The closest spot I found to park was about a block from the restaurant, and walking the rest of the way allowed me to mentally prepare myself for whatever was coming. The short distance was enough to reinforce my appreciation for the shoes I'd picked. As I reached the restaurant, I noticed it was part of a fancy hotel, and it was then that I regretted not following Kate's instructions regarding my attire. Nevertheless, I went to the hotel's entrance and found my way to the dining room.
It was magnificent, with high ceilings, cream-colored walls, several massive crystal chandeliers... The designer furniture seemed high-end, and the whole place felt very European. People were dressed either in smart or formal attire, and I felt like I was staining the elegant ambiance of the room.
Trying to ignore the intense beating of my heart, I went to the maître d'hôtel. "Good evening," I told the man with a shy smile.
"Good evening, Miss. How may I help you?"
"I am joining people. I don't know if they have arrived yet. The reservation should be under..." I stopped, racking my brain to remember Kevin's name. Damned be that company where everyone is friendly and equal. "Give me a second, I just have to make sure," I excused myself, stepping slightly to the side. A quick search on Google would give me Kevin's surname.
"I am here for the Langley reservation," said a low, familiar voice next to me. My heart skipped a beat, and the tiny hairs on my neck rose. I slowly spun around to face the owner of the voice.
I ended up facing Alexander, who was looking at the maître d'hôtel with his eternally stern expression. He looked down at me half a second after I'd turned, and a slight shock painted his traits as he frowned. I tensed under his eyes as he rapidly analyzed me. There, he was seeing me in my dress, and I was ready to prove my point. Trying to ignore my discomfort, I waited, looking at his face with scrutinizing eyes, waiting to see his reaction.
I knew Kate was wrong, and I would prove it. There was no way someone like him would "eye-fuck" a woman like me, as Kate had so crudely put it.
After his gaze had lingered on my silhouette for a moment, evaluating me, his eyes met mine again. Unlike what my best friend had predicted, Lex wasn't devouring me with his eyes, but a somber expression shadowed his face instead. His square jaw clenched and his eyes were two menacing slits under his frowning eyebrows. Ha! in your face, Kate! Lex wasn't eating me up, but more likely judging me for my choice of outfit. Which was understandable. I doubted many Dr. Martens had trod these marbled floors.
If the man wasn't bewitched, I, however, was anything but unaffected.
He was wearing a slim-fitting suit, made of a petrol blue fabric that seemed halfway between cotton and silk. His shirt was a lighter shade of blue, and the first three buttons were undone. He was a magnificent sight. Under his intense stare, I warmed up, and I felt myself react to his proximity. I had an acute perception of everything that was happening to me, to where I could sense my nipples getting hard under the thin fabric of my dress. The silk wasn't thick enough to hide it, so I blushed with mortification at the thought that he might see my body's absurd reaction to him.
"Sir?" asked the restaurant's employee before Lex had the opportunity to look down at my embarrassing state. We both turned to the man at the same time. "As I was saying, your party is already seated. If you will come with me..."
Lex moved a little to the side, inviting me to follow the man first, and I indulged, following in the footsteps of our guide. As we walked through the tables, I could feel Lex's gaze behind me, and it made the skin of my back warm and tingle. A jacket would have been a smart thing to take with me, regardless of how warm this August evening was. I wasn't a prude, but I wasn't comfortable showing off my body around either. That dress made me feel as if the upper half of my body was naked, especially from behind, and I couldn't help but wonder if Lex thought the same.
We reached our table, and Kevin was indeed already here, with a woman next to him. She was pretty, with long and wavy chestnut hair, light green eyes, and a heart-shaped face. She most definitely had gotten the memo about this restaurant, as her dress and style were in perfect accordance with the fanciness of the place. Kevin stood to greet us as we arrived, and the woman did the same. As she rose from her chair with difficulty, I only then noticed she was heavily pregnant.
"Andrea, this is my wife, Michelle," Kevin introduced, gesturing toward the woman. I hid my surprise as I turned to her to shake her hand. I could now see Kevin's wedding band, but I'd had no idea he was married, even less that he had a baby on the way. There was something about him that had led me to believe he was a bit of a womanizer, but obviously, I'd misjudged him.
Once the introductions were over, I moved to my seat. The maître d'hôtel pulled out the chair for me and pushed it back as I sat down.
It was funny how you add one person to the mix, and what was supposed to be a business meal turns into something else. With Lex and I being seated next to each other, facing a married couple, I couldn't help but feel like this had some sort of double-date vibe. Turns out things could get even more awkward than just having an impromptu dinner with your bosses.
Shortly after we were installed, a waiter brought us the wine list, which he handed to Kevin, as well as a selection of drinks the bar served. "Isn't it nice we were able to do this?" Kevin said with genuineness, opening the wine booklet. Lex and I nodded, our eyes skimming through the beverages.
My leaflet didn't have any prices on it, and I tried to discreetly glimpse at Lex's, to see if his had the tariffs. "So, Andrea, I've heard you've cost my husband and his partner a lot of money today," Michelle said with a smile, interrupting my sneaky enterprise at once.
I looked at her and winced slightly. "I guess I did. But I still feel like I let them off too easy," I joked.
"She was unyielding. I'd never had such a hard bargain before," Kevin noted.
"Oh, so she has the brain, the personality, and the lovely physique."
I let out an embarrassed laugh, lifting my leaflet to hide my blushing cheeks. "Yeah, I'm not so sure about having all that."
"Oh, but you should be. Isn't she lovely, Lex?" she then asked, with an innocence that seemed somewhat forced.
Alexander gave her a dark glare over his menu and returned his attention to it. "She is," he answered in a stern tone.
I knew I couldn't take his agreement seriously, because he'd been coerced into saying that. He could hardly have said I wasn't lovely without passing for an ass. Still, a warm feeling spread through me. Those stupid hormones were at it again.
It quickly occurred to me that Michelle would be my unknowing rescuer. During the whole dinner, I spoke mainly to her, about her pregnancy, her job, asked her if they already had children - this one would be their firstborn.
I ended up ordering a Belgian beer, with a name I apparently couldn't pronounce correctly, because the waiter made me repeat three times before getting my meaning. Kevin chose a bottle of French wine for the table. We were handed menus, and once more, there were no prices on mine. Lex's booklet had them, however, and I discreetly tried to determine the value of each dish. It was out of the question that I would eat a single-serve whose price could sustain a family from a starving country for a month.
Thanks to Michelle, the meal went smoothly, and I even forgot I was casually hanging out with my bosses. The food was divine, and I loved the salmon carpaccio I ordered for my first course. I regretted my choice for the main course a little, a French dish called Blanquette, when I saw Lex's order. He had two perfectly glazed lamb ribs, served with a side of sauteed vegetables and an amazing-looking mushroom sauce. Still, everything was incredibly flavorful. When we reached the desserts, I ordered a raspberry millefeuille, hoping it would be as good as it sounded.
"So, what do you do in your free time, when you're not having fun creating groundbreaking apps?" Michelle asked me.
I swallowed my mouthful of dessert, before taking a sip of wine to help it pass. "It depends, I have many interests. I love going to the movies or watching TV shows. Before moving here, I used to teach programming in an online school. I've been thinking about doing it again, so there's that. I'm also learning Korean. Or, trying to learn would be more accurate."
"Why Korean?" Kevin asked, intrigued.
"I have always loved their culture and intend to go there at some point. Also, I may, or may not, have gone through a K-pop phase during my teenage years," I admitted. Michelle and Kevin teasingly made fun of me. "My tastes have improved since," I retorted. "You should make fun of Lex, not me."
Alexander turned to me with a brooding expression, apparently not too happy to be thrown under the bus like this. I should have felt bad about it, but I had consumed too much wine to care.
"Why is that?" Michelle wondered with a frown.
"I have had a glimpse at his musical tastes, and while it's not bad, it seemed... very out of character."
"And how did you get the chance to experience that?"
"He drove me home one evening," I answered, struggling to sound nonchalant. We hadn't done anything wrong, and there was no reason to feel ashamed, but it could be poorly interpreted.
Kevin turned to Lex, his eyes inquisitive. "You drove Andy home, Lex?"
"There was a bus strike. It was the evening she showed me the app. I'd kept her for much too long, so it was the least I could do," Lex explained, not shying away from his friend's gaze. Michelle then distracted me with a question about my teaching experience, and the dinner was back on track.
Our empty dessert plates were taken away, and a tray of after-dinner liqueurs was brought to us. Because of the funny shape of the bottle, I picked one that was supposedly made from hazelnut. Eventually, they brought us the bill, and Kevin whipped out a credit card. I offered to pay for my share, but he refused firmly, stating Kelex was paying for tonight's meal.
Once everything was paid for, I got up from my chair like the others. Sudden dizziness overwhelmed me, making me lose my balance for an instant. I'd been sitting the whole time, and hadn't felt the influence of the beer, the glasses of wine, and the liqueur. Now, however, I could.
Lex was quick enough to help me regain my footing, one hand grabbing my arm, the other quickly reaching for my back.
The touch of his warm palm directly on my bare skin sent a series of shivers through my body. With clenched teeth, I tried to suppress the conflicting feelings that were already flooding me. When I turned around, I met his slightly worried gaze.
"Are you all right?" he asked me. I nodded, not trusting my voice at this precise moment, and he released my arm. To my great distress, his other hand remained on my back.
He moved aside, inviting me to lead, and I grabbed my bag before going for the exit. He followed, his hand still on me, and I had the impression that my skin was on fire, right where his fingers and palm were touching me.
I hadn't realized I'd drank so much. But the beer was probably much stronger than the American ones I was used to, and the wine had been treacherously sweet, masking the alcohol. It was so not like me to get carried away like this, in front of my bosses. Maybe the nervousness had made me disregard the truth, maybe the distracting man next to me had... Regardless of that, I internally scolded myself as we exited the hotel, hating to pass for an irresponsible idiot.
We reached the street outside, and the fresh air blowing felt amazing on my flushed face. Lex's hand finally left my back, and I almost wanted to check if it hadn't imprinted a second-degree burn there.
"How did you come here?" Lex asked me.
"I drove."
"You can't drive now." As much as I wanted to argue he was wrong, I knew he was making sense. I was definitely tipsy, and I would never be careless enough to put myself, or others, in danger because of my pride.
"Where do you live?" Kevin asked as he reached us, walking side by side with his wife, his arm wrapped around her shoulders.
"Fairmount Park," Lex answered before I could.
"Oh, we can drop you off then."
"I'll take care of her," Lex insisted.
His friend frowned, seemingly confused. "But you—"
"Honey," Michelle interrupted, elbowing him slightly, "let him. I want to go home, I'm tired, and these shoes are killing me."
Kevin stared at her for an instant, and something seemed to click in his brain. "Right, of course. Well, Andy, it was a pleasure getting better acquainted with you. I hope our work together will last for many, many years," he said, shaking my hand, then Lex's. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to put my balloon of a wife to bed."
Michelle hit him harshly on the chest with a warning expression on her face. "I told you not to call me that in front of people." With a laugh, he turned around, maneuvering his spouse with him, and they walked off to their car.
Alexander's Mercedes was right in front of us, and the noise it made when he unlocked it made me look away from the retreating couple. "Wait," I told him. "I can't leave my car here."
"You'll come back tomorrow to get it," he argued, opening the door for me.
"I have a busy weekend," I insisted, remembering Kate was here. "I don't know when I'll be able to get it back."
His jaw clenched with irritation, and he closed the door before locking his car. "Where are you parked?" he asked, visibly annoyed.
I pointed toward the street I'd parked in, and we both headed toward there. The air was chilly, and I wasn't wearing much, but his proximity kept me warm. I would never get used to the way my body became alive and demanding in his presence. Also, all the alcohol may have been helping. We reached my car, and I took out my keys. The moment I handed them to him, I regretted insisting on taking my car. His high-end vehicle was much more appealing.
Lex looked at the Ford with unmasked disdain but still went to unlock the doors. We entered, and the inside of my car seemed ridiculously small now that his tall frame was in. Oh, and that dreaded smell. He put the key in the ignition and tried to start the engine. After a few seconds of nothing, he stopped, then started again. Every time he tried and failed, my pride sank a little lower.
Oh, the shame of it all...
After five unfruitful tries, he sighed and turned to me, displeased. I gave him a sheepish look, accompanied by a shrug, sorry to make him waste time like this. "Can't you repair it?" I asked as if it were the obvious solution.
"I'm smart, but I don't have absolute knowledge," he countered with sarcasm. Without wasting more time, he exited the car, came around to my side, and opened my door. "Get out, we're taking my car."
His tone didn't sit right with me. It wasn't my fault if my Ford had chosen the absolute worst moment to die. Still, I didn't complain, as he was kind enough to drive me home.
We walked in silence, retracing our steps, as I tried to come up with an apology. He was kind enough to drive me home, and I'd shamelessly insisted on taking my car, not minding that it meant he would need to take a taxi to come back and get his. This was definitely the best solution.
This time when he gallantly opened the door for me, I said nothing and entered his car, struck once more by how comfortable the seats were. With my gaze locked on him, I watched him come around the front of the car to get onto his side. He sat in the driver's seat, and I ripped my eyes off of him and took care of my seatbelt. After he'd fastened his, he started the car.
Distractedly, I watched as he programmed his GPS, and my mind was so foggy that I barely noticed my name in there. He's saved my address from last time. This knowledge disturbed me as I sat there, wondering why he would even bother doing that.
When he smoothly drove out of his parking spot, I wondered if an Uber would not have been a better solution. There was no way to tell how drunk-me would handle a ride home with Lex.
Especially knowing how sober-me could hardly handle it without jumping him.