He returned my smile with his boyish, ear to ear, dimpled grin, that smile that I was beginning to love so much. “Okay, sounds like fun.”
Ryan dropped me off at Ray’s right next to my car. We agreed that he should just come by my place in an hour and a half and we would walk the three blocks to the restaurant together.
As soon as I walked in my door, I texted Anna that Ryan would be joining us for dinner. I couldn’t predict her reaction if I didn’t give her a heads up, plus she needed to add another person to the reservation.
I was beyond excited to see Dexter. I hadn’t told him that Andrew and I had broken up, so I wondered what he would think or say when he saw me with Ryan. Dexter always had great etiquette. He did his undergrad at Cornell’s School of Hotel Management and I knew even without giving him a heads up that he would be appropriately discrete.
As expected, my phone started ringing five seconds after I texted. I braced myself for Anna’s hysteria and deluge of questions.
“What? When did this happen?” Anna exclaimed excitedly. “I can’t believe you didn’t say anything to me earlier!”
“I haven’t really had time,” I said defensively. “Everything just happened in the last twenty-four hours. I’m catching up with you now.”
“So, how? What? Just give me the scoop!” she blurted out in a frustrated rush.
“Well, we bumped into each other yesterday at a work function. You know, one of those big, corporate meetings with hundreds of people.”
“Oh my God! See, I told you—it’s totally fate!” she exclaimed.
“Yeah, well, maybe you’re right this time.” I couldn’t believe I was actually agreeing with her on this one. “Sorry, Anna, but I don’t have a lot of time right now to tell you everything. I have to get ready. He’ll be here in an hour. Can you call the restaurant and add another person to our reservation?”
“Okay, fine. Though it’s going to kill me all night not knowing the details,” she complained.
“You’ll live. And Anna,” I said with warning in my voice. “DO NOT harass him and give him the third degree. Please try to be normal.”
“Chill out. Okay, okay. I’ll be on my best behavior,” she swore with mocked annoyance.
We hung up and I jumped in the shower. I made sure I exfoliated well and shaved my legs and armpits extra thoroughly. Just in case.
I pilfered through my closet and chose a pale pink summer dress, one of my long weekend shopping spree purchases. It was casual, above the knee, with spaghetti straps, a cinched waste, and a skirt that swooshed. The A-line design accentuated my breasts and tiny waist. I put on my pink and orange espadrilles to match and draped a thin black cardigan over by shoulders. It was just enough to cover me in case it got chilly or to let it rest on my shoulders if it wasn’t.
I gave myself a quick once-over in the mirror and decided to leave my long, straight, dark brown hair down. It fell just below my shoulders and my eyes matched, though depending on the light, they sometimes took on a warm topaz look. My skin was paler than I wanted it to be right now, but fortunately my olive undertones inherited from my Korean grandmother gave me some color. I once read that Keanu Reeves was a quarter Chinese, along with Ann Curry, who used to be on The Today Show. Despite our blue-eyed, European descended dad, Anna and I looked like we could both be in the same family with Keanu and Ann.
Satisfied with my appearance, I tidied up my apartment, making sure to remove my love life work back schedule from the refrigerator. I wasn’t sure where this night would lead, but there was a small possibility that I might invite him in, if only for just drinks. My condo was small, only 850 square feet, and nothing compared to what a VP could afford, but I was proud of it. I was fortunate that it had two bedrooms, since I used the smaller one as an office, but the biggest selling point for me was the rather large balcony in the back. The deck was uniquely triangular and probably almost as big as the living room and dining room combined. I liked to call my style contemporary chic. The furniture was modern with sleek lines, but still cozy, not too artsy. I tended to like cool colors and dark wood. Since my living room was small, I had minimal furniture made up only of a gray loveseat, a coffee table, and one chair with a gray and white pattern on it. My place wasn’t fancy, but it was mine and I had made it my sanctuary.
My door buzzer rang. It was nearly seven o’clock and Ryan was right on time. Instead of inviting Ryan in, I decided to meet him outside of my building. Hopefully he would come in later. As I walked down the hall towards the glass door of the entry, I spotted him standing outside. He was facing the street, so he didn’t see me. I held my breath and just watched him for a moment. He was wearing beige pants with a white linen shirt and matching brown belt and shoes. His sandy brown hair held the highlights of summer. He looked glorious and sexy, and as I watched him, I felt my chest tighten. Was this really going to happen with us? Was I prepared for this? We had both done our part to set the wheels in motion. Would he be kind and take caution with my heart or was I only opening myself for more heartache?