by P. G. Van
“I won’t be here tomorrow. Ask Rob to make you the same drink I made for you tonight,” I said softly.
Reyan looked at me for a moment and asked, “What are you doing tomorrow?”
“I am not telling you.” I tilted my chin up refusing to give into the charm.
“I’ll find you. You’re on your break now, let’s go. I want you to meet the rest of the gang,” Reyan said smiling at me.
There is no way you will find me.
Chapter 5
“Vinnie!! You’re on time for a change,” Meg said in her standard teenage tone.
“Sarcasm is not going to convince me that you need the two hundred dollar bike,” I taunted.
“Hey, it’s my birthday gift. You can’t change your mind now,” she started to whine.
I wrapped my arms around her smiling, “I won’t. I am messing with you.”
‘I love you too, Vinnie.”
“Yeah, yeah.” I pulled out my phone that was buzzing in my tote.
“It’s Vinnie.”
“Hi Ma’am, this is Suzi. I am Mr. Shah’s insurance agent. May I ask you a few questions about the accident that happened on Saturday night?”
“Who is Mr. Shah?” I asked confused with the phone call.
“Mr. Neel Shah,” the woman clarified.
“Oh got it. How can I help you?” I said on the phone.
“I have a few questions for you regarding the accident, and then I need you to sign a release form so I can enter the information into our system.”
Weird.
I spent five minutes answering all her questions.
“I need the release signed today so I can tie it back to our recorded conversation. Where can I meet you? I only need a signature and a date from you,” Suzi said at the end of the conversation.
“I have plans for tonight, can you meet me tomorrow?” I asked rolling my eyes.
“It is mandatory that I get the release signed the same day of the recording or we will need to do the recording again tomorrow,” she informed me in an authoritative tone.
“Okay. Can you meet me at the bike store in North Beach at four?” I gave her the address and directions to the bike store when she agreed to meet me at the store.
“Who is crashing our romantic evening?” Meg chuckled.
“Some insurance lady. She needs my autograph because I am the best bartender in San Francisco.” I winked at her.
“Right!! I can’t wait to be twenty-one. I want to try all the weird drinks that you make.” Meg laughed.
“They are not weird Meg. It’s called being creative,” I smirked.
“Show off!!!”
“You are just too boring Meg,” I taunted.
Meg went unusually silent suddenly, and we rode in silence in my aunt’s minivan to the bike store.
“What is it, Meg?” I asked when she suddenly stopped talking after I said she was boring, but I got no response.
I took a deep breath and said, “No one gets to say you are boring…I am the only one who gets to say that.”
When Meg made no attempt to retaliate to my comment, I knew it had to be something serious.
“What’s the name of the kid?” I asked taking a shot in the dark.
“He is not a kid.”
“What did he say?” I asked not letting go of the topic.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
‘Meg, I can’t pull words out of your mouth. You gotta tell me what happened,” I grumbled.
“I’ll be fine,” she uttered softly and refused to continue the discussion.
“Okay, forget about those crappy mean kids, think about which bike you want to get.”
“I just need something to take to school,” she said suddenly uninterested in our shopping trip.
“Meg, you get to buy any bike you like. It’s your birthday gift,” I said smiling at her.
“Really?” That cheered her up instantly.
I pulled up in front of the bike store a few minutes before four. Meg was excited about bike shopping, but I could tell she was upset about something. I wished I could figure out what was going on as easily as I could figure out what people wanted to drink when they approached me at the bar.
“That’s the one, Vinnie!!” Meg walked towards a stack of bikes as she pointed to a powder blue women’s bike.
“Are you sure about the color?” I asked wondering why she wanted a blue bike.
“Are you kidding me? I love this color.” Meg ran her petite fingers along the handle.
“Hello ladies, how can I help you?” One of the sales guys approached us as we moved around from one bike to the other discussing the benefits and downsides of each bike.
“Holy moly!!! Vinnie don’t look. It’s that hot guy!!” Meg squealed softly.
“Who Jason?” I asked without turning around.
“No…the guy who makes Jason look like a whimp!!” she giggled looking past me.
Shit!! Reyan??
“Focus, Meg. We are here to get you a bike.” I tried real hard not to look while I told myself I shouldn’t care that he was at the store.
“Vinnie, this guy is like that hot guy in the Bollywood movies,” she whispered.
“Really? How many Indian movies have you watched?” I mocked.
“I just check out that hot guy when mom is watching the movies,” she confessed.
“Whatever, Meg!!”
“It’s rude to ignore people,” she said urging me to talk to him.
“It’s okay, I haven’t seen him…yet,” I clarified.
“He is walking towards us.”
“Meg, I didn’t sign up for a second-by-second commentary.” I was annoyed that I couldn’t get her to focus on buying a bike.
“Are you sure he is gay?” she finally asked.
“Cut it out, Meg!!” I gave her one of my stern looks and that seemed to dampen her excitement slightly.
“You ignoring me?” A familiar deep voice interjected.
I turned around to look into brown eyes filled with mockery.
“Hey…” I said coolly looking at Reyan.
Reyan smiled and looked away to greet Meg who stood frozen as she transported herself to la-la-land.
“Hi, I am Reyan and you are?” he said looking affectionately at Meg.
“Hi, I am Meg…Meghan Gill.”
“Hi Meghan, may I call you Meg?” he asked softly.
“Sure…” Meg flashed her teeth.
“The men’s bikes are on the other side,” I grumbled looking at Reyan.
“It’s good to see you too, Vinnie,” Reyan said, winking at Meg who started laughing at his remark.
“Meg, have you decided which bike you want?” I asked almost barking at her.
“Wait, I can’t make up my mind.” She wandered towards another stack of bikes a few feet away from where Reyan and I were standing.
“What are you doing here?” I sneered at Reyan.
“Well, I came looking for a mountain bike and guess who I ran into--you,” he mocked.
“That’s so cheesy!! I should have known when a random Suzi asks for a signature,” I snarled.
“What?” he asked shaking his head.
“I wasn’t born yesterday, Reyan, and I don’t believe in coincidences.”
“Okay, you got me. I told you…I am a man of my word, and if I tell you I will find you, I will find you,” he grinned.
“Okay, you found me. Now go buy your mountain bike,” I hissed under my breath.
“Vinnie, I know what I want.” Meg waved from the other side of the store.
“When will you go out with me?” Reyan asked following me as I walked towards Meg.
“I am not.”
“C’mon, think of it as a ‘I want to thank you for saving my life’ dinner,” he said smoothly.
“Have you also invited the paramedics and the doctors that saved your life to dinner?” I retorted.
“I am not in the habit of taking men out on dates,” he sai
d, and I almost laughed remembering I had thought he was gay.
“I don’t go out with any random guy.”
“Hey, I am not any random guy. You have met me thrice in the last four days and met my friends yesterday, and I think I found you your soul sister.”
I smiled remembering how Anika and I, after a five minute conversation, concluded that we were soul sisters.
“Okay, you are not some random guy but…I don’t know you…what if you are a weirdo!!”
“Really and that’s your real concern?” He shook his head in disbelief.
“Yes, I have come across too many weird guys to think that there are decent guys around the city.” I shrugged.
“Excuses…excuses,” he snickered.
“Vinnie, I want this one.” Meg pointed to a bike with the attachments that would allow her to carry her stuff to school on the bike.
“Okay, let’s get it. Go find one of those sales guys that were swarming around us a few minutes ago,” I said looking around for one.
My heart hammered as I turned to look at Reyan. His eyes never left mine, and I knew I had to say something before we went into a frozen state.
“Now what?” My voice was surprisingly cool and casual.
“What’s the real reason?” Reyan was adamant, and I wondered how much of his persistence was driven by the alpha male ego.
“Looks like we have a winner,” one of the sales guys said from behind before I could respond to Reyan.
“Yes, we do,” I smiled looking at him.
The sales guy pulled out a handheld device and calculated the price of the bike and gave me the final price. My eyes widened when I saw the installation charges that were half the cost of the bike.
“I am not thrilled to pay for the installation charges. I will take one in a box and assemble it at home,” I told the sales guy who was helping us.
The sales guy checked his inventory and said that they did not have any in stock and the next batch of that model wasn’t scheduled for another month.
“It’s the very last piece, and it looks like it waited for you.” The sales guy grinned at Meg.
Cheap trick.
“Do I get a discount for a floor model?” I asked looking at the sales guy.
“It’s not really a floor model so we don’t have any discounts,” he said with a hint of over confidence.
“Can you waive the installation fee?” I asked unable to make peace with the ridiculous price.
“I can’t. It takes our specialists a few hours to install the bike so everything is aligned properly,” he said, spewing out his technical spiel.
Bullcrap!!
“I understand, but I am just not willing to pay the installation fee when I am willing to try my hand at the bike alignment,” I said in a calm voice and added, looking at the sales guy, “Could you please disassemble the bike and put it in a box?”
“I am sorry, I don’t understand,” the sales guy looked at me blankly.
I heard Reyan burst into an uncontrollable laughter, and I turned to look at him as he gripped a rack for support as he continued to laugh.
“Reyan!!” I growled gritting my teeth.
“I am never getting into contract negotiations with you,” he said laughing.
I ignored Reyan’s comment and looked at the sales guy who stood looking at me unable to utter a word.
“What is it going to be? Will you waive the installation charges or will you have your specialist spend a few hours to box up this extremely well-aligned bike?” I asked emphasizing on the word ‘specialist’.
“Vinnie, this is embarrassing!!” Meg whispered when the sales guy excused himself to talk to his supervisor.
“No, it’s not Meg. I’m willing to pay only for the things that I can’t do myself,” I explained to her.
“She is right!!” Reyan chimed in.
Ten minutes later, Meg walked her bike to my aunt’s minivan.
“The bike is not going to fit in the van,” Reyan declared.
“What? It’s a minivan. It’ll hold anything,” Meg stated with confidence, but I knew Reyan was right. There was no point spending time to fit it into the minivan.
“Meg, we are not too far from home. Can you ride your bike?” I asked looking at her glowing face.
“Oh yeah!!” Meg was excited to start riding her bike.
“I’ll ride right behind you in the minivan. Be careful Meg, it’s dark and it’s hard for people to see you in the dark,” I said putting my arm around her.
“I’ll ride next to you,” Reyan said pointing to a motorcycle that was parked on the other side of the street.
“That’s a cool bike, Reyan,” Meg cheered.
“Yours is way cooler, Meg,” he smiled at her.
“Reyan, I will follow Meg, and she will be fine. You should go,” I said not wanting to deal with the turmoil that triggered inside me with his presence.
“It’s not really up to you Vinnie, right Meg?” he mocked.
“Yup, let’s go,” Meg cheered clipping on her helmet.
I drove behind Meg and Reyan as they rode next to each other. I watched as Meg blabbered on and on about something with Reyan, and I kept wondering what they were talking about.
Twenty minutes later, I pulled up in front of the house. I hoped Meg had not invited him to go into the house. I got out of the minivan and approached them as they sat on their respective bikes and continued chatting.
“He is not very tall, it’s just that I am not that tall,” Meg said and added looking at me, “If I were as tall as Vinnie, I could have taken him.”
‘”You would have been taller if you hadn’t been a picky eater when you were little, Meg,” I taunted and added, “What are you guys talking about anyway?”
“This guy in my school. Reyan was giving me tips on how to get back at this guy.”
I felt a pang of jealousy when I realized that Meg had discussed her school stuff with him when she had refused to talk to me about it earlier that day. I took a deep breath and looked at Reyan. “Thank you for riding with Meg!!”
“My pleasure. You guys have a good night, I got to go,” Reyan said smiling at us.
“Bye, Reyan. I will text you later,” Meg bubbled walking her bike towards the side door.
“You guys exchanged phone numbers already?” I asked almost in shock.
“Yup, we are best buds now. I am still trying to figure out what you and I are…” Reyan winked.
“You are just some guy who fell asleep at the wheel, and I am that girl who rescued you,” I retorted.
“That’s a good start, but I want more,” he said coolly as he bore through me with his mystical looks.
“I have nothing to offer, Reyan. I have no time for anything other than what I have going on in my life right now,” I said adamantly.
He did not respond and stood looking at me and after what seemed like eternity, he finally broke the silence. “You are the most interesting person I have met in my life, and I am not taking no for an answer.”
My heart fluttered at the genuine admiration in his eyes and in his voice.
“Well, I did tell you I was awesome, didn’t I?” I smirked.
“You were pretty awesome at that bike store earlier today. I will never forget the expression on that guy’s face when you asked him to box the bike and take off the installation fee,” he said laughing.
“Hey...I got to pay my bills man…how do you think I make ends meet?” I snorted.
“Seriously? We are in front of your house, not an apartment, in a very decent part of San Francisco, and you are talking about making ends meet?” he observed.
“I don’t own the entire place. I rent a room that was converted from a garage, my aunt and Meg rent a part of the house, and my aunt kind of takes care of the elderly couple who are the real owners of the house,” I clarified.
“Sweet deal!!” he whistled.
“Yeah, it kinda is...” I couldn’t finish the sentence as memories of days prio
r to us moving to the house flashed in front of my eyes. A shiver ran through my spine, and I automatically crossed my arms across my chest.
“You okay?” he asked as if he sensed the shift in my mood.
“I am fine Reyan, you should get going.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said with his eyes twinkling.
“Reyan, it’s no use. I am not going to change my mind about going on a date.” I shook my head.
“Did you just challenge me?” He walked towards me and when he got too close for comfort, I took a few steps back and stopped when my back was against the sealed garage door.
“Reyan…” I flattened my palms on his chest looking up into his deep eyes in the dim light that shone right outside the garage. I took a deep breath in reaction to the blood rushing to my heart and the smell of his cologne combined with his raw masculinity sweeping over me. He stood with his face inches from mine shifting his gaze between my eyes and my lips and every time he looked at my lips, my heart flipped in sheer anticipation and anxiety. I stood still with my palms on his chest as he continued to stare at me.
I kept telling myself that I needed to put on a strong front so he would not be able to read the effect he was having on me as he observed my face. Being resolute when it came to men was my thing, but I had no resolve with this man who I barely knew for a week.
“What the heck do you think you’re doing Reyan?” I finally managed to say in a calm but steady voice.
“I’m just making sure you are very clear about my sexual orientation,” he said his voice husky with his breath warming up my cheeks.
Meg!!!
“Reyan…I…” I barely spoke before he brought his index finger to my lips. My lips shuddered at his touch, and the skin on my palms tingled as I became more aware of his tight chest through his soft t-shirt.
“There is no need to explain. I think it’s very clear to you what I want,” he whispered bringing his lips close to my ear.
When I did not respond, he smirked looking down at his chest. “You can’t keep your hands off me, can you?”
My hands dropped to my sides in a flash, and I saw the victorious grin on his face that was capable of causing damage to my resistance. He moved a few inches closer, and my body quivered as he brought his lips to my forehead.
