A Whirlwind of Color - Chapter 21
Sunday
I didn’t know why I was nervous. This wasn’t a real date.
It was a re-do of something I didn’t remember.
But I felt a sense of peace as I pulled the sundress over my head.
I was giving James what he wanted. He’d be happy all day.
Before I pull the rug out from under him.
I shook away the thought as I turned toward the mirror.
It was the third dress I had tried on. This one flared out slightly above my waist, which hid my bloated stomach.
I touched my belly. Not bloated. I had been pregnant.
It still didn’t seem real. It felt like I’d remember such a momentous occasion.
It was the only time I’d ever know what it was like to carry a child. And I couldn’t recall any of it.
I let my hand fall from my stomach. That wasn’t something I wanted to think about.
Not today. I had the rest of my life to come to terms with it.
Today was about…well, I wasn’t sure what it was about.
Goodbyes? A fresh start? Maybe it depended on the day.
I reached up to try and zipper the back of the dress, but I could barely reach it.
I couldn’t manage to zipper it more than halfway.
I turned to the mirror to see if I could find a better angle.
The reflection staring back at me looked more like me than it had when I had first woken up in the hospital.
I looked sad and broken now, but the white sundress with blue flowers looked good.
The blue matched my eyes. It almost hid the fact that my eyes looked as sad as the rest of me.
I sighed, abandoning the zipper. Today wasn’t going to repair anything.
But it could lift my spirits. I slid on a pair of sandals and walked out of the bedroom without another glance at my reflection.
James was standing at the windows in the living room, staring out at Main Street below.
His hands were in the pockets of his jeans.
He had added a button down shirt over his t-shirt.
And he was wearing shoes again. Dress shoes, not sneakers.
But they looked good. He certainly didn’t look like he had a stick up his ass today. Stop looking at his butt.
“Hey,” I said.
He turned around. “You look beautiful.”
I smiled. No one had ever said that to me before. Austin always said I looked hot. Or sexy. But never beautiful. I felt the color rise to my cheeks. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”
He abandoned the window and walked over to me. “Are you ready to go?”
“I couldn’t reach…” I gestured to the back of my dress. “I mean, could you maybe…” I let my voice trail off. Usually I made Melissa zip me. I had never asked a boy to do it before. I swallowed hard. Not a boy. James was all man. A very handsome man that was way out of my league.
He didn’t say anything, he just brushed my hair to the side.
His fingers slowly trailed across my skin, igniting it like only he seemed to be able to.
I was almost disappointed when he was finished zipping my dress the rest of the way up, because his touch made me feel so warm. Safe, yet alive at the same time.
“You ready?” He held his hand out for me.
I don’t know. I ignored my annoying thoughts and placed my hand into his. I felt like he could show me what living was. I felt like he could show me everything I’d ever wanted out of life. The thought was just as electrifying as it was terrifying. “I’m ready.”
***
We pulled up to a huge building. There was a tennis court to the right and a pool beside it. Behind them I could make out a golf course in the distance.
“Where are we?” I asked.
James smiled. “This is where we had our first real date.”
“What do you mean by real date?”
He cut the engine. “It took a little time for my head to catch up to my heart. I wanted to give you what you deserved instead of just taking what I wanted. We started things a little backwards. I wanted to show you that you meant more to me than one time in my office.”
I swallowed hard. His office? It was just like my dream. “You mean, we had sex before you took me on a date?”
A valet came to my door and opened it for me before James had a chance to reply.
"Welcome back, Mrs. Hunter," he said and put out his hand for me to grab. It was the first time I didn’t grimace at the name. I took his hand and he pulled me out of my seat and closed the passenger side door.
James stepped out of the car and the valet walked over to him. “Mr. Hunter," he said with a huge smile. "It’s been awhile since you two have visited.”
“Much too long,” James said. He handed the valet the key. “Hopefully we’ll be back more often. Penny’s just reminded me how much we love it here.” He walked over to me and put his hand on the small of my back. “Right?”
I nodded. He was right, in a sense. I loved Newark. But I literally had no idea where we were right now. And my mind was a little preoccupied by the fact that he said we slept together before he took me on a date. Apparently I had become quite the slut in my late teens.
James escorted me into the building as my thoughts wandered. But I quickly abandoned what I was thinking about when we stepped inside. The floor was pure marble. And the biggest chandelier I had ever seen hung from the ceiling above.
A woman walked over to us. "Mr. and Mrs. Hunter. Your table is ready." She seemed nervous to be talking to us.
We followed her down a hallway and entered an elegant restaurant.
I wasn't dressed nearly fancy enough. Most of the women wore lace dresses and the men were in suits.
It felt like they were all staring at me.
But as we made our way to the back of the restaurant I realized that they were staring at James.
I didn't blame them, he was so handsome.
But I felt a little jealous again, and I had no idea why.
I had no reason to be jealous. I glanced at him.
At least he was dressed casually like me.
It made me feel a little more comfortable.
The woman showed us into a private room in the back.
There was a roaring fire, despite the fact that it was summer, and an elegant loveseat to one side.
In the middle of the room was a table with a beautiful flower arrangement in the center.
A bottle of wine and two glasses were already on the table.
Oh no, they’re going to ask me for my I.D.
I almost laughed out loud. First of all, I didn’t have an I.D.
As far as I could tell, James was keeping it from me. But it didn’t matter anyway. I was old.
Instead of questioning my age, the woman said, "Your waiter will be right with you," and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.
I turned to James. "So where are we exactly?"
"Our country club."
I stared at him. Our country club? I knew he was wealthy. But I wasn’t exactly used to the idea that I was wealthy. My parents did well enough to pay my tuition. But this? I looked around the room again. I really owned a part of this?
James walked over to the table and pulled my chair out for me.
"No one's ever pulled out a chair for me before." I sat down and stared at him as he took the seat across from me. I was experiencing a lot of firsts today. And I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t enjoying it.
Really I just wanted to hear him say I was beautiful over and over again. A girl could get used to that.
"Then you haven't been dating the right people."
Dating. James and I weren’t technically dating. We were married. But in a lot of ways this felt like a first date. Not that I had ever had a date like this before. More like a first date from my dreams. “And I've never been to a country club before. Do we come here often?"
“Not as often as we used to.”
“Why?”
“Life I guess.” He stared at me intently. “But I’m going to start prioritizing us again. I’m going to put you first. Always.”
He was right before. I had no idea what it was like to be wooed. Because this felt amazing. I truly felt like I was the center of his attention. It was easy to feel that way when his eyes never left mine.
Just at that moment the waiter walked in and hurried over to the table. "Good evening. It is my pleasure to be serving you tonight, Mr. and Mrs. Hunter. It’s so good to see you both again."
I glanced at his name tag. Jerrod. I was about to tell Jerrod that we weren't married and then I realized it wasn’t true. I was James’ wife. He was my husband. We were so much more than a first date.
Jerrod started telling us about their daily specials but I couldn't stop staring into James’ eyes.
It was impossible to look away. There was so much love there.
And I didn’t care if I didn’t deserve it.
I wanted it. Desperately. Jerrod uncorked a bottle of wine and poured us each a glass while he was talking.
After Jerrod was done his spiel, James said we would need a minute to look at the menu.
I skimmed through mine, trying to find the cheapest thing as Jerrod left the room.
Most of the meals were as much as the used textbooks I always bought for classes.
I didn't feel comfortable letting James pay for this. Or…I guess we were paying for it? I shook my head. Even though we were married, it was pretty clear that it was all his money. I couldn’t make him pay for this when I was planning on leaving him at the end of the night. Am I still planning on that?
"Penny?" He reached over and grabbed my hand.
"James, I've never had food that costs this much.” I picked up my glass with my free hand and took a sip of the wine.
“Actually, you have.”
An exasperated laugh escaped my lips. “But I don’t remember. You told me how we met. You told me that you fell in love with me. But you never explained why, James. Why me? I’m incredibly…uninteresting.”
“That’s entirely untrue. I find you fascinating.”