2

It all started two weeks ago when Elie took a job as a production assistant at Nickelodeon. It was a part time job, something to make her explore any and all possibilities that it might bring. It was also something to keep her preoccupied. She was easily bored, so she loved getting busy.

Dark-haired, a bit weird, and shy, Elie believed she had nothing special in terms of looks but her brain was a different story. She had always believed and known she was smart, so that was what she mostly cared about. Not that she dressed shabbily or didn't take care of herself. "I'm not a great beauty, or any kind of beauty for that matter. But I'm not ugly," she used to say. She got along well with everyone, mostly because she kept to herself a lot and didn't engage in workplace politics. She especially got on well with the stars of the show she was assigned to, even though she was quite a bit older than them. She called them her babies, much to the chagrin of the young men who were obviously trying to establish their manhood. And even if she wouldn't admit it to herself, she got along really well with Kendall.

Tattoos were there main point of agreement; Elie has a couple of tattoos and Kendall has a few. Apart from that they also talk a lot about music, coffee, travel, food, and a host of other things. It's a cool friendship, as Elie likes to put it.

"What are you going to do now?" Carlos asked Kendall after recovering from the initial shock.

"Nothing. I can't start something I don't even completely understand yet. Can we not talk about this?" Kendall pleaded. "And don't tell anyone."

"Too late, man. I already texted Logan," Carlos said.

"WHAT THE FUCK CARLOS?" Kendall yelled at Carlos, standing up, towering over him.

"…and James and Ranel," Carlos trailed off, trying to get away from Kendall. At that moment, Logan and James burst into Kendall's dressing room. Clearly they just got Carlos' text. Ranel followed suit.

"What's this I hear about someone falling in love with someone?" Logan asked as he cocked an eyebrow at Kendall.

"Look, guys, it's not a big deal. And please don't… stop. Just stop," Kendall said, exasperated at all the teasing and chiding. "I don't want things to be awkward. Let's just let this pass. She does not feel the same way."

"You don't know that," Ranel said.

"Don't get my hopes up," Kendall replied.

"Oh, so you have hopes. Uh-huh. Hmm," James butted in.

"No. Yes. It's… I can't even with you guys anymore. JUST STOP," Kendall was raising his voice again. "Can we not discuss this again? Can we not be awkward or weird around Elie, please? And can you not be weird around ME?"

"Sorry, man," Logan replied. The rest of the guys mumbled their apologies as well. And then everybody was quiet. And then James' phone rang. He answered.

"Oh hey, Elie," he said, looking at Kendall. As soon as he heard Elie's name, Kendall's eyes lit up. "Yes, I got it. Thank you. By the way Kendall's in love with you. Uh-huh, yep. He's –"

Kendall grabbed James' phone. "HeyElieJameswasjustkiddingdo ntbelieveawordhesays," he said in one breath. "Hello? Hello? She hung up. AND WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT JAMES?!"

"No, she didn't hang up. You're just stupid," James said. Kendall stared at him with a clueless look on his face. "That wasn't a call. That was my alarm. And you don't need us to give you away, you give yourself away. If you could only see the look on your face when her name was mentioned. You are seriously nuts to deny this," James scoffed at Kendall.

"I. AM NOT. IN LOVE. WITH ELIE," Kendall emphasized.

"Keep telling yourself that. You might not be in love with her now, but you will be," Carlos said.

"Yeah, whatever. I'm going home," Kendall said as he exited the door.

"Asses," he muttered under his breath.

Kendall didn't want to go home yet so he kept driving around, trying to clear his head. No, he was not in love. I'm not in love. Or falling in love. Or whatever. He parked his car and walked a few yards to a coffee shop. He ordered his coffee and as he turned around to look for a seat, he sees Elie in table by the corner, reading. He tried calling out to her, but she couldn't hear him because she had earphones on. Kendall looked at her as she bobbed her head ever-so-slightly to the music only she can hear, and moved her lips to what she was listening to.

Elie must have sensed somebody was staring at her because she looked up, meeting Kendall's gaze. He smiled at her. She smiled back. Kendall approached her table.

"I'm never going to get any reading done with you popping out from nowhere all the damn time," Elie said, smiling at Kendall.

"I was in the neighborhood," Kendall replied.

"Sure you were," Elie said as she turned her attention back to the book she was reading.

"Hahah, what was that supposed to mean?" Kendall asked nervously.

"You're not from here. If you were, I would have seen you a long time ago. So spill, who were you stalking?" Elie replied.

You, but not intentionally because I didn't really know where you live and this encounter was purely accidental – no, serendipitous was what he wanted to say. Instead, he said, "No one. I was driving around after taping because I had nowhere to go and I was bored."

"Aww, poor baby," Elie said, pretend-pouting at Kendall. "I should've taken you with me. At least I had someone to talk to on the way to Corona and back."

"What were you doing in Corona anyway?" Kendall inquired.

"Errands. I had to deliver some medical and home care supplies to the home care center in Corona. Am I boring you?" Elie asked. "This is just random everyday stuff. Sorry to bore you."

"No, no. Why would you think that?" Kendall said.

"Your eyes were glazing over, hahaha… like you were looking through me," Elie said with a laugh.

"Was I?" Kendall blushed a little and laughed at how ridiculous he must have looked.

"You look hungry. Have you eaten?" Elie asked when they were done laughing.

"No, I actually haven't," Kendall replied.

"Good. Let's get out of here and look for a place to eat then," Elie said as she started gathering her things.

The cool evening air greeted them as they exited the coffee shop. It was a beautiful night. Since it was still quite early, not a lot of people were walking and driving around. It was just starting to get dark.

"Should we take a car or…?" Kendall asked.

"How about we walk around to see what this neighborhood has to offer? I hope you don't mind that it's not too fancy, Mr. Hollywood," Elie teased.

"Psshhh, I'm not like that," Kendall replied, extending his arm towards Elie. "Come, let's take a walk."

"Wow, a gentleman," Elie said, taking Kendall's arm. "I like that."

"Y-you do?" Kendall croaked.

"It means your mama raised you well," Elie said, holding on to Kendall's arm as they started walking around. "So what do we want to eat? Are you up for something more exotic? Oh no, wait, you're quite the fussy eater."

"I'm trying to be more adventurous with what I eat, so give me your best shot," Kendall said. That made Elie laugh, and she momentarily leaned her head on Kendall's shoulder. He got a whiff of Elie's hair. It was intoxicating. Kendall thought he'd die right then and there.

"No, dude, I won't give you my best shot because I don't want to explain to your mom how her son started throwing up all over Los Angeles," Elie said, surveying the restaurants in the area while absent-mindedly tapping Kendall's arm. "I wonder where's a good place to start you with. Oh, there!"

Elie grabbed Kendall's hand and dragged him to a Thai food place next to a Vietnamese banh mi place. "Okay, here's what we'll do," Elie said as she cleared the hair away from her face. We won't just eat at one place. We'll eat one thing at one place, and then we move on to the next place. Sounds good? Do you have money on you?"

"Sounds good and yes, I do have cash with me," Kendall replied.

"Good, because I don't have enough on me to pay for both of us. So we each pay for our own food, okay?" Elie asked.

"How about I pay for both of us?" Kendall said.

"Nuh-uh," Elie disapproved. "You pay for yours, I pay for mine. End of discussion." She smiled at Kendall. "So let's start here, Thai. Or more specifically, pad thai," Elie said as she took Kendall's hand again and dragged him to the Thai place.

Their next stop was the Vietnamese banh mi place, and then off to some Japanese. They were both stuffed at the end of their third meal.

"Oh God, I don't want to eat ever again," Elie groaned.

"Same," Kendall simply said, rubbing his stomach while sitting down next to Elie on a bench.

"Ooh, the young ones are out! Look, Kendall," Elie motioned for Kendall to look at the young women walking around, looking for a place to eat. "I think that girl's your type." Elie nudged an elbow at Kendall.

"What's my type?" Kendall asked Elie.

"Well… most probably blonde, because you like blondes. No, you love blondes. Fun type, that sort," Elie replied.

Kendall raised an eyebrow at her. "And you got all that in the two weeks you've known me?"

"I can google."

"You google me?" Kendall said, smirking.

"Don't be fresh. I google everyone," Elie replied. "I hate not knowing anything. And since I'm gonna be working for you guys, I might as well know a lot of stuff about you."

"And what have you read about me in those googling sessions?"

"A loooot of stuff," Elie said, nodding at Kendall. "But going back to the subject at hand, you love blondes. How about that girl right there?" She pointed at a blonde across the street wearing what looks like the tightest pants possible.

"Those pants are mighty tight," Kendall said.

"I don't know. Those might be jeggings," Elie countered, and they both burst out laughing at the fashion commentary.

"We have the nerve to talk," Elie said, still laughing.

"Excuse you, if you must know, this is Diesel Black Gold and All Saints," Kendall said in defense.

"Apologies, apologies, but I'm only wearing Muji. But I'm also wearing Comme des Garcons that I had to save up a long time for, so just for that you lose the fashion standoff," Elie said.

"I didn't know there was a competition," Kendall said, laughing.

"Ah, well. Anyway, should we be heading home?" Elie asked.

"I'll drive you home," Kendall replied.

"I live like five blocks away. Don't worry about me, I can walk," Elie said.

"No, I'll drive you home. It's dark and…"

"And there might be monsters and werewolves and evil elves along the way? Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

"Okay then, I'll walk you home," Kendall said.

"No, no, no, no, no. How will you get back to your car? You'll get lost, and then I'll get fired!" Elie said in horror.

"I'm glad you care about my safety," Kendall said sarcastically. "C'mon, Elie. Let me drive you home."

"Okay, if you insist. Now where's that shiny car of yours?"

I'm crap at writing but I just want to write stuff down, okay. I do hope at least one other person likes this.