hurricane

Eva & Bristol

“Ah, of course.” Adam pulled a face at her, attempting at his very best to look somewhat posh and classy — although he was far from it. “I’ll be awaiting their phone call. Maybe one day when I’m accepting an award or something, I’ll throw in the name of a ‘special young girl’ named Eva who truly believed in me.” He raised his brows at her, “And that will be the day you show up and beg for my forgiveness…— although it should be now.” he teased, a small and crooked grin appearing on his lips. “Would you actually run all my errands for me once I’m old and wrinkly? Will you be there to assist me when I’m no longer young and beautiful?” he asked, as if Eva wasn’t only a few years younger, and that she wouldn’t be in the same boat as him when he’s old and weak.

Eva stifled her laughter, trying to keep a straight face at Adam’s squinched up face. “I’m sure when the time is right, they’ll be in touch. After all, you’d hope geniuses would know how to find someone’s phone number. I’d appreciate it ever so much if you did. Perhaps I’ll faint with the overwhelming honor.” She pressed her hand to her heart, faking a small swoon. “That day, for sure, but I’ve still yet to see you accept an award so..... not today.” She smiled back, her smirk matching his grin. “Oh of course, Mister Casen. After all, I have to earn my ‘assisting the elderly’ patch for Girl Guides.”

“Actually, it’s our last name.” Informed the redhead with a gentle hearted chuckle, not minding at all. “You don’t like cats? Oh gosh, then I don’t think we can be friends.” For a moment he looked completely serious, but then he broke out into another smile and shook his head. “No, no, I’m kidding - if you prefer dogs, that’s cool too. It’s fairly relaxed, they just tend to lay there, it’s like bring your cat to work day, every day.”

“Really?” Her eyes widened in surprise. What a peculiar last name, but certainly one that many others would have loved to have. “That’s quite pretty actually. I never would have guessed that the last name was the bakery’s as well unless you’d told me.” At the boy’s comment, Eva froze, unsure if he was serious or not. When his face broke into a smile though, she was reassured and let out a small chuckle. “Damn, you had me going there for a second! I am a bit more of a dog person, I must confess, but I don’t seem to harbor this intense hatred for cats that almost all other dog people seem to.... they’re nice enough, I suppose.”

“I thought it was too and you can be damn sure I’m gonna tell him all about it when he’s older. Ah, no, the coach didn’t appreciate it as much as his mom did.” Sven hesitated for a second. “His dad is my brother.”

“Ah, I see. Planning on pulling that gem out to embarrass him with how cute he was as a child. My dad does the same thing. Might I recommend prom? I seem to remember my father regaling my date with an account of how I used to think the garden hose was a snake and refused to go near the thing.” Eva smiled slightly, but the smile faded as the man hesitated. “That would explain the connection. It’s none of my business, but from your tone I can assume there’s some bad blood there?”

Lucas grimaced, his mother was such a lovely woman, but the name of her bakery was not one she had well thought out. “Angel’s Bakery.” it was merely a play on their last name. Fortunately, no one in town knew that his mother was a best selling novelist thanks to her alias, or the fact that the mansion in town belonged to his parents. He liked to keep these things to himself, even as a young boy he was smart enough to not let others know about the wealth of his parents. Even lied often, saying his father was a nurse rather than the neurological surgeon he really was. “It’s kind of a cat cafe. Well, it’s just my moms cats but they’re always there.”

Smiling at the name, Eva raised an eyebrow. “Is it famous for its Angel Cake?” A small chuckle came from her small lips, amused by her own joke. She was curious as to the story behind the bakery’s name, but didn’t want to pry. The way Lucas seemed to grimace while telling her the name of his mother’s bakery told her that he wasn’t such a fan of the name, or even perhaps the story behind it. “I’ll have to check it out. I can’t say I’m much of a cat person, but I’ve never been to a cat cafe, so who am I to deny such an experience?”

“What if I was even smarter than the professionals themselves?” Adam arched a brow at her, as if they both knew he just made a very valid statement when in reality, he made yet another pretty dumb statement. “I mean, one day I might be an ideal literature master, and you’ll look back and regret the day you didn’t listen to me.” he went and on and on, teasing her with a small grin on his lips. Adam scratched the back of his neck, knowing and hating the fact that he was growing up and getting older. “Haven’t you learned? Respect the elderly, Eva. You ungrateful youths.”

“Then I assume MENSA will undoubtedly be contacting you within the next few days to secure your membership.” Eva rolled her eyes, though a small grin found its way onto her lips at his lame comment. “Maybe I will, and if that’s ever the case, you can count on me showing up to your door uninvited and on my knees begging for your forgiveness. However, today is not that day.” She cocked an eyebrow, grinning more at the teasing boy. A laugh escaped her lips and Eva shook her head. “My apologies, sir. Do you need assistance with crossing the street or carrying your groceries out to your car?”

“She does.” he replied, somewhat sarcastically.  He hated dumb questions.  Of course she had a damn name, and by the fact that he didn’t drop it made it obvious he wasn’t just gonna give it away.  “But there’s a chance she ain’t going by it.” He said as if it was the most normal thing in the world.  “Plus you’d be surprised how many people will lie and pretend they know everything about someone if they think there is money in it for them.  Figured avoiding name dropping might weed some of those assholes out.” His explanation made it clear that this wasn’t his first rodeo.

“Kind of pointless not to use her name when she’s got a perfectly good one then. If you’re looking for someone specific, you should be specific. Worst comes to worst, she’s not using it and you cut your losses and move onto the next person to ask.” Eva crossed her arms across her chest, frowning slightly. While she wouldn’t put it past anyone to do exactly as this man suspected, Eva had a tendency to look for the best in everyone she met. “Seeing as you haven’t mentioned a reward, I don’t think there’s much money in this offer. So, what’s her name?”

“No, it was just stupid of them seeing as they’ve missed what probably would have been their best student. That sounds like a good idea, I’m in on that one. Listen, I know your mum can be pretty threatening and convincing and all that, but it’s NASA. However, I’d love to see her try.” He paused and glanced over at Eva. “You tell her.”

The grin on Eva’s lips only grew at her father’s words, the girl’s pride swelling as well. “Exactly Dad. It’s NASA. A bunch of nerds that let the government push them around and cut their budget every year. Honestly, I don’t think there’s much to worry about. You have met Mom, haven’t you?”

“Exactly, and to be honest, I don’t want to know. The last time I saw him he ran off the footb– soccer field mid-game to pick flowers for his mom. He shouldn’t have Snapchat. Well, his parents aren’t exactly the best ones.”

Eva grinned slightly at the man’s obvious slip of the tongue. She’d grown up in England herself and though she had acclimated to the American way of saying certain things, she still slipped up herself too. “That was sweet of him, though not something that was well timed. How do you know so much about his parents?”

“Lookin’ for a girl, brunette, ‘bout yay high–” he held his hand up laterally to his ear “–takes no shit, possible has threatened you with injury?  Seen anyone like her?”

Eva frowned, noticing at first that she fit the man’s description, though she could swear she’d never met him before in her life. What could he possibly want with her? Then he mentioned that the woman he was looking for had possibly threatened someone with injury and she realized he wasn’t asking around about her. “It’s possible, but there’s quite a few people who could fit that description. Does the woman you’re looking for have a name?”

“Isn’t it … a little irresponsible letting a nine year old have Snapchat? Wouldn’t he be way too young?”

Shrugging, Eva glanced up from her phone. “Probably. I mean, god knows who they’re sending pictures to or even what of, but I’m not their parents so it’s not my place to decide if they should have one or not.”

“I think everyone tends to gloss over the gory details and tries to picture their parents with a perfect love life. I have my doubts about my own but for my own sake, I try to keep my nose out of it. I think if I knew more than I know now I might not have been as close to them as I am.” He shrugged, “She owns a cafe, you could always try for yourself. Very vegan friendly, she’s all about that.” The male pressed on, “Yeah, they were - it was just nice to get back to the town we all grew up in so I could see them again.”

Eva shrugged, knowing her parents’ story all too well, or at least the story she’d been told ever since she was little and realized that her parents weren’t married, something that didn’t happen until she was much older. “Would it actually affect your relationship with them all that much, do you think?” At the mention of his mother’s cafe, her interest peaked, nodding slightly. “What’s the name of her place? I’d like to try it out at least once.” 

“You’re not getting into trouble with NASA because you want to go to space camp, Eva. You should’ve found out about the camp two years ago instead. I would’ve gladly sent you.”

“Well it’s not my fault they didn’t market it all that well two years ago, Dad. If I had known about it, I would’ve told you about it. I say we just blame NASA’s marketing team and get them to let me attend as their way of apologizing. Mom could figure out a way to make that happen.”