by D. W. Cee
“Can I ask where you and Max were at this time? I assume you weren’t with them?”
Now this answer scared me more than everything she’d told me about her and Max combined. After seeing them together last night, this relationship wasn’t completely over for either one of them.
“No. We went out for a bite to eat. I didn’t have any dinner and Max suggested we grab a bite to eat before we met up with the rest of the gang. Our dinner took longer than expected and when we got back to my house Peter and Jeff were comatose on my front porch.”
“Dinner?” I asked in a frightened tone.
Emily’s face broke into a chuckle. I couldn’t understand how she found humor in this situation. “It was literally dinner.” She answered grabbing the hand I let go. “We also had a good talk which I’d like to share with you whenever you’d like to hear about it. Are we okay? Can we go on with this day without us being uncomfortable with one another?” She now softened into her beautiful smile. “I told Max last night that I was really looking forward to spending a whole day with you. Even though we’ve been dating a few months, I don’t think we know each other very well.”
What? How could she think this?
“What do you mean we don’t know each other very well?” While I held her door, she held back her grin. “Get in. We need to get going or we’re going to miss our flight.”
I couldn’t even last a few seconds into the drive, before demanding, “How can you say we don’t really know each other?” I was still flabbergasted at her last statement. This woman, whom I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, complained that we were almost strangers. We had a long ways to go before I could even broach the topic of marriage.
“Jake.” She sounded slightly piqued this time. “When was the last time… better yet, has there ever been a time where we spent an entire date without being interrupted? Our first date at the Mexican restaurant, what happened? You got paged and went in to perform some surgery. Our second date, brunch, what happened? The Chief sent you to some conference in Atlanta. That’s also when we got into our first argument and couldn’t even talk it through because you had to leave.”
Perhaps I shouldn’t have brought this up. She was making a strong argument in her favor.
“Don’t get me going on our third date to Santa Barbara that ended before it even started. We didn’t see each other for almost two weeks.”
“But, I came to see you at the airport and we worked everything out and I told you how much you mean to me,” I defended myself.
“Only after I postponed my flight twice hoping you would show up. My flight was at 8:00pm. You showed up sometime after 11:00.”
“Didn’t I make up for it in New York?”
Emily leaned over and kissed my cheek. “You did. But I would’ve given up all the luxuries in New York to have spent one full day with you.”
This time, I leaned over and she met my lips.
“You would’ve given up the first class seat?”
“In a heartbeat.”
“The driver?”
“Without a doubt.”
“The suite at the W?”
“Of course!”
“Le Bernardin?” I was truly curious to hear this answer.
“Absolutely… not.” She burst into a cackle. “I told you, as much as I enjoyed Sarah’s company, I wished you would’ve been there with me that night. None of this means much if you’re not with me.”
Heaven. Her answer put me in a state of bliss. How could I not love this sweet girl?
“Your answers might have earned you an unforgettable lunch,” I hinted. “So are you done with your argument?”
“Nope. Let’s not forget last night. You left me stranded before dinner was served. Although I think we managed to spend an entire three hours together. That’s a record, you know.”
“But what about all the times I come by, call or text you?”
“Are you kidding me? The last time you came by my house you got mad at me and left in the middle of dinner. You call from the hospital and have to hang up within minutes. Your texts look like an hour by hour hospital itinerary. How did you ever have a relationship with this schedule? Does your hospital have no other doctors but yourself?”
She shook her head in disbelief and laughed. “So, you see why I’m so excited to spend this whole day with you?”
Sweetly she smiled and put her hand over mine.
“Okay, I get your point.“ I could marry her today but she obviously didn’t think she knew me well enough. “I already feel very close to you but you apparently need more convincing. That will be my mission today. Ask me whatever you like. I’ll answer all your questions.”
“First question – where are we going? Burbank Airport? Could we be flying to San Francisco? It couldn’t be Seattle, that’s a bit too far for a day trip. Any hints?”
“Not a chance. You’ll have to wait until we get there.” Happy to keep her guessing I didn’t give her a clue even though she told me how she didn’t like surprises. What girl didn’t like surprises? Emily could be a bit odd at times.
Out of nowhere, Emily leaned over and my body froze. Her lips slowly grazed my neck and went up to nibble my ear.
“Are you sure you can’t give me a hint?” she whispered.
My foot stepped off the pedal and the car went on autopilot. Though I enjoyed the coaxing, I was forced to ask her to stop before we got into an accident.
When we got on the plane Emily stopped us from sitting in our seats and asked, “You don’t have to go into work today, do you? They can’t make you come back from San Francisco or worse yet, find you an operation to perform up in San Francisco?”
I had to laugh at her paranoia. “Does my job make you that nervous?”
“Yup!” immediately she answered. “I think I’m going to reconsider dating a doctor, or at least I’m going to date a doctor who doesn’t ever have any emergencies.”
I knew where she was taking this conversation. My expression stayed nonchalant. I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction. “Yeah? What kind of doctor would that be?”
“Maybe a Dermatologist or a Podiatrist,” she answered with a smirk on her face.
With her ring in my jacket pocket I knew she would be solely mine after lunch today. “Trust me, after today, you’re not going anywhere from me.”
She retorted, “Very confident there, Dr. Reid. We’ll see about that.”
My words didn’t carry as much weight as I thought they should.
We landed at SFO and I had two texts waiting for me.
11:00 lunch for two confirmed. Have a great time. Can’t wait to meet the future Mrs. Jake Reid. – Uncle Dave
A box at the opera house confirmed. 6:00pm dinner at Quince reserved. I will send over clothes and shoes sometime in the afternoon. I’m really excited to meet my future sister. See you at dinner. – Jane
Yes! I knew Uncle Dave and Jane would pull through for me. We got a car and drove up the 101 freeway. Taking in the scenery Emily rambled about some of her dreams – one of which was wanting to hear Andrea Bocelli sing in an open meadow in Tuscany. I would be more than happy to whisk her off to Tuscany. When we got back, I would look into taking her. Even better, I would ask her to give me a list of places she wanted to go and activities she wanted to do. She was in a deep muse.
“A kiss for your thoughts?”
She just stared at me.
“Well?” I prompted.
“Where’s the promised kiss?”
As much as I wanted to give her an open mouth kiss, this road was not conducive to such action. Instead, I placed a chaste kiss on her hand.
“I was admiring all the unique architecture.” By the dreamy look on her face, there was something she wasn’t telling me.
“That’s it?”
“My answer was about as exciting as that kiss you just gave me.”
That was challenge enough. I pulled her neck as close to me as possible and gave her the torrid kiss sh
e asked for without getting us both killed. She looked embarrassed but still stayed quiet.
“Well? Shouldn’t that kiss elicit a better answer?”
“I thought it would be nice to go back to Tuscany…”
Now, she was being a tease. I pulled the car over and placed my mouth over hers deeply, intensely, lustfully. How will you react to this, Emily Logan?
“… with you when I’m old and gray…”
YES! I couldn’t have dreamed of a better answer.
“It’s so beautiful up here. Are we spending the whole day here?” With her cheeks a bright pink, she was trying to change to a safer topic.
“Would you like to?” I asked. Perhaps I should have considered letting her decide what to do today.
“Sure. But I don’t really care where as long as we’re together. I’m really happy to be here with you,” she whispered and gave me her version of a lustful kiss.
From the onset of our day, Emily’s attitude had changed. Her words and her actions proved she was ready to move forward with our relationship. She was heading where I was waiting. Something about her time with Max last night freed her from his last grip. Hopeful and excited, I parked in front of our first destination.
Emily’s face broke into sheer excitement. “How did you get us a table here on such short notice?”
Of course she would know where we were. Being the foodie that she was, this had to have been one of the restaurants she wanted to visit. I wanted to be the first one to bring her here.
“How did you know this was my dream restaurant destination? I can’t believe we’re here! Thank you, Jake.” Elated, she hugged me.
She began asking questions about my family while noshing on the first course. Telling her about my immediate family first, then about all of my uncles and aunts and cousins, she looked delighted that I had a big family. While outlining my family tree, Emily devoured her two amuse bouche, the oysters and caviar – which she thoroughly enjoyed, the cured hamachi belly, and the seared duck foie gras. There was sheer happiness on her face as she ate her food as there was on mine watching her eat.
Next came risotto with white truffle and pure bliss fell on her face again. Somewhere along the way she had told me how much she liked white – not black – truffles. Like a child in a candy shop, she thoroughly enjoyed herself.
I finally got to ask her about her family. I felt almost negligent not knowing anything about her parents or siblings and why they weren’t around. My heart broke when she told me that her dad died when she was in middle school and her mom followed her dad when Emily was in high school. Her only relatives, her maternal grandparents passed away sometime during her college years.
She teared when she spoke of her parents. I wished I could’ve been her comfort during those lonely years. Our family would have overwhelmed her with love. I longed to tell her that my love would be sufficient to make up for the loss of her father, mother and grandparents. Oh, Emily. My heart sighed.
Another question I had for her was how she paid for college and living expenses and how she had bought a house already. In the cutest way, she eyed the whole roasted turbot, watching the servers fillet it and place it on each plate with a burnt lemon. She was fascinated by this lemon. She smelled it, tasted it, squeezed some on her fish, then quickly chewed a bite before answering my questions.
“Underneath this weak frame, I have a survival mentality.” She then told me how she worked since high school as a tutor, supported herself through college and bought her current home with her earnings plus money from the sale of a condo her grandparents bequeathed her. What an amazing woman she was. Behind the pretty face and tender heart, she was a true fighter. I didn’t realize she had so much strength in her. It didn’t seem possible to love her any more than I already did but my admiration for her grew deeper with each passing course.
Naturally, I had to pose the most important question. “Can I ask about your relationship with Max? Do you mind telling me? I’d also like to know what happened with you and Max last night if you don’t mind.”
She looked hesitant but began dissecting their relationship. “Max and I met our freshman year and it was absolute love at first sight.”
“Lucky guy.” I was jealous already. “So what about him did you like so much?”
She made me feel insecure as she laughed at my question. “You guys are both so funny,” she explained.
I gave her a why look and she answered, “Max asked me the same question last night.”
It made me feel good to know that they were talking about me and not about themselves.
“So what did you tell him?” I hoped it was something great.
“I think I’ll keep you guessing on that one.” She gave me an adorable wink and I couldn’t help but be even more enamored.
She continued with her wonderful years with Max and how they spent every waking moment together and how she believed they would get married. Emily talking about marriage with another guy didn’t settle well with me. She couldn’t talk beyond today with me but she had thought about the rest of her life with Max. It disturbed me.
“I’m sorry, Jake!” She quickly apologized. My face must have told her what my heart told me. “You didn’t need to hear all of that. I got a bit carried away.” She kept apologizing.
Stupidly, I asked her to continue though she appeared hesitant. I chuckled wondering if she was hesitant to talk for fear of hurting my feelings or because she wanted to eat her well-marbled Japanese beef sirloin. She eyed her meat several times and without looking, there was no doubt her mouth was watering. I watched to see what she would pick – satisfying my curiosity concerning the state of her heart, or satisfying her curiosity of the palate. Happily surprised, I won. Conceivably I was overtaking food as her biggest passion.
She continued at my prodding. “Well, there’s not much more to say. On graduation day, Max appeared nervous all day and tried to avoid me so I thought he was going to ask me to marry him. Instead, after the ceremony, he broke up with me giving me some excuse about not being ready for a serious commitment. Just like that he let go of four years and the bond I thought could never be broken… broke.”
There was sadness in her voice and possibly tears in her eyes. I didn’t want to look at her. Today, she confirmed my fears. She had been deeply in love with Max and their break up shattered her heart and her trust in love. Because she had believed all those years she would marry a guy, who eventually left her, she was afraid to think about marriage with me for fear that I would leave her as well. Our mood had turned dark. I attempted to change it.
“So I’m still wondering how you answered Max last night about your feelings for me.”
She showed a loving smile and answered, “Well, I told Max how comfortable I feel with you. I feel protected and secure and I can be myself with you. Although I’ve only known you for a short while it’s like you’ve been with me my whole life.”
Emily spoke aloud exactly what I felt. I too felt that comfortable with her, like she was meant to be in my life forever.
“I don’t know,” she continued. “It’s a bit strange but you’re the only person aside from my parents who makes me feel entirely comfortable. I can’t quite explain this. Max got very angry with me last night when I told him this.
“You mean you’ve never felt entirely comfortable with Max?” I finally had one up on this guy – and a big one it was.
“With Max, I was always trying to please him. I think I was infatuated with him. Max appeared at a time in my life when I had nobody but my grandparents. My parents were gone and I didn’t have any siblings to share my pain. Max not only became my boyfriend, but he also became my only family. I think I smothered him with my love. Maybe I was a borderline stalker. That’s probably why he eventually broke up with me.”
I had to laugh at this statement or I’d want to cry thinking about the hold Max had on my Emily. She considered him much more than a man to love; she had thought of him as her only family. No
wonder he’d had such a profound impact on her. This was probably why she couldn’t completely let go. Who can let go of a family member? But, he was not her family and I needed her to realize he was no longer a part of her life. I would like to be her boyfriend and I would like to be her family. My immediate and extended family would all welcome her with the same love I had. This was the life I wanted to show her.
“You want to know the hardest part about this break up?” she asked me.
Did I want to know? Nope. But she was going to tell me anyway.
“All the loves in my life left me without any warning – my dad, mom, and Max. I don’t think I loved anyone as much as I loved these three people and I felt abandoned by all of them.” She held back those pesky tears. “I had a tough year and a half of letting go. Four years wasted...”
At this point, I wanted to stop talking about Max and give her the ring and ask her to be my girlfriend. But there was a nagging question that had to be asked. Terrified of the answer I held off until I couldn’t any longer. “Are you sure you’re over Max? Do I want to know?”
She started talking about how Max had apologized to her last night and how she had finally found closure. She said, “Yes, I am over him but four years is hard to erase.” This statement didn’t reassure my uneasy feelings. She’d given me more of herself during lunch than she had the last couple of months but I still needed more.
She caught me off guard and asked me about my relationships. Not wanting to explain everyone I’d dated since there were many more than her one Max, talking about Kelley was the only solution. My most recent ‘girl,’ Allison, needed to be kept top secret. Though I talked about Kelley, Emily was so engrossed in her chocolate cake and cinnamon ice cream I didn’t know how much she’d heard or maybe even cared.
To both our delight Uncle Dave had asked Thomas Keller to stop by and say hello. Emily’s face lit up. I’d have to talk to her about how she never looked this excited when I entered the room. He asked her about her favorite dishes and her answers cracked me up. Of course she picked all the dishes that were supplemental charges on top of the hefty pre-fixed tab. This girl was going to be expensive to court.