It freaked me out the way his eyes were fixed on me.
I hopped down from the stool and closed up my container of noodles. “Cat got your tongue?” I picked up his fork he dropped and he grabbed my hand.
“Penelope,” he whispered, sending chills skating through my body.
He never called me by my given name, and for a moment I saw the recognition in his eyes.
“Yes.”
“It’s you,” he muttered, stepping closer.
I nodded. “It’s me. Are you ok?”
“From the beach?” His eyes pierced straight through me, letting me know he remembered.
I didn’t know what to say. I dropped the fork as he pulled me tighter against his body.
He tipped my chin with his finger and his eyes spoke to mine in a silent plea to answer him.
“Yeah, from the beach,” I said, barely audible.
Suddenly, he kissed me. Our tongues collided, racing to get closer, rushing to feel each other.
He slowly broke the kiss and stepped back. “I have so many questions.”
A tingling sensation shot through me and my neck heated which was in direct correlation to my pounding heartbeat.
“Ok.”
His vulnerability shone in his eyes as they searched mine. He raked his fingers through his wild, messy hair as he took in a deep breath. “Why did you leave me?”
My heart fell as I remembered. “Work. I actually got fired that morning.”
“I’m sorry.” His voice was still soft as if he couldn’t believe I really stood there.
“It’s ok. I came back and you were gone.” I wanted to tell him I thought about him many times since our fateful night. But, his reverent stance caught me off guard. Was he mad?
“The first day at the Goat, did you know it was me?”
“Yeah,” I whispered. His eyes flickered with something which scared me. Not anger, disappointment.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You didn’t recognize me. I didn’t know what to think.”
“I’m sorry, you should have told me.”
“I thought you would fire me, and I needed the job.” I turned away and played with the box of noodles.
“Fire you? Fire you for what?” He stepped closer, running his hands down my arms.
I turned and met his questioning eyes. “You weren’t very nice when we met, Theo.”
“Do you know why I chose the name Lopa?”
“No.”
“I didn’t forget you.” He paused and unknowingly took another piece of my heart with his next words. “Lopa is a form of the name Penelope.”