"What I meant was that although the actors are the one performing, the effort put in most is the crew. They dedicate their time to presenting it in the best way they could. You don't know how long it takes and as the Director you have to be the one to approve everything." Charlotte answered, blinking away her sleep. The hand massaging her waist was lulling her into a sleep. "As for always becoming a Director. Not really. I enjoy being the screenwriter more since I could create worlds of my own with only my finger tips. I became a director because other than me I knew nobody would be able to represent my stories the bes..." Charlotte trailed off. She snuggled closer to Elliot and hid her face in his chest.
"What's wrong honey?" Elliot worriedly asked. "I'm just tired, really tired. Will you go and talk to Alexa for me? Tell her not to cause trouble when she gets down there and just..." Charlotte dozed off listening to the heart beat of Elliot. Elliot smiled helplessly. He snuggled with her a little bit and listened to her breathing before he grabbed a blanket from the corner of the room and made sure Charlotte was comfy and warm, and then left the room.
Elliot wandered the halls in confusion. He forgot to ask which room belonged to Alexa but it didn't seem like he had to. A door with big fonts of 'DO NOT ENTER' was written along with ….especially gold-diggers. From that he knew this door belonged to Alexa. He knocked but was instantly greeted with a "GO AWAY!!!"
"It's me Elliot." As soon as he said that he heard a padding of footsteps coming closer towards the door. She opened it and let him in. When he went in he saw a little boy sleeping on her bed. He seemed like 7 years old but at that age he already resembled Alexa significantly. "My brother." Alexa said from behind him.
"Should we go somewhere else?" Elliot asked worried that their chatter would wake him up.
"Don't worry Uncle Ellie, take a seat." Alexa said as she sat back on the bed and Elliot sat on her desk chair. "My little brother can sleep through anything. He's dead as a log."
"So," he started, "Charlotte told me to talk to you." Elliot didn't know where to start. He hoped Alexa knew what he meant. When he saw her roll her eyes, he knew she had this conversation way too many times. "Uncle Ellie don't worry, tell my aunty I won't ruin the dinner. Especially when it's your first time here."
"So you mean if this wasn't my first time he would cause chaos." Elliot raised his brow in amusement.
"Of course that's given. It's part of being a part of the family." Alexa winked. Elliot swore he saw devil's horns sticking out of her head. "Although, I have to warn you to eat your food fast, by the end of dinner they're mostly flying around." She giggled as if she remembered something funny. "Last time, I managed to ruin Ruby's dress."
– —
Charlotte woke up with a scare but relaxed when she saw it was Elliot. "Dinner is ready. You must be hungry." On cue Charlotte's stomach rumbled and a faint blush took a hold of her cheeks. When Elliot laughed she playfully shoved his shoulders and got down the bed. She told him to go down without her while she washed her face in the bathroom and then wiped it before going downstairs.
The sweet aroma drifted from the dining room which made Charlotte's stomach rumble more. "This looks delicious." She said as she took a seat beside Elliot.
"I made your favourite, ratatouille." Ruby announced excitedly coming into the room and placing the dish down. "Apologies Elliot, I'm not aware of your preferences so you'll have to bear with whatever is on the table."
Elliot waved his hand. He looked at the table and said, "This is more than enough." From a chicken roast to chicken caesar salad, Mexican corn on the cob, mash, garlic bread, roast potatoes and no one can forget the gravy.
Carlos sat on the head of the table, on his right was Charlotte and Elliot while on his left was Ruby. When Alexa came in, she glared at Elliot since that's where she would've sat usually but now with the addition of him it was gonna she had to sit next to Ruby to balance out the table or else it would appear weird if she didn't. Normally Alexa would've still taken a seat next to Elliot but when she remembered she wasn't going to cause problems with a sigh she sat next to Ruby.
When Alexa found everyone staring at her she cleared her throat and said,"What's everyone waiting for, let's begin."
Like a spell has been broken, everyone started chatting and reaching for food. For the first time in a long while, it was a harmonious dinner in the house. Although Alexa did ignore Ruby most of the time, she wasn't rude as she usually would be.
"Do you really like ratatouille that much?" Elliot whispered to Charlotte when he saw her grab seconds.
Charlotte nodded. "Have you tried it, it's absolutely delicious. It's as if Chef Remy has made it himself." She joked.
Elliot chuckled. "That's not very hygienic is it. Careful darling, you might get food poisoning." Charlotte looked at Elliot with an unamused face. She kicked his shin. Not expecting to be kicked, Elliot nearly jumped from his seat.
"Are you alright Elliot?" Carlos asked concerned.
"Just...peachy." He said hiding his pain.