Edge of Disaster

by A. M. Hargrove

  “Whatever.”

  I headed back to the kitchen to check out the specials for the night. Chef always made us taste everything so we could describe it to our patrons. It was going to be the crispy flounder and wahoo for seafood. He also had a pork tenderloin and a seafood over creamy grits special. I had a difficult time deciding which one I liked best.

  I put on my apron and figured I would be the one assigned to that big group. Sure enough, I heard the floor manager say, “Alexia, you, Joe and Sam will handle the private room. Think the three of you can handle it?”

  “No problem,” I replied. I was quite sure two of us could do it fine. There would be twenty people. They would bus the food out to us as well as the drinks so the difficult part was handled.

  “Are they all here already?”

  “Yeah, they had reservations for six o’clock.”

  I laughed. “They must’ve thought we have an early bird or something.”

  The three of us headed over to the private room. The guys always like to let me take the lead because I had a knack for describing food...or so they said. I think they just like to weasel out of doing it. I really didn’t mind though because they always gave me a hand when I needed it in delivering my entrees.

  I went over each of the appetizer and dinner specials and then we took their drink orders. I’d been right about the group. They were first year fellows coming in to do their training in trauma surgery. I smiled tightly at the first few I hit. I made my way around the group until I got to the fifth person.

  “I’ll have a Grey Goose extra dirty martini with extra olives.”

  Okay, first off that was my favorite drink. Second, his voice sounded like rich waves tumbling over smooth rocks. I lifted my eyes and they landed on sizzling smoky gray, bedroom orbs that were heavily fringed in onyx lashes. My gaze drifted south to a mouth defined by full sensuous lips. I stared as his tongue peeked out and ran across his lower lip, slowly, teasingly. I swallowed and lifted my eyes north again to safer ground. Chiseled face emphasized by high cheekbones wasn’t exactly what I’d call safe either. Then I noticed his dark hair was thick and curled softly around the nape of his neck. This odd urge overcame me and I had to grip down hard on my pad and pen, for I wanted to brush aside an unruly curl that fell across his forehead.

  Fucking gorgeous. What the hell Lex? Get your mind on the game here!

  I heard someone clear his throat so I nodded and moved along to the next customer. By the time I finished, I was sweating profusely.

  JC, he put the spell on me! Dayam, he sure had some kind of mojo working there.

  I practically threw my order at the bartender and dashed to the restroom. Grabbing a handful of paper towels, I jammed them into my armpits and dabbed up the unhealthy level of moisture that had formed there. Who the hell was I kidding? That wasn’t moisture. That was pure T flood waters gushing out of my pores.

  Shithelldamn! How the hell am I gonna wait on him now?

  I tossed the towels into the trash, washed my hands, dried them and ran back to the bar to collect the tray of drinks. It was ginormous. Joe, Sam or any of my runners must've been busy elsewhere because they were nowhere to be found, so I hefted up the tray and headed to my table.

  I watched Smoky Eyes as I approached and I could feel his eyes as he was downright staring at me. I set the tray down carefully and then started handing everyone their drinks. When I got to him, he took the drink from my hand, briefly touching me with his pinky. I shivered.

  What the hell Lex? It was his damn pinky! Get a grip for Christ’s sake.

  My hand was shaking as I reached for the next glass and I knew he saw it. I could feel the heat of his eyes as they bore into me as I moved along the table. When I finished, Joe and Sam made an appearance with their drinks and then it was time to take their appetizer orders.

  I reviewed the specials again, my voice shaking with nervous tension.

  “Does anyone have any questions?” I asked.

  “I do,” Smoky Eyes said. He grinned at me, and of course, a perfect set of teeth, minus a slight chip on his left front tooth, accompanied the rest of his perfect self.

  “Yes?” I countered, as I swallowed around the thickness that had formed in my throat.

  “Can you tell me about the oysters?” he purred.

  “Um,” I swallowed again, “since it’s July, our oysters are pretty much nonexistent. We do offer some fried ones, but honestly, I don’t recommend them because they’ve been frozen.”

  “I see. Then what exactly do you recommend?”

  His voice was like butter being spread over warm bread. Smooth, rich and creamy.

  “Er, well, our grits cake with tasso gravy is our trademark appetizer. It’s excellent. Our uptown eggrolls are also very tasty.”

  “Hmm. They both sound delicious. I think I’ll try the grits cake please.”

  “Excellent choice.” I moved around the table and completed the order on my end. I found myself on a mad dash to the kitchen, tossing my order at the chef and heading for the restroom again. At this rate, all the paper towels would be gone in an hour.

  Thank heavens my runner was around to deliver the appetizers. I followed him to make sure each dish was delivered to the correct person and checked to see if everyone was pleased with their order. Smoky Eyes was humming with delight so I’d made a good call on the grits cake for him.

  I took everyone’s dinner order and it went fine...except for you know who. He had a ton of questions, of course. The corners of his mouth would lift a bit so I knew he recognized the effect he had on me. I was

  getting annoyed already...not so much with him, but with myself. How could my own body betray me so badly? Ugh!

  “Tell me...”

  “It’s Alexia.”

  “Of course. Forgive me. Tell me Alexia. Is the wahoo moist and tender?”

  “Yes. It’s fresh off the boat today. It’s pan seared and finished off in the oven. It’s quite delicious.”

  “Is it juicy? It’s not too fishy is it?”

  “No, it’s a very mild white fish. Not too dense and yes, it’s juicy. Not dry at all.” I grinned.

  Someone at the table said, “Just order the damn fish already Pearce. It’s only a meal for Christ’s sake.”

  “True, but it’s an important meal, isn’t is Alexia?”

  I raised a brow and said, “I wouldn’t know. But, I don’t think the fish will disappoint you.”

  He said under his breath, but loud enough for me to hear, “It’s not the fish I’m concerned about. Yes, then I’ll try the wahoo.”

  Thank all the gods in all heavens everywhere. Smoky Eyes has made a decision. Hallelujah!

  The entire table clapped for him and I snorted.

  He gave me a look that sent shivers up my spine. I moved along and finished taking the rest of the orders.

  The rest of their meal went along very nicely. I remained off the radar except for the few drink orders I had to take and dessert time. Smoky Eyes ordered a very expensive port and followed every move of mine with his eyes. Damn, he was sexy.

  By the time they all stood up to leave, it was nine thirty. I was ready for them to get the show on the road. The restaurant was nearly empty. I was thinking about heading down the street for a few drinks afterward.

  They all headed towards the door when Smoky Eyes brushed up against me. He grabbed my hand and thanked me for my excellent service and patience with him. Then he pushed a wad of bills in my hand and walked out. This was a tip beyond what had already been left with the payment.

  I headed back to the restroom and unfolded the wad and saw it was two one hundred dollar bills and his business card. Smoky Eyes had a name. I looked closely at the card. He was a trauma surgeon at the Medical University and his name was H. Pearce Middleton. On the back of the card he’d written a note:

  Please call me. I’d love to take you to dinner sometime. PM

  Hmm. Middleton was an old Charleston name. I wondered if he was one of t
hose Middleton’s. If so, he’d been toying with me big time. A Charleston Middleton would know what wahoo was and would also know oysters were out of season in July. In any case, it didn’t matter, because I would never call him. He didn’t need to get involved with me. I was a mess and he was a totally cool, put together guy that was hotter than sin and probably smarter than hell. What in the world would he do with a strung out slut that partied too hard and ended up in bed with two guys at once that she didn’t even know? Besides, I wasn’t ready to date anyone. Probably wouldn’t ever be ready to date anyone.

  CHAPTER THREE

  The next morning I had to run some errands again for Lisbeth, so while I was getting my list from her, I asked her about the Charleston Middleton’s.

  “Do you know any of them?”

  “Alexia dear, I know all of them. Why do you ask?”

  “Well, last night I at work, one of my patrons was a surgeon named Pearce Middleton and I was wondering...”

  “Well, dear, that would be my dear friend, Avery’s grandson. She has a blooming dozen I believe. Grandchildren that is. Anyhow, Pearce is a surgeon, his daddy was a doctor, his grandaddy was a doctor and I think Pearce has two brothers that are doctors. I know one of them is here but I’m not sure about the other. In any case, Pearce is certainly a Charleston Middleton.”

  “Thanks Lisbeth.”

  “Is that all?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “What I mean my dear Alexia is are you not going to tell me anything else about him? Is he handsome? Is he going to call on you? Is he going to court you?”

  I giggled. I just loved Lisbeth. She never pulled any punches.

  “Lisbeth, people don’t court anymore.”

  “Honestly, what’s happened to the youth, I’ll never know. Young women calling men. I declare, in my day, we never would have done such a thing!”

  I burst out laughing. “Things have definitely changed. But to answer one of your questions, Pearce Middleton is quite handsome.”

  “Is he now?”

  “Oh yeah. Very. Tall, dark with gray eyes. Let me just put it this way. I’m sure he hasn’t been short on girlfriends.”

  “I suppose he hasn’t. His daddy is a good looking man. So was his granddaddy. I guess you could say he comes by it honestly. So are you going to go out with him?”

  “Why, no!”

  “Alexia Smith Hammond, you listen to me. You are wasting your life away. I know what you’re going to say, but you’re wrong. You have to move on. It’s been three years and you can’t live like this forever.”

  “I know,” I said as my shoulders slumped and I folded up into myself. I really didn’t want to have this conversation with her. I didn’t want to have it with anyone. Peter was always there, going nowhere and never forgotten.

  “It’s what he would have wanted, you know.”

  I looked up at her for a moment, my brows creased. I thought for a second and then I said, shaking my head, “No Lisbeth, I think he would have preferred to have lived.”

  I turned and walked away.

  ********

  I finished all my work and went home. I plopped on my bed with a puff and lay back for a second thinking about everything. Terri was right. I promised no more drugs, so I would stick to that. I wouldn’t go home with any guys until I got the test results back. If I went home with anyone after that, I would always have a condom and insist on them using one. I would only go home with one guy at a time.

  What the hell are you thinking Lex? Listen to yourself. You’re not changing your ways. Your still a slut but instead of sleeping with two guys at once, you’re only sleeping with one. So what does that make you? A half-slut? Get real here. Be honest with yourself. Find out why you do it. Is it the company? Do you not like to be alone? Is it just the drugs or is it something else?

  I forced myself to do some serious soul searching that night. I would start the quest to find out why I was doing that crap. It wasn’t me at all. I never did that kind of shit before. I knew I was lonely. But that behavior didn’t help. That was like putting a damn bandaid on an amputation. It wasn’t sexual gratification either because I couldn’t remember any of it afterward. The only thing left was that I was royally fucked up. Hell, I already figured that one out. Okay, I’m back at ground zero. This was exactly why I hated thinking about this stuff. It solved absolutely nothing except gave me a throbbing migraine. I fell asleep, trying to figure all this stuff out.

  ********

  I woke up and it was about nine thirty. I ambled into the kitchen and grabbed a drink. I was really hungry so I decided to throw on some jeans and head over to King Street to grab a bite to eat. I was sure I could get something tasty from the local diner and maybe I would scoot over to one of my favorite bars, The Golden Nugget, and grab a cold one afterward.

  The streets were always crowded at night there with the College of Charleston right around the corner. Students were out and about, shopping and eating and then clubbing later. I slipped into my favorite booth and the waitress took a seat across from me and we caught up while she took my order.

  “You going our tonight?”

  “Yeah, but only for a couple of chilly ones. You?”

  “I might after I get off work. You headed to the Nugget?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I might see you over there later then.”

  “Good.” My food arrived and I literally wolfed it down. I hadn’t eaten since breakfast so I was super hungry. When I finished, I paid the bill and headed down the street. I passed a few friends along the way when I suddenly heard my name being called.

  “Hey, Lexi!”

  I turned around but didn’t see anyone I recognized.

  “Over here. Across the street.”

  I looked at the direction of the voice and it was a guy I had never seen before. He jogged over to me and said, “Why’d you run out the other morning? I thought we had a great time that night.”

  Oh shit! It was Beavis, or Barney or whatever the hell his name was.

  “Yeah, sorry about that. I didn’t want to wake you up. I had to go. I had to work.” I tried to look everywhere but at him. He was pleasant looking, friendly eyes, light brown hair but totally not my type.

  He smiled, hugely, and said, “Well, you were certainly a hell cat. I’d love to do it again. Like real soon. The scratches on my back have finally healed.”

  Would the ground just open up right this minute and swallow me up because I’m about to throw up my sandwich all over this dude’s feet if he doesn’t shut up?

  I laughed. Well, sort of. It actually sounded more like a ha-ha, with a choke added in. I said, “Okay. Cool. Well, I gotta go. I’m supposed to be meeting someone in a few minutes. Good seeing you.”

  I took off almost at a dead run. I thought my flip flops were going to blow I was moving so fast. I just kept going though, keeping my eyes on the sidewalk. The Charleston sidewalks were uneven and hazardous so I kept my eyes focused on it, not wanting to crash and burn whenbam! I ran slap dab into the front of someone. I was moving at full steam ahead, staring at the pavement and not watching where I was going. It almost set me on my ass. I felt strong arms reach out to steady me then pull me into a warm, hard body.

  “Whoa there buddy. I’m good. You can release.”

  I heard the sexiest laugh then. “Release?”

  I looked up into Smoky Eyes himself. “Wow!” I said it without thinking. And then, “Shit!”

  “I don’t usually have that kind of effect on women. Shitty, I mean.”

  I sputtered then let loose a deep belly laugh. He started laughing too.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say that. I was on an avoid run and wasn’t watching where I was going. Please forgive my nasty mouth,” I said.

  “No, it’s fine. I really liked the ‘wow’ part. It was supremely impressive.”

  “Not as impressive as you,” I said under my breath.

  “What’s that?”

  “I didn
’t say anything. But thanks for saving me from falling on my ass.”

  “Now you owe me.”

  “Huh?”

  “You owe me. I waited for your call but it never came. So now you owe me and I’d like to collect in the form of a date.”

  “No!” I said it so fast and forceful, he looked at me intently. I backpedaled. “I didn’t mean it that way it sounded. Forgive me and my terrible manners. What I should’ve said was I don’t date. So that kind of repayment isn’t possible.”

  “Why don’t you date?”

  I sighed and squeezed my eyes shut. “It’s really a long story. I don’t want to bore you.”

  “You could never bore me and I have all night long.”

  I looked at him and he stood there in all his gorgeousness expecting me to give him an answer, which of course would never happen.

  “I’m sorry but I’d rather not discuss it.”

  “Well then, what do you propose? You owe me but you refuse to pay.”

  He had me there.

  Shit! How do I get myself into these messes?

  “How about this? I was on my way to have a drink at the Golden Nugget. Will you join me?”

  “I’d like that very much.”

  Off we went, he the lovely gentleman and me, the half-slut, running from Beavis.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  We got to the entrance of the Golden Nugget and the place was packed.

  “Can I talk you into a different spot. One where we can hear each other speak?” he asked.

  Oh no! This is so not good. He is too perfect and me...I’m too fucked up and scared to even think about this. I could just fall into those eyes though and melt. Shit, I’m gonna regret this, I just know it.

  “Okay.” One word. Four letters. And my heart rate hit two hundred.

  We headed around the corner to another place. He put my hand in the crook of his arm and made me walk on the inside of the sidewalk. We arrived at a much more intimate looking place called Mystic and he opened the door and ushered me inside. There was an empty booth in the back of the room so that’s where we headed.