by Tia Siren
“It’s nice to see you, Brian. It’s been a long time.”
“Yes it has. Holy shit.” He led Edward to a nearby table with drinks already waiting for them. “Hey, sit down. I got you the old and faithful.” He picked up his shot glass and held it up, waiting for Edward to do the same.
Edward smiled, almost embarrassed that he remembered. “Crown Royal?”
“You bet. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get this stuff in Paris?”
He picked up his drink and clinked it together with Brian’s. Downing it quickly, the memories of their crazy days together came flooding back.
“So, you still picking up the ladies like you did?”
“I get my fair share, I guess.”
“So modest. You were always so humbly modest and such a ladies man. I love it!” He turned toward the bar and put his hand up. “Excusez-moi. Barman. Deux autres s'il vous plaît?”
“I thought we were just going to have a few beers?”
“You getting soft on me, Eddie?”
“No, but…. I have a lot to get done.”
“That never stopped you in college. Ha ha! You drank everything under the God damned sun and still did all the honeys.”
“Things are quite different now. I have a business to run and responsibilities to oversee.”
“Wow, I guess you did a lot of growing up.”
“I did. But it paid off.”
“Remember the frat party we crashed? What frat was it? The Alpha Pi Deltas. Ha ha! Those guys were so pissed when we became the center of their party.”
“Yeah, I remember it like it was yesterday.” Edward tried to play it off but wasn’t interested in talking about his old college days. “Things were pretty crazy back then. So tell me. How is Alco? Are you still a big wig there?”
“Yep. In fact, they want me to fly out to Italy and start negotiations on opening another factory out there.”
“Hey, wow, Brian! That’s amazing!”
“Yeah, I do love it. Would be nice to share it with someone, but hey. You can’t always get what you want, right?”
“I’m sure it will happen for you.”
“Well, it hasn’t so far.”
“Never?”
“Nope. Not one relationship, not one girlfriend, not even a good fuck. Sure isn’t like it was in college.”
Edward had the idea that Brian wouldn’t succeed once he graduated. He was afraid that Brian had latched himself onto guys like himself, Joseph and a few others who were attractive, success driven and socially active. He was afraid that once they all went their separate ways Brian wouldn’t have the stability to make it on his own. At least he was wrong on the business side of things, but so right when it came to settling down and finding someone.
By the end of the night, they had finished off the bottle of Crown Royal and added several beers to the bill before realizing they needed to call it a night.
“What the hell time is it anyway?”
Edward looked at his watch and squinted to see the time. “Looks like ten thirty.”
“That’s it? Hell, we should have one more then.”
“No, no.” Edward waved his hands. “I’m out. But listen. Thanks for the business tips and the stories. It was fun catching up.” He stood up, feeling a little clumsy. “Brian,” he said, holding his hand out. “It was good seeing you, man.”
Brian grabbed his hand and pulled him to him as he stood up. He hugged him tightly and slapped him on the back much like he did when they first met up. “You too, Eddie. This was great.”
“Next time I’m in town I’ll give you a call.”
“You better! Hey, I got the bill. You go on home.”
“Thanks, man.”
Just as Edward got to the front door, he heard Brian call out his name.
“Eddie!”
He turned and looked back.
“Don’t be such a fucking stranger, huh?”
Edward nodded and smiled as he turned back toward the door. He almost collided with a young pretty woman who was holding the door open for him.
“Oh, excuse me.” As his eyes adjusted, she looked familiar to him. He stepped back and pointed to her. “I know you.”
“Monica. I am Eva’s friend.”
He felt his heart surge when he heard her name and he took a deep breath. “Yes. I remember. How is Eva?”
“She is good. I haven’t seen her all week, but she seems to be doing well.” Her smirk told him she knew why Eva hadn’t been in her best friend’s life for the last few days.
“She was an amazing hostess. Tell her I’ll miss her when she goes back to Cambridge.” He looked at her in hopes of getting a bit more information from her.
“I will, and its Oxford, not Cambridge.”
“Oh, yes. I’m sorry. I knew it was one of the better schools. I was so proud of her when she told me.”
She smiled smugly and waited for him to make the next move.
“I should be going. Tell her I said hello, and thank you for an amazing few days.”
“I’ll do that. Nice suit,” she said, glancing down at his chest.
“Thanks.”
As she walked by him, he looked down at his expensive Armani suit and wondered what she must have thought about him.
Chapter 13
Edward left the pub but didn’t go back to his hotel. He couldn’t get Eva out of his thoughts and he felt like he had to see her one last time. He walked the streets until he reached the one in front of the little bed and breakfast where she was staying, wondering if she was still in her room or if she had gone back to Oxford yet. Just standing in front of the place made him feel closer to her. Although he had never been in her room, he did walk her to her floor two nights ago. He walked around the large house and looked for her window, trying not to look much like a stalker when passersby walked past. Walking around the side of the house, he saw an upstairs window light illuminate through the curtains and he secretly wished for it to be hers. As he stood there, looking up at the yellow glow, his heart stopped when she came into view.
“Eva,” he whispered. She disappeared as quickly as she appeared and he pulled his phone, wanting to call her, but slid it back into his pocket when he remembered she didn’t have a phone.
I could call the bed and breakfast number and ask for her, he thought. Did he know her last name? He thought hard through their conversations but realized he didn’t know her full name. He walked through the front door and up to a small desk illuminated by a small desk lamp. No one was around and just before he rang the bell, he saw a book sitting on the top of a pile of paperwork. The front read Guests. He looked around and quickly picked it up, opening it to the last page of signatures. He scanned the names and rested his finger on Eva Brooks. His finger slid along the cursive letters while his heart rate picked up. A pack of stationary sat on the side of the pile of papers and he reached over to steal a piece. With a pen in hand, he wrote to her:
Eva-
I wish to say thank you one last time for a wonderful week with you. You have made Paris a vacation to remember always in my mind. Your eyes have burned a spot into my soul and your smile, so kissable and so beautiful, will be one I will cherish always. I will never forget you and neither will my heart. Perhaps, if it is in the cards our paths may cross again one day. If such a beautiful occurrence happens twice in my lifetime, I will be the happiest man to have forever lived on this planet and I will be sure to make the second-time count.
Stay well and I wish you the best of luck in Bristol.
Until we meet again, if ever.
All my love-
Eddie
He eyed the note one last time and hesitated on Bristol. It was where she said she grew up. He smiled and ascended the stairs toward the window with the yellow light. She seemed to be the only person still awake in that big house. He quietly slipped his folded note under the door and walked away.
Back in his hotel room, he made a cup of coffee and called his partner.
“I know. I’ll get you the information you’ve been waiting for by morning. I met with Brian tonight and I got a lot of info we can use.”
“Have you been drinking?”
“Yeah, he couldn’t seem to let go of our good old college days.”
“Let me guess. Crown Royal?”
“Several shots.”
“Man,” Joseph laughed. “How’s the old boy doin’ anyway?”
“It’s kind of sad. He hangs on to what used to be, hoping it will get him someplace.”
“So, he’s not doing as well as we thought?”
“Oh, no. He is. He and I had a long conversation about the successes of our businesses and what we can expect going forward. Maybe even venture our two companies together down the road. We’ve got to hook him up with someone though.”
“What? You mean with a lady?”
“Yeah. It’s been a long time for him. I feel bad for the guy.”
“Lemme guess. He hasn’t had pussy since pussy had him?”
“Something like that,” he said, grinning at Joseph’s crass attitude toward the less fortunate.
“We can do that. Absolutely. I have a list of fine honeys who would take him out and show him a good time.”
“Yeah, we can talk about that. But listen. Right now, I have something to talk to you about.”
“What’s that, man?”
“There has been a slight change in my plans.”
Joseph stayed quiet, knowing it wasn’t good news for him.
“You still there? Did I lose you?”
“I’m here.”
“I’m heading back tomorrow morning but I’ll only be in town for about a week.”
“A week.”
“I’m flying out to Oxford for a while.”
“What the hell is in Oxford? No. Wait. Don’t even tell me it’s that girl.”
“As a matter of fact, it is. But I don’t have much time. I’m going to need your help.”
“With what Edward?” Joseph sounded frustrated. “I need you here. I don’t need you telling me you’re traveling across the continent chasing your dick!”
“It’s not like that.”
“Oh no? You are in search of some female you think you need to have in your life. Am I right? Why couldn’t you have just gotten laid while she was in Paris?”
“I told you. It’s not like that. She’s… different.”
“Different,” Joseph said with apprehension.
“Yes. Everything will work out. I promise you.”
“For your sake, you’d better hope so. What do you need my help with?”
“I sort of told her a few things that aren’t necessarily true.”
“Like… what?” he asked, worried about the answer.
“She doesn’t know I’m rich.”
“Okay, so?”
“And she thinks I’m a struggling teacher.”
“Why would you tell her that? Wait a minute. Does this have anything to do with your midlife crisis you had before taking off to Paris?”
“It’s not a midlife crisis. You have to be in the middle of your life to have that happen.”
“But that whole talk about not keeping a woman because of your social status, don’t tell me you changed your identity to impress a lady.”
“I kind of did.”
“You know a relationship based on a lie will never work out. What the hell is the matter with you?”
“I had to try it. I had to establish that. I didn’t mean to fall for her.”
“This sounds serious.”
“It is. I can’t stop thinking about her.”
“She bit you good, didn’t she?”
“Bit me?”
“Get your ass back here and we’ll figure out what to do from there.”
Edward caught the next plane out of Paris and arrived back in Brighton by lunchtime. His mind was turning on how he was going to strategize his way into Oxford and into Eva’s life without making it too obvious he was following her. If it were anyone else telling him this story, he would have called them perverted or potential stalker. But he knew what he was doing and he knew there was a deep-rooted connection between them, one that couldn’t be set aside in hopes that fate led their paths together again. He was always the doer type, and never settled for sitting and waiting or second best.
When Joseph agreed to meet him for lunch, he made sure he dressed in his blue jeans and white t-shirt to give Joseph the full effect of what he was about to tell him.
It took Joseph a few seconds to realize it was Edward standing at a table waiting for him, but once he did the look on his face was picture perfect.
“What the hell is this?” he said as he approached him.
“What’s what?” Edward looked down at the floor and then turned to look behind him, humoring his partner.
“What are you wearing? Did the dry cleaners lose your entire wardrobe?”
“No.” He held his arms out and his chin up. His James Dean look was not impressing Joseph in the least.
“Then you must be out slumming,” he said, shaking his head. “I don’t get it.”
“This is my new look.”
“Dude. We’ve got to talk. Is this how you met your female friend?”
“It is. And you know what? She liked me for me, not my money or my expensive suits. It was pretty fucking refreshing.”
“I dunno, man.”
“Trust me. I know what I’m doing.”
“Famous last words.”
They sat at the table and ordered their lunch with a couple of beers.
“So, tell me about this woman.”
“Her name is Eva. She is spectacular.”
“What does she do?”
“She is a college student at Oxford, studying history and social science.”
“Wow, Oxford. Not bad. She must be quite the looker.”
“She’s… wholesome.”
“Wholesome?” Joseph snickered. “Sounds like someone your mother would hook you up with. Where’d ya meet her? Church?”
“Actually it was a coffee shop. I was trying to sweet talk some French snob and apparently, my French is not what it used to be. After the woman proceeded to slap my face, Eva and her friend found quite a bit of humor in my translation. And apparently, you are too.”
Joseph had a smile on his face one couldn’t pry off with a crowbar. He just knew this was going to be a good story. “You gotta tell me what you said.”
“No way.”
“Come on. Don’t leave a brother hangin’”
“Tell you so what? So you can gloat some more? We all know you aced French in college. We don’t need to keep bringing it up.”
“Come on, man,” Joseph said, trying to hide his chuckling. “Tell me.”
“I… asked her…” he looked down, embarrassed at what had happened, knowing what Joseph’s reaction would be when he found out “if she wanted to see my monkey.”
Joseph burst out laughing almost falling out of his chair as onlookers turned to look at the commotion.
Edward smirked and nodded. “Go ahead. Yuck it up.”
“Awe, man.” He wiped his eyes. “That’s great.”
Edward took a long drink of his beer, waiting for his partner to settle down.
“Anyway, she was sitting there with a friend and I guess I got their attention.”
“Did she run to your rescue?”
“No. I wasn’t going to say anything to them. I went to a different table to lick my wounds but she kept watching me, staring at me and flirting with me so I swallowed my pride and went to her table.”
“And she didn’t laugh you out of the place?”
“I introduced myself and we ended up talking the rest of the evening. Spent the week together until she had to go back.”
“She wasn’t a one-and-done huh?”
“Not even close. I kissed her
the night before she left Paris.”
“Wait. What?” Joseph looked like he was just slapped. “You didn’t even get her into bed? The entire week?”
“No, I didn’t. It never even came up.”
“Well, there’s your problem,” he said looking down at Edward’s jeans. “Maybe you should get rid of those things.”
“What the hell. The subject! The subject never came up. What’s the matter with you?”
“Nothing’s the matter with me. You’re the one with some serious intimacy problems.”
“See, that’s just the point though. I’m not. We connected on a much deeper level. Sex isn’t everything.”
“Watch it!”
“I’m serious. Try it sometime. Let your mind in control for once. It’s the most amazing feeling to be intimately connected to someone without having to be physically connected.”
“So, when is she expecting you? A week?”
“Well, not exactly. She doesn’t know when I’m going.”
“Are you going to surprise her? Most chicks don’t like surprises if it’s totally unexpected. You might get a bad reaction out of her. I’d call her before you decided to pop back into her life.”
“I… can’t do that.”
“You can’t. And why not?”
“She doesn’t have a cell phone.”
“Who the hell doesn’t have cell phones these days? You sure she’s into you?”
“I told you. She’s not like the others.”
“So, she didn’t give you a number. Did she give you her room number so you know where to find her once you get to Oxford?”
“She never told me what college she went to. I had to find out indirectly from her friend.”
Joseph leaned back and looked at Edward, draping his arm over the back of his chair. “You are kidding me, right?”
“No, I’m not. That’s why I need your help.”
“Maybe she has a boyfriend or husband or something.”
“No. She told me she hasn’t dated anyone for the last few years.”