A/N: Hello again, everybody! Here I am with another chapter of Mamiwata. This one will begin to move things forward further as Jerry and Elaine meet up again on more cordial terms. This will be the first chapter in the story to focus on them together exclusively. May all readers and followers of this story, thus far, come to enjoy this very chapter. Have fun! :D
The following morning, Elaine was at home in her apartment. She was listening to the radio, chewing on and blowing some bubble gum, while working on a dress she was designing. As she was hard at work, she heard a plunking of what sounded like a coin at her apartment door. Then another coin plunking happened, then another…and another…and another…until she heard what sounded like a jackpot of coins coming out a slot machine in Vegas.
She walked over to the door just to see what this was.
It was a non-stop avalanche of quarters. Bright, shiny silver quarters. There were hundreds of them falling through her mail slot.
She was wondering, pray tell, now who was doing something like this at and on her doorstep. This looked to be about upwards of $100 worth of quarters.
Until she suddenly remembered that man from yesterday, she had bailed out of jail.
For getting into a fight, she had inadvertently caused.
By pouring a Thicke's milkshake into the mouthpiece of his bullhorn.
She blew another bubble of her bubble gum. Next, she looked through the peephole.
It was him!
Jerry Seinfeld had returned!
Then, as the quarters finished pouring through her mail slot, she took of gum out of her mouth, managed to open the door to her apartment, with the door chain still attached. She saw Jerry with a big smile on his face.
"Hello, Ms. Benes," Jerry said, smiling.
"Hello, Mr. Seinfeld," Elaine said, with a straight look on her face, "what is the meaning of this?"
"Well, you said to drop off your payment through your mailbox, right?" Jerry said" Well, I decided to make them out in quarters and carried them all the way up the stairs, on my back!"
"So?" Elaine responded.
"Well, here I am, dropping off the amount of the bail money you posted for me," Jerry said, as he finished pouring in the rest of the money…in quarters. $100 worth.
And then some.
"500 quarters…just for you, Ms. Benes" Jerry said, still smiling.
"500? That's $125 altogether," Elaine said.
"$25 in interest, for you, out of my pockets, for your troubles," Jerry said with a smile.
"Well, you've dropped off the money, with interest," Elaine said, still standing behind the chained door to her home. "Thank you for that."
"You are welcome," Jerry said, still smiling.
"Is there anything else you want?" Elaine patiently asked, maintaining a straight look the entire time devoid of emotion.
"Actually, yes there is," Jerry said.
Elaine asked what it was. Jerry answered.
"May I please come in and ask you out for a date, Ms. Benes?" Jerry said, smiling.
"No, you may not," Elaine said.
"Very well, then," Jerry said, still smiling, "I will stand outside here in the hallway and ask."
"Ask me what?" Elaine asked.
"May I please ask you out on a date?" Jerry said.
Elaine stared at him for a moment. Jerry kept smiling. Then, following a silent sigh, Elaine's straight, emotionless look succumbed to a giggling grin which, ultimately, gave way to a broad smile and an uproarious laugh. Jerry had broken through.
"Yes, you may," Elaine said smiling and laughing in ways she had not laughed longer she can honestly remember while in the presence of a man. "Give me a couple of minutes, please."
"You got it," Jerry said, smiling.
Elaine then closed the door to her apartment. A few minutes later, she emerged with a purse over her shoulder while wearing a light-brown sweater, meeting Jerry at the door.
Off they went on their first-ever date.
Jerry and Elaine had a blast at a local arcade, playing various video games, pinball machines, billiards, and even a round of air hockey. For the life of her, Elaine could not honestly remember when she had so much fun in her life, let alone a man. Yet, today, Elaine was truly enjoying herself.
A lot of that had to do with the man she was enjoying herself with.
Despite being as competitive as they were, it brought out the fun with the two of them even more. As they spent more time at the arcade, the pair continued to get to know one another.
"You know, I have always thought there is more to you than meets the eye" Elaine said.
"I actually thought my brand of comedy annoyed you," Jerry said.
"It did, the other night," Elaine said.
"It doesn't, anymore?" Jerry asked.
"Not at all," Elaine said, adding, "you know, I have to admit, I actually enjoy your brand of comedy."
"Thank you," Jerry said.
"Yet, I still believe there is more to you than you're letting on," Elaine said.
"Well…could be," Jerry said. "What all do you think there is?"
"What's your deal?" Elaine asked.
"Well, ever since I left the law firm," Jerry said.
"You mean you're a lawyer?" Elaine said. "That sounds exciting."
"Not as exciting as I am now," Jerry said.
"So, what is it you do for a living?" Elaine asked.
"I am alive," Jerry said, as he popped the pinball machine for another game, "if that is what you mean."
"I mean…now," Elaine asked.
"What you have been seeing me do already," Jerry said.
"And what, pray tell, may that be?" Elaine asked.
"After we finish this round of pinball," Jerry answered, "I will let you know."
After their pinball game ended, Jerry picked up Elaine's purse and coat, placed them both on her, then, taking his date's hand, led them out of the arcade, together, and onto the sidewalk together.
Jerry and Elaine both walked through a neighborhood with lots of vacant lots and empty dilapidated buildings which had been burned out recently. This was the neighborhood Jerry had grown up in…which was not, at all, unlike the neighborhood Elaine had grown up—and was still living—in. Jerry had lamented about what had happened to his neighborhood and the vagaries of how things had changed via gentrification and how these issues had not only affected their neighborhood, but had affected Americans from all walks of life, as well. Be it black, white, Asian, Latino, hetero, gay, lesbian, bi, trans, queer, etc. Or just plain unlucky. He had seen it all, people looking for a way up…or out.
These issues had never gone unnoticed by Elaine, either, who had had own designs of trying to get out of her neighborhood, as well. One way was by being a fashion designer.
"You don't find anything wrong with that, do you?" Elaine asked Jerry.
"Not at all," Jerry said, "I support your decision to try and get out. Though you may not be able to take everyone with you, those who stay behind have a focus which deserves attention."
"And that's where you come in?" Elaine asked.
"Yes, that is where I come in," Jerry said, "by getting on stage and telling their stories on stage, bringing attention to things people don't think about, or never bother to do so. Either people will get this and laugh, or they never will."
After continuing to walk, following a brief silence, Elaine came up with an idea.
"Well, there is one thing I would like to bring attention to," Elaine said.
"Yes, what's that?" Jerry replied.
"Hunger," Elaine said.
"And what did you have in mind?" Jerry asked.
"Going to get something to eat," she said, "hungry?"
"Okay," Jerry said. "What do you have a taste for?"
"I have just the place," Elaine said, leading Jerry by the hand with cackling smile on her face.
"Say, where are we going?" Jerry said.
"You'll see!" Elaine said, laughing on the way to where they were going.
They ended up at Thickie's to eat.
Besides picking up a pair of triple cheeseburgers and a huge bag of fries, they both shared a milkshake bucket together. It was a one-liter silver bucket filled with a milkshake malted with a special chocolate aphrodisiac designed to bring out a particular truth amongst its drinkers. The flavor was chocolate and vanilla swirl—the same kind of flavor which Elaine was drinking the same day she poured some of her milkshake into Jerry's bullhorn mouthpiece, which led them to the series of events which has taken them from the jailhouse…to 500 quarters…the arcade…and now, here at Thickie's.
"This is a lot of food," Jerry said, "you eat here often?"
"I will," Elaine said, "but what I really like here are their milkshakes."
"Have you ever had their milkshake buckets?" Jerry asked her.
"No," Elaine said, "even for me, this is a lot. But for us, this is just right!"
As the two went through the food, they kept coming back to the milk bucket shake. As they drank through it, they both looked into each other's eyes. Jerry particularly loved how Elaine's eyes widened when she sucked on her straw. Through it all, Jerry looked into Elaine's eyes and smiled.
Being the observational comic, he disclosed himself as, Elaine asked Jerry what he was looking at.
"The way you drink these milkshakes," Jerry said. "You really love them."
"Yes, I do," Elaine said. "As much as you seem to like Superman."
"Superman?" Jerry said, "how could you tell?"
"By the House of El Crest pin on your lapel," Elaine said.
"Yes, you are correct," Jerry said, "I am a huge fan of Superman. You are quite observant."
"Yes, I am," Elaine said, smiling as she touched the pin on Jerry's coat lapel. Jerry then took Elaine's hand and held it as they continued to drink from the milkshake bucket.
"Is that what encouraged you to be such the tenacious fighter you are?" Elaine said, still holding Jerry's hand at the other side of the milkshake bucket while eating their food with the other hand.
"Yes, I took some boxing lessons as a kid and never let up on them as an adult," Jerry said.
"Impressive," Elaine said, smiling in between food bites and milkshake bucket sips.
"Thank you," Jerry said.
"You're welcome," Elaine said.
The emerging couple never let go of those non-eating hands for the rest of their meal at Thickie's.
After Thickie's, Jerry walked Elaine back to her apartment. They held hands the entire walk back.
"Well, Jerry, I really had a fine time with you this afternoon," Elaine said.
"Thank you," Jerry said, "I am glad, because I had a very great time with you, too."
As Jerry and Elaine still held hands, Elaine noticed something particular towards Jerry's crotch which caught her attention.
"Oh, Jerry, what is that?" Elaine said, smiling.
"I guess it is a response to what we have been eating and drinking for a while," Jerry said, very well aware of what was contained in those Thickie's milkshake buckets. Elaine was not entirely alone either: her nipples were coming in clearly through her sweater very easily for Jerry to see.
"As I am sure you can see through me, too," Elaine said, with that same, sardonic smile she had when she poured that Thickie's shake into Jerry's bullhorn.
"Wow, those milkshakes are really powerful," Jerry said.
"You bet," Elaine said.
"Would you like to see how powerful they are?" Jerry asked Elaine, still outside of her door.
"I thought you'd never ask, Superman!" Elaine smiled, opening her door to let Jerry in.
Once inside her apartment. Elaine chained and locked the door, and then proceeded to lock into a deep, intimate kiss with Jerry, leading all the way into her bedroom, where they made passionate love to one another through the night and into the morning.
The aphrodisiac worked. Jerry and Elaine went from bickering outside of that very same apartment building they had been outside of a few nights ago to burgeoning lovers inside of this very same building.