Lucy felt a stone hit her stomach as she read the email waiting for her. He doesn’t want to write anymore? After our latest step forward? What does that mean? She felt tears prick her eyes. “He must have been scared off when I hinted at taking things to the next level. Oh my gosh.” She put her fingers over her trembling lips. “I was actually starting to think we had something.”
Although her voice had mostly recovered in the last week, it would now seem that her heart was was the wounded and raw part of her body.
She stepped away from the computer to clear her head for a few minutes. If he wants to stop writing, why didn’t he just say so? Was he just trying to let me down easy? Is he just unsure about our relationship? Is there even a relationship? “I thought there was,” she murmured out loud. “Maybe I’ve waited too long to move forward. Or maybe I haven’t waited long enough?”
Lucy tried to distract herself by making dinner and watching a sitcom, but when bedtime rolled around, her head was still swirling chaotically.
She found her thoughts drifting to the man she had met at the park a week ago. “Mateo,” she whispered in reverence. If she focused, she could still recall the strong draw she had felt to the handsome man. His dark, handsome features seemed branded into her brain, but she knew the odds of seeing him again were slim. “Maybe I should start going back to the park and keeping an eye out for him, since it seems my luck with online love isn’t exactly panning out.”
Deciding to wait until morning to make any decisions, she finished her bedtime routine and crawled under the covers. While snuggled up on her side, she let one tear drip down her cheek and soak into her pillow. Why is finding love so hard?
*****
MATEO STEPPED OUT OF the car and walked around to open the door for his companion. His collar felt too tight and he reached up, trying to loosen his tie so he could breath.
Lillith stepped out of the car and surveyed the restaurant they had stopped at. “Very nice,” she said approvingly. Glancing up at him, she stepped close and reached up to his tie. After tightening and shifting it, she gave it a little pat. “Want you to look your best now, don’t we?”
Mateo closed his eyes for a moment as she strutted toward the front door. I suppose she was trying to be nice. Following her through the parking lot, he found himself once again pulling on his tie, it felt as if it was getting tighter and tighter. He held the door to the restaurant open for her and said as she passed, “I haven’t said, but you look very nice tonight, Ms. Gresham.”
And she did, maybe a little too much. Her red dress was tight and a little lower cut than he considered appropriate, her perfume wasn’t bad, even if she was wearing a bit too much of it. Her lipstick matched her dress and once again brought out the paleness of her skin, which he had to admit look smooth and silky. She’s probably just nervous and trying a little too hard tonight. He justified for her.
“Yes,” she murmured as she walked past him, not even acknowledging his act of chivalry.
Mateo huffed out a breath. He reached up to run his hand through his hair, but stopped himself at the last moment. She’ll probably make some comment about it being messy. Instantly he felt bad. That wasn’t fair. I can’t judge her. I don’t really know her yet.
After they were led to their table, they both took a few minutes to look over the menu.
“Have you been here before?” Lillith asked.
“Yes,” Mateo replied, still glancing at his choices. He brought clients here when he was trying to impress them.
“Well, what’s good then?” She set her menu down and looked at him.
Mateo smiled slightly. “Just about everything. At least everything I’ve tried. You might try the halibut cheeks or the salmon fillet?”
Lillith scrunched her nose just a little bit, but didn’t respond.
“They also have several wonderful pasta dishes. Right up your alley. The shrimp linguine with white wine sauce is excellent.”
Lillith studied him for a moment longer before saying, “Fine. Order me that.”
O—kay. Glancing back at the menu he decided to order a tried and true favorite, a fillet with blue cheese butter.
After the waiter returned and Mateo had ordered for them both, they sat in awkward silence for a few minutes. Just as Mateo’s tie was starting to become constricting again, she spoke up.
“So ... tell me about yourself. Mateo.” She imitated a spanish accent as she said his name.
He scrunched his brows. “Well, you already know—”
“Let’s just pretend we haven’t been writing. Pretend I know absolutely nothing. Like, you just saw me in the parking lot and were so struck with my beauty you decided to ask me out and here we are.”
“I see. Okay, well. I mentioned before, my name is Mateo Kingsley. I’m a real estate agent, specializing in commercial real estate. I also do a bit of development on the side, when I can.”
She took a sip of her water and her eyebrows raised at his statement. After putting down her glass, she spoke. “So do you own real estate then?”
“A bit,” he said evasively, not wanting his money to be a factor in their relationship. “My mother and most of my siblings live one city over and I go to my parent’s house every Sunday for a big family dinner. My mother makes the best tamales this side of the Mississippi.” He grinned.
“Eww. Mexican food makes me bloat,” she moaned in disgust.
Mateo froze. She never said anything like that before, why would she turn up her nose now? Unsure how to respond to her rude remark, he chose to ignore it and move on. “Well, I guess that about does it. How about you?” He waved a hand in her direction; giving her the floor.
She tossed her hair behind her shoulder and sat a little straighter. “Well, as you know, I’m L.G. Lillith Gresham. I teach at Middleton Prep, in particular, I’m doing summer school this year.” She twirled her empty wine glass between her fingers. “I like eating at nice restaurants and getting all dolled up for dates.” She fluttered her lashes at him. “I suppose that’s about it. There’s not really much more to tell.”
“Not much more to tell? We seem to have talked about a lot more than that during our emails—”
She dismissed his comment with a wave of her hand. “Oh you know how it is ... the desire to sound more impressive when you don’t really know the person. We really should just forget about those emails and get to know each other now.”
Mateo sat back and folded his arms across his chest. “If you say so,” he muttered. She is not what I expected at all. He sighed. But I really haven’t given her much of a chance, patience ... patience. He chided himself.
*****
MATEO SIGHED A BREATH of relief when he finally dropped Lillith off at her apartment. Shaking his head, he backed out of the parking spot and got back on the road. His lips curled in disgust as he rubbed at the red lipstick stain on his cheek.
“Here I thought she was so innocent and down to earth in her emails.” He spoke aloud as he drove. “Just goes to show how things are not always what they seem.” He sighed as he drove. “But I had hoped ...”