Popcorn Love

Elena sat at the head of the table in the design room and tapped her nails rhythmically against the hard surface. Wendy had been rambling on for nearly ten full minutes about flower arrangements and centerpieces for the gala to follow the spring show, and such things had always been Elena’s least favorite aspects of planning meetings. It was, however, her job to give final say on nearly all projects; thus, she had to endure.

She sighed, laying her hand down flat against the table and drawing the room’s attention away from Wendy, who had let her terrible tendency of going off on tangents take over, and back to her. “Let’s not turn this into an ordeal, Wendy,” she said. “I said simple and elegant, and neither should be difficult to accomplish. I want the hanging pieces for the outer edges of the banquet hall—nothing bushy or heavily scented.”

Wendy rapidly scribbled down notes as Elena spoke. She nodded along and muttered, “Oh, of course,” and “Absolutely,” after every other word.

“Centerpieces equal size to the dinner plates and lower than eye level,” Elena continued. “Tell Gregory I want clear vases, not gold, no matter how popular they are right now, and I want a splash of color in the arrangements—a splash not a spate.”

“Only a splash?”

Elena closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath through her nose before turning to Elliot and arching a brow at the man. “Yes, a splash, Elliot,” she said. “I presume you have an objection?” He always did.

The man had been a pain in Elena’s ass since her first day on the job, and Elena didn’t have to guess why. He ranted about it enough in break rooms and between cubicles that everyone knew—he believed he deserved her job more than she did. Elena had overheard all his complaints before—family privilege, wealth, sex appeal. He had even gone as far as to suggest sexism, as if women had professional advantage over men. It was ridiculous, and for him to claim any sort of privilege won Elena the position, given that he was a white male and she was a Latina woman, made her laugh. She had earned her job.

“Well,” Elliot said, adjusting his square gold-rimmed glasses on his nose, “bright colors are appropriate for spring, wouldn’t you say? Given the line-up for the show, I would say even more-so.” He glanced around the table pointedly and then smirked as he turned back to Elena. “I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say I’m concerned that just a ‘splash’ of color might not be enough to match the season.”

She had to fight the urge to roll her eyes. She knew Elliot didn’t care about the damned floral arrangements. He simply liked to voice dissent any time Elena made a decision. He seemed to gain an immeasurable amount of glee from challenging her, and Elena found it not only annoying but also pathetic.

Rather than throw her phone at his head like she wanted, Elena simply stared him down in a tense silence. When he began to visibly squirm, she let out a long sigh and said, “We are about fashion, Elliot, not flowers.”

“Yes, but—”

“The arrangements should complement the season, not match it,” she said. “Or are you suggesting that we fill a room of designers in designer clothing with centerpieces that draw attention away from them?”

“Well…”

Elena turned to the rest of the table and cleared her throat. “Would Elliot be correct in speaking for you all then?” she asked. “Do you share his concern?”

Every other employee at the table quickly jumped to reassure that they didn’t have any issues with a splash of color. Peter, who was probably her sweetest employee but also her most timid, even looked like he was on the verge of crying. The more people made to reassure her, the more uncomfortable Elliot became, and Elena reveled in him getting a taste of his own medicine.

She turned back to him and smirked. “Reassured, dear?” she asked, her amusement evident in her voice.

With pursed lips, Elliot avoided her eyes, and Elena smiled. “Excellent,” she said. “Now, if there are no other concerns, let’s move on to the next order of business.”

Her phone vibrated as Nia stood at the other end of the table and began addressing an issue with construction in one of their upcoming shoot locations. Elena glanced at the screen to see a text from Vivian. She slid her finger over the screen to unlock it and quickly read the message.

Date tonight! Call your babysitter!

Elena sighed but made a mental note to call Allison before turning her attention back to Nia.

* * *

Allison sprinted out of her dorm building, her hair disheveled and her clothes wrinkled. She spit a wad of toothpaste onto the grass as she took off across campus. She was already fifteen minutes late for her Narratology exam.

She cursed when her phone rang. Tugging the shrill device from her pocket as she ran, she glanced down and saw Elena Vega flashing across the screen and smiled unconsciously as she tapped to answer it. But as soon as she put the phone to her ear, Allison looked back up to see that she was headed straight for a pole.

“Shit!” She dodged the pole at the last second but still managed to trip over her own feet.

A faint reply of “Pardon me?” echoed from Allison’s phone, but she was too busy yelping as she tumbled forward with a string of curses: “Fuck shit damn ow!”

Her textbook shot from her hands as she landed roughly on her side, and Allison groaned as she rubbed at her elbows and rolled onto her stomach so that she could push herself up to her feet again. Just as she started to move though, she heard the muffled sound of a voice saying, “Hello? Allison?”

“Shit!” Allison grumbled again. She scrambled to get her phone and quickly put it up to her ear. “Uh, Elena?”

“Allison?” There was utter confusion in the other woman’s voice.

“Yup, sorry ‘bout that.” With a grunt, she used her hands to push herself up onto her knees and then into a squat so that she could stand up again and collected her things.

“Are you all right, dear? It sounded like you were having quite the struggle.”

Allison blushed. “Oh, yeah, well I may have, possibly, sort of, fallen down or whatever.”

“You may have fallen down, Allison, or you did fall down?”

A smile stretched Allison’s lips even as her cheeks maintained their reddish tint. “Shut up,” she grumbled and was rewarded with a burst of laughter over the phone line. “Yeah, I fell. I was running and wasn’t paying attention. So, yeah, laugh it up, I guess.”

It took a while for Elena’s laughter to die down. “I apologize.” she said. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

“I’m good, yeah. Thanks. Just late for an exam.”

“Oh. I will let you go then. Perhaps you could give me a call once your classes are finished for the day?”

“It’s cool.” Allison sighed and glanced at the time on her phone as she plopped down on a campus bench. She was already far too late to make it for the exam. She shook her head, disappointed in herself. “I’m never gonna make it now anyway.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure.” Allison leaned her head back and soaked in the morning sun. Her eyes stung with tears that she blinked quickly away.

“I’m sorry,” Elena said.

“Don’t be.” Allison swallowed down the lump in her throat. “I stayed up really late with my roommate last night, and I slept through my alarm. It’s my fault. I just hate screwing up like this. It makes me feel like an idiot, you know?”

Elena was silent a long time before saying, “Could you talk to your professor about it? Perhaps you could make it up?”

Allison bounced her knee rapidly as she pressed a hand to her eyes. “Yeah, maybe,” she said. She was fairly friendly with her professor, so maybe Elena’s suggestion could work. She could email him and say that she was sick or something. Her stomach rolled at the thought, as if it was trying to make the lie true. He might let her make up the exam since she otherwise had near-perfect attendance and a perfect grade in that class. It was worth a shot, but that didn’t stop Allison’s chest from aching with guilt.

“I hope it works out for you.” Her voice was sincere and even tinged with a bit of sadness and that, for some reason, made Allison feel the slightest bit better.

“Thanks.” Allison ran a hand through her ratty hair and hissed as her fingers snagged in several tangles. This was really not her morning. “So, what’s up?”

“Right, yes.” Elena cleared her throat. “I was calling to inquire if you might be free this evening. I apologize for the last-minute call, Allison. Vivian only just sprung this on me. I was hoping an early call might make the difference.”

Allison propped her phone up against her ear with her shoulder. “It’s fine. You don’t have to keep apologizing, Elena. I’m pretty much free all the time, so, yeah, I can come over tonight.”

Elena sighed. “Excellent. I greatly appreciate it.”

“No problem. What time should I be there?”

“Would six be acceptable?”

“Yup, six is good. I’ll see ya then.”

“Okay, wonderful. See you then.”

With a groan, Allison hung up the call and forced herself off the bench to head back to her dorm room. At least her day had just gotten a lot better.

* * *

Elena was just slipping into her dress when Lucas shuffled into her bedroom. Cheeks red, he stared at the floor as he quietly said, “Momma.”

Her lips tugged with a frown when she saw his head ducked down and his body slowly swaying from side to side. He always stood like that when he was guilty of something.

“Lucas,” Elena said. “What is it?”

He didn’t say a word as he moved his hands out of the way and Elena was able to see the large wet spot on the front of his pants. She frowned as she walked over to her son and kneeled in front of him. “Did you have an accident, munchkin?”

His wide expressive eyes shot up as he quickly shook his head back and forth in adamant denial.

“Lucas.” Elena ran a hand through his hair and then tapped her index finger gently against his nose. “It’s okay if you had an accident. You can tell me.”

“I didn’t!” His voice turned into a high-pitched squeal. “Swear!”

“Well then why are your pants wet?”

Ducking his head down again, he whispered, “I spilled my juice.”

Elena slipped her index finger under his chin and pulled his head up so that she could look him in the eyes. “That’s okay, baby.”

“Really?” he asked, shuffling a little closer to her.

She pursed her lips as she pretended to think about it. “I will tell you what. If you give me a super special kiss and hug, then it is definitely okay.”

A massive grin stretched Lucas’s lips and he giggled as he threw his arms around Elena’s neck and pressed a big, smacking kiss half on her cheek and half on her nose. Elena squeezed him and planted a dozen little kisses all over his face, causing him to squeal and squirm, but he never actually tried to escape.

“Okay, munchkin, let’s get you some new pants before Allison gets here.”

“Alson!” Lucas sprinted down the hallway toward his room. Elena made to follow him, but she only managed a few steps down the hall when the doorbell sounded.

“I will be right there, Lucas.”

She passed Lucas’s room and made her way toward the front of the house instead.

* * *

Allison was standing at the door, gaping at Elena with a dark blonde eyebrow rising in question. “Um…”

“What?” Elena frowned. “Is something wrong?”

“Running late? Or are you just happy to see me?”

Elena just stared at her, blinking. “What are you talking about?”

Blushing, Allison pointed at Elena and muttered, “Your dress is uh…it’s open.”

Glancing down, Elena was greeted by the sight of her dress hanging loosely on one side, making her bra clearly visible. Her own face flushed as she cleared her throat. “Right, yes…well. Children can be distracting, I suppose.”

Allison slipped by Elena and into the house, kicking the door closed behind her. “Well, let’s not just stand here and show off your bod to the whole neighborhood, yeah?”

The red of Elena’s cheeks only darkened as Allison quickly reached out and latched onto her shoulders. With a quick spin, Elena’s back was facing her. “I can get it for you.” Settling the dress back into proper position, she slipped her hand to the base of Elena’s spine where the zipper began.

Allison didn’t even realize the way she held her breath as she slowly zipped up the dress, but she did feel the tug low in her abdomen when her fingertips brushed over warm flesh. She shrugged the sensation off as her body’s basic reaction to a beautiful woman. It wasn’t the first time and it wouldn’t be the last, so she quickly finished zipping the dress before awkwardly patting Elena on the back and clearing her throat as she squeaked, “All done.”

Elena turned to smile at Allison. “Thank you.”

An awkward silence grew between them as they stared at each other. Green eyes traced the length of the Elena’s body, and both women jumped when a loud yell of “MOMMA! PANTS!” echoed into the foyer from down the hall. Allison raised a brow in question.

“He had a spill,” Elena said and then motioned for Allison to follow her down the hall.

Once they got Lucas fixed up and settled him down with his toys, it wasn’t long before the doorbell rang again. Once again, Allison found herself following Elena to the front door while Lucas played with his dinosaurs in the living room.

When Elena opened the door, the man on the other side offered a wide smile. He was short, Allison noted with amusement—like really short, much shorter than Elena. He wore an obviously expensive suit and shoes that Allison figured some poor reptile had to have died for, but it did little to distract from the man’s appearance. It wasn’t that he wasn’t decent-looking, because in all fairness, the guy was pretty attractive if you could look past his height and the strange situation at the top of his head. It was just…well, who could look past the situation at the top of his head?

His hair sat oddly, almost unnaturally, on top of his head. The color didn’t quite match his eyebrows or short sideburns, and the front of his hair swooped dramatically to the left side. Allison could not stop staring at it. She tried to look away, but it was useless. She didn’t know how Elena was going to get through an entire evening with the guy without gawking at him.

Completely ignoring Allison’s intense stare, the man held out a bundle of red roses and introduced himself in a rush of minty breath. “Elena, hi. I’m Garrett. Wow! You are even more beautiful than Vivian said. These are for you.”

Allison grunted and Garrett finally looked at her. He frowned momentarily before plastering on a smile as he glanced at her clothes and asked, “Oh, are you the help?”

“Ha!” Allison barked. “Dude. Wow.” She shook her head as she turned and walked back into the house.

“Allison is my son’s babysitter.” The words were spoken in a clipped tone as Elena thrust her hand out and took Garrett’s flowers and asked him to wait outside while she slipped them in water and grabbed her clutch.

Allison followed Elena into the kitchen. “Oh, Miss Vega, would you like me to take those flowers for you? I can clip and arrange them in a lovely vase for you, Miss Vega.”

They shared a disgusted look, Allison rolling her eyes and Elena curling her lip. “We haven’t even left the house yet and already I have a headache,” she said.

“Wanna fake sick?” Allison offered. “I can go run the guy off for you.”

Elena chuckled as she pulled a vase from a cabinet. “Oh, the temptation.”

As she filled the vase with water, Allison pointed at the waiting roses and asked, “Overkill, don’t you think?”

“Oh? Here I was thinking the roses were the saving grace of that greeting. Flowers are a lovely gesture, after all.”

“Roses?” Allison scoffed. “No, that’s a lame, clichéd gesture that men put way too much stock in. You don’t get a woman like you roses. Seriously.”

“No?”

“No way. You’re way too, I don’t know…just a lot better than roses. Roses are generic. Orchids maybe, because they’re unique and way prettier than roses. Wildflowers even, but definitely not roses.”

When Elena’s brows rose in surprise, Allison immediately went over her own words in her head. Should she not have said that? Was it too unprofessional? Allison wasn’t even sure if she and Elena were friends, or if Elena was simply friendly with her because Allison babysat her kid. The small, almost shy smile that Elena gave her a moment later, though, made Allison’s stomach flip pleasantly and she couldn’t bring herself to regret the words at all.

Elena slipped the roses into a vase and carried the arrangement to the living room. The roses got a new home on an end table, and Lucas got a brand new imprint of his mother’s lips on his cheek. Allison laughed when the boy grumbled and wiped at the mark, only for Elena to press a fresh one in the smudged spot.

After a quick wave in Allison’s direction, Elena was heading out the door. Allison watched her leave, shaking her head for a good minute before going to play with Lucas. She had a feeling this date, too, would end with a lot of complaining.

* * *

As Elena expected, Garrett whisked her away to yet another fine-dining experience. She sat across from Garrett and desperately tried to keep her gaze away from his hair. It was quite distracting, though, considering the fact that every time the man laughed a little too heartily or shook his head, it would move rather unnaturally; and this was a man who liked to laugh at his own jokes whether they were funny or not.

This was how Elena realized that Garrett was wearing a rather unflattering toupee. It honestly made her feel a bit sorry for the man, because he wasn’t that old, likely only a decade older than her at most, yet obviously was already bald or balding beneath his mop of a toupee. Elena would have wagered the man looked much better without the thing. The toupee wasn’t the only issue Elena took with the man, however.

When the waitress arrived to take their order, Garrett thankfully made no attempts to order for Elena. However, he turned to the waitress and asked, “How is the Cajun shrimp and sirloin? Is it heavily spiced, because I’m afraid I suffer from a bad case of irritable bowel syndrome and overly spicy foods tear right through me?”

Elena nearly choked on a gasp that she covered with a soft cough. She was completely appalled. She could certainly sympathize with the man’s struggles, but to speak so bluntly of such things at the dinner table was practically a form of table-manners blasphemy as far as Elena was concerned.

“I do like a bit of heat, mind you,” Garrett continued, “just not in the restroom!”

He laughed loudly at his own joke as he glanced back and forth between the waitress and Elena, both of whom were completely mortified. The waitress stuttered out a quick reply, while Elena merely ducked her head and fought to choke down the bile that had risen in her throat from the unfortunate imagery Garrett’s confession had produced in her mind.

I will kill Vivian, she vowed. I will kill her!

* * *

Music blasted from the television in the living room as Allison danced around kitchen, cooking dinner. Thrilled to discover that Elena had satellite music channels, she put on the eighties pop channel and danced and sang for Lucas while he sat in his chair. He clapped his hands, sang along with his own made-up lyrics, and bounced and swayed around.

Allison loved eighties pop music. She had fallen in love with it when she was really young, living with a foster mom that had an obsession with Prince. It was one of her favorite memories, riding in the car with one of the few foster mothers she had actually really loved, and just dancing to Prince and Michael Jackson. The eighties had quickly become her favorite musical decade; it was so free. To Allison, eighties music practically screamed fun.

Pouring the pasta sauce she had made onto a small plate of spaghetti noodles, she whirled around to face Lucas and brought the long wooden spoon up to her mouth, pretending the spoon was a microphone as she danced around him and sang “Raspberry Beret”.

Giggling, Lucas sang along with murmured random words and sounds as he danced in his chair and clapped his hands on the offbeats. Allison laughed with him as she cut his spaghetti into tiny bites. When she set the plate in front of him, she leaned forward and kissed his forehead.

“You’re such a cool kid,” she told him. “You know that?”

Lucas grinned as he scooped up his spaghetti with a spoon. “Mhm.” Within seconds his face was decorated with bright red sauce.

* * *

“So, Elena, tell me a bit about yourself,” Garrett said around a mouthful of shrimp. Elena cringed when he grabbed another large shrimp with his fingers and popped it into his mouth before he was even finished chewing. He pulled the tail from his mouth with a loud slurping sound and dropped it onto the side of his plate as he stared at her and waited for her to speak.

Elena, whose appetite had waned the instant the man mentioned his unfortunate bowel issues, had ordered only a small bowl of soup. She sipped daintily at it while attempting to avoid looking at Garrett. She could feel his eyes on her now, though, and she knew she couldn’t ignore him.

Her smile strained around clenched teeth. “What would you like to know?”

“Well, for starters,” Garrett said with a smirk, “you can tell me how a beautiful woman like yourself hasn’t gotten a good man yet.”

Elena offered him another tight, strained smile when he chuckled loudly. Clearing her throat roughly, she told him, “Relationships have hardly been high on my list of priorities.”

“That’s a shame. But lucky me that you’ve decided to make it a priority now, right? You deserve a good man, Elena. You’re worth it.”

“I would never measure my own or any woman’s worth by her relationship status,” she responded coolly as she subtly signaled to the passing waitress that she was ready for the check. “I would certainly never measure a woman’s worth by her ability to garner a man’s attention or affections either. I am worth much more than that, Garrett, as are all women.”

A choking sound gurgled in Garrett’s throat as he tried to speak before he swallowed. He coughed and spluttered, and Elena merely stared at him uncomfortably while he cleared his throat several times. “Of course, of course,” he choked out. “I didn’t mean to imply that you weren’t.”

Elena did nothing more than hum in response. The waitress thankfully arrived with the check, but Garrett snatched it away before she could grab it. “I can take care of this.”

“As can I,” Elena said, arching a brow. She was irritated, and every word from the man’s mouth grated on her nerves. She relented, though, and let the man cover the check simply because she was eager to get home. The sooner this date was over, the better.