Love's Autograph Read Free

age. She did not even know what Ria looked like or her last name. She only knew that Roxie said she was beautiful, smart, fun, a lesbian and single. Roxie also told her that Ria was not the normal type of woman Ellie would date. That intrigued Ellie. Ellie was tired of the skinny, shallow and famous women that she had been dating. She wanted a mature woman and a long-term relationship.
    How long have I been standing here looking desperate with these flowers in my hand? She knocked harder. Ellie heard the door unlock, then it swung open and revealed a young girl. She was tall and skinny with long, straight, black hair. She was wearing sweatpants and a bright orange t-shirt two sizes too big for her.
    Oh great, she's going to recognize me as EJ. Here comes the screaming. The girl gawked at her.
    “ Yes?” the girl asked. Ellie could not believe the girl did not recognize her.
    “ Hi, I’m Ellie. Is your mom...” Ellie began to say.
    “ My mother is still getting ready. Please come in. I am going to go back to watching television,” the little girl said. She said it in a robotic manner as if it was rehearsed.
    “ I'll be right there,” a woman yelled from down the hall.
    “ Okay,” Ellie called down the hall in the direction of the woman. Ellie found herself smiling despite the nerves.
    Ellie closed t he door and stood just inside the apartment. The kitchen was to her right. A sink sat in a granite island, and the stove sat on the counter behind that. Over the stove hung pots, pans, and cooking utensils. The backsplash was colorful and shiny. Ellie was drawn to it and wanted to walk over to get a closer look and run her hands across the small tiles.
    In the doorway of the kitchen Ellie shifted her weight from foot to foot. A small dining room was off the kitchen, and beyond that was the living room. The little girl was sitting on the couch staring at the television. She was jotting things down in a notebook.
    After a few minutes of standing next to the door , Ellie walked into the living room and sat on the loveseat, perpendicular to the couch. The little girl didn’t look at Ellie. It was as if Ellie didn't exist. Ellie glanced around the home. She sat facing a wall of windows that framed the night lights of Boston. Picture frames sat on the wide windowsill. To Ellie's left, a large screen television was surrounded by ten-foot-high bookcases. Every inch of the shelves was packed with books.
    Ellie shifted her attention to the little girl. She was hyper-focused on watching the cartoon and jotting things down. Sh e seemed to have no intention of paying any attention to Ellie. Ellie was certain that the girl wouldn’t notice if a lion wearing a tuxedo walked into the room. She was watching the cartoon Ostrich Run . After each attempt by Wolf-More to capture the Ostrich, she would jot things in the notebook.
    “ Hi, I'm Ellie,” Ellie said.
    “ Hello, my name is Maggie. I am watching cartoons right now, and thank you for understanding,” Maggie answered. Again, she answered in a robotic, rehearsed manner without looking at Ellie.
    “ Nice to meet you,” Ellie said. Maggie continued to stare at the television and jot things in her notebook. Ellie checked the time on her phone, looked around the room again, rocked back and forth in her seat, finally getting up and walking to the window. She peered out at the Boston night lights. She glance at her phone again, and sat back on the couch. She wiped her sweaty palms on her pants.
    Ellie said, “When I was your age I tracked Wolf's attempts on the Ostrich and wrote down how to troubleshoot each try.” With that Maggie looked up from her notebook, picked up a remote control and the characters froze on the screen.
    “ You are the first person to know what I was doing. Did you really do that?” she asked.
    “ Yes, I did. I know every trap, trick, and Fadell Company thing that Wolf has ever used. I always used to wonder...”
    “ How he paid for it all,” Maggie