Page 17 of Seventeen Years Ago

“Sounds like something I’d like to hear more about over coffee. You can drink coffee dressed like that, can’t you?” I teased her and waited for her reaction. Thankfully, she giggled.

“Nothing comes between me and coffee,” she replied.

My kind of woman.

“Since we can’t leave the resort, how about we sit out on my balcony and enjoy the view? I can have a pot of coffee brought up to us,” I offered.

“I...I guess that will be okay,” she said, and stepped into my suite. “I hear they have very good coffee here.”

“You’ve never been here before?” I asked, puzzled.

“I’ve dropped things off at the front desk, but I have never actually been further than that,” she stated. “I don’t...have any cause to see tourists.”

I didn’t miss that at all. Shenormallydropped things off at the front desk. Why didn’t she today? Did she intentionally bring it to my room because she wanted to see me? That changed how I would handle this if that’s the case.

As I picked up the phone to call room service, I asked, “Any objection to having an early lunch with me while you’re here?”

“That...would be nice.”

Not sure that was the word she wanted to use, but I took it. “Any preference as to what you would like to eat?”

“They make grilled sea bass with lemon. I’d like to try that,” she stated.

Even though she never ate here, she knew the menu. I called down and ordered two with fries.

“You Americans like fried food. So unhealthy for your heart,” she said. “You should grill or steam your food. Keeps all the nutrients and flavor without adding all the fat and calories.”

“Is that your way of telling me I’m overweight?” I joked.

She wasn’t laughing at that one.

“Of course not. I’m not rude. And your body appears to be extremely fit. But you can’t judge what’s going on inside by the outside,” she stated firmly.

Was she still talking about cholesterol and shit or were we now onto what she was feeling inside? I’m sure that even after all these years she must deal with triggers of the past.Triggers like being here with me.

“Sounds to me like you’d be better off in the medical field than working as a secretary,” I said. “Ever consider changing careers?”

“We don’t do that here.”

“Why not?” I asked as we waited for the food to arrive.

“Because if you are fortunate enough to land a job, especially a good one like the one I have, you don’t risk it by trying something new. That’s how you end up with nothing,” she explained.

“You don’t think that your parents would support you while you studied?” I asked.

“My parents are dead,” she said flatly. Her eyes became dark, and I could see the anger and bitterness growing within them. As though their death was my fault, which I knew it wasn’t.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” I said. “Was it recent?”

“Seventeen years ago,” she said.

It had to be a coincidence because I never told my father the truth. There was no reason for him to go after her parents or her.

“I lost my mother when I was very young. I still miss her,” I said honestly. She was the one who had taught me right from wrong. If she hadn’t, maybe I’d have ended up following my father’s wicked ways.

“And how about your father? Is he still alive?” she asked.

“No. He died two years ago. He...wasn’t a very nice man.” If anyone accused him of being the devil, I wouldn’t have argued with them.

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