Popcorn Love (7 page)

“And classy bitches wear high heels, no matter the
occasion.”

Tilting her head, Elena tried to think of a way to
refute that one, but there was no point. It was true that she wore
high heels basically everywhere she went except when she went for
the occasional run. “Agreed.”

“Classy bitches always do that eyebrow arch thing
too,” Allison said, only for Elena to
immediately
arch a
brow at her.

“See?” Allison pointed. Elena scoffed and forced her
reaction back down.

“Oh, and classy bitches
never
sleep with a
dude on the first date.”

“Absolutely.” Elena tipped her head in
satisfaction.

It had been quite some time since Elena had laughed
this easily and naturally with another adult. Vivian was hilarious
and she often made Elena laugh, and of course her parents had their
moments, but Allison was an entirely different animal. It amazed
Elena how easily Allison pulled it out of her, the laughter and the
playfulness.

“So, what was wrong with the guy?” Allison asked.

Elena sighed and swiped a hand through her hair
again. It fell in gentle waves around her face. “What
wasn’t
wrong with him?”

“That bad, huh?”

“Well, for starters,” she said, “he was overly
confident, and unjustly so.”

The curl of Allison’s lip made her disgust obvious.
“That annoys the hell out of me. My roommate dated a guy last year
who always tried to order for her, even at places like
McDonald’s.”

“
Yes
,” Elena groaned, turning more toward
Allison. “That is exactly what he did, and I positively loathed it.
I can select my own meal, thank you very much!”

“Right? Like, eat what you want, dude, but let me
order for myself. Oh, and why do guys always order a salad for
girls? What
is
that?”

“Yes!” Taking a quick sip of her coffee, Elena
cleared her throat and then mimicked Brice’s snotty voice as she
said, “Oh, and the
lady
will have a side salad.”

Allison snorted. “Did you eat it anyway?”

“Oh no,” Elena replied, letting a wicked smile grace
her lips. “I didn’t even let him finish the order. I dismissed his
and placed my own.”

“Seriously?” Allison clapped her approval. “That’s
great. I bet he felt like such an idiot.”

“Oh, oh!” Elena added, suddenly finding herself
rather enjoying this, absorbed entirely in the exchange. “He
then
proceeded to imply during the car ride home that I
refused his order because I am unaccustomed to being
pampered
!”

Allison brought her middle finger up to her mouth and
mock-gagged herself on it.

“Exactly. I didn’t even bother replying.”

“I wouldn’t have either. The guy sounds like a
douche. What was his name?”

“Brice.”

“
Brice?
” Allison grimaced. “Even his
name
sounds douche-y.”

Elena smiled. “Now you’re just trying to make me feel
better.”

“As long as it’s working.” Allison winked.

Elena ducked her head a bit as she took another sip
of coffee. “It is,” she said quietly, like it was an admission.
“Thank you.”

* * *

“Don’t worry,” Allison said, awkwardly patting
Elena’s arm as they lingered by the front door. “I’m sure the next
date will be better.”

“One can only hope.” Elena chuckled. She handed
Allison several bills that she had pulled from her purse before
walking the babysitter to the door, and Allison stared wide-eyed
down at the money.

“Whoa, no.” She pushed the money back toward Elena.
“That’s way too much.”

Elena reached out to curl Allison’s fingers around
the cash. “You earned it.” She squeezed Allison’s hand before
releasing it. “Please take it.”

Sighing, Allison nodded. “Well, thank you.
Really.”

“Thank
you
.” The warm night air rushed in as
she opened the door.

When she was halfway out, Allison turned and shifted
from foot to foot as she adjusted her backpack. “So, I’ll see you
soon, right?”

Elena nodded. “I will call when I need you
again.”

“Okay then.” Feet shuffling, she offered Elena her
signature little wave, muttering, “Goodnight.”

Elena leaned her head against the door. “Goodnight
Allison,” she said softly, standing in the doorway until Allison
was long out of sight.

Hazy eyes fluttered slowly open and began to focus.
Elena chuckled low in her throat, the sound muffled and raw from
sleep, as she came face to face with her son. He lay in her bed,
curled up in a ball beside her with his face so close to her that
they were nearly touching. His eyes blew wide the moment his gaze
locked with hers, and Lucas burst into a wild fit of giggles,
clutching his belly. “Hi Momma!”

“Good morning munchkin.” She reached out and palmed
his cheek.

“Time to get up!” Lucas leaned into his mother’s
touch. “Time to go to Gram’s!”

Confused, Elena glanced at the clock on her bedside
table. It was barely after seven, which was late for a work day.
She started to jolt out of bed before remembering.

“It’s Sunday, baby,” she said. “Momma doesn’t work on
Sunday, remember?”

Lucas’s eyes widened. “Just me and you?”

The sight of his smile made her heart swell. She
hoped her son would always show such enthusiasm about spending
entire days with her. Lucas adored his grandparents and the time he
spent with them each weekday, but he was a Momma’s boy through and
through. Elena was his “most favoritest person” in the world and
that was why the weekends, Sundays in particular, were his favorite
days.

“Just you and me,” Elena whispered, tapping her index
finger on the tip of Lucas’s nose.

He clapped his hands happily. “Where we going,
Momma?”

Elena rolled onto her back and stretched her limbs,
groaning as she did so, then laughing when Lucas began to imitate
her. He scooted down on the mattress and threw his arms over his
head, then groaned and grunted as he twisted about, opening his
mouth wide in a fake yawn and scrunching his eyes closed.

His mocking sounds quickly turned into shrieks,
though, when Elena suddenly turned and pounced on him, her fingers
finding home just under his arms. She tickled his sides while he
squealed and tried to wriggle away from her. She let up after only
a moment so as to avoid any accidents on her bed and planted a
loud, smacking kiss on his forehead before slipping out of bed and
pulling her robe on over her night gown.

“Where would
you
like to go today?” She
motioned for him to vacate the bed so she could make it up and he
crawled across the top of the bed, latching onto Elena’s hands, so
that she could help him slide down. “I wanna see the dinosaur
bones!”

“Of course you do,” Elena said.

“Can we?”

“Of course we can.” She reached down to stroke the
back of his head before moving around to the other side of the bed
to adjust the sheets and blankets. “We will go after breakfast,
okay?”

“Okay!” Pumping his fist into the air, he took off in
a wobbly sprint down the hallway and toward the kitchen.

Elena ran a hand through her hair as she followed her
son through the house.

* * *

The sudden, surprising blare of her phone nearly
caused Elena to bump her head against the door frame as she
strapped Lucas into his car seat. Once she got everything buckled,
she pulled her phone from her purse and rolled her eyes as she saw
Vivian’s face light up the screen.

“Hello darling!” Vivian’s voice echoed through the
line as soon as Elena accepted the call. “How was your incredibly
sexy date last night?”

“Incredibly disappointing,” Elena said. “In fact, he
was
so
disappointing that I have determined to despise you
for a minimum of one week.”

“Wow, a whole week?” Vivian gasped. “What did he do?
Proposition you for sex before dinner?”

Elena slipped into the driver’s seat and buckled her
belt. “Make it two weeks,” she huffed.

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry. I thought he was sexy.”
Vivian chuckled. “What went wrong?”

“He was decently attractive,” Elena admitted. “Until
he opened his mouth.”

“Are you sure you weren’t looking for reasons not to
like him?”

“Please. Give me a bit of credit, Viv. The man
attempted to order for me and then suggested that my disinterest in
him doing so was due to the vast lack of pampering in my life.”

Vivian snorted into the phone. “Wow. That is just
sad.”

“Where did you even find him?” Elena asked.

“Where else?” Vivian asked. “Work. He is a friend of
my assistant. She suggested him.”

“Fire her,” Elena joked.

“Momma! We’re not moving!”

Elena glanced in the rearview mirror to see her son
squirming in his seat. “I know, munchkin,” she said. “Just one more
minute.”

“Vivian.” She turned her attention back to her phone
conversation. “I will have to call you back. I’ve just gotten Lucas
in the car, and we are headed to the museum.”

“Which one?” Vivian asked. “I have no plans for
today. I could meet you there.”

“The American Museum of Natural History.” Elena
started the car.

“I take it Lucas wants to see the dinosaurs
again?”

“Of course,” Elena said. “Call me when you arrive,
and Lucas and I will meet you.”

Elena glanced in her rearview mirror to find Lucas
looking right back at her. His eyes were narrowed, and Elena
couldn’t help but let out a loud bark of laughter.

“Okay, okay, we’re going,” she told him, and his
expression morphed into a smile.

* * *

Allison spread the small blanket out atop the grass,
plopped down on top of it and pulled out her current reading
material from her backpack—
Invisible Monsters
by Chuck
Palahniuk. She had always enjoyed his minimalistic writing style,
and Allison had nothing but love for any author who didn’t shy away
from the ugly details and horrors of life.

Sticking her backpack under her head to use it as a
pillow, she lay back and sucked in a deep breath, letting the smell
of the Central Park breeze tickle in her nose. It was nice to get
out of the dorms from time to time.

It was a gorgeous Sunday morning, and Allison wiggled
around until she was comfortable, thinking about the night before.
Elena Vega was like a puzzle—complex and intriguing. She was far
from the typical rich girl who cherished money and material things
above all else, and Allison wondered what more she might learn of
the woman as she began to put all of the pieces together—
if
she was able to spend more time with her.

Tucking her bookmark into the back cover of her book,
Allison began to read. She only managed a few pages, however,
before she was suddenly and unexpectedly tackled. She yelped as a
small body barreled into her, and Allison struggled for a moment to
get away before recognizing her tiny attacker.

“Lucas?” she managed to choke out despite the boy
having knocked the wind out of her. He giggled and nodded as a
shadow cast over them both. Allison raised a hand to shield her
eyes as she looked up to see the glowing form of Elena Vega.

Allison felt a gentle stirring in her stomach as she
looked up at Elena and watched a bright smile spread across the
woman’s face.

“I’m terribly sorry, Ms—Allison,” Elena said. “He saw
you and took off before I could stop him.”

Allison pushed herself into a sitting position with
Lucas in her lap and patted his back. “No, it’s totally cool.”

“Hey little man. I missed you,” she said, tickling
Lucas’s belly. She then looked up at Elena and softly added,
“Hi.”

“Good morning, dear. Quite the coincidence running
into you today.”

“Wanna see dinosaurs?” Lucas squeaked as if he had
just had the most brilliant idea of his young life.

“Uh….” Allison didn’t have a clue what Lucas was
talking about.

“I am taking him to the museum,” Elena said. “He
loves the fossil exhibits.”

“Oh right. Gotcha. I like that place too.”

“Come see!” Lucas pleaded as he bounced on her thigh
and squeezed her hand.

“Oh, Lucas,” Elena said. “I’m sure Allison is rather
busy with her own Sunday plans.”

“Nah, I’m good actually.” Allison bounced her knee
with Lucas atop it. “I’d love to see the dinosaurs with you guys. I
mean, unless you don’t want me to come, which is totally cool. I
wouldn’t take offense or anything. I can understand wanting to
spend time with your kid, just the two of you.”

Lucas had apparently chosen to hear only the
beginning of her answer, because he yelled his excitement, jumped
to his feet, and tugged on Allison’s arm before she ever finished
speaking.

“No, it’s fine,” Elena said. “Vivian is meeting us
there anyway.”

“Oh, well okay.” The blanket and book were quickly
shoved back into Allison’s backpack. “Let’s go then.”

“Are you sure you don’t mind, Allison?” Elena placed
a hand on Allison’s arm to hold her back. “I noticed you were
reading. I would hate to interrupt your day simply because my son
is overeager. You are more than welcome to decline his demanding
invitation.”

Nudging Elena’s shoulder, she shook her head. “It’s
fine, really. I’d take you guys over books any day, and hey, that
is seriously saying something. I love books.”

A faint hint of pink painted Elena’s cheeks as she
nodded. “Very well.”

Lucas hopped up and down beside them. “You have to
hold hands!” he shouted.

Without really thinking about it, Allison slipped her
hand into Elena’s, only to see Lucas’s face immediately scrunch in
confusion. Elena cleared her throat, the pink tint of her cheeks
now a deep crimson. She laughed as Lucas loudly explained, “No,
Alson, you have to hold hands WITH ME!”