holli-flynn-at-your-service:
“Well, tell you what, for your birthday or christmas… whichever comes first you won’t be insulted if I get you some really cool socks, will you? I for one, think crazy socks are necessary part of anyone’s wardrobe.” He smiled, “Speaking of, when is your birthday? Did I miss it?” Hollis was pretty practical… But he was also a bit of a chaotic bean sometimes and when there were socks with little macaroni noodles on them he had to buy. Immediately. “That’s fair. One sock always likes to run away. I swear I’ve lost ½ of so many pairs of socks and I’ve checked everywhere.”
He smiled, “I have a cat and that’s enough work for me right now.” He tilted his head, “I don’t wanna pry, so don’t feel like you have to answer but, bad break up?” A understanding nod, “I feel the same way, honestly, if I had kids they probably would have been with my ex and that…” He shook his head, “– Not a good situation to raise children.” Another smile, “One day. Until then I’m happy to have you keep me busy with house projects.”
Hollis face brightened at the mention of a day trip, “You know what? I’d love that. Where are we going? Do you like to hike?” He eagerly, took a fork-full of his food, chewing thoughtfully for a moment, “Well, Camile, I have to say, when you open your restaurant I’ll be your main patron. This is delicious. – I’m not going to serve you mac and cheese!” He laughed, “Though there is absolutely nothing wrong with boxed mac and cheese. A perfect food, really.”
“In the end of September, 27th to be exact. So you got time to choose good socks”, she replied with a smile. “When’s yours? I’ll get you a nice non-toxic hanging plant.” She had started to write the list of non-toxic plants already, but it wasn’t even near being finished yet so she was going to continue writing it and give it to Hollis in few days. “You know, I’m sure the home elves go and steal the socks. And no, I don’t mean the Harry Potter home elves, more like those tiny gnome-like ones. When I was a child there was this animated tv-show called The World of David the Gnome. There were these really brave and tiny gnomes doing many kind of things. So every time I think of home elves I think of those gnome like elves. So whenever there’s a pairless sock I’m sure one of them took one for whatever purpose they needed it.”
“Don’t worry, I don’t mind answering”, she assured, “But yes, you could call it as a bad breakup. Or more like a bad divorce. A bunch of jealousy and too much working, and eventually it all came down like a card house.” Camille sighed softly. “I know it’s better this way and it has been almost two years since I came back here, but still sometimes I miss him. But as a therapist I know it’s just a normal part of the process. After all, I lost someone who was really important to me for so many years. But it had to be done.” As she listened how Hollis had gotten similar story from his past a soft smile came to her lips. “One day we both find the right person and get to start our family. I’m certain of it.”
Luckily Hollis got excited about the day trip -idea because it was a great excuse to leave the bit bittersweet topic behind for now. “Honestly I’d be up for any kind of trip. Even if it’d mean we’d go to Walmart”, she laughed a bit, “But I have to admit, I haven’t gone hiking in a long while, but I would definitely be up for that.” Her smile only grew bigger and you could tell how happy she was to hear Hollis liked what she had made. “I probably never will put up a restaurant, but your’re always welcomed to come over to eat. And what comes to mac and cheese, I’m the weird one who likes to make it all fancy by making it from a scratch.”