He was surprised that their waitress arrived as soon as they’d settled across from one another.
“Good morning.What would you like to drink?”she asked as she set two paper napkin rolls of silverware in the middle of the table.
He looked to Celyn, waiting for her to order first.
She took a deep breath and met his gaze with a smile.“I’d like a hot chocolate with whipped cream and piece of apple pie.Heated and with whipped cream on top instead of ice cream, please.”
The waitress wrote down the order then turned to him.“And you?”
“The same, thank you.”
The older woman made a note on her pad and walked away without another word.
Laying his hands palms up on the table, he was not surprised that Celyn immediately laid hers on top of them.The need to touch, to be close, was something that soulmates shared throughout the world and history.
“So,” he started after a moment of staring deep into her eyes.“Tell me about Celyn Berry.”
“How do you know my last name?”
He shrugged, not sure she would understand the truth.“I must have heard it somewhere.Now, tell me about you.”
As he watched, her face turned bright pink and she dropped her gaze from his eyes to the tabletop.Then she shrugged.“Not much to tell.I’m a military veteran helping out with my family while I try to figure out where my life is going to take me next.Nothing exciting or talk-worthy.Tell me about being an elf.”
Enrico knew she was deflecting but did not know why.When he opened his mouth to answer her question, he found the words refused to come.At least the words to describe his life as Nick’s right-hand elf.Then he remembered that telling outsiders was forbidden.
Instead, he said, “It’s cold and dark six months of the year, but thanks to LED light technology, we don’t get down and depressed in January like we used to.When you were eight years old, what did you want to be when you grew up?”
Before Celyn could answer, the waitress returned with their orders.
The apple pie was steaming around the whipped cream and their mugs were piled high with whipped cream with chocolate shavings on top.Taking a deep breath, Enrico grinned at the yummy scents that swirled and mixed as they filled his lungs.
“Smells so good,” he murmured, unrolling his silverware and laying the paper napkin aside for later.
He waited for Celyn to take a bite of her pie before doing the same.Their appreciative moans harmonized as they looked into each other’s eyes while chewing.
“Delicious,” Celyn said once she’d swallowed that first bite.
Enrico nodded his agreement as he lifted his mug and took a sip.Hot and chocolatey.Not bad, but Judy made better.Probably because the elf used real milk and chocolate and not a mix out of a can.
Celyn began to giggle as he lowered his mug back to the table.
“You have cream on your nose and mustache.”Grabbing one of the spare napkins piled by the wall, she half-rose to her feet and reached across the table, wiping at his nose and upper lip.
“Yeah, that happens,” he chuckled once she finished and sat back down.“Eating sugar coated donuts is worse.It gets in my beard and I end up having to take a shower to get it all off.”
Celyn giggled again as she turned her focus to her plate.They remained silent as they ate, but once he finished his pie, Enrico rested back in his seat with one hand wrapped around his mug and watched her.
“What?Do I have whipped cream on my face?”Celyn asked as she patted at her cheeks and chin.
“No, I was just trying to figure out the answer to my question.But I’m pretty sure I’m wrong,” he said as he began folding a clean napkin.He’d folded so many origami animals in his spare time he didn’t need to watch what he was doing.
Celyn yawned as she watched his hands.“I’m sorry, I forgot the question.”
“When you were eight years old, what did you want to be when you grew up?”
He waited as she stared over his left shoulder while she reached back into her memories.
“Eight years old,” she murmured.“I think that was the year Cedar tried to convince me that Santa wasn’t real and I ended up wanting to grow up and be Santa Claus.Having a birthday the day after Christmas sucked until my grandmother began celebrating half birthdays with us on June twenty-sixth.Then I didn’t mind being born on Boxing Day so much.”
