Chapter 2
The next morning at ten thirty Jen arrived at the doctor’s office by taxi. She got out and looked at the door to his clinic. She thought back to the morning getting ready for her appointment. She was struggling to find something to wear. She finally decided on a short brown skirt, white sleeveless blouse and white sandals with her hair in a pony tail. She also brought an umbrella for sun protection. She went up to the door and walked in and saw that no one was there but the nurse sitting at the reception window. She looked at her watch and knew she was early, but walked up to the window and told the nurse her name. The nurse said smiling, “Take a seat and the doctor will be with you in a minute.”
The nurse phoned the doctor and told him his eleven o’clock patient was here. He thanked her and said, ‘”Just a moment and I will call you to bring her into my office and not into an examination room.” He went to the bathroom and checked himself in the mirror. He had dressed very causal for the day: fawn colored slacks, a pale red colored short sleeve dress shirt, with feint white stripes. He was looking forward to taking her to the ocean side for lunch. A restaurant he had already phoned and made a reservation for one o’clock. The restaurant over looked the beach and harbor with its many yachts tied up at the marina. He wanted to show her his sail boat, but not until they had lunch.
He returned to his desk and buzzed his nurse to bring Jen in to his office. He stood up to greet her and she came in looking very chic. His first thought that this lady is way too good for him. Even though he was raised in a wealthy family of his own, he felt insecure around her. He didn’t want to tell her he was an heir to a vast fortune and destined to run the giant international Lincoln Corporation.
He put a big smile on his face and said, “Good morning.”
She repeated the greeting with a nice smile of her own. She sat down in a chair that had a coffee table in front of it and he sat down across from her. He asked her if she wanted some coffee and she told him she would be happy to have a cup of coffee. He went to a side table and poured two cups. He asked her, “Do you take anything in it?”
“No thanks, just black.”
She looked around his office. Yesterday was kind of a blur and now she saw his domain: rich brown carpet against light brown real wood panel on three walls. The other wall was floor to almost the ceiling with books on dark walnut looking bookshelves. His desk was average size and looked like oak. A very nice coffee table of teak with a glass top sat in front of a large leather sofa. Next to the sofa was a leather chair which was for him. A side table next to the chair had medical journals piled high and on the walls hung pictures of boating scenes. Later she would remember why he had boating prints on the walls.
He brought the two mugs of coffee and sat down looking into her eyes and again she was a little intimidated from his intense eyes looking at her. She felt very exposed, but she really didn’t mind as she was secure enough to feel good about his looking at her. She said to him, “Do you always give this kind of service to your patients?”
He laughed and smiled and said to her, “Of course, as you know doctors are supposed to have a good bed-side-manner.”
She smiled back at him, “If that is the case, how come there are no other patients waiting to see you?”
“You got me there. Now I have some egg on my face.”
She smiled and took a sip of her coffee and said, “This is very good coffee.”
“I made it especially for you. Fresh ground French Roasted,” he replied. “By the way, how are you feeling today Jen,” he asked.
“Very well, I took more of those salt pills and had a light dinner; made a few phone calls; e-mailed my friends; and went to bed early.”
He drank some of his coffee and then he felt that now was the time to ask her to lunch. If she refused, well, at least he tried. He knew it was short notice and maybe when she made her phone calls and e-mailed her friends, she probably made an appointment for this Saturday afternoon. He knew Saturdays were days that girls went shopping and had lunch so they could gossip about things that girls talked about.
At the same time he was thinking about her, she was thinking about what the next topic would be: would he ask her to lunch? God, she hoped so, she was falling head over heels for this good looking Italian doctor. Be cool, she told herself. Take it easy and always look into his eyes.
“Jen, I know it is short notice, but would you like to have lunch with me today?” His heart was in his throat and his voice sounded like some far away sound totally alien to him.
She took a deep breath and replied, "I'd love to. I was hoping you would ask."
He breathed a sigh of relief and she knew how hard it had been for him to ask. He said, “Soon as we finish our coffee, we will leave as it is about an hour's drive from here to the club.”
She took another drink of her coffee and wondered where they were going. She didn’t care as long as she was with him. She had smelled his perfume and it was a dreamy smell that she would always remember. She needed to ask him what it was so she could buy some for him as a present someday.
They finished their coffee and he said, “Let’s go, if you are ready.”
She sat her cup down on the table and rose up out of the chair and walked to the door. He went to the side bar and shut off the coffee maker and turned the lights off and they walked out the office door. He said to his nurse, “Barb, lock up when you are finished and I will see you on Monday.”
The nurse smiled at both of them and there was no doubt she knew what was going on between them. “Have a nice week-end you two.”
They went out the door and walked to the underground parking lot next door and got into his car. The car was a new Porsche and it had the smell of leather and the look of luxury. He put on his wraparound sun glasses as they pulled out of the parking garage. She did the same and he put on the air conditioning. “I would put the top down, but you are sensitive to the sun.”
She just smiled and felt good that he was taking care of her. She felt warm and comfortable being around him. She prayed that this feeling would never end. She was in heaven and at a time in her life she would never forget. He slipped a disk into the player and soft classical music filled the car. Not so loud they couldn’t talk, but more of a background sound.
Now for the first time he felt his life was going somewhere. For far too long he had been driving around in his car with an empty seat next to him. Now his seat was filled with a lovely lady who trusted him enough to go with him somewhere without asking where they were going.
Her cell phone rang and she said, “Excuse me, probably my mother. Hello, mmm oh, hi mom. Yes, everything is fine. We’re going to have lunch by the beach and I will call you later and tell you what time I will be home.” She put away her phone and said, “Sorry, I should have called my mother and told her where I would be and what I was doing. She worries like most mothers do.”
He laughed and told her his mother was the same as all mothers are. His smile went away and she knew he was thinking about his mother who was gone and would never call him again or would he never be able to call her and tell her not to worry he was fine.
She quickly said to him, “Hey Todd, this is a nice car.”
“Yes, I gave myself a graduation present and I’m still wondering why I needed this fast car. I’m thinking of selling it and getting a SUV so I can go to upstate and go skiing. Do you ski?”
“Yes, I’m not so good, but I love the mountain air, so clean and fresh.”
He thought to himself, yes, just like you: clean and fresh and smell so good
“Well winter is just around the corner and we will have to check the slopes out.”
Now they were on the freeway headed east to the ocean and the day couldn’t have been better. The sun was shining, and she was with the man who was beginning to take up a large part of her life. She closed her eyes and listened to the music and drank in the mixed smell of leather and his pe
rfume. He, on the other hand, concentrated on his driving and felt contentment. He said to himself, “Mom, if you’re listening, send some help if I call on you.”
Todd pulled up to the parking valet in front of the restaurant. The attendant said, “Good afternoon Mr. Lincoln.”
Todd said, “Hello,” back to him and they walked into the foyer, he, holding onto his lady’s arm. The owner himself greeted them. “We are always happy to see you Doctor Lincoln.”
Todd replied, “It's always a pleasure and a special treat to eat here in the Yacht Club restaurant.”
“Will you be going out the afternoon? The wind is a little breezy, but no problem for your sloop.”
Ever since they pulled into the parking lot, Jen was very impressed. Having to show a parking pass to the guard, pulling up to valet parking, she felt excitement like no other time in her life. Now, as they made the way to a table overlooking the bay, a tingling feeling ran through her body. Sitting down she took a deep breath and sighed. She took a look around and noticed windows faced three directions at an oblique angle so all had a view overlooking the harbor and boats of all shapes and sizes gleaming in the afternoon sun. Inside was all open including the bar where mostly middle aged men sat drinking what looked like martinis. The floor was covered in a sky blue carpet and the tables were all made from teak along with the chairs.
The table clothes were red, white and blue ever since nine eleven denoting the unity of the city of New York.
A waiter stood at the side of the table and asked, “Your usual glass of wine Mr. Lincoln?”
“That would be fine Brad.”
“Jen what would you like to drink, maybe a glass of white wine?”
“Yes, I would like that. A glass of Chardonnay please.”
Jen looked at Todd and said, “This place is very nice. Obviously you come here often.”
Todd laughed and said “Yes, I guess you can say I’m a regular.’ What he didn’t say was that he came here often, but always alone. This was the first time he had brought a date. Jen excused herself to go to the ladies room and he stood up like a gentleman should. The wine came while she was gone and he sipped his wine waiting for her to come back.
Meanwhile, Jen was in the ladies room looking into the mirror. She liked what she saw and thought, what a lucky girl you are Jen. Try to relax she said to herself. She put on some fresh lipstick. The color was a shade of violet. She thought the color accented her fair skin. She washed her hands and went back to the table to find him standing up to greet her. She said, “I know a sloop is a boat, but what is it exactly?”
He chuckled and said, “A sloop is a sail boat. I thought if you had the time we might take her out for a little sailing exercise.
“Oh, I’m not dressed for a boat ride.”
“Don’t worry; I have some things that will fit you onboard. You can go barefoot, but I have to wear boating shoes as I’m kind of busy sailing the boat.”
She relaxed a little and wondered if the clothes she was going to wear were from another one of his dates? It doesn’t matter, as long as I’m with him. What is in the past is past and now it’s the future I’m concerned about, she said firmly to herself.
“Would you like to order now?”
“Yes, that would be fine, what do you suggest, is there something special you might recommend?”
“Well, I really like the shrimp salad or I might suggest the Maine lobster, although the lobster is rather heavy in your stomach.”
“What are you having?”
“I think I will have the shrimp salad and after we are finished sailing, we could have a bigger dinner.”
“Sounds good to me Captain.”
He signaled for the waiter and Brad came running over. Todd said, “We will both have the shrimp salad and some cheese bread.”
“Coming right up Mr. Lincoln.” “How about some more wine?’
“Jen, would you like some more wine?”
‘No thanks, I want to have a clear head as I’m not used to sailing on a boat.”
He laughed and she smiled at him as both of them looked at each other and felt the same thing: the beginning of a wonderful relationship. They both were very relaxed now and were looking forward to spending time together alone. The sail boat was a perfect place to be alone with someone, not in a crowded place like a restaurant or in a park with lots of people around. Lunch came and they both hurried through it to get to the boat and be alone. He signed the bill and they both went to the restroom to freshen up and then they met back at the door.
He led the way down the ramp to the boat dock to his boat slip. She was amazed at how many boats there were here. Even though there were many empty slips, still many boats were docked with people cleaning and getting ready to go out or boats coming in. A lot of Saturday activity and the people were very friendly as they called out his name and he returned the greetings. The men were staring at his date and he smiled to himself knowing he had the most beautiful girl in the world with him. He felt very lucky and hoped his mother was watching from above. “Well, here we are Jen, this is the Penny. Later I will tell you how she was named.”
“Just a minute,” as he slipped his shoes off and climbed aboard.
She took off her sandals and he helped her aboard. She stumbled a little and he caught her in his arms. He could smell the soap from her hair, drank it in and it made his head a little dizzy. Also her perfume mixed with the shampoo from her hair was intoxicating. They stood there for a moment, holding on to each other. Awkwardly they parted, but both knowing how good it felt to hold each other. He said, “Down below you will find a closet with some clothes to wear. I think you only need some shorts, they’re a few things to choose from. They were my mothers’ clothes as this was my parents’ boat. You and my mother are about the same size and I hope it’s acceptable to wear her clothes.”
“I don’t mind’ as she followed him down to the cabin. He grabbed his shorts from a drawer and went to the bathroom to change. Meanwhile she stood there and looked around at the small space they were in. He came back out and put his tennis shoes on and said to her, “Take your time; I have a few things I need to do to get ready to sail.”
She smiled at him as he turned to go up on deck. Now she was alone and had time to see what ‘him’ was down below; she put her bag on the small table and looked at the pictures on the walls. The pictures appeared from when he was young to present day. She could hear him on the deck above, moving about getting ready to set sail. Jen thought she better hurry and change into the shorts she had chosen from the closet. She chose a blue color that looked like they would fit her. She was shy of her pale white skin compared to his dark Italian skin. She found some sun block and applied to her face, legs and arms. She opened the door and he was standing at the bottom of the steps looking at her. “Very nice, I hope they fit ok.” She had on blue shorts and a white T-shirt that said, “The City”. A picture of the Golden Gate Bridge crossed the front of her shirt. Where her breast stuck out was at each end of the bridge. He stood looking at her fine figure and a stirring began just below his belly button.
“Yes, you were right and they are very comfortable thank you.” She glanced at the pictures again and he noticed she was looking at them.
He said pointing, “This is our first boat when I was very young. I was about eight years old then. This is in the Bay Area, near San Francisco in a small town called Sausalito. It was a small town mostly on the waterfront. Lots of boats and houses were along the water. We had a house right on the water and a dock where we tied up our small sailboat. We had that little sail boat for a few years and when my dad saw how much I loved sailing, he bought this bigger sailboat that we're on now. Mother too, she loved the boat and when we weren’t out sailing she would clean the boat and make lunch for us. Well, let’s get underway, shall we?”
Sizzling Romance New York Style Page 2
