I Opia (9 page)

Blaine literally froze. It was Julian Chow with a woman on his arm. One of the women she had been chatting with turned to her husband, “Oh look, honey, Julian and Biyu are here.” She waved at the couple.

Biyu smiled and waved back and grabbed Julian’s arm and pulled him to the group. Blaine realized that she needed to do something. Anything. But yet she still felt frozen to the spot.

Holy crap! He didn’t tell me he would be here! And who is this woman?
She was angry at herself for reacting so strongly and for being jealous.
This is ridiculous.
She didn’t realize that Vince had also seen Chow enter the party. He saw that Blaine had a stunned expression on her face.

Come on B! Snap out of it. Now is not the time for you to freeze up.
He reacted quickly by taking a tray of hors d'oeuvres out of a waiter’s hands and walking over to the group. “Miss? Would you care for an hor d'oeuvre?” he asked, looking Blaine straight in the eye. It worked. Blaine snapped out of her paralysis and looked at Vince, “Yes, thank you, I would,” she said as she took one of the small hor d'oeuvres. The distraction worked for the rest of the group too as each took a pastry.

Chow and Biyu walked up to the group. There were hugs and kisses as the two greeted the group Blaine had been chatting with. Chow looked at Blaine without a hint of recognition and extended his hand, “I don’t believe we have had the pleasure of meeting you. I am Julian Chow and this is my wife Biyu.” He said as he gestured to Biyu.

Blaine smiled at the two of them, veiling her jealously, “I am Blaine Anderson. I am visiting from Austin and am just here for the evening.” She shook Julian’s hand and then his wife’s.

Biyu smiled back, “So nice to meet you. What brings you to San Francisco? Are you friends with the Mortons? We just flew in this evening. Beth Anne always gives the best parties and we wouldn’t miss one, would we honey?” she said as she smiled up at Julian. Blaine felt as if her head and her heart would explode.

Instead she took a breath and responded, “There is a group of us in Austin that would like to host an event such as the Mortons are hosting tonight. We care about the same charity and the Mortons were gracious enough to invite me. I came to watch and to learn,” the irony of her last statement was not lost on Chow.

So Julian. You came to watch us. You came to see if Vince and I could really pull this off. Well done, Julian. We will prove ourselves and more to you.

She looked him in the eye with full acknowledgement. She smiled and nodded her head as she raised her glass to him in a mock toast. He caught the meaning of her gesture and smiled back. He took a glass of champagne from the tray the waiter offered and held up his glass, “Let’s toast an evening of old friends and new. An evening of celebrating new horizons.”

Everyone in the group held up their glass, “Here, here!”

Julian stared across his glass into Blaine’s eyes as he took a sip. She internally felt his gaze travel from her eyes down her spine to between her legs. She realized how much she craved this man. Realizing that his wife was standing next to him, she caught herself. Taking a deep breath, she said, “So lovely to meet you all. Please excuse me.” And she went to find Vinny.

She saw him in the kitchen, he was surrounded by staff and looked totally in his element. He was giving orders, arranging trays, and directing traffic. He felt her gaze and turned. She gave him a questioning look. He smiled and gave her the thumbs up sign. She nodded and continued on her way to find the restroom. She felt better knowing that Vinny was set.

During the hosts’ presentation of their charity, all guests and staff would be gathered in the great room. The plan was that Vinny would use that moment to lift the two paintings and place them beneath a rolling catering table. They would be concealed by the cloth covering the table. He would then roll the cart out with dishes on top, load it into his catering van and deliver them to the RV. He would then return the van to the catering office and take a cab back to the RV. In retrospect, not the best plan, but at this point, he and Blaine were not yet sophisticated enough to come up with a better one. All they knew to do was get the paintings out as fast as possible and then high tail it out of San Francisco back to Austin.

Blaine’s job was to remain at all times with the Mortons in her view. She had a pager in her purse that she could squeeze and it would buzz Vinny the moment anyone was out of sight or had left the room. When he had arrived earlier in the afternoon to set up, he had disarmed the security cameras in the home. He was actually surprised at how easy it was given the knowledge from his job. No one would see him as out of place. He only needed minutes to complete his task. Blaine intended to see that he got every minute that he needed.

Just as planned, the guests were called to the great room. The Mortons began their annual speech regarding their favorite charity. Blaine scanned the room. It seemed that everyone was here.
Wait a minute. Where is Chavez? Holy crap, please tell me he is not with Vinny!
She quietly made her way out of the room, down the hallway and to the kitchen. Sure enough, Chavez had Vinny trapped, chatting him up, flirting actually.

What the hell?
Blaine had no choice but to act quickly. She staggered into the kitchen and feigned slurred speech as if she were drunk. “I’m so sorry. . . “ she slurred as she fell forward and grabbed Chavez, “but I can’t seem to find the restroom. Must have had one too many of these,” she said as she held up her champagne glass. Then she looked up at Chavez. “Oh. My. God! Are you Anthony Chavez? THE Anthony Chavez?” Chavez was as flattered as he was annoyed with the drunk woman clinging to his arm.

“Yes, I am Anthony Chavez. Do I know you?” he frostily asked.

Vince saw his chance. He winked at Chavez, “Anthony, I am going to slip out and check on the guests,” he said as he backed out of the kitchen. He grabbed his cart and wheeled it out.

“Don’t be too long,” Chavez called out after him. Blaine was still grasping Anthony’s arm as if she would fall to the floor if she didn’t. He asked her again, “I’m sorry, do I know you?”

“Probably not,” she slurred, “But I know you. Well, EVERYONE knows you. I have ALWAYS wanted to meet you.”

Luckily Anthony’s ego was just big enough to be a sucker for the attention. Even if it was attention from a woman—a drunk woman at that.

“Really, doll?” he said, “Well, then this is your lucky day.”

If only you knew how lucky
she thought. “Yea, everybody that is anybody uses you for their parties,” Blaine slurred as she kept an eye on the door waiting for Vince to give her the all clear sign. She could hear the Mortons in the other room, droning on and on and knew that time was limited before the captive audience was released and free to move about.

She continued to cling to Chavez and prattled on and on about events and how much she admired him. She acted like he were some kind of god, which kept his attention. She heard the sound of applause which meant the Mortons had finished their speech but there was no sign of Vince.
Vinny???? Where the hell are you????

He showed up just as the panic was setting in.

“Dahling where have you been?” cooed Chavez to Vince.

“Sorry, I just had to take something to the truck.” said Vince.
Thank God!
Blaine thought.

“Well, boys, I had better go,” Blaine said as she pretended to stagger out. She dared not even look at Vince for fear of giving herself away.
Well, well, I kept that little queen Anthony Chavez occupied, didn’t I?
She giggled to herself.

The guests had dispersed about the house and many were leaving. She couldn’t help but find herself searching the room for Julian. He and his wife were nowhere to be seen.
Just as well. Business and pleasure don’t mix. He is right. Plus, he is here with his wife. What did I expect?

Blaine made her way through the crowd to the Mortons. Mrs. Morton looked at her and Blaine extended her hand, “Thank you so much Mrs. Morton. This was truly a lovely event and I am so pleased to have been invited.”

Mrs. Morton graciously took her hand, “I am so sorry dear, but please remind me of who you are.”

Blaine smiled, “I am Blaine Anderson. I support the domestic violence shelter back home in Austin. Your annual event is so successful that I wanted an opportunity to see how you organize this and raise so much money. Thank you so much for allowing me to attend.”

“Blaine! Of course! Julian and Biyu’s friend. I am so pleased you could make it. Please feel free to follow up with me—I will be glad to help with your event.”

Julian AND Biyu’s friend. What????
Blaine felt her face flush as she turned toward the door. She asked the doorman to call her driver. As she waited, she fidgeted impatiently.
What if Vinny doesn’t make it back to the RV park to drop the paintings off? What if they notice they are missing before we are gone? And what about Julian being here with his wife. Holy crap! I don’t have time to think about Julian. Stop it B! Stop it right now! This is all business girl!
And with that, she took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. She tossed her hair with an air of confidence as she walked toward the limo that had just pulled up.

The driver had walked around and opened the door for her. “Thank you so much,” Blaine said as she settled into the back. She reached down to gather in her dress before the driver shut the door. In doing so, she did not notice that she had company.

As she sat down, she jumped, startled. “Julian! Well I . . . I mean, you were . . . what the hell are you doing in here?” and then she panicked,
Oh God, I am in the wrong car! I have gotten into his and his wife’s car!
She frantically began to look around for the door handle when Julian put his hand on hers to calm her.

“Blaine. Blaine!” he said again as she continued to panic. He took her face in his hand and turned it toward him “Stop. Be calm. I am here for you.”

“I, I don’t understand. You were here with your wife.”

“That’s right. I was here with my wife. I am now here with you. Biyu and I have long had an understanding.”

Blaine just stared at him, still confused. Julian laughed. “Blaine, I don’t owe you an explanation. That said, I will tell you our marriage was arranged long ago. She is happy with how things are and so am I. Please relax. I am here to be with you.”

Blaine glanced up to the front and noticed that the glass between them and the driver was closed. Her eyes narrowed and she turned to Julian, “You knew all along you two would be here tonight, didn’t you? You came tonight to see if I, if we, could pull this off! You were toying with me.” Her chest was heaving as her temper flared. She realized tears were welling up in her eyes.
Dammit girl, you cry at the most awkward moments. Stop it.

Julian again placed his hand on her face. “Shhhh. Blaine. Stop. I am your teacher not your teaser. I was here to protect you.”

“I am not sure I believe you, I still think . . .” and before she could finish Julian took her face in his hands and kissed her. A long, hard, deep kiss. He literally took her breath away. He pulled back, wiped the tears off her cheeks. He brushed the hair that had fallen onto her face away. Then he smiled. Blaine was lost in that smile. Simply the most beautiful face she had ever seen. She leaned into him and they kissed again, this time grasping each other in pure passion. She had never wanted anyone so badly.

He responded to her passion by grasping her lower back and pulling her toward him while his other hand still clasped her face. He kissed her long and slow, taking his tongue across every part of her mouth. Blaine honestly thought that she would drown in her passion for this man. He pulled himself away, and she thought that she would die from the loss of physical contact with him. She leaned back toward him, but he held up a hand signaling her to wait.

She realized they had pulled into the entrance of the RV Park. An older man walked out of the office as they approached. The driver rolled down the window. The man shifted his chew from one side of his mouth to the other and then spit, “I heard that you would be here. Is this that young lady that is here by herself?” With that Julian signaled the driver to roll down the back window.

“No, the lady is not by herself. I am with her. Is there some problem? If so, perhaps we can address that as only two gentlemen can.” Julian did not break his gaze as he spoke. His contempt for the man was obvious. The man, seeing the elegant gentleman with such a commanding presence, realized that it was probably not worth the effort and waved them through.

The driver stopped at Blaine’s RV. She was suddenly amused by the situation. A limo. Julian Chow. An RV.
Now THIS is funny!
She began to giggle.

Julian cocked his head, “Think this is entertaining, Miss Anderson?” She continued to giggle and nodded her head. “Well, wait for what I have in store for you.” he responded.

Her eyes widened,
Now what???

The driver opened the door. He helped Blaine out and then Julian. Julian spoke quietly to the driver and handed him cash. The driver nodded and then made his exit.

Julian turned to Blaine and motioned to the door, “Miss Anderson, shall we?”

She smiled and said, “We shall.”