Page 8 of Second Chances
How did my stuff get here?
The left side of the closet was lined with some of her clothes from her apartment and some clothes that weren’t hers, but were her size and style; she knew because they still had the tags on them.
Looks like somebody went shopping for me.
Opening the drawers below, she found some of her lounge and gym clothes in one and then an underwear drawer below it.
Well, there are definitely some new additions to this one,she thought as she pulled out a pale teal, lace teddy.
While she appreciated the thoughtfulness and the new clothes, she didn’t want to give any appearance of having completely forgiven him yet so she pulled a comfy t-shirt off the hanger and her favorite pair of yoga pants - the ones that had been involved in their kitchen interlude - and threw them on.
“Beth, dinner is ready,” she heard him say from the hall; he hadn’t ventured into the closet to find her.
“Ok, I’ll be right there.”
She went into the bathroom to pee and make sure her hair and ensemble weren’t too sloppy.
Ok, and maybe to reinforce that she wasn’t always going to respond immediately to his beck-and-call.
She needed to take back some control, for herself, and for the sake of any future relationship between them. So, she took an extra, un-rushed, minute while fixing her hair, making sure she was satisfied with her appearance. And making sure it was clear that she wanted him to be waiting on her.She knew how he was – always getting what he wants when he wants it. She knew that he expected her to walk out the moment he had told her that dinner was ready, and it was probably killing him to sit and wait, without coming to check on her or demand her presence. She wasn’t trying to be petty about it, but it would take baby steps like this to teach him to respect her enough to relinquish some of his demanding control.
Ok, game time - time to go.
She took a deep breath before walking out of the bathroom and into the arenaa.k.a. the dining room. Instantly noticing the hard stare he gave her when she entered and how his hand was clenched around his wine glass, she knew that he was restraining himself, trying not to blow all of his hard work at an apology.
“Thank you for waiting,” she said with a brilliant smile, knowing that it was just as important to praise his efforts as it was to test his boundaries.
Taken aback by her apology, he returned a small smile and said, “I refilled your wine glass.”
“Thank you,” she responded as she sat down, taking in the rest of the display.
A vase of roses, equal to the one in the hall was in the center of the table, flanked by two lit candles. There was a larger bowl full of what looked like Caesar salad and then the main course, Chicken and Mushroom Marsala over penne, sitting in front of them. As soon as she sat, Darcy stood and leaned over to take her bowl and fill it with salad before filling his own.
“So, how did you get my clothes?” Beth asked, breaking the silence.
The wine was already making her less subtle in her attempt to spark conversation.
“I still own the building…” he trailed off with a laugh.
“So you broke into my apartment?!” she said with some indignation.
Not quite how she wanted the conversation to start.
Seeing her agitation, he quickly responded with seriousness, “No, I called your sister first and asked if it would be ok to grab a few of your things.”
“Oh…” Beth muttered.Why did she always jump to the worst conclusion?Usually, because Darcy employed the worst means, even if it was with the best intentions. “Well, thank you. And thank you for the new clothes I saw, too; I don’t need them though.”
“You’re welcome,” he said, his eyes flaring as he continued, “I know you don’t need them, but I wanted you to have them.”
Beth just nodded as she took a bite of her salad to break his gaze.
God, she really turned to mush around him.Even when he was being only slightly overbearing, she still wanted him so badly.
At least he put a shirt on, otherwise, you would have never been able to make it through dinner.
“How was work?” he asked hesitantly; whether the hesitation came from his earlier mistakes or from the simple fact that he probably hadn’t had normal relationship conversation for a long time, she wasn’t sure.
Take it easy, you haven’t eaten dinner yet.
