**
After she had finished ordering her food, Rebecca noticed an attractive man sitting alone near the large bay window across the restaurant. He had a laptop, a man purse and a dumb constant grin on his face. How is it some people just love being alone? Rebecca noticed his waitress pour him a cup of black coffee; he declined sugar or cream to be added. Hmm… Interesting. This guy has potential. Rebecca found that sugary creamer was a pattern she saw in her lame-duck companions over the years, so the sign of black coffee was a definite plus. Feeling good about the vibe he was putting off outside of the dumb grin and man purse, she stood up and went directly over to his table, parking herself in the seat across from him. “I dig the coffee… but I don’t get the whole purse thing,” she said leaning her head against her hand as her elbow rested on the table.
“Excuse me?” the man said looking around.
“Is this seat taken?” Rebecca asked looking around.
“No, but you obviously do not have any manners whatsoever. Who the heck are you?” Looking around again, he spotted a waitress and snapped his fingers trying to get her attention.
“Just tell me why you have a purse dude.”
“It’s not a purse, it’s a satchel. I’m a writer; I have multiple notebooks I keep in there.” Reaching under the table Rebecca grabbed it and pulled it up onto the table. He snatched it away quickly from her.
“I don’t know who you are, but you need to leave, now lady!” The man motioned with his head for her to get out of the seat. Ahh… let’s try the hook and leave. Nodding, she stood up and turned to him.
“I knew you weren’t going to approach me, I figured you’d like the company. I know you loner types. You sit in coffee shops and cafes watching people without ever saying a word. I thought I was doing you a favor… but I guess not.” As Rebecca turned her back to him and retreated, a smile grew on her face. Got him right where I want him, he’ll be begging for attention in no time. There’s a fine line between love and hate and Rebecca knew just how to push it.
As she was sipping on her coffee and scrolling social media sites, the man who wanted nothing to do with her took a seat in her booth. Like clockwork, she thought to herself as she closed out of her phone and looked up at him.
“What’s your name?” He asked intrigued and leaning across the table.
“Rebecca,” she said. His eyes lit up as she said her name.
“I’ve always found that name… amazing. Is that an accent I hear…? What is it, British?”
“Yep, what’s your name?”
“I’m Mike.”
“Well Mike, whatcha writing about these days?” Rebecca asked amused as she took a sip of her coffee.
“A lady who has too many cats,” he said. Rebecca choked on her coffee as the words came off his lips. “I’m sorry… did I say something wrong?” Rebecca began laughing and reached over touching his arm.
“No, of course not. I just was talking to…” What is he to me? A friend? A boss? A love interest? A jerk, that’s for sure. “…a friend the other day that said I was going to end up like one of those ladies with a million cats.”
“I can see why someone would say that! You were pretty intense back at my table!”
“Yeah…” Rebecca said not amused. I’m glad he’s not catering every thought to match me, but I could have done without the insult. “How far along are you with your cat lady book?”
“Well… I’m working on fine tuning the first few chapters, I have to meet with my writing group tonight and share it. It’s really just a hobby… the whole writing thing.”
“Oh… What’s your day job?”
“I teach a couple pottery classes at MCC,” he said. Looking down at his watch, he quickly continued, “That reminds me, I have to go teach a class. It was nice talking with you. Could we get a bite to eat sometime?” A little forward for a loner, but that’s okay.
“Definitely, I’d enjoy that.” She took his phone and called herself and hung up. “There you go.” She said with a smile.
“Sweet… it was… nice meeting you,” He said standing up from the booth.
“Yeah? You thought I was nice?” She laughed. “I guess I didn’t do a good enough job then.”
“Well yeah. At first, I was a little taken back by the way you acted… but it was actually refreshing and it made me think. Which is saying a lot for a woman!” Uncomfortable with his own words after he said them, he quickly followed up, “That sounded really sexist. I didn’t mean it like that… I just don’t meet a lot of women that stimulate me.” Rebecca’s eyes widened at his words. “This isn’t working. I’ll stop now. I’ll be in touch if you haven’t lost interest already!”
Rebecca couldn’t help but laugh, “It’s fine, have fun teaching your class!” Have fun teaching your class? Did I really just say that?
“Okay,” He said waving awkwardly at her as he went back to his seat to grab his stuff and run out the door. Rebecca waved at him when he glanced at her through the window of Fredrick’s. What a strange and funny guy.
-4-
On the following Monday, Rebecca had an email sitting in her inbox from Jonathan, requesting a private meeting in the conference room as soon as possible. She smiled and thought to herself; maybe he broke it off with Stacy? A girl can hope.
She entered the conference room to see a sweaty and unattractive Jonathan storm towards her quickly. Ew gross! She stepped to the side to let him quickly continue his journey to the door; Jonathan poked his head out of the conference room for a moment before shutting the door. “What’s this about Jonathan? If it’s about how I was with Stacy… I’m sorry, but I tried. I thought you were going to leave her and we were going to see where this was going?”
“What? No. Me and you talked, we didn’t do anything else. You are a nice girl, but I’m not ready at this point to leave Stacy. In fact, from now on let’s keep our personal lives out of our work.” Ouch… jerk! Clearing his throat he continued, “This is about the Green House series we are launching next month. It’s going to be big and I think you can do it.”
“Ummm… Isn’t Debbie in line for that?”
“You mentioned the other night this is what you wanted… I think you are ready and this Green House series is now yours.”
Rebecca wasn’t sure how to feel about the situation. He decides to put me on this big project after the other night? Is he trying to show he likes me? Does he really think I can do it? Or what?
“Okay…” Rebecca said looking him in the eyes to make sure she didn’t see any hesitation.
“Great! You are going to do terrific, I just know it,” He said wiping more sweat from his forehead. Sick, that sweat thing is so nasty.
“Why are you sweating so profusely Jonathan?” Rebecca asked in disgust. He began to laugh as he flapped his shirt out trying to get air to circulate inside of it and cool him off.
“I just took the stairs up to help with my circulation. The doctor told me I need to start getting more exercise or I am going to have another clot in my leg.”
“From what floor did you take the stairs?” Rebecca asked curiously.
“The first…” Jonathan said.
“What? Are you serious? Forty flights of stairs? No wonder why you are sweating. Gross.”
**
While eating a bowl of soup for lunch at her desk, Rebecca’s phone rang. Glancing down at the screen, she saw it was Mike. I’m eating, you can wait. She ignored it and continued to eat her soup. Shortly after the phone stopped ringing, it buzzed. Glancing down, she saw it was a voicemail. Ugh, a voicemail? Seriously? Who leaves voicemails…?
After she finished her soup, Rebecca listened to the voicemail.
“Hey Rebecca… it’s me Mike. I don’t know if it’s too soon to call or whatever, but… I don’t care. I want to see you again, I was thinking tonight? Unless you’re busy… I’m not trying to assume you aren’t busy. I’m sure you have a fascinating life and could most likely probably be busy. So yeah… Ummm…
Let me know.” Haha… This guy is so funny!
Rebecca deleted it immediately and texted him.
Voicemail? Lol. Anyways, what time were you thinking? I have yoga until six, but my fascinating life can fit anything in after that, lol.
Rebecca waited for a few minutes for a response before returning back to work. She worked through the day and found herself checking her phone periodically, looking for a response back. Why do I care? Jeez. Get a hold of yourself.
At about five, he had finally sent a message.
How about 7? I can pick you up.
Rebecca smiled as she read the response. I hope he doesn’t screw this up. While Rebecca had been on a hundred or so different dates over the last four years, she had never let go of the idea of a prince charming. Continuing her smile, she texted him back.
Sounds good.
As Rebecca began sending over her address to Mike, Jonathan walked up to her desk. Everyone in the office had already cleared out, including Stacy.
“Whatcha doing?” Jonathan asked. Rebecca finished up sending her address to Mike and looked up with a smile. Glad to see the pit stains have vanished.
“I have a date,” She said with a smile. She could see Jonathan’s uneasiness of the words she spoke.
“What about the other night?” He asked. Rebecca couldn’t believe her ears. Did he really just ask that? After that talk this morning about keeping our personal lives out of the office? Ugh. And they say women are confusing?
Rebecca stood up and pulled her purse out of her desk drawer. “That’s funny Jonathan,” she said. Fuming, she was about to rip him when he put his hand on her shoulder. Chills ran down her back at his touch.
“I’m just playing with you, have a good time,” He smiled at her and patted her on the shoulder. Got to love that friend pat-on-the-back.
“Thanks!” She said quickly pushing in her chair and strolling towards the exit.
-5-
Ding, Dong
That must be Mike. Upon opening the door to her apartment, Rebecca was greeted by a bouquet of flowers and Mike on the other end of them. He handed them to her with a smile as he pushed up the bridge of his glasses. I don’t remember him having glasses.
“What’s with the glasses?” She asked.
“I need them to see,” He said.
“HA… Ok… why didn’t you have them on previously?”
“Well, I lost a contact last night on my bathroom floor. I had to order more.”
“Well come in, let me get these in a vase and then we can go,” Rebecca said as she went into the kitchen with the bouquet of flowers. As she pulled a vase out of the cupboard, she noticed Mike admiring a painting on the wall.
“Are you a fan of art?” She asked as she grabbed a knife from a kitchen drawer to cut the stems of the flowers.
“I am. Do you ever go to the Rasmum Center?” He said looking over at her from the living room. Rebecca had the faucet on in the kitchen for a moment before turning it off to allow herself to think.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that place. Intrigued she asked, “No, what’s that? A gallery?”
“It’s an art gallery over on the west side, they host art shows once a month. They have some really neat pieces down there. We should go sometime.” Ahh… The west side, that’s why I haven’t heard of it, that side of town is dirty. It’s okay for Fredrick’s, but not much more outside of that.
He’s already coming off clingy making plans for the future. Ugh… He is the loner type, maybe that’s just their thing. Strike one regardless. Smiling over at him as she put the flowers into the vase, she said, “Yeah, maybe…” Or not.
Rebecca put the vase on her kitchen table and they left. As they got onto the freeway she began to grow excited in anticipation of where they were going. Rebecca saw the exit for Harrison Avenue up ahead. Ahh… we are going to Le Coq Au Vin. As the exit passed, she began to wonder more. Hmmm… We are starting to head into the sticks.
“Where are we going?” Rebecca asked batting her eyelashes.
Smiling over at her, he said, “You’ll have to wait and see.”
“You’re not like some kind of serial killer right? We are driving into the sticks and I’m beginning to feel a wee bit nervous.”
“You are charming, has anyone ever told you that?” Mike laughed. “I assure you, I have no interest in killing you Rebecca.”
After a few more minutes into their drive, Mike pulled off the side of the road down a dirt path. The bumps in the road were nerve racking to Rebecca as the light of the headlights led the way through more trees. Yeah, he’s definitely a serial killer. Within moments, they pulled up to a log cabin. Oh thank goodness!
“Is this your cabin?” Rebecca asked leaning forward to look out the windshield. Pulling right up near the door, Mike stopped the car.
“Of course it is. Hold on, don’t move,” he said smiling at her. Hmm… what’s he up too? Mike got out of the car and ran around to Rebecca’s side to open the door for her. That’s sweet. Stepping out of the car, she smiled at him.
Entering into Mike’s cabin, Rebecca was surprised by how open the layout was. The ceilings ran high and the stairs at the entrance ran up into the kitchen. The dining room overlooked the living room separated by a railing. A crackling fire burned in the fireplace in the living room.
“Have a seat,” Mike said motioning to the couch that wrapped around half of the cabin’s living room. As Rebecca took a seat, Mike went upstairs and returned moments later with a glass of wine. “Here you go. I need to go turn the meat. We should be eating in about 45 minutes.” As Rebecca took her glass of wine, she began to wonder what he would be drinking.
“Are you drinking wine?” She asked curiously with a smile.
“No… I’ll stick to my water and whiskey.” He returned to the kitchen for a moment and then came back downstairs to join Rebecca on the couch.
“Would you like a taste?” Mike asked offering her his glass. Rebecca contemplated as she looked at the glass. I’m not a whiskey fan.
“It’s a single malt that’s aged for over ten years,” He said. Is he a lush? “I’m not a big drinker, but I like to keep the nice stuff here at the cabin.” The cabin? He has multiple homes?
“The cabin? You don’t live here?” Rebecca asked intrigued. She grabbed the glass from his hand and took a sip. It wasn’t harsh at all and had a smooth taste as it slid down her throat and warmed her.
“I come here to get away sometimes, but I have a place in the city also.” Rebecca was surprised a pottery teacher at the college could afford multiple dwellings. It’s the first date, I shouldn’t ask about his finances probably…
“This is really smooth!” Rebecca said looking at the glass before handing it back to Mike. She noticed a photo album sitting on the coffee table that piqued her interest. Let’s see what he’s all about. Picking it up, she began thumbing through the pages. Each page revealed picture after picture of him and some woman. Is he married? I should have known this was too good to be true. “Uhh… Who’s this woman?”
“That would be Rebecca…”
“Who’s that?” and why do we have the same name… Rebecca suddenly became uncomfortable.
“My wife. She passed away a while back.”
“How old are you?”
“I’m 29, you?”
“I’m 30… How did you wife die… if I may ask?”
“Yeah, yeah… its fine,” he said clearing his throat as he set his glass down and shifting his position. “She died from a sudden brain aneurism. The doctor’s said there was nothing we could have done to prevent it. That was 5 years ago.”
“That’s horrible…” Rebecca said as she searched for something to say and found nothing. I can’t believe he was married… and his wife is dead. And I have the same name as her... Wow.
“It was bad, but I moved on,” Mike said as he took another gulp of his drink. Rebecca looked down at the page she was on. She looked at him smiling with his arm around the
other Rebecca at some exotic beach. Moved on? She looked back up at Mike.
“You’ve moved on…?” Rebecca asked. Mike nodded. “But… how could you think that when you keep photos of her on your coffee table?”
“Just because I moved on doesn’t mean I want to forget she ever existed. She was a part of my life. For the longest time I couldn’t have anything out that reminded me of her. No photos, nothing we bought together, got rid of our vehicles. Everything. But I didn’t start the healing process until I brought everything back out… I didn’t need to forget she existed, I needed to appreciate the time we had together.”
“Wow. That’s big of you; I didn’t do that at all when my mother died… I kept everything out and built shrines around my house to remind me of her. Then when I began healing, I got rid of it all.” Why’d I just share that? Ugh… I didn’t need to share that with him. It’s too early.
Valentine's Day Romance: Finding Love Page 2