Chapter 8
I was enjoying my third cup of coffee and scribbling down lesson plans for next week’s classes the following morning when there was a knock on my door that sounded like“La Cucaracha,” so I had a pretty good idea of who I’d find there.
“Mon chéri. Please forgive my absence yesterday. That Thai food performed the second coming of Chernobyl on my intestinal tract,” Stuart said, bowing in front of me before handing me a long-stemmed pink rose that looked awfully familiar.
“Stuart,” I said, taking the rose from him and bringing it to my nose. “Did you take this from Professor Dunbar’s yard?”
“Oh, so what?” he said, making a swatting motion in front of him. “He’s got plenty and knows exactly how to grow more.”
I chuckled. “Well, thanks.”
“As part of my apology for missing yesterday, I’d like to make it up to you and invite you out to lunch today. I can show you around the area like we talked about. There’s this amazing Mexican restaurant that I just know you’d love.”
“And how would you know that?” I asked.
“Because who doesn’t like Mexican food?”
He had a point. “Can’t argue with that.”
“Great. You want to leave in an hour or so?”
“Yeah, that sounds good.” I was already picturing the chips and salsa. “Are your intestines up for Mexican, though?”
“Oh yes. Completely emptied, as a matter of fact.”
“Shouldn’t have asked,” I mumbled to myself. “Is Lex joining us?”
I probably shouldn’t have cared, but I was hoping we’d made some progress toward building a friendship, or at the very least, not having him look as if it were a razor-scooter-to-the-ankle type situation whenever I was around.
“I planned on asking him, but I think he’s out on one of his runs. If he’s back before we leave, I’ll see if he wants to come along.”
“Alright. I can drive us. I’d like to break in Agnes.”
“Agnes?” he asked.
“My new car! She’s beautiful, Stuart. I can’t wait to show her to you.”
“Oh yeah. Lex told me you found a car.”
“Yes, and she’s pretty great.”
“Can’t wait to meet her.” He smiled, walking down the porch steps.
I got ready for our outing, throwing on a pair of jeans and a plain emerald scoop-neck fitted top that brought out the green in my eyes. I brushed my hair out and gave the ends a slight curl, adding a light amount of makeup. I took a look at myself in the mirror, deciding I looked decent before making my way over to the guys’ house.
I knocked a few times on their door and waited until it swung open to reveal a sweaty, shirtless Lex, looking very surprised to see me standing there. He’d obviously just gotten back from his run as he pulled his earbuds out.
“Hey,” he greeted, still a little out of breath. Through a valiant effort, I kept my eyes averted from his bare chest, but then I decidedYOLO! I gave in and took a quick peek at the smooth planes of his broad chest that had little beads of sweat glistening over perfectly tanned skin. There was a small patch of hair right at the center that I stared at for a few seconds before moving down to his toned abdomen. His body wouldn’t be described as ripped but was certainly sculpted enough to make any girl drool.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, snapping me back from my ogling.
“Oh um,” I stammered, trying to pull my thoughts out of the gutter and remember what I was doing there. “Stuart asked me to lunch.”
Stuart walked up right at that moment, slapping Lex on the back.
“Hey, you made it back. Go hop in the shower. We’re heading to La Carreta for lunch.”
I held my breath, waiting for his response, unsure if I wanted him to accept or not. He glanced at me for a brief moment before saying, “Give me five minutes.”
I relaxed a little as he walked away and realized I needed to get a better grip on my reactions if we were going to be spending more time together.
Stuart invited me inside, and we chatted about our classes before Lex came back down not long after, looking freshly showered and thankfully fully clothed. He was also wearing his glasses, which I found to be quite endearing. I had only seen him in them on faculty night, and I decided they suited his face nicely.
“Alright, let’s go meet Agnes,” I said to Stuart.
“Who’s Agnes?” Lex asked.
“How dare you?” I said, feigning offense. “The two of you met yesterday. How could you forget her so soon?”
“The car, dude,” Stuart explained.
“Right,” Lex said, probably questioning my sanity as we walked toward the parking lot.
“Here she is!” I announced like a proud mother.
“Nice.” Stuart walked around, giving her a once-over. “She looks dependable. Well done, Hadley.”
“Oh, it was all Lex,” I told him as we all got into the car, Stuart in the passenger seat and Lex in the back.
“Is that so?”
“Yes, you should have seen him!”
I proceeded to regale him with the previous day’s events as we drove into town with Stuart interjecting briefly to tell me where I needed to turn. I explained the whole story of how Lex caught that the engine in the first car was leaking oil and then about how they were trying to sell us Agnes at a much higher price.
“…then that’s when Lex jumped in, speaking full-blown, perfect Spanish. You should have seen these guys’ faces!”
I glanced in the rearview mirror to see Lex sitting quietly, looking out the window with his elbow leaning on the door frame. His fist was resting on his cheek, partially obscuring his face, but I could have sworn I saw a small smile there as I was telling the story.
“And can you even believe that?” I said to Stuart. “The guy speaks three languages. Even I had to pick my jaw up off the floor.”
Lex coughed and shifted around in his seat while Stuart grinned like the cat that ate the canary.
“What? What am I missing?”
Stuart cocked his head. “Well, I hate to make Lex’s ego any bigger since you already have stars in your eyes, but he actually speaks five languages.”
“What?” I asked deadpan, looking at him in the rearview mirror.
“I told you my father was Polish. I used to spend summers with my grandparents. I picked it up from them.”
This guy was just full of surprises.
“And the fifthlanguage?”
“Japanese,” he answered. “Our team worked on a project there a few years ago.”
“Yeah, we lived there for about a year and all I can remember how to say is ‘pass the sashimi,’” Stuart said. “Meanwhile, Lex learned to speak fluently within a few months.”
“Now I’m just freaked out. Who speaks five languages?” I asked, disgruntled. “Seems to me like you have something to hide, Strovinski. Are you actually a Russian spy sent here to learn government secrets?”
“Actually, now that you mention it, I have heard him say a lot of anti-American things,” Stuart said.
I gasped. “Like what?”
“Just the other day, he said he hates watching football.”
“NO!” I cried out in mock outrage.
“YES! And I’ve never once seen him eat a hotdog.”
“Well, there you go,” I said. “That proves it, Lex... if that’s even your real name! We’re turning you in.”
Lex rolled his eyes. “Knowing five languages does not make me a spy.”
“Exactly the kind of thing a spy would say, don’t you think, Stuart?”
“A regular Stierlitz if you ask me,” Stuart agreed.
“Are you two done? I’m not a spy,” Lex said, exasperated.
I narrowed my eyes at him in the rearview mirror. “Prove it! Eat a hot dog and we might believe you.”
He made a face of disgust. “I’d rather take my chances getting turned into the government.”
I spotted the sign for the restaurant and pulled in while the guys continued to argue.
“I’ve never seen you eat a hot dog either,” Lex accused as we got out of the car.
“That’s because I’m Jewish.”
“I saw you down three shrimp tacos last Friday.”
“Shhhh! My mother can hear you.” Stuart whipped his head around, scanning the parking lot. “Way to go, Lex! I just got off the prayer list at my mom’s temple and now you’re going to get me put back on.”
“Your mother lives in Sacramento,” Lex pointed out.
“There’s a secret Jewish mother’s network that they’re all tapped into. They hear everything, especially when their sons aren’t keeping kosher.”
“Alright, let’s go eat.” I grabbed both their arms, pulling them toward the restaurant. “Lex, we won’t make you eat a hotdog, and Stuart we’ll say a little prayer that no one in the Jewish community overheard.”
“Fine,” Stuart huffed. “It’s too late anyway. She already knows.”
We got seated with Lex sitting next to me and Stuart across the table from us. We were looking over our menus when our waiter came over, stopping at our table and staring at me awkwardly for a few seconds before greeting us.
“Hey guys, my name’s Zack. I’ll be taking care of you today. Can I get you started with anything to drink?”
“I’ll take a water,” Stuart said.
“Same for me,” Lex added.
“Water’s good for me too,” I said, rounding things out.
“Great, um, is there anything else I could get you right now?” he asked, only looking at me.
“No, I think we’ll look over our menus for a minute,” I told him, smiling, and he beamed back at me.
“So, where are you guys from?” he asked, his eyes trained on me.
“New York,” I answered even though it seemed unusual for him to ask.
“Wow, I’d love to go there someday,” he said, not waiting for the guys to respond.
I nodded. “Yeah, it’s pretty great.”
“No doubt, no doubt,” he said in a California accent, nodding his head and standing there for a few more seconds. “Well, I’ll give you guys a minute. I’ll be right back with those drinks.”
When he finally left, Stuart started to laugh while Lex just stared stone-faced into his menu.
“What’s so funny?”
“Did you not witness the same thing we just did?” Stuart asked.
“What? The waiter?” I guess he was acting odd.
“Yes, he was practically drooling on your shoes. Did you not notice or are you just used to men swooning and batting their eyelashes at you?”
He was a little off, but I figured people here were just friendlier. “I think he was just nervous. Maybe it’s his first day.”
“Hadley, we’re men. We know these things.” Stuart gestured between himself and Lex. “Trust me on this one. Most guys turn into blundering buffoons around beautiful women.”
“You two seem fine,” I pointed out.
“That’s because you’re way out of my league, and I’ve accepted that,” he said, placing his hand on his chest. “And Lex has yet to figure out that he’s good looking. He has Clark Kent syndrome.”
“What’s that?”
“He thinks because he wears glasses sometimes, he looks like a totally different person,” he explained. “My guy here could pull whoever he wanted, but he never tries because he’s usually too busy working to even notice the opposite sex.”
“I’m right here,” Lex pointed out.
“You sure are, buddy. Now tell her I’m right about the waiter.”
“He’s right,” Lex said before going back to perusing his menu.
Stuart leaned forward. “I bet you any amount of money he’s going to try and find a way to ask if you’re single.”
I leaned forward as well. “You’re on.” I wanted to take Stuart down a peg and get that smug look off his face.
“Loser pays,” he said, extending his hand across the table to me.
“Deal.” We shook hands.
Zack, the waiter, came up and gave us our drinks, continuing to focus his attention on me, and I started to get nervous that Stuart might be right.
“So, are you guys ready to order?” he asked (me).
“I’ll take the shrimp tacos,” Stuart said.
Lex shot him a look of annoyance. “Really?”
“What? All that talk about them made me really want them again.”
Lex sighed. “I’ll take the chicken fajitas.”
“And I’ll take the Baja chicken,” I said, passing him the menu, not making eye contact.
“Great choice,” he said, and I spotted Stuart smirking.
“And how will the checks be divided? Will you and your boyfriend be on one ticket?” he asked, looking between Lex and I.
Ughhh . Really? I snuck a glance over at Lex, who was trying to hide his smirk.
“No, we’ll all be on one ticket.” I avoided looking in Stuart’s direction. “Apparently, it’s on me.”
At that, they couldn’t hold back their laughter. Lex at least had the decency to try and hide it, but Stuart jumped up, laughing triumphantly.
“HA! Thank you, sir.” He shook the waiter’s hand. “I’ll save you the trouble. She’s single.”
“Stuart!” I chastised. “I’m sorry, Zack. My friend here’s an idiot.”
“No, he’s right. I was trying to see if you were single,” he admitted, not ashamed at all. “You’re very beautiful. It’s hard to look away.”
“That’s very kind of you to say.” I didn’t know how else to respond.
“I know you must get that all the time, but I still had to say it. I’ll go put in your order.”
He walked off, and I continued avoiding looking Stuart's way, but I could see him staring at me with a devilish grin out the corner of my eye.
Stuart folded his hands on the table. “Say it, Hadley.”
“Say what?”
“Say that I was right. I need to hear it.”
I sighed, admitting defeat. “You were right.”
“There it is,” he said, drumming his hands on the table.
I rolled my eyes. “You probably embarrassed the hell out of that guy.”
“Yeah right. You didn’t properly turn him down… ‘That’s very kind of you to say,’” he said in a girlish voice, trying to mock me. “He still thinks he has a chance. You played nice and now he’s coming for your number.”
“Oh, come off it,” I said, contemplating a kick to his shin.
“You want to go double or nothing?”
“No,” I answered quickly, realizing Stuart may actually have some insight into this guy.
“That’s what I thought,” he said, smirking. “Don’t take it too hard, Betty. I took advantage of you. I could tell you were one of those women who’s oblivious to how insanely hot they are.”
“Thanks, Stuart,” I said. “That’s sweet in a twisted sort of way.”
“Sure, and if you ever feel like lowering your standards and dating down a league, I’m always available.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Lex chose not to comment on our conversation, and mercifully, another server came to drop off our food.
“Oh, it’s not over,” Stuart said when he saw how relieved I probably looked. “He’s definitely coming back for your number.”
“You really think he’s going to ask?”
“Uhhhh yeah. That’s what I’ve been telling you.”
“What should I say?”
“Well, do you want to give him your number?”
“No, but I don’t want to embarrass him or hurt his feelings either.”
“Then just say whatever you normally tell guys to let them down,” he said through a mouth full of shrimp tacos.
“Believe it or not, this doesn’t happen to me that often. I’m from New York. No one there tells you you’re beautiful and politely asks for your number. Heckling and catcalling are practically an Olympic sport in our state.”
He shrugged. “I’m sure you’ll think of something.”
We finished our lunch, and I realized Stuart was right again—the food was delicious.
Zack dropped off our check without saying anything, and I paid for mine and Stuart’s after Lex insisted he had nothing to do with the bet, so he wasn’t letting me pay for his. I thought I was home free as we made our way to the exit until Zack stopped me just as we reached the door.
“Hey, could I talk to you for a minute?” he asked.
“We were just leaving,” Lex said impatiently, stepping in front of me.
He looked around Lex at me. “It will only take a second.”
“Okay,” I said, not wanting to be rude.
“Alone?” he asked, eyeing Lex.
Lex didn’t budge as he turned his head to me. “I’ll stay if you want me to.”
“It’s fine,” I told him, knowing Zack wasn’t a threat.
Lex looked at me for a few seconds before turning to glare at Zack as he pushed the door open to leave. Stuart followed behind him, winking at me as he left.
“So, I know you don’t know me very well or at all really, but I was hoping we could change that. Maybe you could give me your number, and I could call you sometime.” Just as Stuart predicted. I hated that he was right.
“I’m sorry, but I don't think it's a good idea,” I said.
“Is it because of that grumpy-looking guy out there?” He nodded toward Lex.
I smiled. “He’s not always so grumpy,” I said, though the evidence was stacked against him. “But no, that’s not it. I’m not really ready to date right now. Thank you, though. I know it’s not easy putting yourself out there.”
He nodded, accepting defeat. I hated the feeling of disappointing someone.
“Well?” Stuart asked as I walked outside to meet them. “Two for two?”
“Oh, that?” I said, sticking my thumb out toward the restaurant. “He just wanted to make sure I knew I could save 15% by switching to Geico.”
“He so asked for your number,” Stuart said, ignoring my bad joke.
“Where to next?” I asked as we all got into the vehicle.
“Hadley, you are now in the heart of Silicon Valley, and the only true way to appreciate it is with a visit to The Tech Interactive.”
“Oh no,” Lex mumbled.
“What’s that?” I asked curiously.
“I’m glad you asked. It’s a science and technology center where you can build robots, explore space, and sit in a jet-pack chair! You can even visit the bio-design studio where they discuss bioengineering and have the distinct pleasure of hearing Lex point out its inadequacies.”
“Is it really that bad?” I asked Lex.
“No, it’s just that we’ve been there five times already.”
“Each time funner than the last. What do you say, Hadley?”
“Sounds interesting. I’m up for it if you guys are.”
“YES!” Stuart yelled. “Lex?”
“Fine,” Lex said with a sigh.