#rthames

Roman’s favorite diner was just a few blocks from the house and it was a nice place to relax and get caught up on some work without being bothered by students or his staff. He took a sip of coffee as he went through several papers, not paying attention to the other patrons. The staff all knew him and knew to leave him alone when he was working. He hummed softly to himself as his quill moved across a piece of paper. So preoccupied with work, he didn’t know who had just entered the diner.

Elizabeth was never one to focus on the small things, choosing instead to look at the bigger picture. However, as the afternoon wore on, she became more focused on those particulars. The flowers in the vase weren’t straight. She’d folded the napkins wrong and they looked more like snakes than dragons. The pernil wasn’t right, and now that she was looking at it...the plantains for the tostones were too green. However, Elizabeth didn’t have time to worry about these things, because in an hour, her best friend would finally be meeting her boyfriend.

She’d been friends with Rob for about four years now, and her and Alton had been going steady for a couple months. Ever since her parents let it be known that she wasn’t welcome back home, she’d been focused on making her own version of a family. Right now, that family included Alton and Rob. That’s why Elizabeth was so focused on making this dinner so perfect, because if the food was at least good, then nothing else mattered. If it turned out the two men hated each other, at least she could put some quesitos in front of them and shut them up with food. 

Liz was peeling plantains when she heard a knock at the door. She set the half undone fruit on the cutting board before going to the door. After a bit of a struggle (the door had a tendency to stick), Liz pulled it open. She didn’t know who to be more afraid to see-- Rob or Alton.She had many good reasons to be anxious for both of them, but mainly she was relieved to see Rob standing outside of her apartment.

“Oh, thank god. You can help me with the tostones.” Liz pushed her door all the way open to let him in. “Thank you for doing this again. It means the world to me.”

song: x

With a loud pop, Roman apparated into the middle of Elkhorn. He was temporarily stunned by the number of people and the sights until he reminded that it was the fall festival. He’d been so focused on finding Freya that he had completely forgotten about the festival. 

Great,  he groaned. How was he ever going to find her in this crowd? He pushed forward, keeping an eye out for her. After about half an hour of searching, he finally spotted her. It was strange. They had been together for ten years, but somehow in this moment, he loved more beautiful than he remembered. Maybe it was the knowledge that he had competition, that their relationship was more fragile than he had believed that made him appreciate her beauty more than he had in a long while. 

He opened his mouth to call out her name, when he realized she wasn’t alone. He recognized the man with her immediately. Rob. Roman seethed. Seeing him with Freya in the photograph had been bad enough, but seeing them together in person was more than he could stand. 

He didn’t know why, but something prompted him to hang back, to watch them. Maybe he was making a big deal out of nothing. Maybe they were just friends and he was reading too much into it...