Sooner or Later…You’ll Want Me Again
Previously: “Okay, put those guns away,” she tells Quentin while looking at his arm muscles with appreciation. She then looked towards his abdominal, as if wondering if he has abs to go along with those arms. Haha, she just checked him out. “It’s not a date,” I announce to the entire room. Mark James looks like a freaking movie star! Well duh Isyss, he is a freaking movie star. Okay, time to walk over to this very handsome, very attractive man, and have a decent conversation with him…
Chapter 11
As I walked toward the table Mark was sitting at, my nerves suddenly died and I felt more like myself. But it didn’t last long, because as soon as he looked up to me with his bright blue eyes, my nerves built up again. He stood once I reached the table. He displayed the smile that causes females of all ages to drool. He then held out his hand to me.
“Isyss Dulay, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you,” he greeted with a friendly smile, saying my name with admiration. His voice had a light accent to it that I hadn’t noticed before when I seen his interview on the Kathy Frazier Show.
It was British, but seemed to be slightly wearing off due to him being in the states for so long…I’m guessing. I shook his hand, causing mine to me engulfed by the warmth of his.
“Likewise,” I said, returning his friendliness as we took our seats. He stared at me with a little smile on his face, as if he was a kid in a candy store. I broke eye contact and decided to spread open my napkin and place it on my lap.
When I looked up again, he’s still staring at me. Okay, if he wanted me to come here just to have a staring contest then—
“Please forgive me for staring,” he broke his eyes away and gave a shy chuckle. When he recovered he looked to me again. “I’m sure you get this a lot, but you’re very beautiful,” he complimented me.
I gave him an appreciative smile and thanked him. He looked away from me again and shook his head with that shy chuckling. “Wow, I think this is the first time I’ve ever been star struck. I don’t know what to say,” he admitted genuinely with a little scratch to his forehead.
He looked back to me apologetically, his accent making his apology that more adorable. He must feel bad for having a lack of words…aww how sweet…
I couldn’t help but smile at that. This very attractive actor is star struck by me? I have to say I didn’t see this coming. “Well, how about asking me how my day’s going so far?” I suggested.
He chuckled and nodded. “So, how’s your day going so far?” he repeated my suggestion.
“It’s going great, thanks for asking,” I said as if the question was his idea. I couldn’t hide the giggles within my response.
“Well, I try to please,” he joked just before a waiter came over to our table.
“Welcome to King’s Palace, I’m Kevin and I’ll be your server this afternoon. What drinks would you like to start off with?” he asked the two of us. Mark looked at me to answer first.
“I’ll have a glass of pink lemonade, please,” I told the waiter, to which he nodded and wrote it down on his pad.
“And for the gentlemen?” the waiter then asked Mark.
“Just some iced water, thank you,” he answered before turning his attention back to me. The waiter wrote it down before leaving. “So, now that I’ve recovered from my speechlessness, how are you?” he questioned me thoughtfully.
“I’m good, how about yourself?” I asked in return.
“I’m excellent,” he said easily. He opened up his napkin and placed it on his lap, imitating mine. There was a silence as he did so, but it didn’t last long. “So I hear you’re going to be in the Dreams for Change showcase,” he continued.
It caught me off guard. Wow, that showcase isn’t for a three months. Dreams For Change is a international runway showcase involving models from around the world.
It’s a charity event and the money earned from tickets being bought goes to clothing for charities. All us models wear certain clothes, some less than others, and do a long catwalk.
It’s a really big event and everyone from celebrities to ordinary people either show up or watch on television. Musical artist perform while we walk the catwalk…it’s a lot of fun. I return back to the conversation at hand and nod my head.
“Yep,” I answer him simply. He nods.
“I missed it last year, but I’m definitely gonna be there this time around,” he tells me with a smile. I nod my head again. The waiter returns with our drinks and ask us what we want to eat. After telling him what we wanted, he scurried off saying he’ll be back shortly.
“So, ‘Isyss’….that’s a name I’ve never heard before,” Mark begins while tilting his head to the side in curiosity. “Is that your real name?” he ask me, his accent becoming more pronounced the more I listened.
He looked into my eyes as if there was no one else he wanted to look at, at the moment. Wow, talk about making someone feel like they’re the only one in the room…
“So you didn’t do a background check on me?” I joked, gaining a chuckle from him, his eyes closing momentarily as he did.
“I’d rather you tell me about yourself. It’s more interesting that way,” he informed me genuinely. I agree with that statement.
“Well, yes, it is real my name,” I finally answer his question. Being in this model industry, it pays to have a unique and different name from others…it makes you stand out. So you can imagine how my name stood out among names like Ashley, Danielle, or Kate.
Our conversation continued on with over our food once the waiter brought it to us. We ate, we talked, and we laughed. All in all, it’s going well. I learned that Mark he has a younger sister who happened to be a fan of mine…I know right, what a coincidence. He’s definitely going to win brother of the year when he tells her about our luncheon.
Once we finished our meals, and the waiter took our empty plates, we continued sitting. “So, where exactly are you from? I love your accent,” I ask and compliment him.
“I’m from Hertfordshire, England in the UK. And thank you, I love your accent as well,” he said to me, with a quick glance at my lips. “Americans have a very peculiar way of speaking,” he then added, narrowing his eyes with interest.
I nod my head. “Some would say it’s the other way around,” I challenge him jokingly.
He returns my challenge a chuckle. “Depends on who you ask, I suppose,” he replied. There was a moment of silence that it was anything but awkward.
“I’m having a great time talking with you,” I admitted to him, breaking the silence. He smiled with satisfaction.
“And I, you,” he agreed. There was a shine in his eyes, letting me know in a good mood. For a moment we sat there, staring at each other. His blue eyes seemed to consume me, almost like hypnotism, and I didn’t want to look away.
It’s weird, it’s like I couldn’t look away from those eyes if I wanted. There’s something about them that draws you in.
“The food here is very delicious,” he added once he managed to draw his eyes from mine. It seemed like he was in a trance as well. I nodded my head in agreement. I have to admit, the food was incredible. I don’t know whose cooking back in that kitchen, but my hat goes off to them.
Mark then stood from his seat, fixing his shirt as he did so. It was then I was able to really take in his appearance. He sported a white, buttoned down, collared shirt.
The first two buttons from the top were unbuttoned, making a hint of his chest visible, but not too much. I noticed a he was wearing a necklace made of black fabric, but I couldn’t see what was hanging from it due to the fact that it was tucked into his shirt.
He also had on some blue jeans that weren’t too tight, yet not too loose. All in all, he looked very casual ye extremely well put together. He looked to me with a polite smile on his face before excusing himself to the restroom.
I sat alone for a mere two minutes until he was out of sight. I looked down to my phone and starting fooling with it.
“So, how’s it going?” a voice said from in front of me, scaring me a little at the sudden conversation. I looked up to see my best friend sitting where Mark was previously sitting, a huge smile on her face.
“Great actually, he seems like a really nice guy,” I tell her honestly. She clapped her hands softly and cheered.
“That’s great! Are you two gonna start dating? Oh! We could all go on double dates! That would be awesome! But, then we’ll have to find someone for Quentin…unless he goes with Andrea. Oh! They can go together! It’s all working out so perfectly!” she ranted with excitement. I shook my head at her and laughed. I just met the guy, and she’s already talking about us becoming a couple and double dating?
“Courtney, don’t you think Mark and I should become friends first?” I asked her. Honestly, Mark is a great guy, but for some reason, I feel like he’d make a better friend than boyfriend.
Or maybe I feel that way because of the renewed feelings I have towards Cory—wait! No. No thinking of Cory right now. He does not have control over my feelings. If I want to date Mark James, trust me, I would…no questions asked.
Courtney nodded her head in agreement. “Right, you’re right,” she replied. She sighed and gave a sheepish smile. “Sorry Isyss, I just really want to see you happy with someone,” she added with concern drenching from her voice.
I thanked her for caring, but reassured her that I’m fine with being single. Well, I think I am. Am I? Am I really? I have to admit it gets lonely after a while. Sometimes I wish I had a boyfriend to hug and kiss whenever I wanted.
But in my profession, it’s hard keeping a boyfriend. We’ll have to go days, weeks, months even, without seeing each other. I’ve never been a fan of long distance relationships.
“Well, he seems to really be into you. I noticed how he looks at you,” she stated teasingly. I rolled my eyes at her statement.
“You’ve been watching us?” I accused her.
“Well, you guys are sitting smack dab in the middle of the restaurant, I’m sure everyone’s watching the two celebrities having lunch together,” she answered with a shoulder shrug, as if it’s no big deal.
At that moment, I glanced around myself, and to my surprise, I caught the eyes of a few people looking at me. When they saw me look at them, they quickly looked away, pretending they weren’t just looking at me. Some continued to look while whispering.
Wow, for a minute I completely forgot we were sitting in a restaurant with people surrounding us. Talking with Mark James seemed so easy to do, like we’ve known each other all our lives or something. It was so carefree that I basically blanked out everything else.
I looked back to Courtney, who was fumbling with her nails casually. Her words came back to me. “How has he been looking at me,” I asked her.
She looked up from her hands to me. “Like you’re a freaking goddess or something. He was looking at you like you’re the only person in here. You should’ve seen all the females that kept trying to catch eye contact with him, but he didn’t look away from you long enough,” she responded. She glanced to her right and made a face. It was gone too soon for me to catch it.
“There he is,” she said, more to herself. I turned to my left to see who she was referring to. At first I saw a bunch of strangers, and then I saw him. Cory. He was standing next to the stage, talking to some guy.
Well, not some guy; the guy that was here the night of Courtney and Brent Daniels’s engagement party. What was his name again? Phillip?
Cory was casually leaning against the stage as he talked to his friend. “I’ve been looking all over for him,” Courtney said, this time talking to me.
“You found him,” I stated while looking away, not wanting him to feel my eyes on him, causing us to make eye contact. Then suddenly something popped into my head.
“Hey Courtney,” I began, causing her to look at me again. “Do you think me being here with Mark is weird? You know, since it’s Cory’s place, given our history,” I asked her cautiously.
She thought about it for a minute. “It’s only weird if you make it weird,” she answered simple, short, and sweet. “Speaking of Mark, here he comes,” she said while getting up from the sit she was currently sitting in. “I’ll talk to you in a little while,” she stated before walking in the direction of Cory.
Only three minutes passed before mark returned to the table. A smile on his face as he took me in. “Sorry to keep you waiting, there were a few ladies gathered outside the bathroom…” he explained, indicating the females wanting to flirt with him. I shook my head.
“It’s fine, I busied myself,” I reassured him.
He nodded and looked in the direction of the stage, where now Courtney, Cory and Phillip were standing. “I saw. Who was that?” he asked curiously, talking about Courtney.
“My best friend,” I informed him.
“She didn’t have to leave so suddenly,” he told me when he turned back to me. I waved off his comment.
“She had to go, anyway,” I reassure him. He nodded his head and turned towards the trio by the stage again.
“I think that guy over there is the owner of this place,” he told me with a quick point of the head toward Cory. Yeah, there’s no thinking about it, Cory definitely owns the place. “I should go congratulate him on its success. Would you care to join me?” he continued when he turned back to me. There was a persuasive smile on his face that I couldn’t say no to.
Sure Mark, I’ll go congratulate the guy that I was in love with five years ago but didn’t get together with because we decided to wait until we were sure we were going to give it one hundred percent, yep, sounds fun…
[AN: so I lied...next chapter starts the fun...sorry for the delay...decided to turn one reeeeeally long chapter into two...so here's the first part...hope you enjoy. This chapter is just to get a glimpse of the man that is Mark James. Let me know your opinions on him...
Anywho, it's time for "Know Your Characters!"
Question #11: How do you think Cory will react to Isyss and Mark together? Will he act cool with it? Jealous? Joke about it?]