The Claiming of Sadie Graves (6 page)

He arranges himself in the banquette so that his back is to me. I can smell him from my seat; it’s some sort of cologne or body wash that smells clean and masculine. His hair glints in the low light of the restaurant, and I eye it from the side. Despite my musings, he is one lovely man.
A man who never got back to me today.
White flower, my ass.

I turn back to Teddy and Emma, and ignore my lovely neighbors
with renewed vigor. I think about Peter’s visit, and wonder if Lucas is part of the New York underground sex scene. Geez.
I need to wash my mind out with soap.

We sink back into our seats, replete. Emma is relaxed and her eyes keep going back and forth to Teddy, laughing and winking at his comments as he expounds on the diamond market. Emma share
s a little about her venture, a jewelry company called Lily. While she isn’t in the diamond business; she does know a thing or two about how much women like their bling. I divulge a magazine photo shoot story that makes both of them giggle. We’re sharing, no doubt, but we try to be discreet. Somehow, we all ended up in the image business, and those reputations have to be protected.

As Teddy orders a brandy for both of them and a Bailey’s for me;
our evening draws to a close. It’s been a relief to see them and to reconnect. I’m comfortable in my seat, and relaxed, when a hand comes over the banquette and softly inserts itself into my hair. Long fingers clasp, and pull gently on my curls. Of course, Lucas’ date has gone to the ladies’ room. I turn my chin toward him.

“Hello
, beautiful Sadie” he says without a smile. “Fancy seeing you here?” his eyes, so serious, pierce me across the booth. “You didn’t text me back?” he whispers.

I don’t respond.

“Oh, hello Lucas!” Teddy cries. “I was so engrossed in my companions, I didn’t even see you! How are you, man?” he asks, earnestly. I can see he values Lucas Sutton, though I can’t for the life of me imagine why.

“I’m well, Teddy. I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure
…won’t you introduce me?” Lucas asks, with sincerity in his voice. His fingers run absently up and down my neck. They’re warm.

I don’t move.

Teddy responds immediately. “Oh! How remiss of me. Lucas Sutton, meet my wife Emma Tyler Thomas. And this is her best friend, Sadie Graves
.” Everyone nods and smiles and I’m wishing I could crawl under the table.
I already have this guy’s number.

Oh. Ha. Actually, he has mine.

“
We came here tonight to catch up with Sadie; she works for Anna Rosenstein. It’s a pity, too – Sadie is a great designer on her own terms. Won all the design awards at school! But we’re just finishing up. Maybe we could get together sometime for cocktails – maybe have you come to our place? Is that possible?”

Lucas looks amenable.

Teddy looks at Emma and says candidly, “Lucas and I went to prep school together. He was quite a lifesaver to me as a new student. He saved my ass on so many occasions; I don’t quite know how to pay him back.”  I look down, uncomfortable that Lucas still has his fingers on the nape of my neck. His hand is hidden by my hair. He tells Teddy he’d love nothing better, and they exchange cards before his date comes careening back up the aisle, obviously upset. Her white-blonde hair hangs in sheets to her shoulders and her face is so beautiful it doesn’t seem real. Something has happened while she’s been in the ladies’ room. She’s crying. Really crying; her eyes almost shut with pain. I want to look anywhere but at her. Lucas gently removes his hand from my skin and turns away.

She
drops clumsily into the booth beside him. “Lucas! I thought we were exclusive!” she says, a gasp catching in her throat. She looks both hurt and shocked; like someone just told her a terrible secret. I wonder if she’s gotten an email or FaceBook message about “her” man, that he supposedly belongs to another woman.

“Gabriella,
I’d rather not discuss this here.”

She glares at him, face blotchy. There’s no way she’s not
scolding him.

Right.
This. Second.

It’s plain on her face. The whole restaurant is now clued in that there’s about to be drama on our side of the room. It’s as if everyone leans in, and
the dining room is suddenly quiet.

“
All right then. Have it your way, Gabby. I’ve been nothing but honest with you. I enjoy your company, and I look forward to our time together. But, I’m away from New York too often to commit to a long term relationship. You
know this. I am not settled down.
I don’t enjoy this sort of public spectacle, and I’m asking you to end it now. Or, we’ll leave. You choose. But,
choose now
.”

“
Have you really been seeing Violet Emery and me at the same time? I plainly can’t stand her, Lucas. I can’t believe you’d do that to me. I mean, I thought I meant something to you!” Gabriella sobs. Her mascara is now running down her face. Lucas summons the waiter, demands the check and hands over a black Amex card in the same breath. He insists the server come back within minutes and orders a taxi to be brought to the restaurant’s entrance. Gabriella continues to cry and hiccup loudly. She blows her nose in her linen napkin. He looks uncomfortable, angry and unused to scrutiny. When the check comes, he uses his body to push her hastily from the banquette. The other diners continue to stare.

Easing o
ut of the booth, he’s within inches of my reddened face. I look right into his sherry colored eyes for one second, and then drop my gaze immediately, stunned by the ferocity of his expression. “What are you looking at!” he hisses at me, irritated by my eye contact.

“Not much”
, I counter back, emboldened by wine. My eyes pop back over the top of the banquette to look at his and I watch transfixed as his furious look is replaced in one second by the slightest of smiles, which disappears in an instant. “Come on Gabriella; show’s over.” He drags the vision in cream to the entrance, looks back over his shoulder at me one last time, and disappears. I think:
What in the hell was that about? He must be sleeping with every woman in town, as long as they’re blonde. That poor girl. She must have been crazy to get mixed up with a guy like that.

Everyone in our part of the restaurant breathes a collective sigh of relief when h
is rippling back retreats. One thing is sure; Lucas Sutton is…imposing when he’s pissed off. But what a face. I’ll probably be dreaming of it tonight. Just like every other woman in the place. Whew. He’s hot.

Hot enough to burn.

With the departure of our most interesting neighbors, Teddy asks for our check as well, and we head toward the exit. Emma and I stop at the ladies’ room to have a few last minutes of togetherness, put on lip gloss and our coats. By now, it’s bitter outside, and I have a long trek back to my Kew Gardens apartment. I can look forward to one thing; Jenny’s arrival after midnight tonight. She’s flying back into LaGuardia, weather permitting. I kiss Emma and Teddy goodbye at the curb; they’ve already hailed a cab. I’m hugging Emma when Teddy says, almost absently, “I have to take this, ladies”, and he dips into their cab to catch a phone call. I’m almost teary when I break away from Emma, but we commit to getting together on Christmas, or possibly before. She disappears into the cab, and it roars away from the restaurant. I’m alone on the sidewalk.

I straighten
my shoulders and head back toward the subway station, several blocks over. I’ve gone about two blocks, past storefronts decorated with white twinkling lights, when a shiny car pulls alongside me and I hear a window electronically ease down. I’ve heard about women walking alone being approached by men late at night, and my defenses go on red alert. And that’s when his voice calls out to me. Rather commandingly.

“Look, its ninet
een degrees outside. I just checked. I made a terrible first impression, and I apologize for it. I tried to correct it with flowers, but I don’t think that worked, and asking you out obviously fell flat. Sadie, please. I’d like to take you home.”

It’s been a long day, I’m tired and the man speaking to me is Lucas Sutton
- he of the multiple blonde girlfriends. I can see his face clearly through the limo’s open window. He appears to be alone in the backseat.

You have got to be kidding me.

“
If You Can’t Say No”

Lenny
Kravitz,
5

I walk for a few feet, considering my options. Hey, I’ve had a few drinks, so maybe I’m not at my most commanding.  One thing is certain; I don’t want to be in close quarters with Lucas Sutton.
No way, no how. So I make the best move I can, in the circumstances.

“I really don’t feel comfortable being in closed spaces with people I don’t know well”, I say, haltingly. “I’d rather walk and take the subway home. And there’s no reason for us to be talking.”

He sighs audibly from the interior of the car, and says something to someone inside that I can’t make out. The car stops and he alights from its interior, all long legs and masculine beauty. He shuts the door, walks to the driver’s side window, has a short discussion with his driver, and moves toward me. He is putting his coat on while he walks, inserting his arms into the leather jacket I saw him holding earlier in the week. I stand on the sidewalk, waiting despite my misgivings. He joins me, moving close, and we begin to walk in unison.

“There’s actually every reason for us to be talking”, he say
s with a smile. “Once I saw your lingerie designs I knew you were a perfect fit for our purveyor list. Look, Anna admits your involvement. If she won’t brand the line with your name, I have two options. Either I hire you away from her and fund your line myself, or she agrees to have you design under her label, and acquiesces to all the hoopla that goes with it. She’s not going to like it. But I know a success when I see it.” 

I keep walking, dumbfounded.

We’re getting close to the subway station, and I can see the lower staircase to the platform ahead.

I stop, bringing Lucas to heel, and speak to him frankly. Every word is true, and I look in his eyes while I’m talking.

“Look. I think you need to know something. I talked Anna into that line, and she took a huge chance on me. It doesn’t work for me that you’d strong-arm her into a future agreement based on anything I designed. If she says no, it’s her decision. I think she’s a really
wonderful
designer. I’ve learned a huge amount under her. If you put her in an uncomfortable situation, I won’t work for either of you. And I’ll change employers, or change industries, before I let you marginalize her. End of story.”

I head straight for the stairs, and away from Lucas Sutton.

His long legs make him faster than me.

“Stop.” he says, and I do. “Don’t go down to the subway. Let me take you home; I’ll be happier if I know you’re safe. And we can discuss this further tonight or tomorrow; I could care less.”  He skips a beat. “Please, Sadie. Please. I want to discuss this rationally.”

I pause, suddenly realizing how tired I am. “You’ll take me home and we can discuss this issue later? Seriously?” I wonder how that’s possible.

“Yes, I promise. No more for tonight.”

I breathe a long sigh. “Okay. Then let’s get going. I just realized how tired I am.”

Lucas signals his limo driver (how, I’m not sure) and his car waits for us at the top of the subway entrance.
Gentlemanly, he opens the back door and I slide in first, across the wide bench seat. Lucas slips in after me and closes the door with finality. He moves across the seat and is closer to me than I anticipated. His long thigh touches mine. I’m inordinately close to the opposite door, and I’m trying to keep my equilibrium, being in such close proximity to a Greek God. I’ve never felt so self-conscious.

He takes my hand in his, and pulls me toward him. “You
’re freezing” he says with concern. He rubs my fingers between his until there’s feeling in both my hands, and I’m watching his face closely. “We have to discuss your perception of me, Miss Graves” he says earnestly. “I know my personal habits look a little loose to you”, he says without looking at me. He swings his deep eyes to me now, and waits a few beats before he speaks again. “I can assure you that my intentions toward you are honorable. And I don’t play around.”

I’m pretty sure I look dubious
, because he frowns at me in response.

“Tell me your address”, he insists, and I peel it off quickly so he can tell his limo driver where to go. He repeats it back into the limo’s intercom system, and the
n raises the privacy screen between the driver and the two of us.

“Now, for
my real question. I called Teddy earlier. He says you haven’t had a boyfriend since he’s known you. Is that true?”

“
Why would you dig into my private business?” I’m shocked that anyone would ask me such a personal question.
And embarrassed that Teddy would out me so completely.
Couldn’t he have been more flattering? While Lucas Sutton has been banging every blonde in New York County, I’ve been alone.
Yep. Not dating
. He accepts this as truth, and I look out the window, trying to think how I can possibly correct his assumptions. But of course I can’t.