The Night We Met

by Rinyu, Beth

  “Vous êtes une très belle femme.” My mother’s husband pounced on Emmeline, grabbing her hand and moving it to his lips.

  Emmeline blushed, taking a step back and pressing herself into me. “And, I barely passed those four years of French and don’t remember a thing.” She flashed Pierre a sympathetic smile. I hated that she felt like she owed them an apology for their lack of manners.

  “Understood.” Pierre’s smile was an annoyingly flirtatious one. “You are a very beautiful woman,” he translated in a thick French accent with his dark, beady eyes sweeping up and down her body. My hand slid down to Emmeline’s waist, cautioning Pierre’s unwanted attention. My mother obviously had no problem with his wandering eyes, and neither did I as long as they weren’t focused on Emmeline. After I was satisfied that I had gotten my point across to him, I wasted no time ordering a gin and tonic for myself and a glass of chardonnay for Emmeline. This night was going to warrant alcohol if I was going to make it through the entire dinner, and I questioned my sanity for even subjecting Emmeline to it.

  Dinner was filled with my mother’s endless chatter of all the places she had visited within the last year. It amazed me how she managed to dominate the entire conversation, making it all about herself, never once asking to see what I had been up to in that time. Emmeline once again was a good sport, ignoring my mother’s subtle digs she’d get in or turning them around on her by making a joke out of them, leaving my mother at a loss for words. Pierre slammed down the Scotch and had visibly become drunker and audibly much louder as the night went on, almost to the point of embarrassment.

  “And you should see how big the baby is getting. I can’t believe he’s a year old already. He reminds me so much of you and your—”

  I shot my mother a dagger across the table, causing her to stop midsentence. I couldn’t believe she was bringing this up to me and especially in front of Emmeline. I shook my head and threw the linen napkin that had been on my lap throughout dinner on the table, never unlocking my eyes from my mother’s.

  “Aww. Whose baby?” Emmeline asked innocently then cleared her throat upon noticing the tension that was looming between my mother and me. Her hand reached under the table and she found mine, giving it a gentle squeeze.

  “My grandson.” My mother continued with her cold gaze still fixed steadily on me.

  “Oh.” Emmeline seemed surprised, turning her head to me for some sort of explanation as to why I had never mentioned this mystery child to her.

  My mother had brought me to a place I didn’t want to go to, not with anyone and especially not with Emmeline. She knew this was a topic of conversation that was off-limits, but she had to go there. Poking and prodding until she pushed me past the point of no return. I despised her in that moment, and maybe I even despised her long before then. She knew what she was doing almost as if she had been waiting the entire night, waiting for the right time to strike and rip open the flesh from those old wounds.

  “Not only are you a poor excuse for a mother, but you’re a poor excuse for a human being. I am done with this dinner, and I am done with you.”

  I reached into my wallet, pulled out a few hundred-dollar bills, and threw them on the table, watching Emmeline’s eyes light up in shock. I stood up and Emmeline did the same.

  “What did I say wrong, Lukas? It’s been almost two years. You’re obviously moving on with your life.” She focused her attention to Emmeline and raised an eyebrow. “So why are you—”

  “Enough!” I snapped, feeling all of the blood rushing to my face as every last bit of self-control I had faded away. Emmeline grabbed my arm and ushered me away from the table, and I held my breath until we were outside, away from her venom.

  “Lukas. Lukas.” Emmeline took my face in her hands, breaking me from my fury. Her cornflower blue eyes were the only source of clarity on a night filled with so much darkness.

  “I-I’m so sorry,” I muttered.

  “No, no, please don’t be sorry. You didn’t do anything wrong.” She took my hands and stood on her tippy-toes, planting a kiss on my cheek. “I’m not really sure what happened in there, and if you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine. But if you ever need someone to vent to about it, I’m here.”

  I moved my head closer to hers, so close that our foreheads were almost touching. Staring down at her in silence, I wondered how this woman I had picked up in a bar, neither of us expecting any more than a one-night hookup, was slowly becoming someone so important to me. Someone who brightened my day with just the sound of her voice or the sight of her name appearing across my phone with one of her silly text messages. Someone whose smile made me smile in return. Someone I had never expected to need more and more with each passing day.

  Chapter 21

  Emme

  WE WENT BACK to Lukas’ hotel room and allowed all the tension that had been created throughout dinner to be released. Starting in the elevator on the way up with a simple kiss and ending in his hotel bed as we lay together with our naked bodies tangled together, amongst the wrinkled sheets, reveling in the sexual high we were both sill on. I rested my head in the nook of his shoulder, inhaling the woodsy fragrance of his cologne, which was quickly becoming my most favorite scent in the world. He gently twisted strands of my hair around his finger, and I closed my eyes, knowing there was nowhere else I wanted to be at the particular moment. Thoughts of the evening crept back into my mind. His mother seemed so cold, lacking any maternal instinct whatsoever. She spoke down to me, even when she was trying to sound nice. I didn’t take offense because I had a feeling that’s how she treated everyone. The way she exchanged a few bits of conversation in French with her husband while Lukas went to the restroom, causing them both a good laugh at my expense, I was sure of that.

  “Oh, Emmeline, I’m so sorry. I forgot you don’t speak French.” She smirked like the mean girl in high school.

  “That’s okay. I’m quite certain I’m better off not knowing what was said.” I raised an eyebrow, trying to match her sneer, pretty sure it wasn’t even remotely close.

  No one was up to her standards and that feeling trickled down to her standards for her son, and in a way she was right. Maybe she saw right through me. Through this whole charade I was playing, leading her son down the path to a broken heart. Little did she know, I was headed right there too. But if I was being honest, it wasn’t a charade. At least my feelings for him weren’t. I truly did care about him...a lot, and I wasn’t sure if that made it better or worse. Her husband was the stereotypical rich businessman who used his money to lure women into bed. It wasn’t for his looks, and definitely not his personality. He made me uncomfortable the moment my hand met his dry, cracked lips. I was so thankful that Lukas took charge in a subtle but firm way, causing him to back off.

  Then there was the grand finale. The baby. Whose baby? Lukas’? Did he have a child back in Germany? My mind was reeling, almost wishing it to be true, and that would be his secret he was keeping from me, so I didn’t feel as bad about the one I was keeping from him. He was visibly shaken and undeniably angry when she brought it up. As much as I wanted to know, I didn’t press. It was obviously a sore subject for him, and I wasn’t going to add to it by forcing him to talk about it.

  “When I was ten years old, I went on a holiday to Provence with my father and his wife.” Lukas’ voice was a mere whisper. “My father’s wife planned a trip to a lavender field.”

  “Oh wow! That’s always been at the top of my bucket list.”

  “I didn’t want to go.” He let out a slight chuckle. “I thought it was the stupidest thing at the time. I bitched and moaned about it, but my father made me.” He paused for a moment, turning on his side to face me. “It was…it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen in my life. It was so unexpected. Even at ten years old I was certain I’d never see anything that beautiful again in my entire life…until I looked into your eyes for the very first time.”

  I caught my breath and choked down the ball of fire fo
rming in my throat.

  “You’re a lot like that lavender field, Emmeline, beautiful and unexpected. And just like I was so happy my father forced me into going that day, I’m so happy you dropped your driver’s license that morning, allowing me to find you again.”

  I smiled, blinking back the tears. “Me too.” My voice wavered.

  I wanted to say I wished that’s how the story ended and that we all lived happily ever after. As much as I wanted to tell him the truth, I couldn’t. I wanted to live in that moment once again. It was selfish on my part, I knew it, but he made me happy. The thought of what could’ve been if I hadn’t seen him in my sister’s office that day and he had just shown up at the bar the night with my license. What could have been? What if I hadn’t had coffee with Bridgette that day? What if my head hadn’t turned at the precise moment he walked out of the elevator, allowing me to recognize him? He would’ve still shown up with my license in hand asking for my number. We would be together like a normal couple. Like he thought us to be. Without this massive lie I had popped between us. It was like a snowball getting bigger and bigger each time we were together, and I didn’t know how to stop it from forming before the avalanche caved everything in. Actually, I did, but I knew what that would mean to me…to us, and I couldn’t—not yet.

  Instead, I whispered, “Let’s go there sometime…to that lavender field.”

  “I’d loved to go with you.” He pulled my body on top of his and my hair draped over him. “How did this happen?” he asked.

  “What?”

  “Us.”

  “I don’t know, but let’s not question it. Any of it. Let’s just be...happy.”

  He gazed up at me thoughtfully through his long lashes. Letting me know he was in agreement with my plan, turning me on my back and hovering over me with my hands pinned under his, as we prepared to make love once again.

  _______________

  After awaking to the bright sunlight streaming in, I hopped in the shower, hoping by the time I was done, room service would have arrived with breakfast—mainly coffee. I rubbed the towel through my wet hair and wrapped myself in the terrycloth hotel robe, happy to find the covered trays of food waiting on the table. Lukas looked statuesque, standing on the terrace, wearing just his shorts with his back toward me as he looked out at the city. The warm summer breeze greeted me as I stepped onto the terrace. I sucked it in, never able to get enough of it. I loved the warm weather, and if I had it my way, I probably would be living in a place where it was summer all year round. But the thought of packing up and leaving a place I had called home my entire life...and my dad, was intimidating. Lukas startled when I snuck up behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist. “Coffee?” I whispered against his bare back.

  “Uh...yeah.” He turned around, seeming like he was a million miles away with the weight of the world resting upon his shoulders.

  “Everything okay?” I asked.

  “Yeah.” He nodded a little too overenthusiastically to be convincing.

  “It’s a beautiful day.” My eyes swept across the picture-perfect skyline view from the terrace.

  “Yeah. It really is.” His tone was flat and listless. I sucked in a deep breath. “Did you want to do something?” All the energy he’d been lacking from just moments ago had suddenly returned with him even managing a remnant of a smile.

  “Oh yeah, sure! But don’t you have to work today?”

  “Nah. I can do what I need to do from my laptop later on.”

  I was beyond thrilled to be spending this gorgeous day with him, and the fact he was taking a day off to spend it with me made it even more special.

  After finishing up breakfast, I put on my dress from the night before and waited for Lukas to shower. We were going to head back to my place so I could change, and then decide what to do from there. I flopped down on the bed and pulled out my phone to check my messages.

  Myra: How was last night? Did you impress Mommy Dearest?

  Alison: Hey, Em! Call me so we can get together soon. Miss you. xoxo

  Bridgette: Call me ASAP.

  My stomach churned at that last one. No doubt she had spoken to my father, and he had filled her in about where I had gone last night, and who I was meeting. The longer I stared at her text message, the angrier I became. Call me ASAP. I could just hear her saying it in that demanding voice of hers, the same one I’d always submit to. “No, I won’t call you!” I overzealously hit the little trash can icon on my phone, making her message disappear. If only I could make this whole mess that I created disappear that easily.

  I stood up and crossed the room, readying to step outside on the terrace for some fresh air, when Lukas’ phone pinged with a text message on the table right beside me. I froze and my eyes diverted to the lit-up screen, unable to make out anything that was in the text, which appeared to be in German. The only thing I could decipher was the name of the person sending it: Hannah. My stomach knotted, and I was overcome with a twinge of jealousy. This was just stupid. I didn’t even know who this Hannah person was. For all I knew it could be someone from his work. And why did I care anyway? This whole thing we had together would be over once he went back to Germany and found out the whole truth. What right did I have to get angry at him if he had lied to me about not having a girlfriend after the ruse I was allowing to linger between us with each passing day?

  Nope, I didn’t care. If anything, it would make it easier if he did have a girlfriend waiting for him back home. Easier for me to let him go. Easier for me to look him in the eye when the truth came out. Who was I kidding? It wouldn’t make it less painful because the bottom line was, I had feelings for him. Strong ones. The water was still running in the bathroom, and I was ashamed of what I was about to do, but that humiliation was short-lived. I grabbed my phone and opened the camera app, snapping a picture of the text, so I could put it into my Internet translator when I got a moment alone. Part of me wanted to know who Hannah was, the other part not really wanting to know at all.

  Lukas and I decided on a picnic in Central Park. I packed us lunch when I stopped home to change and we settled in the Sheep Meadow, a fifteen-acre section of the park that was once used to flock sheep back in the day but was now a quiet place to picnic, sunbathe, or just a relaxing refuge from the hustle and bustle of the city. I broke a grape from the vine and popped it into Lukas’ mouth then rested my head on his shoulder and people-watched. I wasn’t sure if it was the warm sunshine shrouding my face, the safety of Lukas’ arms around me, or knowing he had blown off work just to be with me that made my heart swell. “So, what’s your favorite color?” I asked.

  “That’s an odd question.” He shifted ever so slightly, causing me to remove my head from the comfort of his shoulder. I gazed up at him, squinting to shield my eyes from the bright sunlight.

  “Maybe, but it just occurred to me that I don’t know that about you.”

  “I don’t know. Blue…I guess.” He pulled out a blade of grass and rolled it between his fingers before throwing it down on the ground. “Because that’s the color of your eyes.” He leaned over and playfully kissed my cheek.

  “Oh, aren’t you just so sweet?” I teased.

  “I can be…sometimes.”

  Yes. He definitely could be. A lot of times. Something I never thought possible when we first met.

  “Okay, now it’s your turn. What’s one thing you don’t know about me that you’d like to?”

  He stared straight ahead, deep in thought. “Hmm…there’s a lot of things I’d like to know, but one thing…let me think.”

  I began to have an internal battle while he pondered his request. What if he asked me something I didn’t want to answer, like my sister’s name for instance? I was so stupid for starting up this game with him when there was so much about me I couldn’t reveal to him.

  “What’s your biggest regret in life?”

  Was he reading my mind or something? My biggest regret was not being honest with him from the start and allowing
this charade I was playing to snowball and take on a life of its own. That was my perfect opportunity to come clean, but since I had another regret that measured right up along with that one, I chose to go with that instead. “Well, I have a few, but one that comes to mind at the moment.” I sighed heavily, battling the lump in my throat. “I never went to see the musical Beautiful.”

  He chuckled. “What? That’s hardly a regret. You live in New York, you can see it anytime.”

  I shook my head, this time releasing the burn in my throat via my tears. “I’m sorry…”

  He grabbed my hand. “No, I am. Why are you crying?”

  “My mother was a huge Carole King fan. That’s whose life the musical is based on. We always talked about going to see it, but never got around to it because life got too busy...mainly mine.” I grabbed a napkin and dabbed the tears that were now streaming down my face. “Just hours before she passed away, she made me promise I’d go see it for her. I still haven’t been able to bring myself to go.”

  “Emmeline, I’m so sorry for asking you that question.” He rested his lips on the top of my head.

  “Don’t be.” I intertwined my fingers in his. “Someday, I’m going to see it for her. I know it sounds weird, but I feel like I just need to work the courage up to do it.”

  He gazed at me thoughtfully. “Not weird at all.”

  _______________

  The beautiful sunshine from earlier in the day gave in to a ferocious thunderstorm lurking its ugly head, waiting to usher the humidity back in with it. We almost made it back to Lukas’ hotel before the skies opened up, but didn’t end up being so lucky. We couldn’t control our laughter when we entered his room, both of us looking like drenched rats. I closed the door behind me and froze for a moment, watching him with his back toward me, lifting his wet shirt over his head. Another set of memories was made today, memories I’d cherish forever because, in the end, that’s all I would have of him. I bit back the tears with that thought and had to look away for one brief second. Overcome with emotion, I rushed toward him and hugged him from behind. Resting my hands on his chest, I buried my face into his back, wanting to etch that moment into my mind forever. My lips trailed up his shoulder blade and he threw his head back before turning around and taking my face in his hands. “We’ll always remember today,” I whispered as he gazed down at me with beads of water dripping from his hair.