Chapter 7: Bed and dinner
1562 Words
Chapter 7
Cody
I'm gonna take Elle out for dinner tonight. I wanna spend as much time as possible with her. And we haven't really gone out on a date yet and I want to make it really special. Sure we’ve been out together before, but as best friends, not boyfriend and girlfriend. That’s different.
This morning after we finished breakfast we went to my parent's house to get all of my stuff and clothes. Or well... The few clothes that Elle actually left. And that wasn't much. But it’s sweet. When she told me that she just wanted to feel my scent, my heart broke into a million pieces beyond repair. I didn’t know how hard me being a soldier would be for her.
After what I've heard from others and from Elle herself, she's had a really hard time. Her and my mother especially. And they used to hug and cry together and stuff. That's really heartbreaking. The two girls in the whole world that mean the most to me. I don’t even want to think about it.
But nonetheless, Elle managed to have two jobs and study in college, so I'm really, really proud of her. I don't really know how she managed to do that. And working at the cafe can be a tough very tough job, people are really crazy, they love our bread pastries, I don't even wanna think about how our regulars are gonna act when they realize that I'm back and the buns are back as well.
Right now we're in a bedroom store. Elle’s bed is a bit too small for the both of us, and last night we slept on the couch so, we need a new bed.
Directly when I sit down on a bed to feel it, someone who works here comes up to us.
"Excuse me, are you Cody Williams?" He asks.
I raise my eyebrow.
"How'd you know?" I ask.
He raises a newspaper he has in his hands. There's a picture of me. Explaining that I've returned home after some pretty hard months in Afghanistan and also about the bombing of the house that me and a fellow Sargent as well my friend Trent Wild, started to warn everyone about. Everyone got out of the building, but our commander was hurt. I helped him and saved him. He was very grateful for that.
"Oh", I say, looking away.
Elle takes my hand and I squeeze it.
"I would like to give you a bed free of charge, Sargent Williams", the man says.
"Wait what?" I ask. "You can't do that, wouldn't your boss be angry about that".
"Actually... I own this store, so no I wouldn't", he says.
"But I can't make a bed for free", I say.
"Your money is no good here", the man says. "So you're not paying, alright?"
"No, I..." But Elle squeezes my hand so much it starts to hurt a bit, which means that I should stop arguing.
"Which one would you like?" The owner asks.
"Um...", I say and look at Elle and smile. "Whichever Elle wants".
Elle smiles big and kisses my cheek.
"The second one we looked at", she says. "I really liked that one, it was so soft".
We show the owner the bed and he smiles.
"Yeah, this one is our best seller", he says. "A customer started a rumor that it's a magical baby maker".
A baby maker? Seriously.
I look at Elle and she looks down at her feet and I can see that her cheeks are a bit red. She has her hair in that usual bun. So her hair can't really cover her face right now.
I know that Elle doesn't want any children. We've had that discussion almost our whole life. She always said that she doesn't want any children, while I on the other hand have always wanted that ever since I turned about sixteen. Don't get me wrong, I didn't want to be a teenage father. No, but it was about that time I started to think about the future and that I knew I wanted children in the future to be a part of my future.
But that doesn't matter. If Elle still doesn't want any children in the future, I'm not gonna push her. I'm gonna be happy either way if only I have Elle in my life. Children would be a bonus. A big, big bonus.
"Yeah, I don't know about that though, but it's a really nice bed, so we'll take that one", I say. "How much for those pillows? They were also really soft and nice".
"Nothing, they come along with the bed", the owner says. "I'll make sure that this is delivered right away, what's the address?"
We tell him the address and leave the store.
I drive us home in my car and Elle is really quiet the whole ride. Ever since the owner of the bedroom store mentioned children, Elle hasn't really said a word.
I'll ask her later. I don't wanna get into this now. It's soon time to get to the restaurant. Exactly after I've parked the car and we come to the entrance of our building, we see the truck from the store, it must have pulled up just now.
What a taming.
"Delivery to Olsen and ... Wow Williams?" One of the two men says.
Wow? Oh god. I really hate this. I really, really hate this. I mean, what the hell did I do? Trent and I only warned everyone, and okay I revived my commander, but still, I didn't exactly do that for attention. It's our motto. "No man is left behind". Even if it hasn’t been our motto I would’ve done whatever I could.
I don't like the attention. And I know that the attention makes Elle uncomfortable.
We let them inside our apartment and they fix the bed. They even take the old bed with them when they leave again.
"Elle, I wanna take you out on a dinner tonight, so get dressed", I say.
"Really?" She asks with a smile.
"Yeah, of course, we haven't been on an official date yet, considering I came home yesterday", I say.
"Yeah, you're right", Elle says, walking inside her ... Our bedroom. I gotta remember that I live here as well now.
I walk in after Elle the exact time she pulls down a dress over her body.
She blushes.
"Don't worry, I didn't see anything", I say and I feel really bad by thinking how much I actually wanted to see something.
Don't judge me! I'm a guy.
"Cody I don't really care", she says. "Yes I hate my body, but no, if it's you I don't care".
"Don't say that, I'm sure you have a beautiful body", I say, taking off my shirt to put on another one. “Every single inch”.
I see Elle staring at me like she did last night. What do I have worth staring at?
"Okay, now you gotta tell me what you like with the view".
"You're abs, and your arms, everything", she answers, and I chuckle, pulling a shirt on.
"Well, I'm gonna remember that", I say, and Elle giggles.
I love her giggle. It's so sweet. You just melt inside when you hear it.
I'm taking Elle to my favorite restaurant.
It's a cozy restaurant. It's like a jungle. In plastic of course. But still, you really get the feeling of a jungle.
When we get there we are seated by one of their best tables and get the menus and order drinks.
"I would like a coke", Elle says.
"Same here", I say. "But make them large".
"Yes sir", the waiter says and walks away.
I see Elle scan the menu with her eyes.
"So do you see anything you might like?" I ask.
"Yeah, but everything here is too expensive", she says.
"Oh you're not paying, I am, so take whatever you want", I say.
"No I can't do that", she protests.
"I want to, so stop arguing and take whatever you want, my wallet won't scream and run away", I say.
I actually have a lot of money, so she doesn't have to care about if the food here is expensive.
"Are you sure?" Elle asks doubtfully.
"Of course", I say and smile.
"Okay well I'm going to take the cheapest thing", she says. "I'll take the oven-baked salmon with rice".
"You're so stubborn!" I say.
I decide on ribs. I know they have the best ribs here.
When we get our food I see how Elle is glancing at my ribs all the time.
I chuckle and put some of them on her plate.
"No what are you doing Cody?" She asks. “That’s your food
"I know that you want them", I laugh.
Elle smiles.
"I love you", she says.
I smile big.
"I love you Elle", I say.
The rest of the evening we spend at the restaurant laughing and talking. I ordered the biggest and most expensive dessert for Elle, she was too shy to eat it at first but then she did.
I haven't been this happy, in a long, long time now. And it feels great.
- Writer
