Chapter 2 of 3 : DAYBREAK
"Henry!" She turned away, unable to look at him. "We're friends; best friends. Maybe we shouldn't mess with that. Not right now ..."
... Because I don't think I could handle being rejected by you again, she thought.
... And you're afraid I'll turn you down again, he thought.
He reached over and put her phone aside, and covered her hands with his. "Eliza ..."
"Yeah ..."
"Eliza, please look at me."
Reluctantly, she turned to him.
"I see how my lack of communication with you has been a big issue. Not only these last couple of weeks, but how I've generally kept certain aspects of my life hidden from you. My trip to the Bay Area aside, I know I've been a little out of sorts recently, especially given how much time we've spent together and how I've begun texting a little more ..."
"Thanks to me ..."
He nodded, acknowledging her point. "Point bees, Eliza, I can understand if my actions left you feeling a little abandoned."
"A little ..."
"Shit," he muttered in self-admonishment. "Eliza, I promise to be more open with you."
"Are you giving yourself an assignment to work on?"
"Yes, I am. When we talk, when you ask, I'm going to try and tell you what I think and feel. I can't promise I won't think ...
"Overthink ..."
"... think through my thoughts and feelings. But I promise to give you more."
She nodded, a slight curve of her lips.
"It was one thing when we went through those lessons in the last 12 or so months, but you know as well as I do that it's no longer about 'lessons on social interaction'. You haven't needed them in some time. Guess when I look back, we spend a lot of time with each other."
"I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I kinda miss Professor Higgs."
He shook his head. "I don't. I know I can be sufferable and impatient. Not great qualities for a supposed Sensei."
"Yes. No."
"But perfect description for an elder ..."
She giggled. "Elder ..."
"All kidding aside, what are we waiting for? I realize how important you are to me: what we have between us, who we are to each other. I'm convinced it's really quite simple."
She blushed. "It's as simple as that, huh?"
"I think so, but you don't sound so sure."
"Maybe ..."
No, Eliza, I know you see it, too. It's why you said you loved me. But now, I'm going to help you see you were right about us all along. "So, what do you think, Eliza?"
"No one has ever really asked me that before."
"Excuse me?"
"Nobody, no one I've ever gone out with, no one has ever asked me what I thought."
"What? Seriously?"
"I mean, Freddy and I, we sometimes talked about ... stuff. But we didn't get to talking about a lot of serious stuff. He once said I tended to freak out when things were starting to get serious between us. And that might've been true early on. But over time, I wanted to get more serious. And look what happened, he's the one who freaked and bailed. And he hooked up with some skank a week later. I'm still super salty about that."
Henry remembered it well. For two weeks, she'd been quiet and more serious at work, to the point people in the bullpen had noticed. She continued eating lunch with him in his office, but the conversations had either drifted between social media faux pas (expected) and his favourite books and movies (unexpected). One afternoon, Freddy brought his new girlfriend to work. Eliza turned the corner to come face to face with the new couple. She took one long look at the couple, and said a friendly hello to them both. She didn't party to deaden the pain or to overcome the loss. Instead, she split her off-work time solely between her apartment and his house. She didn't talk about it; he didn't ask. The unspoken truth was breaking up with Freddy had moved her closer to Henry.
"You have every reason to be. I never said this out loud, but I am sorry things didn't work out between you two."
"But?"
"But right now, I'm glad we're here. You're here."
"I am, too. In your bed, I might add."
"Yes, Eliza, but you know what I mean."
"I do. Looking back, Freddy and I, we didn't really talk about us, and all we had in common was relentless casual sex. It wasn't enough. But you ... you are one of the most important relationships I've had in my life."
"If I may, I'd like to amend an earlier statement."
"What do you mean?"
"I value our friendship more than my job; it's not a tie. You're more important." He recalled the conversation on the lawn at Saperstein's estate.
"Aha, knew it!"
"And if I'm being honest, I think I've always known."
"You do?"
"I had a good idea, yes. And I'm sorry I hurt you." There was no mistaking for what he was apologizing. There was no forgetting what would always be known and referred to as "karaoke night."
"And I'm sorry, too."
"I'm confused. I did you wrong. For what do you have to be sorry?"
"That I immediately went back to Freddy?"
"I understood. Maybe, I wasn't surprised. Maybe, I was even a little hurt, too, that you said you loved me and you went back to him. It was unpleasant, but I understood why."
"I still do, you know. I think I always have."
"I'm still confused, Eliza."
Eliza made a short huffing sound. "You're such a guy. And you can be aggravating and stuck up; a know-it-all and stick-in-the-mud. And sometimes you suck the joy out of life. Which totes legit, like I said last night, I'm sticking around to help fix that." At his discomfort, she cupped his face with her hands and softened her tone to emphasize the words to come. "Because, Henry, I still love you. And look, I'm stone cold sober."
Immensely touched by the enormity of her admission, he replied in a small voice. "Thank you, Eliza."
He pulled her into his embrace. Their arms around each other, they exhaled with sighs of relief. She laid her head against his chest, her hands bunched on his wrinkly shirt. She listened how his heart beat fast then slow, and marveled at how our own heartbeat began matching his. She closed her eyes with the feels as he held her tighter, and felt the kiss on the top of her head.
Henry broke the silence moments later. "Looking back, I think Saperstein saw something in us a long time ago."
"What'd he say?"
"He said I was more lifelike when you're around."
"You are a completely different person when I'm around: less boring, more Henry."
"Eliza, I'm convinced you worship me, too."
"I do not ..."
"Who's lying now?"
"Whaaa?! Stop saying things that are true!"
He laughed. They sat still for a few quiet minutes.
"Thank you, Henry."
"What for?"
"Thank you for being patient with me."
"You're worth the time and effort, Eliza."
"Right? Like L'Oreal, I'm totally worth it."
"You had to know I waited, until the time was right for us."
She adjusted her position, looking up at Henry. "You being away these two weeks finally pushed me over the line. Got me to thinking about what you really mean to me."
Henry gazed into her expressive face. Case in point, at this very moment: a wrinkling in the eyebrows, the little crease above her nose, her lips, the little smile, the dreamy or the razor-sharp expression in her beautiful eyes.
"I can also tell you decided something important just now, Eliza."
"Wait, what, how?"
"Your eyes narrow into a tight focus and your lips. It's what I call Eliza's 'thoughtful look with intention.'"
"Wow, we really do spend a lot of time with each other ..."
He nodded. "What did you decide?"
She pushed him onto the bed. Pinning him down with her hands, she hovered deliciously over his face and body.
"Uh, what are you doing?"
"I know you. And I know what I'm doing. Trust."
"Okayyy ..." Not that he really minded being pinned down by Eliza ...
"Not only do I love you, but I decided I want to be with you. For reals. And because I know you and because what's happened over the last couple of weeks, I'm def not letting you out of my sight. Moreover, I'm going to ask: do you want to be with me? I want an answer from you, and I'm not giving you 24 hours."
"Did you just say 'moreover'?"
"You know I did. Answer the question, Henry."
"Eliza, I don't need 24 hours."
"What's that supposed to mean?"