Date Shark

by DelSheree Gladden

  The change in topic pulled Eli’s mind away from Leila. “I’ve only been doing lunch dates lately so I can spend time with Leila in the evenings, and only one or two a week. I’ve turned down at least a dozen in the past month.”

  “You know you have to give it up before anything can happen with Leila.”

  Eli bristled at the comment. Of course he knew. He and Vance had spent the last four months talking about him giving up the date shark business. Eli had tried. He thought it would be easy now that he had Leila in his life, but the wounds that inspired him to start the service in the first place went too deep to ignore.

  “You can’t fix them,” Vance said. “And even if you could, it won’t change the fact that your mom is where she is.”

  “Maybe I can’t fix them, but what if I can prevent them from ending up like her?”

  The shake of Vance’s head was both sad and frustrated. “Eli, what is the first thing that has to happen before behavior can change.”

  The answer rolled off Eli’s lips with practiced ease. “The patient has to want to change.”

  “Exactly.”

  “But they do want to change,” he argued. “Why else would they call me?”

  Vance sighed. “They want you to give them the magic key to relationship happiness. They don’t want to change. They want to be less lonely. Most of them, anyway.” He glanced at Leila in concession.

  “Leila doesn’t count,” Eli admitted. “There was nothing wrong with her. She just needed someone to believe in her.”

  “If you agree that one date with a woman who has obvious psychological issues isn’t going to change anything, why are you still taking clients? Isn’t Leila worth giving that up for? You’re in love with her!”

  The panic that welled up in Eli’s chest at his friend’s words sent his eyes snapping over to Leila. Thankfully, she was busy laughing with Karen and Stephanie and hadn’t heard Vance. All the same, Eli shoved his friend a little further away from the table before speaking in a low voice.

  “Yes, Leila is worth giving up the date shark business, but it’s not that easy.”

  Vance rested his hand on Eli’s shoulder. “I’m speaking as your psychiatrist now. This date shark thing is a substitute for your mom. We both know that. If you want to get over the obsessive need to save mentally unstable women, go talk to your mom.”

  “No.”

  “Eli, you need to.”

  “I can’t.”

  His friend looked past him, and Eli knew his eyes were resting on Leila. “You only have two months left before Ana’s fall show. If you’re not there, Leila will know she’s the reason. You promised me and yourself that you would tell her everything if it came to that. If you tell her you’re in love with her, but can’t give up your side business for her … it won’t end the way you want. You’ll lose her for good.”

  “I know,” Eli said quietly.

  A voice filled the room, announcing that it was time to begin. Everyone, including Eli, quickly found their seats. A hush spread over the room as the speaker introduced important people and laid out the schedule for the night. Eli heard little of what he said. His thoughts kept wandering to the future, and for the first time a real sense of fear that he would not meet his deadline crept into his mind.

  Leila asking him a question after the speaker stepped down pulled him back toward the present, but the fear never left completely. Every time she touched him or leaned closer so he could hear her better, every time she laughed or smiled, he pushed his worry further back. Eventually it was enough that Eli could enjoy the evening. He listened to the keynote speaker, applauded when Edgar took the podium, and even found himself smiling when his mentor presented him with an award for distinguished service to the field of psychiatry. It helped that Leila was beaming at him the entire time.

  By the end of the night, he was actually sad to see it end. The drive back to his apartment was quiet, but comfortable. It didn’t bother him that Leila nestled into her seat and closed her eyes when they got in. He loved that she felt comfortable enough with him to not try and fill the empty silence with small talk. The first step in trying to make Leila see him as someone she belonged with was to become her true and real friend. Knowing that she had accepted him as such was gratifying, but it had taken four months to get there. How long would it take before she would see him as anything more?

  Eli pulled into his usual parking space before remembering Leila had probably left her car in the visitor’s lot. “I’m sorry, I forgot where you parked,” he said. “Would like me to drive you to your car?”

  “Actually, is it too late to come up? I left all my clothes from earlier in your apartment.”

  “If you’re tired I can bring them too you in the morning,” Eli offered, although inviting Leila up was an appealing idea.

  Leila chewed at her lip, hesitating. Eli’s hope that the clothes weren’t only reason behind her desire to come up was dashed a moment later when she said, “I kind of needed your help with something for work, too. Ana and I couldn’t agree and I thought you could tell me which one was better. Do you mind?”

  Not exactly what Eli had been hoping for, but it meant more time with Leila. “No, I don’t mind. Come on up.”

  Eli remembered taking the stack of St. Claire embossed notebooks from Leila earlier that night, but hadn’t given them much thought at the time. He supposed he should have questioned why she would bring them up to his apartment. At the time he had been too surprised and thrilled to see her that it hadn’t occurred to him. As they sat down on the couch with the notebooks open, Eli wasn’t sure what Leila expected from him.

  “What is all this?” he asked as he looked through dozens of different product logo designs.

  “Ana is ready to retire the Bohemian Bead line and debut something new in the fall.”

  Eli frowned. “I thought the bead stuff was doing well.”

  “Oh it is,” Leila assured him, “but with fashion it’s best to go out before your sales start to drop. If customers are still adoring your current line when you switch they’re more likely to pick up your new line right away. The Bohemian Bead line won’t go extinct, it’ll just take a back seat to her new brand, Goldenline. It’s a retro style from the 30s and 40s with a contemporary face lift.”

  The Golden Age of Hollywood. Eli had no trouble imagining what had inspired this new line. Clearly Ana had spent too much time watching classic movies with Leila. He smiled at the idea of Leila influencing such a major direction change in her boss’s career interests without her even realizing it. It was a thought that took an interesting turn, leading him to the beginnings of an idea.

  “So, what I need your help with is to help me figure out which of these designs are the best,” Leila said. She looked at him expectantly.

  Eli was lost. “What would I know about logos? Or color and design? I think we already established the fact that I can’t even choose my own clothing without screwing it up.”

  The exaggerated roll of Leila’s eyes was amusing. “It was only that one outfit,” she said, “and I’m not asking you to help design anything. I need you to tell me what customers will think when they see each of these designs so we can pick the one that draws the right response.”

  “Oh.” Now that made sense to him. He sat forward on the couch and looked at the mockups again, this time was a more analytical eye.

  First, he glanced through each image looking purely at the esthetics of each one. Of the twelve, he picked up four and set them aside with a quick explanation to Leila of why he had cut each one. The reasons varied from problems with symmetry to displeasing color combinations, or layouts that drew the eye to the wrong aspect. She agreed with each one. His second pass through looked more closely at fonts. Another three were removed because the fonts chosen evoked feelings of sadness because of drooping letters, tension from strict and compact lettering, and one because it looked so happy and bubbly that he felt it clashed with the ide
a of the line.

  He stared at the remaining five, selected two more to cut, then looked over at Leila. “How am I doing? I haven’t cut the top choices, have I?”

  “No. Those were the ones we threw out pretty fast as well.” She smiled and bumped against his shoulder. “See, you are good at this.”

  “We’ll see.”

  After yawning, Leila gestured at the remaining logos. “Tell me about the rest of these.”

  “Okay, let’s start with this one.” He picked up the image and held it between them. “The color layout puts the focus on this flower in the corner. It’s big and gold. Yes, the gold inspires thoughts of wealth and society, but it completely drowns out the rest of the logo. No one will pay attention to the brand name, they’ll only remember the giant golden rose. And even though the rose is gold, is doesn’t translate to Goldenline naturally.”

  Leila’s body tensed up immediately. At first Eli thought he had said something to offend her, but then she spilled out her frustration. “That is one of the arguments I’ve been having with Ana. She wants a rose because roses are classic. She thinks a classic rose will remind them of classic movies.”

  “Nine times out of ten, people see roses and think of love and romance. For people like you that might bring up thoughts of Bing Crosby and Audrey Hepburn, but for most it won’t. Roses are too strong of a symbol by themselves to try and attach it to something else.”

  “Thank you,” Leila said, dropping back against the couch looking quite vindicated.

  One more glance at the remaining two logos made him realize that they also had roses. “What flower do you want to use?” he asked.

  Leila chewed at her lip. “Tell me about the other two first, and then I’ll show you.”

  “Okay,” he said, not totally sure why she wouldn’t tell him then. But he did as she requested.

  The next logo he picked up was better, but still not what he wanted to see. “This one, I don’t care for the brand name being written in gold. It doesn’t stand out enough. The white background makes it look dull and this deep reddish color inspires darker emotions. Together they remind me of a funeral.”

  “Well, we definitely don’t want to bring up thoughts of death with the new line, so that one’s out.” She looked at the last remaining image. “What about that one?”

  Eli picked it up and examined it carefully. “The maroon background could be slightly lighter to give an impression of opulence without detracting from the rest of the logo. I like the brand name in white with the gold line under it. The name stands out very sharply and the line emphasizes it and ties it to the name. The rose still doesn’t work, though.”

  He set the logo back down and looked over at Leila. She sighed. “That’s the logo Ana wants, but I agree with you. It’s not perfect.”

  She took the image from the table and stared at it. “It’s no problem to lighten the maroon. I see what you mean about it being too dark. It misses that universally royal shade. I doubt Ana will have a problem with that.”

  “It’s the flower she’s stuck on, right?”

  Leila nodded.

  “Show me your idea.”

  Still somewhat hesitant, Leila removed a piece of paper from another folder and held it. She looked over at Eli very seriously. “You have to be honest.”

  “I will,” he promised.

  Leila held it for a few more seconds before handing it over with a nervous huff. She seemed unsure that he would like it, but as soon as Eli looked down he knew she had hit the mark exactly. The big white flower corresponded to the brand name and helped to tone down the maroon. And in the center was a golden yellow tuft of pollen atop a stem. It was exactly what the other logos had been missing. It tied the name of the line to the image perfectly.

  “What is this flower?” Eli asked. The large, broad petals looked familiar, but he couldn’t place them.

  “It’s a magnolia. It reminded me of Marilyn Monroe’s famous white dress. You know, the one she wore standing over the air grate.”

  Eli laughed when he realized how right she was. The layered, curled petals looked exactly like Marilyn’s dress as it billowed up, tantalizing everyone who looked with the promise of even more luscious skin being revealed. Even the pollen tuft in the center resembled Marilyn’s bleach blonde hair. The magnolia was exactly what Ana needed to pull customers in.

  “Ana has to use this one,” Eli said. “Magnolias are familiar, but exotic. There are no strong connotations to the image, and it pulls the eyes right to the brand name in the same colors. People will remember this. And it does look like Marilyn. Classic, sophisticated, beautiful, and not to mention sexy and a little bit exotic. It’s perfect.”

  Leila’s sigh was profound. “Thank you, Eli. Ana will be more willing to give in after hearing your analysis. I know she trusts my judgment on almost everything, but I’ve never out right contradicted her on a design like this. Usually we’re so likeminded we agree right away.”

  It was probably a shock for Ana to have Leila tell her she was wrong, too. Ana had heard the same complaints from Leila that she wasn’t artistic many times that Eli had heard. Although Ana knew Leila could put together eye catching displays and print work with no problem, it was usually all designed around Ana’s ideas. Eli supposed it was like a painter who could duplicate the old masters flawlessly, but failed to create anything unique and original. Only Eli had the benefit of knowing Leila was artistic, and very good as well.

  The idea he had been toying with a few minutes earlier came back with even more force behind it. It would involve breaking a promise to Leila, but he felt it was worth the risk. At least he hoped it was. His mind was tearing off down paths to make his plan into a reality, but apparently Leila’s mind had switched topics as well.

  “This is going to sound kind of random, but Luke wants to get to know you better. He had this idea that we should go out together … on a double date.” Leila promptly tucked her lips between her teeth as she waited for his response.

  Eli feared she would be waiting for a while. Spending time with Leila and Luke sounded unpleasant enough. He had a feeling Luke would make a show of keeping Leila close. Leila may think he was okay with them hanging around each other, but Eli knew better. This wasn’t a bid to get to know his girlfriend’s friend. It was a chance to show Eli that Leila belonged to Luke, not him. That was enough reason to say no.

  Bringing a date along to watch the carnage, that made it immensely less appealing. Eli had no desire to date anyone else. He didn’t even know who to ask. Outside of his date shark business, he hadn’t dated seriously in quite a while. He could borrow Stephanie, but Luke would see right through that. However, bringing an actual date might confirm to Leila that he was interested in seeing other women. There was no good way to say yes, but saying no would be even worse.

  “Sure, that sounds great,” he said, his attempt at sounding positive falling flat.

  Maybe Vance would know what to do. Or maybe Guy. Eli thought about his friend. Yes, Guy would know exactly what to do.

  Chapter 21

  Such A Good Boy

  Luke’s work schedule postponed the double date for two weeks. It was still too soon for Leila’s taste. She was dreading the whole thing. Luke put up with her friendship with Eli, but Leila wasn’t naïve enough to think he liked it. This was a ploy to feel out Eli’s real interest in Leila. Once she would have felt certain that romance was nowhere in sight. She wasn’t so sure anymore.

  She watched Eli pace back and forth on the balcony. His hushed tone and tense shoulders worried her. He had been pleasant enough when she had dropped by to let him know they had to change their plans for dinner from six to eight for the double date that night because Luke’s flight was delayed leaving Denver. His phone had rung soon after, and as soon as he saw the caller ID he had gone rigid and excused himself to the balcony.

  Knowing that whatever had him pacing and waving his free hand around wasn’t going to be exp
lained when he came in from the balcony, Leila wandered into the kitchen. Normally, tea was her first thought when she entered Eli’s kitchen, but she had just been forced to endure a Zumba class with Ana and was starving. The class had actually been a lot of fun. She didn’t admit that to Ana, of course.

  Leila searched through the fridge looking for something to eat. Eli’s fridge was always stocked with interesting things. The variety of cheeses always surprised her. She hadn’t known what a dragon fruit was before meeting Eli, either. There were some small oval orange looking things that she thought might be kumquats, but she decided to go with the familiar and grabbed a banana instead. She wanted some peanut butter to go with it and sighed when she remembered Eli kept it on the top shelf.

  A glance at the balcony showed him still pacing. She opened the cupboard that housed the peanut butter and reached for it. Her not so impressive height left her several inches short. Leila glanced around the kitchen, hoping for a step stool. But why would there be? Eli could reach all of his cupboards just fine. Trying again, she lifted onto her tip toes and was able to brush her fingers against the jar.

  The heat and weight of another body pressing close startled her and she fell back onto her heels. Eli grabbed the jar of peanut butter and handed it to her with a smile. “You could have just asked,” he said.

  “You were busy.”

  “You could have waited.”

  She wrinkled her nose at him. “I was hungry.”

  Eli didn’t have an argument for that. He leaned against the counter, watching as Leila scooped out a spoonful of peanut butter and stuck it in her mouth. He shook his head at her eating habits and put the jar back in its place. She watched him, concerned when his face slipped back into a strained expression.

  “Hey, is everything okay?”

  He looked up at the sound of her voice, almost as if he had momentarily forgotten she was there. That worried her even more. Eli was always extremely attentive. He smiled again, but it was forced. “Yes, just some issues with a patient.”