The Art of Living

[7] Not Just Ellie

"Is that Guinness?"

That she had not expected as the next thing he'd say. She looked down at the two bottles she was still holding and nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I brought that and.. I thought.. I don't know, I guess. Well.. Do you want one? I brought that in case you do."

"I do. I like Guinness as you know." He took one of the bottles and smiled a little at her.

Ellie couldn't help but smile back a little. "Yeah, I know. That's why."

"Do you remember my last name?"

She looked at him curiously. That was a slightly strange question. But she didn't see a reason to not answer it. "Of course I do. May. Brian May. Why?"

He shrugged and took a sip of the beer. "Don't take this the wrong way, but you don't make the impression that you care very much about your.. your one night stands after you're done with them."

"Well first of all, I don't have thousands of one night stands. Maybe you got that impression, but it's one guy per weekend, if I find someone decent. And secondly, it wasn't even a week ago, so of course I remember your name. You remembered mine."

He nodded and took another sip of the beer. "Yeah.. Ellie. Not very hard since I don't even have a last name I need to remember." He looked at her and raised his eyebrows, as if to let her know he was trying to do more than simply make a statement.

Ellie sighed and looked down. "I never tell my last name to any of my one night stands. I only give them my nickname."

"Well. Obviously we're going to see each other more, so do your friends know your last name? Or your full first name?"

Ellie looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Friend? That was quick. But she wasn't going to complain that he accepted the fact he wasn't more to her than a one night stand - and now also a friend or something like that apparently. Acquaintance would be more appropriate probably. Anyway. If she didn't tell him her name now he would get upset again and she really wanted to avoid that.

"Alright.. Eleanora Bennett. But please. Call me Ellie."

"Eleanora.. That is a really beautiful name. Ellie doesn't do that justice." He looked at her fascinated.

But Ellie wasn't impressed by that. "I still don't like people calling me Eleanora. It's such a mouthful. Ellie will do just fine."

"If you insist. I still think it's a shame. But it's your choice." He smiled a little at her.

Yeah, he was right about that. It was Ellie's choice, and her choice only and she preferred Ellie.

"Thank you for coming to talk to me. I appreciate that. I'm glad we got everything settled."

Ellie nodded a little and smiled at him. "Yeah, me too." She noticed how he kept looking at her strangely, so she looked down on herself, wondering if something was wrong. "Do I have anything on me?" She wanted to make sure.

"What? Oh.. No, no, I was just, uhm..." He averted his eyes and took another sip of his beer.

"Just what?" She insisted, wanting to make certain that there was nothing else that would cause him to lash out on her like earlier.

He rubbed his neck and hummed, as if he would try to find what to say. "I ... This is going to sound strange but I just.. I have never so casually talked to a girl that I.. y'know, had sex with and who's not my girlfriend."

The room was dimly lit but Ellie could see him blushing. "Oh," she said, laughing softly. "Really? Never?"

"I've never had a one night stand before.. And my ex and I don't really talk anymore, especially not casually like this.. So yeah.. Never." He kept his eyes on the floor, obviously embarrassed.