A/N: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LOGAN! :D Here is part one of your birthday present. Part two should be posted tomorrow, and you should get part three of your gift the day after that (it's not fic, so). If I'm lucky. Lots of love, and enjoy the first part of your birthday fic. :D
Christmas at Ella's
Part One
Ella plopped down at the table with a sigh and put her gingerbread latte down in front of her. She'd paid five dollars for the thing and now she didn't even want to drink it. Caitlyn and Mitchie traded significant looks over her head, seeming to argue without words for a moment. Finally, after Caitlyn raised her eyebrows in what appeared to be a challenge, Mitchie rolled her eyes. She touched Ella's shoulder, causing the girl to jump and look at her.
"What's wrong, Ella?" she asked.
She sighed and pushed her cup around. "I found out from one of my clients that they booked a last-minute show here in LA. They're pretty big-name and I'm going to be working on the project through Christmas."
"What? Caitlyn said. "That's outrageous! Who makes someone work on Christmas?"
"Hannah Montana," Ella said sadly. The other two gasped. Not in shock, really, because they knew that Ella had been commissioned by her on occasion, but more revulsion. The girl attracted more bad press than the cast of Jersey Shore. Combined.
"You still design for that little whorebag?" Caitlyn hissed.
"Caitlyn!" Mitchie said.
"What? Are we pretending she doesn't dress like Lady Gaga on laundry day?" Caitlyn said.
Ella sat up and glared at her. "Not when she's wearing my clothes, she's not." She finally took a sip of her latte, but even that wasn't enough to bring a smile to her face—though it was delicious. She continued, "Hannah Banana's wardrobe isn't the issue here, anyway. The real issue is that I can't plan my Christmas party now!"
Mitchie and Caitlyn gasped again, this time in horror. "But your party is my favorite thing about Christmas!" Mitchie said. Ella gave her a sad smile.
"Thanks," she said. She took another sip of her drink. "I'm just really bummed. I was looking forward to this year's party, what with me and Nate finally being together and all. I was hoping we could plan it together."
Before the other girls could offer her words of sympathy, her phone rang. She looked at the caller id and groaned.
"Is it the whorebag?" Caitlyn asked, wrinkling her nose.
Mitchie swiveled to give her another angry look. "Caitlyn!"
Ella shook her head. "No, it's one of the girls at the office. But I'm going to bet it's an emergency." She used finger quotes on the word, but still did not pick up her phone. Instead, she gulped down the rest of her gingerbread latte and smiled apologetically at her friends. "Swing by my house tonight if you can and we'll order some takeout?"
"Sounds good," Mitchie said with a smile. Caitlyn nodded.
As soon as she left, they both slumped in their seats. Caitlyn went so far as to rest her chin on the table. She blew hair out of her face and sulked. "I was really looking forward to that party," she said.
"Ugh, I know!" said Mitchie. She leaned on one hand. "There's nothing in the world like an Ella-party. It's too bad we can't just have her plan it and then do the prep ourselves."
"That's it!" Caitlyn said. She smiled mischievously at Mitchie. "Let's have Ella plan a party. Or… the next best thing."
Nate glanced down at his watch and swallowed. He really didn't know why the group had chosen him for this task. Of all the things he could have been doing to help prepare the party, they had chosen the thing least involved in the party set-up.
He shook his head. No, he didn't need to focus on the negatives. He should be focusing in the positives. He would be getting to spend the whole day with Ella, one. And two… well, he still had to find the right moment for two. But it would happen today—he promised himself that it would happen today. He smiled at the secretary in the lobby and she gave him a secretive grin of her own as she waved him back, neglecting to buzz her boss. Everything was going to be a surprise today. The other girls who worked under Ella waved and winked at him—they were invited to the party tonight and so knew what was going on as well.
As Nate approached Ella's office, he became aware of the sound of music. He scrunched up his brow as he tried to place the song. It was extremely familiar. Before he could figure it out, though, he caught sight of something in the window to Ella's office.
She was… she was dancing. And not dancing like she did at clubs—all grace and fluid motion and a lot of sexy hip action. She was dancing like she did at home, when it was just the two of them. It was energetic and a little jerky and he watched her do it whenever he could, even though she still got embarrassed when she caught him at it. It was uninhibited and free and happy, just like he remembered her back at Camp. Well, when she'd finally come out of her shell. Mostly. He smiled to himself as he watched her spin on the ball of her foot. There was nothing quite like watching her dance.
The chorus of the song came on, joined by Ella's voice, and Nate realized with sudden horrible clarity exactly what she was dancing to.
"Music's in my soul! I can hear it every day, and every night," Ella sang into her stapler. "It's the one thing on my mind—"
He opened the door as quietly as he could, but it was enough. She spun around to stare in horror and flushed a dark pink color when she saw him. The stapler dropped heavily from her fingers to her desk and she fumbled for a remote. She tried several times to turn off the music player in the corner but only managed to skip to the next track and back again before she gave up and dashed across the room to turn it off manually.
"Nate, hi!" she said. Her voice was a little higher than usual and the color in her cheeks wasn't just from embarrassment. He could tell she'd been having fun. He chuckled at her as she brushed hair out of her face and, without any preamble, walked around the desk to pull her into a kiss. She smiled against his mouth and laughed when he pulled away. "Okay, not that I mind, but what was that about?"
"You're just adorable is all," he said. Her cheeks turned an even darker pink and he sniggered directly into her ear. "I mean it. I love it when you dance like that."
She chose to say nothing, instead focusing her efforts on prying his arms off. "Nate, I kinda need to get back to work."
"Nope," he said. He nuzzled her neck playfully and she squirmed. "You're not allowed to work today."
"What do you mean? I've got to finish Fanny Montanny's second outfit before closing. It's…" She checked her watch. "Nate! It's not even noon!"
He sighed and let go of her reluctantly, raising his arms. "Fine. I just thought you might like going out to lunch with me at Sky Bistro, but if you don't want to go—"
Ella's jaw dropped. "Sky Bistro? You got reservations at Sky Bistro? The place everyone's been raving about? With the to-die-for bruschetta and cheesecake so rich you need to unbuckle your pants just looking at it?"
He nodded emphatically with each passing question, grin widening more and more as she went on. "Yes, Ella, I did. Now why don't you grab your coat and we'll head out to lunch. I even managed to score us an inside table." She stared at him again and he shrugged. "It helps that the owner's daughter is a big Connect Three fan. She was taking my reservation over the phone and recognized my voice. Apparently, she's also a big fan of our relationship. So, inside table for the happy couple."
"Ugh, that poor girl is only helping to feed your ego. Please tell me you didn't tell Shane about your good fortune," she said. Nate held out her jacket for her and she smiled thankfully at him as he slid it on.
Nate laughed. "No, I didn't tell him. I don't want anyone showing up to crash our special date." Not that that would be a problem anyway.
Ella cooed at him all the same, though. The receptionist winked at him rather obviously as they passed on their way out and he hoped Ella would just chalk it up to teasing. A hand found its way into his pocket and his fingers brushed over the little box again. The last thing he needed was Ella's secretary ruining his surprise.
They arrived at the bistro at precisely the right time and went inside immediately. The December chill fell off them in an instant—the restaurant was cozily warm and Ella found herself smiling contentedly. They approached a podium set not three feet from the door—the place was small and cluttered, but in a home-y sort of way. The hostess was a young girl of about seventeen and was currently bent over a lodger.
"Bienvenue à Bistro Ciel." The girl did not look up. "Un moment s'il vous plait."
Finally, she seemed to find what she was looking for. She smiled and circled an item in the book, closed it, and looked up. Her eyes locked on Nate and went big and round. Ella gripped Nate's arm and braced herself. What came next was an onslaught of French that even Ella's college courses couldn't help her decipher. The rapid pace and clear excitement didn't do anything to help. The girl seemed to catch herself when she saw the slightly frightened look on Nate's face. She blushed and covered her face for a moment.
"Je m'excuse," she said. "I didn't mean to frighten you. I was just, eh, shocked. My maman is used to celebrities coming in. I am not so much."
Ella smiled to herself. The girl was adorable. She led them to their table, which was close enough to a window to see outside but not so close that the chill could touch them. The place was simply beautiful. Candles were situated in the middle of every table, nestled in pretty flower centerpieces, and the place settings had been laid carefully in front of every seat. The colors were warm and inviting and most of the light came from several identical chandeliers.
They ordered bruschetta at Ella's insistence—it was part of the reason she'd agreed to come, one, and two, she was unexpectedly starving. It was just as delicious as everyone claimed—all of it was. The grilled salmon she'd ordered was amazing and Nate seemed to enjoy his tilapia. They chatted easily over their meal and a weight that Ella hadn't known was sitting on her was lifted.
For a while after they'd started dating, she'd been afraid that they would grow sick of one another—or rather, Nate would grow sick of her. Even though he'd admitted to her that he was in love with her, she didn't quite believe it. Sometimes she still thought she was shocked. As much as she'd thought and hoped he was interested, the possibility had always just seemed so out of reach. And it was so rare for her to have something she truly wanted within her grasp that she worried something would try to take it away.
And yet here they were, laughing over slices of cheesecake at one of the city's most famous new restaurants, almost a year into their relationship with no sign of getting tired of one another. Nate had even planned this special outing just for her.
When the girl (who they learned was named Giselle) brought them a bottle of champagne on the house, Ella raised her eyebrows at Nate.
"Champagne? At lunch?" she said. Her voice was teasing. "What's the special occasion?"
For the first time all day, his confidence seemed to slip a little. He swallowed nervously. "W-well…" She cocked her head at him and he stammered some more before he took a deep breath and reached in his pocket. He got up from his seat, came around to her side of the table, and got down on one knee. Ella's breath caught in her throat and her hands flew to her face to cover her mouth, which was gaping open in her shock.
"Ella…" he began. She could almost see him mentally going over the speech in his head and laughed, sounding half-hysterical. He smiled at her. "I had a really long speech planned for you about how much I love you and how I always have, from the first time we met backstage the summer Shane and Mitchie met. I was going to tell you all the little things that I love about you, but I already do that every day, so I guess it doesn't matter." He pulled the box from his pocket and opened it facing her. "Will you marry me?"
She stared down in the box for a long, long moment. Her hands were still covering her face and she tried as hard as she possibly could to contain her laughter, but it was just too much. She giggled. She guffawed. She laughed so hard there were tears streaming down her cheeks. And Nate, poor Nate, had no idea what was going on.
"Um, Ells?" he said nervously. "That's—that's not exactly the reaction I was preparing myself for."
She took deep breaths to try to stop her laughter, but it did very little to calm her. "I'm s-s-sorry," she gasped. "B-but… you just p-p-proposed with a pair of earrings."
Nate's eyes widened with horror and he turned the box back around to face him. "Shit!" he exclaimed. "Those were your Christmas present!"
Ella just laughed even harder.
and so ends Part One. Part Two coming tomorrow!