Shattered Perfection (5 page)

I shook my head and mouthed the word “No,” at him.

He sat back grinning wildly at me.  “Shall we look at these menus then, before the waiter gets back?  I don’t think ‘Randolph’ will be pleased if we aren’t ready to give him our orders.  He doesn’t seem like a patient fellow.”

Relieved, I nodded enthusiastically.  “Let’s do.”

I contemplated the seared tuna, but ultimately decided I did not want to have fish breath and selected the chicken and fresh linguine instead.  Vance made the very manly choice of the seared New York Strip Steak.  We declined to order an appetizer, choosing to nibble on the bread from the basket.

As we were waiting for our entrees, Vance studied me from across the table as he sipped his drink.  “I probably shouldn’t say this,” he began, “but you make me want to throw any notion of self-preservation out the window for some odd reason.  I know it has only been a few days since we met, but it feels like I have been waiting for this date, for you, for a very long time.”

“I know exactly what you mean.  On both counts.  I’ve been very excited to see you again and…“  I paused for a moment and took a deep breath.

“And?”

“Whenever I’m with you, talking to you on the phone, or hell, even just thinking about you, I feel like I’m standing on the edge of a cliff… and I have the strongest urge to close my eyes and just jump.  I can’t explain it, but I have this instinctive feeling that you will be at the bottom waiting to catch me.”  I waved my hand in front of my face and took a sip of my cocktail, blushing slightly.  “I know it’s silly.”

Vance grabbed my hand, looking at me very intently.  “Mimi, I promise you, jump or fall, I will always catch you.”

My breath stuck in my throat and I didn’t know what to do.  We were having a very serious moment, and it made my mind spin that we were moving so quickly.  I meant what I said.  I felt like I was traveling down a road at break neck speed and had absolutely no desire to put on the brakes.  I instinctively felt Vance was someone I could trust, but a tiny voice was whispering to me that it was all too good to be true.   However, I’d already learned so much about this man, we’d covered so much ground so quickly.  Surely, the hours spent talking on the plane and on the phone was equal to time we would have spent on several dates any other couple would have done getting to know each other?  Yes, our beginning was unconventional, but to me, that didn’t make it any less real.

Closing my eyes, I inhaled deeply and made a decision.  I leaned forward and looked back into his eyes and whispered, “I choose to jump, Vance.”

He squeezed my hand and beamed at me like I’d just made him happier than he had ever been.  “Let’s grab a couple parachutes and jump together, sweetheart.”

“Deal.”  I squeezed his hand back.

Our entrees came and we quietly enjoyed our meals, taking turns sampling from each other’s plate, as if something momentous had not just occurred between us.  The food was divine, but the energy humming between us was phenomenal.  After our admissions, the connection between us grew stronger, more intense, the chemistry between us sparking back and forth.  The silence, while not awkward at all, was filled with increasingly heated looks and occasional brushes of fingertips over the table.  Soon, the temperature in the room began to feel stifling.  I would have ordered another cocktail, but I didn’t want to be in any way drunk on alcohol.  I was intoxicated enough on his magnetism.  I wanted to remember every detail of that night so I could replay it in my head over and over again.

Vance settled the bill quickly once we finished and led me from the restaurant by the hand.  We passed the pouting hostess, whom I threw a victorious look over my shoulder.  No, I hadn’t forgotten her; yes, I was that petty, I admit it.

“Would you like to take a walk?”  Vance asked.  “Your shoes don’t look much good for walking, but it is a nice evening.  We don’t have to go far if your feet start hurting.”

“A walk with you sounds great, but I have to admit these are new shoes and my feet are already killing me.  Why don’t we just go back to Laurel’s apartment and relax until you have to get back to the hotel?  I’ll even let you give me a foot rub.”  I offered.

“As eager as I am to get my hands on any part of your body I can, your feet were not exactly the first part I had in mind, I have to admit.  That said, I am more than willing to massage whatever needs massaging.”  He said, laying the brow lift on me.

“Just the feet will do for now,” I said giving his shoulder a little shove, pushing him in the direction of the street.

He laughed and stepped off the curb to hail a cab.  In short order, we were securely ensconced in a taxi and zipping back toward Laurel’s house.  As soon as we slid into the back seat, Vance pulled me over into his side, and tucked me under his arm.  I felt very at home snuggled into him.  I rested my head on his shoulder, pleasantly full physically and emotionally, so much so I started to feel drowsy.

Vance’s voice pulled me back from the sleepy trance I was beginning to drift into.  “No falling asleep on me.  I might take it personally,” he said warmly.

I covered my mouth as I yawned a little.  “Sorry, between the meal, how comfortable I am snuggled up to you like this, and the rocking of the car as we drive, I was feeling very relaxed.”  I sat up and slid away from him a bit, pulling his arm from around me and taking his hand instead.

“Hey, I liked that,” he pouted.

“Yeah, me too, but if you want me to stay awake, something’s got to give.  I promise once we get out of the car, you can put it back.”

He grumbled for a minute, but brought our joined hands to his mouth, kissing the back of mine before dropping them both to his thigh and resting them there for the remainder of the trip home. I thanked him for the meal, letting him know that while I was disappointed I didn’t get to partake of the onion blossom he promised, the quality of the food we had more than made up for it.  He admitted that he was very relieved that it had been as good as it was, since he had found the location on the internet and only had the reviews on Yelp to recommend it.

“I guess my recent streak of luck is still holding out,” he said with his winning grin firmly in place.

“Since Vegas is off the table, perhaps we should consider other locales.  We are remarkably close to Atlantic City, anyway,” I offered.

“If you were able to stay through the weekend, I might be coerced into taking a side trip,” he said slowly.  “I won’t have any meetings this weekend.”

I rapidly did some calculating in my head.  I had plenty of time of vacation time left at work.  In fact, I’d arranged the trip because I had so much time on the books I had to use some up or I would lose it the following year.  I knew my bosses would be pleased if I added another day or two to my vacation.  The extra expense wasn’t an issue either.  I could afford a hotel room for a night or two, and I didn’t think changing my flight would be too expensive.

My heart started beating faster as I contemplated the idea of taking a spur-of-the-moment trip off my original itinerary.  Could I really do it?  Could I be so impulsive?  I looked at Vance with wide eyes.  He was looking at me with a mixture of hopefulness and excitement.  He nodded at me encouragingly, like he knew all the thoughts that were running through my mind because they’d just run through his, and he was just waiting for me to reach the inevitable conclusion.

A slow grin spread across my face.  “Let’s do it.  As soon as we get to Laurel’s let’s get on the computer and make this happen.”

Vance pumped his fist in the air and let out a whoop that echoed loudly in the small confines of the car, causing the driver to jump.  The car swerved and horns honked loudly around us, accompanied by some shouts and vulgar hand gestures thrown our way.  We simply laughed, our impetuosity making us giddy, while our driver had a few profane things to say about the crazy fare he picked up.

When we arrived at Laurel’s, we raced upstairs and I pulled out my laptop.  I logged into her Wi-Fi and went straight to a trip-planning website since neither of us had been to Atlantic City before.  We figured if we were going to gamble, we might as well start from the get-go.  After scrolling through the reviews, we picked the hotel with the highest rating.  Even though we’d decided to take a risk, there was no need to get crazy and go with something that only had three stars.  We navigated to the hotel’s site to book a room.  We argued for a few minutes over what type of room to get.  I was fine with a simple room with no frills, just standard amenities.  After all, all we really needed was a bathroom, a bed and enough room to store our belongings.  Vance insisted we absolutely must have a suite with a fifteen hundred square foot bathroom, a multi-media entertainment center, and a deep soaking bath with a shower for two.  He was passionate in his position, arguing that Lady Luck was a fickle bitch and must be treated with the utmost delicacy, spoiled beyond belief, coerced into smiling upon us and massaged into submission at any and all costs.  I wondered out loud if he was planning on gambling or convincing her to carry his children.

He gave me a curious smirk then grabbed the computer from my lap, pulled out his credit card and made the booking.  He navigated next to the car rental website and looked for available sedans.  The first site he went to only had economy vehicles available. 

Laughing, he looked at me.  “It’s not a long drive, but there is no way I’m driving a Ford Focus for any reason.” 

He moved on to another site, and it appeared they had all sorts of vehicles available.  Even though it was more room than we needed, he was sold on a Chevy Equinox.  He went ahead and reserved it, too.

He pinched his lower lip between his thumb and forefinger, causing it to pooch out a little bit, making him look adorable.  I twisted to face him, tucking an ankle under my thigh and resting an elbow on the back of the sofa, to watch him think.  I studied the way his hair flopped over his forehead and curled slightly behind his ears.  He was probably due for a haircut, but all I wanted to do was run my fingers through the length of it.  For as wavy as it was, it looked very soft and silky.  I let my eyes wander to his strong profile, over the ridge of his brow and the perfectly straight, strong slope of his nose.  There was a dusting of stubble over his cheeks and chin, not a heavy five o’clock shadow, you could definitely tell he shaved that morning, but it was obvious he would have to again the next day if he wanted to maintain that clean-shaven look.

He turned and caught me studying him.  “What?  I’m thinking,” he said, misinterpreting my gaze.

“Don’t hurt yourself.”  I couldn’t help teasing him.  “Just what are you risking life and limb over?”

He gave me a dirty look.  “I’m trying to decide what time I will be finished tomorrow so we can leave.  I want to get out of here early, so we have as much time as possible to enjoy ourselves.”  He reached into his pocket and pulled out his iPhone.  Opening his calendar, he scrolled through the events scheduled for the next day.  He smiled at me in relief.

“My only meeting is scheduled for ten.  I think it will only go through lunch, so we should be able to get out of here around two.”  He turned back to the laptop and navigated to the American Airlines website so I could change my flight.  “Do you have any special plans with Laurel?”

My stomach dropped a little.  I knew she was not going to be happy about the trip at all, given her pouting over the date that morning.  I began to feel a little guilty as this trip would definitely qualify as a violation of the “chicks before dicks” code.  I looked at Vance, my sudden bout of hesitation written all over my face.

“What is it?  Did you forget about something you had going on this weekend?”  He looked like it was Halloween and someone had just stolen all his candy.

“No, we haven’t made any special plans.  I just think she’s going to be upset with me for leaving early.  She kind of gave me a hard time just for going out tonight.”

“Then invite her along,” he offered.  “I don’t know if she’ll be able to get away on such short notice, but she’s more than welcome to join us.”

I pulled my phone out of my clutch and saw that it was only eleven thirty.   I scrolled to Laurel’s number and smiled nervously at Vance as I listened to the line ring at the other end.

“Don’t tell me your date is already over.”  Laurel answered without saying hello.

“No.  We’re done with dinner, but now we are hatching evil plans of world domination and want to know if you want in on them.”

“Normally I’d be all over that, but my last attempt didn’t go so well and I’m currently on probation.  Long story.”

“I know how it goes.  In the alternative, how would you feel about an impromptu trip to Atlantic City tomorrow?  Do the terms of your probation prohibit you from leaving the state?”

“Hell yeah!  Great idea!”  She exclaimed.  I was a little startled when I heard a muffled, “Hey Pete!  Do you have to work this weekend?  Feel like going on a trip to Atlantic City?”

“Pete?”  I mumbled into the receiver.

“Another long story,” she replied.  “Well, not really that long, but not something I can explain right now.”

“I understand, but you are officially on notice that explaining will be done.”  I warned.

“No chance I could avoid that bit of emotional bonding?” she whined.

“No amount of begging, pleading or offerings from your vast selection of shoes will save you.”