“But how did you get Sienna’s number?” I didn’t even think he knew Sienna’s last name.
He pulled on a light blue dress shirt as he spoke. “I told you we were going to talk about internet security Syd. Any lunatic could find out anything he wanted about the two of you with a few keystrokes.”
“I guess he did.” I was exasperated.
We were going to talk about internet security? How about we talk about boundaries and stalking?
My comment didn’t seem to faze Jack in the slightest; he continued to get ready without missing a beat. “Get dressed babe, we’re going to be late.”
“Late for what?” I seemed to always be a step behind him in our conversations.
“Dinner, we have reservations at 8:30 at Coco LaMer”
Coco LaMer was the it place of the year. I had passed by it a few times on my way to work and once I saw two of the girls from Sex in the City going in for dinner. I heard the reservation wait was two months long, although I never bothered to verify the information because that type of restaurant wasn’t in my budget. I didn’t bother to ask how Jack got reservations, the man clearly got whatever he wanted.
I took my turn in Jack’s walk in closet and dressed in the outfit that I had chosen to keep. It was a gold colored strapless dress.
The top was made of a delicate lace that wrapped around me like strips of gauze, winding in different directions. The waist was high and had a large bow on the right side. The bottom was a shredded mess of sparkly gold strips that completely clashed with the delicate top. It looked like a walking piece of art and fit me perfectly. I paired it with the shoes Chloe had picked, five inch stiletto sandals that wrapped around my ankles. I had long lean legs, but the short skirt and high heels made my legs look crazy long.
I knew I looked good and I was glad that I had decided to leave my hair down. I walked out of the closet as Jack was clasping his watch on and his reaction was all that I had hoped for and more.
“Fuck Syd. You look beautiful. Sexy as hell.”
I twirled to show him the full outfit and smiled at him. “Thank you, the outfit is beautiful. Chloe has incredible taste.” He walked to stand in front of me and took both my hands. “You are going to get me killed, with my temper and the looks you are going to get.” Jack was dead serious and I loved every word.
I rolled my eyes, telling him he was exaggerating and planted a kiss on his mouth.
***
Of course, the matre de at Coco LeMer knew Jack by name. While it was nice to get service as soon as you walked in, the thought of Jack bringing some of his 1,000 other women to the restaurant dulled my spirit. Jack was already getting good at picking up on things that bothered me quickly and whispered “I’ve only ever brought business associates here” as we walked to the table. I thought it was sweet that he noticed the little things.
Sienna jumped up as we arrived at our table. “Surprise!”
I hugged her as if I hadn’t seen her in years. I was happy to see her, but confused.
“What are you doing here?” Sienna looked at Jack and smiled. “I threatened to kill him if he hurt you and he invited me to dinner.”
Yep, that sounded about right for Sienna. I hadn’t filled her in on all that had happened since Jack came back a few days ago, the last time I saw her I was a crying mess over him. So much had happened and it felt like months had passed in the last week.
“I’m sorry Sienna, I should have called you.” I took her hand.
“I’m the one who owes Sienna the apology Syd. I was a complete ass**le to you and Sienna was just being a good friend. I wouldn’t have wanted her to react any other way when I called.”
Sienna smiled at me. “We need to celebrate Syd, how about tequila for a change?” We both cracked up.
The food was incredible and Sienna and I were happy to let Jack order for us. A few men stopped by the table during dinner to say hello to Jack and he introduced us each time, calling me his girlfriend. I loved hearing him call me his.
Sienna told me about some potential gigs that she was working on for us and we told Jack stories of the worst gigs we had ever done. The bat mitzvah where I had the flu and threw up behind the stage in a bucket in between songs. Only for the little boy who was the guest of honor to trip over a few minutes later and be forced to wear a vomit covered suit the rest of the night. The rave in an abandoned warehouse in Boston that got out of control when a biker that was hitting on me didn’t know when to quit, causing a full blow war between two biker gangs to erupt. I don’t think Sienna noticed Jack’s jaw tighten as she told the story about the biker guy, but I didn’t miss it.
Jack didn’t tell many stories about his past, but I wasn’t sure if it was because he didn’t want to share or because Sienna and I monopolized the conversation most of the evening. Either way, the three of us laughed most of the night and I was surprised that three hours had flown by. Sienna and I excused ourselves and went to the ladies room to freshen up. I gave her the seven minute catch up on all that had happened. “Well if I didn’t see you guys together tonight, I would probably have been concerned when you got around to telling me you were reunited. But, shit Syd, that man is in love with you.” In love with me, was she crazy?
“That’s the tequila talking Sienna. He is not in love with me. In lust, maybe. But we haven’t known each other long enough to be in love.”
Sienna took my face into her hands.
“Sweetie, time has nothing to do with it. You wasted seven years with that ass**le, that’s a whole lot of time. Did you ever feel for Michael what you feel for Jack?” I thought about the question, but didn’t respond. She smiled broadly. “Right, time doesn’t mean shit.” When we got back to the table, Jack was talking with a silver haired man with a young face and neither of them looked happy. I could see the tension on Jack’s face that wasn’t there ten minutes earlier. “All okay?” I stood next to Jack and put my hand on his shoulder. Young silver looked at my hand on Jack’s shoulder and then did an obvious slow, learing gaze up and down my body. I watched the whole thing and the look made my stomach turn. Unfortunately, Jack didn’t miss it either. Jack stood and got in young silver’s face, and quietly spoke, but I heard every word.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. And get your f**king eyes off of her before I make it so you can’t f**king see.” Young silver snickered, but didn’t look my way again before scurrying back to where he came from.