Built for Pleasure

by Sarah J. Brooks

  “How do you feel about steak?” Mike asked.

  “Oh, my God are we going for steak? I’ve been craving meat so bad lately that I made myself a steak at home the other night.”

  “I know,” he smiled back at me. “This is the stage where your body is lacking iron and other nutrients. Are you taking your vitamins?”

  “Yeah, of course.”

  “Make sure to eat lots of dark green vegetables too,” he added and then quickly flipped back into date mode. “This restaurant is supposed to be really good. I read some reviews online and everyone loves it.”

  “Did you have to murder anyone to get a table?”

  “Nope, actually Patrick got the table for us,” Mike said only showing a small crack of a smile.

  “You told Patrick that we were going on a date and he helped you get a reservation?” I asked, a little surprised that Patrick would put that sort of effort in after I told him I couldn’t see him anymore because my life was too complicated.

  “Yep, he likes me,” Mike joked.

  “You know I only went on a date with him because Kendra needed a double,” I added.

  “And because he’s an awesome dude.”

  “Well, there was that,” I laughed. “But I saw you and right away all I wanted to do was be with you that night. I’m glad we figured things out and are going out tonight.”

  “Me too,” Mike pulled my hand in even closer to him. “I’ve missed you,” he said again.

  There was a true sincerity in Mike’s words that hit me hard. I felt my eyes welling up and the tears forming faster than I could stop them. I looked up and tried to count in an effort to distract myself, but then I felt a soft piece of fabric being placed in my hand.

  “What’s this?”

  “For the tears,” he said softly as I put the handkerchief up to my eyes.

  “You carry a handkerchief around?” I had to laugh a little. “I’m just a little surprised by that.”

  “I carry it around when I’m going on a date with a highly hormonal woman who is at the end of her first trimester of pregnancy.”

  “Wow, I can see that your level of knowledge about my medical state could get really annoying,” I laughed.

  “I’m not trying to be annoying about it. Just sensitive to what you are going through.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” I teased as I finished wiping my tears.

  “Thank you for agreeing to go on a date with me. I’m excited to show you a good time tonight,” Mike said thoughtfully.

  He held my door open for me and set his hand at the base of my back as he guided me into the restaurant. Mike held my seat out for me and made sure he was sitting next to me instead of across from me for our meal. When the steak came I could hardly hold myself back from eating it up so quickly that I could have choked on it. A little conversation in between bites was about all I could manage as I did my best to feed the growing beast inside of me.

  “Did you have an ultrasound with Bruce yet? I don’t think I saw you come in.”

  “Just a quick check of the heartbeat with a Doppler thing so far. I’m having the ultra sound in a couple of weeks. Would you like to come?”

  “I would.”

  “Sure, I’ll let you know when I get back to my calendar. I think it was on a Wednesday, but not sure. I’d love to have you there.”

  “Are you going to find out the gender?” Mike asked trying to look casual about the question.

  “I’m not sure. I mean I really want to know, but I also like the idea of it being a surprise. The problem is that I want to buy nursery items and I don’t want everything to be yellow. I don’t really like yellow at all.”

  “I’m sure you’ll come to a decision that is right for you,” Mike said and then shoved a piece of meat in his mouth as if he was trying not to say anything more.

  “Do you think I should find out?” I asked as I ate my steak too.

  “It’s your pregnancy. I don’t want to intrude with my ideas. This is your thing. You do whatever you feel is going to work for you.”

  “That’s a very politically correct answer,” I put my fork down and leaned in. “What would you do if you and I were together? If this baby had come naturally and you felt like you were an actual partner in this decision. What would you say then?”

  “I’d say that this is one of the last true surprises out there and you could always decorate the nursery after the baby is born. The baby won’t be in there at first anyways. You’ll have them in your room in a bassinet next to your bed. But that’s just my opinion and I know that doesn’t matter in this situation.”

  “Shit! I have to get a bassinet too?” I said and put my fork down as I rolled my eyes. “I swear I’m going to be the most unprepared mother in the world.”

  “No,” he laughed. “You would have figured it out after the first night of having your baby in the other room and realizing you didn’t want to be that far away from them. Trust me, mother nature has a way of helping moms figure out what they need.”

  “I do like the idea of not finding out the gender. I’m a bit of a planner though so it’s hard to imagine waiting until after the baby is born to do all the nursery stuff.”

  We sat and ate quietly for a few moments and then Mike glanced at his watch and looked a little panicked. He motioned for the waiter to bring the check and then downed the rest of his glass of wine as he nervously waited for me to finish eating.

  I was waiting for him to tell me where we were going or why it was so urgent that we hurry up, but he never rushed me. He sat there quietly watching me finish my meal. When I finally managed to wrangle the last bite of my steak into my mouth Mike threw his napkin on the table and came around to pull my chair out.

  “Where are we going in such a hurry?” I laughed.

  “The show is starting in twenty minutes. I guess I timed the date a little poorly.”

  “We are going to a show?” I said as I started to tear up again. “I haven’t been to a show in ages.”

  He handed me his handkerchief again and we rushed out to the waiting black SUV. After helping me into the vehicle, this time Mike just slid in next to me and moved me into the middle seat.

  “Need to get to the Booth Theatre as soon as possible,” Mike told the driver.

  “Yes, sir,” the driver responded.

  “Man I hope we aren’t late. They won’t let us in. The Booth Theatre is a stickler on showing up on time. We’d have to wait until intermission and then we would have missed the whole first half of the show.”

  “It’s okay,” I replied and grabbed Mike’s hand. “We will make it.”

  Sure enough we did make it. We were probably one of the last people to get through the doors before they shut them, but we quickly shuffled into our seats just as the lights went down and the show started.

  Seeing a Broadway show seems like something we New Yorkers would do all the time. Before moving to the city I imagined that I’d spend every weekend at the theater. But life didn’t turn out like that. I often had a full day of plans on Saturdays and Sundays and never put aside the time to go to the theater. That was why going with Mike was even more special.

  We sat holding hands throughout the first act and both were mesmerized by the performers. One was a highly known movie actor who was doing a short stint on Broadway. I always assumed those actors just did theater as a way of boosting their name a little, but this guy truly was good. He was fantastic on stage. So good that I forgot all about the last action flick that I’d seen him in and only saw him as portraying the character he was in the play.

  “This was a great idea,” I whispered to Mike at intermission. “I’m so glad we came.”

  “I thought you might enjoy it. It doesn’t hurt that the actor is shirtless the whole show either,” he teased.

  “I hardly noticed because his acting is so fantastic.”

  Mike just laughed as he guided me up to the lobby and we grabbed something to drink while we talked for a few minutes. I absolu
tely loved being at the theater and being around other people who enjoyed going to the shows.

  “I wish I came to the theater more often. I feel like a bad New Yorker,” Mike said.

  “Me too! I was just thinking that. It is always what people ask me to do when they come visit and I think that is the only time I go. It is a waste to not come more often.”

  “I’ll take you anytime you’d like,” he said and pulled me in close to him.

  I liked being there in his arms. We leaned against the wall and he kept one arm around me as we sipped our drinks and enjoyed a few moments together. I was so calm there with him. It wasn’t at all like a first date. I didn’t feel the need to constantly be flirting with him or pretending he was funny; I was just myself and that was relaxing.

  Mike smelled like a combination of cologne and bacon. I thought I’d smelled it before when he picked me up but I dismissed my senses as being disrupted because of my pregnancy, but as we stood there I could definitely smell bacon.

  “Did you cook bacon today?” I said as I leaned in and took a big whiff of his shirt.

  “Are you smelling me?” he laughed.

  “You smell like bacon. I’m pretty sure it’s bacon. Did you could bacon?”

  Mike was laughing at me as he sipped his drink and didn’t answer me. I was much more sensitive to smells now and I was sure that he smelled like bacon. That was just weird. Not that I minded. I’d been eating way too much bacon lately and been a little addicted to it. I ended up eating two pieces before bed almost every night. It wasn’t the healthiest, but I just couldn’t stop.

  “I did cook some bacon recently,” Mike said as he dramatically pulled out a baggie with two pieces of bacon in it.

  “Why do you have bacon?” I said and grabbed it from him.

  Something had come over me. I didn’t care how old that bacon was. I’d smelled a scent of it all night long and couldn’t wait to have a taste of it. But it was still really weird that Mike was carrying around bacon.

  “I thought you might like a fun snack during the show.”

  “How did you know?” I said as I hurried and ate the two pieces he had for me.

  “I asked Kendra what you were snacking on lately,” he said with a boyish grin.

  “You made bacon, carried it around all night, just to give it to me at intermission?” I asked as I looked at him in total awe. “You are the best friend a woman could ever ask for,” I said dramatically.

  “Could we cool it with the best friend talk?” Mike teased.

  “Sure,” I had to laugh a little at his expression. I knew he was trying to get out of that dreaded friend zone.

  After the show, Mike walked me up to my apartment and used my keys to open the door for me. It had been the best date I’d had in a very long time. And although it wasn’t technically our first date, it felt more like our first real date.

  “Did you want to come in?” I offered as I wrapped my arms around his neck. “I’ve missed you.”

  My hormones were going crazy as I practically threw myself at Mike. But to my surprise he didn’t agree to my offer.

  “I had an amazing night, Julia,” he leaned in and softly kissed my lips. The sweet taste of his tongue jetting into my mouth only briefly before retreating again. “I can’t wait to take you out again very soon.”

  He pulled my hand up to his lips and kissed the back of it like he had done earlier. I couldn’t help but jump back into his arms for one last kiss before heading in for the night. I made it a quick one and then opened my door and stood in the doorway.

  “Thank you for a great night, Mike. I can’t wait to see you again,” I said as I closed the door.

  “Goodnight, Julia,” he said from the other side.

  I bounced up and down with excitement as I turned and watched him leave through the peep hole in my door. Things were changing between us, a glorious change that I was so excited for.

  Chapter 16

  Mike

  Things were much better between Julia and I after our date although we still couldn’t manage to get time together. The more I tried to schedule out time to see Julia, the more my schedule was getting booked up.

  We were in full force now trying to get the details for our expansion up and going. The tech guys across the hall didn’t go out of business like we had hoped and were going to ride out their lease, but Bruce did talk with them about moving to a different location. Patrick helped the tech firm find the perfect new place and we were set up to take over their lease in just a few months.

  Bruce and I were going over dozens of potential hires and trying to figure out how we wanted to organize the company with this new addition. Bruce wanted me to be the head of everything and he planned to take a step back to concentrate on himself a little, in a good way. He had really been working on his own issues lately and was turning out to be a really good guy after all. Of course, I knew he was a good guy when we partnered up, but somewhere along the way he had gotten a little lost.

  Julia and I were relegated to text message flirting for the last several weeks, but I didn’t mind it at all. It was nice to see her name pop up on my phone and she always put a smile on my face.

  JULIA: Today is the big day! Ultrasound at 3!

  MIKE: Do you want me there?

  JULIA: If you want to be, but I can just tell you afterwards too.

  MIKE: Okay.

  JULIA: Kendra and Sarah are coming. ☺

  I wasn’t sure if she really wanted me there or not. If she had her whole crew of girlfriends, she probably didn’t need me. It was hard for me to separate myself from the baby she was carrying, and it seemed like Julia was doing a better job of it than I was.

  I figured I’d let her have the moment with her girl friends and then maybe I’d pop in at the very end of her ultrasound. I certainly didn’t want to push my way into the moment and she and I were doing so good at this level of our relationship that I didn’t want to mess that up. We were going slow, but still had a very strong connection.

  “You’re smiling like you are texting your high school crush,” Sheryl said as she saw me in my office that morning.

  “I do have a crush on her.”

  “Julia? How is she doing? Are you two still dating or are you friend zoned?”

  “We are in the beginning stages of dating. She has a lot going on in her life right now and I messed up early on. I’m just trying to be cool about it and not push things too fast.”

  “How do you feel about dating a woman who is going to be a mother?”

  “You know, I don’t know. I like Julia and I know this is part of her life so I just think about her. I haven’t thought too much about what is going to happen when the baby comes.”

  “You should think about that. Breaking up with a new mom is a jerk thing to do,” Sheryl said and left my office.

  I didn’t know why she assumed I’d be breaking up with Julia after the baby came. I might keep dating her. If we were getting along there was no reason to stop dating. Sure, we would take it slow and she would be busy with the baby, but I liked talking to her better than any other woman around so there was no need to break things off.

  I’d read through the last chart at least three times and still didn’t know what I was going to put for my note. It was as if I couldn’t focus at all. The more I tried not to think about Julia, the more I was actually thinking about her.

  Julia was really an impressive woman. So were a lot of the women who came through my clinic. To live on your own in New York was a big deal. It wasn’t like smaller cities that you could afford to live in an apartment by yourself, but then to live on your own and also have a child, wow, I was in awe of the women I worked with for sure.

  But Julia was an independent woman. Even in the last few weeks after our date, she hadn’t been texting and calling me all the time. She returned my messages at her own pace and always seemed to be plenty busy. She was working her butt off at work since she was feeling good and trying to drive in as many
sales as possible before it was time for her to go out on maternity leave.

  Although I hadn’t been able to arrange a convention to book with her hotel, I did manage to point a few other high powered friends of mine in her direction who booked events with her. It was the least I could do to try and help her meet her sales goals before the baby came.

  It was getting frigid outside and snow was on the ground now. Julia said that it became harder to book people in the winter because they didn’t want to come take a look at the large group spaces and only wanted photos. Everyone waited until early spring and then tried to rush with their bookings, but Julia was worried that she’d be too far along in her pregnancy and not be able to handle the influx of customers.

  The last time she talked about her work she said she was making over forty calls a day with clients and potential clients. It seemed to me she was pushing herself too hard, but I didn’t see it as my place to bring that up. Obviously she had goals for work and I didn’t want to be the person who was trying to hamper those.

  Instead, I made an effort to help in the ways I could. I had deliciously healthy lunches delivered to her work each day. Although I paid for them anonymously, Julia knew it was me who had sent them. I’d tried desperately to get away for a long lunch or early dinner over the last few weeks, but just couldn’t manage it. Business was terribly busy and with just Bruce and I as the doctors, we both were working our butts off to maintain the patient load until we got some new people hired in the spring.

  “Today’s the big day, Daddy,” Bruce joked as he plopped down on my couch in my office.

  “I know. She’s coming with some friends though. I’ll just wait and talk to her afterwards.”

  “She’s doing great. I saw her a few weeks ago. The baby’s heartbeat was perfect and she’s eating well and gaining some weight. I hate when these ladies try not to gain weight during their pregnancies.”

  “Me too. They worry way too much about it. I love the added cushion,” I winked at Bruce.

  “Oh, so you and Julia are spending some time in the bedroom?”