SUGAR-INDUCED SILENCE

THAT MORNING SHE HAD BEEN GAIA, VERSION: AWKWARD. By telling Ed about Will, she had not only exposed her heart to someone; she had also given him an all access pass to her thoughts and emotions. And Gaia hated that. But after some thought she had reasoned with herself. She was the one who had decided to mention Will. Not Ed. And she was just going to have to deal with that and its consequences. And step one in her plan "to deal" was to refuel on sugar. Because sugar was a cure all.

Back in high school this had involved wolfing down a box of Krispy Kremes. Unfortunately unlike New York where Krispy Kremes could be bought on every street, in Quantico they were sold only in one shop. After discovering their limited supply, Gaia had decided to branch out into other sugar stuffed foods. Which had lead her to Fancy Food's muffins.

The moment they entered Fancy Food, Gaia knew that taking Ed there was a good idea. She watched as his face broke into the first smile of the day and his eyes misted over at the sight of rows and rows of pastries and cakes. Leaving Ed drooling behind her, Gaia walked directly to the muffins and let her eyes move down the familiar list of flavours.

"I don't know which one to choose."

Gaia nearly smiled, knowing perfectly how Ed felt. "I can help with that."

ED WAS IN FULL AGREEMENT: THIS PLACE REALLY DID SELL THE BEST MUFFINS. 'This place' was a small eatery located on the outskirts of Quantico that went by the name Fancy Food, and was what Ed could only describe as a gourmet dinner. All the food looked mouth-watering good. In fact Ed had been unable to pick a muffin. Luckily he had been rescued from his debate on what type of chocolate by Gaia who ordered both of them a triple chocolate muffin.

When Gaia had handed him his muffin, replacing its spot from the counter with a couple of crumpled dollars; he had just stared at it for a few moments while the phrase 'small mountain' drifted through his mind. Then he bit into it. Instantly the sweet, cocoa taste filled his mouth. Swallowing down the gooey goodness, Ed gave Gaia the thumbs up. This was so much better than his breakfast the day before.

Ed spilled into a sugar-induced silence as he slumped back into his plastic cushioned chair. The bubble of happiness in his chest swelled as he glimpsed the slight upward curve of Gaia's lips. Like for him, food was the way to her heart. Ed let his mind sink into memories of warm morning bagels as he sipped on his three-sugar and cream coffee.

This morning was total bliss.

WITH A SKY HIGH SUGER LEVEL, GAIA FELT READY TO FACE THE DAY. And ready for step two. Gaia figured that coffee and muffins would out Ed in a complacent mood, leaving her free to talk at him with no backchat. The perfect situation for what she wanted to say.

"Ed..." Gaia said, then choked. It was no use. She had planned an entire speech to say to Ed. She had planned to tell him more about Will so that he would fully understand what she was feeling. But the innocent interest in Ed's face was threatening to drag up her just eaten breakfast. Looking down, Gaia tried again. "Ed, I, um, I'm sorry for dumping all my emotional garbage on you last night. But I, um, I promise that from here on out it will all be fun stuff. No heavy stuff."

Gaia swallowed hard. She had chickened out. Like always she had shut away her emotions and thrown away the key. Looking up from the floor and her discarded self respect, Gaia wasn't sure if she saw a flicker of disappoint in Ed's eyes or it was just the bad fluorescent lighting. Either way a big grin was soon in place along with a hearty reply of, "Cool. What fun stuff do you have planned?"

"Um, I, dunno," Gaia stuttered, suddenly feeling flustered. "There's a movie theatre nearby. And there's a museum that's quite interesting - I recently went there with Kim."

Gaia continued to make suggestions, but whilst they all seemed like reasonable things to do, none of them seemed like Ed-and-Gaia things to do. Gaia was going through her mental list of places to go when the perfect place to go hit her - the park.

THE DRIVE TO THE PARK WAS SATURATED WITH SILENCE. The instant Ed had climbed into the car, he had switched on the radio, a sure-fire sign that talking was prohibited. Gaia tried to inject some sound - through the raging tones of a soft rock band on the radio - by pointing out important buildings and people hot spots as they drove past. But all her attempts at conversation were meet with an automatic reply from Ed. His replies weren't rude, but they no longer held any warmth. Without seeing a thing, the bridge between them had crumbled.

The car crunched to a halt as Ed pulled up beside the only other car in the car park. A deafening quiet descended on the car, as Ed killed the engine along with the radio. But Gaia didn't care. Because now the only thing he had to listen to was her voice.

"What's wrong?"

Ed turned his head towards her, but his eyes were directed out the window.

"Nothing's wrong."

"Really? It's hard to tell as you didn't say anything during the drive here."

Ed eyes snapped to hers.

"I was concentrating on driving. I'm not familiar with these roads. Besides, Green Day was playing on the radio, and everyone just has to listen to them." Ed's eyebrows and lips quirked upwards as he spoke, his voice tripping over seriousness into silliness.

"Yeah right. Sorry."

Ed gave her a sharp smile and began joking about various rock bands. Gaia had to admit that the idea of everyone worshipping Limp Bizkit by sacrificing biscuits was funny, but it didn't dull the fact that something had shifted between them for the worse.