[Ellie's Story] Take Care, Ellie

     Hi Simon,

Sorry for not having responded sooner. It’s been sort of a rough week and even the simplest things have been taking twice as long to complete. I hope your week has been going well. Did you settle that case that you were stressing about? And how was your weekend Frisbee tournament? Hope your team won!

My week has consisted of mainly work and eating. I’ve been binging on ice-cream, mandarin oranges, and high-end pastries lately, and trying to enjoy some of the spurts of sunshine that we’ve been having. I’ve roamed around Stanley Park, and even made it out to QE park with Madison last weekend. (Have you seen any of the ducklings swimming in the ponds and waddling about the city? Super cute…) So despite the tough week, I’ve been trying to stay positive and relax whenever I can.

Anyway, I hope next week will be an improvement. Only time will tell! Let me know what you’ve been up to lately – chat soon.

~ Ellie

I double-checked my spelling before sending the email. Simon and I had still been emailing intermittently. I've noticed that his enthusiasm had dwindled with my apparent lack of enthusiasm. In the beginning, he had reached out a lot to try to get to know me. I honestly tried to reciprocate, but some part of me always held back a little, not wanting to expose too much of my inner world to a stranger. He seemed to notice, and subsequently, he too held back. So for the past while, we've only chatted like pen pals would - with any undertones of romance forgotten. Somehow, this suited me much better.

I felt a bit guilty, as he seemed like a nice guy – worthy of any girl’s attention. I just couldn’t bring myself to muster any more energy, especially recently, with my new-found angst over David being back in town.

MoMo jumped up onto the computer desk, purring loudly. I looked at his food dish, which was empty.

“Oh, right. We’re way past feeding time. Sorry Mo!” I patted him on the head and got up from my chair to feed him.  I sauntered past the couch, where I noticed Jung’s English textbooks stacked in a small tower beside the foot of it. I shook my head at the fact that I still hadn’t bothered buying a coffee table yet. I had been so busy that I kept forgetting. I totally appreciated Jung’s neatness though – any messier a roommate would have had books all over the floor or couch. I made a note to myself to thank Jung for being so tidy when he returned from his preliminary English testing later today.

MoMo meowed, reminding me to feed him. I walked over to his dish and poured out some dry food for him. As soon as I had finished filling his dish, my phone rang. It was Madison.

“Hey Mad,” I said.

“Ellie,” Madison said, voice sombre. “Sorry I haven’t had a chance to call. I’ve had a crazy week.”

“Me too,” I replied.

“I bet. I saw Elisa’s Facebook feed this morning. He’s back, huh? Are you okay? He hasn’t tried to call you or anything, has he?”

I played with MoMo’s dry food bag, zipping and unzipping the top in an attempt to disperse my frenetic energy. “No, he hasn’t called or emailed. I’m okay…” I said, voice trailing. I knew the tone of my voice wasn’t convincing, so I tried again, more confidently this time. “I’m going to be okay, Maddie. Honestly, I haven’t thought about him at all hardly,” I lied. “He has his life now and I have my own. That was the whole point, right? I’m pretty sure he won’t be contacting me."

"Okay, I'm glad to hear that," Madison replied. "I was just getting worried..."

"He’ll do all the things that he wanted to do," I continued, my brain suddenly on some form of adrenaline, "just like he said, and just like he planned to. And I won't worry about him and his life and what he's doing, and I won't get involved, just like he won't get involved in mine," I finished, realizing that I sounded bitter. Madison’s pause indicated that she picked up on it.

“Ellie,” she sighed. “It's all for the best anyway. Some things were meant to be. It just means that better things are in store for you. I'm sure of it.”

“Yeah, I know,” I said simply, my brain and mouth sobering now. “Like I said, I’ll be fine.” I changed the subject. “Anyway, how are you? How’s Bryant?”

Madison went along with the subject change, probably knowing how uncomfortable I felt talking about David. “We’re good! We’re trying to plan a trip for his birthday next month.”

“Where to?” I asked, finally putting MoMo’s food bag away. It looked significantly more crinkled now.

“I dunno. Maybe southbound? Maybe to the east coast? Just somewhere…not here,” she chuckled. “Bryant’s looking forward to getting away for a bit – he’s stressed at work and his family has been a pain in the neck lately. And, I have no idea what to buy him for his birthday. But at least I have a month’s time to figure it out.”

 “Time flies though,” I pointed out. “Remember last year you had to shop online last minute for his present because you were procrastinating so much?”

“Yeah…” Madison drew out. “Good reminder. I did not enjoy having to give him a printout receipt of his gift rather than having the real thing on hand. Maybe you can help me shop next week.”

“Sure,” I replied. “Can’t say no to shopping.” That would help me take my mind off of David, I mentally added to myself.

“Great! I’ll call you later this week and we’ll set a date?”

“Sounds good.”

“Okay, we’ll talk later then. I should get back to my laundry,” Madison said. “Anyway, I just wanted to call to make sure you were okay. I’m glad you’re not letting the whole David thing bother you, Ells. I got worried when I saw that status update on Facebook. You take care of yourself, okay?”

“Thanks Mad. I’ll be fine. You…take care of your laundry,” I retorted, smiling. I hung up with her and made myself a cup of tea before returning to my computer. I still needed to get through the rest of my emails. I stretched out my fingers melodramatically and prepared to get back to it.

As soon as I sat down, I noticed that Simon had already responded to my last email. It had been a while since he had responded so immediately.

Hey Ellie,

     No problem! I’ve had a busy week as well and probably wouldn't have been able to chat much anyway. The case got tricky near the end, but finally, we did settle it to both clients’ satisfaction. I guess all of my efforts spent at work made me a lousier Frisbee player, because our team came in tenth at the tournament. Not a total embarrassment as there were twenty-five teams, but also not as well as what our captain had hoped for.

     I too have been enjoying some of the sun lately – how could any of us not, living in Vancouver, the city of rain! I agree, the ducklings are super cute, as you said.

     I’m sorry to hear that you’ve had a rough week. I hope the sugar binging hasn’t been the result of that. But don’t worry, it means that things can only get better this week. Life is too short to be wasted on stress! If there is anything I can do for you, please let me know. I’d be happy to…I dunno, send some ducklings your way, perhaps! ;) Either way, I hope you are taking care of yourself, Ellie.

     Apologies for the short response. I’m trying to get this contract finalized for a client within the next hour. I’ll email soon!

All the best,

Simon

 “Take care?” I said aloud. Why was everyone telling me to take care of myself? Madison, Simon, and even random strangers on elevators, I recalled.  “I must seem like a mess,” I mumbled to myself, vowing to act a bit more cheerful in the upcoming week.

I hit Reply, planning to draft out a quick response to Simon to wish him luck on his contract and to tell him that he needn’t rush on emailing me. In the middle of typing, I was alerted to another incoming email. It was another one from Simon. I picked up my teacup, reading as I sipped. I nearly spilled my tea.

Ellie, I’ve been meaning to ask you this for a while. I haven't because I didn’t want to rush you into anything. But, would you like to meet?