The Art of Living

[40] Harmony

Ellie was sitting at her kitchen table, watching Brian watch over her very late lunch. "So did you find your way to the tube station easily?"

"Yeah," Brian hummed and nodded a little. "It was good you mentioned that thing about the different entrances because of course I ended up at the wrong one at first. But actually it's quite easy."

"That's good, I'm glad to hear that." She pulled her legs up onto the chair and smiled at Brian.

"So did you make any progress with your project while I was home? I'd love to see it if you want a second opinion on it." Brian placed the food on a plate and placed it in front of her.

"Thank you. And actually I haven't made as much progress as I wanted to.." Ellie took a bite of the food and hummed in appreciation. It was easy to tell that Brian's mum was a good cook because Ellie thought the food was absolutely delicious.

Brian smiled widely at her reaction to the food and sat at the second chair. He had gotten himself a glass of water before he joined her. "How come you didn't get as much done? Are you stuck?"

"No.." Ellie shook her head a little and ate a bit more. "No.. I just.. I get distracted by my thoughts.."

"What were you thinking about?" He inquired and stole a piece of carrot from her plate.

Ellie sighed heavily and shrugged. There was really no way out. "Well.. you.?"

"Me?" Brian mumbled surprised, with his mouth full. He swallowed and repeated himself. "How come you were thinking about me?"

Ellie rubbed her forehead and smiled bashfully. "Because.. you're you. And you weren't coming back and I was getting a little worried if everything was okay.."

"I'm sorry.. I'll help you make up for that, okay? When do we have to leave for Lynn and Mike's?" Brian stole another piece of carrot and looked at her.

"Seven should be fine, if Lynn says seven or eight, we can get there at eight and still be early. Don't worry." She smiled at him and shrugged. "She's not so punctual herself."

"Really? The few times we met she was always on time and you were late." Brian teased and crossed his arms.

Ellie chuckled and shrugged. "I never said I'm always on time, did I?"

Brian laughed a little and shook his head. "No, I guess you didn't. Lucky for you."

In reply, Ellie just smiled and ate the last of her food. When she was done Brian took her plate and began to wash up without Ellie asking him to. She got up and stood beside him. "Is something going on or are you always so nice?"

"Nothing is going on.. I'm always so nice." Brian smiled and her and leaned down to kiss her cheek softly.

Ellie smiled a little and leaned against the kitchen counter for a moment before she dried and put away the clean dishes. "You forgot that I have a dishwasher, right?"

Brian paused for a moment and nodded. "Yes.. I did." He chuckled and shrugged. "Oh well, now I'm done. Thanks for telling me now."

Ellie laughed and stood on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. "Always welcome. Thank you for doing the dishes with me."

"Anything with you is fun. Honestly, even though we haven't spent all that much time together, I've had one of the best days today." He dried off his hands and watched her put the last of the dishes away. "Thank you.. for.. for being pretty awesome. And for wanting to spend time with me."

She smiled and ran a hand through her hair, shrugging a little. She couldn't help but remember the day's morning when she had freaked out at the thought of having to spend the entire day with him. Which in the end she had really wanted, she had been disappointed that he had been gone for so long. Which helped subside her guilt a little. "Yeah.." She dried off her hands as well. "So far it has really been fun. Thanks for.. y'know, for insisting so much."

"You're welcome.." Brian smiled knowingly and walked over to her to hug her gently. "How long do you need to get ready?"

"I don't know," Ellie shrugged. "Maybe half an hour? Something like that, that leaves us with an hour to spare.."

Brian smirked at her. "An hour, huh?"

"Yeah.." Ellie nodded a little, knowing where he might want to go with that. But she didn't go along with it. "If you don't mind, could we have a look at the project? I really think that a second opinion could help." She wasn't actually sure of that, but she wanted to direct the conversation into a sex-free area. And since Brian had offered to do that it was the perfect excuse.

Brian stayed silent for a moment before he nodded. "Yeah.. we can certainly do that. In the living room?"

"Yeah. In the living room." She moved out of his hold and walked to the living room, getting the box with her photographs and her portfolio. "Here.. The project is supposed to be about daily life." She sat on the floor with her legs crossed Indian style before she told him about her project in detail and showed him all the pictures she had taken before pointing out the selection she had made so far.

Brian listened attentively to everything she told him and offered his opinion wherever he thought it was appropriate. Ellie was incredibly glad about a second perspective and with his inspiration added, she continued to progress more than she had during the past two days. When Brian and she didn't talk, he simply sat there and watched her work. Occasionally Ellie apologised for taking so long and asked him if he needed something, to which he always replied with no.

Eventually however he quietly cleared his throat. "Ellie, it's almost seven. Maybe we should get ready?"

"What?" Ellie looked up and nodded. "Yes, yes, we should. Thank you.. I would have forgotten that completely."

Brian chuckled and got up, holding out his hand for her.

"You're such a gentleman." Ellie smiled and pulled herself up with the help of his hand. "Do you need anything?"

"No," he told her, shaking his head a little. "I brought a few things I might need. I hope it's okay if I leave them here."

"Sure, that's fine. I'm gonna go do my make up, you just.. well, feel at home and ask me if you need anything."

With that she went into the bathroom to do exactly that. Brian didn't need to do much, he quickly changed his shirt and put on some cologne, but apart from that he didn't have much to do except to wait for Ellie. Much to his surprise she didn't even take all that long. But that was only because they would be going to Lynn and Mike's and not out anywhere.

Ellie soon came into the living room, rummaging through her handbag. "I'm ready, what about you?"
She was wearing a flowy skirt with a high neck lacey blouse, and because she was feeling lazy she had left her hair down.

"I'm.. wow.." Brian looked at her and slowly got up.

"You're wow? What are you trying to tell me?" She asked amused and looked at him. "That you look amazing? Because yes, that is true.."

"No, no, I don't look amazing. It's you who looks amazing. Honestly. That's why I said wow." He walked over to her and reached for her hand. "You look so beautiful."

Ellie couldn't keep a big smile off her face, and as much as she would have hated to admit it, his compliment did make her blush. Because anyone could see that is was sincere, that he really meant it. "Thank you.. you're so sweet. You look really good yourself. And you smell very lovely."

"Thank you." He too was incredibly happy about her sweet words. He leaned down and kissed her cheek softly. "Shall we?"

"Definitely, let's go." Ellie once more made sure she had everything she needed before both of them were on the way together.

•  •  •  •  •  •  •  • 

This is another short one, I know, but the next ones will be longer, don't worry. Because a lot is going to happen. So apart from a bit of cute stuff between them this is just a filler chapter.

However, I hope you enjoy it anyway! :D Thank you for reading!