chapter 22

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Chapter 22

“Nicky you are a breath of fresh air in a rotten world. I hope you’ll allow me to do more for you. You deserve more than I can ever give you. It is a wonder no one snatched you up till now. But now that I met you, I won’t let anyone take you from me Nicky. I didn’t plan to make such declarations today, not that I don’t believe every single word, but I didn’t want to scare you away from me. I just can’t stand anymore this cloud of insecurities that is over your head all the time.”

“Whhhhhat?”

“I am falling in love with you Nicky!” Nicky was left with her mouth agape. She couldn’t believe he had just said he was in falling for her. No one had ever fallen in love with her. She was loner Nicky, that nobody wanted to have a permanent relationship with.

“Mike you can’t really mean that. We just met the other day. I am nobody. People don’t want to associate with me. I just embarrassed you over lunch here. Imagine what would happen if you wanted to introduce me to more people.”

“Don’t be silly Nicky. You met some of the closest people to me last night and they loved you. They wouldn’t stop praising you and telling me that you are the first woman I’ve ever brought to them that was actually worth my attention. Just because we stumbled to a rude ignorant waiter, that wouldn’t recognise a lady if she came and hit him with a cane, it doesn’t mean that you are going to embarrass me. Anyone with half a brain will recognise your value and sweetness on sight. Hell I recognised it and I am blind.”

“Mike it is not that I don’t like you. But you really deserve a more sophisticated lady by your side. You are a famous writer for God’s sake.”

“Hey I am not some kind of primadonna that the paparazzi are chasing to witness who my next date is. I live a normal life like any other man. I mean as much as I can considering my whole situation. Is that why you are being sceptical of my declaration? You don’t want to associate yourself with a man with my defect?”  Mike asked starting to feel just a little bit rejected by her attitude.

“No please don’t think like that. You are the most perfect man I have ever met. As for your so called defect, you are handling everything so well I wouldn’t know you were blind if you didn’t hold your stick. It is just that I know I am not worthy of you.”

“Stop saying such rubbish about yourself because I am going to be really mad. Let’s sit and enjoy our food. I am sure chef Moore will put extra effort on pleasing us with his culinary skills tonight.”

“Because of the incident with the maitre?” Nicky asked feeling guilty that she had caused all kinds of trouble to them all.

“Nope! Because he knows that I really want to impress you tonight. His daughter’s birthday party is only days away and he really wants me to be in a good mood. The better mood I am, the better the stories I’ll come up with for his daughter and friends’ entertainment.”

“You mean you are going to come up with a new story for them? I thought you were going to read them one off your already published books.”

“Naaah the whole author reading of the books, impresses only the adults. Children his daughter’s age are tired of hearing the same story over and over. They want to hear new ones any time they can.”

“And your publisher doesn’t object you publicly telling a story that is yet to be published?” Nicky asked and Mike laughed at her comment.

“My God you are strict. I should tell my publisher to hire you. You are worse than her” Nicky blushed at that.

“I didn’t mean it in a bad way. I was just surprised because I had seen a documentary on some famous authors and how they were so secretive of their books before they were published. I mean one of them said that he didn’t even let his wife to read it before it was on the store’s bookshelves.”

“That is just sad. But don’t worry you can be the first one to read my books when you become my wife.”

“WHAT” Nicky exclaimed, but before she had time to ask him what he meant by that declaration, he continued speaking as if she had never uttered a word.

“As for what my publisher thinks of my story telling of unpublished stories, he doesn’t complain because I never give him to publish a story I have already revealed to my underage audience. You see Nicky my mind seems to be an unlimited source of imaginary worlds that enchant my little readers.” Nicky decided to not pursue the whole marriage issue and accepted the change of subject Mike offered her. She thought he probably didn’t mean what he said, so it would be pointless to discuss it further and embarrass herself even more.

“Hey your books are loved not only by children. I have devoured each and every one of your books. Even the librarians in the public library know how much I love your books and whenever one of your new books is being published, they save a copy for me to read right after they get it for the library. They are very sweet like that.”

“Do you have any of my books of your own?” Mike asked

“No, but that is ok. Most of the times when I want to reread one of them, I go to the library and I find a copy that is not already on loan. Even when all of them are already loaned, I can make a reservation and a week later at the most, the book I want is back for me to rent.” Nicky replied and Mike made a mental note to call his publisher and send her a signed copy of every book he has ever written. Even though he preferred she could move to his home and enjoy his first copies from his own library.

The waiter interrupted their conversation, bringing them their main course. It was mariner’s pasta with shrimps and crabs and calamari. It was one of chef Moore’s specialties and Mike hoped that he had made a good choice ordering it for them.

Nicky looked at the beautifully arranged food on her plate with fascination. It looked so beautiful she didn’t have the heart to mess it up to eat it. Mike sensed her hesitation and misunderstood it.

“You don’t like it? You can order something else for the main course. Let me call our waiter and he can bring you a catalogue to choose whatever your heart wishes.” He told Nicky.

“No, no, I don’t want to eat something else. It is just that it looks so great that I am reluctant to ruin it.”

“Sweetie pie it is meant to be eaten not ogled. Dig in” He said and set the example by picking up his fork and eating a mouthful of pasta. “You’ll be really missing out if you won’t eat. Chef Moore really outdid himself this time. I can sense some really nice stories forming in my head for his daughter’s party.”

Nicky smiled at him and picked up her fork. The mere scent of the food had her salivating and after the first taste she was certain Mike was right. There was no way a dish more divine had ever been cooked. They ate in relevant silence both the main course and the desert engaging in some small talk from time to time. Nicky was amazed that she could feel so close to him after knowing him only for a couple days. She hadn’t felt this comfortable with someone since her grandmother had died and she wasn’t sure if it was safe for her to feel that way. It was too soon and she feared this could lead to heartbreak. Because even if she didn’t want to admit it to herself, she was falling for him too.

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