Ella & Evan - Valentine's Coupons Pt. 02

Obviously I buckled. With a sigh I looked around the courtyard to double check that no ninjas had crept up behind me while I had been talking to Ella. With the coast still clear, I rang mom up. It was a little past 3PM so she was still at work, but I called her cell and hoped she wasn't in a meeting.

After a few rings she picked up, "Hello? Evan? What is it baby?" Typical mom, obviously I wasn't calling her at work just because everything was going so well.

"Mom, Ella and I may have a problem about our, uh, situation? We don't know if anything bad has happened yet but there is a chance, maybe a small chance but a chance, that a bad thing might occur."

My mom had seemed quiet, but instantly her voice sharpened, "What happened?"

Ella was looking at me despondently as I answered, "El made a little coupon book and lost it and it has my name on it. And hers as well. It may have been lost at the coffee shop while we were there with friends this afternoon and there is a small chance that someone who knows us might find it."

A long silence, and then mom said, "I'll leave work now. It will take me maybe 45 minutes to an hour to get there but I'll hurry. Is your sister there?"

"Yeah we are outside the coffee shop now, Ella looked for it but couldn't find it. It's called the Beanery, the coffee shop right next to our apartment."

"Ok I have to go tell my boss I'm leaving early, then I'm out the door. Tell your sister to retrace her steps - I know she probably has but tell her to do it again - and you check all your mutual friend's social media stuff and the coffee place's too. Maybe someone will tweet about this funny thing they found. But don't do anything until I'm there, ok? I'll just head straight to your apartment."

I let out a long breath. I may be an adult living on my own at university, but I won't pretend that my mom taking charge wasn't incredibly reassuring. "We will. Thanks mom. If we find it or learn anything of course we'll let you know immediately."

After I hung up Ella hugged me again. This time neither of us really cared that the hug lasted a few seconds longer than it might have under normal circumstances.

Chapter 6 - Splitting Up

Before we split up again Ella and I quickly went home. I had to drop off my laptop bag and Ella wanted to start from the apartment and fully retrace her steps so she would then walk back to the buildings her lectures were in while, hopefully, stumbling on a smutty coupon book sitting in a gutter somewhere. Dare to dream.

Sitting at the small computer desk in our dining room I quickly opened my laptop while Ella once again looked through the whole apartment. I thought about everyone we knew who had sat at the table with us: Faisal, Ryan, Shanti, and Ridley. I followed all of them on most of my social media platforms except Ridley, who I had on Insta but nothing else. I didn't think Faisal or Ryan could have found it since I left with them and they hadn't seemed to pick anything up (and why would they without saying anything?) but I still looked up their feeds and updates. No one that I could easily check on had anything in their timelines about finding a hilarious Valentine's Day gift or a shocked reaction to a scandalous affair between siblings. I also checked the Beanery's mentions on their Twitter, Instagram and FaceBook but nothing recent on any of those except one guy who was very unhappy about his burnt tasting Americano.

"Ella, do you know if Ridley has any accounts beyond Instagram?" I asked as she walked into the living room, searching everywhere for the book.

Not even pausing as she removed all the cushions from the couch Ella replied, "No, she's not really on social media much I don't think but I don't know her better than you do."

"Well I've looked up our friends and the Beanery and there doesn't seem to be any mention of it. Shanti had a cryptic update an hour ago about being excited but that was it."

Ella stopped and looked at me. With a frown she unlocked her phone and quickly dashed off a message before putting it back in her pocket. At my questioning look she shrugged and grumbled, "It was nothing, just replying to something she sent me earlier. Not about this."

I stood up and walked over to Ella, hugging her. As she sighed and pressed her face against my chest I stroked her hair and said, "I think it will be alright. Nothing might come of it, and you might find it in a lecture theater right where you left it. Or it's in a puddle somewhere right now and no one will ever look at it."

"I hope so Ev, I feel so stupid."

"Aw don't. You didn't like take a video of us having sex and drunkenly post it online, this was a weird thing that just happened."

Laughing, Ella squeezed me and said, "Oh yeah, I forgot about all the videos I've been uploading of us to Pornhub. Wish I hadn't used our real names on those too, what was I thinking!"

I laughed and we both stood there and tried to think happy thoughts. After a moment, I said, "But El if this comes out and we get in real trouble, like legal trouble, I'll say I coerced you into it. No need both of us go to jail right?" I tried to make it a joke.

"What?" Ella pulled back a step and looked at me, her expression unreadable.

Stammering a little, I said, "I looked it up, and you can go to jail for this even if it's between consenting adults. But if we say I pressured you into it then-"

WHAP. Ella punched me on the arm as hard as she could. It wasn't very hard, but the fact she closed her fist and hit me was still a shock. Her face twisted in a fury I haven't seen in many years, she then took both her hands and pushed me in the chest, shoving me back a step.

"Don't you dare EVER say that again!" she yelled. I could see the tears forming in her eyes as she literally stamped her foot on the floor, shaking with rage. "How could you even think I would do that! Let you go to jail and what, I just go back to school and say yeah my twin brother is evil thank god he's in jail! Fuck you Evan!"

Defensively, I got angry too, "First of all, ouch? We aren't 12 years old anymore so don't hit me like we are. Secondly, I'm just trying to help. And hey I didn't lose anything did I, but I sure as hell might have my life ruined right? I doubt it will get that bad but just in case we should at least talk about it! No matter what people would think it was my idea and it was, I gave you those coupons after all."

"Stop it! Stop acting like I just went along with it! I wanted this for so long I can't even admit it to myself, and here you are saying dumb shit about those fucking coupons! Fuck me you're so goddamn stupid sometimes! We're not going to fucking jail so just stop!"

Shaking my head I turned around. "Sorry. Jesus. I know it must be tough for you, for the first time in your life something bad might happen and you might not get what you want."

"Fuck. Off."

I was already walking to the door. "I'm going to head back to the coffee shop. Mom will be here in 15 minutes, I'll message her and tell her to meet me there while you walk back to the engineering building."

"Fine." Ella said, her voice cold. Outside our apartment, I had just turned in the hallway to lock the door when I heard her first sobs. My sudden flash of anger had already turned to fear and guilt inside me, and I immediately felt like shit, but it was already too late to apologize so I slowly walked to the elevator.

Chapter 7 - A Proposal

Mom caught up with me just outside the Beanery. She had made good time and under normal circumstances I would have made a joke about her notorious speeding habit. Instead I just gave her a quick hug, so damn glad she was there.

Looking into the coffee shop, mom said, "There are a few open tables. Instead of standing here suspiciously you can catch me up on what's going on in there."

So we walked in and quickly got to the counter. Mom ordered a coffee and I just ordered a muffin to pick at. I was too jittery for more caffeine.

The woman with all the arm tattoos took our order and she nodded at me, "Evan, right? Did your sister find that book she lost? Like we told her, if anything turns up we'll keep it behind the counter for her, or you I guess."

Mom turned her head to hide her sigh and I replied, "I don't think so but I'm not sure. Thanks though!"

As we took one of the smaller tables mom looked around, "Well if I wasn't feeling ancient and worn out already... my god every girl in here looks like she's 14 years old to me. When did I turn into an old lady Evan?"

I tried to smile and think of something nice to say but I just couldn't focus anymore. Seeing my expression, mom reached across the table and gave my hand a squeeze, "You are right, never mind jokes right now. Just tell it to me again from the beginning."

So I did. It didn't take long, but I made sure to stress to mom how Ella had caught a glimpse of the coupons in her bag in the morning and that now it was gone. How she had searched the whole apartment but was pretty sure it had been in her bag the whole time and how she was retracing her steps now.

"So," I said, trying to summarize everything correctly, "basically as I see it, we can't be sure anyone will find it, and if it was lost in the engineering building or on the street it's nothing. Only if it was dropped here basically could it potentially be a problem. But until we know for sure..."

"Until we know, we have to prepare for the worst-case scenario," mom nodded grimly, sipping her coffee. She looked at the table we had been sitting at, and I saw her look all around on the floor. We had both done it a dozen times. "If it is found and someone who knows you guys says 'hey this must be something Ella made for Evan' what is your plan?"

I sighed, "I don't know, we thought about just denying it. If we say we have no idea what it is then maybe it just goes away? But then Ella came here and asked if anyone found it, which she had to do, but that means that it's harder for us to just pretend we have no clue. So maybe we just say it was a weird joke?"

Mom grimaced, "That's a horrible explanation, but I can't think of anything better at this point. And you looked on everyone's social media?" At my nod, she paused and then said, "And how are you both doing? I know this is very stressful."

She could see it on my face I'm sure, but I swallowed hard and said, "Not great. I tried to be understanding and not be mad, but I guess I was angry. I said some pretty mean things to Ella when I left and we had a pretty big argument. As big as we've ever had anyway."

Nodding sympathetically, mom was about to say something when I quietly blurted out, "I just wanted her to know that if it gets really bad I'll say it was just me! I can't let her get kicked out of school or have to leave! She could go to jail, we both could! I just wanted her to know that-" I quickly stopped as my voice had started rising and I continued in a near whisper, "I needed her to know that I would take the blame, because it's my fault anyway. But it came out all wrong and she got mad at me and I messed it up."

"Oh baby, I was worried about this. The main thing is, don't worry about the police or being expelled. If it comes out, we'll deal with it, just don't say anything to anyone about it. If a rumor gets out don't even deny it, just say nothing, not on Twitter or anywhere. Got it?"

"Ok makes sense," I said.

Looking at her phone, mom said, "Good. I'm going to catch up with Ella and talk to her, she just sent me a text and I think she's as upset as you are. It's just 4:30 now so I'll go with her and walk the route she takes to and from her classes. Thank god I wore my casual shoes today! Evan, I want you to stay here and finish your muffin, take your time to see if anyone returns the coupon book, then go back to the apartment but take the long way home. Maybe someone picked it up and then tossed it? Can't hurt to look, and we'll meet up with you back there when we're done."

"I'll check social media and stuff again when I get home," I said.

"I love you honey. As your mother I want so badly to tell you everything will be ok and nothing bad will happen, but I guess I can't. But we'll do everything we can, alright?"

I smiled, "Thank you so much mom, you dropping everything for us means the world. And, uh, can you tell Ella I'm sorry? About being a jackass?"

Mom grinned back and said, "I'll do anything for you guys, you know that. But I won't apologize to your girlfriend for you, that's all on you my boy!" And with a reassuring chuckle mom got up and left.

Looking at my half-eaten muffin I realized I was actually pretty hungry and finished the rest in 3 bites. I drank the rest of mom's coffee (hey, waste not want not, she barely sipped it) and was just about to stand up when a figure came up behind me and took the chair across from me.

"Well look who it is! Hey Evan, having a solo snack? Mind if I sit?" Shanti was smiling broadly, and her cheerful appearance made me feel a bit less gloomy.

"I was just having a coffee with my mom, but she left to go see Ella," I was about to think of an excuse for our mom being on campus but I realized that Shanti didn't actually care and why would she?

"Well I'm glad I caught you Evan. I was just on my way to your place when I saw you in the window looking all pensive and mysterious. I texted Ella but she didn't reply for a while and I wanted to talk to her."

"I'm not exactly sure where she is but I think she's at the engineering building for some reason. Or else meeting my mom somewhere?" I honestly didn't know what to say about what Ella and my mom were doing but I felt that saying I just didn't know was the best plan.

Shanti was looking intently at me and nodding. I suddenly felt a bit weird, like she was expecting something from me, and I wondered for a moment if I had spaced out and missed part of the conversation. She took a breath, then looked at the table before sitting up straight and smiling again. "I wanted to talk to Ella, but I wanted to talk to you too Evan. Has Ella said anything today?"

I was genuinely confused now. "No? Unless I'm missing something, was it in the group chat?" I started to pull out my phone but Shanti reached out and put her hand over mine. I froze and looked up at her and she looked shyly away but she didn't remove her hand.

"No, it's not a group message or anything. Uh, wow this is actually hard," she gave a little laugh and then looked me in the eye again and said, "Evan do you want to go to the Valentine's Day dinner with me tonight?"

"The dinner?" I said, "Do you mean the wine thing?" I've never denied being dumb as hell sometimes.

Shanti gave a shaky laugh and said, "I mean do you want to go on a date with me? I got two tickets to the actual Valentine's Day dinner and I wanted to go. With you. I know it's short notice, but it's not actually a formal dinner. Well, some of it is but these tickets are just for a typical restaurant meal but with a live band. I'm just going to be wearing this, so I'm not like dressing up fancy or anything."

"Oooooh!" I said, the curtains finally rising in my mind. In my defense, I'd like to say I had a lot on my plate mentally speaking but really I'm just pretty clueless sometimes.

Shanti gave a theatrical "Whew!" as I finally got caught up and smiled at me again. She really was a very attractive woman, with the sort of outgoing, intelligent, openly curious personality I find very appealing, and before Christmas I'd have said yes in a heartbeat.

"Wow, that's incredibly flattering Shanti," I said slowly, wondering how to reject this offer without causing offense. I know how hard it is to ask someone out and be shot down, and I really respected how nerve wracking it would likely be for a pretty girl like Shanti to take the chance like this. As I groped for a way to say 'no' while letting her know how appealing the offer was, I could see her expression change as she realized I wasn't going to agree. She smiled self-consciously and gave a rueful chuckle. I tried to smile but it felt more like a grimace as I continued, "I don't think so I'm afraid. You're great, in another circumstance I'd be ecstatic to go out with you, but I just can't right now. Sorry?"

"Heh. I thought you might say that. Because of Ella. And I get it, you two are extremely close! Might be weird!"

I stared at Shanti for a moment. Had she emphasized 'extremely' in a meaningful way there or was that just my imagination? Carefully I said, "It's not really about Ella, I just don't think I have the time to date anyone right now. If I did, you'd be exactly the sort I'd go for, honestly."

Now Shanti's cocky grin was back. "Tell you what Evan, you just come on this one dinner with me and I'll tell you why it makes so much sense if we see each other. Maybe we don't need to be super serious about it, but I'll show you how it can work. Don't worry about Ella being mad at you, I got it covered. Trust me. No reason to get into it here, right?" she looked around the crowded shop and I nodded.

Now all I could think about was how Shanti had been sitting at the table when I left with my friends. She had been across the table from Ella, sitting with Ridley, right? And what was with this suspicious timing?

I pretended to think about it again, then shrugged and said, "Oh why not? Sure, it'll be fun."

"Awesome! It'll be way more fun if we talk about it there! You won't regret this Evan. I'll text you the location and everything. Did you want to meet there? I have my car on campus but it'd be easier to leave it parked really, and the early dinner is at 6PM. I know it's kind of early but at least we don't have to wear suits and dresses for it."

"Sounds fun Shanti, I can just walk there and meet you. Gives me time to go home and get ready." As she happily confirmed some details with me and hurried off I was studying her carefully for a sign, any sign, of her true intentions but she just seemed like the fun loving Shanti I knew. So what the hell was going on?