“Where are you?”
“On my way,” I text back, before gathering my things. Outside, I hail a cab to take me to the bar where we’ve agreed to meet. The cabbie soon leaves me on the sidewalk in front of the incongruous wooden doors that are the entrance to Ambrosia. It’s an art bar, with a constant exhibition of paintings and a stage for presentations, which right now, is empty.
I spot Jack at the bar. He’s deep in conversation with a good looking woman with short, messy hair and bright-red lipstick. I watch him as he says something to make her laugh. He leans forward, smiling at her. Does he even know what he’s doing? Or is flirting just his default setting? I walk over to join them. “Hi, Jack.”
He turns to me, and his smile widens. “Here you are.” He leans in to kiss my cheek, and I can’t help but notice that the long day hasn’t diminished his good looks. “I got us a table,” he tells me, before turning back to the woman and saying something that sounds like ‘Nice to meet you.’
I follow him to one of the booths set back from the main bar, and he beckons for one of the hovering waiters. “You look great, by the way.”
I’m wearing the same thing I was wearing in the morning. “You already saw me today,” I remind him after making my drink order.
“So what?” he says, his grin unrepentant. He pushes his hair back from his forehead and leans forward. “I wasn’t sure I told you earlier.”
I chuckle. “Flattery won’t get you anywhere.”
“So,” he leans back. “What will?” The grin has disappeared, replaced by a measuring gaze.
I ignore the question. I have no intention of going down that road with him. Not now, not ever.
“Seriously,” he insists, “What will get me somewhere with you?”
“Leave it, Jack,” I say softly. My eyes linger on his handsome face for a moment, and suddenly I’m flooded with gratitude towards Landon. I’m grateful that maybe because of the time we spent together, I can look at Jack and feel nothing. I can spend time with him, without being reduced to a nervous bundle of expectation.
“You want to eat anything?” he asks, “They have…” he shrugs. “Stuff”
I shake my head. “I already had dinner.”
He grins. “I remember when you’d order a little of everything so you could taste it all. You were fearless.”
A trip down memory lane? I smile despite myself, remembering those early days with him. I was fearless until I mentioned that I was in love with him, and he made me feel like a fool.
Our drinks arrive. Jack sips his while watching me, a thoughtful frown on his face. On the small stage, a scruffy looking guy appears with a sheaf of papers in his hand. Someone brings him a chair and a mic, and he sits, then introduces himself, before starting to read a poem.
A few people are listening, but most carry on with their conversations and their drinking. The poem is really lengthy and seems to be about someone being torn away from his dreams. The tone reminds me too much of how I feel, how torn up I am inside. So I try not to listen.
“Oh well,” Jack says when the guy finishes, leaving the stage to half-hearted applause. “That was sad.”
“Yes, it was.” I take a small sip of my drink. “So, when and what is your next assignment.”
He shrugs nonchalantly. “I’m liking just being in the city right now.”
I raise a brow. “That is so unlike you. What happened to your wanderlust, your adventurous spirit?”
His only reply is another shrug. I frown, puzzled. “How long are you going to stay this time?”
He looks at me, his gray eyes suddenly sober and intense. “How long do you want me to?”
I sigh. “It’s never depended on me before.”
He takes another sip from his glass, then lets his eyes wander around the bar before dragging them back to me. “Maybe now it does.”
Three months ago, I would have been overjoyed to hear words like that coming from him, but now…
Now…
My brain rebels against the thought, trying to suppress it, but I can’t. It bursts, uncontrollably, to the surface.
Now, I’m in love with Landon.