“Please…look at me.” He pressed forward, directing me by my elbow to face him and closed in on the space between us. “I have an issue with people who can’t maintain eye contact with me. Your attention is something I want to keep."
“Why do you have a problem with people who avoid eye contact?” I declined his request by keeping my eyes locked to the ground.
“It’s due to the type of people that can’t. Can you please look at me, Hanley?”
“Okay then," I mumbled underneath my breath and tried hard to hold the weight of his stare.
"I'm very sorry about what happened in the parking lot,” he offered, the sincerity in his voice putting me at ease. “Are you sure you're all right?”
"I'm fine," I assured him. "No ER visit needed."
"Good." He grinned, staring at me for a moment longer. "Hanley," he whispered my name with finality and reached forward to move a misbehaving piece of hair from my face.
Without another word, he ambled out of the store, leaving me standing there in awe.
“Uh…you’re not going to ask me out again?" I asked his back. "You're giving up?”
He glanced over his shoulder at me and gave me a wink before disappearing out of the open double doors and around the bend.
I hadn’t the slightest idea I held my posture so stiffly until I felt a tinge of pain in my lower back.
“Girl”—Skylar drew out the word for many seconds and gave it a few unnecessary syllables—“you’ve just been marked by Elias Cari.”
“Meaning?”
She pointed to the entrance. “That man is not going to give up until you go out with him.”
“Damn it.” Sighing, I crossed my arms. “I just got here. Why? You’re much prettier and more interesting. Why didn’t he hit on you?”
She looked down at my thighs with a grin. “I bet he made your underwear moist, huh?” Her smile dropped. “Just go ahead and fuck him, and then he’ll leave you alone.”
“Thanks for the advice,” I said sardonically, giving her a smile I hoped would pick up her sudden bitter mood.
It didn’t. She promptly gave me a to-do list a mile long.
AT THE END of the night, I asked Skylar to have dinner with me. She turned me down, explaining she had somewhere else to be. Left all alone, I decided to check out the row of restaurants for something to eat. Being that it was the peak dinner hour, most of them were crowded. The least crowded place was an eatery named Romo’s Italian Eatery adjacent to a ‘60s themed diner.
When the hostess informed me of the forty-five minute wait, I decided instant noodles at home would be a better idea and immediately turned around.
“Miss? Excuse me!” The hostess trotted up to me, catching up to me on the sidewalk. “We have a table for you.” Attempting to catch her breath, she paused to smooth away a wayward hair from her bob haircut.
Confused, I tried to bring my words together. “But I thought—”
“A table was just cleared.” She turned on her heels, directing me to follow.
The moment I sat down at the table, dressed with a white table cloth and located near the front windows, I was served a glass of water. Fresh utensils, placed strategically on two rectangular-shaped white cloth napkins atop the table. “Welcome to Romo’s.” My waiter gave me a bright simper and handed me a menu. “My name is Phillip, and I will be your server today. Can I start you off with a drink?”
After perusing the leather-backed menu, I clutched my neck and began to choke. The prices were missing, which could’ve only meant one thing. “I don’t think I can eat here.”
Bending over the table, he stage-whispered to me, “It’s on the house; order whatever you want.”
Unable to hide my shock, my mouth fell slightly agape. “On the house?”
He winked at me and briefly flashed a pointed glance to an area on the other side of the restaurant.
Elias sat, dining with two other men dressed in dark suits at the eight-seat table facing the kitchen. His attention drifted toward me as he tipped the wine glass full of what looked to be water to his lips. Acknowledging me, he put his glass down on the table and gave me a nod along with something that could barely be labeled as a smile.
I quickly averted my eyes.
The idea of eating at a decadent restaurant on his dime made me feel uncomfortable; my hunger made the choice before logic and good sense could get in the way.
Looking over my menu, I proceeded to give Phillip my order.
My meal was delicious, seasoned, and cooked to pure perfection. At the end of my dinner—once the table had been cleared—I left a tip for Phillip, giving him everything I had left over in my wallet. The moment I placed money on top of the table for the amount I hoped would be a good tip, Phillip swiftly walked over and picked up the money, handing it back to me. “I was well compensated. Your money is no good here. Anytime you’d like to eat here, it will always be on the house.” He partially cupped his mouth to add, “Owner’s orders.”
I pointed a glance in Elias’s direction. “Is he the owner?”
Phillip’s attention darted over to Elias. “Mr. Cari?” Wearing a frown, his head snapped back to me. “Not exactly. I think he’s just an investor. I do know he and Earl, the manager and owner, go way back.”
“Thank you,” I said to the waiter as I slipped my money back inside my purse.
Straightening the folds of my skirt, I strolled over to Elias’s table. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but I just wanted to thank you for dinner.”
Elias immediately stopped talking in the middle of his conversation with his two companions, causing the men to fall completely silent. Instead, the two strangers looked everywhere but at me. It was as though they weren’t given permission to look at me, and that doing so would’ve turned them into stone. “You’re very welcome, Hanley.”
Glancing at the men, I waited for an introduction that never came. Unsure of why I expected one in the first place, I shook my head and deleted the thought. “I don’t know how I can repay you.”
“Don’t concern yourself with that,” Elias assured me with a dimpled grin. “As long as you enjoyed your meal, that’s all the thanks I need.”
“I did.” Feeling awkward, I glanced at the men again. “Well, again, sorry to interrupt, but thank you.”
“It was a welcomed interruption.” He gave me a wink so subtle, I barely caught it before I turned and walked away.
TWO
SINCE IT WAS SUNDAY, the shop closed at six. Skylar and I wanted to have dinner at one of the places in the plaza across from the mall, but all of the restaurants on the strip had an hour or more wait time. When I suggested Romo’s as a place to eat, she balked at the cost of the meals there. It wouldn’t have been the best time to tell her we'd eat there for free, because she would’ve wanted to know the reason why, and I had an inkling there was a long history of bad blood between Elias and her. It was obvious she wasn’t ready to disclose the reason; the topic of Elias would be off limits for now.
We decided to get takeout from a deli and eat it on the hood of her car while we got to know one another.
Skylar poked at what was left of her teriyaki salad with a fork. “I don’t remember much about my father. You would think I never had one with the way my mom is. He left us before I was born.”
Taking a moment to pause, she sighed wistfully. “He sends me money every once in a while. It’s enough to travel when I want to. It’s never steady enough to keep me from working or to help my mom. I have to help her out since she works off straight commission in a franchised salon. We're all we got and my mom doesn't take good care of herself. She doesn’t make as much as she should because she only has three steady clients, and sucks at doing hair.” She chortled to herself. “They’re going to fire her soon, I just know it.”
I reached up and fingered one of her curls. Her hair was a little different from yesterday, more gray than purple, but striking with the front half up in two small victory rolls and the back half dow
n in big curls. “She did okay with your color.”
She rolled her eyes and puckered her lips, stained with fire-engine red lipstick. “It was green, Hanley. You have no idea what I had to do to fix her fuck up and get my hair this color. It almost killed my hair. It’s naturally a shitty red shade.” She touched a strand of mine as it hung limp and straight. “I bet your hair holds a curl really well.”
“Being that it’s naturally really curly,” I remarked, “it does when I don’t damage it too much with the flat iron.”
“Maybe tomorrow, before you go into work, you can stop by my house and I can show you how to do your hair and makeup. I would love to ombre your hair, too, if you’re not too chicken to try some color.” Returning to her salad, she clicked her heels on the bumper. “I’m easy on the rules, but if Claudia saw you like you were today or yesterday, she would’ve sent you home.”
I balled up the wrapper to my turkey sandwich and tossed it into the plastic container that once contained my Cobb salad. “She would?”
Skylar nodded. “Some people take their job way too seriously.” She stuffed a piece of grilled chicken in her mouth and surveyed the parking lot. “What about you? What’s your story?”
I fished around in my purse for a stick of gum, offering a piece to her. She declined my offer. I stuck the strip in my mouth, allowing it to melt and transform into a chewable shape. “I live with my father, and have pretty much always lived with him. When I was much younger, my sister and I stayed with my mother and her first husband on weekends, occasionally. We were so silly, thinking she’d let us live with her instead of our father if we begged to stay for longer than a few days, but it didn’t work out that way.
“He wasn’t her last husband, either. She got married three times afterward. My father never dated another woman after his relationship with my mother ended. With the way he claimed they were together, he really didn’t need to.”
She looked around the immediate area as though she didn’t know where she was. “That’s so scandalous. Four times? How can anyone get married that many times? And…were you basically saying your mother cheated on her husbands with your father? That is so juicy, Hanley. Wow!”
“Her previous husbands all died for some reason or another within less than five years of being married to her,” I explained. “My current situation with my father is really complicated. We have a family member living with us that we take care of. They’re barely holding on. Okay, she’s not holding on. She was in a really bad accident and recently came into another accident where she received third degree burns all over her body. She receives constant care while she lives with us. My father can’t let her go.”
She gasped, shaking her head. It appeared my news affected her more than it did me. “That’s sad. I’m so sorry. Is she a really close relative? What happened to her? The accident, I mean.”
Knowing it was time to change to the topic, I quickly told her, “Yes, she’s a close relative.”
She placed a hand on my back and rubbed in large circles. “I’m sorry for asking.”
I closed my eyes for a moment, but wouldn’t allow myself to find comfort in her touch. “It’s okay.” I looked down at my cell phone on my lap and grazed my hand over the screen to bring up the time. “I should probably get going.”
“Walk you to your car?” she suggested with a soft smile. “Crazies lurk here at night.”
I pointed to the parking lot in front of the restaurant across from us. “I’m right up there.”
“Okay. See you tomorrow.”
After discarding my food in the trashcan next to the sidewalk, I slipped into the driver’s seat of my car. On the brink of turning the key in the ignition, a group of businessmen caught my attention. They were all clad in expensive dark suits and exiting Romo’s at the same time. Some of them were recognizable as the men who Elias had dined with last night. Elias was in the lead, appearing more relaxed than I thought the man could ever appear to be.
For some reason or another, he dramatically stopped his stride, and his attention lingered on the parking lot. He turned back to his dinner companions, shook hands with them, and bid them goodbye. Shortly after his associates parted, he examined the parking lot with a little more scrutiny. His attention drew a little too close to my position.
I quickly ducked down, sliding farther down into my seat to avoid detection. Turning the key in the ignition, I attempted to start up the car, but it wouldn’t turn over.
“Come on,” I pleaded and turned it over again while pumping the gas pedal. It briefly started up before the engine backfired and the car completely shut down. I banged my head on the steering wheel and tried to breathe steadily in order to rein in a temper tantrum.
I scanned the area, noting Elias no longer stood on the walkway in front of Romo’s. To the right of me, a car was parked in a previously vacant space. A shadow of a man appeared, reflecting in my driver’s side window. When the man knocked on my window, I nearly jumped out of my seat and screamed until I saw who the man was.
Stepping backward, toward his car, Elias opened the passenger side door. Projecting his voice to be heard through the glass, he ordered, “Get in.”
I reluctantly slipped out of my car, slamming the door closed behind me. “It’s okay. I have roadside assistance through my cell provider. I’m going to call them and wait for someone to get here.”
Barely blinking, he stared at me for too many silent moments. “Hanley,” he stated warmly. “I’m not sure if you’re familiar with the weather in this area, but it’s going to get very cold tonight. Roadside service may take some time to get here. When they do, you’re still going to need transportation. My car’s comfortable and has heat. All the things a good car should have.” He gestured with his fingers in a come-hither motion. “Come with me.”
The words could’ve been misconstrued as a double entendre. Then again, every word Elias said was spoken with so much sensuality, he made it seem like everything he spoke about was really about sex.
The cool wind kicked up, sending my hair swirling around my face and pushed the faint scent of his cologne under my nose. Folding my arms across my chest, I tried to diminish the shudders.
“I only want to take you home,” he reiterated, his genial smile fading.
“I really appreciated the dinner you bought for me yesterday,” I said, making it clear I wouldn’t engage in a quid quo pro. “But, it doesn’t erase the fact I don’t know you. I’m not going to get into your car and let you drive me home when you’re a complete stranger.”
Any and all bits of friendliness carried in his expression were erased, leaving the more severe ones. “There are very few people in this town who don’t know who I am. Are you really suggesting I’d pull something sinister with you?”
“Just because almost everyone knows who you are”—I shrugged—“doesn’t mean you’re not a serial killer.”
His mouth fought against a smile and almost succeeded. “I guess I was right about you. You were running from something. Someone hurt you and made you so frightened, you won’t take a ride from a gentleman when he’s offering.”
“I don’t know if you’re a gentleman,” I retorted. “You ogled my breasts once.”
His attention drew to the open lapel of my black shirt and down to my long legs, peeking out from underneath my banded mini-skirt. “Seems you wanted them and quite a bit more ogled at. It makes me question why I’m being penalized for admiring what you want to be seen.”
My arms teetered between covering my thighs or my breasts. Choosing the latter, I folded my arms higher up, covering my chest in a self-conscious maneuver.
“You’ve been dressed this way all day. Why hide it now?” He pointed to my folded arms. “Is this the first time you’ve done that today?
I nodded in response to his last question.
“Okay.” The single word was said with a touch of bitter cognition.
Between the hives he elicited, my need to be confident, and the fight a
gainst the way my body reacted to him, I became different around him. I had met a lot of people, but I hadn’t met anyone who exuded power and strength without saying a single word.
Elias’s eyes darted across the lot, zeroing in on a man and his daughter—or girlfriend—on the cusp of entering the restaurant.
“Excuse me, sir?” Elias waved his hand in the air, calling the man over.
Alerted and slightly confused, the stranger grabbed his daughter or girlfriend’s hand protectively and came over to us.
“My name is Elias Cari, I live… Take this down.” He nodded to the man, waiting for him to take out his cell phone.
The man hesitated, having noticed the way his companion stared longingly at Elias.
Elias snapped his fingers to draw the man’s attention and gave him a glare so cutting it coerced the man into compliance. Elias proceeded to give him his home address and cell number. The man tentatively entered the information into his phone. “My friend’s name is Hanley Harper and her number is…” Elias studied me, urging me for my phone number.
Knowing that it could’ve been a trick to obtain my number, I sighed and reluctantly gave it to the stranger in front of us.
“I want you to call Miss Harper in an hour. If she doesn’t answer, call the authorities and have them sent to my house.” Elias turned his attention toward me. “Does that make everything better for you?”
“You are…way too much,” I muttered, my expression lightening.
“It’s never too much” he retorted with an antagonizing grin.
With a nod, the stranger began to walk off. Taking the hand of his companion, whose feet had suddenly grown glued to the ground, he urged her to follow him by nearly dragging her along.
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