The Perfect Words Never Crossed My Mind

Eloise looked around the small, quaint diner that Sidney had chosen. The waitress gave them a booth and got them coffee. They had only made small talk, neither one wanting to talk about what happened last night, but they both knew it would happen eventually and Sidney decided to be the first one to say something.

“So, uh, how drunk was I?” Sidney rubbed the back of his head and avoided eye contact with Eloise.

“Pretty drunk,” she didn’t want to say anything else. She went through a mix of feelings the previous night and didn’t want to relive them.

“What exactly did I do?”

“Just came into my room, yelled, run into stuff, and you wanted to drive home drunk. Which is how you ended in my bed this morning,” she decided to leave out a couple of things.

Sidney hung his head low with one hand rubbing the back of his neck, “I’m uh, really sorry. I never meant to get drunk, I just wanted to get a little more in me so I could get more confidence.”

What he said confused Eloise; she didn’t understand what he meant, “What?”

Before he could answer her, the waitress came over and took their order. When she left, he started a new subject.

“It’s been really nice seeing you around, even though we tend to fight every time we see each other,” he said.

It confused Eloise even more that he would change topics, but she went along with it, “yeah, it’s strange how we go without seeing each other for years and then when I move to the same city as you, we run into each other pretty much every time.”

Sidney nodded his head; “I wonder why we’ve seen each other so many times in two weeks.”

“Because we have similar interests and stuff like that,” she never understood how much alike they were until just now. Even after dating for so long, she never realized it.

“True,” the conversation had hit an awkward silence, and as uncomfortable it looked, Eloise was fine with it. They both would take sips of their coffee every once in a while and just stare around the diner, not knowing what to say to each other.

It had stayed like that until a song was lightly playing overhead, although it was a song either one had heard in a while they knew it by heart. Sidney and Eloise’s eyes connected and they both smiled at each other.

I drove for miles and miles and wound up at your door
I’ve had you so many times, but somehow I want more

I don’t mind spending everyday
Out on your corner in the pouring rain
Look for the girl with the broken smile
Ask her if she wants to stay awhile
And she will be loved; she will be loved

Sidney could hear Eloise humming along with the song and it reminded him of how much he loved hearing her sing. Along with that it reminded him of how much he had missed her. He had always wondered why he let her go, he had so many questions for himself.

Why did I let her leave?

Why didn’t I go after her?

What would have happened if we hadn’t of met again?

Why am I still in love with her?

After leaving her standing when the Starbucks encounter happened, he had so many thoughts for himself. He never understood why she left, why she was so afraid to be around him, how could she have broken his heart so easily, and why was he still hurting so badly.

He stared at her as she just tapped her finger along her cup to the music. Another five minutes passed and they received their food. They made small conversation, just what they had been doing, what they were recently up to, and how they had been. Eloise had told Sidney plenty of times how good the food was. He just laughed and told her to thank the chef.

“No seriously, these eggs are the best,” he stared at her in wonder as she continued eating her food quickly.

“Calm down killer,” she blushed and slowed down. “Besides, you’ve never had my cooking. It’s so much better then this, that’s for sure.”

She stared at him with a smirk on her face, “you cook? Since when? The last time I checked, you burned macaroni and cheese,” sure it was a slight exaggeration, but she got her point across.

He gave her a playful glare and said, “ever since my mom taught me, she knew that I’d be living on my own in a city far away from her, so she taught me some stuff.”

“Like what, spaghetti? Sloppy joe’s?”

“Ha ha, no. If you ever come over, I’ll make you something sometime.”

“Like that’s ever going to happen,” she jokingly rolled her eyes along with saying that. She knew what he was hinting at, but she didn’t know if she would if he were to ask.

“What do you mean? Come over sometime this week and I’ll show you how good of a cook I am,” he noticed hesitation cross her face. He then added, “It doesn’t have to be a date or anything, just kind of a re-get to know each other kind of thing.”

She relaxed a little and smiled, “I guess, we still do have a lot to catch up on.”

Their check came and after a small argument, Sidney ended up paying for all of it. Eloise felt guilty and tried paying for her half of it, but he wouldn’t let her.

“Fine, but since you’re paying for the bill and cooking me dinner. I’ll make dessert when I come over. How’s that?”

“That’s perfect,” he smiled as they got up from their booth and walked back to his car so he could take her home.