"Okay, Elmer," Lona said as she finished the last of the omelet on
her plate. It was a bit on the odd side with the peanut better mixed in
but she had to admit that it hadn't been half bad. "What do you want to do
today?"
"Do?" Elmer looked at Lona with a bit of confusion. Okay, her suddenly inviting him to come home with her was unusual enough but now she was wanting to spend the day with him as well? "Ummm, Lona, don't we kind of have to go to work today?" Okay, maybe Jesse would forgive them for skipping a staff meeting but Elmer was pretty sure that he wasn't going to be thrilled if they blew off work entirely.
"Didn't you hear your father? He said you have the day off." Lona laughed slightly but in a friendly tone, not like the usual mocking laughter that Elmer was more than a little used to.
"Okay, I know my dad's a little high up in that silly Keepers thing, but I really don't think he's allowed to just declare days off."
Well, Elmer thought he wasn't anyway. If his dad could just give him time off in a snap, why hadn't he done something when Elmer had been so sick with the flu and yet had been forced from his bed to come to work anyway?
"He'll explain the entire thing to Jesse. Don't worry about it,
Elmer." Lona said with a smile. "So, where do you want to go today?"
"Ummmmmmmm...." Elmer felt his face reddening once more as he couldn't seem to figure out how to speak once again. Oh, this was too, too embarrassing. Of course, there was an up side in that he couldn't declare to Lona that he would be happy to go anywhere or do anything as long as she was at his side. Stuff like that tended to always get him into trouble with her.
"It's okay, Elmer, really." Lona reached out and patted his arm.
She was actually kind of pleased to see Elmer acting so nervous about being with her. It meant he was back to normal pretty much instead of terrified like he had been the night before. She firmly forced those thoughts away before they could properly surface. Elmer was fine and there was no use dwelling on what might have happened. "I have an idea, okay? I was thinking we could drive over towards Portland, maybe check out the ocean.
Would you like to do that? No certain plan, just driving along the coast."
Elmer didn't trust himself to speak, was sure that he would say something to totally wreck things if he tried. so he just nodded in response.
"Okay, Elmer. It's okay." Lona reassured him, patting him gently once more. "Let me just go and get my coat and we'll go. Do we need to swing by your place on our way? You might need a coat too. I don't want you to get chilled." Definitely didn't want him to get chilled after how cold he had ended up after so log on the roof.
"I'm fine." Elmer shook his head slowly as he followed Lona down the hallway, stopping momentarily as she opened a closet and pulled a thicker coat out. Why in the world was she acting like this, almost mother henning him? Something weird was definitely going on here.
"Ummmmmm, Lona, could I please ask what's going on here?" He said as he followed her out the door and climbed back into her car once more.
It wasn't a tiny one like the thing he was stuck with and he could actually stretch out in it, could probably even sleep in it if he wanted.
"Elmer, nothing's going on except that I want to spend the day with a friend. What's so strange about that?" Lona started the car as she talked and pulled out of the driveway, heading for the nearest route to the coast and Portland.
"Well, you have been acting pretty ticked at me for that stupid joke with the head," Elmer said quietly as he looked over at Lona. He was going to mess this up. He always blew everything, after all. Might as well mess things up now and get it over with before he got to enjoying it too much. It would just make it hurt worse when it blew up in his face.
"Elmer, I thought Carrie was going to have a heart attack when she saw that head. And I certainly hope that you returned it to its rightful owner. You have to admit that I had a right to be ticked with you. Where did you get the idea to do that, anyway? Were you reading something on Van Gogh by some chance?" Lona laughed softly as she looked over at him.
Okay, the head thing really wasn't very funny and was terribly disrespectful of the dead but the expression on Elmer's face as she brought up the incident was just so cute. She shook her head at that. Okay,
despite how she was almost constantly annoyed with Elmer at times, she did have to admit that he was seriously cute. "Now come on, what would you like to do today? Is the coast okay or would you rather do something else?"
"Coast is fine." Elmer said as he studied Lona. He had brought up the head incident and she hadn't yelled at him. That was definitely more than a bit unusual. Something very, very strange was going on here. "So,
Lona," he said in what he hoped was a casual tone. "Did that last scan you did show a brain tumor or something?" That had to be it. He had to be dying. It was the only other explanation that he could think of.
"Elmer, you're fine." Lona said as she play whacked him on the arm.
"Now just settle back and relax, okay? We're going to have a nice time today."
"Do?" Elmer looked at Lona with a bit of confusion. Okay, her suddenly inviting him to come home with her was unusual enough but now she was wanting to spend the day with him as well? "Ummm, Lona, don't we kind of have to go to work today?" Okay, maybe Jesse would forgive them for skipping a staff meeting but Elmer was pretty sure that he wasn't going to be thrilled if they blew off work entirely.
"Didn't you hear your father? He said you have the day off." Lona laughed slightly but in a friendly tone, not like the usual mocking laughter that Elmer was more than a little used to.
"Okay, I know my dad's a little high up in that silly Keepers thing, but I really don't think he's allowed to just declare days off."
Well, Elmer thought he wasn't anyway. If his dad could just give him time off in a snap, why hadn't he done something when Elmer had been so sick with the flu and yet had been forced from his bed to come to work anyway?
"He'll explain the entire thing to Jesse. Don't worry about it,
Elmer." Lona said with a smile. "So, where do you want to go today?"
"Ummmmmmmm...." Elmer felt his face reddening once more as he couldn't seem to figure out how to speak once again. Oh, this was too, too embarrassing. Of course, there was an up side in that he couldn't declare to Lona that he would be happy to go anywhere or do anything as long as she was at his side. Stuff like that tended to always get him into trouble with her.
"It's okay, Elmer, really." Lona reached out and patted his arm.
She was actually kind of pleased to see Elmer acting so nervous about being with her. It meant he was back to normal pretty much instead of terrified like he had been the night before. She firmly forced those thoughts away before they could properly surface. Elmer was fine and there was no use dwelling on what might have happened. "I have an idea, okay? I was thinking we could drive over towards Portland, maybe check out the ocean.
Would you like to do that? No certain plan, just driving along the coast."
Elmer didn't trust himself to speak, was sure that he would say something to totally wreck things if he tried. so he just nodded in response.
"Okay, Elmer. It's okay." Lona reassured him, patting him gently once more. "Let me just go and get my coat and we'll go. Do we need to swing by your place on our way? You might need a coat too. I don't want you to get chilled." Definitely didn't want him to get chilled after how cold he had ended up after so log on the roof.
"I'm fine." Elmer shook his head slowly as he followed Lona down the hallway, stopping momentarily as she opened a closet and pulled a thicker coat out. Why in the world was she acting like this, almost mother henning him? Something weird was definitely going on here.
"Ummmmmm, Lona, could I please ask what's going on here?" He said as he followed her out the door and climbed back into her car once more.
It wasn't a tiny one like the thing he was stuck with and he could actually stretch out in it, could probably even sleep in it if he wanted.
"Elmer, nothing's going on except that I want to spend the day with a friend. What's so strange about that?" Lona started the car as she talked and pulled out of the driveway, heading for the nearest route to the coast and Portland.
"Well, you have been acting pretty ticked at me for that stupid joke with the head," Elmer said quietly as he looked over at Lona. He was going to mess this up. He always blew everything, after all. Might as well mess things up now and get it over with before he got to enjoying it too much. It would just make it hurt worse when it blew up in his face.
"Elmer, I thought Carrie was going to have a heart attack when she saw that head. And I certainly hope that you returned it to its rightful owner. You have to admit that I had a right to be ticked with you. Where did you get the idea to do that, anyway? Were you reading something on Van Gogh by some chance?" Lona laughed softly as she looked over at him.
Okay, the head thing really wasn't very funny and was terribly disrespectful of the dead but the expression on Elmer's face as she brought up the incident was just so cute. She shook her head at that. Okay,
despite how she was almost constantly annoyed with Elmer at times, she did have to admit that he was seriously cute. "Now come on, what would you like to do today? Is the coast okay or would you rather do something else?"
"Coast is fine." Elmer said as he studied Lona. He had brought up the head incident and she hadn't yelled at him. That was definitely more than a bit unusual. Something very, very strange was going on here. "So,
Lona," he said in what he hoped was a casual tone. "Did that last scan you did show a brain tumor or something?" That had to be it. He had to be dying. It was the only other explanation that he could think of.
"Elmer, you're fine." Lona said as she play whacked him on the arm.
"Now just settle back and relax, okay? We're going to have a nice time today."