by Leah Holden
So, facing an uncertain future, I did what any reasonable woman could be expected to do and slumped even further into depression.
And then halfway through the fourth week since our initial coffee meet up and escapades down by the lake, Jared phoned.
“Hello, stranger.”
The smooth voice reminded me of melted dark chocolate. Tempting, delicious—extremely hard to resist.
“Hi there! This is a surprise,” I said trying to sound cool but I was really shocked by the unexpected call.
“I called earlier,” he said. “Did you get the message?”
“Oh, that was you? My Mom told me that Roger or Robert or Richard or someone with an R in their name had called. I’m not used to getting calls on my landline.”
I chided myself. I shouldn’t have used the landline for that one call I’d made to him just before our date. I usually restricted such calls to my cellphone. What if Josh had answered?
“I can see the confusion,” he said.
I laughed nervously. He was sounding far sexier than I remembered.
“Actually,” he continued, “I tried your cell a couple of times but I got a message telling me you were unavailable.”
“Oh, that’s unusual,” I said, “maybe it needed charging.”
“So, you live with your Mom, eh?”
“Oh, please—of course not! She was just babysitting my son while I ran some errands.”
“Glad to hear that.”
Why was he glad to hear that? What did it matter whom I lived with?
“So what have you been up to?” He continued talking as if it had been mere days rather than weeks since we’d had that one date.
“Oh, I’ve been busy putting the finishing touches to my business plan. Just getting on with life, you know how it is.”
My mind was racing ahead. Why was he calling? What could it possibly lead to? We’d shared a moment—a memorable moment. I didn’t want to ruin it by trying to squeeze more out of the encounter than fate had intended. But more to the point, why had he waited almost four weeks to call?
Maybe he now wanted us to date properly! I didn’t do too well with relationships. They came with a high price tag that I’d discovered I wasn’t willing to pay. Anyway, how could I forgive him for waiting so long to follow up on our very tactile date?
Damn, I should have lied and told him I’d got married and had just got back from my honeymoon. Technically, I’d had enough time to do that.
“What have you been up to?” I ventured.
“I’ve been away with business. I had some urgent matters to deal with. I just got back in town and wondered if you wanted to get something to eat, say maybe Saturday night?”
“Uhuh!”
Say no to this dude, Shaniah—he’s too smooth.
But I was remembering just how wonderful it had felt out there in the car—just imagine if we had a whole evening all to ourselves in a more conducive environment?
“Was that a yes?”
I sat down abruptly, trying to control myself. There was no need to get this excited about some obviously unreliable and possibly waste-of-space guy.
“I’ll think about it,” I said.
What was there to think about?
“Oh. Just say yes. You know you want to.”
“I can scarcely contain myself,” I said sarcastically.
He laughed, “Look, if you’re upset that I haven’t been in touch, I’ll explain all when I see you.”
“Actually, I’m not upset.”
It was technically the truth. I had long since passed the upset stage.
“I’ll take you to this great little restaurant that does the most amazing seafood—my treat,” he said as I hesitated.
My mind was still racing. Did I really want to meet up with him on Saturday night? Wasn’t that the big date-night of the week? But what if I said no, would he ever call again?
Maybe I owed it to myself to see if what I’d experienced with him was real or not, or if I’d just got carried away because I’d been desperate. Maybe I should meet him just once because it would make it feel less like he’d been a mere one date wonder like the rest of my other internet dating connections. Maybe it would be sheer folly to turn down a good-looking guy, no matter how screwed up I was.
“Shaniah, are you still there?”
“Yes, I am.”
“So shall I pick you up, or do you want to meet me at the restaurant?”
The deep voice was caressing me, pulling me into his world once again. I had a flashing image of Jared with a pitchfork all dressed in red. I banished the thought.
“Maybe I’m not hungry.”
“Okay, she’s playing hard to get,” he said playfully. “Look Shaniah, I’d love to see you. You’re right, it has been a while, much longer than I’d planned and I am truly sorry for not getting in touch.”
How did this guy manage to just jump into the middle of things without seeming to be affected? Here he was, talking to me as casually as if we’d just been on a date last night. Had he forgotten that we’d spent a passionate moment in his car and that I still could not rationalize my behavior?
I was still hesitant.
“How about if I say pretty please?”
His voice sounded so sexy, seductive, and full of laughter that I sighed. Secretly, I longed to see him again, although I knew he was probably hardly worth the energy.
“Okay.”
“Great. Text me your address and I’ll pick you up.”
“No, I meant okay, I’ll have dinner with you, but I’ll meet you at the restaurant,” I said, praying that he wasn’t planning on treating me to a Fillet of Fish at McDonald’s. No way was I giving him my home address so he could pick me up. It was one thing to take a risk with him, but I had Josh to think about. What if this guy really was some psycho? I was a big girl; I could take care of me, but the fact remained that he was still a stranger.
“Fair enough,” he said. “I’ll text you the details of the restaurant and we’ll meet, say around seven?”
“Yeah, okay,” I agreed.
By the time I’d ended the call, a feeling of apprehension had taken root.
Would he make another move on me? I secretly hoped so although I thought I’d better come up with a strategy for strengthening my will-power. It would at least be fun trying to resist him, but I wasn’t sure how strong I was in the willpower department.
I thought about Todd and what I had been prepared to do with him in the interest of making babies. And here I was, a short time later, planning date number two with his potential replacement.
I was jolted out of my day-dreaming by Josh who came into the kitchen looking pretty grim.
“I’m bored, Mom.”
“Okay… so how’s your homework going?”
Josh looked at me as if I was speaking a foreign language.
“I don’t want to do my homework!” he said finally.
“So what have you been doing in your room all this time?”
Silence.
“Josh!”
“Playing on my Play Station.”
I contemplated my offspring for a long moment, trying to understand his position. He knew the routine—get home from karate class, have dinner, have a break, do homework. It was a simple routine that did not leave much space for negotiation. I was willing to admit that I was failing to appreciate his perspective. This was really not the best time for him to test my patience.
“Josh, I’ve been through your homework with you and all you have to do is fill in a few words on the page. If you don’t do the work straight after we go through it, then you’re going to be confused for sure. I think you should bring it down here and do it in the kitchen where I can keep my eyes on you like I suggested in the first place.”
“I hate homework!”
“Then it’s a good thing I’m not asking your opinion about the homework. I just want it done. So, for the last time, go and get your homework now because I’m fresh out of p
atience!”
Josh fled. He seemed to know instinctively where this was heading. I heard his bedroom door bang. How times had changed; even now I didn’t dare bang a door when my mother got on my nerves.
I sighed. Josh was really struggling with school. After the third temper tantrum over the Math homework, I’d given up—let the damn teachers do it with him. What else were they doing in school? That English page was easy though and I’d pretty much given him all the answers when we’d read it together. It should have taken him five minutes maximum to do it.
Whoever said having children was easy couldn’t have had any. I wondered if I truly had the patience to raise more than one child on my own. Yet, I couldn’t alter my maternal instincts to reproduce before it was too late. Yeah, I could pretty much feel a nervous breakdown coming on.
However, the breakdown would have to wait because I apparently had some homework to do and after that, a date with Jared to think about.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
I checked my appearance in the mirror and thought I looked pretty good, which was just as well because I wanted Jared to appreciate just what he’d been missing.
I topped up the deep red lipstick while I waited for the taxi to arrive.
Jared was waiting just inside the entrance when I arrived at the restaurant and I saw his eyes narrow as he took in my appearance.
Good. I knew I was wearing the hell out of my little black dress which did wonders for my petite frame. It drew attention to my tiny waist and not too bad boobs. I smiled to myself and looked around briefly, catching a few wandering male eyes. It boosted my confidence because it was nice to be appreciated.
Jared was looking pretty damn good himself—well, as much as any would-be psycho-loser who didn’t know to call a girl after almost getting carried away on the first date could look.
We greeted each other politely.
“How have you been?” he asked softly as he leaned in to drop a gentle kiss on my lips.
Hmm, there it was—that same intoxicating Jared-scent that was beginning to threaten my resolve to be on my best behavior. I exhaled slowly, taking care to move away and trying to ignore the need that was beginning to manifest itself. It was no good starting stuff I wasn’t prepared to finish.
Despite his apparent amnesia, I had already assured him of how well I was doing the last time we’d spoken and I was still doing fine all things considered. At least, I had been okay before that kiss.
I had not been expecting the kiss, well not directly on the lips anyway, and I swallowed hard.
“Good,” I said, trying to pretend that the pressure of his lips hadn’t sent me into a tailspin. I breathed in deeply.
I was glad that I could actually make eye contact and I kept my smile as cool as I could. I resisted the urge to ask, ‘where have you been? Just because you look the way you do doesn’t mean you can be casual about things and wait a whole three weeks to call!’
“I’ve reserved a table outside on the deck,” he said, referring to the restaurant’s famous al-fresco dining on a pier jutting out over Lake Ontario.
“Uhuh, cool,” I said as he took my hand possessively. I traipsed after him without another word.
We found our table and I was happy to enjoy the gentle breeze that played with my hair and caressed my skin as I turned my attention to the menu.
“They do an amazing tuna,” Jared said. “I know for a fact that the fish is always fresh and they have a superb European chef.”
“You seem to know the restaurant well.”
“My business partner and I considered buying it when it was up for sale a couple of years ago, so I learned quite a bit about it then.”
“It’s not bad,” I said, glancing around, trying not to look too impressed. Maybe there was more to this Jared than met the eye. How could he even begin to afford to buy an entire restaurant?
I could feel his eyes on me, studying my profile as I took in the deck, the beach area, the water. This was the same lake after all that we’d been enjoying a mere three weeks ago—albeit a slightly different part of the lake.
I looked at him for a moment and tried to ignore the interest in his eyes. His gaze shifted down to my mouth and I took a huge gulp of wine that the waiter had poured moments earlier. I took up reading the menu again to buy myself some space.
In the end, I allowed Jared to influence my choice. I always appreciated any food that I hadn’t had to spend hours cooking in a hot kitchen.
We made small talk while we sipped our wine and waited for the European chef to cook our meal. Jared wasn’t asking deep meaningful questions and I wasn’t seeking to give or receive deep meaningful information.
Really, the big question on my mind was, now what? How do you avoid being too touchy-feely after exploring so much of the physicals the first time—You know, how did we start over?
I listened while he told me about the restaurant and some other properties his company owned across the city. At least he seemed to know what he was talking about and I was inclined to believe at least a bit of what he was telling me. For all I knew about him, it could all be bullshit anyway.
When he took a break from filling me in on his life I said, “This is all a bit of a surprise isn’t it?”
“What’s a surprise?”
“You and me, meeting up after all this time.”
“Why?” he asked, “It’s only been a couple of weeks or so and I said I’d call.”
Was he for real?
“Yeah, about that—people usually don’t mean a year later when they say that.”
“It hasn’t exactly been a year,” he said with a grin. “Besides, like I said, I was out of town for a while. I had some pressing business to attend to.”
“It’s okay; you don’t owe me an explanation.”
The last thing I wanted was for him to think that I’d been sitting around waiting for his call like I’d had nothing going on for the last few weeks.
“So, did you miss me?” he asked with that crooked little grin that I hadn’t quite forgotten.
I stared at him pensively.
I’d missed our time down by the lake—that had been pretty awesome. Compared to Todd, well I guess it had been truly promising, but really, how do you miss someone you hardly know?
“What do you think?” I asked.
I’d expected him to say touché, but he just flashed me yet another breath-taking grin and I tried not to stare too much at the delicious lips. I tried to focus on those mesmerizing eyes instead. This time around I was determined to make an attempt to curb my sexual hunger.
His gaze was intense, or maybe it was just the grey that made it seem that way.
I struggled to shift my own gaze away.
Look but don’t touch, Shaniah.
When the waiter eventually presented us with the long-awaited tuna with some exotic looking veggies, I nibbled daintily.
“How is it?”
“Delicious,” I said.
“See, I told you I’d show you a good time.”
“When did you tell me that?”
“Okay, I’m telling you now.”
I giggled as I took another sip of wine and looked at him over the rim of the glass. He continued to observe me through squinted eyes and I struggled to breathe.
“How’s the business idea coming along?”
Okay, so I was staring meaningfully into his eyes, thinking that maybe one more session fooling around with this guy wouldn’t really hurt, and all he could ask about was my job?
“It’s coming along,” I said. “I think I’ve decided to work from home for the time being, just until my business loan gets approved. I just need to find my first client.”
“Are you targeting businesses or individuals?”
“Both, actually. In fact, I think I could already have my first client lined up; a friend of mine is a real estate agent and he has mentioned that he needs someone to do some home staging for him.”
“Not bad; you’ve got to start
somewhere.”
“Yeah,” I said. “And I’ve got to get this business up and running before my Employment Insurance runs out.”
“That’s a lot of pressure.”
“I’ll be okay. I’m a resourceful kind of gal. If I get desperate enough, I suppose I could always just get a job like regular people.”
He looked at me then with a different kind of interest and I decided to tuck into the food before my breathing decided to pack up completely.
“I like what you’ve done with your hair,” he said.
I felt myself blush although I wasn’t even aware that people still blushed after the great age of thirty. I put a hand up to briefly touch a tendril of my long dark hair. The compliment had caught me by surprise so I barely managed to get out a quiet, “thank you,” before refocusing on my food in earnest.
By the time the waiter planted the bill on our table, I was truly stuffed and I happily offered to pay for the meal because I was so mellow with good food and nice wine.
“No, really, it’s my treat,” he said. “You can get it next time.”
There was going to be a next time?
I shrugged, “Well, if you’re sure, but you should at least let me pay half.”
“I’m sure,” he said and placed his credit card inside the leather wallet that hosted the bill. “Besides, you might need to keep your funds for your new start-up.”
“I’m not quite that close to the edge yet,” I said.
“So, do you want to go somewhere for a drink?”
I stared at him for a long moment.
“We just had wine with the dinner, remember?”
“I mean a proper drink. Come on, I just want us to spend the evening together. Get to know each other a bit better.”
“I think I might know what you have in mind when you say get to know each other,” I said.
“Sweetheart, I think you could have a one-track mind,” he said, trying to sound shocked.
I nibbled my bottom lip while I considered his offer.
“Come on,” he coaxed, “Say you’ll come with me. I swear I won’t lay a finger on you unless you want me to.”
My breathing quickened again. I thought his persuasive voice was very seductive although it wasn’t his finger I was worrying about.