Chapter 21
"Don't you have any questions for me? Anything you want to know?"
Bucky immediately knew that he might regret asking, possibly opening up this Pandora's Box. He knew when it came down to it, he would answer any question she would ever ask of him. It may scare him half to death, but he did not want to keep anything from Ella.
Nothing that she actively wanted to know. Bucky kept thinking that given enough time, he may tell her everything. Even the things that he knew would make her turn and run screaming away from him. That was the thought that scared him the most.
"Of course, I have questions. But where is the fun in asking them all at once? Oh, do me a favor and don't ask all of your questions for me all at once. I don't want you to get tired of me too quickly. I'm not quite done with you yet, Sailor."
Bucky looked away from the screen and from the camera. He knew that might never happen. With every question he asked Ella, he already had 100 more. Every answer she gave compounded that number exponentially.
Not to mention the more time that they spent together, the more they talked and interacted, Bucky's feelings were growing stronger. The new voice in the back of his head was getting louder, more possessive. For now, he was focusing on having a good time with her and making sure she had one too.
Whatever came of this would be down the road. Not right now. It was something he refused to think about now. Something that also frightened him to consider.
Bucky would never admit, not even to himself, that his feelings for Ella were growing stronger. Just as the voice was getting louder.
He didn't think that another 100 years would be enough time to satisfy the curiosity that surrounded Ella. And he did consider spending the next century finding out if this were true.
"I'm sorry to say, and it's probably your bad luck, but I do not see that happening any time soon, Peach."
Ella scoffed and threw her head back. Most likely at the use of the nickname, Bucky thought. She turned her head slightly and smiled a sly smile at him through the screen.
She gazed at him for a moment.
"I do have a question for you. I hope you answer honestly."
"Anything, Peach."
Ella rolled her eyes animatedly again at the use of his new favorite nickname for her. He could feel her annoyance as well as the satisfaction that she was trying so hard to hide.
"What was your purpose for calling me tonight? Not that I mind at all. I feel like your real reason for calling has not been addressed. The fact that I keep side-tracking you doesn't seem to be helping much."
Her smug smile spoke volumes, as did the blush that almost threatened to creep into his own cheeks at the reminder. He indeed kept getting sidetracked. By her. By his thoughts. But mostly by her.
"Tomorrow I'll be going on a small business trip as I said in my message. I should only be gone a few days, but where I'm going won't have good reception. Plus, I won't really have time for phone calls. So, I figured I'd ask you now. What are your plans for this weekend?"
Ella had turned back to her cake as he was speaking and finished piping another row of pearls. This one looked like a ribbon draping from the top of the cake. She looked back up at him when he asked her the question.
"My schedule is a bit full this week. On top of work, I start setting up for the gallery opening day after tomorrow. Friday is the opening night, so that night is out. But…"
Ella spoke and removed the metal tip-off of the coupling on the piping bag and squeezed the remaining icing back into the container. Once she was done, she walked over to a drawer and pulled out what Bucky could see was a calendar or planner of some kind, and flipped it open.
She studied the pages for a moment before speaking again.
"Want to go dancing with me on Saturday night?"
Ella looked up from the planner and laid her eyes back on the camera. She must have caught Bucky's look of disgust on the screen. She immediately started laughing as she placed the calendar back in its spot in the drawer.
"Don't worry yourself over there. I do not consider clubbing and dancing the same thing. Or even remotely similar. Clubbing is for people watching, not for dancing."
Bucky let out an audible sigh of relief. This new form of 'dancing' that had swept the current era was very low on his list of things he liked to do. Actually, it wasn't on the list at all. Bucky thought that it fell more under 'torture' than anything.
"I do not find bumping and griding on random strangers to music that sounds like angry robots fucking to be fun, or entertaining, in the slightest."
Bucky broke out in a fit of laughter that he had absolutely no control over following her comment. He wiped a tear from his eye and looked at Ella through the screen.
"I have never heard it put quite like that, but that is the aptest description of it."
Bucky continued to guffaw as he wiped away more tears of mirth. Ella turned away with a smile on her face to grab a bowl from her counter of gathered utensils. He did not miss the smirk that had replaced the smile that played across her lips.
"If I say yes. How scared should I be? What am I getting myself into, exactly?"
"If you don't know how to dance, you should be afraid. Very afraid." Ella chuckled.
"There is an underground Jazz club that I go to every once in a while. They host a swing night one Saturday night a month."
Bucky's face lit up and he had to be quick to hide the smile that threatened to invade his face. It had been so long since he had been dancing. He had been to a few Jazz clubs on swing nights, but he never had a partner and never made it to the dance floor. Also, the last time he had actually danced was in 1943.
He suddenly felt a rush of apprehension due to his lack of practice. The apprehension faded as fast as it had come and turned into excitement. Excitement at the particular thought of who his partner would be. There was no denying that Ella was a woman any man would want on their arm.
Bucky reminisced on his times in the dance halls of Brooklyn. Back in those days, he had many dance partners. A few which he could still remember, even though there were no names to the faces he saw in his mind's eye.
He doubted, even if no time had passed, that he would remember their names anyway. After all this time Bucky wasn't even sure if everything that he recalled from those times was even real. Maybe it was just part of what he wished would have been and not what had actually come to fruition.
He mused about how good of a dancer Ella was. The thought about how many partners she had had. That particular thought set off a wave of anger through him that Bucky could only attribute to jealousy. That didn't matter now. What mattered was that she was asking him to be hers, here and now.
The voice in the back of Bucky's mind eased up at the thought. Though it still made its presence known. Then he heard Steve's voice again. "I'm just looking for the right dance partner." It seemed as if Bucky had finally gotten to that point Steve had been at all those years ago.
During Bucky's time of past reflection, Ella had busied herself by grabbing some bottles from the fridge. When she bent over to retrieve another large mixing bowl from a cabinet Bucky was violently snapped back to reality at the sight and he quickly averted his eyes from what had drawn his attention.
He may be a man, but he was still a gentleman.
He observed as she took the bowl, added a good portion of icing to it, added a few drops of what looked like dark drops of color from a bottle that she had retrieved. Ella grabbed a whisk and began vigorously mixing the few drops into the white icing, which was slowly turning blue.
As she whisked Bucky could make out the muscle definition in her arms. She was indeed a lot stronger than she appeared.
When Ella was finished, she smacked the whisk on the side of the bowl and added a few more drops of what had to be food coloring to the now powder-blue icing. She picked up the bowl and cradled it in the crook of her arm as she began whisking quickly again.
She looked up at the camera as she worked.
"So, are you interested or are you too scared that you might have two left feet? Afraid you won't be able to keep up with me?"
Ella smirked into her mixing bowl and its ever-darkening blue icing. Before Bucky could retort she cut him off, pointing an icing-covered whisk at the camera.
"And don't you dare think that you can come and then just stand on the sidelines and watch. You will be dancing with me, or don't bother saying yes."
Bucky didn't stop the grin that graced his face this time, nor the low chuckle that escaped his chest at her warning.
"Don't worry about me, Peach. I can dance. It's just been a while. I may be a bit rusty, but I have a feeling that after a while you'll be the one struggling to keep up and keep your feet on the floor."
Ella paused what she was doing. Which was currently filling up another piping bag, and gazed into the camera. Her eyes were positively shining.
"Should I take that as a threat or a promise, Sailor?"
"Both."
The look on Ella's face that matched the wickedly teasing grin she was giving him almost took Bucky's breath away.
"If it is a challenge you want, it is a challenge that you shall receive."
Bucky did not think it was possible. Ella's smile grew even more sinful and naughty. So incredibly enticing and inviting for a good time that the Devil himself would be jealous of. He very much wanted to see it again once it had waned and was gone.
Ella just smiled to herself as she grabbed another tool from the box that she kept the piping tips in. It looked like a giant tack with a large, flat head and a long stem. She also grabbed a pair of scissors. Bucky watched as she affixed another piping tip to the new bag.
She turned around and leaned down and against the counter as she had done at the very beginning of their call. Her shirt sleeve slipping lower off her shoulder. Her elbows resting on the counter supporting herself as she bent forward.
In one hand was the piping bag full of deep blue icing. In her other hand was the large tack.
"What are you doing?" Bucky inquired.
"I am about to start making roses. Shut up and watch."
With one final playful smile at the camera, they both fell silent. Bucky watching Ella's hands intently as she began to work.
She rolled the stem of the metal apparatus between her fingers as she formed a single cone of icing at the center of the flat portion. As she twisted the stem back and forth between her fingers, she kept adding larger and larger layers of arches of icing until the whole flat part of the tack was covered.
By Bucky's estimation, it had taken her about two minutes before she was holding the finished product up towards the camera so he could see. He also saw the shit-eating grin playing across her lips.
"Show off."
"Just a tad. As I said, I thought you'd like to watch."
"Now how do you get it off of that tack-thing and onto the cake? Huh?"
Bucky's tone was so sarcastic and smart-alecky he wanted to smack himself upside the head. But he honestly couldn't see how she could do it without ruining her work. There seemed to be no way to do it.
"Like this… and it's called a flower nail."
Ella opened the scissors slightly, slid them into the base of the flower, then lifted it up and off of the flower nail. Then she grabbed a small metal rod from the icing tip box and used it to scooch the icing rose off of the scissors and onto the cake.
When she had finished the seemingly impossible task, she just stared at Bucky and smiled. Not saying a word. Bucky couldn't get enough of her smiles. All forms of them.
"And I will say it again; Show off."
"I will never admit to anything."
Ella graced him with another sweet smile before she began working on the next flower. Bucky watched and studied her movements carefully. Noting the differences and similarities with each new flower she made.
After some time of silence on both ends, Ella spoke.
"So, what is your favorite cake? I rudely interrupted you before you could answer last time."
Bucky watched her finish another small rosebud and placed it amongst a grouping of larger roses on the side of the cake.
He didn't have to think too hard about that answer. That would always be the cake his ma would always make for him on his birthday.
"Yellow cake with chocolate icing."
Ella smiled a smile that was both sentimental and sad at the same time.
"That's my dad's favorite, too. When I was home, I'd make it for his birthday every year. I even used my grandmother's recipe. As far back as I can remember."
Bucky couldn't believe the coincidences. Ella was too good to be true.
During her pause, Ella turned pensive. She spun the flower nail between her fingers absentmindedly.
"Of course, it's been some time since I've been home.
She brought the flower nail up to her lips and licked the remaining icing from the flat surface she had been working on.
Bucky tried to lighten the mood, even just slightly.
"That doesn't seem sanitary, Peach." He chuckled and gave her a smile.
Ella licked it again, her eyes trained on Bucky. Then she dropped the utensil into the sink.
"When I am done with it, it is. Besides, the best part is always licking everything clean at the end!"
Ella started putting most of the items she had been working with into the sink. Licking various ones clean of any icing that had gotten onto them. Bucky assumed by her glances that it was partially for his pleasure as well as his discomfort.
When she was done putting away everything that she had not used. She filled up the sink. All that was left was the bowl of blue icing, a dough scraper, her box of tips, and the bottles of food coloring. Bucky was the one to break the silence this time.
"So what other hobbies do you have? Obviously, baking is one of them. Photography is another. Any other hobbies?"
"Hmmm." Ella whisked away at the blue icing which was slowly turning into a deep green color. She must have added yellow when he wasn't looking.
"I guess I'll just go through a list of things I like to do. Whether they are work-related or not."
Ella finished the new icing color and prepared a new piping bag and picked out a new tip.
"I like to bake, I did it for over two years and fell in love with decorating. That and who doesn't love a good cake that also happens to be an edible piece of art? I love working with chocolate, too. Once a year around Christmas I rent out a kitchen downtown and make a shit ton of truffles. I need specialty chocolate equipment and this kitchen, although on the bigger side, won't cut it. I don't have what I need to work with here."
She affixed a silver piping tip to the bag and paused. Not looking at the camera at all, she continued.
"I like weapons. I'm pretty good with a Glock but better with knives. Don't ever cross me with a sword. You'll lose that one. Someone from work has also been teaching me archery as well. That has been really fun."
Bucky was taken aback. He knew she worked for the government and that she did analytics of some kind, but weapons training never even crossed his mind. Ella smirked at the camera as she filled the bag with the green icing as if she knew what he was thinking.
"You already know about my photography. I also model. But I've been a photographer for a lot longer. I read a lot. I write a lot. Both for work and scientific journals, as well as my own fictional stories. I build computers, and I write my own software. I also build and modify cameras to fit my photographic needs."
He considered everything she was telling him. It seemed like she had her hand in almost everything. How did she have time for all this?
"I'm also an avid tinkerer. If you couldn't tell by the building computers and cameras part. I love taking things apart and putting them back together. Sometimes building them better than before. Recently I have amassed quite the antique clock collection. I've been teaching myself how to read Witness Marks."
"Witness Marks?"
Ella lost Bucky. She put down the icing bag on the counter and leaned against it, folding her arms.
"Back in the day, there were no blueprints or how-tos on how to fix a clock. So, a clockmaker had to read the marks left behind by the previous clockmakers in order to see how that particular piece had been fixed or maintained. Examples include tool marks or marks made by pieces being repaired or replaced. In order to understand the history of any given piece, you need to be able to read these marks."
"And you're teaching yourself all this?"
"Among other things, yeah. Keeps me busy."
"Once again I am led to the question of whether or not you ever sleep. Do you have any friends? Any hobbies you do with them?"
Ella stared off beyond the camera and answered in an almost blank and emotionless way.
"I don't exactly have any friends."
Bucky stared at her open-mouthed at her statement. He was thankful that she was still staring off and away from the camera.
"You… you have no friends? As in none at all? What about coworkers? People who you work with on your hobbies like photography?"
"Well, no one outside of work or artistic associates."
He watched Ella's face carefully as he saw a visible barrier go up behind her guarded expression. He imagined a brick wall being laid behind her eyes in the short moment it took for her to respond. It seemed as if they had crossed into an area that she was not happy with.
"It's not like I have no friends at all. I know a lot of people, I just don't have many, if any, friends. There is a difference. It's more like everyone is an acquaintance that I keep at arm's length. I stopped letting anyone get closer than that a long time ago."
The was definitely not the answer that Bucky had expected. Ella picked up the piping bag again and turned around, back to her cake. She slowly adorned the roses with leaves uniformly, yet haphazardly. The wall that she had built was still firmly in place and it left Bucky feeling awkward, alienated, and misplaced.
Ella barely looked like herself. If he was being honest, she looked a bit scary. He decided to test her wall and boundary. Extremely lightly and tentatively.
"Why do you keep everyone at arm's length? What happened to make you start doing that?"
Bucky watched Ella keenly as she thought over her answer. Her hands were still busy with the final touches of the decorations.
After a few moments of Ella adding more leaves to the roses on the cake, she stopped and placed the icing bag to the side. She crossed her arms snuggly and leveled Bucky with a cool, calculated, and emotionless mask to the camera. It sent chills down Bucky's spine. This was not the woman he was falling for. This was a whole other person altogether.
The thought and visuals disturbed him to his core. Then she spoke with a monotone voice that he couldn't quite figure out. Even if he did, he knew he did not like it.
"Because, if I let anyone closer to me, someone always gets angry, upset, or hurt. Or all three. Because people have this horrible tendency of having expectations and I always fail to meet whatever expectations that are thrust upon me. I am tired of being put in a box and being expected to act a certain way or be a certain thing. So, I keep everyone far enough away that they can't do that."
Ella sighed but did not turn her almost dead gaze away. It was unnerving.
"I only ever let people see a few facets of me. To every person I know I am someone different. I never let anyone get close enough to form an expectation, to really get to know me. To see all of me. You cannot be disappointed if you have no expectations to begin with. If you do not truly know me, you cannot have any."