Finding Mr. Right (11 page)

“Okay, Gayle says she will be here in about 20 minutes.”

“Sounds good.”

Ten seconds later, a group of girls pushed past us to go boogie on the dance floor, and Blake was shoved up against me. My drink spilled a little on my chest. I was wearing a slightly low-cut dress, so the liquid was on my bare skin. Blake grabbed a tissue and wiped away the alcohol from my body. I was inches away from him, and my body could feel every vibration and heartbeat in his. All of a sudden, it seemed very warm in the club.

I looked up into his eyes. They always had such a twinkle, like the closest stars in the sky do. They seemed to want to lead me somewhere, but I knew that that somewhere would not be good.

“Thanks,” I whispered when he finished wiping my chest.

“My pleasure.” We were still staring at each other. It was then that we heard his phone.

“Oh, it’s Bridget. Let me get it.”

I took a step back as he shouted on the phone, trying to find out where she was.

“We’re here already. We’re here already,” he kept repeating over again. I guess the club music was drowning out what he was saying.

“I think she said she will be here in 30 minutes. One of her friends broke a heel, and they had to go back home and change.”

“Oh cool.” I was disappointed that Bridget had called him and was on the way.

“Wanna dance?” Blake nodded towards the dance floor. There were quite a few people around the dance floor now. The gaggle of girls had attracted a bunch of men to the sides of the dance floor, staring at them and working up the courage to ask for a dance.

The DJ started playing one of my favorite hip hop songs, and the beat was infectious. I gulped down the rest of my drink, and we walked on to the dance floor. I was a bit hesitant at first in my dance moves, but Blake was moving around as if his body was on fire. It took everything in me to keep from laughing. Blake, who was perfect in every way, couldn’t dance. His sense of rhythm and beat was so off that his dancing seemed almost comical.

“I didn’t say I could dance,” he leaned over and whispered in my ear. He grabbed my hands and started twirling me around the dance floor. We were dancing to ‘Thriller’ when Gayle and Ben found us. We only noticed them because they started cat-calling to us as we were moving around, me doing the Robot and Blake breakdancing. We all started laughing, and I gave Gayle and Ben a big hug. They seemed surprised at my display of goodwill and emotion, but I was in a good mood and having fun.

“Let me get everyone a drink. What do you guys want?” Ben volunteered. I’m sure he was thinking he better keep me inebriated to ensure I remained in a good mood.

We told him our drink orders and Blake went to help him bring the drinks back.

“You look great, Maggie,” Gayle commented.

“Thanks.”

“I mean it. You are glowing. You look marvelous.”

“I’ve still got about 30 pounds to go,” I laughed.

“It doesn’t show.” Gayle grabbed my hand, “I truly mean it, Maggie.”

I stared at Gayle. All her walls seemed to have deteriorated in the past month. Ben really seemed to be working some sort of magic on her. I wasn’t used to such gushing from her; not in all the years I had known her.

I was thankful when Blake and Ben appeared with the drinks. I didn’t really know what to say to Gayle. I did know that my trips to the gym had paid off and I was looking the best I had in years, but I certainly wasn’t in tip-top or model shape. I wouldn’t be walking around in any sexy lingerie on a catwalk any time soon. That was for sure.

Blake had bought us all 2 shots to accompany our drinks from Ben.

“Trying to get us drunk, Blake?” Gayle teased him.

“You know it,” he grinned back at her.

We all downed the shots pretty quickly. They were sweet and strong, just like I like them.

“Shall we go dance, guys?” Blake pointed to the dance floor again. I was surprised that he was eager to go back, considering his lack of skills, but I guess he was confident enough to not let that stop him from having a good time.

“Sure.” Gayle grabbed Ben’s hand, and they went out to the dance floor and started grinding.

“Guess we know why they were so eager to go dance,” I joked to Blake.

“Well, who doesn’t enjoy a good close dance? I know I do.” And just as quickly as he had spoken, he put his arms around me, pulled me close to him and started gyrating.

“Oh!” Before I had a chance to pull away or hit him, he let me go and laughed.

“Don’t panic, little Maggie. I won’t accost you on the dance floor.” And with his eyes laughing at me, he walked off and started doing the chicken dance to a rap song.

It wasn’t until about 2 hours later, after several more drinks, that I thought about Bridget again.

“You heard from Bridget, Blake? She still isn’t here.” I was surprised, though not shocked at this point, that Blake hadn’t wondered where she was and didn’t even really seem to care now either. He reached into his pocket, looked at his cell phone and put it back.

“So?”

“Nope, no messages.”

I didn’t pursue it. If he didn’t seem to care, I didn’t want to make a big deal of it. We continued dancing, and I was flying high by the end of the night, as several handsome men had asked me to dance.

“Bell of the ball tonight, huh, Mags?” Blake teased me as we waited outside the club for Ben and Gayle to exit at the end of the night.

“I don’t know about that. Seems to me that guys will dance with any girl who says yes at clubs,” I replied casually, not wanting to let on just how thrilled and excited I had been. Especially when I had caught Blake frowning at me a few times as I had danced with the other men. Gayle and Ben exited then and we all decided to get cabs home.

“No way any of us can drive home tonight,” Blake was emphatic, as Ben was trying to convince us that he could drive. We made sure to see Ben and Gayle get into a cab before we looked for another one.

“I guess we should take one cab so I can make sure you get dropped off first and make it home safely.”

“Oh, okay.”

Blake was such a gentleman, and I appreciated the offer, as I was all of a sudden feeling very intoxicated. We flagged down a cab and got in. I cuddled into Blake’s chest, laid my head on his shoulder, and fell asleep in the warmth of his body. I only awoke when the cool air hit my face as he was walking me up to my apartment.

“Ooh, where is the cab?” I murmured.

“I let it go.”

“Oh?”

“I figure I’ll sleep on the couch. This way, you can give me a ride to get my car tomorrow morning and then we can take Lucy on her walk.”

“Oh, smart idea. You always were so smart, Blakey.” I then started singing random Madonna songs. “Like a virgin, ooh, touched for the very first...”

“Shh, you’ll wake up the neighbors, Maggie,” Blake put his fingers across my lips.

I started giggling and kissed his fingers. “Such strong but soft fingers, Blakey.”

Blake had his arm around me and reached over to grab my handbag so that he could get my keys. As he reached into my handbag his hand grazed my stomach and I felt a tremor of electricity course through me.

“Are you coming on to me, Blakey?” I purred at him. He didn’t answer me as he opened the door. I saw Lucy on the couch looking up at us disinterestedly. Sleep was more important to her than greeting us this late at night.

Blake guided me into the bedroom, where I promptly fell on the bed.

“Oh, Maggie, I think you have had way too much to drink. Can you undress by yourself?”

I closed my eyes and ignored him, just wanting to enjoy the softness of my bed and some quiet.

“Shh,” I said.

I felt hands on me, pulling my straps down, slightly lifting me and pulling off my dress.

“Where do you keep your PJs, Mags?”

I ignored him. I heard him opening drawers and rifling through my clothes.

“It’s hot. I’ll sleep like this.” At this point, I didn’t care that I was just in my underwear.

“Okay.” Blake moved me over and pulled the sheets over me. And then he kissed me on the forehead. I reached up to him and put my arms around him.

“Thanks, Blakey.” I opened my eyes and stared at him.

“You’re welcome.” Blake gazed into my eyes. There was something in them that made me pull him down onto the bed.

“Sleep with me. The couch is uncomfortable,” I patted the spot next to me. “My bed is a pillow top, sooo comfy.”

“You sure?”

“I’m sure.” And with that I cuddled into him.

I awoke up around 5 a.m. enclosed in his arms. He had taken his shirt and jeans off and was lying there in his Calvin Klein boxers. I was still slightly delirious and snuggled into him closer. I must have woken him up, because his eyes opened slightly and he held me to him tighter. I raised my eyes to look at him, and the next thing I knew, I was kissing him and I was laying on top of him, with his arms caressing my back.

Lucy jumping onto the bed around 9 a.m. woke me up. I stretched and felt Blake’s body next to mine. Thank God he was still fast asleep. I then realized that my bra was off and I was encircled in his arms. I groaned. I vaguely remembered kissing him and rolling around on the bed, but the details were a blur. I realized I didn’t even know if we’d had sex.

I grabbed my handbag to check my cell phone. I groaned and immediately felt like a harlot when I realized there were 5 texts from Bridget. First, one asking if we had made it to the club yet, the others asking where we were, and the final one saying one of her friends was drunk and they were going home. And looking by the time of her first text, she had contacted me before she had called Blake, twice in fact. Interesting.

I looked down at Blake and groaned again.

Dear Diary,

I am going to be a TV star. Well, I am going to be on TV, and I am so excited. This could lead to a career as a movie star or at least into dating movie stars. Though, I don’t really care about being a movie star or even dating one if I’m honest. I want Blake. But that’s another story. If I can’t have Blake, then a Hollywood star will do, even a famous TV chef would go down well with me. He could feed me sumptuous food, and I could forget Blake then. Though I suppose if I had Blake, I could take cooking lessons and learn to make my own sumptuous foods. Then I wouldn’t need a handsome TV chef. I’d have a handsome man and could cook for myself. Oh well. That isn’t a problem that I currently have; there are currently no movie stars knocking my door down. But maybe soon, when I am actually on TV. Although I don’t really know the number of viewers that public access TV shows get at 11 p.m.

I jumped out of bed and hopped in the shower before Blake woke up. I didn’t want him to wake up and see my half-naked body next to his and have it be all awkward. I mean awkward guilt is the worst, and I knew that he would feel horrendous. Blake’s not the sort to cheat, and he’d likely be mad I took advantage of him in his inebriated state. I didn’t really stop to think about the flirtation that had been going on all night. Or the fact that I had been drunk as well. It just felt so weird to me and well, it was like some ill-fated romance. Because what if he did like me? He and Bridget were partners and had been together for years and she was one of my good friends now. I couldn’t come between them; it would be like bad karma. So I was damned if I did and damned if I didn’t.

Blake walked into the living room in his boxers, Lucy trotting behind him like she was captivated by him as well.

“Morning,” he came up to me and ruffled my head. I turned my face as he leaned over to kiss me.

“Morning,” I pretended to yawn and kept my head down.

“Are you hungry? I can make us some breakfast.”

“Um, yeah. Thanks,” I could feel Blake staring at me, trying to make eye contact, but I was scared to look at him. He also seemed a bit angry. How could he treat Bridget this way?

“I’ll make something with lots of carbs.”

I looked up at him. “Huh?”

“For the walk.”

“Oh, yeah, sure.” So he still wanted to come on the walk. I was surprised. I thought he would have high-tailed it out of there once he realized what had happened last night.

“You okay, Maggie?”

“Yeah, why?”

“You seem distant.” He looked at me questioningly.

“I’m fine.”

“I should think so, after all my loving last night.”

I gasped and stared at him in shock.

“So we …?” I asked him, not wanting to say the words.

“You mean you don’t remember? That hurts my ego and my heart.” Blake grinned and tried to put on a sad face.

“Actually, no, I...”

“Maggie, I’m joking. We didn’t do the deed. We were both too tired. I think we feel asleep within 5 minutes of your aggressive make-out session.”

“Oh.” My cheeks colored with embarrassment. I didn’t want to talk about my coming onto him in the bed. I vaguely remembered being the one to take off my own bra as well. I groaned.

“No need to be sad. We can hop in the bed right now if you want.”

I hit Blake across the chest and Lucy growled. What sort of turncoat was this dog?

“I don’t think so, Blake. You can have a shower while I cook breakfast. There are clean towels in the closet in the bathroom.”

“Ah, not so naughty in the morning, huh, Maggie Moo?” He was laughing so hard that he could barely get his words out.

I thought I would sober him up. “Bridget texted me 5 times last night.”

“Oh, yeah?” he didn’t look particularly concerned. Bastard.

“Yes. Maybe you should give her a call.”

“Why? She didn’t text me.”

“She’s your partner, Blake. I think she has a right to know.”

“Know about what?”

“Last night...” I didn’t really want to say more.

Blake looked at me like an alien from outer space. “She may be my partner, but she doesn’t run my life, and she doesn’t need to know every single thing I do. Unless you want to tell her about last night, she won’t know a thing.”

I couldn’t believe how brazen he was. He came over to me and pulled me to him. “Some things you don’t tell others about. Unless of course you’ve already told Gayle?” And with that, he gave me a huge kiss and then slapped my ass.

“I’m going to shower now.” He walked away from me with a confident gait, while I stood there with my mouth open.

***

We didn’t talk about it again over breakfast, nor on the drive to get his car. He was too busy telling me funny stories about some of his clients and asking me about my work at We Like to Read. I regaled him with some of my best stories from work. Last year, the committee for our fundraising event had somehow sent invitations to all the single-parent families of LA; Ben had gotten the mail merge feature messed up. We ended up spending 5,000 dollars to provide food for our guests and not getting a penny in return. And the year before that when we held our annual spelling bee, Lola had disqualified someone for spelling a word incorrectly, only to find out after 10 minutes of arguing that she had typed the spelling of the word wrong on her list. That had been priceless. Gayle, Ben, and I had to go to the back of the room for a minute and control our laughter after we found out that Lola was in the wrong.

“So, what are the parts of your job that you love then, Mags?”

“That I love?”

“Yes. I assume that there is a reason you’ve been there so long.”

I chewed on my bottom lip and tilted my head to the side while I thought about what he had asked. What did I love about We Love to Read?

“The children. I love going to the schools and listening to the children read. Especially when they get excited about a book. And they learn to read words they didn’t know before or always got wrong. It’s amazing. The look in their eyes, the bright smiles. Their happiness is real, and they are so proud of themselves, and I am so proud of them. I feel like for those 30 minutes every week, I’ve really made a difference,” I gushed out quickly, carried away with memories of experiences I’d had in different elementary schools.

“That’s really great, Maggie.”

I looked over at Blake, who was staring at me with admiration. It made me feel good inside and a bit guilty; I hadn’t done many school visits lately because I had been so preoccupied with other things.

“Have you ever thought, Mags, that it could be a great way to get ideas for your book and to see what children like?

“Not really. I never thought about it.”

“I have an idea. Remember yesterday I wanted to talk to you?

“Yes.”

“Well, one of my clients is creating a TV show on the local schools here. He wants to highlight what the community is doing to help, and hopes it will motivate others to join in and do the same.”

“Okay.”

“I’m writing up the contracts between his production company and the school boards, so that he has permission to film.”

“What does this have to do with me?”

“He’s looking for a host, someone in the industry of education who is making a difference. I think you would be perfect.”

“Why?”

“Because you have a passion and you really care about these kids. And because I think it will help motivate you to write your book.”

“Oh.” I was happy at the fact that he thought I would be a good TV host, but I was hoping he was going to say because I was beautiful and well-spoken.

“So, will you do it?”

“Isn’t there some sort of audition I have to go through?”

“No, when he asked me if I knew of anyone, I said I knew the perfect person.”

“Wow. Thanks, I think. I hope I can live up to that. I’ve never been on TV before. What if I clam up in front of millions of people?”

“I should have told you. It’s for a public access TV station.”

“Oh.” I was a bit disappointed. Who wanted to be on public access TV? No one ever watched those channels.

“So, will you do it?”

“Sure, sure, sounds like fun.” I tried to sound more positive than I felt. I had already been picturing myself on billboards all over town and fans all over the country setting up Facebook fan pages for me. There was no way that was going to happen on public access TV unless I created the pages myself. But I wanted to show Blake that I could actually do something.

“Great. I’ll have you meet Stephen on Monday.”

“Great.”

Blake grabbed my hand and squeezed it. “Thanks for doing this, Maggie. You are truly the best.”

“Thanks,” I smiled back at him, lost in the warmth in his eyes. I thought that I could stare into the brown pools and search for his soul forever. And then his phone rang. I glanced at the screen as he went to answer it. It was Bridget. I tried to gaze out of the window and not listen. Blake was talking hurriedly and was frustrated.

“No, no, it’s fine. I’m not busy. I’ll meet you in 30 minutes.” My stomach churned when I heard those words but refused to turn around. I supposed this was what happened when you were a mistress; you took whatever forbidden minutes you could.

“Hey, Maggie,” Blake hung up the phone, “I’m sorry, but I can’t go on the walk with you and Lucy anymore today. Something has come up.”

“Oh, really?” I looked at him questioningly.

“Yeah, I have to go and meet Bridget.”

“I see.”

We were already at the club parking lot where Blake had left his car the night before. He got out hurriedly, then bent down and spoke through the open window.

“I’ll see you on Monday in my office. Ten a.m., okay?”

“That’s fine.” I watched him walk away to his car quickly and jump in like he was in a race for his life. As he sped off, a tear rolled down my face. He hadn’t even kissed me goodbye. It was obvious to me that he was now feeling guilty about last night and couldn’t wait to rush over to Bridget and make it right. I felt both ashamed of myself and sorry for myself at the same time.