NaNoWriMo Day 2
“Oh, I nearly forgot,” Ellen said as they finished up to break for lunch. Carolyn usually lunched at her desk, but something told her today that was not going to be an option. “ at the party last night, Ellen began, there was another man. He was a bit young for my tastes, but he was quite handsome and a great conversationalist. *where was this going?* Carolyn wondered. This sort of exclamation usually followed an overpriced lunch at the cafe across the street.
“I told him ‘you simply must meet my girlfriend Carolyn’ I said those exact words.” Nodding here in affirmation in case Carolyn might have doubts. “I described you to a tee for him, and you know what he said after hearing all about you?” This was worse than Carolyn could have imagined. “He wants to meet you!” She exclaimed. Clearly this was the greatest thing that ever happened to anyone ever as far as Ellen was concerned.
“When?” Carolyn said, already suspecting.
“Today!” The words burst out of Ellen’s mouth before Carolyn had even finished uttering the question. “At the cafe across the street. You know, Cafe What’s-it-called, the one you and I are practically regulars at!” Ellen paused here. Perhaps she was simply out of breath, but more likely she was waiting for gratitude and excitement that she knew very well would not be spouting forth from Carolyn’s numb soul.
Carolyn was actually grateful, at least for the thought. She tried to summon some sort of expression that approximated this sentiment, but her face was too busy attempting to translate the horror, doubt, and crippling insecurity into one single expression and couldn’t be bothered.
“Thanks,” she managed, “you didn’t have to — ”
“Oh but I did!” Ellen insisted. “You’re my best friend! You’re like a sister to me! Someone has to keep an eye out for you, and with your remaining family across country, I feel a sense of responsibility to make sure you’re happy.”
As over-the-top this soliloquy may sound, Carolyn knew she meant it. Ellen was sharp. She saw Carolyn wasn’t happy. She truly believed she was helping, and maybe she was.
Alright then,” Carolyn said, taking a deep breath. “Let’s not keep him waiting.”
“Geoffrey!” Ellen said, raising her arms to embrace the man before her, and leaning in to give him a token kiss on the cheek. “So glad you could make it. This is the friend I’ve been telling you about,” she continued, gesturing to Carolyn with a flourish. “Carolyn, this is Geoffrey Dramport, the man from the party I was telling you about.”
“How do you do,” Carolyn greeted. She put out her hand for him to take. He was only a few centimeters taller than her, slimly built in a cleanly pressed suit.
“The famous Carolyn!” Geoffrey said with a smile. “I worried the way Ellen talked you up, no woman could live up to such remarks. Seeing you now, I stand corrected.”
Carolyn blushed. “I don’t know about that.” It was a bit clichéd, but she’d take the compliment regardless.
“Table for three please.” Ellen told the host, then, “Oh, forgetful Ellen!” she said, slapping her forehead with a melodramatic flair. “I promised mother I would meet her today to help her pick out her birthday present. You two will have to get along without me.” Seeming not to notice the look of horror on Carolyn’s face, she winked at the other woman and dashed out of the establishment.
“Shall we then?” Geoffrey asked, gesturing to the table the host prepared for them by a large paned window. Carolyn followed with only slight hesitation, sitting down when Geoffrey pulled out a chair for her.
The cafe was relatively new, having only opened a year-and-a-half ago. Another stately old building redressed in the modern, clean lines of the day. Carolyn thought it tried much to hard to be hip, but it was always busy without ever feeling loud or crowded, so she liked it well enough, even if it was twice as expensive as it ought to be.
“So,” the man began, his dark eyes reflecting the light from the window, “How do you like the telegraph business?”
“Oh, fine, I guess,” Carolyn answered. “Truthfully, I find it a bit dull. It’s a fine job, don’t get me wrong,” she added hastily, remembering, suddenly that this man worked for the same company she did. “It pays well, and I have lovely coworkers. It’s just, I used to decrypt during The War, and…”
“I understand completely,” the other said with a smile, leaning back in his chair with his arms behind his head. “I used to be a courier during The War. While most of me is glad it’s over.” He looked out the window, seeming to watch the scenes of war play out on the street beyond. “All the danger, traveling back and forth between enemy lines, the close calls, the constant ingenuity required to survive long enough to deliver each message. The rush was intoxicating.”
“It’s nice to be safe,” he added focusing his eyes back on her. “Bathing regularly has its charm, and I feel selfish thinking this way when I remember the friends I lost on the front lines, but daily life does seem bleak by comparison.”
“Exactly,” Carolyn chimed in. “Relaying the weather, sports scores, it all seems so meaningless by comparison.” She looked down at the cup of tea, the waiter must have brought over while she was engaged in conversation. “It’s hard to go back to day-to-day life. I mean, what were we protecting anyway? Our ability to float through our lives without any sort of greater contribution? What does it even mean?”
They continued talking for the entire hour. The waiter coming and leaving several times without an order. When they finally took time out of discussion to choose what they wanted, they had to get it to-go, for they were already a half hour over lunch break as it was.
“I know it’s short notice,” Geoffrey started, “You probably already have plans, but I would like verymuch to continue our discussion over dinner tonight if that is at all possible.”
Carolyn paused for an instant as if contemplating her plans. She had none, of course. “That would be lovely she said. I get off at five-thirty.”
“Alright then, I’ll meet you in the lobby then?”
“Alright.”
He put out his arm. “May I escort you back to the office?”
Carolyn put her arm in his, smiling genuinely for the first time in months.
