Pretty Little Lies

by Jennifer Miller

  He nods, waits for me to sit in the passenger seat, and closes the door. I raise the rose to my nose to take in its tantalizing scent as he walks around to the driver’s side. Opening the door and getting in, he looks over at me smelling my rose, buckles his seat belt, and smiles again.

  “Can I ask you a question?” I ask while buckling my own seatbelt.

  “Of course.”

  “The rose. How did you know I would be in your car and you would give it to me?”

  He places the key in the ignition and starts his car. It lets out a soft purr as she starts up. “I didn’t know…but I hoped. I sure as hell hoped.”

  here would you like to go for breakfast? Any place in particular? Have a taste for anything specific?” Luke asks.

  “I’m not picky. I love breakfast food, so I will find something I like to eat anywhere we go.”

  Luke places his arm on the top of my seat to look over his shoulder as he backs out of the parking space, bringing him a little closer to me. My skin tingles at his nearness and my breath catches. He’s so close to me, I can almost feel the heat off of his hand at my neck. I feel ridiculous for my reaction, but at the same time, I love the way it makes me feel.

  “I remember you used to have mad love for French toast, is that still the case?”

  “Absolutely. A love like that doesn’t fade,” I tell him seriously.

  He laughs low at that and my tingly skin breaks out into goose bumps, “I know just the place then.”

  Luke takes a left out of the parking lot, and we are on our way. I take a second to digest the fact that I am in a car with Luke, on my way to breakfast. Wow. This feels surreal. I put my rose to my nose again and take a deep breath. For some reason, this calms me a little.

  Luke glances at me from the corner of his eye, “I have a confession to make.”

  Lifting my eyebrows, I look at him, rose still at my nose, and wonder what he’s about to say. It sounds ominous. “Oh?”

  “I knew you were back in town. I ran into Pyper’s mom a while back and she told me, but one night as I was getting ready to walk into Maggiano’s for dinner, you bumped into me on your way out. I was so surprised to see you, I just stood there in shock. I had hoped to run into you, and I even tried to find out where you were staying after I saw Pyper’s mom, but I didn’t expect to literally run into you.”

  I’m shocked. Maggiano’s restaurant? I vaguely remember bumping into someone in my haste to get away from boob-lovin’ Daniel. I just stare at him, not sure how to reply.

  He talks quickly, unsure of my reaction. “By the time I gathered myself enough to run after you, you were already pulling out of the parking lot.”

  I decide to just be honest. “I umm, had actually been there on a date,” I say glancing at him. He frowns. “It did not go well and I was in a hurry to get away from him.”

  This time when I look over at him, I see a smile teasing at the corner of his mouth. I’m not sure what to make of that.

  “How could a date with you not go well, angel?”

  His term of endearment sends a shiver down my spine. “Well, obviously I wasn’t the problem,” I tease. “Daniel, that was his name, well let’s just say he liked himself a lot, he never once asked a question about me, and he…well…he pretty much had a conversation with my breasts the whole night.”

  Luke looks at me, eyes widening as he glances down towards my chest then back up at my face. He quickly turns back toward the road and I’m pretty sure I see his cheeks pink a little, “What?” he chokes.

  I can’t help but laugh at his reaction, “Well, when he would talk to me, he never made eye contact, he just stared at my breasts the whole time. Then, as we were leaving, he had the audacity to tell me he made arrangements for a room and we could see how it went before we decided if we wanted to pay for it by the hour or for the night.”

  Luke’s jaw tightens. “I think it’s a good thing I don’t know where to find Daniel. Please tell me you punched him in the balls.”

  I smirk, “No, but I handled myself just fine. I told him off and got the hell out of there. Although, come to think of it, he did deserve a punch to the balls.”

  “Well, that explains your hurry. I’d like to say I’m sorry your date didn’t go well, but I’m not.”

  I elect not to read into that comment, “Well, at least I got a great dinner out of it. I missed Maggiano’s. We didn’t have one in Boston.”

  “We? Boston? Is that where you were living?”

  “Yes. That’s where I’ve been for the last seven years. I attended Boston University and stayed there after I graduated.” I completely ignore his other question.

  Luke runs his hand through his hair, “I didn’t know where you went. It was like you disappeared without a trace. No one would tell me anything. You had your phone number changed and I couldn’t find you. I was limited in what I could do, my parents wouldn’t help me and made sure I didn’t have the money to hire someone that could. They told me to respect your wishes and what your parents told me you wanted.” He sighs and continues admitting, “I didn’t want to listen and was very angry for a long time. I wanted to find you, Olivia. I tried to find you any way I could within my means. I never forgot you, I couldn’t.”

  My eyes tear up at the emotion in his voice and I try hard to keep them from escaping and falling down my cheeks. I clear my throat, collecting myself. “I never forgot about you either, Luke. I tried like hell to force you out of my mind and refused to think about you. Sometimes it would work well for a while, but there were moments when thoughts of you would make it through the walls I built around my mind and heart.” I tell him shyly.

  His head turns toward me at my words, and I know he’s seeking my eyes, but I avoid them and look out the window at my side, embarrassed by my confession. We are both quiet and I know this is only the tip of the iceberg. We have so much that has gone unsaid, and I know the journey of working through it all will be necessary if we are going to have any relationship whatsoever. However, in between all the imminent revelations, I really hope to be able to just enjoy spending time with him again. He wasn’t only my boyfriend and the boy I thought was going to be my future, he was also my best friend - next to Pyper - and I missed him.

  We come up to West End Café and I smile. I love this little café. It’s been a longtime favorite. They have always had the best French toast. Luke sees me smiling and a smirk of self-satisfaction appears on his face. He knows I’m pleased.

  Once he parks, we walk up to the restaurant and Luke opens the door for me. I walk up to the hostess and Luke comes up beside me. When we have her attention she asks, “How many?” and Luke answers, “Two please.”

  The hostess is young, maybe nineteen-years-old at most, and I can’t help but giggle when I see her gawk at Luke. Luke looks at me, eyebrows raised and I just smile and shake my head. I remember how he has always seemed oblivious to the effect he has on women. I can’t blame the girl, Luke is very attractive. It’s not only his gorgeous face, or the way his shirt pulls just right across his chest, displaying his muscle tone underneath. It isn’t just the way his jeans fit him perfectly, or how he completely owns the black leather jacket he’s wearing. It’s also the confidence that bleeds from his very being, and the swagger he has when he moves. He was always very comfortable in his own skin and it made people stop and take notice. I’m not at all surprised that this hasn’t changed.

  Leading us to a table in the far corner, the hostess hands us our menus. “I’d love to take your drink order, what would you like?” She brushes her fingertips on Luke’s arm when she asks and looks only at him while waiting patiently for his answer.

  “What would you like to drink, angel?” Luke asks completely ignoring her.

  “I’ll take a coffee please.” The waitress nods, but her eyes still don’t leave Luke. He doesn’t look at her when he says, “I will have the same please.”

  She looks a bit crestfallen. “Okay, coming right up.”

  I h
ave to admit, I like that he didn’t flirt back with her. Whenever Deacon and I would go out to eat somewhere, he always flirted with the waitresses and it always made me uncomfortable. I usually felt like I may as well have been invisible. With Luke, it was like the waitress was the invisible one. It’s a nice change and makes me feel good.

  Luke looks at me and I stare back. “I feel like we have so much to talk about, yet I have no idea where to start.”

  I let out a breath, “I’m glad you said that because I feel the same way. I have no idea where to begin either. There is so much to share and so many things I want to ask. This feels awkward and familiar at the same time.”

  “Should we start from the day everything changed? When you were,” he looks down at his lap as if the words are hard to say, then looks back at me again, “when you were at my house?”

  Before I can respond, our hostess reappears with our coffees. She sets down the sweeteners and bowl of individual creamers on the table then looks at Luke, “Your waitress will be with you shortly.”

  Luke just nods but doesn’t look at her, his attention on the sugar packets. Before I can grab one he reaches out and touches my hand not letting me grab any packets. “Do you still take three artificial sweeteners and a vanilla creamer?”

  I smile and nod. “I can’t believe you remember that!”

  He holds my eyes, “I remember everything, Olivia.”

  I look down, feeling flush. That was a loaded comment if I ever heard one. My mind instantly goes to our more intimate moments, lips touching, chests pressed together, hands exploring, and I can feel my cheeks heat even more. It is safe to say I remember everything too. Luke hands me the Splenda and creamer; I put them in my coffee, stir, then take a sip before I look back at him.

  Luke takes pity on me and doesn’t comment on my red cheeks, “Back to what I was saying before we were interrupted, do you want to start our conversation from the day you overheard me talking to my mother?”

  “Luke, let’s just start with something simple; catch up on the frivolous things. Our conversation will get there on its own. I know we need to talk about that day, and many days since then, and I know you are curious because I am too. But, we just reconnected and seeing you again, well that’s a lot to take in on its own. Let’s just take things slow and let the conversation go where it may.”

  Luke nods his head, “That sounds good to me.” He leans back in his seat and looks at me intently, “I just want to say that I don’t want any secrets between us and no lies. Lies are what tore us apart to begin with and I don’t want that to happen again.”

  “I agree. No lies.”

  He smiles, “How about we start with your parents, tell me how they’re doing.”

  Just as I open my mouth to reply we are interrupted by our waitress. “Hi, my name is Cassandra and I will be your waitress, I see Sarah already brought you something to drink, are you both ready to order?”

  Luke and I look at one another and we both nod. We’re ready. “Go ahead, angel.”

  I look at our waitress and smile, happy to see she’s looking at me too. “I’d like the cinnamon and vanilla French toast, please, with a side of bacon.” I tell her, then hand her my menu.

  She nods to me and turns to Luke, “For you, sir?”

  He smiles and looks at his menu as he places his order, “I would like your bacado omelet please, with hollandaise sauce on the side, and a side of hash browns.”

  “You betcha, coming right up!” She takes Luke’s menu from him and leaves our table to put in our order with the cook.

  I smile and continue our conversation like we were never interrupted, “My parents are wonderful, they’re retired and living in Arizona. They really love it there and have no intention of ever leaving. I think they may try to be snow birds at some point, which means they will stay in Arizona during the winter and go somewhere else during the summer. I wouldn’t be surprised if they decide to spend the summer in Chicago, since I’m living here again. They tried to convince me to move there with them, but I politely declined. I’m really not interested in living with my parents again.”

  Luke chuckles, “I can understand that. I’m glad to see you and Pyper are still such great friends, though I’m not surprised.”

  “Pyper has been my rock. I can’t imagine her not being in my life. Her friendship means everything to me.”

  “Have you kept in touch with anyone else from high school?”

  “No, not a soul. Only Pyper. How about you? Did you graduate from Loyola University then?”

  “No I didn’t. I stayed there for the first year and then transferred out.”

  I’m surprised, “Oh, really? You were so excited about attending Loyola, that surprises me.”

  Luke smiles sadly, “That was always our dream, and without you, it wasn’t much of a dream anymore. Getting through the first year without you was tough. Before the year was over I had already applied and been accepted to the University of Illinois and I transferred there the following year.”

  I am shocked and moved by his admission.

  “I ended up graduating from U of I with a business degree and began working for my father in the family beer distribution business. I learned a lot and quickly proved myself, moving up the ranks. I like the fact I wasn’t an automatic shoo-in with my dad just because it’s a family business. He made me prove myself, and I did. My father decided to expand the business and not only supply beer to bars and stores, but to open a chain of clubs as an LLC attached to Easton Distributing Company.”

  “A chain? Wow. So Zero Gravity isn’t the only club you own?”

  “Zero Gravity is the only club that belongs to me and my company exclusively. For my first solo assignment my father sent me to California to assist with opening a club called Storm. The club did so well that my father made a deal with me. He would let me choose the next place we opened a club, if that club did as well as the first, he would give me a percentage of the profits, which would enable me to open a third club at a place of my choosing. While this club would still be operated under the EDC name, the management, salary, hiring, design, and profits would be exclusively mine to handle.”

  Luke pauses and takes a sip of his coffee before continuing, “The second location I chose was Miami. Miami is a big party city in Florida and I knew any new club would do well there. We opened Club Bailar about a year ago and it, as you can imagine, was a raging success. The location is perfect and we had lines to get in from the day it opened. My father stayed true to his word and I received a large amount of money to open my own club. Several months ago I started looking into various locations.”

  I’m intrigued, listening to him tell me about what he’s been doing. It makes me feel content hearing him tell me about his life. In quiet secret moments over the years, when I would allow myself thoughts of Luke, I wondered what happened to him, where he was, what he was doing, and who he was with. I don’t have to wonder anymore. A part of me feels more complete than I have in a long time, with those thoughts no longer being questions, but answers.

  “So why did you choose Chicago for your third location?”

  We are interrupted by the waitress placing our food on the table before Luke can answer my question . My French toast looks so good and I can’t wait to take a bite! “Can I get you anything else?”

  “Olivia, do you need anything?” Luke asks me.

  “No thank you, I’m fine. This looks great, thank you.”

  “Thanks.” Luke tells our waitress and then turns to his food, unwraps his silverware and cuts out a big piece of his omelet, taking a bite. I like watching his lips and jaw move while he chews. When he swallows and licks his lips, I realize I’m staring and turn to my own plate of food. Covering my French toast with syrup, I unwrap my own silverware, place the napkin on my lap, cut a bite and put it into my mouth.

  “Mmmmm,” I moan, it tastes wonderful. I look up at Luke to see him staring at my lips. I can’t help the small smirk that plays on my lips at
seeing him doing the exact same thing I was just doing to him. I turn my attention back to my food and take another bite.

  I hear Luke clear his throat, “How’s the French toast?”

  “So good. How’s your omelet?”

  “Very good.”

  “Now finish telling me, why did you end up choosing Chicago as the location for your club?”

  He finishes chewing and then swallows and takes a drink of his coffee before replying, “Well, I guess for a couple reasons. First of all, Illinois is home. While we didn’t grow up in the city, it’s still home and I missed it. The other reason,” Luke hesitates and his brows furrow, making me think he’s unsure about sharing whatever he’s about to say. “Well my mom,” he doesn’t have to say more than that and I felt myself flinch slightly at the reference to his mother. I know it has been a long time, but the fact that she hated me still resonates. “Well my Mom is sick.”

  “Sick?”

  “Yes, she has cancer.”

  “Oh my gosh, Luke, I’m so sorry!” Regardless of how I feel about her and that I believe she is partly responsible for what happened between Luke and me, I would never wish something like this on her.

  “Thanks. It started with a mole on her leg, she got it checked out, they sent her for a biopsy, and we found out she has melanoma. She’s undergoing treatment and we’re hopeful for a full recovery, but the chemotherapy treatments have been rough. I decided to come back home and be closer to her and my dad so I can help out.”

  “Oh, wow. Well of course you wanted to. I would want to be close to my parents as well if one of mine were sick.”

  Changing the subject from his mom, Luke says, “Tell me, what brought you back to Chicago, angel?”

  I knew this question would come up at some point. Did I want to get into it now? I wanted to keep things light, but is that really possible? I suppose now is as good a time as any. Deacon was not going to be an easy conversation to have, no matter when it happens.

  I sigh deeply, look up into Luke’s eyes and say, “Well, Pyper asked me to come and live with her so I could, shall we say, start over,” I see the question in his eyes, so I finish with, “because I just went through a nasty divorce.”