"It's nothing, Max. Forget about it. When you took over as my manager I was appalled by the way you behaved. I hated your guts, I even thought about requesting a transfer you annoyed me so much. I was foaming at the mouth with some of your requests. You were completely unreasonable. But since we started working more closely, I can see you've got a good heart. You can be abrasive at times but I've got used to that. I even like you, a little bit, but not too much." Julie smiled.
Max sipped his coffee. "I'm not as bad as people make out. My job comes with a lot of pressure, when it comes down to it if I don't get results I'm out. If I mess up, I won't have the money to pay for my brothers' education, they're both coming to the end of medical school and it's very expensive. I can't afford to not succeed.
"Anyway, enough about me, do you have a steady boyfriend?"
Julie pulled the jacket closer around her. "Not really, although there is one guy I'm in touch with by email but we've not met yet. He's into all the things I enjoy. He's an artist too, he plays tennis like me, he likes to travel and he's very witty."
"Sounds like me," Max laughed.
Julie blushed and sneaked a peek at Max's brown eyes. "Hmm, he does actually, only he's in Cardiff."
Max picked up his coffee. "I grew up in Cardiff. And I worked there on a project before I moved to London. Maybe I know him, what's his name?"
"I only know his username, FastDriver."
Max choked on his coffee and spurted, "You must be joking! I used that username for a blind date service until it locked me out for inactivity or non bill payment, something like that. With moving to London and the new job I just hadn't got around to sorting it out."
Julie's eyes bulged, "You're FastDriver? Come on, you don't expect me to believe that, you must have been looking at my computer."
"Honest to God, Julie, this is not a wind up. I've known Merlin for years because he visits Cardiff a lot, I even have close friends who hang out with him. And because he's famous for his matchmaking I thought I'd give it a go. Phone him and ask or if you like I can prove to you right now this is for real, I 'll tell you your username."
"Go on then, Max, what name do I use?"
Max looked Julie in the eye and lowered his voice. "I've been emailing BlueCat."
Julie shivered and shook her head, "This is ridiculous, this isn't funny, Max. It's not right to play with someone's feelings like this. If this is a joke, you must, you simply must tell me now."
"I can assure you, Julie, I would not joke about something like this, and I certainly wouldn't do that to you. I like you, I mean, I respect you too much. And to prove it, I'll tell you the last message I sent you."
Julie glared at him. "Ok, go on, I'm all ears."
Max took a deep breath and paused before saying, "I told you when we meet, we'll dance in the light of the full Moon."
"Oh my God, it is you." Julie's mind flashed back to Merlin's room, the fortune telling and Linda's insistence that Merlin had found her a husband. She was speechless, all she could do was stare at Max and wonder what to do next.
* * *
Max had booked a table in the finest French restaurant in Brussels. Still feeling overwhelmed by the revelations of the day, Julie wore her favorite dress, an elegant black evening gown.
Max pulled out her chair and helped her into her place before taking his seat. In the candlelight of the 18th century room he looked very handsome in his navy dinner jacket.
Julie still didn't know how to relate to him, was this a date with FastDriver or a friendly celebratory dinner with her boss? She couldn't tell anymore. All she knew for sure was that she felt nervous and excited in a way she hadn't for a very long time.
The food was excellent and the champagne flowed freely.
"Julie, there's something I have to tell you. The day I held that first office meeting, I liked you the moment I set eyes on you. The rest of them looked like lambs to the slaughter but you stood out from the pack and not just because you 're a very attractive woman but because you're bright. I could see that right away. I choose you to work on this project with me because I wanted to get to know you better. I know, it's not very professional of me but I really don't care."
"You do have a beating heart like the rest of us then," Julie laughed, "And we thought you were going to rip the office apart with your bare hands."
Max put down his glass and pursed his lips. "I played up the macho thing to get your attention, maybe I went a bit too far. What I'm saying, what I'm struggling to say, is this, I'm crazy about you."
Julie's heart missed a beat and she felt faint. She didn't know what to say so for once she decided to confess her true feelings. "I like you too, Max, I tried to deny it but there it was every time I looked at you. You infuriated me when I first met you but as I've got to know you I've started to care about you. I kept avoiding those feelings because of that guy in Cardiff. Now it turns out that he is you, you are FastDriver, it's been very confusing."
Max moved closer and whispered in her ear. "I'm in love with you, Julie." He put his hand over hers and looked into her blue eyes.
Julie felt his warmth on her hand, looked into his big brown eyes and melted. Her heart beat faster and now the champagne wasn't the only thing making her feel light headed. Her heart was winning the battle and her head wasn't even putting up a fight. She looked at Max's strong jaw line, his groomed thick black hair and she just couldn't resist anymore. He gently touched her cheek and all she wanted was to feel his arms around her. All she wanted in the entire world was this handsome man right in front of her. Nothing else mattered.
"Kiss me, Max," she whispered.
Max moved closer and planted a firm kiss on her lips. "I've been wanting to do that for a very long time." He kissed her again and put his strong arms around her.
Julie smiled at the twinkle in his eye, "I've tried not to but I couldn't stop myself. I love you, Max."
"And I love you, Julie, You're the woman of my dreams."
Ask Me Out
Kate picked up the freshly iced wedding cake and walked from the kitchen out to the front of the shop. "Ann, can you box this up please? It's due for collection in half an hour."
"Sure, I'll do it in a minute, Kate. I bet when you opened this shop you never thought you'd get your hands on so much wedding cake. So close to so many happy moments. It's great."
"Yeah, just great," Kate snarled. "Actually, I'm thinking about putting a ban on wedding cakes until I get my own one."
Kate looked over at the small TV screen behind the shop counter, "He's hot, who is he?"
Ann's eyes were glued to the screen. "That's John Patkins, he's big news this week. He just announced he's developing the old part of Darston Green in south London with a plan to build apartments overlooking the river. He is hot, isn't he?"
Kate moved closer and stared at the screen. John looked like he was about 38, he clearly worked out and he was well dressed in a smart dark navy suit. He was tall with short dark hair and a strong chiseled chin. "Yes he is, he's absolutely gorgeous. Why don't we ever see men like him in the shop?"
Kate sighed, John was exactly the kind of man she had always dreamed of meeting, wedding cake with him would taste divine. When she was a teenager she'd had a poster of a guy like him on her bedroom wall. And every night before she went to sleep she'd discuss her future plans with him. She'd forgotten about all of that until this moment. She had been so innocent back then, unaware of the ways of the world, unaware of the disappointments and frustrations that would line the road ahead.
Ann turned to look at Kate. "How are you getting on with Joe? You've been seeing him for about 6 months now, isn't it?"
"Not so good, Ann. He's turned out to be really lazy and only interested in watching football, I'm just glad I didn't move in with him. You should see his place, it's a dump, if burglars broke in they'd leave straight away because they wouldn't be able to find anything. If someone planted a bomb in his kitchen it would be doing him a favor."
&nb
sp; Ann shook her head. "That bad? Sounds terrible. What about the relationship though? You happy together?"
Kate shrugged her shoulders. "We've just blended into an ongoing complacency where we never get that annoyed with each other but we never have any great times either. It's just ongoing apathy. I'm going to have a talk with him tonight about his attitude. If he doesn't get more interested in the relationship I don't see any point in continuing with it."
"I see, well, if it doesn't work out you'll find someone else. Don't worry, Kate. There's lots of good men out there you just need to go to the right places."
"I'm not so sure about that," Kate laughed. "But, we'll see."
* * *
Kate stepped into Joe's living room, ignoring the musty smell, she moved a pile of magazines and empty boxes and made a small space on the sofa to sit down. Joe was happily watching football on TV, with 2 days of stubble on his face and a coffee stained white polo shirt stuffed into his worn jeans.
"We need to talk, Joe," Kate raised her voice above the sound of the football game, "About us."
"Go ahead, what's on your mind?" Joe looked over at Kate for a moment before his eyes wandered back to the TV. "Everything ok?"
"Not really, Joe, we hardly talk anymore. Haven't you noticed? We're in a rut and I don't see how we're going to get out of it. Things aren't working out."
Joe scratched his arm pit. "I'm quite happy with our relationship, it's everything I want. I don't have any problems with you, it's all good as far as I'm concerned."
"No, it's not all good, Joe. This is a perfect example. I came over here to talk about us and you're more interested in staring at the TV. Don't you see the problem with that?"
Joe looked away from the TV for a moment to look Kate in the eye. "Not really, this is an important game, if United win this they go through to the next round of the championship. I told you about this game last weekend, remember?"
"No, I don't actually. Joe, let's face it we are different people with different interests. Maybe it's time to call it a day. It's just not working."
Joe turned to Kate again, "Are you serious about that?"
Kate nodded her head. "Yes, I'm deadly serious."
"Ok then, Kate, if that's how you feel, let's call it a day, I 'll show you out."
Joe shut the door behind her and Kate hopped into her car feeling strangely relieved, she flipped on Alicia Keys and sung her heart out as she made her way home. She felt light and free and she knew she should have ended it months ago. Then all of a sudden, she burst into laughter as she imagined the next girl who stepped into Joe's house, sitting there trying to deal with his piles of debris while he happily watched TV. Nice guy but such a mess.
* * *
The new Saturday night ritual saw Kate out and about in town, living it up and meeting people. Ann was right, there were great guys everywhere and she was having the time of her life flirting and been chatted up. Life was good and she was loving the single life. It didn't take long however before the late nights left her feeling exhausted. Monday morning would roll by and she'd struggle to get up and out the door to work. Cake orders kept piling up and she had to admit it, at 33 years of age, she was too old to be out partying so much when she had a business to run and deadlines to meet.
"You look like you another great weekend, tell me, what's his name?" Ann smiled.
"Nothing like that I can assure you, Ann. Just dancing and too much wine. It was fun but I need to ease off the gas for a while, I'm getting burned out already."
Ann playfully grabbed Kate's shoulder. "But you do look much happier, Kate. Whatever it is you're doing, maybe I need some of it too."
Kate beamed back at Ann. "I'm just perfectly happy being single to be honest. It's such a relief not having to deal with Joe anymore and I haven't missed him one bit, it's almost like that entire relationship never happened, and I've found me again. I have more time to take care of myself and I'm not running around taking care of someone else, someone who doesn't appreciate all I do for him. So, yes, all in all I am happy."
"But, Kate. What are you going to do with all those long evenings? Won't you get bored?"
"Not at all, Sunday evening I planned out what I want to do with my house. I'm going to redecorate the entire place, put in a new kitchen and bathroom and paint all the rooms. I'm going to make it just the way I want it and I'm really looking forward to getting started, it'll be a lot of fun, and I won't have to answer to anyone else," Kate laughed.
"Hey, Kate, I almost forgot to mention it. When you were out on your coffee break, guess who was here?"
"Not my ex?"
Ann shook her head. "No, of course not, I'd have booted him out of the shop before he knew what was coming, don't worry. No, John Patkins was here. Remember, that guy we saw on TV a while back? The really hot guy."
Kate couldn't believe her ears. "Really? No way! This is a wind up, right? What was he doing in here?"
Ann laughed at Kate's reaction. "Same as everyone else, buying a cake, silly."
Kate furrowed her brow. "Better not have been a wedding cake."
"No, don't worry," Ann laughed, "He ordered a birthday cake with a greeting on the top, he'll be back later to collect it."
"Lucky wife!" Kate resigned herself to the inevitable.
"No, Kate, it's for his P.A. I asked him if it was for his wife or girlfriend, I pretended I needed to know before I could choose the right look for the greeting."
"Good work, Ann. I knew there was a reason I took you on as my business partner," Kate laughed, "So,what time is he back later?"
Ann grabbed Kate's forearm. "At 3:30 right during my afternoon tea break, so it looks like I'll have to leave him in your capable hands. I'm sure you'll be fine. One warning though, He's far better looking in real life than he is on TV. Just letting you know now, don't drop that cake when he walks in!"
Kate felt her pulse racing and a wave of heat radiate to her cheeks. "Oh my God, why am I suddenly so nervous? I think I need to step outside for a minute to get some air. Not that I'm looking for a man or anything. But still, you never know. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth as they say."
Ann took a deep breath. "Kate, if I wasn't happily married I'd be all over him. He's gorgeous and he has a great accent. He's Irish."
"Ok, I'm stepping out for some air, be back in a minute," Kate giggled and hurried out of the shop.
* * *
Kate was enjoying her work more than ever, she was happy and energetic with big plans for the future of her business and even the customers noticed the difference in her, people would linger to talk to her. She had a lot of guys asking her out but she always gave them the same response, "Thank you but I'm not dating right now, I've just come out of a long term relationship."
What she wasn't admitting was that since the day John had come by to collect his cake she hadn't stopped thinking about him. That moment was etched in her memory...
John had popped in at 3:30, and strode up to the counter with a big smile, "You must be Kate, I've heard a lot about you."
Kate looked up from her work to see the man of her dream walking towards her dressed in an expensive dark suit that accentuated his good looks. She blushed before she could try to stop it and her heart fluttered, "Oh hi, you must be John. Nice to meet. And yes, I am the one and only Kate." Ann was right, he looked even hotter in real life, way better than when she had stared at him on TV.
John rested his hands on the counter. "Ann told me I should meet you."
Kate felt weak at the knees as she soaked up his Irish accent but she tried to appear professional. "Oh did she? She didn't say anything to me about that but she conveniently nipped out for a break just before you got here. By the way, we saw you on TV. How is that building project coming along?"
John adjusted his tie. "We break ground this week so we're making progress. Maybe you'd like to open a second cake shop there when the shopping mall opens?"
Kate passed the cake box to John. "Maybe I will, I'll
have to come and have a look sometime. Anyway, here's your cake. It's paid for and boxed up all ready to go."
"Great, thank you. Maybe see you another day, Kate," John smiled and made his way out of the shop and back to his car. Kate watched him drive off and sighed, wishing she hadn't been so nervous, wishing she had made a better first impression.
* * *
A week passed and Kate stood at at the counter staring out the window.
"Why so glum, Kate?" A concerned Ann enquired.
Kate grimaced. "I went out with Larry last night. Nice guy but oh so boring."
"Uh-oh. He does order the same thing every week. What is it again? Oh yeah, 10 jam doughnuts. Same thing every Friday lunchtime." Ann furrowed her brow. "I thought you weren't dating?"
Kate turned to look at Ann. "I know this sounds silly but I was saving myself for John. I was hoping he'd sweep me off my feet and we'd sail off into the sunset with a wedding cake. Didn't happen, he came, he bought, he left. So, I thought, why not? I get asked out all the time, why not see how it goes?"
"Maybe Larry wasn't the best choice. Don't write them all off, Kate."
"I already have, Ann. I should have stuck to what I said a few weeks ago: keep my head down, build the business, redecorate the house and enjoy all the time I have to myself. I don't need the aggravation of dealing with a high maintenance man. I really don't."
"Kate, why don't you take your morning break and forget about Larry? I'll take care of everything here until you get back. Go, go on, get out of here."
"Thanks, Ann, I could do with a coffee actually. See you in a bit."
Kate walked over to the coffee shop and grabbed her favorite table just inside the window. She sipped her espresso and smiled as she watched Sarah singing away to herself as she tidied up around the cafe. "You always look like you're having such a good time, can I come and work for you, please?"
Romantic Moments - 5 Romantic Short Stories Page 7
