Chapter 6: Fork or Spoon?

Then

I was getting pretty tired of the library. All of my friends had gone to the beach for Spring Break but I was over my head in notes from research for one of my English classes. As much as I would have preferred to be soaking up the rays, I knew that I had to finish this project. Still, I had to take a break or my head was going to explode. I packed up my stuff and decided to go to my apartment. I would allow myself the rest of the day and night to relax then I would get back to work in the morning. One thing about everyone being gone was that it meant I would have my apartment to myself when I got home. As much as I enjoyed having Rebecca around, I did miss having the chance to do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. Rebecca had about as many boyfriends as Caroline and I never knew when we would have company. Long gone were my days of strolling around my apartment in my spa robe waiting on my hair to dry. That was not a sight that needed an audience. It was a beautiful day and I decided that the sun should not go to waste as I put on a swimsuit and went out on the deck to soak up a few rays. When my cordless phone rang, I jumped. "Hello?"

"Elena! Have you finally left the confines of the library and come back to join the land of the living?"

"Hi Damon. Yeah, I decided to take a break and enjoy the sun. It's a good thing you called when you did. I was dangerously close to falling asleep. I would've ended up with a nasty burn."

"I would gladly volunteer to come over and rub some aloe on you." You had to give him points for trying. "Do you have plans for dinner or are you running back to the library tonight?"

"No. I'm not setting foot back in that place until tomorrow. As for plans, I don't have any. Everyone I know is out of town this week. Well, almost everyone. What are you doing here?"

"I stayed to work. I'm leaving tomorrow afternoon to meet some of the guys at the beach. Since I'm all by my lonesome and you're all by your lonesome why don't you come over for pizza? I've got beers in the fridge. We can pick a movie and let you have a chance to unwind. You've been working too hard lately."

"Umm..."

"Elena, you just said that everyone you know is out of town. It's not like you are going to get a better offer. What's stopping you?"

"You know what? Absolutely nothing is stopping me. It's Spring Break. I think I should live a little. Give me two hours to get a shower and get ready and I'll be right over." I quickly hung up before I could change my mind. I would have given away my research project to see the look of shock on his face.

~~~~~TVD~~~~~TVD~~~~~TVD~~~~~

Two hours and fifteen minutes later, I was ringing his doorbell. It's not that I was trying to be fashionably late. Actually, fashion was to blame. I had changed clothes four times. Damon had been asking me out for over three months and, though we had spent plenty of time hanging out, this was the first time that I had ever been alone with him. I wasn't sure whether he was considering this a date or if it was really going to be two friends throwing back some beers and pizza. It is hard to know the appropriate attire for a date that might not really be a date. They never cover that one on the television shows. The temperature was dropping as the sun went down so I finally settled on jeans and the button down shirt that I had just bought at Abercrombie and Fitch. I figured cute but casual was probably the best option. When Damon opened the door wearing a rugby shirt and the jeans that made his butt look awesome (yes, I had noticed), I decided I had made the right decision not only about what to wear but also about coming over here tonight. He was one of my best friends. I found him attractive. I could talk to him about anything. I trusted him with my life even if I did not trust him with my heart. And I wasn't even sure if my heart was involved yet. We had reached a point where I wanted to believe that our friendship would survive whatever was about to happen. So, when he reached out to hug me I went with it.

"I'm glad you decided to come over. I ordered pizza with ham and extra sauce. I hope that's OK."

"That's my favorite."

"Yeah, I know. Can I get you a beer?"

"I'll wait and have one with the pizza. I'm limiting myself to one. Remember, I have to drive home."

What I didn't say was that I also wanted to keep a clear head. The last time I was at his apartment I had practically melded to him mid hug. I had to keep my wits about me tonight. I didn't want to do anything tonight that I would regret in the morning. I felt the tiniest bit of my resolve slip when he caught my hand, led me to the couch and asked about my research while we waited on the delivery guy.

The pizza arrived shortly after I did and we decided to eat before starting the movie. It was fairly obvious that he was considering this a date which made me completely edgy. I hadn't eaten all day but could only manage to pick at a piece of pizza. When we finished eating we moved to the couch to watch the movie Damon had selected. Before long we were snuggled up on the couch watching Casablanca. When the movie ended, it was clear that neither one of us was ready to call it a night so we started talking about the movie. It all started with me choosing between Rick and Victor. As if that would be a hard choice. I'd pick Bogie any day. Somehow that discussion turned into a game of "Would You Rather".

"Would you rather be a dog or a cat?" I was never good at coming up with these things.

"Easy, I'd be a dog. I'm a dog person plus our dog always got treated better than me and my brother. OK. It's my turn which is good since you suck at asking the questions," he laughed.

"Bite me." He wiggled both eyebrows and gave me a lascivious grin. "Ask the question or you lose your turn."

"Would you rather be hot or cold?"

"Hot. I hate being too cold."

"But if you are cold you can always have a fire and snuggle up with someone else to get warm." He lightly squeezed me with his arms which at this point were securely wrapped around me.

"True but at that point I would no longer be cold. I would infinitely prefer to be warmly snuggled than coldly left alone." I was getting warmer by the minute. "Of course, there's no guarantee that there will always be someone around who is interested enough in me to want keep me warm." I heard him groan.

"You're putting yourself down again. You know how I feel about that."

"Besides," I quickly added, "when you are cold sometimes there just aren't enough clothes to get warmed up. If you get too hot you can always take something off."

Damon laughed. "That is a fabulous benefit of being hot. I love when you say stuff like that. You were being completely innocent but left yourself open to such an interesting interpretation."

"Moving right along, would you rather be a fork or a spoon?"

"Oh, I'd rather be a spoon."

"Why?"

"Let me show you," he said as he pulled me down on the couch.

Then he spooned me. And I didn't move away.

"I always knew we'd fit perfectly like this," he whispered.

I turned and looked into those ocean blue eyes. "I am not going to kiss you."

"Well, that's too bad because I fully intend to kiss you." With that I melted into the sweetest, most sincere kiss imaginable. I guess my resolve had left with the pizza delivery man.

When I got home much later that night, the light on my answering machine was flashing. I pushed the button and recognized Caroline's voice. "Hey, Elena, I know that you are probably buried in the library but I wanted to try to catch you. I was just thinking about the other night when we were at Damon's. You know, on his birthday? I was watching you two and, I don't know, I think you might be looking for more than he is. I just realized when I was talking to some of the guys that he hasn't left for the beach yet. And, well, basically, I know I said you should hook up with him but now I don't know. I don't want to see you get hurt. Just don't do anything until I get back and we can talk about this. Love ya!"

Sorry, Caroline, you're too late.

~~~~~TVD~~~~~TVD~~~~~TVD~~~~~

Now

Looking in the mirror, I was thrilled with the results. Against her better judgment, Caroline had helped me find the perfect dress. It was a charcoal gray sheath which fell well above the knee and had a ballerina neckline. In other words, it showed an ample amount of leg but no cleavage. That was Caroline's suggestion. She thought I should suggest what he was missing without actually showing it. Begrudgingly, I agreed. Grabbing my purse, I headed out the door. We were meeting at Manzetti's. I wanted to time my arrival carefully. I didn't want him to realize that I had taken the afternoon off to get ready for our dinner meeting. I also didn't want to appear overly eager to meet him because that most certainly was not the case.

When I got to the restaurant he had already been seated. The look when he saw me more than paid for the dress.

"You look amazing."

"Thank you. I love Manzetti's but I haven't been here in ages."

"I remembered that you used to like it. I ordered you a glass of wine. I hope that's OK. I thought it only right that we enjoy some since we're going to be working on my wine dinner plans. And tonight is my treat."

"Thank you. Of course you realize that I could always expense it. We are having a working dinner after all."

"You won't let me be nice at all will you?" I just smiled in answer.

Dinner was delicious. It had been entirely too long since I had eaten one of their salads with hot bacon vinaigrette. Damon had attempted to ask about my personal life but I had done a good job of steering the conversation back to the upcoming party. We had covered all of the initial planning and were contemplating dessert and coffee. Damon suggested that we share a piece of cheesecake since I had never been able to eat an entire dessert on my own. They did have the most delicious cheesecake in the city. They had it specially flown in from a little bakery in New York. "Elena, come on, can I at least find out what you have been doing for the past ten years?"

"I've been working my butt off."

"I disagree. In that dress it is most decidedly still there. Thank God." Realizing that I was shooting daggers at him, he looked sheepish. "I'm sorry. You were saying?"

"Yes, I was. After graduation, I started directing weddings. It's amazing how easy it is to stay busy with that when you have sorority sisters getting married every weekend. From there, I moved onto planning parties for individuals. When I started handling events for companies, it was a natural progression to stop working out of my home and set up shop. I found a beautiful little spot in Dilworth and Elena Gilbert Events was on the map. It's been a lot of work but I've loved every minute of it."

"While I am very impressed and proud of your accomplishments, I could've learned most of that by looking you up on Facebook."

"Well, that's been my life. And who says I would've accepted your friend request."

"I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that. Besides, that's not your life. That's your career. What about you? I was surprised to hear from Jenna that you weren't married." That girl obviously did not value her life. We were going to be having a long talk when she got home.

"No. I am most definitely not married."

"According to Jenna, you aren't seeing anyone either." He glanced at me with a look I couldn't quite identify. Was it pity? "I never married either. I've been so focused on my job and was traveling so much that I just haven't had much time to go to dinner much less develop a relationship. Besides, the girls I've met through work just aren't the type I could ever settle down with." I wondered what kind of girl it would take to make Damon settle down. I was considering that when he asked, "I guess you never found the right person?"

"The interview portion of this night has just concluded." I grabbed my purse and headed for the door. I couldn't have this conversation with him. We had just finished the best cheesecake in Charlotte and were walking to the parking lot when Damon asked, "Can I say just one thing?"

"Would I be able to stop you?"

"I can't get over how much you've changed."

"Is that good or bad?"

"I think it's good. The old Elena is still in there. I can catch glimpses of her every now and then. But you are so, I don't know, confident and secure. It's quite sexy."

"Do you talk that way to all of your business associates?"

"Only the ones I dated in college." Those gleaming eyes were looking right at me. Even after everything we had been through, it would still be so easy to get lost in them.

"Well, that doesn't narrow it down very much." I laughed more to break the spell than anything else.

"I meant it the other night when I said that I want us to be friends. I know it's been a long time but when I'm with you it seems weird for us to be so distant."

I froze. "Of course we are distant!" I seethed. Taking a deep breath, I added, "Ten years is a long time." It was the only thing I could choke out but there were so many things I wanted to say. It had taken every one of those years to push him out of my mind. For ages, I expected to run into him. I didn't want it to happen but I ached to know how he was. I would never forget him but I was at the place in my life where I felt like I could be complete without him. But here he was expecting to waltz back in.

"I'm really happy that you're in my life again." I swear those eyes could see right through me.

"Thank you for dinner. I really should be going."

"Thank you for agreeing to meet me."

It happened before I thought about it. We had been standing on the sidewalk talking and just as we parted he reached out for me and I leaned in to hug him. I wasn't surprised to realize that I still fit perfectly in his arms. I looked up into his eyes and saw him slowly lowering his lips towards mine. The moment was broken when my cell phone rang. By the time I got to my phone, it had already stopped ringing. I knew who it was without looking at the screen. Caroline was calling to hear how the night had gone.

"I'm sorry. I'm going to have to return that call."

"That's OK. I had a wonderful time. I'll call you."

Once I got home I called Caroline back. I told her that I thought I had definitely left an impression on him. I didn't tell her about the hug and almost kiss.