by T. K. Chapin
“That’s fine, but I am here for you as someone who knows that pain if you ever do need to talk,” Michael replied.
He’s letting it go? Not pushing his own desire to keep drilling? What kind of man is this? She wondered.
“You already know I write and work at the college, what do you do?” He asked changing the subject.
“I work for Howard Publications; it’s an online and offline magazine.”
“How’s that going?”
“Pretty good. I just got a promotion so I’m pretty happy with that. I’m the lead on an upcoming series next month.”
“What’s that mean?” Michael laughed. “I’m oblivious to how a magazine works… which is kind of embarrassing, given the fact that I write.”
“You’re fine… Basically, it’s a promotion in the fact I have to do more work, without a pay increase.”
“Oh wow, that’s fun… I guess?”
Rebecca chuckled as she picked up her glass of wine and took a sip. “It’s a fun environment and I like it. I’ve been there two years.”
“That’s awesome; do you like your boss?”
“Excuse me?” She replied. How’d he know about Jonathan? Has he been spying on me? Looking for her phone, she found it was still in her purse.
“Um… Do you like your boss? Him or her?” Michael laughed. “Like are they cool to work with?”
“Oh… yeah, he’s pretty cool, I suppose.” Rebecca adjusted in her seat. She felt awkward talking about Jonathan, thankfully the timer on the oven buzzed.
“That’s dinner, let’s eat!” Michael said.
CHAPTER 7 ~ Michael
Carrying two plates of braised duck over to the table, Michael set one down in front of Rebecca and one in front of his chair. As he took a seat and unfolded his cloth napkin, Rebecca took a sip of her wine.
“Enough about me, I’m curious about you…” Picking up her fork and knife she cut into the duck as she waited for a response.
“Well… What would you like to know?”
“Have you dated at all since…,” Her words trailed off, but he knew what she meant.
“Yes. I’ve tried a few different times. Never clicked with anyone since her though…”
“What’s her name? You haven’t said it even once.”
“Rebecca.”
Rebecca set her fork down and crossed her arms. “Are you serious right now?”
Nodding his head, he felt worried she’d be upset, but she seemed more surprised than anything else. “I am.”
“I bet that’s kind of awkward.”
“Yeah, a little.”
“So nothing ever worked out on the dates since her?”
Michael set his fork down before taking a bite. “No, not at all! The women in this town are crazy…” Pausing, he thought back to his date with Heidi, the soccer mom. “A ton of women are just bad at dating… It’s either shallow and meaningless sex they are after or they’re just looking for a daddy for their children.”
“What, really?” Rebecca asked, leaning in across the table.
“Yeah, one girl keeps popping in my mind…” Michael laughed as he thought about the memory of Heidi. “She kept asking me if I liked children, wanted to meet hers, and so on.”
“On a first date?” Rebecca replied laughing.
“Yeah. It wasn’t even so much the fact she asked about my future plans… I’d love to have a family… It was more about the fact she wouldn’t let it go and kept trying to talk more about it.”
“That’s awkward!” Rebecca laughed. “I’ve had a few dates where I’m just constantly wondering how much longer it was going to last until I could escape.”
“Same here!”
“They just yap and yap and you’re just staring at your phone trying to text someone to call you but nobody’s responding! The worst part is being the girl on the date when he tries to make moves on you!”
“Oh yeah? What about being the guy and the girl is fiddling with her keys at the door waiting for you to kiss her? Talk about awkwardness!”
“True… I don’t envy that.”
The chatter died down and Michael took a bite of his duck. It was foul and disgusting. Peering over at Rebecca as she took a bite, he noticed her wince slightly as she wiped her mouth with her napkin.
Dropping his napkin on his plate, he pushed his plate forward and took a drink of his water. “I can’t do this.”
“What? Something wrong?”
“This food is disgusting! That’s what’s wrong!” Michael laughed.
“Oh, thank goodness you said that!” Rebecca smiled, dropping her napkin onto her plate. “I didn’t want to be rude… but it’s just not good.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever eaten duck.” Glancing down at his plate, he shook his head in disgust. “Nor will I ever again!”
“I’ve never had it either,” Rebecca responded shaking her head.
“Let’s head into town and nab some pizza; we can see where the evening takes us.”
Michael’s original plan was to eat some duck and take the gal home, a quick and easy date, but with them getting along so well he didn’t want the evening to end. He hadn’t felt so comfortable around anyone as much as he did Rebecca and didn’t want it to stop and the loneliness to make its return.
“Sounds good to me,” Rebecca replied, standing up from the table. She grabbed the plates, but Michael quickly jumped up and met her to take the plates from her.
“I got this,” he said, taking the plates into the kitchen.
CHAPTER 8 ~ Rebecca
Arriving back in Spokane, they took the Trenton Avenue exit. Rebecca wasn’t a huge fan of pizza, but anything sounded better than that duck. Stealing glances over at Michael, she couldn’t help but notice his defined jawline and physique. And while she never liked a guy before in glasses, she liked Michael’s. It made him look smart, sophisticated and sexy.
“Is the temperature okay in here?”
“It’s a little cold,” she replied.
Michael reached over and adjusted the heater for her. He was treating her like a princess, and she loved every second of it. Being used to dating guys who were all about themselves, it was a refreshing change for Rebecca to be treated so well.
“Is that better?” He asked.
“Yes. Thank you…” Rebecca replied softly with a smile.
“You’re welcome.”
As Michael pulled into Joe’s Pizza Parlor on Finley Street, Rebecca looked over at him to see if this was where they were going to be eating. He glanced over at her, “This is my Uncle Joe’s restaurant.”
“You’re taking me to meet your family on a first date?” She asked. Michael seemed amazing, but everything felt like it was moving too fast. He seemed perfect, but almost too much so. First at her apartment and him talking about going to a gallery together in the future, and now meeting his uncle all on the first date, it was almost like she felt he might propose by the end of the night. Who knew if this guy was for real, or if he was just playing all the right cards trying to get Rebecca to fall for him just to hurt her. She had to play this more carefully, even though he really seemed like a great guy so far.
“Family? It’s just my Uncle. You’ll probably meet him, but we’re going for the pizza, not him.”
“I rather not meet your Uncle…” Rebecca replied.
Michael had just parked the car in front of the restaurant. Nodding, he said, “Okay. We can go somewhere else.” His tone was a bit sharp.
“I’m sorry…” she replied as he backed out of the parking space.
“Don’t worry about it. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“Maybe another time,” she said, placing her hand on his arm. “I just don’t think it’s right I meet him right now.”
“That’s fine. We’ll go to Craig’s down the road.” Michael pulled out of the parking lot and they shared silence between them as he drove down Finely Avenue to the Craig’s Pizza Parlor.
Parking the
car, Michael jumped out and opened the door for her. Smiling as she got out, she saw him return the smile, but she felt he was upset about skipping out on his Uncle’s pizza place still. “I’m really sorry about not going to your Uncle’s restaurant.”
“It’s fiiiine… I promise, just drop it, please?”
“Okay, if you say so.”
Rebecca held onto his arm and they went into Craig’s. The atmosphere felt more like a child’s playland than a restaurant, as a few children, not more than six years old, went screaming by, startling the both of them. The hostess led them to a booth on the opposite side of the kid’s toy area and seated them. The lighting was soft and cozy.
“I’ll take a water to drink,” Michael said as he removed his jacket and tossed it into his side of the booth.
“I’ll take the strawberry lemonade, with extra lemons and a glass of water on the side,” Rebecca said, taking a seat on the opposite side.
The waitress walked away and Michael leaned over the table. “You sure know what you want, don’t you?”
Looking him in the eyes Rebecca replied, “Yes, I do.” As they waited for the waitress to return, Rebecca noticed a beep from her phone. That’s strange, did I miss a call? She wondered as she began digging through her purse.
Pulling it out, she saw it was Jonathan and she had missed his call. “I missed a call from work,” she said, looking up at Michael. “I better see what they need.”
Looking at his watch, he looked at her, “It’s a bit late for a work call isn’t it?”
“Yes… but I work after hours all the time. I’m salary.” Standing up from the booth, she looked at him. “I’ll be back in just a minute or two, I promise.”
“Okay,” Michael replied.
Slipping out of the booth, Rebecca hurried through the restaurant for the exit. With all the loud kids only a few paces away, the need to go outside to hear properly on the phone was needed.
“Rebecca,” Jonathan answered his phone with what sounded like a relief.
“What’s going on? What’s wrong?” Rebecca asked, concerned. Was it Vivian? Did she have a meltdown and quit so she could move back to Illinois to be with her mom? She wondered. Glancing behind her, she could see through the windows and spotted Michael sitting at their booth. He was staring at his phone as the waitress brought the drinks back over.
“Everything is fine… I was just calling to see how the date went?”
“Seriously?” Rebecca snapped at him. He hadn’t cared about her dates in the past, but this one was seemed to be getting under his skin. Maybe he is seriously considering leaving Stacy… Why else would he be calling about how my date went? “I’m still on it, why?”
“Oh… umm… No reason. Just thought it’d be over by now.”
“I gotta go.” Rebecca was infuriated with Jonathan. How could he call to check up on her and didn’t even have the decency to be straight with her. “Tell Stacy hello!” Rebecca said before hanging up quickly. I can’t believe that guy! Ugh! She thought to herself going back into the restaurant.
Stopping the waitress before she had vanished into the back, Rebecca asked, “What did he order?”
Glancing back at Michael, the waitress smiled at him, “A large pepperoni pizza…”
“Just make it half pepperoni and half cheese, please.”
The waitress rolled her eyes as she nodded and changed the order slip. Sitting back down in the booth, Michael’s and her eyes met and she felt a flutter in her heart. She felt so comfortable with him; it just felt so right and natural.
Breaking the silence as they stared at each other and smiled, Rebecca asked, “What was her problem?”
“Who? The waitress?”
“Yeah, she rolled her eyes when I changed our order.”
“I don’t know…” Michael paused a moment. “She did hit on me and I said I was on a date.”
“Oh,” Rebecca glared at the waitress as she was at another table taking an order.
“Don’t get jealous Rebecca,” Michael laughed. “I was only kidding.”
Laughing, she looked over at him, “She didn’t hit on you?”
“No, she just took our order.” Michael adjusted in his seat and leaned across the dimly lit table. “Everything okay at work?”
“What?”
“Work… you know… the reason you had to step away and take the call.”
“Oh… yeah, everything’s fine.” Rebecca could tell he wanted to know more, but she didn’t want to lie and she definitely didn’t want to reveal the truth about her boss. The last thing she needed was to give up an awesome job because of a dude she was dating and if Michael knew the truth and down the line they were an item, there would be no way she could keep the job. “Just an accounting hiccup I had to straighten out.”
“Oh, well, that’s good.”
“Yeah…” Rebecca took the lemon slices in the bowl and squeezed them into her strawberry lemonade before dropping them in. Taking a sip of her lemonade, she glanced up to see Michael in a dead-on stare. “What?” she giggled.
“Nothing.” He grinned.
“You have a nice smile…” she said, pausing from sipping her lemonade.
“You remind me of a hand,” He said.
A little taken back, Rebecca pulled away from her drink, laughed and asked, “What does that mean?”
“It’s silly. I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“No, please enlighten me to how I remind you of a hand.”
“Okay,” Michael said, bringing both his hands to the top of the table. “Let me see one of your hands.”
She extended her hand across the table, laying it in the palm of his hands. He took a finger and softly touched the inside of her palm. Welcomed Chills ran up her hand and into her arm. His touch was gentle and his hands were soft.
“I work with clay a lot…”
“In the pottery class you teach?”
“You remembered.”
“Yeah…”
Moving his finger, he guided it up against her wrist, causing a rush of tingles to surge through her body. She hadn’t felt the gentle touch of a man in quite some time.
“You remind me of a hand because… the skin is strong and durable and yet sensitive at the same time. You’re independent and operating on your own, much like the hands.”
“Our mind controls the hands though…”
“For daily tasks yes, but for creating pottery and art, they often take on a life of their own.”
Pulling back her hand, she looked up at Michael with a smile. “You’re a strange guy.”
He laughed. “I’ve heard that before…”
“I like it though. You seem deep and aware of the world around you.”
Just then the waitress returned with the pizza, setting it down between the two of them.
CHAPTER 9 ~ Michael
Every minute he spent with Rebecca that evening was another moment he felt more for her. Rebecca’s smile had the ability to take away all the pains and frustrations that the world once bound him to, much like the freedom his art gave him. So after finishing their delicious pizza, they headed down towards the college.
“Where are we going now?” Rebecca asked, as she held onto his hand on the arm rest between them in the car. He felt a surge of excitement rush through his body as his heart pounded in his chest. He felt like he was on top of the world with her by his side. Not letting himself get too carried away with his thoughts and emotions, he began to think about the evening ahead of them.
“I want to show you some of the art my students have made.”
“I want to see the phoenix sculpture you were telling me about at dinner.”
“I’ll show it to you.”
Pulling into the college parking lot, Michael parked his car and hurried around to once again open the door for her. As she stepped out she giggled, “You don’t have to do that every single time I get out of the car.”
“I know… I want to though.”
She
beamed that unforgettable smile at him as she grabbed onto his arm and accompanied him into the school. Being afterhours, the school was mostly dark. Grasping closer to his side, they journeyed down the hall by the receptionist desk and down to the classroom for his pottery class. Stopping at the door of the classroom, he unlocked the door and flipped the lights on.
“This is where my students do it all. I even have a few students who just paint.”
Rebecca released from his arm and walked along the sides of the room and her eyes fell on all the sculpting tools and workstations. Bending a knee, she looked at a package of clay. “You mold this?”
“The students do.”
“You don’t ever?”
“On occasion,” Michael replied going to another set of doors that were on the opposite side of the room. “Let’s go see Tiffany’s Phoenix.”
“Okay.” Rebecca joined his side as he pushed open the doors to the gallery. The walls were an off white and each student appeared to have a spot on the floor to showcase their work. She walked ahead of Michael; slowing her pace she admired each creation by the students. “These are amazing,” she said, looking back at Michael.
“I know,” he smiled in response.
Stopping at the phoenix sculpture, she glanced back at him. “You were right. Words alone couldn’t do it justice. The level of detail and design that went into this is incredible.”
Walking up to her side, Michael nodded. “It’s truly a masterpiece.”
“How’d she do it? It seems like this amount of detail would take so long to do.”
“Tiffany’s mother had just passed away and she didn’t know how to process it, so she funneled all her energy into this piece.”
“Wow…” Rebecca replied. Looking back at the phoenix, she continued, “I wonder what she’ll make next.”
Michael shook his head. “She won’t be doing any more work, at least not here in Spokane. She and her family are moving to Seattle.”
“How come?”
“After she got done with the sculpture, she made the decision to leave. She thought she was dealing with the grief by working on this… but once it was done, all the sadness came over her. She just needs to get away from Spokane.”
