Liquid Lucidity (A Novella)

Chapter Nineteen

"I've never seen him like this."

Hannah followed Meggie's gaze to where it lay on David as he was standing by the kitchen island going through paperwork with her dad. It was strange seeing both men so focused with the bickering having gone away, only leaving a mutual determination in its stead. 

"He's ex—cit—ed," she agreed after a few quiet moments, a smile playing on her lips as she admired the two men in her life working side by side.

An airy laugh escaped Meggie as she sat down on the wooden chair beside her, the cool autumn breeze whisking their hair every which way. "It's not just that. I've seen that man excited a hundred times, Hannah, but I've never seen him happy. Not really."

It was thanksgiving, and as soon as the men had eaten, they were back to work on their master plan. They were crunching numbers, organizing different aspects of the business into files, and, unless Hannah's eyes were playing tricks on her, she'd even seen her father pat him on the back. 

The women sat in the living room, complaining of full stomachs glancing at the pie selection, while drinking wine and admiring the men's hard work. 

"I'm sure you've seen him hap—py," Hannah argued, before taking a drink of her sparkling juice,  assuming that there must have been a handful of times Meggie had seen David happy and excited.

Meggie leaned back on the suede couch and shook her head. "Nope. He has two looks; 'I don't give a shit' and a scowl. Even when things are going great for him, that man finds one negative thing and harps on it. You make him happy, Hannah. You make him happy and hopeful and all that other sappy shit."

Her mom bumped Meggie with her elbow. "He said the 'L' word yesterday. Didn't even look like it phased him."

"What the flying monkey's is going on with him," Meggie asked, trying to clear up her language a little. "Did you say it back?"

"He said it in front of my par—ents, like it was the most nat—ur—al thing in the world to say. But since he was—n't say—ing it to me, so much as my dad, I don't think he ex—expect—ed me to res—pond."

"What would you have said?" Meggie asked, looking utterly amazed at the change of conversation.

Hannah shrugged. "'Thank you'?" What a terrible decision that would have made, but it wasn't as if she could say it back. They'd only kissed a few times and hadn't been intimate. They hadn't even gone on a single date yet. "I love him as a person and as a friend, but it takes a little longer for me to feel that kind of love."

"Are you sure that wasn't how he meant it? Loving you as a person and a friend?"

The way he said it caused Hannah to really think about it, playing the entire conversation again in her mind, hoping to get every detail just as it was. 

'What is in my power is making sure she's taken care of and loved every single day.' The statement was innocent enough on it's own... probably. Her parents had taken care of her and loved her every single day. But followed by, 'I'm gonna do that with or without your permission or blessing," caused Hannah to wonder why he'd need or bother with anyone's opinion when it came to something so innocent.

She'd intended on asking her mom for her opinion on all of it earlier that day, but David had shown up and the conversation came to an abrupt end. 

Unable to take it anymore, Hannah set her glass down, rose from the couch, and forced her sluggish, food-filled body over to the kitchen area, grabbed David's arm, and tugged until he relented to follow. With him living in a mostly glass house, there were few places inside or outside to talk without eyes watching them. Even the bedrooms all had windows in the hallway, none of the curtains drawn right now, to see the windows in the hallways overlooking the pool. 

Although she could have drawn the curtain, Hannah wasn't certain a bedroom was the right location to have a conversation like this, so she grabbed his hand and let him out to the pool, sitting with her back turned to the main portion of the house while David closed the door behind him.

"What he hell's goin' on, Hannah?"

"Love," she answered quick so as not to chicken out. "You said y-you loved m-me yes—ter—day."

David ran his fingers though his longer hair, his narrowed eyes suddenly filling with a slight sparkle. "That's what's making you all batshit crazy?"

Hannah didn't realize she had been acting any amount of 'batshit crazy', but her emotions and confusion over his own may have gotten the best of her over the last thirty plus hours. 

He walked over to her with casual stride, knelt down, and covered her hands with his own. "There's a lot a ways to love someone, Hannah, and I love you in a lot of important ways, just not the way you're thinkin'. Given time, I don't doubt I will, but I just ain't there yet. If you do, that's okay. I won't freak out or nothin'. But in my eyes, you gotta get to know all the good and all the bad in someone before you can really love 'em, and we're just startin' to get to know each other."

Hannah let out a slow, long breath. "I w-w-was th-think—ing the s-same. I was s-scared that you were there, and I was—n't."

"I ain't there yet, darlin', but I'll let you know when I am. Deal?"

She nodded, relief filling her once she new she had the sort of love from David she was ready to accept.