They sat in silence as Danny ate his McDonald's lunch in the fast food joint's parking lot on their lunch break. He had tried to coax her into ordering something as well, but she didn't feel like eating. She had only nibbled on a few Saltine crackers before leaving for work that morning. She had no appetite to speak of.
"I'm sorry about this morning," Danny started after he had finished his last French fry.
"It's ok," Elise spoke quietly, eyes on the floorboard.
"No, it's not. I was upset. I shouldn't have talked to you like that. Will you please tell me what the hell is going on, though?" he spoke more gently than he had that morning. "I mean, if you want me to leave you alone that's fine. Well, it's not fine, but that's a whole other story," he waved his hands in the air the more words came out of his mouth. "If that's the case, though, just tell me and I will."
She could feel his eyes watching her and desperately wanted to be brace enough to return his gaze, but simply couldn't.
"It's not that at all," Elise shook her head.
"Then what?" she could hear the sincerity in his voice.
"It's hard to explain." She hoped he wasn't getting irritated with her for not looking him in the eye when she spoke.
"Will you at least try? You're," he paused a long moment. "You're worrying me," he quietly placed a hand on top of hers that were folded in her lap. "I'm not saying you are, but you don't seem like the type of person who is usually..irrational."
Elise scoffed and laughed, looking up, but keeping her eyes forward and squeezing them shut tight, already fighting another wave of tears off. She was sick of crying. It made her feel tired.
"I am being irrational," she agreed and took a deep breath. She may as well get it over with. If he thought she was crazy, that was that, if not, well...
"I had some really terrible dreams this weekend," she began. She saw Danny nod his head out of her peripheral. She focused in their hands as she spoke.
"I really, really, don't want to go into detail because I'm fairly certain I would die of embarrassment. But the first one started off nice. One of those dreams you don't want to wake up from, you know?"
He nodded his head in agreement, but didn't interrupt.
"It felt so real. Have you ever had dreams like that?" Elise looked him in the eyes at last.
"Yah, a few times," he offered.
"We were out in the woods, the middle of nowhere, by a creek and suddenly this giant wall of water sweeps us all away," she let her words sink in.
"Us all?" he finally asked.
"Forget it," she shook her head vigorously. Danny didn't push any further.
"Sounds horrible," he sympathized. Elise wondered if he realized he had began rubbing circles with his thumb on the back of her hand.
"That wasn't even the really bad one," she trailed off, already sniffling, not wanting to relive Sunday night's nightmare again.
"Again, no details, but I watched you die," Elise suddenly and violently broke down in tears again. She pulled her hands away from his and buried her face in them. The worse thing than crying was crying like a baby in front of someone else.
"It's like I knew what was going to happen, but I couldn't do anything about it. I was right there with you, but completely helpless," her voice took on an angry edge.
"And it felt real too?" Danny questioned. She just nodded her head, face still hidden from him.
"Oh, Elise," he smoothed her hair back from her face.
"I'm sorry," she choked back a sob, finally looking at him again. She was past the hard part. Who cares what he thinks now, right? "You probably think I'm nuts, don't you? To get so upset over a dream," she spat scornfully. "Like a child. Over someone I barely know," she shook her head angrily.
"I think that would be upsetting to anyone, regardless of whether they knew the person or not. Dreams can be really intense."
"That's the understatement of the century," she scoffed again. "I can't look at you or think about you or do anything, really, without getting upset. You can't tell me that doesn't sound crazy," Elise stared into his chocolate brown eyes.
"Maybe a little, but I'm still here, aren't I?" he cracked a sly smile.
Her lips felt the soft warmth of Danny's before she even realized what she was doing. She felt him jump slightly at first, but otherwise didn't resist.
Her eyes were closed, but her hands found their way to the sides of his face. The beard tickled a little, but she liked it. Her kisses became hungrier.
A minute or two later, she assumed, for it felt as if everything going on outside of the truck had frozen in place, and she became acutely aware of the heavy breathing coming from both of them. Elise suddenly, yet reluctantly, pulled away, forcing Danny to make a weird face as he tried to figure out what had just happened.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," she leaned back to her side of the vehicle. "I shouldn't have done that."
"Why not?" was all Danny had to say.
"Because. It's not helping my case in the neuroticism department...Amongst other things."
"What other things?" his chest heaved, still working to catch his breath as well.
"Like, like," Elise suddenly became flustered. "The fact that we've only known each other a little over two weeks. The fact that I told myself not to rush into things. Yet here I am, rushing into things and telling you about my crazy dreams one second, kissing you the next and, and, I don't know why I'm yelling!"
They looked at each other, not saying a word a good long time until Danny finally couldn't force down the grin inside of him any more. She could tell he tried to hold his laughter back, but it was no use. It was infectious and she soon joined him, both of them laughing hysterically as if the other had just told the funniest joke in the world. They could barely breath by the time they finished. Danny looked at her with what could only be described as a longing in his eyes.
"You're gonna be alright, you know?" Elise didn't answer. "And I don't think you're crazy. I think you're great," he leaned in slowly and kissed her on the lips this time, tenderly, an undercurrent of warmth and good filled it. She never wanted to let him go.
"I've been wanting to do that since Friday," his voice was deeper than before. He held the side of her face.
"So listen, if nothing else, and this is probably kind of fucked up on my part, but I'm kind of flattered you would get so upset about me dying in your dream. Not that I like seeing you upset, of course, but you know." Elise nodded her head slightly, looking down at their hands again. When had they found each other again?
"And if we are rushing into things, who cares? Are there rules on this somewhere?"
"Me," she said meekly. "I care."
"Why?" Danny interrupted.
"Because honestly? I'm scared to death I'm going to mess this up. That's why."
"Why would you mess this up?"
She sighed heavily.
"Jesus, let me count the reasons. 1) I'm neurotic. 2) I get ridiculous bouts of anxiety. 3) I smoke when I'm stressed out. 4)..."
"Wait," Danny held up a hand. "You smoke?"
"See?! Case in point!" she pointed at him.
"No, no, it's not that. I just can't see you smoking. I mean hell, I haven't seen you smoking at work."
"I'm sneaky...Especially since I didn't want you to know," she turned her attention out the windshield. "Besides, it's not very often. Just when I'm extra stressed out or nervous."
"How many did you have before our date?" she caught the slightest quiver in his bottom lip as he tried not to smirk.
"Two. And just those made me dizzy, if that tells you anything," she said matter-of-factly.
"I'm sorry. I'm just giving you a hard time."
"I know you are...jerk," Elise gave him a sideways smile.
"Guess we'd better get back to work," Danny looked at the radio clock. "But before we head back, can we do just one more thing?"
"What's that?" she asked, completely unsuspecting.
"This," he leaned into her again, grabbing the sides of her face, and kissed her gently for a long, sweet moment. Elise could have melted into her seat.
This man is going to be trouble.
ns 15.158.61.23da2
