I’m about to lift up my arm to signal for the bill to get out of here.
“Great, now I’ve ruined dinner.”
I lift up my hands in surrender. “No, you haven’t. I’m sorry. Forget I said anything and we’ll go..”
I move closer to her and whisper, “But I love spending time with you.”
I cup her face, and her eyes beam. “I love being with you. And most of all I love you. I’m not going to apologize for that. Never.”
“Oh, Eric, I love you, too!”
She wraps her arms around me, and the realization of my words start to hit home. Did I just tell her that I love her? To make matters worse, she didn’t hesitate in saying the same thing back. We just started dating, at this rate I’m not only going to be buying her a business that she loves, but a home too with me in it.
Now, surprising her is starting to seem like less and less of a good idea. I need her to meet my daughter.
I’m building this whole life for us, dropping an “I love you” when it distracts her most, and I almost feel skeevy.
You know I’m buying her the bookstore to make her happy, right? I mean, don’t you think I can make it long enough to close the deal before Elia loses her mind at work?
Eric
I dropped Elia at home after dinner last night, claiming that I had early patients and I didn’t want to wake her up in the morning. The last thing I had on my mind was sex. Fuck! I need to introduce her to Rose, and she’s already practically moved in.
Even if Elia loves me, it doesn’t mean she wants all of this. I am starting to feel like I moved us forward too fast. I didn’t mean to even tell Elia that I love her, even though I know it’s true.
There’s a knock on the door, and I know that it’s Jessica on the other side. Anything to take me away from thinking about Elia is a welcome distraction so that my subconscious can sort this out instead of me worrying and not finding solutions.
“Come in!”
Jessica shakes her head as she enters, and I know that it’s not good news. I thought this was a done deal. The guy Ryan is a real fucking slime ball.
“Damn that bastard! Why’s he still refusing to sell? I thought it was a done deal!”
I stand up and get my ball and throw it in the direction of the hoop on the other side of the door. Something that I do once in awhile. Just so that I keep moving around, and I don’t end up spending most of the day just sitting down when I’m not seeing patients. Plus, the kids love to use the second hoop that I have lower on the door..
She closes the door behind her. “Well, have you talk
ed to him?”
“It’s not like I haven’t tried, Jessica. The guy’s disappearing every week. Ryan hasn’t been back to the bookstore in over three weeks. He left one of the girl’s a note saying that he’ll be away for a while and that was it. Why is this one so difficult?”
I score a hoop; maybe there’s light at the end of the tunnel.
“I thought the lawyers were in the process of getting the contracts signed and that’s all we were waiting for?”
She sighs as she sits down and crosses her legs. It’s as if she’s talking to a child who’s not concentrating in class.
“They were, but then Ryan sacked his lawyer and didn’t appoint a new one.” she takes her time crossing her other leg.
Is she flirting with me?
She’s looking directly at me as she does it, and I don’t attempt to shoot a hoop again as I become distracted, but then I shake my head as I think about Elia. The one that I’ve committed to even if I did tell her that I love her by accident.
She smiles. “Before you ask me about Will, the PI who’s been trying to get ahold of you these last few days. Anyway, he says that Ryan keeps giving him the slip. He has a lead one day, and the next he’s gone. I don’t understand it at all. There are other bookstores. It’s not as if this is the only one.”
She stands up as if she’s bored of talking about this one bookstore. The one that I need to buy for Elia.
“We either find a way around him or find a way to pin this guy down!” I say as I shoot another hoop. I’m really on fire today, but I can’t find another way around this situation. Maybe I could just go and buy another bookstore for Elia. It doesn’t have to be this particular one. Then again, maybe this whole idea isn’t a good one to begin with?