Title: Dancing Without The Rain
Rating: PG-13
Summary: All she ever wanted was to be left alone. All he ever wanted was to live life without any further mishaps. Fate ignored their unsubtle requests, and together, they may be in for more then they expected.
Categories Romance/Humour
Disclaimer: blinks in surprise I don't own Neal and Kel?
A/N: I would like to make it clear, that I have not been learning Spanish for that long, and that the grammar mistakes are kept to a minimum, but I don't have a teacher with me right now so….sorry to all you Spaniards out there, I don't mean to mutilate your language.
♦
The place was a welcome sight. With the cozy setting, and clear windows that held none of the awful lettering that most cafés paste across their windows whose only purpose was to obstruct your view.
Kel smiled up at the familiar peeling gold letters that proudly displayed the word 'Decafé'. Pushing open one of the doors, she slipped inside, closing her eyes as she breathed in the wonderful smell of coffee, hazelnuts, and warm bread the place always smelt of.
"¡Keladry! ¡Tan bueno verle! ¡Cómo hemos faltado su bonito haga frente!"
Marina Sanchez was a big Spanish woman, with bright eyes, and a pleasant face, wrinkled though it was. Almost wider than she was tall, Mrs. Sanchez had been Kel's friend ever since she had come to London. Though Kel had never been a particularly social person, Mrs. Sanchez still took her under her wing. A year later and Kel was almost felt like she had always been a part of the Sanchez family. ((Keladry! So good to see you! How we have missed your pretty face!))
"Niza para verle también señora Sanchez," said Kel, wincing slightly as Mrs. Sanchez crushed all the bones in her spine as she was swept Kel into a massive bear hug, and kissed soundly on the cheek. ((Nice to see you too Mrs Sanchez.))
Chattering happily, Mrs. Sanchez led Kel to her usual table. When Kel was seated, Mrs. Sanchez smiled toothily at her, as though she could sense that Kel had had a rough day. It always struck Kel as odd that such reassurance could radiate from such sugar rotten teeth.
Kel sighed gustily and sank back into her chair. Tuesday appeared to be the only day that she didn't have to teach Class 49, and for that she was thankful. It hadn't been too hard sliding into the role of educator with the other classes. Her students were all moderately bright, and while she had spotted a few potential trouble makers, it was nothing she couldn't handle. Smiling gently at José after giving her order, Kel decided she would relax now, and worry about the class later.
♦
Holy crap that was a dull meeting, Neal thought, as he trudged moodily down the street. He hadn't even bothered to skim through the briefing afterwards. To top all of that off, he hadn't had proper coffee. That watery rubbish that he had received at Starbucks didn't count.
Opening the door to his regular establishment, Neal felt himself relax at the familiar surroundings. The Sanchez family smiled at him as he passed them one by one, until he was lead to his usual table. Aranxia, a pretty girl with long hair and an olive complexion skipped over.
"May I take your order Nealan?"
"It's NEAL. And I'll just have the usual thanks."
"Okay, I'll be right back."
Neal sat there happily, leaning back into his squashy red armchair. He was just about to drop off when-
It was a nice voice. A decidedly female voice. And he had definitely heard it before. It was speaking in Spanish now, but there was no mistaking it's slightly musical timbre.
"Gracias, pero apenas tendré mi generalmente. ¿A menos que... podría usted hacer el café un pedacito más fuerte?"
((Thank you, but I'll just have my usual. Except...could you make the coffee a bit stronger?))
His eyes snapped towards the window, and sure enough, there she was. Her short hair glowed slightly in the light of the slowly sinking sun behind her, and beautiful white teeth (how could this woman possibly be a coffee drinker?) flashed at the waiter, and Neal felt a surge of envy.
"Nealan? Nealan?"
"Wha- What?"
"Your order."
Neal took his food and coffee from Aranxia, before asking, "That woman in the corner, by the window, who is she?"
Aranxia glanced up and the said rather matter-of-factly, "Her? Why, that is our Keladry."
The 'our' seemed to fit perfectly, because as soon a the waiter had left, three children who must have been one of the many sets grandchildren that Mrs. Sanchez had, ran up to the woman called Keladry, and started trying to crawl into her lap, cooing and giggling all the way. Laughing gently, Kel gave each one a hug, and then said that if they were really good, and helped 'Abuela Sanchez' then the next time she came, they might get some sweets. Positively shrieking with joy, the children ran off in search of their grandmother.
"Yes, we all lover very much. Such a shame." Aranxia shook her head sadly
"What is?"
"How that wicked, wicked man just- oh poor querida. She was so heartbroken!"
"Who? What? When?...Why?" Neal was frantic, what could possibly have been so upsetting that Aranxia had almost been reduced to tears?
"Oh no, oh no! ¡No puedo decir! I cannot say! It is a secret that should not be told unless it is absolutely necessary!"
Aranxia quickly left, leaving Neal to ponder, and watch almost helplessly, as Keladry left the establishment.
♦
"I'm back!" Kel called, as she tugged her boots off, placing them carefully on the shoe rack.
There were various calls and salutations before Lalassa said, "Don't forget, it's your turn to cook tonight!"
Groaning slightly, Kel slipped of her coat and flung it unceremoniously onto the settee. What to cook? Whistling tonelessly, she sauntered over to the kitchen.
It was a nice little place, with whitewash floor tiles, and plenty of space, but the downside was the stove. It was old. And by old, she meant that the thing had probably been considered junk in the era this house was first built. Sighing, Kel turned the switch for the gas, and carefully lit up. Placing a large pot of water over it, she added salt, pepper and a splash of vinegar to it. As she bustled around, frying up the mince meat and onions, making sauce, Kel switched off.
This was the main reason she liked cooking, though she'd die before she let anyone know she had any housewifely tendencies. Cooking was a second nature to her, it let her relax and tune out to all of the tension that so often hummed through her life like a bad radio signal.
When the spaghetti was done, Kel called everyone into the dinning room. There was a considerably more relaxed air to the room then there had been the previous night. This was largely due to the fact that, unlike Owen, Kel knew the difference between the salt and sugar containers.
While they were munching happily, Kel told them about her escapades in the classroom, giving Roald time to 'excuse himself' when she mentioned her rules, it all seemed very mundane until Cleon suddenly spoke up.
"If his fidgety manner is any thing to go by, our dear Owen has something to say."
For the second dinner in a row, Owen found himself under the scrutiny of his friends. Blushing slightly, he told them.
There was a brief moment of silence, before Lalassa -surprisingly- started up in a singsong voice, "Owen and Isabella sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I"
For the rest of the night, Owen had to endure the sly looks that were constantly being sent his way.
♦
Snuggled up nicely between her silk sheets, Kel finished up her lesson plan for Class 49. Switching of the light, before she drifted of to sleep, for some reason, the face of that handsome man at the Starbucks kept appearing before her eyes.
A/N: Ahhhhhhh, much better isn't it? I can't promise that the next chapter will come out very soon, but I'll try. And remember, if you review, I write faster!
p.s: Dom's Lover, where have you been? You didn't review my last chapter! I know I sound like a spoiled brat, but it's your fault for making me addicted to your feedback! Hope to hear from you soon.
