Chapter 6
Richard
I felt like I was standing on pins and needles waiting for her to come. I know she'll be here. I was just a little early. Alright, fine, a LOT early because I'm so nervous. Every few minutes, I was checking my phone expecting a text from her, canceling our ‘date’.
I mean, I didn’t specify that it was a date, but I guess she understood that it was. I definitely want this to be a date, and I only waited so long to ask her out because I didn’t want our professional obligations to get in the way of anything that we could build personally.
I screwed up bad five years back and I really want to make up for it.
I’m going to do everything I can to show her that I’m a completely changed person, that I’m responsible, and that she can trust me with an adult relationship.
I want her to know that she doesn’t have to be afraid to give her heart to me again, and this time around, I’ll care for it with my life.
Just then, in walked my Katie. She looks…
oh my God, she looks like a vision from heaven.
Her black sequin cocktail dress hugs her in all the right places, accentuating her heavenly curves.
It dips just right at the front so as not to be too obscene but showing enough cleavage to be tantalizing to the onlookers.
I found myself getting a little jealous at the appreciative looks she was getting from the men she was walking past.
“Calm down cowboy”, I told myself. You haven’t even been on one date yet, and you’re already getting possessive over her?
I don’t know how long I was just sitting there like an idiot, practically drooling over her while she was obviously looking around, trying to find me.
But all of a sudden, the fog of lust cleared, and another image superimposed itself on the image of her standing there. It was an image of a similarly dressed, younger Katie from five years back.
This one wasn’t just standing around. She immediately found me and was practically bouncing while walking toward me. She was that excited to meet me, compared to her almost somber look right now. She was so innocent and so carefree back then.
But the Katie of now…she looks perfect, sure, maybe even more beautiful than she looked back then, but her eyes aren’t innocent any longer.
They show struggles, bitterness and all the negative emotions I never thought I’d see on my Katie.
She carries herself with a quiet confidence and a “don’t approach me” aura.
God, what happened to my innocent, carefree girl from all those years back. What did life do to her? What did I do to her? I really need to fix this. I need to fix everything I screwed up on that disastrous date 5 years back.
So, with that in mind, I got up from my chair and went right up to her…and hugged her tight.
“Hey, thanks for coming”, I whispered in her ear softly while still hugging her.
She stiffened in my arms, obviously surprised at my overly forward greeting but then, just for a minute, she sank into my arms, and it was like the old times all over again.
I took it all in with a smile, her sweet scent that somehow hadn’t changed for over 5 years, the feel of her skin against mine, the feel of her breaths while she was pressed up against me.
I wanted to stay like this forever, but unfortunately, we can’t get everything we want in life, because before the moment was over, she pulled away from me.
And I let her go with a soft sigh of regret.
Her eyebrows were raised while she looked at me again, silently asking what all of that was about, and all I could do was shrug with a sheepish smile.
And surprisingly, she smiled right back.
I felt a warm feeling building up in my chest at the first real smile she’d shown me since I met her again six months ago.
Maybe this date wouldn’t be a disaster, after all.
I led her to our table, and before I sat back down, I made sure to pull her chair out and wait for her to sit down. And for the second time that night, she looked at me in shock and surprise. She did NOT expect that.
Of course she did not. She was used to dating spoilt brat Richard from 5 years back.
Ahh, I hate my past self. I made a complete mess of our relationship.
I didn’t know how to treat my girlfriend back then, and it was obvious in the fact that Katie thought me showing basic manners is out of character for me.
I have half a mind to go back in time and beat the ever living shit out of my past self.
I silently huffed out a breath and walked around the table to sit back down. It looks like I have a long way to go before I earn her trust again. I have my work cut out for me.
“Hey”, I greeted her again once I sat back down, and she let out a laugh before answering.
“Hey. So, are we going to progress beyond greetings, or?”, she asked me with a mischievous smile and I chuckled.
“Of course, we are. But before that, why don’t we start with something to drink? Do you still like red wine?”, I asked her, and her appreciative smile was all the answer I needed. She was happy that I remembered.
Of course, I remembered. I remember every single moment we shared together.
I know I was stalling, and I think she knows that too, if her quip was anything to go by.
This is ridiculous. I run a multibillion-dollar business, and I’m not a novice at the dating field.
So, why am I so awkward right now? Why does the thought of talking to this woman in front of me make me sweat bullets?
I’m afraid of saying the wrong thing or triggering the wrong memory. I’m so obsessed with making sure this date goes well that I’m already ruining it with my silence.
“Hey”, she interrupted my thoughts softly, a knowing look in her eyes.
My smart Katie. She sees more than she lets on.
“I think we need to have some ground rules for this dinner. Let’s agree to not talk about the past, and anything the other does not want to talk about in their current life is off limits as well. Sounds good?”
God, this woman. Why I ever let her go, I’ll never know. Of course it sounds good. It sounds great, and I told her as much.
“Yeah”, I breathed out a sigh of relief.
And that’s all it took to make the conversation flow.
Before long, we were talking like we were old friends, which we were, in a sense.
While we were dating, we were as much friends as we were lovers.
We could always talk for hours on end about anything and everything and never get bored of the other.
I’m glad to see that it’s the same for us now.
“I’m so impressed, Katie”, I suddenly told her, interrupting one of her stories. I just had to tell her. “I mean, your own business, and how fast you’ve grown it. I just can’t wrap my head around it. I don’t think I can do something like that”, I told her in awe.
“Are you serious Richard?”, she replied, amused. “You run a billion-dollar business, which I never knew about by the way”, she deadpanned.
“Sorry about that”, I gave her a sheepish smile.
“I tried to keep my family out of my life back then.”, I sighed.
“But no, I mean it. I run my father’s business.
I was practically handed it, and it’s in a field I don’t even like all that much.
But you…you’re doing something you love.
You built it from scratch and you succeeded. It’s completely different, trust me”.
“It was nothing. Just one too many all-nighters”, she joked, and we both laughed. “But seriously, thank you. Coming from you, it means a lot. Though, what do you mean when you said you don’t even like your field? Then why are you managing that company?”
“Because my dad wants me to?”, I sighed. “I’m the second youngest, and I was practically handed what was left. My younger brother and I are supposed to manage the business together, but well, have you seen him at the company once in the 6 months you were there?”
“No”, she answered honestly. “I didn’t know you had your brother helping you”
“That’s because I don’t.”
“Why don’t you start something you like then?”
“It’s not that easy Katie. I don’t know if I have what it takes. What if I fail?”
“Then you failed? Do you think I knew if I had what it took, and trust me, I had a LOT more to lose when I started my business. But I still did it. There’s no harm in trying Richard. Remember that quote? You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take and all that?”
“What happened to you girl?”
“Life”, she laughed, and this time, I didn’t laugh with her.
“I’m sorry”, I started.
“No. Nothing about the past, remember?”, she interrupted me softly.
I silently nodded, my eyes locked on hers. I don’t know how long we stayed locked in like that. We were no longer in that restaurant. We were in a time that seemed so far away now. We were gone to a time when we were young, when things were so much simpler than they are right now.
We would have probably spent hours in that faraway world if an amused voice hadn’t interrupted us with our drink orders.
We looked away like guilty teenagers caught making out on their parents’ couch.
We looked at each other again and exchanged secret smiles over the waiter’s hand pouring us our drinks.
And that smile broke the tension. It paved the way for the rest of the night, which was, for lack of a better word, magical. We steered clear of the upsetting topics, but we talked about anything and everything.
I explained my family situation, about how overbearing my father was, how I felt like my talents were being wasted where I am right now, and how sometimes I just want to run away to a place where no one’s heard of my last name and just…
start fresh. She’s always been a good listener, and she’s even better now. And her insights are always on point.
I don’t remember the last time I had so much fun, alone or otherwise. By the time we finished our desserts, I was disappointed to see the night coming to an end. We both took our own cars here, so I don’t even have the excuse of driving her home to spend some more time with her.
But something told me that I shouldn’t just leave things like this right now, that I would regret it if I did. We’ve built more of a rapport in the last three hours than we did in the last six months, and I don’t want to send her back home alone to rethink everything.
God, that makes me sound like such a pervert, but it’s not all physical.
Of course, she’s the woman of my dreams, and I would give anything for another chance to make love to her, but that’s just a part of my need to keep her close.
I just…want to talk to her. I barely have any friends I can open up to like I can with her, and my brothers and I can hardly be described as ‘close’.
So, it’s been a long time since I was able to talk to someone like this.
So, I told her what I felt.
“Katie, I don’t want this night to end”, I told her, looking her square in the eye. I know I’m putting myself out there for a possible rejection, but I’ll regret it more if I don’t tell her how I feel right then.
And Katie has always surprised me. Now wasn’t an exception.
“Me too”, she replied with a shy smile, and I smiled back at her.