Page 2 of Nate
“Help her!” A thin, blonde woman screams at me. The food that was lodged in her friend's throat flies out her mouth and lands on a nearby spectator.
“Aaaah!!” The spectator cries. “It landed in my eye!”
The rest of the crowd starts to clap. Celebrating a successful medical intervention.
I ignore them.
I ignore everyone except the beautiful goddess still in my arms.
“Are you okay?” I whisper in her ear.
“Fine,” she gasps. “Just feeling a bit…”
Her legs give way and she nearly collapses to the ground. If it weren’t for my tight grip, she may have caused herself some damage.
I guide her carefully to the floor.
“Dizzy,” she finishes, her chest heaving. Rising and falling so fast it's making me dizzy, too.
I feel her pulse, looking in her eyes the whole time. The color in her cheeks is starting to return to normal. “You’re heartbeat is very high.”
“I knew I shouldn’t have had the fish,” she stammers. “Serves me right for trying to eat healthy.”
“You’re in good company,” I smile. “Even the queen of England chokes on a fishbone from time to time.”
“She probably does it with a bit more class, though. Doesn’t she?”
“Nobody could do it with more class than you,” I tell her. “Now, are you okay to stand up? How do you feel?”
“Like I’ve just made a complete idiot out of myself in the middle of the restaurant,” she says. “But aside from that, I think I'm fine.”
“Not dizzy anymore?”
“No.”
I get up and give her my hand. “Stand back,” I yell at the few people still clustered around us, looking at us like we’re the latest episode of whatever reality TV show they’re currently hooked on. “Nothing to see here.”
I help the woman to her feet and guide her to her seat.
“Thank you,” she says, looking up at me.
“Just doing my job.”
The blonde woman who was screaming for help pulls out a chair. “Why don’t you join us for a drink?” she says. “It’s the least we can do, seeing as how you saved Piper’s life.”
“Oh, no,” I say, shaking my head, but never taking my eyes off Piper. “I don’t want to impose on your meal.”
“Impose on our meal,” she laughs. “Don’t be silly! Sit down, I’ll order some wine. Unless you have somewhere better to be?”
I look over at the empty table I’d been sitting at before. I’d been just about to pay the check and go home. Alone. And now here I am, standing in front of the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. Turning down the invitation to have a glass of wine with her.
A little voice in my head says,You’ve sworn off women! Remember what happened last time!
But, I ignore that voice. He’s clearly an idiot if he thinks I’m going to walk away without getting to know Piper a little better.
I’ve only been in town a matter of weeks. I don’t know anyone.
I tell myself this is just me, getting to know the locals. Making friends. Building a community.
