Page 6 of Christmas Eve Do-Over
4
Duke
If I thought seeing Shasta again would somehow stop the daydreams or cure me of dreaming about her at night, I was very, very wrong. Yesterday was like seeing a ghost of the girl I knew. She was just as beautiful, if not more so with time stamped across her features, but the trademark sparkle in her eyes wasn't there anymore. Like a light inside her had been snuffed out.
Her sass was still there, but it was more lethal now. Finely hewed over the years perhaps, tinged with a negativity that hadn't been there before. The openness and trust that radiated from her before was now cloaked in caution and wariness.
How much of that was simply the effects of time, and how much was the effect of what had happened to her? Something had happened, that I knew. And that's what I wanted to find out. That's what I needed to know. Maybe then I could get her out of my head. Mystery solved.
Right?
I picked a restaurant with care, wanting to impress her, but more than anything, I wanted a quiet, intimate atmosphere so we could talk for as long as we wanted. She hadn't actually given me a "yes" on the date for tonight, but she hadn't said "no" either. I was planning to surprise her again at her studio, knowing she'd avoid me otherwise. I didn't even have her phone number, so ambush it was.
Instead, fate decided to play with me.
I showed up to find a group of young women inside the studio, standing in a circle, conversation suspiciously hushed the minute I walked in the door.
"Hi. Um, is Shasta here today?" I directed my question to the blonde who'd pushed her way to the front of the group.
She cocked her head. "Are you Duke?"
I looked at the others, seeing they were all giving me the eye. I suddenly wished I'd worn a better shirt. This one said "Old Guys Rule." They weren't exactly my intended audience. Not one of them appeared to be over thirty.
I flashed a big smile. "I appear to be at a disadvantage. Yes, I'm Duke. And who might you all be?"
"We're Shasta's best friends." The blonde gave me a kind smile. "You ready for this?"
A wave of nausea flooded my system, but it was too late to turn back. "I'm not sure what 'this' is, but if I need to do it before I get to see Shasta, then yes, I'm ready."
"Oh, good answer, Mr. Fox." A tall, African American woman nodded her head, a sly smile on her beautiful face.
"It's actually Reynolds," I informed her.
"Don't care," she snapped back with a wink.
What the hell was going on here? I was discombobulated.
"We have questions for you." A tall brunette spoke, her sweet voice giving me some hope these ladies would be nice to me. "What do you want from Shasta?" She folded her impressive arms over her chest, one eyebrow raised, and I lost that tiny thread of hope.
"Um, well, I don't think there's anything I want from her, other than some time to catch up." I gave my head a shake. "How do you know who I am?"
"We're asking the questions here, Mr. Reynolds." A willowy blonde stepped up, her sharp eyes looking like a lawyer about to trap a witness. "Were you or were you not here yesterday to see Shasta?"
"Yes, I was. Was—"
"And did you or did you not come here on the request of someone else?"
I scrunched up my face, just about done with this insane line of questioning. "Someone else? Listen. I don't know who you ladies are or why you're interrogating me, but I'm simply an old friend of Shasta's who would very much like to make her acquaintance again. I'm lonely and only getting older. What harm is there in wanting to take her out to dinner and reminisce about old times?"
"He said 'make her acquaintance.' I like him already!" A very pregnant woman pushed her glasses up her nose and gave me an enthusiastic thumbs-up.
"Oh, hush, you like everyone right now. I swear, those hormones are out of control!"
"Hey, you can't yell at a pregnant lady! There are rules about that you know."
"Ladies!" Shasta barked from the doorway at the back of the studio. "Thank you for your interference, but I've got this from here."
The girls all looked at me with suspicion, but with a few more "I'm fine, it's all good" comments from Shasta, they grabbed their bags and headed out the door. I watched them go, relief palpable by now. The tall one turned around at the last minute and looked at me through the window. She pointed two fingers at her eyes and then pointed at me, the look on her face one I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.
