Errors
"Let's see, how should I begin this?" muttered Elliot, "Maybe I should use something simple, like 'Roses are red, violets are blue'. Nah, too cliché. Or maybe I should use an extended metaphor. Now how did Werner describe her again? Yellow hair, green eyes? That's it. But how to work with that. This is getting me nowhere fast. I need some inspiration." He turned to the bottle of Jack Daniels.
'Well, Werner always says I write my best poetry when I'm sloshed,' he thought. Which, I might add, had been a private joke between the duo, as Elliot was prone to getting a lose tongue when drunk, a primary reason that he never tried to out drink what he could handle.
The man began to chug down the fifth. He had developed a remarkable tolerance for alcohol over the years, so this barely fazed him. So when he was done, he filled a tankard with the ale that Werner had brought, and drank that too. On his second tankard, he completely lost it.
He mumbled, "Now, lesh shee. Shish girl ish supposed to be really pretty, sho I must write about shomething beautiful. How about a flower?" Elliot then began writing furiously, knowing that he had to make this really good. Before long, he had finished the entire poem. It was a work of art.
The man held it up to admire his work. It went something like this. "To this beautiful sunflower. Your emerald orbs sparkle in the sunlight, the great moon pales in comparison to the light from your soul. Would you do me the great honor of going out with me next week?" Then, he went to sign Leehalt's name to the poem. But he was so drunk that he couldn't think strait. All he remembered was Werner coming to him to ask for help writing a poem to a girl. So the name that went on the bottom of the paper was not Leehalt Alcheste, but Werner Maxwell. It was sealed in an envelope, and left on the desk.
* * *
The next day, Elliot went to deliver it to Ekatrina's house. Of course, he couldn't remember exactly what had transpired while he'd written, so he had no idea of his little snafu with the name. All he knew was that he had finished the letter, and it was awaiting delivery. So he arrived in Little Rock in the early morning hours, and headed over to her house. Once there, he rang the bell.
Haley began barking at the sound of the bell. Then, Ekatrina came to the door. She looked as if she'd just gotten out of the shower, as her hair was in a towel and she had her bathrobe on. But she was happy to see someone at the door, it was as if she knew that good news was coming in the mail.
"Excuse me, miss," he began, "I'm here to deliver a letter to a Miss Ekatrina Roughnight from a secret admirer. Might you happen to be the lady in question, or do I have the wrong house?"
"No, you've got the right place. I'm Ekatrina Roughnight. And what might your name be?" she asked, all while trying to restrain Haley from running outside and getting lost in the street.
He replied, "I'm Dr. Elliot Enduro, a researcher at the Leyline Observatory. Might you happen to have a drink around, some of my friends broke almost all the liqueur in the lab, and I used the last of it up last night while I was having trouble thinking of a project I was working on."
She held up her second finger, as if telling him to hold on a minute. The young woman went inside, and soon returned with a small bottle of wine. "Here, you can take this. Something told me I would need to buy something of the sort, I usually don't drink and my father is unable to, he gets drunk way to quickly and it's not good for his liver. So there isn't a reason to keep this around. Take it, I'm sure it is a good enough restitution for you going out of your way to deliver this to me."
"Any time," he told her, "Well, I've got to get back to the lab. My son should be waking up soon, and he doesn't like it when I'm not there for him. We're very close, him and me."
"I understand. Nice meeting you Elliot. Give my regards to your friends, the ones who stopped by here the other day. And especially give regards to my secret admirer," she stated.
With that, Elliot left. Ekatrina went back inside and sat down on the couch. She opened the letter and read it. When she came by the name, her heart skipped a beat. The woman thought, 'Something told me he liked me too. Now, what should I wear when he comes to meet me next week?'
* * *
Elliot came back to the lab, and knocked onto Werner's quarters. "Yo, Werner, mission accomplished. I wrote and delivered the letter just like you told me to. All you've got to do is to tell Leehalt that you've arranged a meeting between him and her next week. Then, you're off the hook."
The young man came out of his room, still in his nightclothes. He wasn't used to waking up this early, as his shift didn't begin until ten in the morning. Elliot's news brought him both pain and joy, he'd avoided a fight with Leehalt over the girl, but at the same time he'd rid himself of a chance of ever being able to tell her how he felt. Werner wiped a tear off of his cheek.
"Thanks Elliot," he said, "You're a real pal. Now, I've got to go find out where Leehalt is." He left the room, hoping that his rival was up. It wasn't uncommon for Leehalt to begin his work early in the morning, he was always looking for a way to tell the world how much better than Werner he was.
Werner searched the lab, finally finding him in the office, over some research material. He was reluctant to intervene at first, but when the other man showed no signs of stopping, he stepped up to him. Leehalt was reading a science textbook, but upon noticing Werner, he closed it.
"So, did you write the letter to Ekatrina? What did she say when you delivered it?" he asked.
Werner replied, "I've arranged for you to come and meet her next week in Little Rock. Since I had to come back to the lab in time for work, I couldn't stay to find out her reaction."
Leehalt smirked, victory was his. 'I've finally beaten you, Werner Maxwell. You're kindness did nothing to help you here, it caused you to lose the girl to me. For once, I, Leehalt Alcheste have come out on top.' He then gruffly thanked the other man, and returned to reading his book.
- - - -
Teefa's Last Words…
Let's see what happens when Werner next sees her. This is gonna be soooooooooooo good.
