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Chapter 12 ~ Home Sweet Home
“Come on Cal, answer me. Do you love him?” She waited patiently for the answer as Calissa continued to grow nervous and fidgety.
“No. Yes. Maybe. Why do you care?” Her cheeks were flushed and she couldn’t keep her hands still.
“I care because you are my best friend and I need to know if you’re in love or not.” She already knew the answer to her question, but she also knew that Calissa needed to admit it. She needed to hear herself say it out loud, so that there were no more doubts.
“Yes, ok, yes. I love him. At least, I think I love him. But what about Elijah? I mean, isn’t that how this whole thing started? Isn’t it due to him that I’m here in the first place? I’ve always had feelings for him, and then in walks Orlando and I just forget about him? Is that how things work?” They were reasonable questions. She had always had a special place for Elijah in her heart.
“Well I’ll be damned. You love both of them, don’t you? Christ. Well, I can only give you my advice, which you know is rare and often quite unnecessary. Here is what I have to say: you love Orlando, and it’s obvious that he likes you, a lot. Hell, he may even love you; we have yet to figure that out. But, you also love Elijah. The only difference there is that he does not have feelings for you. Or, if he does, he doesn’t choose to show them. My advice: go with Orlando, forget Elijah in a romantical sense. He’s your other best friend and you need that, especially in this town. If he has feelings for you, he will reveal them only if they are strong enough to do anything about. That is all.” She said the last sentence much like a teacher dismissing her class. Calissa remained silent with a look of deep concentration on her face. She sat, thinking about all that had just happened.
“Don’t like, freak out or anything when she walks in. Don’t rush her and tell spill your guts or anything. Dude, she doesn’t even know you’re here. With Eva coming and all, she kinda forgot that you were coming in.” Elijah stopped at the look Orlando made with the words ‘forgot…you’. “Oh no, not that, she didn’t forget, I mean, shit, no, I didn’t mean that like it sounded.” He fumbled for the words. He and Orlando had pretty much been replaying the conversation between Orlando and Dominic a few weeks back, except Elijah was much more persistent to know exactly how Orlando felt about Calissa.
“No, yeah, I understand what you meant. Um, you know, I don’t think I’m gonna tell her how I feel. I mean, when I came, I was planning on asking her to move to London with me.” At these words, Elijah choked on his soda. “But, I mean, there’s no way she would ever say yes. The chances of her saying yes, actually, are about the same as the chance that I am going to be killed by a rampaging hippopotamus.” They both stopped and stared at the door as they heard what sounded like a herd of cattle stampeding outside the door. “What the fuck is that?”
“Oh, probably your impending doom in the form of a rampaging hippopotamus.” Elijah replied dryly. He was pissed off after having to listen to Orlando rave about Callie and how much he missed her for the past two hours. The doorknob turned.
Eva was just hauling her bags up the stairs, her apartment was the one right over Elijah’s, when she was grabbed by the back of her shirt and shoved into an apartment. “FUCK Cal! I almost sprained my goddamned ankle, what the hell is wrong with you?” She stood raging in the doorway; Elijah and Orlando both looked a little taken aback.
“Ah, would I be correct in assuming that you are Eva?” Elijah offered his hand cautiously, hesitantly.
“Yes. Would I be correct in assuming that you are the stuck-up, egotistical, never-really-worked-a-day-in-my-life Elijah Wood whom I will be joining tomorrow night for a trip through hell?” She ignored his outstretched hand and he quickly retrieved it after that statement.
“Oh god, Eva, calm the hell down. How many times do I have to tell you that he is one of the nicest, sweetest, humblest people that I know?” Calissa appeared in the still-open doorway behind Eva, and stopped in her tracks.
“Orlando!” She squealed. Without realizing what she was doing she ran to him and threw her arms around his neck, kissing him like he was the last man on earth. Eva and Elijah stood, their differences forgotten for the moment, mouths hanging open. Eva with surprise and a little happiness at watching her gleeful best friend, Elijah with disbelief and a hint of jealousy.
“Um, yeah. He’s here.” He mumbled, not really knowing what to say.
“And that would make you the astounding brit, Orlando?” Still, Eva refused to shake hands with either of them. She liked (if you could call it that) Orlando more than Elijah only because Calissa regarded him so highly and she foresaw herself spending quite a bit of time with the two of them. Elijah, however, she wished to avoid as much as humanly possible. She wasn’t giving him a chance, and she knew it. In fact, she never intended to give him a chance. Wasn’t he just like all the other bastards in Hollywood? Calissa finally pulled herself away from Orlando.
“Right, this is Eva, Eva, this is Orlando. And I see you have already pissed off Elijah, congratulations dear, that’s a new record for you. I swear, the last one took five whole minutes. Elijah, don’t mind her, she a satirical, derisive, sardonic bitch, but you’ll learn to love her. Or you’ll hate her until your dying day, whichever.” Eva walked out the door, yelling over her shoulder: “Cal hun, you forgot art-genius, people-pleasing, loving, cuddly lil thang.” She added the last part with the stereotypical southern accent of her hometown. Calissa gave her apologies to Elijah through her eyes and followed Eve out the door.
“You know, you and he are my best friends, and nothing would make me happier than if you would at least TRY to like him.” She called up the stairs, still struggling with the leftover bags.
“Nothing would make you happier? Not even hot sex with Orlando? Don’t answer that.”
They spent the next two hours unpacking, and then went to rejoin Elijah and Orlando. Eva remained somewhat civil for most of the night, but it wasn’t that hard. Normally, Elijah would have had biting remarks to hurl right back at her, but watching Calissa sit so close to Orlando was making him a little nauseous. Orlando had decided to stay with them instead of going to a hotel, and he was going to be there for the next two weeks. The finally decided to call it a night. Eva retired to her one-bedroom apartment upstairs and everyone settled in downstairs. Elijah stayed awake, thinking about Calissa. Calissa stayed awake thinking about Elijah and Orlando. Orlando snored, and that’s why Eva stayed awake.
