by Cherry Kay
As the night went on Bianca was delighted to find that it was actually very fun. They told stories, talked of their past, talked of their jobs, and ate delicious food until it was time to go. She was surprised to find that she had already been there for over two hours. When the check came they both grabbed for it and Bianca couldn’t help but relish in how nice his fingers felt on her skin. She looked up at him, noticing how dark his eyes had become.
“Allow me.” He said taking in the surprised look on her face.
“Oh, please, no. I insist.” She said trying to wiggle the check and her hand free from beneath his much larger ones.
“Really, it’s my treat, Bianca.” He said wanting her to understand that he wanted to pay.
“But this is my treat since I spilled on you.” she protested.
“And I wouldn’t have come unless I wanted to spend time with you.” he objected.
She blinked rapidly letting that set in. “You wanted to spend time with me?” she asked, her grip on the check loosening enough for him to weasel it away from her.
“I did.” He was smiling at her dumbfounded expression.
“But I mean…why?” she asked, befuddled, as to why he’d want to spend time with her. Until yesterday she hadn’t even known he knew she existed. Of course she knew he existed. She had been checking him out despite her better judgment for most of the time she had worked there. She liked to watch him read on Saturdays, he was always so studious. She liked to watch him walk away or fix his glasses. On more than a few occasions he had been the star in her night time fantasies as she pleasured herself under the covers. She wanted to get to know him better, but she had never been able to make the first move. Maybe spilling coffee on him wasn’t such a bad idea, Bianca thought.
He laughed uncomfortably and subtly slide his credit card out so that the waitress could close them out.
“How about we go for a walk and I tell you.” he suggested as the waitress came back and swooped the check and credit card up.
She laughed nervously. “Is this the part you tell me you’re married or an axe murderer?” she asked twiddling her thumbs.
“No axe murderer and as of now I have no wife.” He said giving her a lopsided grin.
She bit her lip and then shrugged. One of her fantasies flashed through her mind and she wondered how she would be able to say no to him. “Alright.” She said, trying to act nonchalant, but inside she was a bundle of nerves. Never had she been more excited than to get to know a man. Not even Justin, who she’d had been married to.
“Alright?” he asked, glee crossing over his face.
She nodded as the waitress came back. “Yeah, sure. I mean I have nothing else to do.” She said with a shrug.
He laughed and sighed the check before taking her hand and leading her out of the restaurant. She wrapped her coat tightly around herself as they began to walk. She noticed he was walking close to her and she didn’t mind. She also noticed that he was much taller than her 5’5 figure and she openly ogled his broad shoulders and strong bone structure. She was reminded a bit of Clark Kent with the glasses and again she felt a certain warmth in her nether regions.
“So are you going to answer my question now?” she asked anxiously.
“I’ve um…I’ve actually been watching you. Not in like a creepy weird way, but like I noticed when you started working.” He said blushing brightly.
She giggled and gestured for him to go. “So you’ve been watching me since I started working there?” She was curious to see what else he would say.
He nodded slightly and blushed even brighter. “You just have this great smile…It really caught my eye.” He added lowly.
She grinned and looked away feeling flattered.
“I may have noticed you as well.” She said quietly after a long silence.
“But I didn’t mean to spill the coffee on you earlier.” She added quickly.
He chuckled, “I don’t mind if you did. It gave me a chance to finally get up the guts to ask you out.”
“Actually I was the one that asked you out.” She pointed out.
He nodded, “Touché then.” He said before she stopped in front of her apartment building.
“This is me.” She said nodding behind her.
He looked up and sighed feeling sad that he was about to have to leave her. “Is it?” he asked, taking her hand gently in his own.
She nodded and blushed as his calloused fingers caressed her mocha colored hands.
“So I was wondering, maybe we could do this again sometime? Maybe we could go out?” he asked leaning forward and looking into her eyes.
She nodded slowly. “I’d like that a lot.”
“Good. How about Tuesday? I have some work I have to do tomorrow or else I’d ask you your schedule tomorrow. So does Tuesday work?” he asked hopefully.
She nodded and was surprised when he leaned down and pressed a chaste kiss to her lips. She didn’t have time to revel in the sweetness before he was gone.
Chapter 3
“So? Are you going to tell me how it went?” Missy asked excitedly the next day at work.
Bianca blushed making Missy squeal with glee.
“I want to know! Details! Please and all of them. Leaving nothing out.” Missy ordered.
Bianca grinned sheepishly and let out a dreamy sigh. “It was amazing. The food was amazing. The conversation. Everything and then the best part about it is that we’re going out again Tuesday!” Bianca said with excitement.
Missy squealed again making half of the café look at her in shock. She tossed them an apologetic look before turning back to Bianca.
“When? When are you going on the date?” Missy asked excitedly.
“Tomorrow.” Bianca said wistfully.
Missy squealed again and patted her on the arm. “You’re totally dating your future husband.” She said before going to help the people at the register.
Bianca continued to blush the rest of the day.
Once again, Bianca was nervous as she got ready for her date. Tonight she wore a yellow dress with crisscross straps and strappy wedge heels. The purse she picked matched the dress and she put on a white cardigan. The colors she wore offset her brown skin and she grinned widely at herself in the mirror. She thought she looked pretty good for having thrown something together. Her insides were a mess as the time ticked away and she waited for Douglass to ring the doorbell. At a quarter to seven the buzz on her apartment went off alerting her that someone was at the door waiting to come in. Her insides twisted all together as she pressed the button to let him in.
A few minutes later there was a knock at the door and she opened it without looking in the peephole. She was too excited to see Douglass and to start the date.
“Hi.” She said grinning like a mad woman when she saw him. He was wearing a nice tailored black Hugo Boss suit and looking extremely handsome. The suit showed off his broad shoulders and she could see the strength of his abs under the white cotton shirt he wore underneath the suit. His chest hair poked out at the top and he felt her mouth go dry at the thought of running her hands through the thick of it.
His grin matched her own and without thinking he leaned forward and placed a sweet kiss to her lips. She melted a little as he pulled away. Her eyes had fluttered closed and her breathing had gotten heavier with his close proximity.
“Good evening.” He said offering her an arm.
She grabbed a coat and took the offered arm before they left the apartment. She made sure to lock up and then they walked towards the elevator in her building to leave and go on their date.
“So how are you?” he asked pressing the down button.
“Good, I’m good.” She said nervously.
He smiled slightly, “What’s been new?” he asked curiously as the elevator dinged and opened to allow them in.
“Nothing much. I worked for the last two days.” She said fidgeting with the strap of her purse.
He nodded, “I know what you mean. I
did too.” He said tightening his hold on her arm as they entered the elevator.
“I don’t think you ever mentioned what you did.” she said thoughtfully. She already knew of course. She and Missy had talked about it, but she still wanted to hear what Douglass had to say about his job. She had also ended up looking him up and Google and almost cried when she saw how much he was worth. She wasn’t sure how comfortable she felt with dating a very rich man, but she did like Douglass so that should be enough. She was still a little uncomfortable with the thought of being with him because she felt he would have expectation of how she should act and things like that, but she also really liked him and that counterbalanced everything.
“I didn’t.” he said and then cleared his throat.
She smiled slightly, seeing how nervous he now looked. “Are you a mob boss or something?” she joked lightly.
He laughed, but she noticed it was a bit strained. “No, nothing like that.”
“A hitman, then?” she asked trying to keep it light.
He laughed again and she noticed he sounded more relaxed. “Not that either. How about I tell you over dinner what I do.” He said putting his hand on the small of her back to lead her from the elevator.
She nodded reluctantly and they continued out of her apartment and towards the parking lot. He took her to a nice black Mercedes Benz car and opened the door for her to get in. Then he swung around to the other side and got in himself. He started the car and then they were off for their destination.
“Will you at least tell me where we are going?” she asked curiously.
He grinned and shook his head. “You’re inquisitive aren’t you?” he said wrapping an arm around her seat rest.
She laughed and shrugged. “I’ve been told that I am a time or two.” She said lightly.
He chuckled and they drove through the streets until they got to their destination. She was surprised when they pulled in front of a Concert Hall.
“What are we doing here?” she asked confused by their location.
“There’s a concert tonight that’s supposed to be really good.” He said driving up to the entrance and then stopping the car for the valet.
Surprised, she got out and allowed the valet to help her out of the car as she waited for Douglass to hand over his keys.
“A concert?” she asked wondering what they were going to see.
“It’s not so much a concert, but more of a ballet. Do you like ballet? I guess I should’ve warned you.” he said and she was surprised to hear nervousness lacing his tone.
“I like ballet.” She reassured him and then took his hand so that they could go in together.
She noticed he breathed a lot easier when she said that.
“Not many people like ballet,” he said quietly as they entered the crowded music hall.
“No I’ve always loved it. We used to go see the Nutcracker around Christmas time every year.” She said it forlornly, thinking about how it was Christmas time and yet she wasn’t going to see the Nutcracker.
He laughed loudly and pulled her closer to him. “That’s what we are going to see.” He continued to laugh at her astounded expression.
“Seriously?” she asked, completely surprised.
“Yeah. I didn’t want to tell you because it was a surprise, but now that you mentioned it I just…I had to.” He said sheepishly.
She laughed and shook her head. “We’re seriously about to go see the Nutcracker?” she asked just to make sure he wasn’t screwing with her.
“Yeah, it is the only ballet that plays at Christmas.” He rolled his head good-naturedly.
“That’s amazing.” She whispered as they moved closer into the hall so they could get to their seats.
“I hoped you’d like it, but this is even better.” He said, squeezing her hand a little tighter.
She turned and grinned at him, but it turned a bit wistful as she thought about how she went to see the Nutcracker every year with her husband.
“My husband and I used to go.” She admitted quietly. “But we also used to sit in the way back, we always got the worst seats.” She said in the same wistful tone.
He frowned and rubbed her arm softly. “I got us great seats.” He said kissing her swiftly on the lips as they came to the ticket takers and handed the tickets over. The ushers directed them to their seats and Bianca was surprised to find that he had gotten a box overlooking the entire Concert Hall.
“These are incredible.” She said as they took their seats and looked around the hall. She saw the set design for the Nutcracker and smiled widely at how excited she was just to be there with him.
“Thank you.” she added giving him a hard kiss on the lips and surprising them both.
He chuckled and moved closer to her. “Don’t say thank you yet until we watch the ballet. It might not be so good, I don’t know.” He said raising an eyebrow at her.
She rolled her eyes and cuddled into his side as the lights dimmed and the ballet started. They both heartily enjoyed the performance and near the end Bianca had tears in her eyes at how beautiful the entire ballet had been.
After the ballet they left to go have a late dinner at another one of Douglass’s favorite restaurants. When they left the ballet, Bianca was having a hard time not gushing about it. Finally she just let all of her feelings loose about the ballet and gushed to Douglass at how amazing everything had been. It was like she had seen it for the first time. Maybe it had to do with seeing it with Douglass, or maybe it was such a great opportunity to see it at the position she did in one of the boxes.
Regardless she loved the entire experience and couldn’t stop talking about it.
They drove to a nice steak house that Douglass swore had the best steaks in town at the best prices. They had a reservation waiting and the hostess took them to a small table near the window.
“I’m glad you liked the ballet. I was a bit worried you weren’t a ballet goer.” he said quietly as he perused the menu.
“Are you kidding?! I loved it! It was amazing!” she continued to gush. “I mean I loved it. I had seen it before, obviously, but going with you it was…it was a lot different and so much fun. Maybe it was the seats or maybe it was the company, regardless the entire time was amazing.” She said happily taking a breadstick and eating it as she began to go over each scene with a variety of colorful details.
He chuckled and put his hand on hers lightly caressing the skin. “I’m glad you had fun.”
“I did. I mean I love the ballet and just it being Christmas and everything I like that time too. I can’t believe we only have two weeks until it’s here.” She said excitedly.
“What are you doing for it?” he asked curiously. She had rarely talked about her family, the only mention was the homosexual husband whom she hadn’t talked to since the divorce.
Bianca’s face immediately turned into a frown and Douglass was angry at himself for even bringing it up.
“I’m sorry.” He said immediately seeing the downfallen look on her face.
“No it’s ok. You were just asking,” she said quickly brushing it away and clearing her throat uncomfortably as she began to talk. “Well, as you know I was married, but since I’m obviously not anymore…” she trailed off and took a sip of her water. “My parents are dead and I had no siblings so it’s just me.”
“So what are you doing?” he asked again.
“Well Missy – that’s one of the girls who works at the café. Missy and I are probably just going to open presents and eat a lot of chocolate while watching sappy Christmas movies.”
“What are you doing?” she asked hurriedly. She wanted to get off the conversation and put it on something else.
“Well, I was going to ask this beautiful, dark-skinned Goddess I’ve taken a liking to, to spend the day with me, but I think she might be busy,” he said thoughtfully.
She chuckled and leaned in. “I’d love to do something on Christmas with you.” she said.
Douglass grinned
and nodded. “That’s good.” Then the grin slid off his face and he took her hands in his. “I just want you to know that I want to get to know you better. Please give me a chance to make you happy. I know you’ve been hurt in the past, but after tonight and our last date I really do like you, Bianca.” Douglass said caressing her hand and then leaning forward to kiss it.
She blushed and nodded. “I would really like to make you happy too.” She leaned forward and pressed a kiss against his lips.