Eliza got up from the bed slowly, and wrapped the sheets about her because she realized that she had not thrown them off of her. She assumed that Victoria was gone, and that this was Oscar at the door.
It was mid-afternoon, but he was there because she told him what was going on. He did not bring Sally, and she was thankful
for that when he held her in his arms and put down the takeout that he had gotten for her.
“Thank you,” she said softly into his shirt.
Oscar had not really seen her since the accident, and now her recovery.
They sat and ate Shanghainese noodles together, quietly like the couple in Sharon Old’s poem, “Primitive” although their circumstances were very different now.
Eliza felt so comfortable with Oscar, she loved being with him because he accepted all of her. If she had met him before Rafe, she might not be Mrs. Hughes today but she still loved him as a friend.
“Do you want to talk, or do you just want to eat?”
Eliza looked up at him.
“My life is nothing like what I imagined it would be Oscar you know? Even with you, nothing like I imagined we would be…
He smiled at her, and tapped her hand with his chopsticks.
“Me either.”
“But I am glad we are friends.”
“Me too.”
Eliza continued to eat her Shanghainese noodles. She needed something to fill her because she felt so empty inside. Looking at Oscar, she wondered why he had wanted to see her as well. But she knew he would tell her in his own time. She also knew her being there for him was enough, and maybe he did not want to talk.
This gave her a purpose for this afternoon if nothing else until Rafe came home. Both of them startled when they heard the key in the door, and Rafe walked in with a smile that dimmed.
You can read previous and future installations of this story as part of my Wicked Wednesday.
man eating noodles by vermeer via wikipedia
