“I was in Maine.” She replied simply.
“Maine?! What were you doing there?” Gio demanded, more confused than before.
Sabrina chose her words carefully. “I was taking pictures. What else would I be doing?” She oozed nonchalance and it infuriated Gio.
“Why didn’t you tell me that you were going on assignment?”
She knew she couldn’t evade the question and answered it forthrightly. “You ran out so abruptly on Monday night that I didn’t even have time to think. You’ve done that to me so many times that I just lost my patience. I decided that I would be the one to run away this time.”
“But I don’t run away!” Gio interjected furiously. “I do my job. And I’ve never vanished like you did, weaving tall tales to my neighbors to throw you off track!”
“I didn’t lie to Mrs. Benjamin to throw you off track. She’s just so nosy that I didn’t want her to know where I was going. Truthfully, I didn’t know where I was going when I left. But I ended up in Maine and that’s why I’m here right now…”
Gio interrupted again. “Save your explanation. You don’t owe me anything. Our relationship clearly doesn’t merit common courtesy in your eyes, so maybe we should just end things right now.” Sabrina felt betrayed. She had sacrificed her sleep and safety to come back to Vermont to Gio, and this was her welcome?
Suppressing tears of outrage, she said, “That’s fine with me! But I’m not leaving until I tell you what I came here to say. Glen Cooper robbed a bank in Texas and got away to Mexico. I saw it on the evening news. They showed a sketch of his face and everything. I called the police and told them his name. It shouldn’t be long until they find him.” She gave him a look of disdain and raced out of the firehouse, not turning back.
As soon as she was safely out of view, Sabrina let her tears fall freely. How could she have been so foolish? She should have stayed in Maine and made a vacation of it instead of rushing back to a man who neither understood nor appreciated her. He had behaved so coldly towards her.
“What did you expect?” She shouted at herself, knowing exactly what she had expected. She had expected Gio to see her as his heroine who came one step closer to bringing his enemies to a richly deserved justice. Instead, he had let her run out of there without making the slightest effort to stop her. Sabrina drove blindly through tears and explosive emotions.
At home, she stumbled into the foyer and collapsed onto the sofa. Softy appeared from the darkness and pounced on her chest. In her state of exhaustion and desolation, she did not even feel the crushing weight. Her heart already felt like it had been pummeled with an iron block from Gio’s callous treatment. Overtired and yet immune to sleep, Sabrina lay on the sofa as the sky changed from teal to plum and finally gave way to a rising sun.
*****
In the days that followed, she completely immersed herself in her photography, snatching up every assignment that her boss offered. One morning, Sabrina went to the office to have a tête-à-tête with Darlene. Her supervisor had requested the meeting, and Sabrina assumed that she was going to be given another new project.
“Good morning, Darlene.” Sabrina walked into Darlene’s office with an air of self-confidence, noting that the woman’s desk was covered with proof sheets. “Am I interrupting?” She asked when Darlene did not look up.
“No, please sit down Sabrina. I need to speak with you.” The woman’s tone was much more professional than usual and disconcerted Sabrina. “I’ll preface this discussion by saying that you have always been one of our most diligent and creative photographers. If anything, your diligence has increased recently, but your creativity has not. The last spectacular photos you presented to me were taken in New York. After that, the quality of your work has diminished, and I’m trying to understand why.” Darlene paused, seeing the crestfallen expression on Sabrina’s face.
“I’m sorry, Darlene, but I don’t know what you mean.” Sabrina said quietly.
“Take a look at these pictures.” Darlene removed two photographs from a manila folder. “Do you recognize them?”
“Yes, one of them I took in New York, and the other I took in Maine.” Sabrina provided, wondering where this was leading.
“Do you see the difference between them?” Darlene asked gently, as Sabrina inspected the pictures.
“It’s hard for me to be objective about my own work. All of my photos contain a piece of me, so I’d prefer if you told me what you think the difference is.”
Darlene folded her hands on the desk. “Very well. The photo from New York is almost tangibly alive. It depicts people in action, enjoying an afternoon in Central Park. The photo from Maine is simply lifeless. It’s just a picture of a maple tree. The angle is not particularly remarkable, nor is the perspective very original. Even the lighting is off. If I didn’t know better, I would think this picture had been taken by an ordinary tourist.”
Sabrina tried to hide how much this criticism crushed her. “What can I say, Darlene? I find your assessment harsh, but I respect your expertise. I’ll try to revive my photography to what it was during the New York assignment.”
Darlene, discontent with Sabrina’s answer, began tapping her pen on the desk. “I have no doubt that you’ll try to improve your work, but it has to come naturally. Something in you has changed. If you don’t feel comfortable discussing it with me, I certainly won’t pry. But you need to work out whatever is bothering you emotionally or else these issues will continue to plague your work. And when you go to Martinique, I’ll expect much more dynamic output from that camera of yours.”
With all the recent pandemonium, Sabrina had forgotten about Martinique. Now that Gio was no longer a factor, she knew she should feel excited, but somehow did not. And Darlene had shrewdly perceived that something was amiss in her personal life. Boldly, Sabrina confided in the older woman as though she were a friend. “The truth is that I was involved in a relationship that was…difficult. I hadn’t realized that it was affecting my work, but it won’t anymore because I’m no longer with the man.”
Darlene rolled her eyes humorously. “I should have known it was a man. Sabrina, you’re such a beautiful and talented young woman. I know it hurts right now, but don’t let one man affect your spirits so much. You’ll find someone else.”
“I don’t want to meet anyone else right now.” Sabrina objected firmly.
Darlene looked at Sabrina for a long moment and hesitated before saying, “I think you should meet someone. I’m not talking about anything committal. No, just a dinner date. That would cheer you up.”
Sabrina looked at her skeptically and responded, “No, I can have dinner by myself for a while. I’ve been doing it for a long time. Now, I’m sure we both have work to do, so I’ll be on my way now.” She rose from the chair to leave and was surprised when Darlene stood up as well.
“Just consider having dinner with my husband’s friend.”
“What?! You want to fix me up on a blind date?” Sabrina was aghast at the proposition.
Darlene shook her head dismissively and pitched her sale. “His name is Donald and he’s about forty. He’s very well established in his career and enjoys an affluent lifestyle. I think you and he would really get along.”
“Why is he still single?” Sabrina posed the inevitable question as Darlene pouted, adjusting one of her blond ringlets.
“He’s not the most handsome man, and women often discount him for that reason. But if you would just give him a chance, Sabrina, that’s all I’m asking.” Darlene’s voice had become pleading.
“Why is this so important to you?” Sabrina asked suspiciously.
“Because I want to see you happy.” Darlene lied.
“I don’t believe that. You must have another motive.”
“Well, yes, I suppose I do.” Darlene sighed uncomfortably. “Donald introduced my husband and me years ago. We’ve both felt indebted to him for that, so you might say that this is my effort to return the favor.”
Sa
brina was taken aback by Darlene’s selfishness. It was a side of the woman she had never witnessed. Suddenly, Sabrina was very aware of the fact that Darlene was Senior Photography Editor and not a girlfriend to vent with. “Darlene, this is very inappropriate and I’m surprised at you. Does my job depend at all on…”
“Oh no!” Darlene said vehemently. “This is not blackmail, Sabrina. I just thought it could be a favorable arrangement for all of us. And certainly no one expects you to marry the man! All I’m suggesting is dinner, no strings attached.”
“I don’t know, Darlene.” Sabrina wavered. “It seems unfair for me to go to dinner with this man when it’s not going to lead anywhere.”
“But how do you know that? You haven’t even met Donald yet.”
No, but I’ve met Gio, Sabrina thought to herself, knowing that even if Donald were Prince Charming himself that she would not fall in love with him. “I told you, Darlene, that I’m just out of a relationship.”
“And I told you that this is just two people sharing a meal.” The older woman retorted.
“You’re not going to let this go, are you?” Sabrina asked as Darlene belligerently shook her head. Feeling trapped to act against her better judgment, Sabrina conceded. “One meal, Darlene. One meal.”
Chapter 15
Sabrina tossed her hair, adjusting the red rose that swept her tresses to one side and anticipating that her blind date would enter the restaurant at any moment. She was still adamant about not wanting to date anyone right now, but reminded herself that it would just be “one meal” with no expectations on either end. Nervously, she scanned the interior of the restaurant, jumping slightly every time the door swung open. At precisely 7:15, a sober-faced, middle-aged man walked through the door. With his thick-rimmed glasses, thinning hair spread like butter around his scalp, and checkered polyester suit, he looked like a caricature, and Sabrina almost burst out laughing.
Then her eyes focused in on the man’s lapel, where a pink carnation was securely tucked. The carnation in his lapel and the rose in her hair were their “signals.” They had not seen photographs of each other, which Sabrina now sorely regretted. Sabrina swallowed her disappointment and determined not to judge him based on his cartoonish looks. After all, maybe he would actually make her happy. Gio was by far the most handsome man Sabrina had ever seen, and he had hurt her terribly.
The man spotted Sabrina, gave her a crooked smile, and strode over to the table. Wordlessly, he extended his hand, as she coolly but courteously offered hers. She was repulsed when he caught her hand in his sweaty grip and kissed the top of it with a loud puckering noise. Instantly, she recalled her first dinner with Gio when he had kissed her hand and how different his lips had felt on her skin. How the connection between them was so irrepressible and natural…returning to reality, Sabrina feigned a smile and stammered, “Hello…I, uh, guess you're Donald.”
“You bet your life, sweetheart.” He replied. Unattractive and arrogant, she thought, what a repugnant combination.
Sabrina glanced at her watch discreetly, trying to calculate how long she should stay out of decorum. I’ll order an unromantic meal like egg salad on rye, with a side of onion rings so those loose lips never make their way to my mouth! As Sabrina studied the menu, pretending to be lost in fascination, she realized uncomfortably that Donald was leering at her. His eyes were taking a full tour of the upper half of her body, twinkling perversely as they did so. Darlene is lucky she’s my boss, or I’d really give it to her! Trying to make polite discourse she probed, “So why don’t you tell me a little about yourself?”
He took a deep breath and launched into a mind-numbing monologue beginning with his childhood in the Midwest and ending with a boastful description of his career. “I’ve always been a science guy, but now I’m riding the wave so to speak and working with computers. I design some of the finest technology your money can buy, sweetheart! After earning my degree in geology back in the…oh, I don’t want to give away my age now, do I?”
Give it away? Your hairline’s already done that for you, she thought with irony, willing the agonizing date to be over. While Donald continued to pontificate about his job, a subject that obviously engrossed him, Sabrina’s eyes widened and her heart sank deep into her belly. A flutter of nausea made her whole body quiver, as she saw Gio walk into the restaurant, a scantily clad woman fused to his side.
The popcorn-blond leech on Gio’s arm was hanging onto him as though she were dangling from a skyscraper and in danger of falling to the ground. Sabrina watched them bitterly, not believing that he could so soon be involved with another woman. As Donald blabbered on, it took all of Sabrina’s civility to strain a close-lipped smile and pretend to listen.
*****
Meanwhile, Gio and his date, dressed in scarlet from platinum head to stiletto-covered toes, took a seat where they were maddeningly out of Sabrina’s view. Once seated, Gio lunged for a menu, hoping to use it as a shield against this ghastly blind date he’d reluctantly let Lucas, a co-worker at the firehouse, fix him up on. What was Lucas thinking? They clearly had opposing tastes in women, and Gio believed that Lucas might actually find this floozy attractive. Gio peered out from behind his menu and asked, “So, Cindy, what do you do for a living?”
Deliberately wetting her vermilion lips, she replied, “A little of this and that…” It was an embarrassing attempt to sound mysterious. She leaned forward so Gio could feel her breath sweep across his face. Instantly he knew that she was a smoker and had lit a cigarette not too long ago.
Recoiling from her breath, he muttered, “This and that? A worthy endeavor, I’m sure.”
He thought longingly of his Primrose, so classy and fragile, yet infused with a passion that would bring any man to his knees. Involuntarily, he ground his teeth, getting a powerful mental flashback of the night they had romped on the blanket, side by side with the wilds of nature, from the firm earth to the intangible heavens. All had seemed to meld into a consuming fusion that overwhelmed him still as he reminisced.
His dinner with Cindy was brief, as she ordered a garden salad that she chomped on like an irritating bunny rabbit, and Gio ordered a cold platter of Vermont cheeses with bread and olives, something he knew would be prepared like lightning in the kitchen. Wolfing down a dinner that he ordinarily would have savored, Gio was mollified to learn that Cindy was “slimming” and not interested in dessert.
As they walked out of the restaurant together, he tried to devise a tactful excuse to end the evening early. Suddenly, he was overcome by an inexplicable urge to look behind him. He jerked his head around, and as he did, what he saw nearly made his heart burst through his chest. There was Sabrina, sharing a piece of cake with a man who he could only see by the back of a sandy head. He felt instantly, wretchedly sick and knew that he wouldn’t have to invent any reason why the evening should end---if he didn’t get home soon, he would be violently ill---or just plain violent---right there on the spot. He felt a blinding jealousy sear every fiber of his being.
Clenching his hands into fists, he forced himself to exit the restaurant with Cindy. Gio decided he would quickly deposit her home and then wait outside Sabrina’s house until she arrived with her new man. He didn’t have a plan after that, but he knew that going to his loft would be fruitless, as he would have no sleep that night, or any other night, as long as Sabrina was with another man. How could he have been so foolish and proud? He berated himself, as Cindy got a little frisky beside him in the truck and started to paw at his broad shoulders. Gio sternly told her not to distract his driving on the poorly lit roads, and the snarl in his voice surprised even him. Dejected, Cindy sat woodenly in her seat, staring out the window as Gio continued to seethe, practically sputtering with fury.
Minutes later, he bid Cindy a solemn good-night and stiffly said it had been nice meeting her. Then, with a foolhardy recklessness, he leaned heavily onto the gas pedal, turbo-charged his vehicle into action, and remained single-minded about his destination.
*****
Northern Moonlight Page 19