I only
had short notice for Ellen’s birthday, so here’s a silly little bit of
silliness, of no real literary merit, which will hopefully give her a little
smile.
Ellen
sat tapping away at her computer, sipping a cup of tea, and enjoying a rare
quiet moment before the whole family descended upon her. She knew that when her husband and kids came
in they would clamour around her with gifts and good wishes for her birthday,
and then take her out to her favourite Mexican restaurant. And while she was looking forward to all
that, she couldn’t help feeling that one of the nicer moments of her birthday
was a chance to be by herself, if only for the little, checking her messages
and touching base with her Dueser friends.
Ellen
was generally thankful for her blessings, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t
acknowledge that things had been a little busier and a little more trying
recently. From the front vestibule came
the voices of her family, shouting for her to come and see what they had
brought her. Ellen bade a quick bye to the net-friends she had been talking to
and joined them.
Later, in the restaurant, surrounded by Mister Ellen and all the sub-units all making simultaneous noise, Ellen became aware of a waiter standing beside their table waiting to take their order. Nobody else had noticed him there, it seemed, so she turned to give him an apologetic smile and was startled to see none other than Ray Vecchio standing there, leaning sideways on his left hip and clutching an order pad. Under his white apron he seemed to be wearing an outfit most inappropriate for a waiter – tight black dress pants, a gleaming white turtleneck with a blue undertone that perfectly set off his “winter” complexion and over these an elegant navy blazer.
Ellen
did a take. The she did a double take. Ray grinned at her, his green eyes
sparkling mischeviously.
“What
are you doing here?” Ellen sputtered.
Mister
Ellen answered, “Trying to decide what to have. You’re going to have the
burritos as usual, of course.”
Nobody
else seemed to notice Ray standing there. Ellen suspected she might be
hallucinating.
“They
can’t hear me or see me unless I want them to,” Ray told her. “You see, when it
was my birthday on Friday I got a magical present: to spend a week doing
anything I want with nobody seeing or hearing me unless I wanted. So, of course I wanted to come be with you
on your birthday.”
“What
do you mean, ‘of course’,” Ellen repeated, a little confused.
“That’s
what you always have,” Mister Ellen answered.
At
the same time Ray said, “I mean, you’re one of my favourite people. I’ve always
wanted to be with you on your birthday and now I can.”
“I’m
confused,” Ellen said, confused.
Mister
Ellen snickered. “I bet. That’s more wine than you usually have, you know.”
“Let
me tell you what I have in mind for us to do,” Ray said and leaned down to
whisper some very racy suggestions into Ellen’s ear.
Ellen
was aghast. “Ray! I’m married! And I work in a church!”
Ray
gave her another merry laugh. “Sucks to
be me, then. I was looking forward to . . .”
“And
you’re married too, now,” Ellen pointed out, “And you have a family. What about
Louise and Grace?”
“Oh,
you’re such a good author, couldn’t you just sort of write up a chapter where I
have a brief but satisfying affair with an otherwise respectable lady and both
our spouses sort of forgive us and we
all live happily ever after?”
It
was tempting and Ellen certainly had the skill, if not the time recently, to
write up just such a scenario in a most convincing manner. As she was busy considering her options,
Mister Ellen said, “Who are you talking to? Who’s Louise?”
“Ray,
I need you visible right now or my family’s going think I’ve lost it,” Ellen whispered.
Ray
winked at her and instantly materialized. But he now looked like a young man in
his early twenties wearing a tee-shirt and jeans under his apron. Ellen peered at the young man and caught his
eye. Why, he was Ray some twenty years
younger. “It’s still me,” he mouthed the words in Ellen’s direction and none of
the rest of the family caught on.
“It’s
hard to decide,” Ellen told the handsome Italian boy, meaning that she couldn’t
be sure whether or not to indulge in a wild fling with Ray.
“No
it’s not,” Mister Ellen said, oblivious to the hidden meaning, “Just have
burritos like you always do.”
“I’m
not sure I want what I always have,” Ellen commented, staring into Ray’s eyes
as she said it, her mind already racing with alternatives.
End.