Meeting Mo

Looking around as she pushed the glass door open, Abbi paused for a moment. The diner wasn’t full, but several tables did have people seated at them. Looking from right to left, she identified the one she was looking for.

Letting the door swing closed behind her, she began walking toward the last booth along the wall to her left. She smiled at a man sitting at one of the booths she passed. A few paces from the corner she walked towards, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Sorry, miss...”

Abbi turned her head and saw that it was a young waitress who had spoken.

“You’re going to have to put on shoes if you want to come in here.”

“She’s with me.”

This time, the voice came from the booth that Abbi had been walking toward. Mo waved at them from the bench he sat on.

“She’s not allowed in here without shoes on.”

“C’mon, Heather,” Mo raised his eyebrows from behind his black-rimmed glasses, a big smile on his face.

“But she-”

Mo inclined his head toward her, his smile widening.

“Ok,” the waitress sighed and removed her hand from Abbi’s shoulder. “Just this once.”

Abbi looked from Mo to the waitress with a smile. She quickly sat down across from him, tucking her bare feet under the bench she sat on. Mo shifted his gaze to her and gave her a wink.

“Can I get anything for either of you?” The young waitress narrowed her eyes at Mo, who grinned at her, and then she glanced at Abbi quickly.

“I’m good,” Mo said. “Maybe another juice. Would you like anything, Abbi?”

“Hot water and honey?” Abbi glanced across the table at Mo, who nodded, raising his eyebrows. She looked up at the waitress. “And may I have some fruit?”

“We have fruit cocktail. Would that be alright?” The waitress asked.

“Yes, please!” Her face lit up at the thought of more than one kind of fruit together, and Abbi nodded excitedly.

“So, a glass of juice, a fruit cocktail, and a cup of hot water...”

“And honey, please?”

“And honey. Would you like a tea bag with the water?”

Abbi shook her head.

Looking again at Mo with a slightly puzzled expression, the waitress turned away and started toward the kitchen.

“You’re a doll, Heather!”

Heather looked back with a smile, narrowing her eyes at him, and then continued walking away.

Mo sat back in the booth, chuckling as he watched the young lady, then looked at Abbi, who gazed at him amusedly. Neither of them spoke. Mo raised his eyebrows, giving her a questioning look.

Abbi looked at him for another moment before she spoke.

“I thought you were-”

“Gay?” Mo chuckled again, nodding.

“I was going to say with Jay,” Abbi told him.

Mo nodded again.

“Does she know that?”

“Yeah,” Mo laughed.

Abbi glanced in the direction the waitress had gone.

“Oh, that.” Mo shook his head, still smiling. “She knows. She even knows Jay. When she first started working here, she tried to flirt with me, with him sitting next to me. J-man politely let her know that I’m spoken for. Every so often, I tease her about it. It’s all in good fun.”

“Why do I have to wear shoes?”

“Well, it’s a rule,” Mo said. “I think there’s a sign or something.”

“I wasn’t wearing them the other night when I came here with Eddus.”

“Was it the same waitress?”

“I think her name was Janice.”

“Ah, well, Janice is cool.”

Again, they sat in silence. Lowering her gaze, Abbi touched the serviette that was wrapped around the eating utensils in front of her. She let her hand fall to her lap and again looked across the table.

Eddus was attending a meeting with a client, and Mo had asked her to meet him at the diner. She wasn’t sure why he wanted to meet there instead of at the flat. She kind of got the impression that he wanted to talk to her in private.

Mo smiled as their eyes met. Abbi smiled back. He had a pleasant face and a smile that one couldn’t help returning.

“I’ve been told that you don’t like being thanked, so I’ll just say that I am glad that you agreed to come.”

“Eddus told you that?” Abbi’s smile faded, and she leaned back in her seat a little, feeling uneasy.

Mo nodded, silently.

“Did he say anything else?” Abbi bit her bottom lip.

“He just said no thanks and no apologies,” Mo shifted, a look of concern on his face. He reached toward her, his hand resting on the table.

Abbi felt her stomach sink, and she was suddenly cold. She could feel her heart beating within her chest, as well as hear it in her temples.

“Is that... all he said?” she asked quietly. Her eyes searched the tabletop as she blinked back tears, trying to control her breathing.

“Well, yeah,” Mo could see that the girl was in some sort of distress, though he could not determine the cause.

“Did- did he say why?” Abbi held her breath, her head down, staring at the table.

“He said something about a difference in cultures. Abbi, are you from another country?”

Relief washed over her. Shaking her head, Abbi exhaled the breath she held. She laughed while trying to stifle a sob.

“Oh, Abbi...” Mo said gently.

Abbi raised her head to look at Mo. A tear spilled down her cheek, which she quickly wiped away with the back of her hand.

“Are you ok?”

Simultaneously, Mo and Abbi turned to look at Heather, who had returned with their order and stood beside the table holding a tray.

“Sweetie, are you all right?”

Abbi looked at her for a moment before nodding.

The waitress gave her a sympathetic smile before taking the items on the tray she held and placing them on the table. She placed a bowl containing fruits in front of Abbi, followed by a coffee cup of steaming water and a small bottle of honey. She then placed a glass of juice in front of Mo and gave him a questioning look.

Mo said nothing, only gave the waitress a nod. Heather glanced again at Abbi before turning to make her rounds.

For a few moments, neither Abbi nor Mo spoke.

“Abbi, did I say something I shouldn’t have?” Mo sounded confused.

Shaking her head, Abbi exhaled a long breath. There was no way that she could explain to him the way she’d reacted to the things he’d said. For a moment, she’d been terrified that perhaps Eddus had told his friend more than he should have. Abbi had taken a big risk that day in the park when she’d shown Eddus the faerie-ring. Something had only just dawned on her when Mo told her what Eddus had said. She had told Eddus not to disturb the faerie-rings, but she had not told him not to talk about what he’d seen.

“You said nothing wrong.” Taking another deep breath, Abbi felt her heart calm. She met Mo’s concerned gaze. “I was just worried...”

She really didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t say anything without giving away the very thing she did not want known, or at least opening the door to questions that could lead to it.

“It’s ok, Abbi. I understand.” Behind his black-rimmed glasses, Mo’s brows knitted, and he gave a small shrug. “I thought that perhaps you were from another country.”

“No,” Abbi shook her head, a half smile on her lips.

Mo gave her a little smile, still visibly puzzled. “I just thought that cultural differences meant that you were foreign.”

“I’m from right here. I mean, I have travelled some, but my peo- my family- has been here since before this city was settled.”

“Well, it wasn’t my intention to upset you.” He paused. “I hope that didn’t sound too much like an apology.”

“You don’t have to tiptoe around me, Mo.” Abbi smiled to herself. She poked at a cherry in the bowl in front of her with her finger. “Please, don’t treat me differently now. I don’t want any special treatment.”

Through his spectacles, Mo watched her for a moment before nodding and giving her a reassuring smile.

“I actually asked you here because I wanted to talk to you about something that I couldn’t really say in front of Ed.”

Abbi looked up from her fruit cocktail. She studied the young man’s face. His expression hadn’t changed. He still wore the same friendly smile.

“I thought Eddus is your best friend.” She tilted her head slightly.

“He is.”

“What can’t you say in front of your best friend?”

“Abbi, did you know that Ed doesn’t have any family?”

Abbi nodded. Eddus had told her that his parents had been in an accident when he was a young man. He hadn’t said much more about it. She also knew that he had been an only child.

“I’ve known Ed for years,” Mo said. “He has no family, except for us. Jay, Stiles, and I are his family. I’d like to think that we watch out for him. Like family.”

Abbi chewed her top lip thoughtfully. Mo’s expression and demeanor had not changed. His voice was still friendly and pleasant, as it always had been, but somehow Abbi felt that he was making a point.

“Do- have I done something wrong?”

Mo’s brows furrowed, and he blinked several times before meeting Abbi’s gaze.

“No. Quite the opposite,” he said, shaking his head.

“I don’t understand.”

“Abbi,” Mo leaned forward in his seat, folding his hands in front of him on the table, “I have not seen my friend as happy as he has been since meeting you for a long time, maybe ever.”

“Now I really don’t understand...”

“I’ve known Ed for seven years. I’ve lived with him for five of those seven years, and he’s always been reserved, to say the least. He’s always kept to himself. He works from home. He rarely gets out more than to do grocery shopping and for client meetings. His clients even come to the house to collect their orders. You have no idea how long we had to hound him to come to the theatre once a week. To say he’s reserved around most people is a bit of an understatement.”

“He is shy,” Abbi said. She picked up the bottle of honey next to her cup of hot water. Opening it, she then squeezed some of its contents into the water and placed it back on the table. She began to slowly stir the water with a spoon, looking again at Mo.

“Another understatement.” Mo shook his head again, still smiling. “But not with you. He goes out now. He rarely ever used to. We see him around the house, which was also rare until you came to stay with him. You seem to have really opened him up.”

“I don’t know, I think I make him rather uncomfortable.” Abbi picked up the cherry she’d been poking at and bit it in half. She closed her eyes for a moment, savoring its sweetness.

When she opened her eyes, Mo was looking at her with an amused look on his face. She glanced at the piece of fruit she held, and then again at Mo.

“Yes, you do make him uncomfortable. I could see that the night he introduced you to us at the pub.” Mo gave her a warm smile. “It probably has a little to do with your age difference. But I think it has more to do with the fact that, besides his three roommates, Ed doesn’t talk to many people besides those he works with.”

“That doesn’t sound like the Eddus I met.”

“It’s not,” Mo took a sip of his juice, “and that’s my point. I don’t know how you convinced him to bring you back with him that night, but I am glad that you did. As Ed’s best friend, I have never seen him like this. He’s like a whole new person, and that’s because he met you.”

“Again, I don’t understand.” Abbi put the other half of the cherry in her mouth. She chewed it thoughtfully. “Why that about being his family, and watching out for him? I thought that perhaps you disapproved of me.”

Mo’s eyes widened. He laughed softly, shaking his head.

“I don’t disapprove of anything about this, Abbi, least of all you. You’re good for him. I’ve never seen Ed happier. He’s the happiest I think he’s been in a long time.”

Abbi smiled in relief as she lifted her cup to her lips. Its contents were only a little more than lukewarm, but the water was still sweet. She drank most of the liquid before setting the cup again on the table. Relaxing a little bit, she leaned against the back of the bench she sat on with a sigh.

“Are you two ok?” Heather asked with a smile. She’d made her way around the diner and was on her way back to the kitchen. She glanced from Mo to Abbi, her gaze lingering for a moment. “Can I get you anything? Is your fruit cocktail all right?”

“It’s delicious,” Abbi told her. She had only eaten one piece of the fruit, but she’d enjoyed it immensely.

“Are you feeling better?”

Abbi dropped her gaze. Pursing her lips, she gave the waitress a small nod.

“Can I refill your... water...?”

Shaking her head, Abbi gave her a thin smile. The waitress nodded and turned her head to look at Mo.

“I think we’re good, Heather. Thank you,” he told her.

Abbi did her best not to cringe as he said the words. She looked at Mo, who smiled up at the server, trying not to feel uneasy. They were not her words, nor were they spoken to her.

Heather raised an eyebrow at him, then looked at Abbi, giving her a wink. She turned away.

“There is one more thing I would like to ask you,” Mo spoke while watching Heather walk away. He shifted his gaze.

“Oh?”

“Yes.” Using his finger, Mo pushed his glasses up on his nose. “And before I ask it, Abbi, I want you to know that I am truly happy for Ed. And I want you to know that I like you.”

“What’s your question?”

“Please don’t take this the wrong way, but what is this?”

“This?”

“As I said, I don’t want you to take it wrong, Abbi, but this- you and Ed. Is it genuine?” Mo was not smiling now and had a serious and uncomfortable look on his face. “I am so happy for both of you. Really, I am. But, is it... serious? I know that Ed is happy, and I’ve never seen him this way.”

His eyes searched Abbi’s questioningly. He didn’t look angry, but more concerned. Abbi studied his features, thinking about his question. It hadn’t occurred to her that there was anything to think about. Eddus had invited her to stay with him, and she’d gladly accepted. Eddus was the perfect example of kindness and the nicest person she had ever met. She was happy when she was with him, the happiest she could remember being. It had never occurred to her to consider anything further.

“Can I say that I don’t know...?” Abbi asked softly, dropping her gaze.

Mo sat quietly for a moment, looking at the young woman in front of him. It wasn’t that he’d expected an answer; he just needed to say aloud what he was feeling. She’d only been staying with Eddus for a week, but he was, in fact, very fond of Abbi. A romantic at heart, he hoped that his best friend had found that special someone, like he himself had found his partner in Jay.

He was happy beyond words that Eddus had finally come out of his shell after so long, even if only a little bit. He hoped within himself that the attraction between the two would nurture and grow into something that would bring his friend peace.

“Abbi, again, please don’t take my asking wrong.” Shaking his head, Mo sighed. “I just don’t want to see my friend get hurt.”

Abbi’s eyes welled, and she bit her lip, swallowing hard.

“I love Eddie...” Her brows knitting, Abbi spoke just above a whisper. She was bewildered, almost dumbstruck. She watched Mo’s unchanging expression. “Mo, I promise you that the last thing I would ever do is to hurt Eddus.”

“I believe you, Abbi. And I didn’t mean to upset you. I really am happy for the both of you.”

“You’ve given me something to think about,” Abbi said, blinking several times, “but I promise you that I’m not upset.”

“You know, you’re the only person who calls Ed by his real name,” he said. “I don’t even think the people he does work for call him Eddus.”

“It’s his name,” Abbi said. “He told me the night we met.”

Mo nodded pensively, with a soft laugh.

“And ‘Eddie’?” he asked.

“I really only meant to call him that once, after he told me to call him Ed.” Abbi looked away sheepishly, with a half smile.

“He really hates it.”

“I know it,” Abbi said. “That’s why I said it in front of you guys at the pub. After I saw how much it irks him, I just have to give him a hard time.”

“Will you do me a favor, Abbi?” Mo leaned forward, smiling mischievously.

“I will if I can,” Abbi said, uncertainly.

“Please, never stop calling him that.”