Inside Out (9 page)

“Where are you taking me, Jude?” I couldn’t resist asking.

“You really don’t have any patience, do you, Angel?”

“No, not really.” I shook my head sarcastically.

I watched Jude nod to a waiter as we entered the double doors. I was in awe at the sight of the cozy little restaurant. The lights, the colors, and the music humming through the speakers seemed to fit the atmosphere of the restaurant all too perfectly. I followed along behind Jude as he escorted me to the back of the building. I watched customers and other waiters smile to us as we passed by. I was certain this must be a place he frequented often; he seemed to know every single person in the room.

“Sit your pretty little ass down.” He pulled out a chair for me, gesturing me to sit. I took seat and gazed around at my surroundings.

“Oh, you’re so charming.” I rolled my eyes and giggled as I took my seat.

“You like the place? This place holds a lot of meaning to me.” He seemed to drift off into a deep thought.

I focused in on his expression, curious as to what he meant by his comment. “Well, it certainly seems special.”

“You have no idea.” He pointed to a photo that rested on a wall right behind our table. I turned my head around to get a closer look. It was an older gentleman, his hair was gray, and his eyes bright green and a smile that assured you he had a kind heart.

“He’s adorable. Who is he?” I scrunched my eyebrows, staring deeply into Jude’s troubled eyes.

“That’s my father, Sam. He owned this place.” He wiped his hand beneath his eyes, drying up a bit of moisture from a few tear drops. “It’s mine now. He left it to me when he passed away.”

“Oh my God, Jude. You lost both of your parents?” I stood up from my chair and ran over to the photo. I wanted a closer look at the man who helped create such an angel. I felt tears fill up my own eyes. I ran my fingertips along the photo, tracing along the jawline of the older man. I hoped I could learn more about him just by looking closely at this picture. I saw Jude in his eyes and his smile. “He’s beautiful.” I tried hard to speak without bursting into tears. Jude was behind me within moments, wrapping his arms around my waist and pressing his lips against my cheek.

“He was the best man, the best father anyone could ever ask for. I pray that I turn out to be half the man he was.” He spoke those words with deep sincerity.

“He would be proud, I know that much. Can I ask what happened to him?” I hugged him as hard as I could.

“He took care of me after Mom passed, we had gotten so close. It wasn’t until I was twenty-two that he hit the bottle pretty hard. He drank himself to death while staring at that old photo of Mom and I that sits on the mantle at my place.” My heart ached with his words.

“I know what it’s like to lose someone you love so much. I hope we can share this pain together. You have no idea how much you’ve helped me deal with Adam’s death. If you ever need me, just need to talk or cry… I want to be here for you too.” I raised his hand and pressed it to my cheek, making sure his eyes were locked to mine.

“You already have helped, Sam. I wasn’t really living before you, just, getting by. If that’s what you want to call it. I feel alive for the first time in years.”

I smiled and didn’t even fight back the urge to cry any longer. I just held him close and stepped side to side to the beat of the music with my head resting on his chest. We occupied an empty space in the dark corner of the restaurant, making it comfortable to share such an intimate moment. “I love you.” I whispered through tears.

“You hungry?” He interrupted our perfect moment.

“Well, yeah, I guess a little bit.” I sighed. I was disappointed he ruined a moment like that to discuss food.

Jude threw his hand up and motioned for the waiter to come to our side. “I’ll have dad’s favorite wine and a glass of water, please.” He then looked to me to order.

“Um, I’ll have the same.” I shrugged.

Jude laughed and politely told the waiter we’d need a few more moments before ordering our meal. “I recommend the grilled chicken with lime.”

My mouth watered at the sound of that. Anything drizzled in a bit of lime was to die for. “Sounds excellent, I’ll have that.” I closed the menu.

Jude again motioned the sweet waiter to our side to place the order for our meals. The young man held his head down trying to avoid eye contact as best he could. He seemed intimidated by Jude. I guess it wouldn’t be easy to serve your boss. I offered the waiter a warm smile.

“I’m Samantha.” I extended my hand. “You’re doing a fine job.” I tried my best to calm his nerves.

“Yeah, fine job, Alex.” Jude piped in. He patted the young man on his arm. “I hired a new girl just last week, she starts tomorrow. You’ll show her the ropes, right? I trust you’ll train her the right way.”

Alex shook his head yes. “Yes sir, of course.” He fumbled for our menu’s and raced back towards the kitchen.

“Geez, Jude. You have that boy scared out of his mind” I laughed.

“He’s only eighteen. He lived in an orphanage most of his life. I heard he didn’t have it easy. He gets a little uptight around most people. I’m hoping in time he’ll come out of his shell. He really is a good boy.” Jude shook his head. I could see concern in his eyes.

“I’m sure he will.” My mind couldn’t grasp how that must have felt, growing up never really having a family. I wanted so much to befriend this boy and invite him to dinner at our place. “How about we invite him over occasionally? I mean, if he’s never had a family, wouldn’t it be nice to take him under our wing and at least show him what’s it’s like to have people that care?” I tapped my foot beneath the table while I waited for Jude to respond.

“Yes, sure, baby. I’ll mention it to him before we leave.” He winked and blew me a kiss. “You have a kind heart.”

“So do you.” I chimed in.

Our dinner was served within a few minutes. The food looked delicious and the decorative greens that trimmed the sparkling white plates gave it a very elegant look. I was beyond impressed. I still couldn’t believe I’d never heard of this place. “Wow. This place is astonishing.” I admitted.

“I have a good group of employees. They make this place what it is.”

I devoured the meal, leaving nothing on the plate. I felt a tiny bit of embarrassment when I glanced at Jude’s plate, realizing he had quite a ways to go before finishing. “Why didn’t you tell me this is what you did for a living, sooner? You made me believe you were involved in something illegal. This is something to be proud of, why didn’t you just tell me?” I blurted out as soon as the thought crept into my mind.

“This isn’t all I do, Sam.” A hint of amusement was written on his face.

“Oh, so, you are involved in something illegal? Hot damn, Jude, just tell me!”

“Ever heard of a series called ‘Imperfectly Perfect’?” He asked and took a sip of wine.

“Yes, of course. Who hasn’t? The author, Malcolm Walsh, is amazing.” I said, curious as to what this had to do with anything.

“Malcolm, that’s a pen name. My pen name. I wrote those books while I sat alone, longing for the type of love I described.”

My mouth dropped open. “You wrote those books!?” I couldn’t contain my excitement. Those books were incredible and very popular. My mind raced. That series was a big hit, millions of copies sold, which meant, Jude must be very wealthy. “You’re rich?”

He smiled a bit and rubbed his fingers along his chin. “I’m not exactly rich. I’m just not hurting either.”

I couldn’t believe he failed to mention this to me before. I had the right to know I was seeing someone with that amount of money in their bank account. “Why didn’t you just tell me?”

“Samantha. Would you have looked at me the same? Would we have gotten so close? No. Many of the girls that have rolled in and out of my life never gave a shit about me. It was the amount of money I had that attracted them.”

I knew he was right. Now that I would have wanted him for his money, but, things wouldn’t have worked out the way they did. I would have never felt comfortable around a millionaire. He owned a restaurant, he wrote books and he was incredibly good looking. I was beginning to feel inferior already. I searched my mind for a distraction. “What about Adam’s poem? We haven’t even worked on that yet.” I stared at the table, realizing that wasn’t exactly the best type of distraction for this situation.

“I haven’t forgotten a thing, Sam. I’ve worked on it quite a bit while you slept. Just from things you’ve said to me, and from things you’ve said to yourself while you were asleep. When you’re ready, we can look at what I’ve done and add your own spin on it. The minute you feel it’s good enough, I’ll run it down to the newspaper office.”

My head was spinning after hearing all of this new information. “Can we go?” I pleaded.

“Yes, of course. Are you okay? Sam, you wanted to know who I was. I just figured you had the right to know. The good thing is I’m not a stripper or a drug dealer.”

“Oh what a relief” I rolled my eyes and giggled. I stood from the table, dropping a decent size tip of the table for Alex. I noticed Jude doing the same. Together, we’d left him over one hundred dollars. I smiled, hoping his reaction would be as good as I had envisioned. And it was. His eyes nearly popped out of his head when he caught a glimpse of the wad of twenties rolled up in the middle of the table.

“Thank you, Mr. Williams.” He mumbled and grabbed our plates.

“Hey, hey now, that’s not all Mr. Money’s, money” I teased.

“Yes ma’am, thank you as well.” His shy eyes never met mine.

I gave him a quick hug and scurried out of the door, leaving Jude and Alex a moment alone together. I stepped outside of the back door. The cool breeze and the summer sun was a beautiful combination. The way the limbs swayed in the wind, with the sunlight glistening off of the bright green leaves made me think of a painting. I mentally photographed the scene, knowing I’d use it for future inspiration in my new studio.

I heard the back door slam and Jude’s feet thud against the concrete. “There you are, beautiful.”

“You know, not saying your house isn’t wonderful. But, you sure don’t live like you’re rich.” I couldn’t help but state the obvious.

“I just want to be a regular guy, baby.” He tickled my sides, causing me to wiggle around in a pleasurable agony.

“You’re far from regular.” I muttered.

“You sound all grumpy. Don’t make me smack that ass even harder than before.” He raised his hand and darted around to the side for access to my backside.

“If you do it I swear I’ll strangle you, asswipe.” I stuck out my tongue and took off in a sprint towards the car.

“Hey, come back here. I promise I won’t spank you in public.” I felt my face burn when his words carried across the parking lot and strangers stopped to stare.

“Jude Williams, you embarrassing shithead.” I walked back towards him with my head down, ready to kick his ass. Jude grabbed me, wrapping me in a bear hug before I had a chance to think. Even if I pretended not to enjoy his insane method of playing, I did. I could never get tired of hearing his laugh or seeing him smile. I squeezed him against my body, absorbing the comforting feeling that I only seemed to feel while wrapped in his arms. If this were a temporarily fix to my problems, I wanted to soak up as much as I could while I had the chance.

“Now, if you don’t mind, I have one other stop I’d like to make before we head home.” Jude slipped his arm around my waist and walked towards the car holding me as close as he could.

“Where are we heading? Please don’t tell me you’re going to reveal another outrageous truth about your life.” I held my breath awaiting his response. I was starting to see he was full of surprises.

“Oh Samantha, don’t be so dramatic. So I write a little and own a restaurant. That’s hardly outrageous.” He opened the door for me and shrugged his shoulders “I’m a regular guy with a regular life. The only plus side to my success is I can give you everything you’ve ever wanted.” He nodded his head once and shut the door. I smiled once I was alone in the car. My mind started to conjure up thoughts of all good things coming to an end. I dismissed that idea and only allowed myself to focus on the present. Jude took seat in the driver’s side. “I think you’ll love this.” I felt my heart thud a little with excitement. We drove even further out of town for a little less than ten minutes. I stared at street signs and old buildings I’d never laid eyes on before. Just the trip to this mysterious location was exciting. A large wooden sign came into view, there was a name carved into it that read Hope Springs Gardens. Another place I’d never heard of. Jude parked close to the entrance. “This place is great.” He bounced from the car more excited than I had ever seen anyone. I practically had to jog to keep up with Mr. Excitement. He hopped towards the entrance while rambling about the history of the place. “Prepare to be amazed.”

I giggled and rolled my eyes. Jude pushed open a very large white gate, allowing me to walk through. Another beautiful wooden sign that shined as though it’d been freshly varnished caught my attention. It read:

“Trust your heart, for it knows true beauty.”

I stopped to read each word; I’d heard that quote many times before. Somehow in these settings, I found it to be even more beautiful. Jude stood beside me. He was silent and seemingly content to just watch me as I absorbed the beauty around us. My eyes fell to a cobblestone walkway. On each side of the sidewalk, lay a row of beautiful yellow roses. I bent down to run the petals through my fingertips and breathe in their sweet scent.

“This is beyond amazing.” I said as I planted a gentle kiss on his cheek. “What made you want to bring me here?”

“This place just relaxes me. I used to come here all the time.”

“It’s very nice.” I gazed around at the scenery. “I like it. Kind of feels like a peaceful spot away from the rest of the world.”

“Exactly. That’s how I see it too. Oh, hey, almost forgot something.” He lifted his finger and jogged off towards the exit. “Ta da.” Jude sang aloud. I giggled and shifted my body his direction. He held a bright green blanket, two glasses and a bottle of wine.