Love Is Overdue (2 page)

Our second actual
conversation happened a couple weeks later, but it was so
unexpected and caught me completely off-guard, so once again I
found myself stumbling over my words.

It
was mid-afternoon on a Tuesday and I was busy at my desk working on
a booking for a couple that was planning a six-week country hop
through most of Eastern Europe when I heard the door chime and
glanced up to see Ben walking through the door. He wasn’t wearing
his apron, just a pair of faded jeans and an
Exodus
t-shirt –
one of Bob’s best albums, I noted to myself. I was alone in the
office since Jeannine and Tammy, my boss, had made a run for office
supplies.

He smiled when he saw me.
“Hey Gabriela...”

“
Hey
how are you?” My heart was suddenly in my throat.
He’d remembered my name.
“What you doing here? Planning a
vacation?” Was that supposed to be a joke? I felt like kicking
myself.

But he smiled again. “I
should be...they shut my water off.”

“
Where? In the
restaurant?” I stood up, quickly smoothing down the front of my
blouse and smacking my lips together, wishing I had reapplied my
lip gloss sooner. My mouth was as dry as a desert.

“
Yeah, there’s a
water-main break on the corner, I just figure I come check and see
if you all affected or not...”

“
Let me check.” I
turned and headed to the ladies room and turned on the faucet.
“It’s working!” I called out to him.

“
Really? Lucky
me...” He looked relieved as I made my way back over to him. “Mind
if we come fill some pots?” He raised his eyebrows at
me.

I laughed. “Of course...help
yourself. Did they say how long it would be?”

“
I don’t know,
they hopin’ not more than a few hours but ya neva know...we’ll see
how it goes – right now I just worried ‘bout cooking
water...”

I couldn’t handle the way he
was looking at me, it was making me so weak in the
knees.

“
Wow...that’s
crazy...well take as much as you want, I’m not using it...” I
stopped talking immediately. I was such an idiot.

But he just
gave me that smile again. “That’s cute,” he teased me, raising an
eyebrow. “We’ll be right over.”

Ω

When
I left work at five o’clock I noticed the city workers still
working on the sewers across from the restaurant. Ben was standing
on the sidewalk in front of
The
Rock
talking to a guy I
recognized from the neighbourhood who worked at the cheque-cashing
place across the street.

“
Still out?” I
slowed my pace as I passed them.

“
Yup. They
thinkin’ it might take all night – worse than expected,” Ben told
me. He had come by a few more times that afternoon to fill up jugs
of water. “I sent everyone home – close early.” He hesitated,
giving me that intense look again. “Thanks for ya help today.” He
turned to his friend and nodded his chin at me. “This my water-girl
here...”

I laughed at that. “No
problem, it was nothing...”

His
friend pointed at
Commercial
Travel
. “Travel shop?” he
wondered, his voice coming out in a deep Caribbean accent that I
could not place. He looked puzzled. “I’m surprise it noh take out
da whole block...” He turned back to Ben. “Long night mi friend –
good luck.”

“
Yeah, man...take
it easy.” Ben and him knocked fists and then the guy nodded at me
briefly and was gone.

I, of course, was still
standing there awkwardly, but Ben’s eyes were all over me again in
a second. “Well, that’s that...” He sighed, leaning up against the
side of the building. “You done for the day?”

“
Yup.” I was
suddenly stuck for words again, standing on the street alone with
him.

But Ben just smiled. Those
lips were so irresistible...

“
I owe you,” he
said then. “Y’have time for a quick drink? Come inside, I’ll buy
you a ginger beer – or a Red Stripe, since you off the
clock...”

My face flushed a thousand
different shades of red – or so I assumed.

“
Ahhh…” I
couldn’t speak.

Ben was still watching me
with those piercing eyes of his. When I still wasn’t responding he
raised his eyebrows quizzically. “Yes? No? Raincheck?”

“
No!” I shot back
quickly. “I mean yes…I mean…a drink sounds good...” I stammered my
way through.

Ben smiled at that, looking
somewhat amused at my extreme awkwardness, but then just nodded
casually at the door. “Let’s go…”

Ω

The restaurant was not
entirely empty. Lena, the manager, was there going through some
paperwork at the front counter, and there was some noise coming
from the kitchen.

Ben joined me
at one of the empty tables with two bottles of Red Stripe. “So how
the travel business treating you over there? I know Tammy a bit
from the Neighbourhood Association – how you like workin’ for
her?”

I
decided to choose my words as carefully as I could. Tammy Richard.
My boss. Owner of
Commercial
Travel
. The loudest, meanest,
crankiest old lady I had ever had the pleasure of working
for.

“
For some reason
she really likes me,” I said without thinking.

Ben smiled. He had really
nice teeth – white and straight – such a turn on. “Does that
surprise you?”

I thought. “To be
honest...yes. She has a very selective tolerance level...of
people.”

He gave me that intense look
again. “You are very diplomatic.” That hint of a Jamaican accent
was also such a turn on.

“
I’m just being
careful,” I admitted, taking a sip of my beer. “You and her could
be best friends for all I know...”

He smiled at my joke. “That
is very true,” he said, playing along. “She seems to like me a lot
too...or maybe just my food.”

“
Yes,” I agreed.
“She has definitely sung your praises quite a bit...” I took a
breath. “So how long have you had this place?” I
wondered.

“
Three years,” he
answered simply, not taking his eyes off of me. “I got tired of
working for people – I’m not very good at cooking someone else’s
food so I figure I better just do this shit on my own. But I’m not
a businessman either so – it’s a constant battle.” He sighed and
took a sip of his Red Stripe, leaning back in his chair. “If I was
a businessman I would probably be running around trying to figure
out who’s ass am supposed to sue for fucking with my water-line but
instead I’m here having a drink with you...”

I laughed. “That’s not so
bad, is it?”

“
Not at all,” he
admitted. “I was actually hoping I would have the chance to have a
drink with you...”

“
Really?” My
stomach flipped.

“
Yeah...you
know...get to know you and ting...” That accent kept creeping in
again and again. “So tell me about you...where you
from?”

I caught my breath.
“Well...I grew up in Burnaby with my mom and my brother...but I was
born in Brazil. Moved here when I was ten.”

Ben raised his eyebrows.
“Brazil? Wow...” He hesitated briefly. “So you speak
Portuguese?”

I smiled. “Yes, of
course...do you?” I teased.

“
Hmmm...no. You
can teach me though.”

I laughed again. “Okay, what
would you like to know?”

He leaned back in his seat
again, hesitating. God, he was so sexy. “Let’s see...” He was
studying me closely again. “Well, this is not very original, am
sure you heard this many times...”

“
Really? And what
is that?” I wanted to know.

He paused. “You have a very
beautiful smile.”

My heart stopped. “Thank
you,” I managed after I had regained my senses.

But Ben laughed. “No, you
supposed to teach me how to say it in Portuguese.”

I
was sure I was beat red now. “Oops. That’s right.” I took a deep
breath.
“Você tem um sorriso
muito bonito.”

He leaned forward.
“What?”

I
laughed.
“Você tem um sorriso
muito bonito,”
I repeated
slowly.

Then he smiled again. “Thank
you.”

I laughed
again. “Very funny. Okay, you got me,” I admitted. “So what about
you? Where you from?”

He gave me a look and
frowned. “Guess.”

“
Okay...” I
nodded, deciding to get him back. “Mexico.”

That made him laugh. A real
laugh. And it was oh-so-sexy as well. “Si, seňora.”

“
Minha senhora,”
I corrected him.

He nodded. “Got
it...” He took another sip of his beer. “I worked in an El
Salvadorian restaurant for a few years so my Spanish is better than
my Portuguese...”

“
It works
actually,” I said then, changing course. “The Caribbean-Latin
fusion thing – it’s delicious.”

He smiled. “In more ways
than one...”

I laughed. “Oh really?” I
raised my eyebrows.

He nodded. “Yeah, man....I
have a Caribbean-Latin fusion daughter too so it’s not just food
that works...”

My eyes went wide.
“Wow...that’s interesting. How old is your daughter?”

“
Six.”

I smiled. “Just the
one?”

“
Yes, just
one...you?”

I shook my head. “No
kids...not yet...one day maybe.” My standard response. However the
chances of that happening, in my mind, were about as likely as me
winning the lottery, never having gambled a day in my
life.

He was studying me closely
again. “Do you still live in Burnaby?”

I shook my head. “Actually
no...we live here in Vancouver now...in the city.” I stopped
talking immediately. I had said “we”.... I hoped he hadn’t picked
up on that.

But of course he had. “We?”
he asked.

I sighed. “Yeah...me and my
mom. We have a place here in East Van.”

He nodded slowly. I expected
him to ask me why I still lived with my mother but he didn’t.
Usually I would have just changed the subject but for some reason I
decided to tell him. This always went either way with a guy which
is why I generally avoided the topic, but I took a chance
nonetheless.

“
My mom has MS
and she has a hard time getting around sometimes so...that’s why I
still live with my mom.” I shrugged. “People sometimes
wonder.”

I tried to read his
expression but it hadn’t changed. “She’s lucky to have you,” he
said then.

I smiled. I liked his
answer. “I’m lucky to have her too,” I admitted. “So what do you do
when you’re not running your restaurant?”

He looked to be thinking
about it. “Sleep,” he said finally.

I laughed. “Come
on...”

He shrugged. “It’s a tough
gig, am tellin’ you...but let’s see...” He sighed, thinking about
his response. “I spend time with my daughter...play a little
music...smoke a little herb...just enjoy life, y’know?”

I smiled. “Your daughter
lives with you?”

He shook his head. “No. I
don’t see her as much as I would like, but – I take what I can get.
I just make the best of it.”

“
What kinda music
do you play?”

“
A little
guitar,” he said, still staring me down. “I used to sing in a ska
band about ten years ago but gave it up to focus on my career. But
I still jam with them sometimes – do a little cameo if I feel like
when they do a gig – depends on my mood.” He smiled.

“
You have a lot
of family?” I wanted to know then.

He kind of laughed. “I have
enough...”

That made me laugh too.
“What does that mean?”

“
Too many people
pulling me away from my sleep.”

I shook my head.
“No...people are good,” I stressed. “Especially the ones that are
good to you.”

He gave me that intense look
again. “I like that...you should write that one down.”

I laughed. “If I wrote down
every profound thought I have, I would be writing for weeks,” I
joked. Stupid. I mentally kicked myself yet again.

But Ben smiled at that.
“Nothing wrong with that...”

“
Hey Ben.” Lena
had come up to our table. “The guy from the city wants to talk to
you...hopefully he got some good news.”

Ben glanced over at her.
“Cool...I be right there,” he told her and then turned back to me
as she walked away.

“
I should let you
get back to pretending to be a businessman,” I teased him, secretly
disappointed beyond belief at the thought of our time being up. I
was loving our conversation.

He smiled as he lifted
himself up from his chair. “You’re great company...I enjoyed the
drink.”

I stood up as well. “Same
here.”