34. Moving Slowly
Fuck,Ben thought. He hadn’t meant to say those words aloud. He hadn’t meant to say anything; it just slipped out. Oh well. I just hope I didn’t scare her away or lose any progress. Ben had meant to move slowly with Gia, not allowing his emotions to get the best of him or allow words that couldn’t be taken back to escape. He knew Gia was still skittish, given their past, and he was trying to keep his cool despite the emotions boiling to the surface of his heart, growing stronger each time he saw her.
Ben expected Gia to pull away from his embrace, to run again—but she didn’t. Instead, she remained with her head pressed against his chest as it rose and fell. They stayed like that for several minutes. Time remained frozen for both as they stood in a close embrace after so long apart. Finally, Gia slowly pulled her head away from Ben’s chest and raised her eyes to look into his.
“You can meet Aiden after school today if you’d like,” she said. “As my friend.”
Ben grinned down at Gia. Tears threatened to invade from the corners of his eyes. He was overtaken with emotion over the opportunity to meet his son—and knowing that Gia felt his intentions were pure enough to at least allow him to play some small role in Aiden’s life.
He tried to resist the overpowering desire to kiss Gia again, but it was futile. Ben placed a hand on each of Gia’s cheeks and leaned down slightly, gazing into her eyes before pulling her face toward his in a swift motion. He could feel the warmth of her breath against his skin, and for a few seconds, yearning hung heavy in the air like a thick fog. When their lips finally met, it was soft and gentle, like a whisper between lovers. The kiss deepened as Gia slid her tongue through Ben’s slightly opened lips, the intensity growing like a spark into a flame.
As their tongues danced to a symphony playing only in their minds, Gia placed a hand against Ben’s head, pushing his face harder against her own, then shifted it to the back of his neck. She didn’t want the moment to end. She couldn’t let go. As their hands wandered across each other’s backs, necks, and shoulders, they forgot where they were. The world outside ceased to exist as they held each other again, overcome by the once-familiar feelings lost over time.
Finally, Gia broke the kiss and began to pull away, looking around to be sure they were still alone in that part of the garden. Ben could easily sense that Gia’s fear had taken over.
“Ben, I?—”
“You don’t have to say anything,” Ben interrupted. “We don’t have to say or do anything right now. Let’s enjoy the rest of our date. We just got the end-of-date kiss out of the way a little early, that”s all.” He gave Gia a friendly squeeze on the shoulder, trying to return to casual interactions. “Let’s see the plants. We can talk about… this… later.”
Ben tried to make light of the powerful emotions still lingering in the air as he released Gia from his embrace. He reached out to hold her hand, hoping she wouldn’t stop him. He could tell she was trying to hold back and avoid getting attached, and he needed to respect that. It was time to slow things down.
Ben led Gia toward the door to the exhibit space, a massive circular greenhouse structure that housed the botanical garden’s major plant shows and seasonal exhibits. He released Gia’s hand to pull the door open and hold it, gesturing for her to enter ahead of him. Once inside, he placed his arm around her back, hoping it wasn’t “too much” under the circumstances.
The massive, all-glass room was bathed in light. The air inside was humid and warm—almost tropical. Ben took in Gia’s facial expressions while she walked through the exhibit space, mouth slightly ajar as she read the plaques that provided information on each plant, including native region, potential medicinal, culinary, and other uses, required growing conditions, specific needs, and so on. Most of the plants in the exhibit were challenging to grow without a particular microclimate; therefore, many were kept within their own temperature and moisture-controlled terrariums. As Gia and Ben read the information on each plant, they couldn’t help but notice that some combination of habitat destruction, illegal collection, and other human-centered activities also threatened most of them.
“Wow!” Ben said suddenly, unable to hide the excitement in his voice. “I’ve actually seen these in the wild!” Ben pointed to a leafless, ethereal-looking plant. Delicate white flowers with thin, threadlike petals graced the apex of the stem as it climbed and wound around a host tree.
“Really? They’re beautiful! What are they?” Gia asked, peering into the exhibit.
“Ghost orchids!” Ben said with enthusiasm. “They smell incredible, especially at night. Sweet and romantic. The nighttime pollinators love them. When I was in Cuba, they grew in one tiny, forested area of a property. We had to avoid building anything nearby that could alter the growing conditions and keep the resort guests out to avoid risking what little habitat they had left. We made sure that?—”
“Resort guests? What were you doing in Cuba, exactly? Was it with World Corps?” Gia interrupted before Ben could finish his sentence, triggering the realization that his eco-tourism consulting had been one of his strategic omissions—or, maybe, it just hadn’t come up. Either way, he had told Gia he’d done a great deal of traveling but certainly hadn’t given her the whole story.
“Well, not exactly. I only stayed with World Corps part of the time I was away. A significant amount of my time abroad involved using the skills I acquired while volunteering with them to help other companies establish more environmentally friendly, sustainable resorts in rainforest areas.”
“Oh, so, like eco-tourism?” Gia questioned.
“Exactly. I became an eco-tourism consultant, hence the traveling. I started my own company. It was quite successful.”
“That’s fascinating!”
“It was definitely an experience. It was…” Ben trailed off, then paused, pondering whether he should share any further details about just how successful the company was. Finally, he decided if he couldn’t be honest now, there was no point in continuing to court Gia. He knew he needed to build her trust—and he could tell she wasn’t after his money at this point, so… why not? “It was quite lucrative,” he added.
“Lucrative? How lucrative?” Gia asked, narrowing her eyes.
Ben’s eyebrows raised and his shoulders naturally moved into a shrug, but he remained silent.
“The car?” Gia squinted at Ben. “That lucrative?”
Ben nodded, a chuckle escaping. “That lucrative.”
“Oh… I… Oh. Um, wow. Congratulations, I guess!” Gia stumbled to get the sentence out, unsure how to take the unexpected news of Ben’s wealth.
“I didn’t tell you because, well, I don’t actually know, honestly. I guess I just wasn’t sure how. And I didn’t know if it would make you think of me differently. I didn’t want it to. I’m still the same guy I always was—nothing has changed. Well, no, I mean, I’ve changed, of course—but in good ways. I’ve grown up.” It was Ben’s turn to trip over his words as he realized the whole point of returning home and seeking out Gia was to prove to her that he had changed. He needed her to know he was a far cry from the boy who ran away from his problems many years ago.
“There are some other things you should probably know sooner rather than later, but let’s take this one step at a time.” Ben couldn’t help but wonder if he should share that his career path had taken another recent transition into being a restaurant and café owner or hold off based on his original intentions. Ultimately, he decided to hang onto that piece of information.
He had a plan for it.
“Other things like what?” Gia asked, wondering what else he could possibly have up his sleeve.
“Oh, don’t worry about it. You’ll see. It’s nothing bad. I promise. No more about me now, though. Please, back to the plants! Can we just get back to the plants?” Ben pleaded, a teasing grin forming across his features. Gia chuckled, unsure how to process the situation she now found herself in.
“Okay, okay! Back to the plants. Now, then, tell me more about ghost orchids,” Gia said as she peered, once again, at the breathtaking rare flowers.
“They’re called ghost orchids because, well, because they look ghostly,” Ben said, realizing how dumb it sounded only after the words had left his mouth.
Gia couldn’t control the laugh that escaped her mouth. “Well, thank you, Captain Obvious. Good thing I have you as my guide, Mr. I’ve-Seen-Them-in-the-Wild-in-Cuba. Where would I be without your botany expertise?”
They both started laughing as they walked toward the next plant exhibit, Ben’s arm still wrapped around Gia’s waist.