“I don’t think you could lick his boots any better than you have!” a girl who walked past her into the room muttered under her breath as she passed Amanda.
Amanda looked at Mike to see if he’d heard it. She could tell by the look on his face he must have. He pulled the woman aside, and coldly stated, “Is it any of your business what goes on between two consenting adults? How would you like me to throw you out of the seminar, with no refund?”
The woman sputtered, “I didn’t mean anything by it.”
“It sure sounded like it to me. This isn’t some college course, this is an adult business seminar. So, I would expect you to act like an adult, and not a school girl.”
Amanda stepped back at the venom in his voice, and the look he gave the woman.
“I’m truly sorry, please accept my apologies,” she said to Amanda.
“It will not happen again; do you understand me?” Mike said to her.
“Yes sir.” The woman shrank off and found her table.
Amanda looked at Mike with amazement. He had put that woman in her place, and she was indeed impressed by how strong and in charge he had come across. She felt her heart go out to him.
Amanda knew she was in trouble, her feelings had changed quickly. If there was ever any hope of just leaving and forgetting this whole trip, they had just tripped out the door. Hell, they had just crashed into oblivion.
If she went by his behavior and how he’d reacted, she would say that he was, at the very least, highly attracted to her. Of course, she knew that men didn’t often display emotions openly. However, that had been pretty darn open, she thought in her mind.
Amanda smiled as she sat down for the afternoon part of the seminar. She was excited about knowing that after it was over, her and Mike would be going to see Big Ben, one of the things on her checklist. Also, he had said that he was taking her out to eat. She focused in on his voice and tried to pay attention to the class.
“There will be no homework tonight. I would just suggest that you look at what you did last night, and if I gave you pointers on how to fix it, try to do that. For those of you that I didn’t give any suggestions to… enjoy the night off.”
Mike smiled at the room. He turned and looked at Amanda, and she felt that special connection between them.
**
“It’s amazing. I honestly never thought I would see this in person. If you hadn’t offered to take me around, I may have bought a tour from one of those companies. But, then I’d be with a group of people, and it wouldn’t be the same,” Amanda said as she looked up at Big Ben.
“That building there is the Houses of Parliament, and the tower where the clock is located is actually the Elizabeth Tower. Big Ben is the name of the bell located inside, it weighs about 13 tons.”
“Oh, so the whole thing isn’t actually Big Ben? It’s just the bell inside that is Big Ben?”
“Yes, but most foreigners call the building Big Ben. I’d take you inside to see it up close, but they are doing renovations, and it won’t be done for several years. Of course, you can always come back and visit when they are done, and I’ll take you then!” He smiled.
“How many years until it is done?”
“They estimate around four years.”
“So, you want me to come back in four years? Who knows if you’ll still even be talking to me?” She chuckled lightly, though the thought hurt her heart. She hoped they would be talking for way more than four years. But, she felt as if she was jumping the gun on a long-term relationship, especially considering the distance between them.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Well, that is a long time in the future. I’m sure once I’m gone, you will move on, and find another person. I mean… you think this can work? We live on opposite sides of the world!”
He stopped and pulled her to him. “If we want it to work out, it will. But, you can’t go into this lightly, and thinking it will be easy. I have no doubt that once you leave, I’ll miss you more than I care to admit.
“Why do you think I’m trying to convince you to stay a bit longer? I’m trying to delay that time, the time when I’ll be down and depressed. The time when I will feel like the other part of me is missing.”
Amanda stood, stunned by his admission. Well, I guess his feelings are out of the bag, she thought. “You’ve only known me a few days, how can you even feel that way?” Even though she knew she felt strongly for him, she had avoided admitting it to herself.
“I told you I felt a strong connection with you the first night I saw you. I just feel better when I’m with you. I do feel like you are my other half. I’ll be honest… before you… I thought the love at first sight idea was pure crap. I also didn’t believe in soulmates, but you’ve changed my mind about both things.” He kissed her and the passion was quite evident to her.
Still her mind screamed, he’s lying, he can’t feel this way. He’s a guy, they aren’t like women. Don’t believe him. She tried to push these thoughts from her head, and finally succeeded. “I really don’t know what to say, I’m stunned.”
“Well, I would love to hear that you felt the same way, but if you aren’t comfortable with it yet, I’m okay. Just agree to spend as much time with me as possible, and still think about extending your stay. That’s all I ask.”
“I can think about it, but I’m not going to make a decision right now,” Amanda stated.
“That’s all I’m asking you for.” Mike smiled. “So, are you hungry?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Great, there is a little place close to my house. We will go there, and afterwards, I’ll show you my house. If you want, that is.”
“Sounds good,” Amanda said.
The restaurant served Indian food, and the smell of curry when they walked in tantalized her senses. “It smells so delicious in here.”
“They have the best Indian food you can find in London, in my opinion.”
“I have no idea what to order,” Amanda said as she studied the menu.
“Well, how spicy do you like your food?”
“I can handle pretty hot food.”
“I have the perfect dish for you. You aren’t vegetarian, are you?”
“No way, I love meat far too much.” She laughed.
Mike ordered for them when the waitress came, and then he explained to Amanda what he ordered for her. “I got you Phaal curry to begin with, just a little sampling of it, and then Laal Maas for your meal.”
“What is it?”
“For a simple explanation, it’s mutton with a red gravy that is very spicy, and it’s amazing too. I got us both that for our meal. I was tempted to order something else, so you’d be able to try another dish, but this is my favorite meal. However, I did get Chicken Chettinad as an appetizer for us both. It’s extremely spicy, but quite wonderful.”
“Sounds amazing. If they smell as good as the whole place does, I can’t even begin to guess how tasty it will be.”
“Just as a warning, these are all extremely spicy foods.”
“That’s fine, I eat these wings at home that have a ghost chili sauce. It literally will burn your skin around the mouth, if you get too much on it,” Amanda stated.
“You should be good!” He chuckled.
“So, tell me a bit about Arizona, what is it like?” Mike asked.
“Well, it gets hot, but not really humid. If you’ve ever been to a location that is hot and humid, you would appreciate the dry heat you get when you visit Arizona.
“But, you also have four seasons, if you are in an area like Flagstaff, you can see snow. Every once in a while, we may get a dusting of snow in Phoenix, but not all that often. It usually is decent year-round. Though, since I grew up there, I get colder than someone who might just be visiting or has only lived there a few years.
“I personally love it, it has desert areas where I live, and there are also plenty of trees too, so I get to enjoy two types of environments in one location. I consider myself quite lucky,” Amanda explained.
“Sounds nice, not at all like London. We get a ton of rain here, and often don’t see the sun. But, I bet you see the sun all the time.”
“Yes, most of the year, though we do have the monsoon season. Then it will rain almost every day of the week, but it’s a quick and hard rain. It floods during that time, but the ground will often soak it up within a couple of hours at the most.
“When a monsoon hits they warn you not to drive through low lying areas, but, every year people do it anyway. They and their cars get swept along the current of a newly formed river.”
“Oh no, how many die from this?” he asked.
“Surprisingly not as many as you think. I mean the rescue crews are used to it, and they often are ready for it to happen. So before anything more serious than just a few bumps and bruises take place, they are already in the process of saving the stranded motorists.”
“I’d love to visit one day.”
“You are more than welcome to visit. I would show you around.”
“I’d like that a lot. I might just plan that very soon. So, what else can you tell me about Arizona, especially compared to London?” Mike asked.
“We have tarantulas, scorpions, and some other poisonous snakes, and spiders.”
“Have you seen them all?”
“Not all the poisonous snakes, but I have seen a tarantula walking across the road in the desert. Needless to say, I didn’t stop and didn’t get out of my car, but just kept driving!”
Mike laughed. “I’d do the same thing; I’m not a huge spider fan!”
“I had a black widow spider take up home in my laundry room. I walked in and found her in the middle of a huge web she had spun. I called a company to come and spray that day.”
“No doubt, a good idea. Did they kill her, or did you?”
“Oh no, I couldn’t do it. When I said I’m scared of spiders, I mean I scream and run like a chicken with my head cut off!”
Mike laughed. “I’m sorry, but I am picturing this right now, and it is far too funny!”
“Well, I don’t think it is funny when I’m face to face with any spider, even a non-venomous one. I also had a scorpion crawling on me one time. I didn’t know what it was, so I just ran my hand over my arm.” She showed him what she had done. “I looked on the ground and saw a scorpion. I freaked out, and yes, called them to come and spray again. I moved out of my place for a couple of weeks, until they insured me it was safe!” She laughed.
“Well maybe I don’t want to visit!”
“No, you don’t often run into these creatures, I have lived there for 32 years, remember.”
“Okay, I guess that’s not too bad. Now if you told me you ran into one of them every day, I would say I’ll just bring you to visit me all the time!”
She laughed. “I think you’ll be safe if you visit me.”
“Here comes our food,” he said and pointed at the waitress approaching their table. “I think it’s the appetizers only, but the rest of it should be out soon.”
Amanda bent down and took in a deep breath of the Phaal that was placed in front of her. “Oh, it smells absolutely delicious!” She picked up her spoon and took a bite of it. “This is wonderful, one of the best things I think I’ve ever tasted!”
“Yes, it is wonderful, as is all of their food here. Try this chicken.” He handed her a piece of the Chettinad and then he handed her a piece of the spicy chicken.
Amanda took a bite. “That is spicy, but what an explosion of taste! They must use a variety of spices to cook this.”
“Yes, it has a lot of different spices, I think it is one of the spiciest foods they have on the menu and possibly in the Indian culture.” The rest of the food was delivered as they finished their appetizers. Amanda looked at the Laal Maas, her mouth watered from the wonderful scent coming from the dish. “I think this is going to be marvelous as well!”
“It will be, I get this almost all the time when I come here,” Mike admitted.
“Do you come here a lot?”
“Maybe three times a week, sometimes more. It really depends on what kind of food that I’m in the mood to eat. It is very close to my house, though, so it makes it easier than a lot of other choices.”
“It makes a lot of sense why you would eat here a lot, though. Besides the fact that the food here is so good. I can’t even really explain how wonderful it is, but I’ll try and tell Janice the best I can. She would love this food as well.”
“She likes hot food too?”
“Yes.”
“How long have you known her?” Mike asked.
“We met in college, but we actually grew up about 7 blocks from one another. We never knew about that until college. We both feel like we missed out on tons of years of being best friends!” Amanda stated.
“You grew up that close to each other, and never met before college?” Mike laughed.
“I know, but Phoenix is big and we just hung out with different crowds. She went to a private school, and I went to the public school. So, from the start we were living in a different world. However, I won a scholarship to Arizona State University, and she also went there. We had several classes together and found a place together. She’s a great friend, and my best friend in the whole world.” Amanda smiled.
“What does she do again?”
“She’s a corporate lawyer, and a very good one. But, I think she’s part bloodhound too. She’s always trying to solve mysteries. Even if it is a small thing, like where did the keys go?”
“Is she married?” Mike asked.
“She is engaged, they will be getting married at the end of next year. Her fiancé is another attorney at the firm she works at, his name is Jason.”
“Let me guess, you are the maid of honor?” Mike laughed.
“But of course.” Amanda smiled.
“Would you like some dessert?” Mike asked. “You should try the Sutarfeni.”
“What is it?”
“Delicious!” He laughed.
“Okay, but I don’t know if I will be able to eat a lot, I’m pretty stuffed,” Amanda said.
“Okay, we can share an order of it, then.”
He ordered the dessert and it was brought to the table. She looked at it. “So I still can’t really tell what it is.”
“They roast rice flour in ghee, and make it to a cotton candy consistency, then add pistachios to the top. Well at least that is a simplified explanation of this amazing dessert!”
“It is amazing, I’m glad you talked me into trying it.” She smiled at him across the table.
He tipped his wine glass to her. “Thank you for accepting my invitation to dinner, and to take you to see Big Ben.”
“Well, you know I really didn’t feel like doing homework, and you drove a hard bargain.” She blushed at the memory of the other part of the deal to not have homework. Her insides squirmed in response, and her whole body shivered as she remembered his tongue, when it plunged inside of her and made her orgasm like crazy.
“That is only because I really wanted to be able to spend more time with you. Now, if I can only talk you into staying a bit longer, so I have more time. I will feel like I’ve accomplished something!”
She sighed. “You know I want to, but I’m just not sure about you paying for the change on my flight, and how would I explain to everyone that I’m staying longer?”
“Who do you have to explain it to?” Mike asked.
“My parents, Janice, and well… no one else,” she admitted after thinking a few moments.
“Just tell them that you met a great guy, and you want to spend some time with him. Or if you want, just tell them you want to see more of London.”
“But, I’m not used to other people paying for me, especially a ticket change. I have no clue how much it would even cost?”
He stopped and looked at her. “I know you are scared, it is okay. Honestly, I’m shocked by how quickly I fell for you too. But, I want to enjoy our time together. I don’t know how soon I will see you again after you leave. I am just hoping to squeeze in as much time as I can from this,” he explained.
But, I don’t want to pressure you either, and I can see by the look on your face that you feel pressured. So, for now, I’ll drop it.”
“Thank you, I appreciate that. But, I will think about it, I promise.”
“Good enough. Let’s go, I want to show you my home.” Mike pulled her chair out and helped her up. He walked behind her, his hand on her lower back. She enjoyed the feeling of his strong, warm hand on her body.
She craved much more from him, but, she was so scared then. He had drawn his line in the sand and told her exactly how he had felt. She just didn’t know if she was ready to admit how she felt, she wanted to run from it instead of facing it head on.