I woke up feeling better than I had in ages. The full night of sleep took the edge off I guess, it left me feeling more stable and almost optimistic. I pushed back the blankets and got up with a determined energy. I had a new idea for a story.
The heroine would be an FBI agent or maybe just a Private Investigator. Either way she would be strong and independent. She’d be the kind of girl who knew her way around a gun and could smell a lie from a mile away. I’d set her up with a man with a past. I was thinking witness protection. She’d know that he was hiding things and he’d want to tell her the truth, but couldn’t…at least not until he took the stand and put away the monster that had murdered his sister.
I thought about the details while I took a shower. I like to figure out who the characters are right away. My heroine would have a weakness for coffee, no lattes, she’d get ragged on by her male colleagues for that small sign of softness. I considered her hair color for several minutes but couldn’t decide. Red seemed too obvious, like I was shouting, “Check out this girl, she’s a firecracker”. But I wanted her to have an unexpected feminine edge; long blonde hair makes a girl stand out even when she tries not to. I decided to come back to it and moved on to my hero. He was British. I didn’t think about how I knew that, I just did. He was definitely British and very intelligent. Maybe she would think that he was a spy.
When I decided that my hero would have blue eyes, I realized where my inspiration had come from and laughed. It was hardly the first time I’d adapted quirks and characteristics from the people I met into my stories. One of my characters taught Spanish because the girl sitting next to me at Starbucks that day looked all too cute mouthing the words in her Spanish phrasebook to herself while awaiting her Spanish speaking date.
It didn’t mean anything. I’d met a man with a British accent so that was on my mind, that’s all.
My unusually high spirits led me to brave The Laughing Gull Café again despite the terror of the previous day’s visit. I walked in and greeted the now familiar waitress with only a faint heating of my cheeks, ordered a Greek Salad and set up my computer. I was jotting down the ideas that had come to me during the shower and during my walk over when a guy took the other seat at my table. I pushed down the immediate rush of anger. I mean, seriously, I have out my computer; I’m working. I tried to keep a civil tone. “Can I help you?”
He grinned. Most people look more attractive when they smile, this guy really didn’t. He looked greasy. “What’s a pretty girl like you doing eating lunch all by yourself?”
I laughed. “You’re really going to go with that line?”
Greasy guy looked confused for a moment before trying his slimy smile on me again. “Just thought you looked like you could use some company.”
“Thanks, but I’m fine, great actually, but busy, so…” I tried to give him a polite smile, but it hurt my face so I went with a nod.
“Definitely fine.” He laughed at his own weak pun. “Come on, everyone should take a lunch break. I’ll order us a couple of drinks and you can tell me all about your schoolwork. Maybe I can help with the hard stuff.”
Eww. He thought I was doing homework. The guy was forty-five if he was a day, balding, had a beer gut and was clearly far too impressed with his own charms. My grasp on my temper was getting thinner. I remembered my outburst from the day before and wished I could have shared it with the guy in front of me. “Look, I really am busy and I…I’m actually expecting someone any minute so if you could please…”
The guy looked unconvinced. “Why don’t I just keep you company until he gets here?” He smiled at what he thought was a clever response.
Polite wasn’t working. I was ready to give up on polite. I looked up as I took a deep breath and saw him, my neighbor, the heroic Mr Pratt was walking into the cafe. I had a plan. I could only hope his White Knight Syndrome was still going strong. I stood up and gave him a wave. “Hi Sweetie, I’m over here.” I saw him start to turn my way in surprise, but didn’t have time to really enjoy what I’m certain was a priceless look of bewilderment on his face. I shot Mr Slimy Smile a victorious grin. “See, my…boyfriend is here now, no need to worry about me.” I spoke unnecessarily loud in the hope that my could-be savior would catch on. He did. He walked over purposefully and gave me a grin. I saw the amusement in his eyes and felt a wave a relief. With any luck I was going to get out of the situation without making another ginormous scene.
Mr Slimy stood up slowly and watched us with a suspicious glare.
“Hello, Love. Sorry I’m late.” William’s mouth twitched. “Traffic.”
I had to bite my tongue to hold back my burst of laughter at his ridiculous excuse. He gave the creep a slight nod and slid into the seat across from mine. We watched as Mr Slimy slinked out of the café.
“Thank you.” I gave him what I hoped was a really grateful looking smile.
“Not at all. I’m glad I could be of service.” He nodded and I noticed the slight red hint in his cheeks deepen. I didn’t bother to deny finding it cute. Who knew blushing could make a guy seem so…adorable? He started to stand up and my hand flew across the table. I grasped his wrist and heard myself asking him to stay. “Please. Let me get you some lunch…it’s the least I can do now that you’ve rescued me twice.”
He looked torn. “That is not necessary…I was glad to help…there’s no need for you to feel obligated to—”
“William, I’d like to buy you lunch and I’d enjoy a little company if you are interested.” I decided that blunt was the best approach.
His eyes widened. “I rather thought the whole point of our little dinner theatre was to eliminate your potential company.”
I nodded. He had me there. I wasn’t even sure why I was being so insistent. I was supposed to be writing. I was supposed to be spending time alone. I gave him another smile. “The plan was to eliminate unwanted company.”
He smiled back, looking entirely too happy at my implied desire for his company and I wondered when exactly the man had last had a date. I wanted to be sure that I wasn’t leading him on, so I added. “You’re my new neighbor, so it’s…neighborly.”
I watched his lips twitch and knew he was holding back a laugh at my lack of subtlety. I seriously had to stop accusing the guy of wanting me. For all I knew I wasn’t even his type. For all I knew the guy played for the other team. He gave me a small smile. “A neighborly lunch sounds delightful.”
Joyce reappeared a moment later with a large grin. “See? I just knew that you two would hit it off.”
William nodded. “Indeed. You had best get your finest dress pressed as we have scheduled the wedding for this Thursday.”
I watched as Joyce’s jaw dropped and realized that for all his blushing and good manners, William had an intriguingly twisted sense of humor. I reached out, placed my hand over his and tried for an appropriately melodramatic soap actress type voice. “A love like ours just can’t be fought.” I turned back to the still gaping Joyce and went in for the big finale. “I do hope that you’ll be our guest of honor, after all if I hadn’t delivered those cupcakes yesterday….” I tried for a sorrowful look at the horrible idea.
I knew the moment she realized that she’d been had; I saw the relief slide across her face. “Oh! Well you two are just too bad.” She swatted William’s shoulder with the small notepad she used to keep track of orders and laughed. “Should I bring you your usual, William?”
“Please.” He gave her a warm smile and she headed back into the kitchen.
I stared at him a moment. Now what? He looked just as unsure. I watched as he settled his bag onto an empty seat and fiddled with the silverware.
“Traffic?” I asked skeptically.
He grinned quickly and then donned a solemn expression. “Dreadful.” I laughed and he leaned in. “Would you believe I saw a car on the walk here?”
I shook my head. “Something really must be done.”
He laughed and I joined him.
An hour and a half later we were still laughing. I’d barely been able to eat, every time I tried to place a forkful in my mouth, he would either make a truly unexpected and dryly delivered joke or he’d start blushing. He was just too fun to tease.
I handed my finally empty plate up to Joyce and admitted that I had planned to get some work done.
He looked startled. “Oh. I’m sorry, Please don’t let me keep you from…”
I laughed. “Yes. It was totally your fault that I made you join me for lunch and then got all chatty.”
His shoulders dropped in relief and he gave me the smile that I now knew proceeded his teasing. “It’s true. I could hardly resist your clearly irresistibly charms. I am only a man.”
“Understandable.”
He laughed again. “I had hoped to get a little work done this afternoon as well.” He said it almost grudgingly and I knew that he’d been having as much fun as I had been. It was a nice feeling, but dangerous. I reminded myself that I was here to be alone; I needed to take some time to get to know myself again or something like that. The occasional lunch or chat with my friendly neighbor was fine, but I wasn’t looking for anything more and I certainly didn’t want to lead him to believe that I might be.
He stood up and pushed in his chair. “Might I—that is, I’d like to take you to dinner.” He must have seen that I was about to say no, because he immediately added. “A neighborly dinner, of course.”
Who could resist that? Not me. I agreed to be ready at 8:00, opened my computer and started to pull out my notes.
I wrote happily until families started to file in for an early dinner and I decided that it was time to give up my table. I was almost home before I realized that William must have paid the bill when I wasn’t looking. I was both irritated, I had asked him to lunch so I should have paid, and impressed, the man was sneakier than I would have guessed.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Thank you to Jhuntnifer for the read-through and to everyone who left me a kind word after reading the last chapter. You all rock. I do read them all, though I don't generally respond to each one individually. I'd love to, but then I don't think I would ever complete a story. Also-I would give away far too many clues about where a story is heading. I am not good with secrets. Christmas time kills me-seriously once I find someone a perfect present I just want to give it to them. Period. :)
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