CHAPTER 3
A shining bald patch staring Elaine right in the eye was straining her already disturbed nerves.
Thankfully though, its owner raised his head, still sparsely adorned with ginger hair, from admiring the sumptuous dishes prettily arranged on their table.
“And that’s how I earned the badge for the best student of the year that day.” Henry said, bringing to his mouth the slice of succulent duck he had precisely cut into a bite size piece.
Elaine discerned he squinted his eyes twice for the…
How many times has it been?
She had lost count somewhere in the saga of his accomplishments between the first grade and his sophomore year.
It was hard to concentrate on what he was saying when he kept squinting at her every ten seconds. And it was even harder to decide which was worse, his relentless squinting, or his incessant talking.
They were dining at Golden Palm, an upscale restaurant in Manhattan, New York. The lavish fare spread before them was a delight to sight and palate, yet Elaine couldn’t muster enjoyment in any of it. Why she had taken such effort to dress up for this occasion was now beyond her.
The elegant silver-grey backless dress felt too intimate for a first date.
Though it was loose-fitting at the top, it cinched at her tiny waist and hugged from there down her flaring hips to end at the middle of her shapely thighs. Her hair was coiled in a coiffure that was in itself an art, while strings of moonbeams dangling, danced from her earlobes.
“Have I mentioned the time when at my junior year-” Swathed in his dinner jacket, Henry didn’t wait for her approval or denial but embarked on yet another of his stories to self-glory.
Elaine wouldn’t be surprised if Henry believed he did a great service having accorded his parents the honour of being his parents.
His lips kept moving in a litany.
How long was long enough for one to end a date without seeming uncourteous? Oh, God, why was he watching her funny?
He had stopped talking–a mercy, but disconcertingly specious no less. Did she have a stray crumb sticking to her mouth? Self-consciously, Elaine brushed the serviette over her lips.
When Henry gave her a cryptic smile, she politely, heavily, tugged at the corners of her own mouth.
As she rested her bare arms back on the table, an anomaly in his behaviour drew her eye. Ever so often his gaze kept returning to her hands. Specially the left one lying idly by the gravy-boat.
Before she could have predicted his intension, with the speed of a striking snake his hand shot out for hers.
However, triggered by something instinctive Elaine moved to a quick defence. She swiftly snatched her hand from its prosaic position, her brain innately rejecting even that small a contact from him.
But undeterred, Henry gave chase. Elaine feinted reaching for the salad bowl, then dove for her wine.
Unfortunately, he was just as quick. Their match of tag ended up knocking the Claret glass, and the red wine spilled on the table streaming down to ruin Henry’s fine pants.
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” Elaine rushed out her apology. There was no excuse for insulting Henry so publicly with her silly skittish act.
They had both flown off their seats by now.
As other guests about the restaurant observed them with utmost curiosity, two of the stewards sped up to their table offering assistance.
“No. No, Elaine. It’s my fault. I startled you.” Henry graciously accepted the blame for her childish behaviour entirely upon himself. Nothing could have burned her more with shame. All he had wanted was to hold her hand. What was the matter with her? They were on a date!
Nearly an hour later, both sat in stilted silence inside the car Henry pulled in front of her affordable apartment in Sunnyside, Queens.
Elaine’s eyes wandered down his stained pants, still feeling guilty.
“Yeah, I’ve gone and wet myself again.” He spoke with great show at a defeated sigh. “I admit, when sitting next to a beautiful woman, I get bladder issues. Would it be too much if I asked you to keep it as our little secret?”
Elaine examined his face. The expression there was of all sincerity, then he twitched his nose just before his round eyes started squinting in rapid succession, and she couldn’t help but picture him as some over-adventurous bunny looking for its way back to its burrow. Laughter erupted from her unchecked, and his hearty gales soon joined hers.
That ice breaker worked like a real charm between the two. “I am very sorry, Henry. My behaviour earlier-”
“I wanted so much to impress you tonight, Elaine.” He confessed truthfully, with eyes almost begging her to believe in him.
Henry seemed so dejected now, that Elaine wanted to lie and say, he did impress her, just to bring him out of that grey gloom. But he deserved truth in return for his.
“You just tried too hard, Henry. So we have crossed paths in numerous society affairs, that only gives us superficial knowledge of each other. I already know, and respect you for your dedication to your work. But tonight I wanted to see the real you.”
She smiled and teased him next to bring back the ease between them. “And your little trailer that made me laugh just now, I believe I would have liked that man behind the suit very much.”
“Does that mean were I to propose another date with me, you would accept?”
Well, she had no one else to blame but herself. Like a true man of Business that he was, Henry leaped to turn this slightest of chance into a most favourable of possibilities for him.
Elaine was aware Damian McBain, Trevor’s older brother, was considering investing resources from McBain Industries into helping Henry expand his business. And since the day he learnt of Henry’s interest in her as a wife to him, Damian wanted Elaine to consider this ‘opportunity’ with a pragmatic approach.
If things worked out, Damian wished to sweeten the deal with Elaine and Henry’s wedding. He had said it would forge a stronger connection with the other company and provide Elaine a safe, secure and brighter future. The latter consideration coming from Damian, left her somewhat speechless.
That it was the only time he had ever shown her that he saw her differently than a wall in a room, or an empty vase on a desk, didn’t stop her from baulking from what he suggested. Her life was hers to make, she decided. But that didn’t mean she had written-off everything the McBains had done for her.
When he insisted on setting up at least one meeting, she couldn’t outright refuse him. No one dared refuse Damian McBain anything.
But a second date with Henry? Ordeals of this dismal evening revolved before her eyes.
Her pensive pause was making Henry anxious, his expectant face quickly falling at her long silence. She didn’t think he loved her, but he seemed to care.
“All right, I’ll come.” Her yielding immediately alleviated his morose colour. She contented with the thought that, at least, her decision was making two people happy. Henry and Damian.
“You won’t regret it.” He offered enthusiastically. “I’ve been told my charm dazzle girls the second time around. So I warn you, come prepared.”
They shared a companionable laughter. He really was charming when he wasn’t trying too hard.
Of a sudden, Henry was leaning over the console, reaching for a kiss. And when Elaine realised she was unconsciously retreating from it, resolutely, she made herself stop.
It was just a harmless kiss from her date tonight.
She couldn’t still be hung up on what passed between her and Trevor only two days ago, could she?
No, she wasn’t. And to prove this to herself, Elaine remained unmoving, forcing a receptive smile.