Writing assignment: a noisy, crowded restaurant
Geri dialed her semi-significant other who also worked
in her building.
“Good
afternoon. Shepard, Conklin, and McClure. How may I direct your call?”
“Nicholas
Vasser, please.”
“Hello,” came Nick’s deep, masculine voice
a moment later. Geri always pictured him leaning back in his chair with his
feet on the desk whenever he spoke to her.
“Hi,
how’s your day going?” she asked.
“Fine,
fine. Nothing pressing.”
“How
about a quick cup of coffee? We need to talk.”
“Sure,
I can break away. I’ll meet you at the elevator in ten minutes.”
Nick
was a typical attorney, thirty-five, intelligent, successful, on the fast track
with his firm, and he was an
absolutely gorgeous six-foot-tall hunk of man with olive skin and long, black lashes that canopied over beautiful dark eyes. He
was irresistible. The trouble was he knew it, too. When Geri first met him
in a business meeting, he sparked her interest; not for just his looks but also
his professional ambiance, which matched her own. Yes, he was a charmer who
could flirt with every woman in the room and still focus on her.
After
their first coffee date at Rose’s Bistro, she was swiftly warned by several
broken hearts in the building that he was known as L-E-A-L-E-N (Love ‘Em
And Leave ‘Em Nick). Well, she had been duly
warned and decided she would not become one of his castaways. The thing that
kept Nick interested was the freedom he still had while dating her. She made no
demands and expected no promises.
Geri pushed the button on the eleventh
floor and entered a vacant elevator, then pushed the button for the fifth floor
where Nick would be waiting. When the doors opened, he stepped inside and came
close, bent down, and nestled his face in her neck and breathed deeply.
“What
was that for?” she asked.
“Because
I need to get a good whiff of your perfume,” he smiled down at her, “so the
memory of your fragrance will sustain me throughout the day.”
Nonsense! she thought and eyed him
skeptically having no doubt this was a Nick-ism
he probably used on many others. She did like the attention, though, so
took advantage of their privacy and responded with a caress and a quick kiss.
Moments later the doors opened to a lobby filled with people. They exited the
building and walked two blocks to sit at a table inside Rose’s. The lunch crowd
was still going strong with much clattering of dishes, the roar of customer
conversations, waitresses taking orders, and bus boys juggling dirty dishes. Geri wasn’t at all concerned about
bringing up this new development in her life; however, the noise level at Rose’s
was probably not the most conducive to make this announcement.
They found a small table in the corner and
Nick gave the waitress an order for two coffees. “What’s up?” he asked casually
when they were seated, then held her hand in both of his and flashed one of
those smiles that could melt chocolate.
I just wanted to tell you I’m flying to Montgomery
tomorrow.”
“Montgomery?
. . . ALABAMA?”
“Yes,
Alabama! Why so surprised?”
“It’s
just that its way down south, that’s all! Why Alabama? Do you have a new client
down there?”
Geri waited
patiently as the waitress placed two cups, cream, sugar, and napkins in front of
them. She glanced at her exit and realized something she had never noticed before—the
chaos and bedlam at Rose’s? Now, when she wanted peace and quiet, it was irritatingly
obvious.
She returned
to the task at hand. “No, my great aunt died.” Geri didn’t elect to share
anything further; especially that she was to inherit her aunt’s estate.
“When
will you be back?”
“I should
be back by Tuesday but I’m not sure I can conclude my business by then.”
“Aren’t
you just going down for the funeral? What kind of business do you have to
conclude?”
Uh, oh. She’d done it now. He was all lawyer
and she had given him the morsel that any bloodhound could sniff. “I don’t
know what kind of business exactly; there might be nothing at all to conclude!”
“You
know I can give you free legal advice,” he said, waiting for her to jump at his
offer and fill in all the details.
“That’s kind of you, Nick, but that won’t
be necessary. I’ll call you when I get back.”
They took one last sip of their
coffee and stood, each paying their own checks. Even with all of Nick’s charms,
he was still no gentleman in the pocketbook. They walked back through Rose’s
with the roar of the clientele still ringing in her ears.
The
elevator took them up to their prospective floors; Nick oblivious to Geri’s inkling
of a possible move to Alabama. She would wait and see if this inheritance was
something worth her time and trouble. If so, could she really say goodbye to everything
she’d known all her life in this city? Could she really move to Alabama and
welcome a slower pace and the quietness she so desperately desired? A quietness
the opposite of Rose’s Bistro? Yes,
she could do that. She welcomed a new life in her Sweet Home Alabama!”
