Mysterious

Chapter 10

Arissa woke up as she usually does, alone. She sighed and looked to her left and saw a note on the pillow.

Good Morning sweetheart,

I hope you slept well. I did, next to you. ;) I had to be at sound check at 9:30. Too early and not with you is not my idea of a Saturday well spent. Meet me downstairs at 3:30. Just you and me. Eat breakfast, go for your run and then get naked for me. I will see you later tonight.

Love,

Bruno

Arissa took a quick shower and ran to get her friends for breakfast. She and Natalia went to the posh gym which included a sauna and even a personal trainer. Unlike the Houston trip- this gym was actually crowded. The Las Vegas heat must get to the visitors. The girls ran 3 miles in 30 minutes and then took a quick shower getting dressed for a pool trip.

"What do I wear?" she asked Anna and Natalia as they stared at the clothes she brought with her.

Natalia picked up a pair of white shorts and a blue sleeveless shirt. "Wear this with the black sandals. Wear your hair down..." Anna nodded.

Arissa put on the clothes and walked downstairs nervously. I still don't know what I'm doing. I'm scared shitless. She checked her phone to not look lonely As she looked up he caught her eye. He was wearing a blue and green plaid shirt with a black t-shirt underneath with black skinny jeans and flip-flops.

"The flip-flops are classy, Bhruno." she smiled at him.

"Yeah. I figured, why the hell not? We're in Vegas..." he took her hand and started to walk her out of the hotel room. His bodyguard followed them, but gave them enough space to be alone.

"What are we doing?" she asked him.

"Going on our first date."

"Okay...." she wondered out loud.

He led her to a small restaurant 2 blocks away from the hotel. The small café, about the size of Starbucks, was an intimate setting but yet not intimidating. The server sat them at a small table in the back and gave them their menus.

"What do you want to eat?" he asked her.

"Everything. I'm starving."

"Then we'll have one of everything." he told the waitress.

"No! We won't have one of everything." she insisted. "I want....I want...the turkey burger and sweet potato fries." she told the waitress.

"And I will have...the biggest and grossest cheeseburger ever." he told the waitress.

"Of course." the waitress answered.

"Thanks, doll." he said smiling at her.

"Oh my god. Why doesn't she just fall in love with you right there..." Arissa laughed. "I would."

"Didn't you already?" he asked her.

She shrugged, "Ehh, yeah. I did."

The waitress brought out their food. He wondered why she ordered a turkey burger instead of a regular hamburger, but he wasn't going to bother asking. He just enjoyed being near her for more than 10 minutes. But then she started separating her French fries.

"What are you doing, Ris?" he asked her.

"Oh...umm...I won't be able to eat all of that." she told him.

"But you just said you wanted everything..." he replied confused.

"Oh, I know I did. But really. It's going to be too much...here have some of them..."

"No. You don't need to do that Why are you doing that?" he asked her.

"Doing what?"

"Being that girl. You aren't that girl, Arissa."

"What girl are you talking about?" she asked.

"The one that doesn't eat. The one that over exercises and wears too much make-up. You are beautiful just the way you are..." he said quietly touching her hand reassuring her.

"I don't do it to be like that, Bruno." she explained honestly. "I do it to be healthy. What you're eating would make me sick."

Bruno raised his eyebrow at her making her smile. He took a big bite and responded, "This? Make you sick? This is the best stuff in the world."

"Really. I haven't had ground beef in months. The last time I had it I think I missed work for two days. And processed food tastes horrible...."

"But why?" he asked her.

"Oh...oh." she paused trying to wrap her head around how to tell him. "Maybe a year ago I got sick. Horrible stomach aches, tired, just gross. It wasn't normal for me. I also skipped a couple periods..."

He looked at her with a weird look.

"That's important!" she shot him a look after he stared at him. "Okay...and I wasn't dating anyone so it wasn't like I was pregnant or anything. So I went to a bunch of doctors, but ended up getting ultrasounds and all that fancy stuff."

"You're not dying are you?" he looked scared.

"No...I'm not dying, silly. So, the doctor said I have this thing called polycystic ovarian syndrome. It just...."

"One of my sisters has it." he answered relieved knowing that she really wasn't going to die. "But why the crazy diet?" he asked her, still confused.

"Oh. So, I was chubby. I always have...or was. And you can get diabetes from PCOS. The doctor said everything was fine, but I just couldn't deal with it anymore. I found a few books about diets that worked for people with it...and did it. I've lost like 50 pounds in the last year."

"I don't believe you..." he told her. "Show me..." he demanded grabbing her fries.

"Here's my license..." she took out her driver's license and looked at the picture.

"Whatever. You were still a babe."