by R. R. Banks
“I do a good job to put on pants,” he replied. “If I could walk out of my apartment in my underwear, I would make that happen.”
“I completely agree,” she joked. “Honestly, I wear the same style of clothes every day, no matter the occasion.”
“Then why are you wearing a dress?”
Hannah sighed, knowing that this question would have came up but still not prepared to answer it. “Honestly, I did it to impress you,” she confessed. “I wanted to look good for you.”
Russell shook his head as a light smirk appeared over his face. “That’s cute,” he stated calmly. “But you didn’t have to put on a dress to impress me. I’m more attracted to your personality than anything. I love your sarcasm and wit more than your taste in fashion.”
Hannah scowled as she turned her head to see the waiter walking up with their entrees. “Are you telling me I put on this damn dress for absolutely nothing?”
Russell shook his head in disbelief. “Yeah, I’m sorry.”
“When we leave here, if we go somewhere else, I’m going home to change,” she announced. “I’m getting out of this dress as quickly as possible and forgetting about it.”
“Are you going to bury it in your closet and pretend it doesn’t exist?”
“I’m going to potentially place it in my garbage disposal,” she continued in anger as she looked at the entrée that was placed in front of her.
Russell laughed as he grabbed his fork and placed it into his lasagna. “It’s a great dress though,” he said, doing his best to console and comfort her. “You have great taste in clothing, even if you choose not to exercise it very often. I’m sure there have been many men in your life who have enjoyed seeing you dress up from time to time.”
“Ha!” she exclaimed as she looked across the table. “I don’t typically date.”
“What?” he asked, perplexed at the statement. “What do you mean, you don’t typically date?”
Hannah smiled as she placed the fork down and sat up in her chair. “Usually, I don’t go on many dates with men. I meet up with them, have a few drinks, and it ends later on in the bedroom. I’ve never wanted to date anyone because I’ve never felt a genuine connection with someone. I’ve never wanted to actually be at an Italian restaurant with a man until I met you.”
Russell placed the small piece of lasagna in his mouth as he listened to Hannah speak, digesting what she was talking about as he listened closely. He chewed softly as he looked across the table at her, allowing for a few seconds of silence to fill the area while he figured out a way to make his next statement. “So why me?” he asked. “What made you want to go on a date with me?”
“You’re not an idiot,” she replied with a smile, making Russell chuckle under his breath as she explained herself. “I look at you as more than just a means to an end. Now, don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t mind reaching that end with you, but I think I’m at a point in my life where I actually want more. I actually want to spend time with a man and I want to spend it with you. I’m ready to try something new.”
“That’s sweet,” he said with a smirk. “Well, perhaps tonight we can have a great time with one another.”
“That’d be nice,” she replied. “That’d be really nice.”
Chapter 4
Alexis and Trisha sat in a restaurant in Chinatown with two small plates in front of them and two larger ones in the center of the table, sharing food with one another. The restaurant was very bright with fluorescent lights above them illuminating the entire restaurant. The walls were covered in white wall paper with a floral pattern with green panels underneath and a divider between the layers. Stereotypical Asian music played in the background as the two girls looked across the basic table with only a center leg to keep it up and standard, plastic back chairs to support them.
“So, are you still talking to that real estate broker you met last time you were in New York?” asked Alexis as leaned back against the chair, resting her back on the hard plastic.
“Yeah, I’ve been talking to Davis a bit here and there, letting him know about how my progress has been going with the relocation,” she said, dropping the name of the man she had a brief encounter with. “What about you? Have you still been talking to his friend, Steven?”
Alexis smiled as she looked down at her phone. “No, I haven’t spoken to him since that night,” she said with a shy grin. “I’ve been a bit preoccupied with my career and a few other things going on in my life.”
“Like what?” asked Trish.
“I don’t know,” she replied sarcastically. “I think my career took off and I decided to travel around the world.”
Trish laughed while she listened to Alexis’s sarcasm. “Text messages work around the world, Alexis,” she explained with a hint of sass. “You can be half way around the world and still receive a text message.”
Alexis smiled and continued to look down at her phone to see a message blinking on it. She ran her thumb over the screen to unlock it and look at the message. “Do you have a few minutes to talk?” read the message as the color escaped her face. It’d been two days since she had spoken to the man who captured her heart in Dubai and he was reaching out to her.
“I started dating a man in Dubai and stayed with him for a few weeks,” said Alexis as she kept her eyes affixed to the phone. “I fell for a man who I thought was going to be great for me, and in turn, I thought I’d be great for him.”
“Well what happened?”
“It turns out we weren’t good for each other,” she replied. “He’s a great guy and I want the best for him, but I just don’t think we are compatible with one another.”
Trisha grinned. “How so? You liked him at first and then you suddenly changed your mind. What happened?”
Alexis composed herself and placed her phone on the table. “He was forced out of his company, which to be honest, he didn’t have much business to be involved with it anyway. However, he was forced to sell his shares and he resented me for supporting the other people. Hannah and I saved his company from bankruptcy and he even admitted that he knew he would be asked to sell at some point. Nathanial, however, didn’t think it’d be that soon. He was caught off guard and his ego got in the way of us and, unfortunately, I couldn’t handle it anymore.”
“So, is that who’s texting you now?” asked Trish with a coy smile. “Do you think he may have realized what he’s missing?”
“Maybe,” said Alexis as she picked up the phone and unlocked it again, typing a response to Nathanial before placing the phone back down. “He wants to talk and, honestly, I feel like I owe him that.”
“Alexis, you don’t owe him anything,” she said. “I’ve never met the man, but I will tell you this, no woman owes a man anything. Relationships are amicable and symbiotic. Without both parties working equally as hard with one another, it can’t work. Clearly, the two of you just weren’t meant to be. He’ll move on.”
Alexis smiled. “I just feel like I didn’t get the closure I wanted or needed.”
“Closure?”
“Yeah, I hate how it ended and how I saw that side of him,” she continued. “He was clearly upset and he lashed out at me. Yes, I’m mad at him for it and yes, I don’t want a relationship with him at this second, but I do want to talk to him. Now that he has had a couple of days to think about it, I wonder what’s going on in his mind. I really want to know what he thinks about everything.”
Trisha glanced across the table with a look of bewilderment. “Alexis, you are a gorgeous young professional who could have her pick of men, and you’re over here hung up on guy around the world. You need to shake this off and move on.”
Alexis looked down at the table as her phone buzzed again with the screen illuminating to show a new text message. “You don’t have to answer this,” said Trish as she looked across at Alexis.
“But I do,” she replied. “It might be work.”
“What would work wan
t at this hour?”
“It’s morning in Asia,” said Alexis with a smile. “I have to be available to answer text messages.”
Trish looked skeptical as Alexis picked up the phone and unlocked it. “I’m in New York. I really want to talk to you about everything. I don’t like how everything ended.” Alexis smirked as she read the message from Nathanial.
“Fine, why don’t we meet up later tonight? I’ll text you where to meet me,” she replied as she placed the phone down.
“You’re going to talk to him, aren’t you?” asked Trisha.
“He came to New York,” replied Alexis. “He came out here to talk to me about everything.”
Trisha nodded. “He flew out here just to meet with you?”
“Yeah, is that weird?”
“Is he a billionaire?” asked Trisha in a curious manner.
“Yeah, he’s incredibly wealthy.”
“Then this is not unusual behavior,” replied Trisha. “I’ve never met a billionaire, but from what I’ve gathered from television and other people’s stories, flying around the world is nothing new.”
Alexis chuckled as she leaned forward and took a sip of her water. “Yeah, he does have a private jet too,” she explained.
“Oh, so he can get around as he pleases,” quipped Trisha. “I swear, why can’t I find a billionaire?”
“You said you were talking to that real estate broker still. That’s a great business. Maybe he’s got some money?”
Trisha thought about it for a moment before shaking her head with a smile. “He does well,” she replied. “In fact, he may come out to join us tonight if we decide to go see the town.”
Alexis looked across the table and thought about that before reaching for her phone and texting Hannah. “I’m going to tell Hannah we’re going out and that she can bring her man to meet us. I think it’d be fun for all of us to get together.”
“Are you going to invite your ex?”
“I think I am,” replied Alexis. “As much as I love you, I’m going to need Hannah and a stiff drink before I talk to Nathanial Jenkins again.”
Trisha laughed heartily as she took a bite from an egg roll. “I understand,” she said as she chewed the fried roll of cabbage. “You may need several drinks before seeing him.”
“I think you’re spot on, Trish,” she said as she continued to sip on her water.
Chapter 5
Hannah opened the door to her apartment, revealing the same quarters from the evening before to Russell. “I hope you weren’t expecting something different,” she announced sarcastically, looking out into the living room to see the trash from the previous night still sitting on the coffee table. “I’ve never been one to clean.”
“I’m not interested in you for your cleaning prowess,” said Russell with a sarcastic smirk. “Though I’m sure it’s a skill that we may want to consider working on at some point.”
“I’m clean, organized, and explicitly neat in my professional life,” she explained. “In my personal life, I like to live it a bit more free and loose.”
“I get that,” he said as he walked up into the kitchen as Hannah walked over to her refrigerator and pulled out an unopened bottle of chardonnay. She turned around and opened up her dishwasher, pulling the top rack out and removing two clean stemless wine glasses. “But hey, at least I know how to operate one of these,” she said as she referenced the machine. She set the glasses on the counter and poured two glasses of wine.
Russell stepped up and grabbed his glass once Hannah filled it. “Thank you,” he said with a hint of charm in his voice, bringing the stemless glass up to his lips to sip from it. “So why do you prefer chardonnay? There are so many better products out there.”
Hannah chuckled as she sipped from her glass. “Look, I don’t question why you like Italian food. Don’t question why I like chardonnay.” She joked and set the glass back down on the counter. “Honestly, it was the first wine I ever had and, even after trying a bunch of others, I always come back to this. It’s my comfort zone.”
“It’s incredibly dry.”
“But it’s incredibly tasty,” she continued with a smile. “I love this wine.”
Russell smiled. “It’s important to know what you like,” he said as he leaned against the counter. “And this is a good brand, but I’m just saying, there are other things you should try.”
Hannah shook her head as she smirked. “One of the men that I work with, you met him when we were in Sydney, Robert Acostis, makes wine at his home in Monaco and his family owns one of the largest vineyards and wineries in Greece. He brought many bottles of his own personal stock for me to sample and while they were very tasty, I still prefer this.
“I got to speak to him for a few brief moments. He seemed rather pompous but very driven,” said Russell.
“He’s very good at what he does,” explained Hannah. “He is someone that you want to have on your team because you don’t want to see him on the other side of the table.”
“And why’s that?”
“Because he’s smart and ruthless,” continued Hannah. “He can ruin your career, but he can also boost it. He is incredibly gifted and values his relationships, but he isn’t someone to cross. Getting him into the consortium was one of the best things we could’ve done. He will help take us to the next level.”
Russell grinned as he sat up. “I get that he’s good at business, but does that mean he will be good for you? Will associating with him help or hinder you?” asked as he paused and looked at her with a concerned gaze. “Really think about that, Hannah. If you are only associating with him because he will be good for you, at what point, will he suddenly become bad for you?”
She stood still and looked over at him, pondering what he said before continuing. “What do you mean?” she asked, wanting him to clarify before she answered it and possibly incriminated herself in his eyes.
He looked down at the floor and composed himself as he tried his best to figure out the words to convey his message without offending Hannah, who he had already learned was very steadfast and stubborn in her thoughts. “Look, I think it really boils down to what’s good for you. There are people who come into your life for a reason, and those people should always provide you with something that is beneficial to you, just like you should provide something that is beneficial to them. With Alexis, your best friend, the two of you provide a level of compassion, comfort, and friendship that is unmatched, right?”
Hannah looked over and nodded, trying to understand what he meant and where he was going with this. “Yeah, she’s my favorite person on this planet,” she answered softly. “I consider the two of us more like sisters than best friends.”
“And that’s a good thing, but the two of you provide something to one another,” he clarified and continued to explain. “You see, whether it is in your personal or professional life, you have to understand how relationships are beneficial to you and also understand what you are getting from them. If a relationship is poisonous or cancerous, you have to know when to pull the plug on it. With Robert Acostis, being someone who you have admitted will be great for your career, at what point will he become toxic? At some point, there will be a moment of diminishing returns and you’ll need to cut the cord.”
“Sulagna Patel believes that he will actually leave at some point in the next few years after he makes his fortunes grow exponentially,” she explained. “Dillon Flannigan is really the man I’m trying to attach myself to. While he and Robert are both very close to one another, I think Dillon is the kind of man who will help me throughout my career and I feel that I will always be able to help him. He’s very level headed and always wants to do the right thing. From what Alexis told me, he stressed over the decision about purchasing the bulk of Nathanial’s company from him. I’m attaching myself to Robert for a temporary boost, but I’m attaching myself to Dillon for a much more longer solution.”
Russell nodded as he suppr
essed a smirk. “That’s very wise,” he said. “I spent several minutes talking to Dillon Flannigan and came away with a great respect for him, as well as an admiration for his girlfriend, Marisol. Both of them were incredible people and I wish them nothing but the best.”
“He will do wonderful, but, I have to remember, Alexis and I are tied to the consortium,” she explained. “While we want those companies in the south Pacific to do well, we also have to worry about the rest of the world.”
“That is very true,” continued Russell. “However, if you feel that you can get something out of this, then go ahead. I would just be very careful about associating with Robert Acostis for the long term.”
Hannah smiled. “Thanks for the advice,” she said coyly. “I appreciate it.”
“I know you do,” he continued. “I think you’re wise about how you handle things and I also think, between you and Alexis, you’ll make a great and well-informed decision.”
She continued to smile while she looked at him, wondering about where and how the night would go. In the silence between the two that lasted a few moments, Hannah thought about everything that was going on between the two of them. She thought about how Russell was proving to be great for her while also thinking about how she could be good for him. “What’s the worst thing that could happen,” she thought to herself as she sat there in the awkward silence. “He could leave you and you could get hurt, which would be your ultimate fear in this, or it could work out,” she continued to think to herself, allowing her mind to dwell as she pondered her next move. “I really hope he makes the first move,” she continued to think. “It would make this so much easier.”
Russell leaned in and kissed Hannah softly on the lips, holding his hand behind her head and rubbing his fingers across her hair. “That’s what I was after,” thought Hannah as Russell locked his lips to hers. Their lips connected for several seconds as their mouths opened slightly. She placed her arms around his neck and pulled herself up to him, placing her breasts on his chest and rubbing his back. He placed his other hand on the small of her back, holding her close while they continued to kiss. As their lips remained locked, they began to move their hands a bit more enthusiastically.
