His Perfect Woman (Urban Hearts Series Book 1)

by Towne, L. E.

  The girl on the commercial didn’t look like Azure Worth, but a vision of her came to his mind. Her eyes closed, ear buds in her ears, legs and arms moving at a fast pace as she worked out on an elliptical machine. He didn’t push the image away as he spread mayo on one slice of bread, mustard on the other. Instead, he replayed the memory in his head.

  The meeting was inconsequential at the time, but it got them to the bar in Memphis. His last minute trip to Sioux City for Bradford Accounting had resulted in not only two more bookings, but another meeting with the event planner.

  It was early morning and he’d been on his way to the pool when he saw her behind the glass doors of the small hotel workout room. He thought of just popping in and saying hi. Or maybe not even going in, just leaving her to her morning routine. Instead, he made a U-turn back to his room and traded swimwear for workout clothes and zipped back downstairs in record time. A trim woman had just finished on a treadmill so he stepped up and started a light jog. He was beginning to think Azure might leave without ever having seen him when she looked over and smiled. Their ensuing conversation was easy, just a small amount of flirtation and he’d come away with the idea of having drinks with her at their next meeting in Memphis.

  Ross carefully layered a precise piece of leaf lettuce and a thinly sliced tomato on the mayo side of the bread. Then the ham and finally the cheese slice, before he tipped the mustard slice over it. He’d told himself that the meeting in the workout room had been fortuitous and his then anticipation of drinks in Memphis had been merely to make a good business connection. He carried the sandwich back to the couch, grabbing a soda on the way. The commercial had given way to college football and Notre Dame was playing. He could live with that. He settled in, propping his feet on the coffee table. Memphis had been fun, his speech was well received and—

  Ross chewed his sandwich thoughtfully. Notre Dame scored, and he barely blinked. Who was he kidding? Memphis wasn’t about business connections and future gigs. It was about one night where he’d felt alive and happy, and life was full of possibilities. Everything since then had been with the idea of spending more time with Azure Worth. He wanted more of those kinds of nights. He shouldn’t, but he did.

  --6-

  Azure-It’s a long story.

  Ross-I got time, do u?

  Azure-Yes.

  Ross looked at the time on his computer, 12:32 am. He had a racquetball reservation with Jack at 7:30 in the morning. He should sign off and go to bed, but Dani wasn’t home again, and he really wasn’t tired. His conversation with Az had started like it usually did, with some sort of business email. Once they realized they were both online, he’d messaged her, reviewing her messages as he put the finishing touches on his handouts for next week. He scrolled back through the messages, just to see. They’d been chatting for forty minutes or so, and the last fifteen of them he’d closed all other windows and focused on their conversation. They’d been talking about history, namely hers, or hers and Jonathan’s.

  Azure-I basically went to England because my under grad roommate was there. She invited me over. I started taking some classes at Leeds. I needed a new beginning.

  Ross-A new beginning? What was wrong with the old one? Sorry, don’t mean to pry—you don’t have to answer.

  Azure-no, it’s okay. I was in a car accident my junior year, it was pretty serious, I was hospitalized for a month.

  Ross-Sorry.

  Azure- I missed an entire semester so senior year I worked my ass off, just to graduate on time.

  And then there was nothing for awhile. He got the sense she wanted to say more. He waited. He grabbed bottle of water from his fridge, checked his phone, thinking there might be a text from Dani. There wasn’t. Back at the computer, he saw her response.

  Azure-My boyfriend was driving—too fast. We were going to some stupid football game, it was raining. We lost control, went off the road. He died on the way to the hospital.

  Ross-I’m so sorry. Wow.

  Azure- We had big plans. Both of us on the fast track, I had an early acceptance at Rutgers. He was going to St. George University for med school. Then of course, it all went to hell. It was a tough time.

  Ross- I feel so bad that happened to you.

  Azure-My roommate Malinda had introduced us. They were childhood friends so it was tough for her too.

  Ross- Sounds like you were serious about him.

  Azure--As serious as you can be at 21. He was a good guy, very ambitious, very funny too, always had something going, and…

  Ross-and?

  Azure--and I think I should have been more devastated. I was hurt, both physically and emotionally and sad, later, but mostly I felt really bad for his parents. All my friends, my family walked around me like I would break if they talked about Tony, so nobody did, except for Malinda of course. I think that was the hardest thing of all. Making everyone else comfortable.

  Ross-I can imagine, no strike that. I can’t imagine, I’ve never lost anyone close to me.

  Azure-Lucky

  Ross-How did you get over it?

  Azure-I worked. I made a new plan. My goal was to graduate on time, but after that, I didn’t know. I wasn’t sure about anything anymore. I kind of floated. Malinda had this gig in England, so it was a great excuse to do nothing.

  Ross-Understandable. I’ve never been able to do that. Not having a goal or plan. The not knowing. I tend to make lists, lots of pros and cons. It’s one of the flaws that Dani points out all the time.

  Ross cringed. He hadn’t meant to bring Dani up. It wasn’t like she was in his thoughts, but the list thing had been a bone of contention for them for a while. She complained that he was so busy making lists, he could never get anything done. It wasn’t true of course, he got plenty done, just not the stuff she wanted him to do. He drank his water and quashed the irritating thoughts. This was about Azure, not him. She however, seemed relieved they’d changed subjects.

  Azure-- you must be obsessive about it.

  Ross-I don’t think so. But I work better when there’s a plan in motion. Ever since high school, I’ve known what I wanted to do, so I just set out about doing it. My whole family is kind of like that. My older sister loves kids, she has two and they’ve taken in a foster child. My brother always wanted to cure cancer or something, he has a big lab research job at the University. All of us just kind of knew what we wanted out of life and our parents have been very supportive.

  Azure--that’s great that you have such a supportive family. Mine’s a little dysfunctional. My parents love me of course, but can’t stand each other. But they suck it up for things like weddings and babies.

  Azure--but, if something on your list changes, then your course would change too, right? Things happen all the time.

  Ross- yes, and it would depend, sometimes you have to have a contingency plan, something that gets you back on course.

  Azure-- and if it’s not the right course? I never got to Rutgers, I deferred a year, fully intending to go back once I thought it over in England. I met Jonathan and then stayed another three years. So my plan changed, I can’t say that was a bad thing.

  Ross-No it wasn’t. I’m not saying it wasn’t the right course. Because your change of plans, got you where you are, and…

  Azure--and?

  Ross-and we wouldn’t have met if you went to Rutgers.

  There he put it out there what he’d been thinking for a while now. Since Memphis. After Memphis, he’d emailed her and thanked her for inviting him both to speak and then to the clubs on Beale St. There was no response. He checked his email daily hoping she’d send him something, anything, another gig, another job, a question, anything.

  He’d found an old concert poster of Thelonius Monk on eBay and bought it. It was small, a ten- by-fourteen thin three-color poster with frayed edges. He wanted to get it framed and matted and send it to her office, but he couldn’t. He worried that it was too much. It was too much, too personal, too intimate. They were barely colleague
s. He buried the poster on the top shelf of his closet.

  After four days, she emailed him back, just a couple of lines, but it was enough. In the weeks since her two line response, they’d had been doing this—emailing, chatting online every few days. They continued their Memphis conversation about music and places they’d been. She was a bit of a pop culture nerd and had tapped into his love of Austin Powers movies. He did not tell her about the poster. He wanted to save that.

  Some of what they talked about was actually business. He was booked for a workshop in Kansas City next month. He had two smaller jobs between now and then, one of which actually paid more, but they were shoved to the back of his consciousness. The important one was Kansas City and he refused to admit it was important because she would be there.

  Ross- You would have gotten some fancy job in New York and kicked major ass there.

  Azure--maybe.

  Ross-No maybe. You would have.

  Azure--no, I mean about us meeting, sometimes I think things are destined. That even if I’d gone to Rutgers, if I hadn’t met Jonathan, I might be working out of NY. But also, I might have gone home, gotten the job with CTC and met you anyway.

  Ross-so it’s not a random event?

  Azure-I don’t think I believe in random. Was it on your list? Meet some random events planner out of Denver?

  Ross- well, kind of yeah. It was more like, work with as many large marketing companies as possible to build a reputation and establish a good clientele. I didn’t count on you specifically, but I’m glad it was you.

  Azure--I’m glad it was you too.

  Ross-we should go to bed.

  He’d hit send before he realized it. He rapidly typed an explanation, an apology. But she responded before he could send it.

  Azure-really?

  He hadn’t meant it that way, but now that it was out there. The word floated in the air from his screen, and he could almost hear her voice as she said it. Really? She would be smiling at him and he imagined her at her house in Denver, sitting in front of her computer, or in bed with her flannel pj’s with her laptop writing the words across cyberspace. Really? He wanted to be there at that moment, next to her, smelling her clean floral shampoo and watching her non-painted nails as they typed. His fingers hesitated over the keyboard.

  Ross-no, I mean, I should go to bed. I’ve got a racquetball court res in 6 hours.

  Azure--with Jack?

  It was gone, the fleeting question of being more than colleagues, more than friends, had vanished with the mention of Jack. He was almost a common denominator in their friendship. Ross frowned, but he didn’t know how to get back to where they were, the conversation having gotten away from him.

  Ross- yes, with Jack.

  Azure--do me a favor, kick his butt, okay? He gave me such a hard time about you last month. It was embarrassing.

  Ross-last month?

  Ross had set up this racquetball date two days before and Jack hadn’t mentioned being at an event with Az.

  He hadn’t seen Jack in awhile, not since the fairly disastrous dinner they’d had at the apartment just after Memphis.

  They had finally settled on a date for Jack and Sienna to come over for dinner, to see the new place. Dani was uncommonly nervous and Sienna, normally a friendly girl had made some innocuous comment about how expensive places were, even tiny ones and that was all it took to change Dani’s mood from hesitantly welcoming to barely civil.

  Jack had given Ross a look over their heads, and for the rest of the evening he and Jack had carried the conversation. Dani served the Italian pastries immediately after their dinner plates were cleared and the couple had left soon after that. Ross and Dani were knee deep into a full blown fight before Jack’s Volvo could pull out of the underground lot.

  Azure--He was at the job fair in Indianapolis. We had drinks, he fairly quizzed me about you.

  Ross-really? I haven’t seen Jack in a while.

  Azure--since your dinner?

  Ross-he told you about that?

  Azure--Jack tends to talk a bit when he drinks. He was a little shocked I think at what happened, though he didn’t go into details. I take it your ladies do not get along.

  Ross-no, they do, well, they actually don’t see each other much. But that night was just not a good night I guess. So what did he ask about me?

  Azure--like how many conf have I booked you for, and how often do we talk and don’t I think you’re just a great guy, etc, etc. He really thinks highly of you.

  Damn Jack and his perceptions. It was Ross’s fault really, if only he could have kept his curiosity about Azure in check, Jack wouldn’t have leaped to his fairly accurate conclusions. Now, Jack was getting to Az and asking her about him. This could lead to all kinds of questions he wasn’t willing to answer.

  Ross-So, what did you tell him? about me?

  Azure--you need to get some sleep. We can talk about it later.

  Ross-Sure, now you want me to sign off. You’re a tease, Azure Worth.

  A little smiley face emoticon came across his screen. She signed off with her typical, Aworth. He was almost glad to have something to talk to Jack about besides the dinner with their spouses.

  ----------

  Jack won the first game, but Ross came back in the second to beat him 15-11. He couldn’t let Jack get used to winning. Normally, if they split, they’d play a third, but Jack had a meeting so they left it at two games and a short conversation.

  “Hey, good game today, man.” Ross stuffed his sweaty t-shirt into his gym bag.

  “Yeah, you too, sorry I can’t make the tie breaker.” Jack came around the lockers, freshly showered and impeccably attired in a dark grey suit over a pin striped blue shirt. His dark tie hung loose around his neck, and his moved to the long counter to look in the mirror.

  “A meeting’s just as good an excuse as any.” Ross pulled his nylon windbreaker over his polo shirt and jeans and walked to the mirror beside Jack. “It’s shame about you working stiffs.”

  “Trust me, I’d love to stay and kick your ass at another game, but this is a ball-buster over the Ackerman account. If I miss it, Snively will brown nose the boss into giving him my accounts.”

  “Well, your ass kicking will just have to wait till next time since you don’t have time to buy me lunch today.” Ross smiled at him in the mirror, but only for a second. “Hey man, are we okay? I mean, about dinner last month.” He shook his head. “I guess we’re both under some stress right now.” He meant himself and Dani. Jack was rarely stressed about anything, even in their high stress occupation. In college it was always Ross worrying about grades, finances, or girls, where his roommate had always taken the laid back approach.

  “Yeah, well, Sienna has a knack for saying precisely the wrong thing at the wrong time. No worries. We’re fine and things will blow over between the girls.” He shrugged his jacket on as he studied Ross’s face in the mirror. “You guys aren’t having problems, are you?”

  Ross shook his head, but Jack wasn’t fooled. He stopped fussing with his jacket.

  “Look, let’s do lunch sometime this week,” Jack said. “Middle of the week, Wednesday, Thursday? I should have Ackerman eating out of my hand by then, and I’ll deserve a two martini lunch. You can buy.”

  “Do they really buy all the bullshit you put out in that office?” Ross grinned.

  “It’s a bullshit kind of business, Berenger. I just happen to be better at it than most.” Jack straightened his tie a fraction of an inch and sailed out the door.

  It was a windy September Wednesday but the sun managed a remnant of pale warmth before fall truly set its sights on Chicago. Ross picked a park bench facing the fountain, on the sunny side. He juggled two hotdogs and a paper cup of diet soda, trying to eat without actually setting anything down. The impromptu meal had been purchased from the stand on the corner.

  “So you’re booked for the Kansas City thing. Nice job, that’s a big one.” Jack strolled up to the park bench, briefcase
in one hand, Grande Americano in the other. He sat next to Ross, meticulously placing the cup on the ground between his shoes. He opened the flap of his leather case and pulled out a deli sandwich, wrapped in waxed paper. Taking a large bite, he leaned back to enjoy the sun. Ross had been waiting for only five minutes, unusual for meetings with Jack, and it was his suggestion that they skip the martini lunch and eat outside. To his surprise, Jack had agreed.

  “Az told me you grilled her about me.” Ross said, prior to biting into his first hot dog. It was a subject he’d wanted to bring up at the racquetball game and never got the chance.

  “Really? That’s her word? Grilled.” Jack looked at Ross’s meal and shook his head. “Do you know how many nitrates are in that thing? Enough to kill a horse. But at least you’ll leave a good looking corpse. There’s enough preservatives to mummify you.”

  “I suppose your little sandwich is so much better.”

  “This is free-range roasted turkey with light olive oil mayo, swiss cheese and romaine on multigrain homemade artisan bread. Oh, and a touch of Mendocino mustard from the coast. It’s perfect. You get points for the location, though. It’s a great day for it.”

  “Yeah, I figure you can eat at the club any day, but days like this are hard to get. This is delicious by the way, you’re just jealous.” Ross held up a relish slathered dog.

  “Mm, hmm. So how’s things?” Jack sipped his coffee.