Popcorn Love (8 page)

“Oh, uh, right.” Allison released Elena’s hand and
swiped her own through her hair. “Um, yeah, because that makes
so
much more sense. Duh, Allison.”

Lucas squished himself between the two women. One of
his tiny hands slipped into one of Elena’s and the other into one
of Allison’s, and they walked together like that all the way to the
museum.

* * *

Elena met Vivian at the main entrance of the museum
while Allison and Lucas remained with the fossil exhibits.

“Where’s Lucas?”

“Well, hello to you, too.” Elena pecked her on the
cheek. “He’s with Allison.” They linked arms and made their way
inside.

Blonde brows knitted together. “Who the hell is
Allison?”

“That would be the young woman that
you
found
to be my babysitter for Lucas.”

“Oh!” Vivian clucked her tongue and nodded. “Right. I
remember now. Wait, you’re paying your babysitter to go to the
museum with you? Babe, that’s just sad.”

A manicured hand swatted her arm. “No, of course not.
She was reading in the park, and Lucas saw her and invited her
along. I think he may idolize her a bit. He went on and on about
her during breakfast and in the car.”

“So you like her?”

“What?” Elena asked. “What do you mean?”

“I mean exactly what I asked. Do you like her? As a
babysitter? What else would I have meant?”

“Oh!” Elena nodded. “Oh, yes. Yes, she is a wonderful
babysitter. You know how shy Lucas can be, but he took right to
her.”

“See? I
am
good at picking people.”

“For babysitting, perhaps. You should apply that
skill to your choices in dates. I would rather not end up with
another Brice.”

“Hey!” Vivian nudged Elena’s side with her elbow.
“Give me a chance. You have only gone on one date, and the guy had
excellent potential. How was I supposed to know he was a jerk?”

“Douche.”

Vivian cackled. “Come again?”

“Allison called him a douche.” Elena shot her a wry
grin.

“College kids.”

“You
do
realize that we are only five years
older than her, yes?” Elena bumped her side. “You forget that it
hasn’t been long since you and I were those college kids.”

A wistful sigh escaped Vivian’s lips. “Yeah, those
were the days. Though, even in college, you never would have used
the word ‘douche’.”

Elena squeezed her friend’s arm and pointed across
the room where a woman with long blonde hair and her back to them
stood in front of a massive dinosaur skeleton. Lucas was tucked
against her side as she held him and pointed up at the bones.

Scanning over Allison’s body, Vivian raised a brow at
the ribbed tee, skin-tight jeans, and scuffed black boots.
“Christ,” she muttered. “
That’s
the babysitter I chose?”

“You didn’t meet her?” Elena asked, surprised.

“No, I put an ad on Craigslist and she called me. I
only spoke to her on the phone but she sounded sweet.”

“She is.”

“Yeah, and she apparently does Pilates all day long
every day,” Vivian said, her tone envious. “Look at her legs.”

Elena nodded as they both stared at the babysitter.
“She is quite in shape. You should see her stomach.”

Without another word, Elena took off toward Allison
and Lucas, leaving Vivian to stare. “Wait, what?” she said. “When
did you see her sto—Elena!”

* * *

“Momma, look!” Lucas pointed up at the massive
dinosaur skeleton, his eyes wide even though he had seen each and
every dinosaur in this museum multiple times.

With Lucas still bouncing on her hip, Allison whirled
around and saw Elena standing there with another woman beside her.
Elena cooed at Lucas: “I see, baby. Which dinosaur is that?”

“That’s Rex,” Lucas told her before stuffing his
fingers in his mouth and sucking on them while he continued to
stare up at the skeleton.

Both Elena and Allison chuckled before Elena motioned
toward the other woman. “Allison, this is my friend, Vivian Warren,
the one you spoke to about the babysitting position.”

Allison’s gaze shot to the blonde at Elena’s side.
“Oh right, yeah.” Smiling, she stuck out her free hand to shake
Vivian’s, while her other arm remained firmly tucked under Lucas’s
bottom. “Nice to finally meet you in person, Vivian.”

Vivian slipped her hand into Allison’s and shook it
gently. “You as well, Allison. I see you and Lucas have become fast
friends.”

“Oh yeah.” Allison nodded. “We’re besties.”

Vivian reached out to pat Lucas’s arm. “Hey
buddy.”

His head never turned but his small hand pointed up
again as he said, “Aunt Viv, look!”

“I know!” Vivian feigned excitement. She then turned
her attention back to Allison. “So, how is college life treating
you? You’re at NYU, correct?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty cool,” Allison said. “Got a bed
and food and a bunch of people obligated to carry on conversations
in class with me, so it’s all good.”

The three women laughed together before Vivian asked,
“What is your major?”

“Social work.” Lucas tugged her to the side when he
dove toward his mother, who caught him and transferred him from
Allison’s hip to her own. He pointed to the places he wanted to go,
and Elena carried him accordingly, leaving Allison and Vivian to
follow.

“Fascinating,” Vivian said. “Now, let’s get to the
good stuff, shall we?”

“Sorry?” Allison asked. “What good stuff?”

“Elena’s date.”

“Oh that. She wasn’t too hard on you, was she?”

“
Should
she have been?” Blue eyes narrowed.
“Or was she merely exaggerating?”

“I can
hear
you, dear,” Elena sing-songed from
a few feet in front of the two of them.

“Congratulations, babe. Your ears are
functioning.”

It was obvious the two women had been friends for a
long time.

Allison shoved her hands into the rigid pockets of
her tight jeans. “Uh, she only talked about it a little bit before
I left, but yeah, the guy sounded like bad news.”

“
Thank you
, Allison.”

Vivian rolled her eyes at Elena’s words and ignored
the glare shot her way when she said, “You know, Allison, if she’s
not paying you to be here today, then you don’t have to have her
back. You can tell me the truth.”

“No, it really did sound like a bad date,” Allison
said. “You can do way better.”

“You hear that, Elena? She doesn’t even know me, and
yet she already has faith in my skills.”

“Perhaps that is
because
she doesn’t yet know
you, Vivian.”

“Ah, my best friend.” Vivian winked at Allison. “Her
sweetness
abounds.
”

“Alson!”

Allison was still laughing as she stepped up to
Elena’s side. “What’s up bud?” she asked Lucas as she elbowed
Elena’s side with a conspiratorial nudge.

“Look!”

“Whoa!” Allison gasped, making a good show of looking
up at the skeleton. “Which one is that?”

“Aptosaurs.”

Elena leaned closer to Allison and whispered,
“
Apatosaurus.
”

“Ah, okay. He’s a big one, isn’t he, Lucas?”

Lucas nodded as he continued to suck on his fingers
and stare up at the skeleton.

“All right,” Elena said, patting Lucas’s thigh.
“Let’s move on. We have a lot of bones to see, and I imagine
someone will be hungry soon.” She headed toward the next exhibit,
Lucas’s hand already pointing up, while Allison and Vivian trailed
along behind her.

* * *

Vivian tapped her nails against the kitchen counter
as she waited for her coffee to brew. Her phone was pressed between
her ear and her shoulder, and it was taking Elena nearly as long to
answer as it was taking Vivian’s coffee pot to fill.

“Hello Vivian.” Elena’s voice greeted her after the
fourth ring. “I was just finishing up dinner.”

“So am I,” Vivian said. “I’m having coffee.”

Elena snorted. “I know you’ve already eaten. You
rarely make it to five o’clock without whining about your growling
stomach.”

“True. I had sushi. So, today was fun.”

“It was.”

“Allison seems great.” Vivian was curious as to how
Elena would respond. She had noticed how at ease Elena had seemed
to be with Allison at the museum, and it had surprised her. Elena
had always been rather closed off with strangers, especially where
Lucas was concerned. She had perfect manners and could acclimate
quickly to different social situations, but she preferred her own
circle of people. That much had always been clear to Vivian.

“She is,” Elena said.

“You seemed really comfortable with her.”

“I suppose so, yes,” Elena said. “Why do you mention
it?”

“No reason.” Vivian did her best to sound casual.
“You just don’t usually warm up to people that fast, and Allison is
obviously your complete opposite. I was just surprised.”

There was a long pause before Elena spoke again. “She
seems to have that effect.”

Vivian nearly snorted. Allison certainly seemed to
have
some
sort of effect, because she and Elena had made
their way through that museum like old friends, or perhaps even
something more. She had noticed the way Allison almost
unconsciously always stepped to the side to allow Elena to pass
through each doorway first, and she even placed her hand on Elena’s
lower back a few times when they squeezed through a particularly
crowded area. Vivian had gaped the first time it happened and Elena
didn’t move away from the touch.

“She does,” Vivian said. She reached for her coffee
pot as the machine finally wheezed out its last few drops and she
poured herself a large amount into a waiting mug. “I’m glad she is
working out for you.”

“Me too. Thank you again for finding her even though
I suppose she technically found
you
through Craigslist.”

“Well, it was
my
ad, so I’m taking credit.”
Vivian let out a soft laugh. “All right. I won’t keep you on the
phone. I just wanted to kill time while my coffee brewed.”

“Glad to be of service,” Elena said, and Vivian made
loud kiss noises against the speaker of her phone.

“Bye, babe.”

The call ended with Vivian sipping at her coffee and
contemplating the other two women. There was obviously some
chemistry there, though it was equally obvious that both Elena and
Allison were entirely oblivious to it. Knowing Elena, it could take
ages for the woman to realize it herself. Vivian decided that she
would have to intervene to help the process along. She nearly
clapped her hands with excitement, but instead held tightly to her
coffee cup and took another hot sip.

“Where to begin,” Vivian muttered under breath, a
smile quirking at the corners of her mouth.

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.”