Chapter 11
The week flew by with much of Edward’s time being spent with Eva, dining out together in cheap cafes and shops, roller blading, swimming in the park, walking along the lake and talking about everything. She was so different than the other women that were in his life. He hadn’t even tried kissing her yet but he was growing quite fond of her and wanted much more.
The street lights shone much brighter for some reason on this night as they walked out of the park. His hand was in hers and his thumb stroked the back of her hand. He felt every inch of her touch as she pulled him closer. Their shoulders touched, their arms glued to each other, as conversation became more intimate.
“Eva.”
She looked at the sidewalk beneath her feet and continued to walk next to him.
“I have something to confess to you.”
“What’s that?” Her voice was meek and quiet.
He wanted to tell her everything. He wanted to come clean so he could begin a relationship with her on a much more intimate and honest level.
She looked up at him, waiting to hear what he had to say. When he stopped, she turned toward him and looked into his eyes. He pulled her closer on that street corner in the middle of Paris and lost his train of thought. The only thing that existed to him at that moment was her, and her eyes, and her lips, and her touch. He leaned down as she closed her eyes. When his lips touched hers, he pressed them into hers and inhaled deeply. His arms wrapped around her, pulling her into him and deepening his kiss. The moan from her mouth caused his body to react. His tongue slid past her lips and explored her mouth with an urgency he couldn’t control. His hands slid down her back, pressing the small of her back into him.
She gasped and pulled back from him, looking up into his eyes. “Eddie. Stop.” She looked down and covered her mouth. “Please.”
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t help it. You are the most amazing woman I have ever met.”
“Thank you, Eddie.” She seemed to struggle with the words she wanted to say. “What were you going to tell me, you know, before you kissed me?”
He couldn’t bring himself to say it, not yet. This moment was so perfect. “I wanted to confess that I think I’m falling for you.” He tried to kiss her again, but she turned away. “Eva? Did I do something wrong? Did you not want me to kiss you?”
“I did. I do.”
“Then what’s wrong?”
“I just can’t.”
“Sure you can. It’s easy.” He pulled her closer to him and leaned in close. “Let me show you,” he whispered, kissing her again.
She opened her mouth and allowed her body to mold to his, then pushed back again. “I… no. I can’t do this.”
“You are confusing me, Eva.”
“I can’t get serious with you.”
“Why not? I thought everything was going so perfectly.” He felt like someone was squeezing his heart.
“It is. Too well. I think you are amazing. I have never met anyone like you and if we were in a different moment in time, this might have been a wonderful relationship, a connection, intense, real and very intimate. But the truth is, I’m going back to England tomorrow evening and I can’t rely on a long distance relationship. I can’t have any complications in my life right now.”
“I promise you, this won’t be a complication.”
“How? How can you promise me that? You are going back to wherever they direct you to teach. I’m going back to school for two more years. How is that not complicated?”
He saw her getting upset and wanted to tell her everything but he didn’t. Something stopped him. He wanted to tell her he could fly back and forth to see her every night if he wanted to. He wanted to tell her he could buy a town house close by until she was finished with school. He wanted to show her he could buy his way into her life until she let him into her heart, but no matter how he tried to word it, it sounded like he was a big fat ridiculously rich liar.
“Let me see you tomorrow. I’ll take you to breakfast and we can talk more then.”
She shook her head no and sniffled. “I can’t. I think we should say good bye now and go our separate ways.”
“Why? We still have one day.”
“It will be hard enough saying good bye now. Please, Eddie?”
He slowly walked her across the street toward her room in the small bed and breakfast she was staying at and didn’t say another word. When she linked her arm into his, he cherished each step he took with her by his side until they got to the front steps of their destination.
She hugged him tightly and kissed his cheek. “Thank you for everything. You have made this an amazing vacation for me.”
He kissed her intimately, not wanting to let her go. “At least give me your phone number. If I’m ever in town, I can call you again.”
“I don’t have my phone anymore.”
“I can’t leave you here, knowing I won’t ever see you again.”
“I will call you when I get back to school.” She pulled out an old gum wrapper and a pen from her purse and handed it to him. “Give me your number.”
He wrote his cell phone number down and gave it back to her, lingering before letting it go. When she looked up at him, he let it go.
She hugged him one last time, then ran up the stairs into the bed and breakfast.
He didn’t turn away until the front door had closed completely, then he turned away and walked slowly back to the Shangri La Hotel. He was careful not to talk about where he was staying with Eva and he always walked her back to her room before going to his, buy this was the first time he regretted keeping it all from her.
He pulled his phone out once he was around the corner and turned it back on. He had almost forgotten about Joseph and the research he was supposed to be reporting back about the business. He counted twelve voicemails, six texts and two full pages of emails.
“Shit,” he said quickly walking back to his hotel. It was almost midnight in Paris so it was about eleven in Brighton. He decided to wait until the morning to call Joseph, until his phone rang and it showed Joseph’s name on his caller id. He took a deep breath, thought for a moment and answered his phone.
“Caldwell.”
“What the fuck, man.” Joseph wasn’t happy. “Did you drop off the planet or something?”
“Hey. No, sorry I didn’t get back to you.”
“Get back to me? Hell, I haven’t been able to reach you in days.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I had to disconnect for a while. I knew you weren’t going to understand so I just did it.”
“Well, I guess I don’t have much of a choice on the matter then do I?”
“Is everything going okay?”
“You’d know if you decided to answer your fucking phone.”
“Why? What’s going on?”
“The deal we wrapped up two weeks ago fell through.”
“What? No, it can’t. They signed off on it.”
“Yeah, well, their lawyers are on us telling us we covered up some major mistakes. They want their money back.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Yes. I am.”
“How the hell… wait. What?” He heard Joseph erupt with laughter and he knew he had been had.
“Naw, man. Everything is going well. I just wished you would have kept in contact with me. What did you find out?”
Edward was supposed to have met with Brian Spawnery, CEO at Ardo and report his findings back to Joseph, but he dropped that ball as soon as he met Eva. He did nothing business related the entire week he was there. I guess it’s a good idea Eva doesn’t want to see me tomorrow, he thought.
“I’ve been writing it up on an email. I’ll finish it up when I get back into my hotel room and send it off to you by tomorrow. You should have it in the morning.” That should buy him some time.
“Man, what is up with you?”
“Nothing. What do you mean?”
“I mean, you’re acting weird. Like some kind of love sick teenager.”
“Well, I did meet someone.”
“Shit.”
“What? She’s nice. Beautiful.”
“I don’t want to hear this.”
“I don’t know why you’re getting all defensive about this. You love women.”
“Women! Plural.”
“Well, maybe I met the one who will keep it single.”
“Awe, man. Alright, dude. When ya headed back?”
“Day after tomorrow.”
“Okay, man. See ya then.” Joseph kept things very short after learning about Edward’s new female friend. He knew once Edward had his mind set on something there was no changing it. He could only listen, ride along and hope for the best. Luckily, it always worked out in the end.