By the time they were done eating, Ella could barely keep her eyes open.Trying to hide a huge yawn that threatened to escape, she placed a hand in front of her mouth.
“Am I boring you?”asked Ben.
Smiling sweetly up at him, Ella replied, “Of course not.This has been a fabulous day.I did not get a lot of sleep last night.”
“Oh, I think you have that backward.I believe it was my girlfriend who wore a black nighty thing and stole allmysleep.”
Laughing, Ella said, “Well, maybe that is true.”She was quiet for a moment, and then she asked, “Did you mean what you just said?”
“About the black thing?Hell yes!”laughed Ben.
“Not that.I know you meant that.The other part.The part about me being your girlfriend.Is that how you see me?”
“Well, yeah, I did tell you, I loved you.Since you are the only person I have ever said that to, that makes you my girlfriend.
“Yes, you did tell me that.Didn’t you?”
“I certainly did.Last night.This morning.And again as we walked through the gardens.And if I remember correctly, you returned the sentiment.”
Nodding, Ella agreed, “Yes, I did.”
“Well, okay then.When a guy and girl tell each other they love each other, that usually means they are together, together, like boyfriend and girlfriend.So, unless you have some objection to the term, you are now officially my girlfriend.”
Smiling a smile she was sure could be seen from space, Ella replied, “I have no objections.I would love to be your girlfriend.However, you have to remember that I have never done any of this.It is all new to me.I don’t really know what to expect.What are the parameters?”Ella’s reasonable mind was kicking in, the one she used to make sure she fully understood the nuances of every situation and how best to maneuver them.
“Parameters?Hmm, let me think.”replied Ben.“First, it means that we only date each other.”
“Done,” replied Ella.Given he was the only person she had ever dated, that was an easy box to check.
Shooting Ella a look that said, “Duh,” Ben continued, “Also it means we continue to make time to be together, we trust each other, and we make time to talk every day.Things like that.”
“That sounds like us already.I guess I have been your girlfriend for a while now.”
“Yes,” replied Ben, “I guess you have.There has not been anyone else for me since the moment you fell into my arms that day at the diner.But now we are making it official.Of course, you will need to update all of your social media to let the world know you are off the market.”
“You know that I don’t do social media,” panned Ella.
“Oh, yes, how could I forget, you are the only girl I have ever known who did not do social media.Of course, you are also the only one who graduated college by nineteen, so why am I surprised.You are so amazing that if youwereon one of those sites, every male between eighteen and eighty would be trying to fight me for you.So I am very glad you are not.”
“Really, it sounds a little like you are making fun of me,” replied Ella.
Leaning over and putting his arm around Ella to draw her in close, Ben said, “No, my sweet girl.I would never make fun of you.You are absolutely amazing, and I treasure every minute with you.I am actually thrilled you are not always looking at your phone or recording something to post every two seconds.When we are together, I like that we are totally dialed into each other—like we are the only two people on the planet.”
“We are, aren’t we?”replied Ella.
Ben gave a bark of laughter at her words.“Beautiful, brilliant, and funny.How did I get so lucky?”
“Sometimes, I wish we were the only two people.It would be so much simpler.”Ella could not stop herself from thinking about what their world would be like once they began mixing the rest of their lives into their relationship.No matter how many times she imagined introducing Ben to her parents, she could not see it going well.He was too different from the type of boy her parents would expect her to bring home.
First, he was not Catholic or from California.Worse, he was from Arkansas.Her parents had high school educations, yet they would instantly be prejudiced against him and consider him less intelligent because of outdated stereotypes about people from the South.They would totally overlook how brilliant and talented he was, never mind that his mom has a master’s degree in art and had taught at the college level or that his dad is a lawyer and former United States Senator.They would still look down on him.
Not to mention how his parents might view the situation.Here she was a Catholic girl from California who was obsessed with soil and hydrology.She had never been to a country club and knew only what Ben had taught her about politics.Her world would be as foreign to them as Ben’s was to hers.At that moment though, Ella did not bring any of that up.She just basked in the warmth of Ben’s love and pretended they would be able to stay in this bubble they had created for themselves forever.
Chapter 8
San Luis Obispo, California
Unlike the night before, Ella and Ben both slept soundly, not waking until 9:00 the next morning.Ella woke first and quietly slipped out of bed and into a long hot shower that she desperately needed.She had almost finished rinsing her long dark hair when Ben pushed the shower curtain back and joined her.Ella was startled at first, but then Ben started kissing and touching her.As they came together in a flurry of hunger and need, all rational thought fled.It did not return for several minutes.When it did, it was with the cold hard slap of reality hitting them both in the face.
