Chapter Seven
The next day at work flew by for Aliannah. She enjoyed the excitement of her phone buzzing with messages from Jasper. Jasper has lived in New York City all his life in a penthouse apartment on the other side of Central Park. He has been single for about a year and has no children. He owns a husky called Bella and enjoys walks in the park with her.
Unlike Ivan, Jasper was not an Oil tycoon. Jasper was the CEO of Conrad Media, one of the big media networks in the state. Conrad Media covered all sorts of outlets: Newspapers, radio, TV and a blog. It was a massive network. The company had thousands of employees state-wide, with another hundred employees located globally for news breaks. It was a nice change.
Aliannah met Michelle in Ger’s bar that evening. Michelle spent twenty minutes dishing about how hunky Ivan was on the news last night and how if Aliannah had not had a thing with him that she would; in fact, try to climb the man like a tree. Aliannah put her head in her hands at this thought and laughed. Oh, Michelle! She could always count on Michelle to make her laugh.
Michelle filled Aliannah in on her time with Gavin and how they might become more serious. Aliannah was happy for her friend. In truth, it was about time they stopped tip-toeing around and just opened their eyes and admitted they had feelings for each other. Everyone around them knew it, and from the glares Gavin gave any man who tried to dance too close to Michelle in Zino’s, the men knew it too. Michelle had changed a lot since meeting Gavin. She was not as wild as she used to be anymore. This was a good thing. Aliannah could not count how many nights Michelle had gone home to someone else or brought someone home to the apartment for the night over the years. Gavin was good for Michelle. She hoped it would work out for them. Her friends deserved this happiness.
*SWOOSH* Michelle’s eyes nearly popped out of her head when she heard that sound come from Aliannah’s phone.
“Hold on! Since when have you been on Tinder, and why haven’t you told me? Who is he? Is it Ivan? What about Ivan? You can’t just abandon poor hunky Ivan in his time of need” Michelle’s eyebrows were bunched up like she was a detective interrogating their top suspect.
Aliannah sipped her drink. “For One – poor hunky Ivan, as you called him, is not a contender. I told you that Ivan is done. Two – Ivan is in Russia dealing with his oil crisis, so I am enjoying my peace! Three – I joined Tinder last night in an effort to move on. I am currently messaging with a guy called Jasper. He seems really nice.”
Aliannah told Michelle everything she knew about Jasper. Michelle nodded along, listening intently, and then gushed over his photo.
“Oh, those eyes, Aliannah! He could sweep any woman off her feet with a single look! He looks like a total catch! Go you!”
The message from Jasper was an invitation to coffee tomorrow lunchtime in Cherubs Tearooms. Aliannah was nervous about meeting him so soon but was also intrigued to see if he matched his photo and how his voice sounded. She also wanted to know how genuine he was. Meeting in Cherubs Tearooms was a good location; it was public, it would be busy at that time of the day, and there was plenty of CCTV should things go awry. The bonus was that it was her favourite spot, and she had not even told him about it.
Michelle encouraged Aliannah to step out of her comfort zone and go for it! She could always walk away if he was not what she wanted or if the vibes felt wrong. Aliannah bit her lip with nerves as she replied to Jasper, agreeing to meet him the next day. She felt excited but nervous. At least if it was not going the way she wanted it to, she could always excuse herself to go back to work to attend an “urgent matter”. This gave her the room that she needed to breathe. She was Aliannah Stackton. She could be brave and put herself back out there. She could do this. Not all men are like Ivan. She hoped.
The following morning, Aliannah spent a little extra time getting ready. She had no plans to take Jasper to bed, but putting on her favourite lingerie set gave her the extra boost she needed. The Museum had a dress code of looking professional, so today, she chose a black knee-length dress with gold flaking across it and opted for a high ponytail. This gave professional but not funeral director. One final look in the mirror, satisfied with her appearance, she gave a small smile before heading out the door. She had butterflies in her stomach. Would this be a good omen? Or would it be a bad one? No, she would not acknowledge any negativity. Today was going to be a day of positivity.
Aliannah busied herself with work and set an alarm on her phone. This way, she could get all her pre-lunch tasks done without worrying about being late. When the alarm dinged on her phone, she got her bag and set off to Cherubs Tearooms. She made sure her location setting was on so Michelle could check if needed. A girl can never be too prepared for a bad outcome.
She spotted Jasper sitting on the terrace outside at her favourite table. This had to be a coincidence, her favourite coffee spot and her favourite table. Although the place was packed, it could have simply been luck to grab an empty table during the lunch rush.
Jasper stood up as she approached and shook her hand. He matched his photo exactly, so that’s a good start. She sat down opposite him; it felt a bit formal, but she appreciated the table being a physical boundary between them. Jasper flagged the waitress and ordered two coffees. His voice was like velvet. He had a deep, almost Southern accent despite having never lived in the South. Jasper told her that his parents were from Texas and that they had moved to New York before Jasper was born, hence his New York-Texas mix of accents. Aliannah just found it more enthralling.
She couldn’t understand why she had been nervous at all. His charm and velvet tones put her at such ease. She began to relax a little and told Jasper how she was from Ohio and lived with her best friend on the opposite side of the park from him. They chatted for almost an hour before Aliannah noticed the time.
“Shit, I am going to be late back to work. I am so sorry I have to run!” Jasper offered to have his car service drive her there, but Aliannah knew the traffic around here. She politely declined and told him she would be quicker walking, and she left.
She called Michelle on her way back to the museum to let her know she was alive and well and to debrief the date. Michelle was delighted it had gone well.
“I’ll stand down the National Guard then. I am proud of you for getting back out there even if this goes nowhere.” Aliannah was not sure how far this would go, but she was not opposed to exploring this avenue.
Aliannah was a few minutes late back to work from her lunch date, but the showroom was empty. She was lucky to go unnoticed. As hard as she tried to focus on her work for the remainder of the day, she found it difficult not to let her mind stray. Jasper had been ever the gentleman on their coffee date. He was polite, he listened with genuine interest to anything she had to say, and he gave off honest good-guy vibes. Jasper seemed to tick all the good boxes on his first in-person impression. Maybe there was hope to be had after all?