patches – even though he never told her much about his past.

Except for Emma Swan, of course. Elaine bet he did it unconsciously, but whenever he felt particularly happy about something in his life, he managed to bring her name into the conversation. By now, Elaine had already learned what her favorite color was, the kind of chocolate she ate, that she had given him a dreamcatcher, that she drove a yellow bug…

It was really sad.

"Neal, I know that there are things you don't tell me, and you must have your reasons", she said, as Neal moved uncomfortably on his chair. "And that's ok. I just… I just think you should talk to somebody, to get things off your chest."

Elaine put her purse on the table and fetched her wallet from inside it.

"Here", she said, giving Neal a business card, reading Dr. 'Eli Sinclair – Psychotherapist'.

"A shrink? Really?" Neal looked even more depressed than before.

"I'm not telling you that you're crazy, or anything like that, so don't give me that look… It's just, I think you need to move on, and… I don't think you can do this alone. If I can't help you, then maybe a specialist will."

She saw Neal look carefully at the card, and wondered what was going on in his mind.

"I guess now you are the one who'll be late", he whispered, still looking at the card.

"Damn!" Elaine exclaimed as she looked at her watch. "You mean, I'll be the one who's fired, right? Twenty minutes late, you have to be kidding!"

As they said their goodbyes and left Starbucks, Elaine took a final look at Neal, who had picked his earphones and connected them to his cell phone, after flinging his backpack over his shoulder. She hoped he would give the doctor a chance. She hoped he would move on. And more than anything, she hoped she would see him truly happy… at least once.