editors, book tours, publicity and publishers. And that’s
when I’m not soothing my authors’ feathers.”
“How many clients do you have again?”
“Thirty total. More than half of our clients have signed
publishing deals and the rest we’re working hard to find
deals for.”
“So you and your partner split the responsibilities?” “I’m a little more hands on.” Since I don’t have a life, she
scoffed to herself. “E.D. handles the submissions, along
with the junior associates. If they find something interesting, it gets reviewed and we see what happens next.” “Sounds like a good system. What kind of projects do
you represent?”
Cathy did a quick mental inventory. “I could go on all
night with the cross-section of fiction and non-fiction, but
I’m sure it would bore you to tears.”
“I don’t think you could ever bore me.”
“You’re sure about that? You just met me.” She was
skeptical.
“It’s just a feeling I have.”
“I see.” Cathy was flustered.
Marcus put the conversation back on track. “Do you
have any books I might recognize?”
“Have you heard of Swiss Journey?”
“The wife of one of my friends read it and thought it
was great. Is the author a client of yours?”
“Yes. James Weil. In fact, he’s the one I was supposed to
meet yesterday for lunch.”
“You know what? I think I’m going to get a few copies
of the book and maybe I’ll send him some cigars too. It’s
the least I can do since he’s the reason we met.” She grinned. “He loves his cigars. You will have made a
friend for life.”
Just then the waiter brought dessert over, along with
two spoons.
“Ladies first.”
Cathy swirled her spoon over the ice cream like a little
girl. “I think I’ll try this first.”
“Be my guest.” Marcus laughed quietly.
She took a spoonful of the ice cream and let it melt on
her tongue.
The expression on her face said it all.
“What do you think?”
“Mmm. I wouldn’t have thought to combine spices
with chocolate. Sweet but with a little bite. Have you had
this before?”
He dove into the ice cream. “Yeah. It’s sweet and spicy.
Like you.”
She raised her eyebrow. “You must have a graduate
degree in flirting. You don’t miss a beat.”
“I do my best.” He winked.
Without so much as another kiss Cathy’s stomach filled
with butterflies, a sure sign she could fall head over heels for
him. She had been so careful with her heart for so long she
knew she had to derail the conversation before it went to
her head or worse, her heart.
“I’m going to take a little bite of this Napoleon. Join
me?”
“I thought you’d never ask.” He smiled like a naughty
little boy.
Cathy knew any more conversation might de-construct
her resolve so she was quiet through dessert. She even let
Marcus get the last bite. He paid the check.
“I hope you enjoyed dinner as much as I did.” Marcus got up and held her chair, only this time he
managed not to stare at her cleavage. It wasn’t easy but he’d
learned his lesson, for the time being.
“I really did. It’s been a long time since I’ve been out to
dinner for something other than business.”
They left the restaurant and slowly strolled down the
street. “You know, I’m really interested in what you said
before,” he said.
“What would that be?”
“You only go out to dinner for business?”
“And lunch. We can’t forget lunch,” she joked. “Why is that?”
“It’s been a while since my last relationship. I wasn’t
really interested in hopping back on the dating treadmill
right away so I focused my energy on my sons and building
the agency.”
“At what price though?” he asked.
“True.” But haven’t you ever reached a point where you
were just tired of doing the whole dating ritual?” “Oh yeah.”
“I guess that’s hard for someone in your position.” “I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t. If I’m
keeping my options open and seeing different women, then
I’m a player. On the other hand, if I decide to take a break
and just hang out, then it’s like I must be gay.”
“Pardon my French, but that sounds like a royal pain in
the butt.”
He laughed. “It is.” He got quiet for a minute. “Still,
when you meet someone you click with, it’s worth it.” He
looked directly in her eyes. “So Cathy, what about you. Do
you think it’s worth it?”
Cathy was almost in a complete trance. “Definitely.”
She sighed.
She’d been living vicariously for so long that she’d
nearly forgotten how nice it was to go on a date. “I hope you enjoyed yourself as much as I have,” he
said.
“It’s been a wonderful evening. Thank you.” “No. Thank you. I haven’t had an evening this pleasant
in a very long time.”
She smiled, glad that her red face wasn’t visible in the
streetlights.
Arm in arm they strolled down the street to one very
happy parking attendant.
CHAPTER 9
Smiling like two cats that had feasted on a couple of canaries, Marcus and Cathy on the way home quietly reveled in the excitement of a good first date.
Cathy broke the silence first. “You have a game tomorrow night. I could just as easily hop the train and get home. You don’t have to drive all the way out to Amityville.”
He was very quiet.
“Marcus?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I was ignoring your suggestion. There is
no way in the world I would let you take the train home.” “I appreciate that but I think you should be fresh and
rested for tomorrow’s game. It’s September and you guys are
making your push for the playoffs.”
“The game is in the evening. Don’t worry about me, I’ll
be fine.”
“If you say so. Don’t say I didn’t offer.”
“You’re sweet to worry about me, Cathy, but there’s no
need to.”
When he kissed her hand she got goose bumps. “Okay,
you win.”
“Good. So what are we doing tomorrow?”
She was surprised. “I’m sorry. What?”
“For our second date.”
“Our second date?” She tried not to seem too anxious. “I can have Louis pick you up and bring you to my
place. I’ll give you the grand tour, then maybe we can have
lunch or an early supper before we leave for the game.” “Sounds good to me.”
“Great. Since it’s a night game I’d like for you to sit
where I can see you. Is that okay with you? Or should I get
you a seat in the luxury suite again?”
“The luxury suite is nice but not necessary.” He kissed her hand again. He’s definitely a charmer, she
thought.
“You know, I haven’t seen much of Long Island.” “I would be happy to be your tour guide.”
“I’d like to take you u
p on that.”
“Please do. It would be my pleasure.”
Between holding hands and flirtatious glances, time
passed quickly. After what felt like the shortest drive ever
they approached Cathy’s exit on the parkway.
“We’re here already. That wasn’t too bad of a drive at
all.”
“Wait a minute. How did you know how to get here?”
She was puzzled.
“You didn’t see the navigation system?”
“No. I can’t say I was paying attention.”
“All you have to tell me is when we reach your house.” “It’s just before the third intersection.”
“I really hate for this night to end, but I will see you
tomorrow, right?”
“Definitely.” She paused. “My house is just after the
green one on the right side.”
“That’s good to know.” Cathy was confounded when he
drove past her house. “You know that was my house.” “I know. I thought that maybe you could take me on a
little tour of Amityville.”
Cathy looked at him as if he were crazy. “You’re kidding
me, right?”
“You did say you would love to be my tour guide, didn’t
you?”
“Yes, but I didn’t expect to be called to duty tonight.” He pulled over to the side of the road. “I’m having a lot
of fun with you and I thought we could just extend it a
little while. I promise I will get you home.”
She waited for the punch line.
“If you’d rather I could just turn around.”
“No. You don’t have to do that. What would you like to
see?”
“Well, the Amityville Horror house comes to mind.” She smiled. “That’s South Amityville.”
“So are we headed in the right direction?”
“Yes. I’ll tell you where you’re going.”
He smiled. “Cool.”
It only took a few minutes to go from North to South
Amityville by the water. “Okay. Make a left here. This is the
infamous Ocean Avenue.”
She smiled as she watched Marcus study the neighborhood. “It’s really nice here.”
She nodded her head. “I told you it was. They actually
don’t take too kindly to tourists, especially when it comes
to this block.”
“I bet they don’t. How many Amityville Horror movies
have they made?”
“At least three I can think of off the top of my head.” “And that’s not including the sensation the book
caused.”
“I know.” As they approached the house she pointed it
out. “Slow down you’re looking right at it.”
He stopped the car. “Wow, all that hoopla about this
house? It’s a nice house.”
“I know.”
“It is infamous, though.”
“True, but for all the wrong reasons; an entire family
was killed back in ‘73 or ’74, yet somehow all the focus is
on flies in winter and pig’s blood.”
Marcus had to crack up at the absurdity of it all. “That
is pretty bad, isn’t it? I guess that’s why they don’t take too
kindly to tourists or movie companies.”
She looked over her shoulder. “We have company.” “We have company?”
“Yes.” Cathy watched as one of Amityville’s finest
approached the car.
The officer tapped on the window. Marcus rolled the
window down. “Yes, officer?”
The officer bent down. “I was just wondering what’s
going on with you folks.”
“My friend here was just showing me the neighborhood.”
She watched as the officer’s eyes went from normal to at
least three times their normal size. “Aren’t you Marcus
Fox?”
“Yes.”
“Oh my God. I can’t believe it.”
She spent the next ten minutes watching a man re-visit
his inner child. Marcus gave him an autograph and she got
into the act, taking their picture with the officer’s camera
phone. All in all, it was an eventful trip down Ocean
Avenue.
“I’m sorry if that bored you,” Marcus said.
“No, not at all. To tell you the truth I think that’s why
I love baseball so much.”
“Why?”
“It’s silly. Forget I said anything.”
“No. I really want to know.”
“Why? It’s silly.”
“Well, you’re kind of an unusual fan.”
“I’m an unusual fan? What makes me unusual?” “Well, you’re an African American female baseball fan.” “So?”
“There aren’t many black women who go nuts over
baseball.”
Cathy’s mind wandered back to the days when she was
growing up. “I’ve always been different.”
“Everyone thinks that when they’re growing up. I’m
sure you weren’t an outsider or anything.”
Cathy stared out the window. “You might be
surprised.”
“Oh really? So tell me about it.”
Cathy wondered for a minute. Do I tell him about the
religion thing?
“I’m waiting,” he joked.
“Well, my favorite group was the Beatles and I had all
their albums.”
Marcus snickered. “You’ve got to be kidding, that’s
nothing.”
“Maybe to you, but my parents were so worried that
they bought an Isley Brothers album, along with the
‘Yellow Submarine’ my grandmother gave me for my ninth
birthday.”
He chuckled. “That’s not so bad. So how did you come
upon your love of baseball?”
“It came from my grandmother.”
He looked genuinely taken aback. “Your grandmother
loved the Yankees?”
A warm smile lit up her face. “Oh yeah. Her father used
to take her to games when Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig
played. Then after her dad died in 1934, she used to go to
games with my great uncles.”
“That’s amazing. So baseball is a matter of family tradition.”
Cathy liked the way the statement rolled off his tongue.
Baseball as a matter of tradition in her family. Deep down
she knew she’d handed him a carefully spun PR story.
Baseball was a tradition in her family, but she couldn’t
exactly tell him that Yankee Stadium was her haven from a
religious life of quiet desperation and a refuge from
weekend door to door field service.
She nodded her head. “It is a tradition on my father’s
side. My mother’s family wasn’t into baseball. My grandmother continued the tradition with us when she came
over to watch games on a Sunday afternoon. She died when I was ten so those memories are precious to me as well. Sue
me. I’m a sap. “
He smiled. “I don’t think you’re a sap. There’s something special about you, Cathy.”
She was touched. “You think so?”
“Definitely.”
Out of the corner of his eye Marcus noticed Cathy
staring up at the stars. It was a clear fall night and the dark
sky seemed to go on forever. She looked lost in thought as
she closed her eyes.
“ ‘Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight. I wish I
may, I wish I might have the wish I wished tonight.’ ” Cathy was surprised. “What made yo
u say that?” “I saw you looking up at the stars and figured you were
making a wish.”
Cathy glanced up at the sky again. “I was just admiring
the stars. Besides, what I really wish can’t happen.” “You mean you would wish for your grandmothers to
be here.”
Cathy quickly wiped a tear away. She’d always thought
that if her grandmothers were around her parents would
not have broken up or at least her life after the divorce
would have been more bearable. “Yes. I’d give anything to
have them back.”
Marcus reached out and touched Cathy’s shoulder. He
knew it wasn’t the time for words and she appreciated not
being pushed into talking about it. When they pulled into
Cathy’s driveway she could see the curtains moving
upstairs. She knew they had an audience.
“I see you remembered how to get here with no
problem.”
“Told you I’d get you back in one piece.”
Cathy’s heart raced as Marcus came around the car.
Even though he had already asked about a second date, she
knew good chemistry, an amazing kiss, would seal the deal
for sure. He helped her out and they held hands like
teenagers as they walked to the front door.
He looked around. “It’s a nice house. Maybe one day
soon you’ll invite me over for dinner.”
“That can be arranged.”
“What time should I send Louis to pick you up?” “Same time as today is fine with me.”
“Good. So we’re just saying good night for now.” He
rubbed her hand.
“Not goodbye, just good night.”
Marcus leaned in for a good night kiss. He wanted to
give her a gentle kiss but the moment their lips touched a
spark ignited. Cathy’s whole body tingled as things quickly
escalated into a deep, passionate kiss, the kind she hadn’t
had in a while, and after tonight she wasn’t sure if she’d ever
had one in the first place.
They were both breathless when Cathy reluctantly
pulled away. “If you’re going to get back home in good time
we have to stop.”
“I know you’re right. We’ll see each other again
tomorrow.”
“Right. Can you do me a favor?”
“Sure.”
“I know this is going to sound stupid but could you call
me to let me know you got back okay?
Marcus thought that was such a cute thing to say he
kissed her again and both their knees almost buckled. “I knew you were special. I’ll call you when I get
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