“It’s going well,” he grins. “Don’t worry about my career, honey. You have to remember that I’ve been doing this for twenty-five years already, so I’m an old hand.”
I blush while biting into my taco.
“Oh, I’m not worried! I know you’re at the top of your game. I just want to make sure you don’t get in trouble for taking so much time off.”
He grins and shrugs again before diving into his burger.
“No, I just have a ton of vacation saved up because I’ve been working for so long without a break. Besides, there’s a shortage of pilots, so I doubt they’ll be firing anyone with the requisite training and experience anytime soon.”
I smile happily.
“Well, I’m glad because I do like that we’ve gotten to spend so much time together.”
“Me, too,” Marcus says simply before draping a heavy arm about my shoulders. We smile at each other like we’re two smitten teenagers, and my heart fills with happiness. I’ve never felt like this before, and sometimes I wonder if this is just a dream. After all, Faith was always the outgoing one who was noticed by men. I usually just stayed in the background, more of a wallflower than anything.
I take another bite of my taco and moan. “This is really delicious, especially considering that we’re basically in a cafeteria of sorts.”
My boyfriend laughs because the food court is just like what you’d find in a mall. I think there’s a restaurant attached to the hotel itself, but we don’t need anything fancy right now. The tacos are hitting the spot, and I’m anxious to get back out on the floor. There are some awesome panels this afternoon I’d like to see.
“Agreed,” he laughs. “I was expecting inedible, to be honest, but instead I got this incredible burger.”
“I’m glad we were both surprised.”
He grins.
“Me, too. So what’s on the schedule for the rest of our day?”
I pull out my conference brochure and show Marcus what I’ve got marked off. There’s no way I’ll get to see all of it with only a few hours left, but I’ve got two panels in mind. He reads the titles and laughs.
“Okay honey, but I’m headed back to the Starbucks. I don’t think I could sit through ‘Korean Twenty-Step Beauty Routines’ and ‘How To Fool Your Instagram Followers’ although to be honest, that last one does sound intriguing.”
I merely giggle.
“Never believe what you see on the internet.”
He merely leans in and kisses me again before we both get up.
“Alright, I’ll see you later tonight, lover boy,” I coo. But Marcus stops me before I waltz off.
“Hey, honey, after you’re done, you want to head out for a fancy dinner?” Marcus says. “I know a really great French restaurant not far from here. Let’s treat ourselves.”
I look down at my business-casual outfit and frown. “Yes, but am I dressed okay for that? Should I change into something more formal?”
He shakes his head.
“No, sweetheart, because you look perfect. And I think you’ll love the food there.”
I smile brilliantly.
“Okay, sounds good.”
With that, we go our separate ways, and indeed, the panel on Instagram filters is very educational. Basically, you can make yourself look like anything given the right editing techniques. Then after some requisite schmoozing with other industry types, I meet Marcus in the parking lot as we depart for the special surprise restaurant he has in mind.
“Have you been before?”
He nods.
“Yes, but not in a long while, so this will be a great time to re-visit the menu.” Suddenly, his phone buzzes, but instead of checking it while he’s driving, he hands it to me to look at.
“It’s from Troy,” I say, reading the message. “He wants to know if you’re scheduled as his co-pilot next week?”
My boyfriend nods.
“He must be coming back from his honeymoon,” Marcus says. “He and his wife Cammie got married a while ago, but they wanted to wait until their daughter was a couple years old before they went on their big trip.”
I remember Faith telling me about her dad’s friend, Troy, who’s also a pilot. Evidently, Troy was known as a womanizing bad boy until he met his wife. Now, he seems to have become the quintessential family man who dotes on his wife and daughter.
“What should I tell him?”
“That I’ll have to check my schedule and get back to him.”
I type that and then put Marcus’s phone back in the cupholder. Meanwhile, he pulls into a large parking garage connected to a main street.
“This is part of why I’d never live in a big city,” he grumbles. “Parking is a nightmare, and then you have garages like this that cost an arm and a leg.”
I nod.
“Medina has its charms, definitely.”
It’s a short walk from the garage to the restaurant. When we arrive, I’m amazed by how gorgeous Le Petit Pou is. The ceilings are painted gold and lined with crystal chandeliers.