Page 29 of Safer Alone
I stand as he approaches my desk, and offer him my hand. He takes it in his own and lifts it to his mouth, kissing my middle knuckle once. I feel the blush forming on my cheeks. I raise my free hand to my cheek as he releases my hand and sits down in the seat directly opposite me. He gets himself comfortable, lifting his right leg to cross his ankle over his knee, his arms lay loose on the arm rests, his eyes never leaving my own. “I take it this is a pleasant surprise?”
I sit down in my own recently vacated chair. “Of course it is, Elliot”.
“It sure is nice to see you again, Angela. I thought I would drop by and see if you wanted to have a coffee to discuss our travel arrangements for tomorrow?”
I was interested to find out which airline we would be traveling on. “Sure, yeah we can do that, I was just about to leave anyway. Do you have somewhere in mind that I can meet you?”
He answers straight away. “There will be no need to meet me anywhere. I thought we would go together. Nashville is your home turf after all. Do you happen to know of any good cafes?”
I am acutely aware that he still hasn’t broken eye contact with me, as if breaking eye contact would somehow break the spell he has over me. I really should look away, but how can I when the eyes before me are breathtaking?
Here inside my office they are a lot darker shade of blue then yesterday in my apartment, reminding me of the great depths of the oceans. And how can I forget that he had just mentioned us together as “we.” How I loved the use of that word. It shouldn’t have this kind of effect on me, but it does, delusional as I am. I can enjoy it while it lasts, after all, the next three days are all I am going to get, so might as well live in a fairy tale land.
I feel a smile tug at the corners of my mouth. I can do this, I can take control, handle these feelings, keep them at bay, be professional. After all, he is just another client. I open my bottom drawer and retrieve my handbag and phone, closing the drawer again and stood up. “Sure, shall we go now? There is a reasonably good café around the corner.”
He shoots me a seductive grin. “I’ll go anywhere with you.” I almost drop my handbag. I know my mouth drops. I try to cover it up with a pretend sneeze. Real smooth Angela, like that was convincing, I say to myself as we walk out of my office.
I wave to Jenny on my way out “I’m off now, Jen. Remember, I’m only in for a few hours tomorrow. I’ll be leaving for the day at lunchtime.”
She holds her forefinger up at me while checking her computer, “I just rechecked and you have no appointments at all tomorrow, and your first one on Monday isn’t till four in the afternoon.”
Slipping my scarf around my neck I look toward the door. “Thank you. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Yes, you will. See you, Ange.”
“Thanks for showing me in, Jenny.” Elliot’s voice comes from so close that I can feel his warm breath against my ear. It takes everything in me not to move.
“You’re welcome, Mr. Sands. Have a lovely evening.”
“Oh, I shall,” he says, placing his palm on the small of my back. “Should we go?” he asks. I nod and walk ahead of him, wanting to get out the door and away from prying eyes as soon as humanly possible.
As I step outside the office, I am thankful that the rain had eased almost completely. I didn’t need to pull my collapsible umbrella from my handbag. Elliot and I walk in silence for a couple of minutes. I need the quiet time to try and wrap my head around what is going on. What was that back at the office, acting all boyfriendy, putting his hands on me? Doesn’t he know what that does to me? I almost melt on the spot when he talks to me, come to think of it; some of the looks he gives me almost have the same effect.
“Shall you tell me how your day was?”
Oh right, yes, talking okay, I can do this. “Busy, actually.” It was nice to have someone ask how my day was. I hadn’t noticed that he was keeping pace next to me, matching me step for step. “You see, I’m trying to get on top of everything since I am taking off at lunchtime tomorrow. I have to go to New York to see a client, last-minute thing, you see.” I wink at him and allow a small smile to curve my lips, hoping that he might be playful.
“Is that right? I wonder what kind of client would ask you to drop everything and go to New York on such short notice?” Oh good, he was going to play along, he is trying to hide a grin himself, his smile ended up breaking through and was a beautiful smile. A smile that wouldn’t look out of place on a male model for a toothpaste commercial. Why did everything about him have to be so darn perfect? I couldn’t help but enlarge my own smile in response.
As we arrive at the storefront of ‘Cup of Cinnos,’ Elliot opens the door for me and indicates that he would like me to enter before him. It was such a gentlemanly thing to do. His parents have done a good job instilling respect and manners in their son. I hurry through the door, thankful that the heat is on inside the coffee shop. Once I feel him come in behind me, I take a moment and note that it wasn’t overly full. Not at all surprising for this time of the afternoon, most people were heading home for dinner, not stopping for a coffee. “Did you want to grab a takeout and go back to my place or just sit down here?” I wanted to leave the choice in his hands, maybe he didn’t want to be seen in public with me after all? People were sure to recognize him, weren’t they? How I hoped he would come back to my apartment. Who knows, if all goes well, he may even kiss me again?
“How about you find us a seat and I’ll order our drinks. My treat since I asked you for coffee. By the way, what would you like to drink?” I feel instantly deflated, he wants to remain in public, keep a certain distance. It affects me more than I want it to. Oh well, if he wants to do this here, we can.
I don’t want him to buy my drink as he had already paid for dinner last night, and the meal we shared the week before. I hoped he isn’t someone who is easily offended. I reach into my bag and retrieve several $1 notes, pulling them out and holding them out towards him. “I’ll have a large, extra hot, vanilla chai latte with skim milk, please. Oh, and Elliot, here take some money towards the coffees. You bought dinner last night.”
He looks at my money then to my face. I can see the conflicting emotions on his face, angry because he doesn’t want to take any of it but at the same time torn as he doesn’t want to hurt my feelings. “Coming right up.” He plucks the money from my grip, turns on his heels and walks to the counter.
I watch him walk away from me. His suit pants cling to his body in all the right places. I guess that’s what happens when they are custom made for you. I notice when he finally gets to the counter the girl behind the counter twists her hair and cocks her head to the side and bats her eyelashes at him. He seems completely oblivious to her and just orders our drinks. He then pulls out his wallet and pays with a shiny plastic card. She signals he should wait to the side nearer the barista who is currently working on the huge silver coffee machine, the sounds of the milk frothing a calming white noise.
I had chosen a relatively private booth in the corner of the shop next to the window. As it was starting to get dark outside, the glow of the street lights would be coming on soon. I turn my attention towards my hands. I had an awful habit of wringing my hands when I was nervous. I wonder what we would be discussing regarding travel while we were here? I would need to ask if there was a motel located close by the airport to make the taxi ride to the airport on Sunday as short as possible. I don’t want Elliot to drop me off at my apartment in New York. I don’t want him knowing those things about me, best to keep it strictly professional. Other thoughts cross my mind. Would we be meeting with any of his employees? If so, I should take some work clothes if that was the case, so I look professional.
Looking back across the café I can see Elliot waiting for our drinks. Just his luck, the barista was another very chatty girl. She, too, couldn’t resist batting her eyelashes a million times a minute. Maybe I was wrong, but it appeared as though he looked uncomfortable. Surely, he would be used to pretty girls flirting with him. I would imagine it happens on a regular occurrence. I see him pull out his cell phone from his pocket and touch the screen. I avert my gaze out the window not wanting to be caught staring. A young couple were walking past, hand in hand, they stopped just outside the window to share a kiss. My heart leaps for them, how lucky they are. I place my hands under my chin and unashamedly keep staring.
“Here you are, Angela.”
I drop my hands and jump a little in my seat. Elliot was sliding into the seat across from me, and his cheeky smile gives away the fact that he caught me. I shake my head a little, “You have got to stop scaring me all the time.” I then give all of my attention to the man sitting across from me.
“Thank you.” I reach for my steaming cup of coffee and wrap my arms around either side of the cup, I raise it to my nose first and inhale the comforting smell of vanilla and cinnamon. I take a small sip, testing the temperature and allowed the burning hot liquid to warm my insides, “I don’t drink coffee often. I’m normally a tea drinker myself. How about you Elliot?” I’m not sure why I felt the need to tell him about my coffee drinking habits. I guess I figured this was a safe topic and he could commence the talk about our business trip himself when he was ready.
