by Loren
She sat then dialed and waited. The ringing amped up her anxiety to bounce her leg to stay calm.
“Hello?” a deep voice said into the receiver.
“May I speak to Liam please?”
“This is Liam. To whom am I speaking?” He sounded so formal ... so posh and it made Gene ever more self-conscious of the jean overalls she was wearing. She really needed to add more variety to her wardrobe.
“Hey. It’s Gene.”
“Gene,” he said excitedly. “Please tell me you got my box.”
“How do you think I got your phone number?” she joked. She could have gone through his customer file but that would be kinda creepy. “And I have to tell you, you really know how to spoil a girl. You couldn’t just go the traditional flower route, huh?”
He chuckled lowly. “Who wants flowers anyway? They die,” he said as if that explained why he got her a tool set, spending double, maybe even triple what he would have spent if he’d got her plain old flowers.
“Well I just called to say thanks,” she said, suddenly unsure of herself.
“You’re most certainly welcome. A handy gift for a woman who knows what to do with her hands.”
Despite the corniness, Gene laughed. “How original.”
“I like to think I am,” he said.
She cleared her throat. “Well. I have to get back to work, but I wanted you to know the gift was amazing and ... I’m flattered. So, thanks.”
“You’re welcome. Honestly, I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my money.”
“Ok. Well, goodbye,” she said, ready to hang up. There was nothing left to say.
“Wait!” he shouted, startling her to almost drop the phone.
“Yes, Liam?” Her leg bounced under her desk with nervous energy.
“Let me take you out.” She opened her mouth to reject him, but he cut her off. “I know what you’re thinking, and I want you to know you’re wrong. Remember we had a good time at the bar and I think we could have a good time again. Just give me a shot. Let me take you out to dinner. We can go anywhere you want, on me. I just want to spend time with you ... get to know you.” What could she say to that? “Don’t you want to get to know me?”
She wanted to say no, but she didn’t like to lie. She decided to change tactics instead. “This is a bad idea. We’re next-door neighbors, and I’m your mechanic,” she said and immediately regretted it. It sounded lame as soon as it left her mouth.
“You make it sound like you’re my health practitioner. So, since there are no moral dilemmas or conflicts of interests to worry about, can I take you to dinner?”
She didn’t have any excuse to say no, but she really shouldn’t say yes. Not really. They did have a good time at the bar, though, and he had good taste in music, but could she risk being with him again? Every time they talked, she wanted to be closer to him and she struggled to convince herself why she shouldn’t be doing this.
“Say yes, Gene,” he said, so smoothly she could feel his voice coating her skin.
“Mmm,” she said, biting on her bottom lip.
“Say yes for me. I’ll even let you eat off my plate,” he said as if that was convincing enough and she giggled.
“Okay. But not today.” It was Monday, and she needed time to wrap her brain around whatever was going on with this guy who seemed intent to not leave her alone.
“Okay. I can work with that. Just tell me when,” he said, quickly not giving her time to take it back.
“Thursday.”
“Done. I get home around six. I’ll change, shower real quick, then come over to you. That enough time for you?”
She did the math in her head and figured it was enough time for her to get home, shower, wash her hair, and make herself presentable. Thursdays weren’t too busy. “Sure.”
She swore she could hear him smiling on the other end. “You won’t regret it. I promise,” he said almost whispering. “And I take my promises seriously.”
“I’m going to hold you to that,” she said dryly. “See you later, Liam.”
“Goodbye,” he said and waited for her to hang up first.
8
Gene was nervous.
It seemed like Thursday had arrived too soon. She got off work, went home, and instead of washing up for bed, she was washing up to go back out again. It felt bizarre, but she pushed through it, ignoring her rising waves of panic to shower, attempt to do something fancy with her hair, and stand in front of her closet wrapped in a towel feeling on the verge of screaming.
What should she wear?
She didn’t want to dress up too fancy. Since she was picking the restaurant, she picked an Italian spot not thinking until much later that it was the messiest food she could choose. No one can eat Italian and stay clean. On a whim, she was considering seafood as an alternative, but she didn’t want her breath to stink afterward. Her third option was a barbeque and after that was a buffet ... which ew. That was just gross for a first date. She tried to think of other options, but her mind kept drawing a blank. She apparently only enjoyed the messiest kinds of food. Well she really just enjoyed food. She didn’t care what it looked like when she ate because she usually ate alone, or with her friends, who also didn’t care. But Liam wasn’t a friend. Well that’s what he was calling himself but she knew it was more than that. So she was freaking out and still naked, standing in front of her closet.
“What do I wear?” she said aloud, chewing on her nailbed, a nervous habit that only appeared when she was completely out of sorts.
She could go for something like a sundress, and maybe they could eat outside. It was still warm in the evenings, though summer was almost at a close. And then maybe they would go dancing. There was a Cuban place that had free salsa classes on Thursday nights.
But a sundress was so outside her comfort zone she wasn’t sure if she could pull it off. The clock said five forty-five, and she still needed to do her makeup. Though, her makeup bag hadn’t been touched in so long she was certain it wasn’t hygienic anymore.
Gene decided on a simple black dress that covered her shoulders, enough of her arms, and came past her knees. It was comfortable enough to show she was a woman without clinging too tight. After all, she didn’t want to appear desperate.
She threw it on and ran to the bathroom, yanking out rollers so fast one got stuck in the clip and pulled a few strands of her hair.
“Ouch!”
It didn’t stop her from moving quickly, combing through her hair with her fingers, giving her a tousled, fresh-out-of-bed look with curls that had already dropped. For once her hair complied and she smiled as her doorbell rang. She ran out the bathroom door, glancing back at her reflection, and realized she still didn’t have a thing on her face.
“Coming!” she screamed before running back to the mirror. With shaking hands she quickly squeezed lip gloss onto her lips and rubbed them together. It would have to be enough.
With heels in her hand, she jogged down the stairs, careful to be quiet so he didn’t hear her rushing, and bounced to a stop on the bottom stair, leaning over to put her shoes on one foot at a time. Liam knocked again, and she took a deep breath before opening the door.
“Hey.” She held her breath so she wouldn’t pant and promptly forgot to let it out.
Liam was hot. She already knew that, but seeing him in tailored pants and a button-up shirt with the top two buttons open showing his smooth chest made her mouth water.
“Hey yourself,” he said with a smirk and pulled a small boutique of flowers from behind his back. “I figured I could make those flowers up to you.”
She gasped and grabbed the bouquet, putting her nose to the petals. “They’re beautiful. Thank you.” They were a variety of colors, pink, yellow, a blue, a little purple, green, and some white. She wasn’t sure what kind of flowers they were or if they meant anything, but she was happy to have received them. “Hold on a second. Let me just put them in a vase, and then we can go.”
“Sure,�
�� he said, standing not too far from where he had stood during the storm when she’d realized he was her next-door neighbor.
She walked back to the kitchen, looking around for something to use as a vase. She didn’t have one. She decided to use the old bottle of Coke she still had in the refrigerator that had run flat. After quickly pouring it out, she cut the plastic open and filled the bottom half with water. “There. A vase,” she said to herself and quickly ran out of the kitchen so Liam wouldn’t see. “I’m ready,” she said with a smile.
“Great. Where to?” he asked, walking out the door and patiently waiting for her to lock it.
“I want to go to Green Leaf,” she said thinking fast. She had never been there but saw good reviews about it on Yelp when she was looking up places to eat for brunch with her girls.
“Don’t tell me you’re a vegan,” Liam said, opening Gene’s car door.
She giggled. “No. I’m not, I just thought you’d like ... you know, vegetables,” Gene said awkwardly. Liam closed the door without responding, and once he sat in the driver’s seat, he turned to Gene without starting the car.
“I don’t know what kind of man you think I am but I’m all American, honey. I love meat. I mean, I have no problem with vegetables, and if that’s really where you want to go then, by all means, we’ll go. I made a promise to you and I will keep it. But I just want you to know you don’t have to pick Green Leaf for me. I don’t care what you eat, but you don’t have to pick a place like that for me. I like a woman who likes to eat,” he said, squeezing her hands and smiled. “So, tell me, where do you really like to eat?”
An embarrassed smile came to her face. The place came to mind quickly. It wasn’t date material, but the food was undeniably good. “You really want to know?”
“Yeah,” he said with a goofy grin and nodded. “Yes. I really want to know. Where do you like to eat? If you weren’t on a date, where would you go?”
“The Lunch Box,” she said without a doubt.
“Okay. Where is it? We’ll go, and on the way, you can tell me what’s so great about it,” he said, buckling his seatbelt and putting the car into gear.
She pulled up the directions and set her phone on speaker.
“So, what is it?”
“It’s ... a food truck,” she said, watching his face to see if any judgment crossed his features.
“Interesting. Tell me more.”
“Well it hasn’t been in business very long, just a little over a year, but the owners are a married couple from Dallas, Texas, who love soul food. They call it the Lunch Box because they serve all the food in this little zipped up box to keep everything warm, with compartments, like an actual lunch box and when you finish, you give it back to them. They wash everything and use them again to serve it to someone else, which is environmentally friendly. The food is amazing. Just a hodgepodge of things with a revolving menu but every dish is good. Today’s Taco Thursday, so the lunch box comes with taco shells, hard or soft your choice, different meats, cheese, salsa, lettuce, sour cream, and your choice of a drink.”
“Well I can tell you love it,” he said turning left.
“In 500 hundred feet turn right,” the GPS said.
“I do.” She wondered if he was judging her but internally she shrugged. She didn’t care. He had asked her to go wherever she wanted.
“What do they serve on the other days?” Liam asked while turning right.
“On Mondays, they serve a variety sandwiches with your pick of chips or fries. I prefer their grilled cheese or chicken salad sandwiches. Tuesday is Philly Day, chicken or steak. Wednesday is soup day, broccoli and cheese, tomato, chicken noodle, or French onion with a side salad. Taco Thursday and Fish Friday. They serve mostly shellfish. He has bottomless crab, shrimp, and crawfish if you want it. Plus, tilapia, croaker, and red snapper.”
“They should hire you,” he said, pulling into the parking lot where the food truck was parked. “You seem to be their biggest advocate.”
“I’m not. I just eat here a lot.”
“I bet they appreciate your business,” he said, turning off the car.
“And I’m not the only one who appreciates it,” she said, looking at the line that threatened to wrap around the truck a few times.
“So, I see,” he said, climbing out the car. “Stay right there.” He walked around and opened the door for Gene. “There you go. This is a date after all.”
Gene smiled demurely as she eased herself out the car. The small heels she wore weren’t ideal for cracked pavement but Liam offered her his arm, and she took it.
“This is one of the few abandoned parking lots that Charlotte has,” Gene said as they walked to stand in line.
“Usually I’m not one to encourage urban decay, but tonight I’m thankful since it means I’ll be spending more time with you.”
Gene, unsure what to say, smiled and looked forward.
“So, do you know what you want?” Liam asked.
“I always get four hard shell tacos, extra cheese, two with guac, two with sour cream and salsa. And if I’m feeling frisky, I’ll add some jalapeños.”
“Well, how are you feeling tonight? I think you should go for it, especially since I’m buying.”
“You think I should go for it?” she asked. Was it cute for her to have hot jalapeño breath on a first date? Wasn’t he going to kiss her?
“I think you better,” he said, nudging her shoulder. Maybe he wasn’t as interested in her as she thought he was.
“Okay. I’m going to do it,” she said laughing. A little silence sat between them. “So ... um, what do you do anyway? I don’t hear any hammering; are you still doing construction on your home?”
“I’ve done all the noisy stuff on it, but there are still a few things left to do, and I’m a construction worker,” he said.
“I find that really hard to believe,” she said, just barely keeping herself from laughing. “For real, what do you do?”
“I am a construction worker,” he said laughing. “For real. I’m not telling a story.” He held his hands up in surrender. “I work on my house, but I work full time with a team building office rental properties for the city too.”
Gene cocked her eyebrow. “You’re not kidding?”
“No, I’m not,” he said with a smirk before adding, “but before that, I was a company director.”
“Now that makes more sense,” Gene said, throwing her hands up. “I knew I wasn’t crazy.” He seemed like the type to wear a suit and tie every day.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” he said, pulling his arm from hers to look at her.
“It means that construction workers don’t drive Lexuses. That’s what it means. I don’t know much, but I do know that,” she said with a firm nod. “Now that the facts are straight, please tell me how you like this construction team. You don’t strike me as the kind of guy who wants to be on a team.”
“What kind of guy do I strike you as?”
“The leading kind,” she said, taking a step forward as the line moved towards the serving window. If she hadn’t seen the warmth of his eyes and experienced his kind gestures first hand she would have assumed he was a cold, calculating man more concerned about his wealth than anything else. That’s if she had judged him only by his looks.
“Well,” he said looking off, “to be honest, it is a little different, but you know, the best leader is one who knows how to follow. I was a leader. I did it several years, but now, I think it's time to be a part of a team. We never really accomplish anything in this life on our own. Not really,” he said with a soft smile.
“Next,” the man standing at the serving window said.
“Hey, Mr. Patterson,” Gene said with a smile.
“Now what I tell you about that? Mr. Patterson is my daddy!” he said in his southern twang. “You want your regular?” he added with a smile without skipping a beat.
“You know it.”
He turned with his hairnet clinging to his sh
ort afro and yelled, “Four hard shells, two green, two white, and one extra spicy.” Turning back to them, he said to Liam, “And for you sir?”
“Hey, how you doing?” Liam said, stepping up with his hand extended. “My name’s Liam.”
“Lanny,” he said, reaching out the window with his gloved hands. “Nice to meet you, man. I see you’re with this one, be careful. She’s a wild one.” He laughed before taking his glove off and grabbing a new one from a box attached to the wall.
“Oh really?” Liam said, looking at Gene with an amused expression.
“Yes really. I know what I’m talking about. Any woman that can eat that kind of pepper without consequence or regret is trouble. I just know it,” Lanny said with a smirk. “So, what can I get you?”
“What do you recommend?”
“One of everything,” Lanny said laughing.
“Then that’s what I’ll get,” he said seriously.
“A man after my own heart. I like that. One chicken, one barbeque, one steak, one regular extra greasy,” he said. “What kind of shell?”
“Hard,” he said, looking at Gene. “You know what, on second thought, let me go half and half.”
“Any requests on which meat goes with which shell?”
“Nope, I trust your chef expertise.”
“You got it.”
“What kind of toppings you want?”
“I’m okay with lettuce, salsa, cheese, and sour cream on all them but hold the guac,” he said then added, “and the peppers. I’m not as daring as some.” He made a face.
“I know exactly what you mean,” Lanny said with a smirk.
“Oh, so that’s how you’re going to do me?” Gene said to Lanny. “In front of company? I thought we had something.” She crossed her arms feigning anger.
“Don’t let my wife hear you saying that. She’s been known to threaten a woman’s life when it comes to me,” Lanny teased with a wink.
“Well I just want my tacos,” Gene said with her hands in the air. “No need to lose my life over it.”
“Smart girl,” Lanny said with a nod. “And what can I get you to drink? I know the lady wants a Diet Coke. What about you?”
