by J. L. Ryan
Chapter 4
Jennifer practically snuck out of the hotel the next morning to leave for the airport. Not sure why she didn’t want to run into anyone, particularly Lorenzo, she was packed and driving away almost before the resort starting serving breakfast. Apparently she wasn’t the only one attempting to escape unnoticed. As she entered the airport lobby she spotted his tall, dark head of hair at the check-in counter. The silly, flirty looks the airline attendant was giving him made Jennifer roll her eyes. Lorenzo could always turn seemingly normal women into acting like gaga teenagers drooling over him. In college it had been entertaining to watch. Now, she was just annoyed.
Momentarily he turned around and caught her staring at him. Flashing that swoon-worthy smile he walked over on the pretense of helping with her luggage. “Hope you remembered my shirt when you packed this morning,” he joked. They compared airline itineraries and discovered they were on the same flight to Reagan National. Appearing happy about the situation, Lorenzo proceeded through the line with her to the check-in counter where he requested a seat change for her so they could sit together in first class. The same attendant as before did not seem thrilled to fulfill his request. Jennifer stifled a giggle as the woman banged away on her computer terminal to make the switch.
They had plenty of time to stroll to the concourse as the flight wasn’t for another two hours. Lorenzo suggested stopping for coffee and muffins. Jennifer agreed to the coffee. “Are you still not eating breakfast? No wonder you are so tiny,” he remarked. Two tall vanilla lattes later, they were seated in the terminal with nothing to say. In silence they sipped their coffees and stared out the window waiting on their flight to arrive.
Finally, Lorenzo broke the silence by saying, “Listen. You know my situation and I know yours. Neither of us is looking for a relationship, but I really do miss your friendship. I was kind of hoping we could keep in touch more, especially now that we know we live in the same metro area. Also, we could help each other out of awkward situations, like going to weddings or events without the stress of someone thinking it was a real date.” Jennifer nodded her head in agreement and looked up into his chocolate eyes. Having a sexy standby, go-to date was the perfect solution. She stuck her hand out to shake his to seal the agreement, but he leaned in and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.
The return flight went quickly as they discussed a myriad of topics. He spoke mostly about his son and his genetically-inherited love of soccer. She discussed her work at the hospital and how she wished she had more time for research since she felt a big breakthrough was just around the corner. Before they knew it, the fasten seatbelts sign lit up and the airplane descended. Having the window seat, Jennifer always enjoyed the arrival into this particular airport as it gave the illusion that the plane was about to crash into the Potomac River right before landing safely on the thin strip of land.
After retrieving their luggage, Jennifer made to give him a swift goodbye hug. Instead she found herself in a giant bear hug. Neither really wanted to let go. Saying goodbye, they headed their separate ways. Lorenzo to the parking garage to drive back to the DC suburb of Warrenton, VA. Jennifer to the Metro station to take the train into the District.
Jennifer’s thoughts remained on Lorenzo the entire ride back to the station closest to her Georgetown condo. It was a long walk from there in the humid weather with the clouds overhead, threatening rain. She didn’t notice though. Her mind ran over the events of the past couple days. Never in the last few years had she allowed herself to daydream. She was just too busy for that. Nevertheless, as a spattering of rain drops began to fall Jennifer didn’t even notice as she replayed the Sinatra song dance over and over in her mind. She blushed at the memory of her skinny dipping escapade. But the image that kept asserting itself was of Lorenzo smiling wickedly at her as they played pool. Her skin still felt the faint trace of where his fingers had brushed against her back unzipping her dress. Perhaps agreeing to be each other’s go-to wedding date had not been the greatest idea.
Chapter 5
Jennifer resumed her normal schedule and didn’t hear from Lorenzo for a couple of weeks. Trying to justify her increased interest in Facebook, she lied to herself that she wasn’t really just seeing if there were any messages from him. She was genuinely interested in everyone’s pet pictures and what they had for dinner. Then one stormy evening as she was relaxing after a long day at the hospital with a cup of herbal tea and a bowl of sugary kids’ cereal, her Facebook page finally indicated she had a message. Surprisingly, she could feel her heart beating faster in her chest when she saw that it was indeed from Lorenzo with an apology for not contacting her sooner. He indicated that he wasn’t really comfortable communicating via social media and requested her number instead, or at least a viable email account. He included his full contact information in the message so she took out her cell phone and plugged in his information after sending a quick reply with her own information.
Later that night as she was just getting out of the shower the phone rang. No one ever called her except the hospital so she assumed it was the dreaded “There’s a patient in distress” or worse call. Without glancing at the caller id, she answered and was delighted to hear the deep, husky voice of Lorenzo. Jennifer was surprised he called her so soon after she sent her contact information. Still wearing a towel and her hair dripping wet, she sat down on her bed to chat.
Hours later she was still wearing a towel with her hair dried naturally wavy and tousled. They had talked about everything and nothing, it seemed. When Jennifer happened to glance over at the clock she was shocked to see it was well past midnight. As she tried to say goodbye, Lorenzo surprised her again by stating there was a particular reason for his call. He needed a date. His son’s teacher was getting married. His son really wanted to go to the wedding, but Lorenzo dreaded the matchmaking that would go on if he showed up without a female companion. Every one of Raphael’s teachers and room moms seemed to make setting him up with any available female in the school district as their personal goal in life. He hated it! “Please, please, pretty please,” he begged, “save me from this impending disaster!” Laughing at his predicament, she tried to play coy with her answer just to tease him. Ultimately showing pity, Jennifer agreed. She wrote down the date and time on her whiteboard in the kitchen and made a mental note to double check her schedule at work. Jokingly thanking her for saving his life, he said good night. Once she hung up the phone, doubt set in. Not only was she going to another wedding with him. She was also going there with his son. Jennifer wished she had thought of that before saying “yes”.
As it turned out, she wasn’t scheduled to work the day in question so no backing out that way. Her supervisor, Jacob, was somewhat taken aback when he later asked her to attend a hospital fundraising event at the Mayflower Hotel that same evening. Teasing her about finally getting a social life, he mildly suggested that he hoped she still had time for her research. The comment was completely uncalled for but had its intended effect by making Jennifer doubt herself. “Was it really necessary that she spend her time helping out an old friend, who quite frankly should be getting set up on dates in order to meet someone and provide a mother-figure for Raphael,” she thought. “Perhaps it was selfish of her to want to spend time away from the hospital or anything benefitting the hospital when saving children’s lives with her research was the most important thing in the world.” After mulling it over, she had almost convinced herself to cancel with Lorenzo. However, when she tried to call him to tell him so, he sounded so excited and grateful she was going to be there with him that Jennifer didn’t have the heart to turn him down.
Not having a car since living in DC, on the date of the teacher’s wedding, she took the Metro to the subway station farthest west of the city. Lorenzo would pick her up there. To avoid walking the many blocks to the Metro station in painful high heels, she slipped her comfy sneakers on and packed the heels away in an oversized designer purse her mother had given her for Christmas. T
he vision of a petite woman in a pale green sundress and sneakers must have been amusing because Lorenzo starting chuckling as soon as he saw her emerge from the station. “Cut it out, meathead, or I’m turning around and getting back on that train,” she threatened.
“ Hey, Dad! You going to let her get away with calling you that?” said a robust little boy voice. Lorenzo was so tall she hadn’t even seen the little boy behind him. He was a perfect miniature of his father with dark olive skin and jet black hair that was a little too long and kept falling over his large, almond-shaped eyes. He was dressed in a khaki pants, with a button-down shirt and even a clip on tie. The perfect little man, except for the dirt-smudged sneakers on his feet. “My kind of kid,” she thought. She wondered how much Lorenzo had argued with the boy to get him in the dress clothes.
Lorenzo laughed and replied, “Yes, I will let it slip this once since she is a lady and we should always show them respect.” With that he introduced his son and the little man reached out to shake her hand. Being a little Casanova himself, the boy adeptly turned her hand so he could bend over to kiss the top. Jennifer thanked him and complimented him on his attire and manners. He, in turn, commented on her brand of sneakers since apparently they were not the “in” brand of his generation. As the two continued to debate the finer aspects of various sneaker brands, Lorenzo escorted them back to the car.
To say Raphael was charming was indeed an understatement. He entertained Jennifer the entire ride to the church where the wedding was to take place. She was so captivated by him she forgot to change her shoes in the car. As she stepped out of Lorenzo’s white Chevy SUV, he made a little “hmm hmm” noise. When she looked up at him oblivious to the problem, he started laughing. This time Raphael jumped in to scold his father for laughing at a lady. After thanking her little hero, she finally noticed the issue and started laughing herself. This seemed to confuse the boy. After his brave defense of the pretty lady, she was now laughing. When she sat back down in the car and pulled out her high heels to change he was even more shocked. How could one explain to a five year old boy that he could get away with wearing sneakers to a wedding but a lady could not? Raphael just rolled his eyes and said “Whatever”.
As they walked arm in arm towards the church, Jennifer admired her escort out of the corner of her eye. Lorenzo looked dapper in a light grey suit and plum colored silk tie. His hair had grown longer since the wedding in Cocoa Beach and fell over his right eye hiding a small scar just below his eye brow. Jennifer recalled him explaining the scar to her one night. When he was ten years old, an opposing team player was angry at losing a game and in the last second of the game kicked the ball as hard as he could right at Lorenzo’s face, splitting the skin above his eye. Just before walking into the church, she reached up to brush the hair away from his eyes and unconsciously allowed her finger to lightly trace the scar.
As soon as they entered Jennifer felt that all eyes were on them. At least all the females in the room were looking at Lorenzo and sizing her up. He may not realize it but she could tell some of those females weren’t too happy to see another woman on his arm. Lorenzo, on the other hand, saw more than a few envious stares from the attending men. He knew he had a hottie on his arm and he enjoyed the satisfaction of knowing that this fetching beauty was with him. Just friends or not, he was still proud to be seen with Jennifer whether she was in sneakers, a formal dress, or just his shirt. The image of her wearing his shirt coming off the beach had haunted him ever since that night. Attempting to shake off the vision, as they were in a church and that could only lead to “un-churchly” thoughts, he moved to shake hands with some of the gentlemen in the foyer and to introduce his date.
They were ushered into the crowded sanctuary by an elderly gentlemen and took their places in a middle row. Luckily the ceremony started soon after their arrival as Jennifer was feeling awkward having so many people looking her over She knew they were evaluating in their minds if she was good enough for the handsome man next to her. Some, she noticed, frowned. Others gave a small grin of approval. However, there was more than one that gave her an outright evil look. The buxom blonde in the third row was obviously not happy with her presence. Sweet-natured Raphael kept leaning over to point out and whisper the names of everyone he knew. The blonde in question was the teacher’s assistant in his class.
The ceremony was beautiful and much longer and formal than Jacy’s wedding had been. Raphael was well-mannered and remained quiet and observant the entire time. Too bad the three preteens in the back row weren’t so well-mannered. When the ceremony was over, they went back to the car to drive to the local country club for the reception. Raphael resumed his constant chatter with Jennifer. He pointed out his school and his team’s soccer practice field. He described, in detail, his last game where he scored the winning goal against his arch rival Landon. The boy definitely had spunk and character. Jennifer already loved him and they had only been together for an hour or more.
The reception was held at an antebellum-looking house overlooking a pristine golf course. There were tennis courts adjacent to the building and a pool with colorful winding slides behind it. After dinner the children were taken to another room in the building where they could play arcade games or use the indoor basketball courts while the adults stayed in the banquet hall for dancing and drinks. Several people came over to introduce themselves, including the teacher/bride. One sweet middle-aged woman, who had already had a bit too much wine with dinner, commented that Raphael’s dad had outdone himself with his date and that she shouldn’t mind the other women there giving her jealous stares. Laughing, Jennifer agreed wholeheartedly. However, she was shocked when the blonde teacher assistant strutted over, and without acknowledging Jennifer’s presence, asked Lorenzo to dance. He was stunned as well and indicated he already promised his date a dance. With that, he led Jennifer to the small dance floor as the music changed from some hip-hop number to a more subdued soft rock ballad. Trying not to giggle, Jennifer glanced over at the blonde woman who had stormed off.
The rest of the evening, Lorenzo and Jennifer kept mostly to themselves. Dancing when it was a slow tune and sitting out the club dance music. Raphael came bounding into the room again when he tired of the game room. Deciding it was time to leave, they again congratulated the bride and groom and made a beeline out the door. Once outside, Lorenzo issued a genuine sigh of relief it was over. Jennifer now understood why he had needed her tonight – to fend off the hordes of women wanting to throw themselves at him. “Must be a tough life,” she thought as she started to giggle. Raphael just looked confused. He was so cute at that moment, Jennifer had to resist the urge to pinch his little cheeks. She was pretty sure he would not appreciate that.
The little boy seemed genuinely upset when they arrived back at the Metro station for Jennifer to catch her ride home. Looking into his sad face, so much like his father’s, she promised it would not be the last time they would see each other. Surprising even herself, she asked him for a hug which he gladly provided. The look on Lorenzo’s face as she shyly glanced up through her eye lashes, was a mixture of sadness and pride. Jennifer imagined he would give anything to have Raphael’s mother here to give him hugs. Standing on tiptoe, as she had quickly reclaimed the sneakers when they had left the reception so was lacking the added height from the heels, she gave Lorenzo a quick kiss on the cheek while holding onto his hand so as not to topple from the effort. Being so tall, she was truly on the tips of her toes. He, in turn, held the tips of her fingers a little than necessary as if not wanting to let go. With a reassuring smile, Jennifer turned towards the Metro station to leave.
Chapter 6
Lorenzo sent a thank you message to her via Facebook the next day with an emoticon of flowers. After that Jennifer didn’t hear from him for over a week. She tried to convince herself she wasn’t disappointed and refocused all her energies on her patients.
A new protocol she had designed was showing positive results for a couple of her younger pati
ents in the earlier cancer stages. Unfortunately, it had been too little too late for one young boy in the more advanced stages of lymphoma. It had been an incredibly difficult day as she dealt with his loss. Jennifer kept chastising herself for not developing the protocol sooner so she could’ve saved him. Jacob, after seeing her distress, ordered her to take the rest of the day off. Several hours were spent running to rid herself of her demons. The ones that tormented her every time she lost a patient.
She heard her phone ringing as she approached the door to her condo. Unable to unlock the door fast enough, she missed the call. Checking caller id, she recognized Lorenzo’s number. The voicemail indicator came on and she pushed the button to listen. He had just heard from their mutual friend Kyle in Dallas. His wedding date was set for the first week in December. The official invitations would be in the mail soon but he suggested booking the flight and hotel sooner rather than later. His fiancé had just discovered there was a convention of certified public accountants in the same hotel as the wedding. He ended by jokingly asking if she was up for yet another wedding.
Not in the mood to think happy thoughts that should always go along with weddings, Jennifer postponed calling him back until later that night. Despite trying to sound cheerful, Lorenzo sensed something was off. Changing his manner of voice from jovial to concerned, he asked what was wrong. She didn’t mean to have a meltdown but was unable to say the words without her voice shaking and tears springing to her eyes again. She hadn’t lost a patient in months and this time it really hit her hard. He listened sympathetically and tried say reassuring words of comfort. His heart ached for her as the agonizing pain in her voice was clearly evident.