Page 48 of It's a Brewtiful Day

“Nah, it’s Nina’s.” He jumped onto the floor cushions before any further discussion could be had. “Problem solved.”

“You don’t have to be such a man about it.”

“How’s that?” He propped himself up on his side, pulling his long legs into the cushions. There was no way he was going to fit properly. “If I were a man’s-man, I would’ve taken the chairs and made you have the cushions, which really,” he wiggled a bit, “aren’t that bad.”

“You’re so chivalrous.”

“Is there anything wrong with that?”

I walked over to the side of the chairs and debated how to climb on them. It felt so out of place. “Being chivalrous isn’t wrong, it’s unusual.”

“No way, I don’t believe that.”

“Well, it’s true. You must wear blinders.” Isquatted down and dropped my bum onto one of the backs.

He shifted some more. “You mean the guys you’ve dated previously didn’t believe in opening the doors for you? Or walk on the outside of the sidewalk or offer you his jacket when you were cold?” There was a pause in his breath. “Oh wait, that’s right, you dated those, what were they called again? Alpha-holes?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“And they never once opened a door for you?”

I rolled onto my side to face him. “One guy told me that if we were both equals, then he shouldn’t have to treat me like a queen, and I could open the blasted door myself.”

“I bet he’s still single.”

I snorted, knowing the real reason I pushed him away wasn’t that he truly treated me like an equal like he treated his male counterparts. There was an underlying sense of something bad within his soul, and it turned out I was right. “Nope. Married. One baby and another on the way, along with the occasional mistress that his wife either doesn’t know about or doesn’t care about.”

“Yikes.” Elliot continued. “Sounds like you avoided the scum of the male population. Yes, you can treat a woman as an equal, but you can also treat her well, and be honest and faithful to her. It’s the least a guy can do. My dad always treats my mom well,and my sister too, but he very much insists on opening any door for both of them. He’ll carry the groceries, not because my mom’s not capable, but because she does sweet things for him, like iron his shirts and stuff. He says it’s just proper to treat her with a lot of respect.”

“Your parents sound super adorable.”

“On occasion, but they can fight like beasts.”

I chuckled. “I imagine, but if they are like that, they were clearly great influences on you as your parents raised you very well.”

“Thank you. I’m sure they’d love to hear that.”

“Why? You a bit of a troublemaker?”

“Nah, never, not who I am.” He scrunched up his face. “But I didn’t amount to much, at least in their eyes. Didn’t make the big leagues in high school, and I definitely didn’t attend university and follow in his footsteps to be a climate engineer, or any kind of engineer really, but the whole not understanding the math and science part played into that.” A tinge of sadness coloured his words and my heart broke a little for him.

“There’s nothing wrong with doing what you do.”

“I never said there was. I like working here. Nina is a fantastic boss, and those pictures on the wall…” He sat up and pointed around. “Those are all mine. She hired me to take pictures of the town in unique ways.”

“What? Seriously?” I’d never really taken stock of the pictures, but they were neat. In the daylight, I promised to take a better look.

I still couldn’t wrap my head around how his parents weren’t proud of a guy like him. He was sweet and adorable and infectious. Buying a coffee from him was the best way to start my day. Just because someone wasn’t a doctor or a lawyer or an engineer, it didn’t make them less of a person.

“Well, I’m sorry your parents can’t see the person I see, or the person every customer who walks in those doors sees.” I pulled my knees up and shifted to get more comfortable. As far as genuine comfort went, the backs of the chairs were surprisingly acceptable, but just not long enough to stretch out.

“I wasn’t fishing for a compliment, but I appreciate you saying that.”

“I know.”

“I hate it when people fish like that, it’s irritating.”

I nodded. “Agreed.” I couldn't help myself and started giggling,