“Yup. I told her to come up with something else, and she stormed out.”
“I thought Maria was ridiculous.”
“No, I like it. It suits you.”
“What is this crap?” She pointed at what looked like a circle of pink flesh sitting on her plate.
“Goose liver.”
“Ugh.” She pushed it away. “That’s terrible.”
“You have no idea.” I stood up. “We should go before somebody causes a scene.”
“What do you mean?” She got up and let me lead her out of the hall.
“These things are like bad funeral receptions. At the last gala I went to, a drunk old lady got up on stage and belted out this horrific opera song. They had to drag her away screaming.”
“You sure we shouldn’t stay for the show?”
“Trust me; it gets ugly. Besides, I have something better in mind, and no, I’m not telling you where we’re going.” She seemed too subdued to protest. I didn’t like it when she was uncomfortable, not like this. She was sullen and teary-eyed. She was trying to play it off and was doing a good job of it, but I could read her much better than that. I had to cheer her up.
I waved down the valet when we walked outside, and they brought the limo around, then opened her door so she could get in. “You’re really not going to tell me where we’re going?”
“Nope.” I texted the driver the address.
“I don’t really care, honestly. The gala was nice, but I felt out of place.”
“I don’t talk to people in my class level.” I wrapped my arm around her shoulders. “They like to toy with people and look down on them. They’ll smile and laugh with you one second, then talk crap about you the next, and you can smell it.”
“Those half-smiles. So sick.”
“They spend their entire lives indulging their every whim, and never once thinking about anyone but themselves. It sounds cliché, I know, but it’s the truth. It’s rare to see a good person born into money.”
“I’ve never been a part of that world. I wouldn’t know.”
“I’m glad that I got to give you a glimpse.” We drove silently through the streets of downtown, then south where high rises gave way to small shopping centers, then the squat, square buildings of the Spanish districts.
“You have to tell me where we’re going.”
“It’s my favorite place to eat,” I said.
“Good, because I’m starving, and that stuff smelled terrible.”
“We’re almost there.”
“Thank you for taking me tonight, Jake.” Her voice was low and serious, filled with a deep gratitude so profound that it caught me off guard. But it wasn’t unsettling. This was a reaffirmation of everything I was trying to do for her.
“After everything you went through, and now you’re thanking me. Aren’t you mad about your ordeal at the spa?”
“God, no.” She rested her head back. “That was almost as good as sex.”
“Then I haven’t been doing my job well enough.” We pulled into a tiny gravel lot with a small brick building labeled ‘Howie’s.’
“I’m going to look like a complete idiot going in there looking like this.”
I tilted her chin and turned her head towards me. Then I looked her dead in the eye. “You have no idea how beautiful you are. You’re blind.”
She pulled away and stared out the window. “I’m sorry.”