“Oh trust me, you will be,” Ben said, giving me a cocky smile. “Now, if we could just have some luck with parking...”
I frowned as he eventually pulled into a parking spot on the street. “You really trust leaving this car here?” I asked doubtfully. To be fair, I didn't have a car of my own since driving around the city was mostly a fruitless and frustrating effort, but I had heard all the sorts of things that could happen…
Ben snorted and locked the car behind us. “We're in the middle of the financial district, Rachael,” he pointed out. “I sincerely doubt anything is going to happen to it. I know you said you don't know cars, so I'll forgive you, but there are cars parked on this street that are worth even more than that baby. She just looks flashy. Anyway, if anything did happen to it… Well, Da would probably jump at the opportunity to pick out a new car for himself.” He rolled his eyes, and I couldn't help just staring at him for a moment.
I wondered what sort of business their family had to be into, that they could just write off the loss of a car like that. But then again, here we were in the middle of the financial district for brunch; probably they owned one of these companies or something like that. I looked around at all the skyscrapers, contemplating them; Ben laughed and tugged me down an alleyway.
“Like I said, it's a bit of a hole in the wall,” he said as we went. Indeed, we went through a dirty-looking, nondescript wooden door on our left, and suddenly…
“Wow,” I said, looking around at the place. It was cozy in there, all exposed brick and beams, with low tables scattered all around and some colorful beanbag chairs to go with them. The place was actually more busy than I would have expected, but we had our pick for tables. Ben led me over to one in the back corner, and we sat down onto a long couch.
Ben sat close to me—close enough that our thighs were brushing—but I didn't complain.
I picked up the menu and started perusing the options, even though I was already leaning towards the eggs Benedict, if it was as amazing as Ben said it was. But then again, a muffin and some yogurt also sounded pretty good…
The waitress flounced over to us, beaming at Ben. “Hey Benny, how's it going?” she asked.
“I'm fairly well, Laura; you?”
The two of them chatted idly for a few moments, and then Laura shook her head. “And who is this?” she asked, gesturing towards me as though she were suddenly realizing I was sitting there awkwardly still looking at the menu.
Ben slipped an arm around my shoulders. “This is Rachael,” he said. He turned to me. “As you can probably tell, I come in here a bit too often—everyone knows me at this point.”
Laura laughed. “Yeah, well, I'm pretty sure you know everyone in the city at this point—despite the fact that you're hardly ever down here anymore!”
“Things have been busy up at the—at work,” Ben said, and I didn't miss the way that he slipped a little saying that. I frowned, wondering just what it was that he did for work and why he seemed so reluctant to tell me. Maybe it was something illegal? Or something that was frowned upon by the general populace—like something to do with...oil? I didn't really know, but I was starting to get more and more suspicious about it.
“Makes sense,” Laura said sympathetically. “Hey, Dave-o's in the back; did you want me to have him come out and say hi or did you want to go back there and chat with him after you've finished eating?”
Ben glanced around the place. “Looks like you guys are pretty busy today; we'll just pop back there after we've finished up,” he said. “Wouldn't want to take him away from his kitchen for even a second; I know how he gets. Plus, if he comes out here to talk to me, he's going to feel obligated to talk to everyone else, and that's going to take him a while.”
Laura smirked. “Yeah, he's really no good at the people thing, is he? This little indie press thing wanted to interview him last week, and you should have seen how nervous he was about it. But then again, I guess this place is his baby, so he has every right to be worried about how he's publicizing it.”
“Oh wow, there's going to be a legitimate article about it?” Ben asked, his eyebrows shooting upwards. He turned to face me. “It's just like I was saying in the car, it's only a matter of time before this place is discovered...”
Laura smiled at us and pulled out a pad and pen. “So Benny, I guess it's probably going to be the usual for you?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Ben said, looking contented. “I've always wanted to go someplace often enough that I could order 'the usual',” he confided to me, and I couldn't help laughing at that.
“And the usual is…?” I asked.
“Eggs Benedict, but with chicken instead of salmon and spinach and mushrooms added—it helps to know the chef.”
“Yeah, you know that we've actually-” Laura began. Then she paused, frowning. “Well, no, I guess you wouldn't know, since you never bother to look at the menu anymore. But we've added a new thing on there, Benny's Benedict. Your usual.”
Benny blinked at her and then burst out laughing, flipping open his menu to see. “Has anyone else ever ordered it?” he asked.
“Not while I've been working, but who knows, maybe it'll be someone else's favorite dish at some point.” Laura's expression said what she really thought about it, though, and I couldn't help laughing too.
“Well, for me, I'd like a pumpkin muffin and vanilla yogurt,” I said.
“Berries on the yogurt?”
“No, but some granola would be great,” I said. “And honey.”
“Coming right up,” Laura said. “And coffee?”
“Yes,” Ben and I said in unison. We both looked at each other, grinning dopily.
It felt a little strange being there when he was clearly amongst his friends, but in that moment, with his knee bumping mine and an open smile on each of our faces, I suddenly had the feeling that maybe, just maybe, Ben would be the guy I continued to date.
Chapter Four
After an incredible brunch and a somewhat awkward meeting of Ben's other friend, Davey, Ben suggested we go for a short hike, so we found ourselves driving out of the city and towards Westfall Lake. It had been a while since I'd been up there—you could get there by bus, but only if you transferred two times, and usually I didn't have the patience for that. It was much easier to go by car; that, I had to admit, was one benefit of owning a car even if I lived in the city.
“So you like to keep active,” I surmised as we parked in the lot at the head of the trail.
“Yeah,” Ben said, shrugging a little. “I mean, yes and no. I know a lot of guys who like going to the gym and stuff like that—but I hate that. Put me out in nature, give me a good place to run or a good place to hike, and I'm on board. I love backcountry skiing in the winter, too. But for me, it's not about building muscles or even staying in shape or anything like that. I just like being on the go.”
“Makes sense,” I said.
“And you?” Ben asked. “I know you run, or at least, I know you were running the morning that I bowled you over...”
“Yeah, I'm a runner,” I said. “I run most mornings out of the week. Despite the fact that I have 8am classes five days of the week this semester.”
“Ouch,” Ben said. “You must get up early, then.”
“Usually I try to be out the door and starting my run around 6,” I told him. “If I run for an hour, that gets me back to the dorm by 7 or 7:30 at the latest. Then, I hop through a quick shower and get over to class. Fortunately, I live on campus so I don't have to go very far to get to class. And as you know, it's a pretty small campus.”
“Still, that's impressive,” Ben said. “I don't know that I'd have that kind of dedication. But I do a lot of my runs in the evening instead, so I suppose I'd probably still be running, just not so early in the day.”
“Oh, I love being up early in the morning and running,” I said, shaking my head a little. “It's so peaceful, and It makes me feel so nice and productive right from the start of my day.”
“Well, I have classes,” I reminded him. “I'm a second-year History major with a dual-degree in French, so that takes up a lot of my time.”
“History and French, hmm?” Ben asked. “Not to ask the question that you must always get asked, but what exactly do you think you're going to do with a degree like that?”
I laughed a little and shook my head. “Does it really matter?” I asked. “I'll figure that out when I get there. At the moment, I'm just enjoying studying something that I'm interested in.”
“Do you have a job too, though?” Ben asked.
“Yeah, I'm a barista at this place a little ways away from campus,” I told him. “I've been working there since the start of freshman year. It's great; I know everyone, we've got our regulars who come in every day. And it's just a cozy atmosphere.” Quickly, before he could change the subject from there, I asked, “But what about your work? You still haven't told me exactly what you do.”
Ben sighed. “That's because it's totally not interesting,” he said. “I just do some manual labor stuff.”
“Bullshit,” I said, shaking my head. “You don't have the callouses that you would have if you did manual labor.”
“Oh, now you know everything there is to know about manual labor?” Ben asked teasingly, raising an eyebrow at me.
“Well, no, but...” I shook my head. “Also, I know how difficult it is to get visas to the United States. They wouldn't let you stay here if you were just a manual laborer; you have to be doing something at least marginally skilled.”
“And an expert on visas as well,” Ben said, looking amused. “This, I did not see coming.”
“Plus, if you were just a manual laborer, I doubt that you'd have the money to just disappear to Thailand for a week with your friends,” I pointed out. “You'd have to be making some serious money for that.”
Ben looked a little agitated at that, and I wondered if maybe I should drop the subject. But wasn't it a little strange to be going on dates with a guy who wouldn't even tell me what he did for a living? Unless…
“You're a spy,” I said. “Clearly that's the only explanation. You're a spy, so you can't tell me what it is that you actually do for a living, and-” I broke off as Ben started laughing.
He slung an arm around my shoulders, drawing me into a quick sideways hug. “I like you,” he said as he released me. “God, I haven't had this much fun with someone in a while.”
I blushed a little, but internally I was wondering whether his lack of answer to my question might not count as an admission that yes, he was in fact a spy. Wouldn't that be...interesting.
“There's a little waterfall up here to the left,” Ben said, changing the subject entirely.
I rolled my eyes. “I know,” I told him. “I've only been coming up here since I was a kid.”
“Oh really?” Ben asked, a gleam in his eye. “Then I guess you've been out to Custard Falls, too, haven't you?”
I frowned, not familiar with the name. “I don't really know,” I admitted. “Usually I just kind of wander around out here...”
Ben shook his head. “If you'd been to Custard Falls, you'd know,” he told me. “They're the most impressive ones around this area. It's a bit of a hike out there—probably about two hours there and then another couple hours back—but it's definitely worth it. If you're interested. Or we could save it for another day.”
I thought back over my schedule for the week. I had a paper due for one of my history classes that I really should get back to work on, but on the other hand… Well, this was nice. It had been a while since I'd found someone who wanted to go hiking with me.
“Let's go,” I said. “Lead the way.”
Ben grinned at me and proceeded to do exactly that.
Chapter Five
Alex practically pounced on me the moment I got back to our room. “You were gone, like, all day!” she said. “I take it the date went well—or was it one of those really horrible ones that you just can't seem to drag yourself away from?”
I snorted and shook my head. “No, it was actually pretty great,” I told her honestly.
“Just 'pretty great'?” she asked skeptically.
“It was amazing,” I sighed, falling back on my bed, staring up at the ceiling. “We had a delicious breakfast at this little place that he knows in the Financial District, and then we drove out into the mountains and went for a hike up to this really pretty waterfall near Westfall Lake that I've never been to before.”
“Oh wow,” Alex said. “You've lived here all your life and some foreigner is showing you places that you don't know? How does that feel?”
I laughed and chucked a pillow at her, even though those were kind of my thoughts through the whole day. “I don't know how he does it,” I told her. “I thought I knew everything about this city, but somehow, he managed to surprise me. I like that.”
“It's always a good feeling to have,” Alex agreed. “But so other than him being adventurous and whatever, did you guys...get along? I mean, not get along, but… Well, were there any sparks?”
“I don't think I've ever felt this good after a first date before,” I admitted honestly. “We talked about all sorts of things, and he was just...so nice. And he's so ridiculously attractive, but for whatever reason, he seems to really dig me, and-”
Alex groaned. “I can't believe those words just came out of your mouth,” she said. “Of course the guy digs you; you're fucking gorgeous and you know it. Don't pretend like you aren't.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, but I don't…” I trailed off, not really ready to tell my roommate that I was, in fact, still a virgin. It wasn't really by choice—it wasn't like I was saving it or anything like that. But all of the guys that had ever really shown interest in me before weren't the kind of guys that I really wanted to have sex with, and if any of the guys I would have wanted to sleep with had actually shown interest in me before, well, I must have been oblivious to their advances.
I was pretty sure that someone like Ben had slept with a handful of people in the last month, and I didn't even want to consider the number of people he might have slept with in his lifetime. It was intimidating, to be honest, and I was sure that as soon as the time came to actually...do things, it was going to get super awkward and he was going to decide that he didn't really want anything more to do with me.
“So you're going to see him again?” Alex asked.
I shrugged. “That's kind of up to him, isn't it? We'll see if he calls.”
Alex groaned and slumped back into her desk chair. “You're ridiculous, you know that? Absolutely ridiculous.”
As it turned out, though, Ben did call.
It was another one of those early-morning calls, although this one came just as I finished lacing up my running shoes. I had programmed his number into my phone from when he had called before, so his name flashed up on the screen.
I frowned, chewing on my bottom lip and trying to decide whether I should answer it. Finally, I decided to.
“Hello?” I answered as I stepped out into the hallway, closing the door carefully behind myself even though I knew I had already managed to wake up Alex, as I seemed to always do.
“Good morning,” Ben said. “I hope I didn't wake you up again? I know you said you usually go running around this time...”
“Yeah, no, I'm actually just on my way out the door,” I said, unable to keep a smile off my face. “What's up?”
“Well, I was just wondering if you'd like some company for that run,” Ben said. “I always find that I push myself a bit more when I'm running with someone.”
I blinked and then shrugged a little, even though I knew he couldn't see the shrug over the phone. “Yeah, sure,” I said. I had never really had strong feelings one way or the other about running with other people. Of course, there were some people I hated running with—like the girls who only ran infrequently and just slowed me down—but even ru
nning with someone who matched my pace, I didn't really care about. When I was running, I was in the zone in my head, listening to music and not really focusing on anything.
That said, the idea of running with Ben made my stomach do a strange little flip.
“Cool,” Ben said. “I'll meet you out front in five minutes.”
I made my way down the stairs and started stretching, taking a little extra time because I didn't actually think he was going to show up in five minutes. The fact that he had…
“You were coming over here before you even called me,” I accused.
Ben grinned sheepishly. “Yeah, well, I figured if you weren't interested, I'd just park over in the arboretum and have a run there on my own. And I didn't want to call you too early because I don't know what your morning routine is and I didn't want to wake you up early by accident, so I kind of left it until last minute, when I knew you must already be awake.”
Take Me Away: A College Romance Story Page 2