Long Distance Love

Chapter Three

As soon as Julie 'clocked out' she headed to the ladies room to freshen up and try to calm her nerves. Yes, she had met a wide range of celebrity types, most of which were musicians or local sports or entertainment, but she had never been out 'alone' with any of them, much less with a huge star like Sebastian Stan. She knew it was just a lunch date and he had just been teasing earlier, flirting in fun, but her heart would not stop racing and she had a knot in the middle of her stomach.

"Okay Jules just breathe, smile and try not to make too much of a mess at the restaurant. This will all be over before you know it," she grinned at her reflection in the mirror, satisfied that she didn't look too awful, at least at the moment. When she reached the green room, there were quite a few people milling about, several of them smiled and nodded in greeting but she felt more than a little out of place. Finding a spot near the door, she sat and pulled out her phone, hoping that no one would notice her. She had just finished deleting several unimportant emails when a shadow fell across her lap.

"Hi there," came the soft, gravelly voice. "I hope you haven't been waiting too long."

She couldn't help but smile at him like an idiot; touched that he seemed almost apologetic that he'd kept her waiting at all.

"No, I've just been here a few minutes. Not even enough time to clear out my junk mail," she said, holding up her phone.

"I'm sorry though; I really should have been here to meet you," Sebastian insisted.

"I'm sorry you're sorry because it's really no big deal!"

"Wow! We haven't even had our first date and already we're apologizing to each other! This could be very interesting..."

"It could be...and if you are ready, we can find out!" Julie's tummy had done a little flip when Sebastian referred to their outing as a DATE! Chill out girlfriend, it's just an expression.

He offered his elbow and she slipped her hand into place guiding him to the exit and out to her car. Once they had moved into traffic and traded pleasantries about how each other's day had gone and how beautiful the weather was, Julie pointed out a few of the local landmarks and points of interest as she cruised along keeping her eyes and attention on the road. Sebastian was cool with that, it gave him the chance to study her as he would briefly look this way and that as she pointed things out, his eyes always coming back to rest on her.

As she pulled into an alleyway and then parked near the back door of a low brick building, he jumped out to help her from the car. When they reached the door, Julie entered several numbers on a keypad and it swooshed open to allow them entry. They made their way down a narrow hallway as several people in aprons smiled and nodded at Julie in recognition. Peeking into the kitchen she spotted a nice looking man who joined them and quickly led them to a corner booth, where they sat side by side while Sebastian explored the menu.

After a brief discussion of what some of the dishes were and what Julie would recommend, the waitress took their order and brought drinks and again, they were alone. The place was pretty busy, but the customer service was exceptional and everyone there seemed to be relaxed and enjoying their meals... so much so that no one really took much notice of Sebastian. Both of them were used to being the one to keep the conversation going so they had an animated conversation going when their food arrived. Sebastian's eyes grew large and his mouth watered at the scent of the platters set before them. As Julie had suggested, he had ordered the burnt end sandwich with the works along with a side of fries and a serving of Smoke Stack's famous baked beans. Julie had a ham sandwich with beans and coleslaw. They both had a pickle.

Their conversation slowed down quite a bit while they ate, but Sebastian made it clear that he was enjoying his meal and wondered how it was that she knew the pass code to enter through the back door.