The Screenplay

Two weeks later, Eilla again sat nervously on her sofa, waiting for Ben to knock on her door. That afternoon he had finally done his first interview via satellite on ESPN. Eilla had watched it seven times since it aired three hours before. It was only six minutes, but to her it felt like an eternity. She could tell Ben was excited, he spoke quickly and stumbled over a few sentences but otherwise was phenominal, but of course she was biased. Theo had come over earlier to not only watch Ben's premiere, but also to discuss the store which they were opening in three days. Eilla was full of so many emotions, thrilled for Ben, aprehensive and stressed about the store, nervous that Ben was going to propose any day and scared that his tv appearance might change things. The execs at ESPN were interested in Ben accepting a full time radio broadcast position, which may mean moving to Connecticut. But that was so many steps ahead, Eilla easily removed it from her mind.

After what seemed like another six minute viewing of Ben's interview, there was a familiar knock at the door. Eilla rushed to open it, flung the door out of her way and there was Ben, standing with a bouquet of sunflowers, her favorite. "So?" Ben questioned with a sly smile.

"Honey you were AMAZING!!" Eilla yelled, throwing her arms around him. He barely had time to move the flowers out of the way. He kissed her cheek and gave her a tight squeeze with his free arm. They stepped into her living room where she took the flowers. "What are these for?" She asked.

"You like sunflowers," Ben said plainly, pulling her back in to give her a proper kiss.

"But this is your day! You were so good!" Eilla smiled.

"Do you like getting flowers or not?" Ben chuckled. He sat on the couch and sprawled out, patting the space next to him indicating he'd like Eilla to sit there. Eilla quickly grabbed a vase from her kitchen and put the flowers on her coffee table, where Ben was resting his feet. She sat next to him and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, anxious to hear about his day. He told her about how nervous he was, how the lights were bright in his eyes and how when it was over he couldn't wait to come home and tell her everything. After an hour of explaining the six minutes of television with his big, charming grin, he finally took a deep breath and stopped talking.

Eilla's heart dropped in her chest. This was it. He was staring into her eyes, obviously searching for the right words. He was pausing to make the moment right. Eilla found herself unable to sit still, and began to shudder slightly. "Are you ok baby?" Ben asked.

"Yeah, go ahead," Eilla said quickly, with excitement in her voice. she was trying to convince Ben she wasn't expecting anything.

"Eilla, I..." Ben finally spoke, then paused once more. JUST SAY IT Eilla's brain screamed. She tried not to smile, to look like she didn't know what was happening. "I love you," He finally stammered. YES, I KNOW Eilla's brain retorted.

"I love you too," Eilla whispered. Ben's eyes were intensly fixed on her, and she wondered what was taking him so long. For a moment, she thought she saw a glimmer of tears, but before she could take a second look, Ben's lips covered hers with a long, soft kiss. His hand fell sweetly into her curly hair, sweeping it to the side. Eilla sat motionless, enjoying the kiss but furious she couldn't figure out what was taking so long. Ben finally pulled away slowly, but only a few inches from Eilla's face and he kept his eyes closed. His forehead came forward slightly to rest on hers.

"Eilla, I have to move to Connecticut," Ben stated plainly. Not softly, not with any compassion or understanding, but as if it were the only way those words could escape his lips was to be nothing but almost harshly blunt. Eilla's eyes, prepared to burst with tears of joy, were now pryed open and unable to blink. She tried to speak, but to no avail. "ESPN wants me on the radio, their national radio show. National, baby!" Ben tried to inspire her to be enthusiastic. She still could say nothing, Ben realized, and he continued to elaborate. "and they want me to do more tv appearances, but in studio. They want me to work exclusively for them. Write for the website, maybe the magazine, there is just so much!" He had a smile on his face, excited about his opportunities. Eilla felt as if she was going to be sick, and words still weren't coming to her.

Eilla looked confused, her mind buzzing. "No," she finally managed to say softly.

"Yes, baby, and I want you to come with me!" Ben said, the smile on his face growing. He brought that smile close to her, quickly kissing her cheek then looking back on for a reaction.

"I... I... no!" Eilla said, feeling her conciousness slowly returning. "I have a store," she said, shaking her head. "It opens in three days I can't leave. I can't leave Theo. I can't leave my friends." She began to rant. Once the words began falling out, she could not stop them. "I can't leave, I put so much work into being here! I have seven months left on my lease, my family lives a half hour away, I... we don't live together! I hardly ever stay with you, even. You've only stayed here, like, one time," Eilla knew she sounded ridiculous, but couldn't stop herself.

"I know, I know, but you know, we're serious and we're going to move in together eventually, right? I'm in this for the long haul, I want to spend my life with you," He said.

"But the store, Ben, come on!" Eilla was beginning to get angry.

"I know its really shitty timing for that. But I think you can sell your part to Theo, I'll be making plenty of money to support us. I mean, were you really going to work at the music store for your career?"

"Why the fuck do you think I'm doing it?" Eilla slid away from Ben on the couch, furious. Partly because of his insensitivity, partly because she was expecting a proposal, and partly because he was right. "I put so much into that place and you think I can just pack up and give it to Theo because he sure as hell doesn't have the money to buy it. And what if this doesn't work out?" Eilla stopped herself, realizing how stupid that sounded. "I'm sorry," she said quickly.