by Tey Holden
Blair smiled sweetly. “Alexandra,” she caressed her face in a way that made Alex shiver. “The kiss was too good. I want you to kiss me whenever you feel like it and feel comfortable, but I just made you some assurances earlier, and I need to keep some control. We need to talk this through. I will make sure that we do this right. I think we should go now.”
While in the shower, she had repeated in her head what was to become her mantra. ‘Slow down, take it easy, she needs time, don’t rush her. Let her set the pace.’ This is what she was thinking just now. ‘Slow’ and ‘avoid’.
When Alex smiled and nodded, Blair smiled back and asked, “what?”
“The things you say . . . you are amazing. No wonder I –.” Alex hesitated to complete her sentence
“Say it, please. You need to say it, and I need to hear it,” Blair pleaded.
“No wonder I love you,” Alex blushed.
Blair grinned and kissed her on the tip of her nose.
“Is that all I get?”
Blair smiled. “For now, yes. But know that there’s a ton of love that goes with it.”
They went out the door, and Blair again held the car door open for her. “Okay, where is this place?” Blair went around the car and got in.
“I have it in the GPS. Let me find it. I called while you were showering. They are expecting us.”
Blair looked at the name in the GPS. “Russoos? Are you kidding me? You got us into Russoos, at this hour of the night, just like that? I’ve read that the place is booked months in advance. How did you ever do that?”
She raised her eyebrows and smiled. “I have connections.”
It was good to see Alex relaxed again, and Blair, of course, melted when she saw her smile. “What kind of connection are we talking about here? Are you related to the Russoos, or is this a Mafia connection?”
Alex laughed. “I know the Russoos. Be prepared for red carpet reception, Miss Blair. You’ll have a night you’ll always remember. You are about to receive royal treatment.”
“I’ve already had a night I’ll always remember.”
They looked at each other smiling. Blair was the first to break the spell, as she asked, “speaking of royal, I suppose you know how he and his wife became famous?”
Smirking, Alex replied, “yes, as a matter of fact, I do.”
“You do?”
Alex smiled at her, happy that they seemed to have recovered some of their easy banter. They arrived at the restaurant and the valet came for the car. Blair looked at Alex. “Is this okay with you? Some people don’t like their car driven by valets.”
“I’m good.”
Blair gave the key to the young man, got the car stub and put it in the inside pocket of her leather jacket. “Wow! I can’t believe we are going in there. Wait!”
“For what?”
“Just to be clear. I’m paying, and I’m not taking no for an answer.” Blair thought that it was going to cost an arm and a leg, but this was the most special night of her life, and she wanted it to be perfect.
Alex grinned. “Thanks, but it’s not me you are going to be wrestling for the check in there. Come on.” Blair frowned not understanding Alex’s response, but she followed Alex inside. The place had the ambiance of exactly what it was, the most exquisite, select, and best restaurant in the city and for that matter in the whole of Scotland. Blair remembered thinking that dinner there would cost a good portion of her paycheck, but being there with Alex was worth anything. If she ever had a reason to splurge, this was the one time in her life she would, and she felt excited.
The maître di sat them down at a two-person, corner table, completely secluded. It was the perfect spot for a romantic interlude. It was as if someone had requested the restaurant’s best table, and they had actually gotten it. Little did she know that Alex had made that specific request.
“Wow, Ms. Larsen, you must have some connection to get this kind of table.”
No sooner had she finished her statement, Margo Russoo appeared. “Alexandra! Mon chérie!”
Alex got up only to be engulfed in Margo’s arms, which were wide open to welcome her. Blair smiled half astonished. This was not the welcome of someone you just ‘know.’
“And who is this lovely lady we have in your company?”
“Margo, I’d like you to meet Dr. Blair Reilley. Blair, this is the very famous, and enchanting Margo Russoo, and this jolly fellow joining us here is none other than Monsieur Andre Russoo, in the flesh!” Andre hugged Alex like a dad would hug his daughter. Blair was standing also, enjoying the overwhelming display of emotions. She shook their hands.
Margo continued to talk. “Oh, my child! You are as beautiful and charming as your mothers! It’s like looking at Karen, improved, as Addy would say, of course.” She laughed. “It’s so wonderful to see you! Tonight, it will be my pleasure to feed you like in the old days. Sit and we will bring you your food. How are the mamas?”
“Wonderful as usual, Margo.”
Margo laughed. “That good, huh? Let’s go back and cook their meals old man, let the young ladies enjoy the night!”
They left and Alex and Blair sat back down. “What a wonderful pair! I can’t believe you know them and that they know your moms’ too! Wait! They said they were bringing food, but we didn’t order anything! What are they going to bring?”
Alex chuckled. “Blair, I’ve never ordered a meal from them in my entire life. They had me eating soufflés and dishes most people eat when they are forty when I was just a kid. Sometimes I thought I was their guinea pig. I figured that they must have thought that if a child liked it, anybody else would too.”
“You’ve known them since you were a kid?” Blair was shocked. “You do know that they were the chefs at the Royal Inn of Scotland, right? Back in those days it was ‘the place’ to stay in Scotland.” Blair commented.
“Yes, I know. I have a story to tell you about all that, but not tonight. Soon you’ll know how well I know them.”
“Okay, I can’t wait to hear that story.”
At that very moment, a waiter accompanied by another man approached them. “Good evening ladies. My name is Antoine and I am the sommelier. It will be my pleasure to serve your wine this evening. For your first course, I have a light Pinot Grigio from the Alsace region of France. It is a young but very good vintage. He proceeded to serve the wine as the server brought several small dishes of appetizers. They were served another white wine with their salad and then another with the main meal.
“This is the wine I recommended for your meal, with the compliments of Monsieur Russoo.” The waiter proceeded to open the recommended wine. As the sommelier poured the wine, Blair saw the name and the vintage on the bottle and the blood drained from her face. By now Alex was familiar with most of Blair’s facial expressions and noticed the look. Alex held out her hand and put it over Blair’s, barely touching her fingers.
When Blair looked at her, Alex gave her one of her killer winks that she had learned from Addy, which on the green eyes was like a lightning strike. Blair forgot about the wine bottle until the sommelier handed the glass to Alex to taste and approve. Alex proceeded to taste the wine while Blair watched delighted at the air of sophistication with which Alex proceeded. After conducting the ritual to perfection, Alex looked at the sommelier and approved the choice of wine. The waiter poured the wine and both men left.
“Try it?”
Blair took the glass in her hand and drank it, and when she closed her eyes, Alex grinned. Blair leaned closer across the table and almost whispered. “Alex, do you realize what we are drinking here?”
Alex chuckled. “Yes, ma’am, a very fine wine. Don’t know about the year thing, though, but I know for sure that our meal will be beef.”
Blair leaned back on the chair thinking that for sure the meal would cost half her paycheck. “Alex, I hate to ask this, but am I going to be able to afford this meal without pawning a kidney?”
Alex laughed. “Blair, they are not going
to charge us. They never have. They also know that if I brought you here, you must be a very, very special someone. They are going to serve us with their very best.”
“No charge? What exactly is your connection with them? Is it a family thing?”
“You can say that. Not going to tell you now, though. I’d like you to enjoy this meal and forget about the cost. Don’t forget that we have other things to talk about.”
“Do you want to talk now or would you prefer to wait until after we eat?” Blair asked.
“Let’s talk casually as we eat. Maybe that way we won’t be so nervous.” By now, Alex had regained her composure. “Let me start. I think I need to explain my fears and concerns. I think it’s the fair thing to do. Blair, I’ve never been attracted to any woman in my entire life.”
Blair listened attentively. Her heart raced up and down depending on what Alex said. Alex paused occasionally to read Blair’s reaction. “But, for reasons I cannot understand, I’m attracted to you. Sorry. We said we were going to be honest about our feelings and bring them out in the open. I’m actually crazy about you. In fact, I have not been able to stop thinking about you since the day we met. There! If that’s not attraction, I don’t have a clue what is!”
Blair’s grin couldn’t be bigger and her dimples showed prominently. Blair was impressed with how Alex could one minute be a total emotional wreck and a brief while later be totally calm and analytical about the whole situation. She smiled thinking that Alex was a challenge no matter which way she looked at it. “Wow! You sure know how to put things out there.” Blair continued to grin.
“And since we are being totally honest and putting our feelings out there, I have to say that I love your dimples. They are the cutest I’ve ever seen. I was not kidding or acting up the other night at the bar. I meant it.” The waiter came to fill their glasses of water, which was a great relief since Blair had drained her glass already.
So much said, in such a short span of time, had her on the edge of the chair, and almost hyperventilating. She just smiled hardly knowing what to say. The fact that she was speechless didn’t seem to matter at the moment, since Alex still had more to say.
“The reason I don’t know if this is fair to you is because I think you deserve someone who can appropriately respond to your feelings and not someone who is ambivalent as to how to act or what to do. I don’t even know what to do when I’m around you sometimes. I don’t know what you want or expect of me. Maybe you should tell me. What is it that you want of me?”
In her eternal grin, Blair took a moment to reply. “All I want is this moment with you, and then I want the next moment, and the next, and the next, and the next, all with you, until each moment ties with the next and makes forever. That’s what I want, Alex.”
It was Alex now who was almost hyperventilating. When her green eyes flooded with tears. Blair held her hands between hers.
“Too much? Too soon?”
Alex shook her head. “No, we said we would speak our hearts. It’s just that—.”
“Alex, it’s okay. I know how you feel. Making choices is hard even under normal circumstances, and I know that this choice is twice as hard. Hear me out, I’ve been thinking all the way here.” She paused and then continued. “I’m in love with you, and I want the best for you. I don’t want anyone hurting you, or you doing anything you might regret. Tonight, I was going crazy thinking that you might end up with the wrong person. I know you need to find yourself and figure things out, and I know that it might take an indefinite amount of time. But I don’t care.” Alex listened with a knot in her throat.
“I’ll wait as long as you need, forever, if necessary. All I want is to be right there with you, helping in whatever way, however long it takes. Even if I’m not the one, Alex I don’t want anyone hurting you.” Blair looked sad. “I told you already. You are my priority and I’m willing to put my life on hold to see what happens with us because I want us to happen.”
“What if in the end it doesn’t work out?”
“That’s a chance I’m willing to take. I already decided that I would like to take that chance with you, Alex. So, I propose that we go out and have fun and enjoy each other’s company. Today we danced and said we love each other, later you kissed me, then you held my hand, and now I’m holding yours. Let’s not think of what could happen or not, let’s just let things happen as our hearts tell us. I promise that I will do my best to never make you uncomfortable, if I can help it. I want you to be happy. You will be the one setting the pace for us, if there is going to be an us. I will respond to you, but I will not pressure you. I’m not going to touch a hair on your head unless you ask me, or unless I know that you want me to.”
“It doesn’t feel fair, Blair. You stand a chance to lose, and I don’t want to hurt you.”
“It’s my choice. I’m taking a chance on you, I know it, but something bigger than me tells me that I should. Something draws me to you with a force I cannot control or explain. I am here because I want to be, and what I say, I say fully aware of what you’ve just said. Alex, something tells me that I need to be here.”
Alex just looked at her. “So, I get to kiss you and you don’t get to kiss me?”
“Well, that’s what I tried tonight, but in true honesty it has not been easy. So, what do you think about this? If you kiss me, I will respond to your kiss the same way you kiss me.”
The waiter came in with their meals. Blair couldn’t believe it. It was the juiciest steak she had ever seen, there were also scallops on the side with some sort of brownish sauce over them, it came with oven roasted potatoes and asparagus.
“Fair enough, eat now, you must be starving.”
Blair looked at her plate. “This looks amazing.” When she tasted the meat, she closed her eyes to savor it. It almost melted in her mouth. “Oh, my God! This is divine! I don’t think I need a knife to cut this meat! You don’t suppose he knew I like steaks, right?”
Alex smiled mischievously. “You told him? You called from my house and arranged all of this, didn’t you?”
Alex beamed. “Are you enjoying it?”
“Are you kidding me? I think I’m dreaming and that I will be waking up any minute. I feel like Cinderella at the ball.”
Alex laughed. “Eat Cinderella, I love to watch you eat. You eat with gusto,” Alex said.
“Food should be enjoyed. I also think we should not eat something unless it’s good.”
“Just make sure you leave room for dessert.” Blair looked up pretending to be horrified, which made Alex laugh more.
“Margo’s desserts are so good, my mom had them shipped over after, wait! I’m not telling just yet.”
“So, the connection here is which of the moms?” Blair asked.
Alex smiled. “Not telling!”
“Okayyyyy!”
The waiter came to refill their glasses of water, and Blair asked for the check. After the meal, both Margo and Andre came over. “So how was everything?”
“Andre, as wonderful as ever.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever had a finer meal Monsieur Russoo, or dessert Madame Margo. Thank you both for a great meal.”
Andre then spoke. “Ah! I can see that the Larsen ladies continue to have the best of taste, Enchanté!”
Blair again asked for the check. “Can we, please, have the check?”
Andre and Margo looked at each other perplexed. “Impossible! There is no check for our Alex and her beautiful friend. It is our pleasure to have you here, and we would like to have you back soon. Please, Alexandra, and bring the mamas. Come and we will feed you, our home is your home, dear child, you know this! Bring your beautiful friend too.” Alex grinned, and Blair stood in front of them still dumbfounded.
“Merci, Margo, Andre. It was a wonderful meal.” Alex hugged them again.
“Give your mamas our love, mon chérie.”
“I will. Good night.”
When they came out of the restaurant, the valet had Alex’s car
at the door. Blair was still trying to figure out the whole restaurant experience. “This was all too perfect. Please, tell me what is your connection is with Russoos. No one gets in here like you did tonight, or is offered the feast we were fed at no charge, unless there’s a huge thing going on here. Just that wine! It would have cost me a paycheck! Come on, Alex, please tell me! Did your moms get them out of some legal problem?”
Alex smiled. “No, no legal issues. Just wait, I’ll tell you the story in time.” Blair pouted, but seeing no progress, she gave up. She figured Alex would tell her when she was good and ready. They got in the car and left. Blair was driving to Alex’s house when she realized that her bike was at the bar. “Maybe we should go to the bar so that I can pick up my bike and I’ll follow you home that way I can make sure you get there in one piece.”
“Yeah, let’s do that, but you don’t have to follow me. I don’t want you to go out of your way. I’m used to driving on my own, you know.”
“I know, but it would make me feel much better.”
Blair got off the bike and met Alex on the sidewalk. They both entered the building and called the elevator. “I just want to walk you to your door and make sure you get in safely,” Blair said wanting to explain her intentions of going up to the flat.
When the elevator arrived, they got in. “I’ve come home late before, you know? And what about you? Now you’ll have to ride your bike at night, and I’ll worry not knowing if you got home safely.”
“I’ll call you when I get there, if you’d like.” Blair liked Alex’s concern for her safety, and although she had never had to account for her whereabouts to anyone, it felt good to have someone wanting to know.
“Yes, I’d like that very much, if you don’t mind.” Alex’s reply was like music to her ears. All of a sudden, they found themselves in front of Alex’s door. Blair looked at the key in her hand and asked. “May I?”
Alex was caught by surprise with the unexpected attention. “Sure.” She handed the key to Blair and she proceeded to open the door.