She turned around and he stepped aside. “Come in.” He led in a few feet, where Danny had begun cleaning up the mess they had made.
She looked up at them when they entered and her eyes widened.
“Danny, this is Sofia Panadero.” He turned to Sofia. “This is my roommate, Danny.”
She extended her hand and Sofia gave it a quick shake.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Sofia said pleasantly.
“You, too,” Danny responded with a little less sincerity.
“Sofia and I are going to be working on a web design for Bit-by-Bit,” he said before his attention settled on Sofia again. “Let me grab a jacket and we can leave.”
“You’re going out?” Danny asked, looking confused. “What about your series? You never miss it. You’ve been talking about this episode all week.”
Max saw the ploy instantly. He had never chosen another woman over Danny before and she seemed perplexed that he was doing it now. But he had had enough of an emotional run-around for one day. First watching her excitement for the gifts Richard had not sent, then watching a magical moment evaporate into nothingness because of those very same gifts.
He needed to stop obsessing over moments like that, which probably meant nothing to her. He needed to get away from this apartment, away from her. He needed to move on with his life and Sofia presented him with the perfect opportunity. He didn’t know where this might lead. All he had to go on was two winks and a smile, but at least it was a step in the right direction, on a path that did not lead to Danny. “I’m sure Charlie’s got it covered,” he said as he left the room.
He grabbed a thin, black jacket from his bedroom and made his way back to the living room.
“That is the cutest teddy bear,” he heard Sofia say as he approached.
“Yeah,” Danny replied boastfully. “My boyfriend sent it to me. It was so thoughtful of him. He isn’t even in town. Things like this just make me love him even more.”
“He sounds like a great guy.”
“He is. He’s perfect.”
Max shut his eyes. He was such a fool. Anyone else would have gotten the hint after two years at most, but not him. No. He had to be hopeful and stupid and pathetic. Only an idiot would pine for a woman he knew he could never have. Only an idiot would hold on to hope after hearing that woman claim to love another man over and over again. Only an idiot would be content constantly being second best.
He swallowed the lump in his throat and tried to focus on his New Year’s resolution. Pulling on his jacket, he headed straight for the door. “Let’s go.”
“Well, it was great meeting you,” Sofia said, quickly wrapping up the conversation. “Hopefully I’ll see you again sometime.”
Max did not spare Danny another look as he left the apartment.
* * *
Max pulled out a chair and allowed Sofia to sit down. After much deliberation they decided to have dinner at a quiet bistro. It was not over-the-top fancy but professional enough for them to have their business meeting. The waitress came to take their orders. Sofia ordered a tuna bagel while Max decided to try the club sandwich. He already had dinner, but he found himself with an appetite. The grilled cheese sandwiches had not hit quite the right spot.
They spoke business for a grand total of five minutes before Max made a comment about Luke Skywalker and Sofia made him aware of the fact that Sky was actually his middle name. He should have been introduced as Luke Walker but as soon as people, like Mister Marsden, found out his middle name, they felt compelled to use it.
She then started talking about all her co-workers and moved onto what a great cook Terrence Truman’s wife was, which led to them talking about all kinds of food in general, which led to a conversation about how obesity was becoming a growing epidemic around the world, which led to Sofia making a statement about kids being overweight because of things like video games. Apparently she thought it was mindless and required no brainwork whatsoever. Max had thought it best to end that conversation there.
They continued chatting about other meaningless things until eventually the meals had been eaten, the drinks had been drunk, and all that remained was an insignificant portion of their chocolate mousse dessert.
Max had stuttered for about the first half an hour, but he had calmed down substantially since then. The nerves were not altogether gone though. Every now and then she would look at him in a certain way and the bumbling side of him would return. She was easy to talk to nevertheless and fun to be around. She was witty and intelligent, entertaining to the mind and the eye all at the same time.
He liked listening to her. She spoke English fluently, but her Spanish accent made everything she said sound so interesting. She pronounced R’s, even if they were supposed to be silent, and her lips rounded absolutely perfectly whenever she used the letter O.
“Do you like your job, Max?”
“I love it,” he replied instantly. “I actually studied Computer Science. I dabbled a bit in programming after I graduated and I was bored within a few months. I prefer the creative element of web designing. I think I’ll stick with this for a few more years.”
“And where did you study?” Sofia asked, lifting another spoonful of mousse to her full lips.
“Oh, right here in Los Angeles…UCLA. I moved here from Montana; wanted to see what the LA lifestyle was really like, I guess. It was a really big adjustment from the wide open spaces to all this hustle and bustle. I tend to get home-sick every once in a while.” He noticed her sapphire eyes caressing his face and the nervousness returned. “Where…where did you get…uh…your…eyes?”
Dear God, he thought. Please say it isn’t so. He shut his eyes, hoping that he did not just ask the beautiful woman across him where she got her eyes.
“What?” She snickered. “My eyes?”
She laughed and he lowered his head. It would appear that he had said something that stupid. He meant to say degree but his mind obviously was not co-operating in this conversation.
“Um…my mom has blue eyes,” she explained, a slight giggle still in her voice. “She’s Caucasian, my dad’s Latino, the combination is me.”
Max nodded slowly. “Good…combination.”
She blushed and bashfulness lifted the corners of her mouth.
“So tell me about the name Panadero,” Max said, subtly trying to change the topic. “It sounds very exotic.”
She giggled again. “No’ really. Panadero actually means baker in English.”
He was pleased with himself for asking that particular question. It made her say R and O in the same sentence but it also made him aware of the way she said ‘not’, where she had only half-pronounced the T. He noticed that she was waiting for a response and made an active effort to stop dissecting every movement of her lips and focus on the conversation. “Really?” he asked. “It means baker?”
She nodded.
“Wow! So at this table we have Sofia, descendant of the great Bakers and Max, descendant of the great…Shepards.”
She giggled and leaned forward, leaving a very marginal gap between them. “I think I like you, Max, descendant of the great Shepards.”
He smiled. “I may just like you, too, Sofia Baker.”
Max sat back and made a mental note to thank Charlie when he saw him again. This was just what he needed. In fact, he wanted this date disguised as a business meeting to go on for as long as possible. He looked up at Sofia and smiled. “I think we should get another chocolate mousse.”
* * *
Danny switched off the television, walked to her bedroom, and threw herself on her bed. She was angry and maybe a little hurt. Max had turned her down. He had never done that before. Why now? Why this woman? There wasn’t anything exceptional about her. Okay, so she was beautiful…and sexy…and she had pretty eyes…and she was sweet. What was so great about all that anyway?
She tossed over onto her stomach and pulled the pillow under her chin. Something didn’t feel right. Max had not had a girlfriend in three years and she was beginning to feel a little threatened. She remembered how he had stuttered when he opened the door. That alone was a very clear indication that he liked her and that was also the cause of her insecurities. It had started off as irritation, but that disappeared somewhere along the line and all she wanted was to be with Max right now, even if all they did was play Monopoly. And that revelation troubled her because it was Valentine’s Day. So why didn’t she want to be with Richard?
It was almost two o’ clock when Danny heard the key being slotted into the keyhole. She jumped off her bed and was already in the hallway before Max stepped inside. “So,” she said before he even closed the door, “how was your date?”
“It wasn’t a date,” he replied innocently. “It was more of a business meeting.”
“Business meetings don’t last until two in the morning.”
He walked into the kitchen, went to the fridge and took out a bottle of apple juice. “It was late. She lives close to LAX. I wasn’t about to let a woman travel alone at night. It isn’t safe, so I offered to follow her home. What are you doing up anyway?”
“I was reading a very interesting book,” she lied. “I couldn’t put it down. So you drove all that way? That’s so far out.”