40

"Coffee for Simmons" Joe, grinning, opened the door to Elle's office, where she was fortunately sitting alone that morning, and placed the cup on her desk.

Smiling, Elle turned her office chair to face him and, sighing happily, took the coffee in her hand.

"Thanks, after last night's little sleep I could really use it" she said, smiling shyly at Joe.

After finishing the phone call with Celine yesterday and answering Joe, the two had texted until two in the morning.

Neither had paid attention to the time, although they both wanted to be asleep by 11 at the latest so they could be well-rested for today.

The hours had flown by and neither had felt even a hint of fatigue. It wasn't until Elle's battery was almost dead that they had realized they should stop and finally go to sleep, had wished each other a good night, and had put their cell phones away.

"I'm afraid I don't have that much time, have to change. Training is about to start" Joe was already heading out the door again.

"wait a minute Joe" Elle stopped him and questioningly he turned back to her. "What's up?" he asked, leaning against the doorframe.

"I...I wanted to talk to you again, but if you don't have time now,.... how about tonight? I have to work until nine, but we could maybe...talk on the phone afterwards?" Elle asked nervously.

"I could come over at 9:30 if you'd rather work it out in person" Joe shrugged. Elle smiled. "Yes, I'd like that better"

"So 9:30 at your place?" he asked, smiling. Elle nodded. "9:30 at my place" she confirmed. "Well then, see you tonight" Joe winked at her before walking out of the room and closing the door behind him.

Sighing in exasperation, Elle dropped back into the chair. She couldn't even ask Joe to set up a conversation with her without stuttering nervously.

How the hell was she going to explain to him tonight that she wanted to go slow on him without sounding like King George from the movie the kings speech?

She chewed on her lower lip as she thoughtfully turned the coffee cup in her hand. Should she write a few sentences down for herself so she wouldn't completely lose it?

Suddenly, something on the cup caught her eye. Joe had left her a message, just as she had left him her number yesterday. In black ink, there were a few short words that made her smile.

Have a nice day Thanks for your number

Immediately she photographed the message and sent the picture to Celine. Along with it, she wrote that Joe was coming over tonight and she would tell him. Celine's reply didn't take five minutes.

Goodness, that's so sweet. So happy for you, Elly. Go get him, tiger!

Grinning, Elle locked her cell phone and tried to focus on work again.

When the doorbell rang that evening, Elle regretted not having pre-written sentences, because already she felt like she didn't know the English language anymore.

She checked herself again at the mirror in the entryway, wearing sweatpants and a Tshirt so she wouldn't look too dolled up, before she opened the door.

Joe grinned at her and briefly bristled when he saw her brace, which she was wearing again as promised to Nick.

"Is that new?" he asked, pointing to the brace. "Latest fashion from Paris. Everyone wears that in Europe" Elle grinned before stepping aside. "come on in"

Joe laughed and entered the apartment. "Go ahead and make yourself comfortable. I'm just going to go to the kitchen real quick. You want something to drink?" she asked him as he followed her to the couch.

"A glass of water would be nice" he smiled politely as he flopped down on the couch. Elle nodded and disappeared towards the kitchen.

"So what's really up with the brace? You don't wear it while you're working, do you?" Joe asked as Elle returned to the couch with two glasses in hand and a bottle of water under her arm, setting everything on the table.

"It's inconvenient while working. I can do almost nothing then..." Elle explained as Joe took the bottle from her and twisted it open after she failed several times at it.

"See, I can't even get a bottle open" Elle sighed. "But for safety and a little pressure relief, Nick lets me wear this thing at home" she explained as she gratefully accepted the glass Joe had just filled with water.

She sat back and took a deep breath. "But I didn't want to talk to you to show you this great thing here"

Joe grinned at her. "You didn't? Because I really think the Europeans have started another great trend. You can definitely wear it" Elle giggled.

"Seriously now, Joe. I wanted to talk to you about...." she took another deep breath. "... us" Joe looked at her uncertainly and surprised. "Yeah, sure, of course. What's there to talk about...us?"

Elle sighed. "You were right. We can't keep running into each other and pretending nothing happened between us. What we have, Joe, is special and I don't want to be the one who regrets not taking a chance on it later."

Joe looked at her in surprise. "That means?" "It means I don't want to think any longer about why we shouldn't do this and just do it. But slowly. I...still don't know if I'm ready to open up to someone new. I don't want to be overwhelmed by everything, but let it happen step by step. Get used to it slowly, at my pace. You know what I mean?"

For the first time since she had started talking, she looked at Joe, who looked at her lovingly and nodded slowly.

She lowered her gaze and stared at her hands. "I want to try to commit to you, Joe. But I don't know if I can do it, and that's why I understand if you don't want to. It can be a difficult process and very stressful and if you don't want to do that, then that's totally okay and..."

"Hey, hey, stop," Joe interrupted her and slid a little closer to her. Still looking at her hands she kneaded them nervously. "Elle, look at me" when she hesitated, he put his hand to her chin and pushed her head up.

Her beautiful eyes looked at him uncertainly and he saw the fear in them too. "we'll give it a try, ok? Your pace, your guidelines. I'll be there no matter how it turns out, ok? If in two weeks you realize it's too much for you, then it's ok. Then we'll go back to flirting at work and try again when you feel ready, got it?" he said softly. Elle nodded with a smile.

"I don't want to push you into anything. We'll do it the way it feels good for you, ok? If it gets too overwhelming or stressful for you, tell me. Communicate with me because I want to try to show you that you don't have to be afraid."

Elle suddenly couldn't hold back any longer. She shot forward and placed her lips on Joe's as she placed her hand on the back of his neck for support. Joe, a bit surprised by Elle's reaction, didn't even know what was happening.

He returned the kiss as he carefully, so as not to hurt her shoulder, pulled Elle toward him. She slid more and more towards him until finally she was sitting on his lap. He wrapped his arm around her waist while the other was in her hair, making the kiss even more intense.

I KNOW THEY KISSED AGAIN (sorry for the people who are reading my notes first, I know it was a spoiler) but after I asked in the last chapter if you wanted to see the way I imagine Elles apartment and some said they would love to, here are the pics!

Question: (perfectly fitting to the apartment pics) are you living in a house or in an apartment?

My answer: I actually live in two apartments lol, in the shared apartment in the city I'm going to college and in my home town with my mum.

Comment your answer and like the chapter!

WHO-DEY 🧡