by Blair Grey
“How are things going with you?” I asked. “You look like you’ve been running around all morning.”
Leila smiled. “That’s because I have,” she said. “But like you said, things are starting to slow down finally. You sure you’re okay over here?”
I grimaced. “I still don’t think this was the right place for me,” I told her. “I’m more than happy to keep doing it, but I’m sorry if you get any complaints about me.”
Leila’s eyes danced. “There’ve been a couple already,” she admitted. “I think the best one was the parents who were upset because you agreed with their daughter that she could see you as her primary doctor instead of Dr. Brown?”
“I did no such thing!” I said indignantly.
Leila giggled. “Well, I hope things haven’t been too bad. Keep up the good work; I’ll be back in a little while. And text me if you don’t get your lunch in the next twenty minutes or so.”
“Will do,” I promised her.
The next time she stopped by the admissions booth, things were pretty dead over there. By this point, everyone was pretty much in the festival, so they didn’t need me anymore. I was enjoying the peace.
“Hey,” Leila said, coming over along with another woman and a young boy. I hurriedly got to my feet, trying to place the two. Was this another of the complaints? Did Leila want me to address it in person? But they were all smiling. “This is my friend Rachel and her son, Gavin,” she said.
I blinked at her, surprised that she was introducing me to them. I knew they were important to her, and I was still trying to figure out just where she and I stood. I reached out a hand and shook Rachel’s hand. Then, I crouched down next to Gavin, holding out my fist for an awkward fist bump which… never happened. After a moment, I lowered my fist. “How’s it going, little man?” I asked.
Gavin just stared at me, and after a second, I slowly stood back up. Leila burst out laughing, while Rachel scolded the boy. “Gavin, be polite,” she said. “And take your fingers out of your mouth.”
“Is this how it’s been over here all day?” Leila asked. “Man, you are not a kid person.”
I shrugged, shoving my hands into my pockets. “I don’t get much practice around them,” I said defensively.
“Guess not,” Leila said, shaking her head. “Well, now’s the time to change that. Rachel and I have some catching up to do. Do you think you could hang out with Gavin for a little bit?”
I blinked at her, wondering if this was some sort of test. If I didn’t manage to kill the kid in the next half hour, she’d go on another date with me?
I didn’t realize I had said the words out loud until she and Rachel both started giggling. “Here,” Leila said, pushing some tickets into my hand. “Take him on the whirlybird and the roller coaster.” She leaned in close. “To be honest, Rachel’s too scared to do those ones because the whirlybird will make her sick, and the roller coaster will make her panic. So you’re doing me a huge favor right now.”
I slowly put the tickets in my pocket and knelt down next to Gavin. “Hey, buddy, have you ever been on the roller coaster before?” I asked him.
Gavin shook his head. “Mama won’t let me ’cause she’s a ‘fraidy-cat,” he said, his voice quiet but strong.
I grinned at him. “Do you think you might want to go on it with me?”
Gavin looked up at his mom, who nodded at him. Then, he cheered. “Let’s go,” he said, already racing off. I hurried after him, worried that I’d lose him in the crowds.
Half an hour later, we went back to the admissions booth. Gavin flung himself at his mom. “He’s the best,” he said.
“High praise,” Leila said.
I ducked my head. “There may or may not have been a brownie somewhere in there,” I admitted. “Hope that’s okay.” The women both laughed, and Leila reached out to pat my head. “We’ll make an okay dude of you yet,” she said.
“Mama, can we go on the big slide again?” Gavin asked, already pulling his mom away.
“I guess that’s my cue,” Rachel said. “Marcus, it was nice meeting you, and thanks for helping out with Gavin. Leila, I’ll see you soon for dinner, okay?”
“Sounds good,” Leila said, waving at them.
I raised an eyebrow at Leila. “What, so she gets another date, and I don’t?” I teased.
Leila burst out laughing. “Seriously, thanks for everything today. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”
I wanted to wrap my arms around her, but I held back, grinning at her as though I didn’t feel some crazy-intense, almost magnetic pull between the two of us. “You would have managed,” I said, shaking my head. “I know you would have.”
“I would have,” Leila agreed. “But I’m so glad you were here.” She paused. “Unfortunately, there’s no pay for volunteers.”
“I figured that,” I said. “And that’s good anyway. Get those kids cancer-free.” God, it was such a stupid thing to say, and I knew it the moment it was out of my mouth.
But Leila smiled at me. “Even though there’s no pay for volunteers, I was thinking that maybe I could buy you dinner sometime to thank you,” she said, sounding almost shy.
“I’d like that,” I said immediately, even though I was surprised at her words. I just couldn’t figure her out. Last Saturday, it had seemed like everything was going fine, until it wasn’t. I hadn’t heard from her for days, not until I went and confronted her at her work. She hadn’t seemed like she wanted to see me then, but she’d brought me here.
When I’d gotten there that morning, she still hadn’t seemed too thrilled to see me. I knew she was busy and that she was stressed about pulling off the event, but she had barely even paused to say hi to me.
Yet now, she was asking me to have dinner with her again sometime. Not that I was complaining. It was like a puzzle. She was maddeningly unpredictable, and it kept me on my toes. I wanted to figure her out, and I wanted to be with her. Of course, I was going to go to dinner with her.
“It’s not going to be like the last date,” Leila said quickly. “It’s not going to be fancy. I want to go somewhere casual. Comfortable.” She paused. “And I’ll probably drink a little less this time.”
I laughed, unable to stop myself from reaching out and cupping her cheek in my palm. “That sounds like a plan,” I told her, lightly stroking her cheekbone before letting my hand fall back to my side. “Is there a day that works for you? I know you’re busy with the hospital.”
“Tomorrow night?” Leila suggested, biting her lower lip as she peered up at me.
“That sounds perfect,” I told her, nodding.
“Then it’s a date,” she said, exhaling noisily. She glanced at her watch. “I think you’re good to take off now, but I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I agreed. For a moment, I was struck by the urge to kiss her, but I wasn’t sure how she would react to that, and I didn’t want to press my luck. Tomorrow—I would kiss her tomorrow.
But was that the faintest trace of disappointment on her face as I turned to leave? Nah, I must have imagined it. I remembered Leila the previous Saturday night, the way she had boldly grabbed my shirt and pulled me into a kiss. If she wanted to kiss me, she would have done so.
Right? The truth was, I just didn’t know with her. And that was part of the intrigue.
20
Leila
Saturday
On Saturday morning, I woke up to Rachel banging on the door. “I’m never going to get any sleep with you around,” I moaned, rubbing my eyes.
“It’s almost noon,” Rachel said. “And anyway, this is a big day.”
“Why is it such a big day?” I asked confusedly, trying to remember if there was any particular reason she would be there. “Where’s Gavin anyway?”
“His preschool took a field trip to the museum today,” Rachel said. “There’s some sort of paleontologist there or something, with a bunch of neat fossils from a bunch of exhibits
around the world. Or something like that. But don’t try to distract me.”
I laughed and stepped back to let her in. “All right, fine,” I said. “But what’s going on? We just had a girls’ day the other day; I thought I was going to get to rest today.”
“And I would let you,” Rachel told me, “except that I can totally tell that you like this Marcus guy, and I can totally tell that he’s into you too.”
“How do you know that?” I asked, amused.
Rachel rolled her eyes. “You wouldn’t have introduced me to him if you didn’t like him,” she said in exasperation. “You’re being pretty obvious about how much you like him.”
“I know that,” I said. “But how do you know he likes me?”
Rachel snorted. “Because he was uncomfortable as shit around Gavin but still agreed to take him on a couple rides, just because you asked him to. After manning that admissions table for the whole day because you asked him to.” She paused. “Not only that, but he was apparently great with Gavin, and not just with the brownie thing. Gavin told me all about how cool he was on the way home yesterday and says that when he grows up, he wants to have painted arms just like Marcus.”
I groaned and put a hand over my eyes. “Sorry,” I said. “He was just the first person that I thought of when you said you needed to find someone who would go on the roller coaster with Gavin.”
“Oh, I don’t mind,” Rachel said, beaming at me. “But I am going to steal your phone and call him and set up a date tonight.” She grabbed my phone off the counter, where I always charged it overnight, and unlocked it. I knew that one day I was going to regret the fact that she knew my password.
“Don’t do that,” I said, trying to take the phone from her.
“Give me one good reason why not,” Rachel said, holding the phone out of my reach, her thumb hovering over the call button.
“Because we already have plans for tonight,” I blurted out.
Rachel raised her eyebrows, slowly lowering her arm. “You do?” she asked. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I didn’t want to tell you until afterward,” I said. “In case, you know, things didn’t work out between us.”
“Do you think that’s likely to happen?”
I shrugged, not looking at her. “I guess I’m just worried that if I keep panicking and running away, eventually he’s not going to wait for me to come back,” I admitted.
“Then we need to get you to quit panicking and running away,” Rachel said firmly. “And that all starts with a good dress, so you realize just how much of a catch you are.”
I laughed. “Do you really think that’s what the problem is?” I asked. “I know I’m a catch.”
“Well, we’re still getting you all dolled up for tonight,” Rachel announced. “And that all starts with going shopping.”
I rolled my eyes, but I went along with it. “Give me five minutes to get dressed,” I told her, running a hand back through my hair. I wrinkled my nose. “Okay, give me ten minutes to get dressed, fix my hair, brush my teeth, and so on. There’s coffee in the kitchen, I think.”
“No problem. I’m not in any hurry,” Rachel said, shooing me toward the bedroom.
Rachel brought me to a little boutique that I’d never been in before. “I used to come here when I was pregnant and look at all the clothes and imagine when I would fit into them again,” she confessed, grinning at me. “It’s kind of been my special place ever since.”
“I’m honored that you brought me here,” I teased.
She laughed. “I’m only sharing the secret with you because this could be the most important night of your life.”
I snorted. “I highly doubt that,” I said. “It’s just a date.”
“Just a date with a guy that you really like,” Rachel said. “A guy who’s good with kids, even if he’s a bit awkward still. A guy who is handsome as anything.”
“You’re starting to stress me out about it,” I complained, but I followed her into the store. They had some pretty cute clothes in there, too. More business casual than what I would normally look for, but there were some really great pieces.
“What about this?” Rachel said, holding up a shimmery blue dress.
“We’re not going super fancy this time,” I protested. “He let me pick the place, and I’m just taking him to Talentini’s for paninis and gelato.”
“Aww, that’s cute,” Rachel said. “That’ll be such a fun date.” She frowned. “So this is a little too formal, I guess. But you still need something cute but jaw-dropping. Okay. We can do that.”
“I don’t know if jaw-dropping is what I’m going for,” I protested. “I went all out last time.”
“And look where it got you,” Rachel said sagely. “Or rather, look where it got him.”
I rolled my eyes. “We’re not doing that again,” I told her. “I just want to have a fun date, maybe make out a little, and then go home.”
I had to admit; there was a part of me (my lady parts, especially) that definitely wanted this date to develop into something more, just like last week’s date had. I didn’t regret sleeping with Marcus, per se. It had been good. Amazing, even. But at the same time, I didn’t want this relationship to be all about the physical attraction between the two of us. I wanted something more. And I was afraid that the more we slept around together, the more we were going to lose that.
“All right, so not jaw-dropping,” Rachel conceded. “But we definitely want his eyes on you for the whole night, right?”
“Yeah,” I admitted. “But no heels this time, either.”
“A cute pair of black flats?” Rachel suggested, holding up a pair.
“I can do that,” I agreed, nodding and grabbing the pair from her so that I could try them on. They fit perfectly, and even though they were brand-new, they were super comfortable. Not too expensive, either.
“All right, so we’re looking for something that you can wear with black flats,” Rachel mused, tapping her chin with one finger.
“I’m not seeing anything,” I said woefully. “It’s not that there’s nothing cute here, I just can’t picture myself in any of it.”
“That’s because you’re too used to always seeing yourself in either scrubs or jeans,” Rachel said, smirking at me. “How about this?”
The red lacy dress that she held out to me was definitely not my style or a color I’d be comfortable in. The cut was a little more modest and comfortable than the slinky black dress she’d had me in the previous week, but even with the full skirt, I wasn’t sure I’d be okay with it.
“You have to at least try it on,” Rachel said, looking exasperated. “You know, you’re not supposed to just grab clothes off the rack, buy them, and head home. Shopping is an experience. Do you even remember that?”
“I buy most of my clothes online at this point,” I admitted. “Then I try them on in the privacy of my bedroom.”
Rachel snorted. “Come on; I want to see you in that. Let’s go.” She ushered me toward the changing rooms at the back of the store.
“It’s not my style,” I protested.
“Don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it,” Rachel said firmly. She pushed me into one of the stalls and leaned against the door. There was no way I was getting out of here without trying it on.
I rolled my eyes, but I stripped down and pulled the dress on. It fit really well, and it was surprisingly comfortable. Although it was all lace on the outside, the lining fabric was soft against my skin. After a moment, I stepped into the flats as well. The outfit was cute, and it felt casual enough for the restaurant that we were going to, while still being just what Rachel wanted: something that would keep his eyes on me for the whole night.
But I wasn’t comfortable in it. If it had been any other color, black or green or blue or something, I could have done it. But instead, it was this loud, bright red. A color that I could only associate with sex.
Rachel pulled open the door to the changing room and gasped.
“You look beautiful,” she said, sounding awed. “Not that you don’t normally, but wow. That dress looks amazing on you.” She shook her head. “You have to get it. If you don’t get it, I’m getting it for you. And I’m making you wear it tonight, even if I have to throw out every other piece of clothing that you own.”
“I don’t know,” I said nervously, running my hands down the dress. “I’m not sure I’m okay with this one. I want to be, don’t get me wrong. But…” I trailed off, biting my lower lip.
“See, I told you you’re not used to thinking of yourself as an incredible catch,” Rachel said, but instead of sounding triumphant, she sounded sad about it.
I ran my hands down the dress. I was so far out of my comfort zone, but then again, that was how I felt about everything to do with this relationship with Marcus. I didn’t know why I was so attracted to him, or how he continued to impress me like he did. He definitely wasn’t the guy I had thought he was at first.
“I think you should give this a try,” Rachel said quietly. “Maybe it’s not a normal look for you, but maybe it’s about time you tried something a little different.” God, it was like she was reading my thoughts.
Anyway, the dress was comfortable, fit well, wasn’t too expensive, and looked better the more I looked at it. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Okay,” I said.
“Okay?” Rachel asked, a gleeful look on her face when I looked at her reflection in the mirror.
“I’ll give this a try,” I said. I think she knew I was talking about more than just the dress.
21
Marcus
Saturday
I was surprised when Leila agreed to let me pick her up from her house on Saturday. Of course, it was no more surprising than the fact that she wanted to go to dinner with me again. I still felt sort of blindsided by that. Even though the chemistry between us was undeniable, I’d thought she’d made it clear that she wanted nothing more to do with me.