Alisa rolled her big blue eyes. “I’ve been with lots of guys. It doesn’t matter how blonde I am, how perfect my body is, or how much hot sex we have, they all get bored or obnoxious eventually. Men are just toys that shouldn’t be taken seriously.” She shrugged. “If you want to let some boy ruin your reputation, that’s on you.” She turned back to her computer and continued her work. Numbed by shock, Rakell stood staring at Alisa for a while. Alisa ignored her. The phone on Alisa’s desk rang. Alisa put on her pageant queen voice and cheerleader smile and picked up the receiver. “Faculty offices. This is Alisa. How may I help you?” Rakell finally walked away. When she reached the glass exit doors, Alisa called out to her. “Your skirt is wrinkled in the back, Professor Dunn.”
Rakell continued out the door without looking back. As she walked across campus to her car she was sure everyone walking around her was seeing her crumpled skirt and realizing exactly what she’d been doing in her office that afternoon. Mortified, she smoothed her hand down the back of her skirt and hurried to the parking lot.
Home, Rakell lay in bed suffering from a terrible stress headache. How the hell could Alisa get that insulted by my joke when she’s the one that insults everyone around her with her blunt, insensitive comments on a daily basis? Maybe the reason you can’t keep a man, Alisa, is because you’re a rude, conceited one-dimensional slut! It didn’t matter that Alisa was being a bitter bitch. The girl had dirt on Rakell and Jerzy.
The thought of telling Jerzy of the danger they might be in made Rakell’s head throb and her heart ache. She didn’t want Jerzy to get hurt. She didn’t want to lose him.
They’d both been stupid to fool around at school. Whatever consequences resulted from their carelessness they would have to take it sitting down.
However, it was possible that Alisa would keep her mouth shut. Maybe Alisa just wanted Rakell to know she had the upper hand so that Rakell would think twice about insulting her again.
Jerzy didn’t need to hear her speculation about Alisa. Rakell would spare him the worry. If she found out something more definite, she would let him know. For now, she wanted nothing more than to enjoy him tonight. If she was going to have a grenade thrown into her personal life as soon as tomorrow, she wanted some good memories to hold onto in the aftermath.
Jerzy, wearing a white, long-sleeved button-down and black designer jeans, took Rakell’s hand as she stepped out of the passenger seat of his black Camaro. She was his fantasy made flesh, in a smooth black dress with long sleeves, shiny black high heels, and with her hair in a sleek chignon. Sexy, but sophisticated; his favorite flavors. Her brown skin was radiant, even under the dim lights in the alley beside the restaurant. Jerzy gave her his arm, she took it, and he walked them to the side door of the restaurant, accessible from the alley.
“Why didn’t we go through this door last time I came here?”
“That would have ruined my surprise, Sweetheart.”
Rakell grinned. She dropped her smile and squeezed his arm to get his attention before he unlocked the door. Her eyes twinkled with naughtiness. “I’m scared, Jerzy. I can’t be seen with you. I feel like I’m going to faint. Is there anything you can do to calm me down?”
Jerzy smirked. “Here. This might help.” He cornered her until her back was pressed against the door and kissed her, sucking at her bottom lip whilst his hand crept under her dress. He rubbed a circle on her inner thigh with his palm. Then his hand traveled higher. His fingertips slid across her skin along the top of her panties.
Rakell giggled against Jerzy’s mouth. “That tickles.” Jerzy’s hand slid lower and touched her intimately through the lacy fabric. “Mmm. That doesn’t tickle at all,” she whispered.
He slowly drew his hand and mouth away. “Let’s go to my place after dinner.”
She smiled. “Sounds good to me.”
Jerzy opened the side door and they stepped from the dark and empty alley into the bright bustling kitchen. Rakell immediately felt the change in energy. There was glistening stainless steel, billowing steam and blue flames, and the mouthwatering aroma of browning meat. The diverse restaurant crew, all in crisp white and black uniforms, flowed in, out and around the kitchen, their voices calling out dinner orders and instructions over one another. The activity seemed chaotic, but everyone in the crew was working together toward the goal of creating memorable food and service at Jerzy’s restaurant.
Jerzy introduced Rakell to Chef Anderson. He had long curly blond hair like a hippie and a dark handlebar mustache like a villain in a silent film. His individual style was a reflection of his unique creative talent in the kitchen. Even though the kitchen was busy and hectic, Chef Anderson happily took time out to give Rakell a lesson on how to create rose shapes with a piping bag. He filled the piping bag with garlic and truffle butter mashed potatoes and demonstrated how to hold the bag, where to apply pressure and how to move the tip to create a rose on the plate. He let Rakell have a try. Jerzy’s hand rested on the small of her back, a sign of his support and affection. Rakell concentrated and moved slowly with the piping bag, following Chef Anderson’s instructions. When she finished the rose, the chef gave her a high five and nodded at Jerzy. “She’s a natural,” Anderson smiled. “You’re not gonna replace me with her are you?” He winked.
“I don’t think I can pull off that mustache,” Rakell joked. Anderson laughed and wiggled his whiskers.
Jerzy’s hand was ever-present at her back as he guided her through the kitchen. They watched the cooks flip and toss food from the pans into the air. As they continued through, Jerzy pulled a waiter aside and told him to get two place settings ready in the Blue Room. Rakell got to see prep cooks kneading fresh dough and feeding it into the pasta machine to be flattened into sheets and cut into circles for dumplings and pierogi. The dessert kitchen was a sugary wonderland. Jerzy introduced Rakell to Chef Pillet who was making chocolate garnishes. Using white and milk chocolate, he created anything from flames and lightning bolts, to lip prints and butterflies that would top the cakes, ice creams, crepes and mousses served at Smak.
Chef Pillet smiled at Rakell. “How is your name spelled, mademoiselle?” The chef wrote her name in chocolate on a silicone baking sheet. Once the chocolate cooled and set, he carefully lifted it from the sheet and handed to her. Rakell held it in her palm and admired the delicate flourishes of each letter of her name written in dark chocolate.
“It’s beautiful,” she smiled, and then took a big bite out of it.
Chef Pillet laughed. “I like her, Mr. JP!”
Rakell blushed. “I’m a little hungry.”
Jerzy laughed as well and rubbed her back. “I hear ya. I’ve got dinner waiting for us in the private dining room.”
The private dining room, called the Blue Room, was as the name described. The walls were a vibrant sky blue. The tray ceiling was stenciled with blue silhouettes of jungle animals in motion. The long antique dining table was topped with a custom-cut pane of indigo blue glass and the regal high back chairs were painted chrome blue. Even the lit candlesticks were blue. White and silver details throughout the room softened the intensity of so much blue; white flowers on the table, silver candleholders, and white sconces.
Jerzy smiled at Rakell’s amazed expression. “You like it?”
“Yes! It’s stunning! Like something out of an art installation.”
He pulled out a chair for her. “It was my idea. I’ve been getting a lot of reservations for dinner parties in this private room ever since I had it redesigned.”
“You’re a brilliant man, Baby.” Rakell sat down.
“Thank you.” He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek after pushing in her chair. He poured two glasses of Merlot and uncovered one of two silver platters at their end of the table. Two warm plates of breaded pork cutlets, truffle mashed potatoes, and sweet and sour red cabbage. Getting their fill, they moved onto dessert. Jerzy removed the silver lid on the second platter to reveal a dessert of crepes filled with bananas in butt
er rum sauce. White chocolate and dark chocolate hearts and wedding rings were doodled all around the rim of their dessert plates.
“Awww, how cute!” Rakell squealed.
“I think Chef Pillet is trying to tell us something. I wonder what it is,” Jerzy joked.
Rakell took a bite of her dessert. “Yummmyyy! I think Chef Pillet was trying to tell you that I would marry him after a taste of this crepe.”
“I’m not going to let you go that easily.”
“Really?”
“Of course not. I’d have to kick him in his…croissant.”
“Ooo. Well at least you’re not gonna kick him in the baguette.”
“Whoa. A baguette? You’re way too generous. An éclair maybe.”
Rakell burst out laughing and exclaimed, “I love you!”
Jerzy smiled at her and studied her eyes, searching for truth in them. “I—”
“I mean that I love how you always make me smile,” Rakell interrupted, so as not to have the conversation move into awkward territory.
“I want you to smile every day. That’s how it should be. That’s my mission.”
“So far, mission accomplished.” She raised her wine glass.
“My brother took the night off, but my father is here. Would you like to be introduced?”
She shook her head. “Are you sure you want him to know about me?”
He leaned forward and held her gaze. “I’m not ashamed of you.”
She looked away from his green eyes and nodded. “I guess I should meet him tonight and get it over with.” She gulped down the remainder of her wine.
“It’ll be fine. Don’t worry. First, I want to show you my office.”
Down at the end of the hall from the blue room were three offices. Rakell read the nameplates on the two doors on the right wall of the hall, Yuri Piotrowsky and Michal Piotrowsky. She wondered which one was Jerzy’s dad and which one was his brother. On the left side of the hall was the door to Jerzy’s office. The décor matched the style of the restaurant. The office furniture was black, and the same red and white wallpaper decorated the walls. What personalized Jerzy’s office were the plants in two corners of the room and the pictures on the wall. Rakell felt his energy change when she took notice of the pictures. He pulled away from her when she began looking at the framed family photos of vacations, birthdays, holiday dinners, and graduations. “I’m going to check on my portfolio,” he said. He went to his computer and checked the status of his investments online.
Rakell wanted to ask him questions about the moments captured in the photos and about his stunning, stylish mother, but she could tell he would not be comfortable reminiscing. He was emotionally detached as his eyes scanned the computer screen. She went to him and sat gently on his lap. She kissed at his pouty mouth. Jerzy’s hand abandoned the computer mouse to grasp her waist. Rakell rested her head in the crook of his neck and played with the white pearly buttons on his white shirt. “I wish I had the happy family you had,” she confessed.
He sighed and rubbed her shoulder. “I wish you had that, too. But nothing lasts forever, and it hurts like hell when it ends.”
“It’s better to have loved. Right?”
“Maybe.”
“If something happens, and you and I aren’t able to be…what we are to each other, would you be satisfied that at least we met each other, shared laughs and comforting words and, I must add, had some great sex?”
“No.”
Rakell’s heart fell. She lifted her head from his shoulder and looked at him. “No?” She wanted him to say yes. She was trying to stay optimistic, to tell herself that if tonight was their last night together she would move on with her life a more complete person or some shit like that. She wanted to believe she wouldn’t feel empty or sad or lonely at all. Gratitude was what she wanted to feel when they came to the end of the road.
“I know I said that I wanted a dream world with you, but now I’m being moved to bring you into my reality, into my everyday life.”
Rakell immediately kissed him. God, do I love his mouth! The things it can do, and the things it can say… Rakell tried to break the furious kiss but Jerzy moved forward when she pulled backward, determined to keep possession of her lips with his. Determined not to get caught up in another embarrassing in-office session, Rakell eventually broke away. “You were saying?”
Jerzy licked at his lips. “I can’t profess my feelings for you to the entire city, but I can introduce my family to you so that you can have the true sense that you are important to me. We can go see my father across the hall right now. Ready?”
She nodded. “Nope.”
Jerzy laughed. “He’s harmless.”
Mr. Yuri Piotrowsky had a shaved head, pierced ears and dark brown eyes. In an all-black suit with a red pocket square, his look was intimidating. He looked up unsmiling when Jerzy and Rakell walked into his office.
“Hey Pop, this is Rakell. Rakell, this is my father Yuri.”
The tall man stood from his desk, met Rakell’s eyes and gave her a big smile. The smile transformed his face. He greeted her. “Hello, Beautiful.”
She shook his hand. “Hi. Nice to meet you, sir,” she said shyly.
He studied her eyes. “You’re older than my son, aren’t you?”
Rakell hesitated. Was she prepared to defend herself? “Yes, sir,” she answered, ending the awkward silence.
“May I ask what you do for a living?”
“I’m a college professor.”
“A teacher. Very admirable. I’m glad Jerzy’s with a woman who is mature and intelligent, unlike those girls he dated who wanted some kind of sugardaddy rather than a meaningful relationship with my son. He doesn’t deserve to be used. He’s a good man.”
“I couldn’t agree more.”
Yuri sat down on the corner of his big desk. His gaze moved back and forth from Rakell to his son. “I’ve been worried about my son ever since his mother passed away. He opened Smak in Halina’s memory, but he approached it as a business venture. He committed to it in his mind and not his heart. I don’t mean to shame you, Jerzy, by saying that, not at all.”
Jerzy nodded.
“I’ve noticed lately that my son has had a spark of warmth again, like he had when his mother was here. His attitude has changed. He’s excited about the restaurant, he’s been experimenting with new menu items, and even interacting more with the customers. I’ve seen him asking our customers about how to improve their experience so that they can feel welcomed the way my late wife welcomed everyone around her dinner table. I can see that Jerzy’s heart is in it one hundred percent. I now see why. He’s moving on from the pain of the past and believing in a brighter future, thanks to you. You woke up his heart, Miss Rakell.”
Her hands were shaking. She was already astonished that Jerzy’s father had nothing negative to say about her. Hearing from him that Jerzy was happier because of her was unbelievable. She only saw herself as a woman holding Jerzy back and putting him in harm’s way. What had she done to deserve this praise? “If—” She had to stop and clear the lump from her throat. “If that’s true, I’m happy I’ve been a positive influence on your son and your family’s beautiful restaurant.”
Jerzy kissed her temple. “Of course it’s true,” he whispered.
Rakell fought back tears. “You’re very kind, Mr. Piotrowsky.”
“I hope that we can all have dinner together soon as a family, with my other son, his wife and my two grandchildren. Halina would have liked something like that.”
“I’d love that. Thank you.”
Jerzy brought Rakell to his penthouse. The apartment was clean and airy, and a mix of modern and traditional design. The view of the cityscape through the wall of windows in the living area was breathtaking. Dark and light grays and white were the main paint colors throughout the open floor plan. A red brick wall, brown leather couches, circular lamp shades, and round rugs softened and warmed the space. Wordlessly, Jerzy took her hand and led he
r to his bedroom. The view of the city in his bedroom was more magnificent than in the living room. The entire wall behind his spacious bed was glass. The shades were open, allowing in the view of the darkened buildings around them. There was just enough light from the waning moon to illuminate the room. Jerzy slid his hands down her sleeved arms and grasped her soft hands. He pulled her towards him. Rakell moved her hips in a brief salsa step as she neared him. He smiled and lifted her hands to his shoulders. She locked her fingers behind his neck and their bodies pressed together.
Jerzy tilted his head and studied her face. “You are so sexy. Remind me to take you out dancing.”
“That would be fun,” Rakell smiled. She dropped one hand from the nape of his neck and rubbed her hand in a circle on his firm behind. “I already know that you can move your hips,” she whispered.
Profess Your Love Page 8