Chapter 26

The whole group had been very quiet through dinner, and Hal let out a sigh as he finished his food, setting down his knife and fork on his plate.

“Well …” He sighed, giving them all a smile. “I thought that was delicious.”

“An excellent selection,” Maria agreed and likewise set her fork down.

Adam followed suit, and Jesse picked up on their cues. As if on cue, a young man in a waistcoat appeared from around the corner to pick up their trays while another brought out a small plate with a piece of cake on it. It looked delectable, just like the dinner had been, and again Jesse soon felt her mouth start to water. Hal looked at her expectantly, propping up his arm on the table and resting his chin in the palm of his hand as he looked down at her.

“Take a bite,” he encouraged her.

Jesse vaguely noted that nobody else had eaten theirs, and she became suddenly suspicious.

“What’s wrong?” Hal frowned at her, seeming concerned and puzzled by her behavior.

“Oh, nothing,” Jesse shook her head, feeling fully ridiculous. “I just, it’s … I’m still a little nervous about all this, I guess.”

Hal laughed.

“Here,” he said and turned to his own plate. He picked up his dessert fork, took a small piece of his own cake and brought it to his mouth. Jesse was fascinated by the way his lips wrapped around the fork and how he drew it gracefully back out of his mouth. Such subtle motions, but somehow they were captivating to her. She felt a shiver go down her spine, vaguely noticing that everyone else had taken a bite out of theirs as well.

“Don’t worry,” Hal said, giving her a soft smile. “There’s no reason to be nervous.”

Jesse looked up at him, and she actually did feel comforted by his words. She looked back down at her plate and took up a small forkful of her cake. She brought her fork up to her mouth and closed her lips around the cake. As soon as it touched her tongue, she nearly released a moan at how delicious and soft the cake was. She slowly chewed and swallowed it, reveling in its delicious taste.

“Well?” Hal asked, leaning in closer with a sly smile.

“It was …” Jesse though for a moment to find the best word to describe the wonderful dessert. “Divine.”

Hal laughed and so did the other people at the table. In spite of herself, Jesse relaxed. She took up another bit of the cake and slowly chewed before swallowing, washing down the dish with the dessert wine that Hal poured. It was a perfect mixture, and the cake and the wine complemented each other perfectly. Unlike the main course, as they ate dessert, they all chatted with one another.

“So tell me again, Adam,” Hal spoke. “How did you and Maria meet, exactly?”

Maria laughed, settling her hand on Adam’s arm, and Adam scowled across the table at Hal, who simply grinned back at his friend, chewing his food.

“We all know very well how I met Maria,” Adam growled and vengefully dug his fork into his piece of cake.

“On the contrary,” Hal protested, holding up a finger. “I don’t believe Jess has ever heard this story.”

Jesse immediately blushed at being brought into the issue.

“It’s alright,” she said, made nervous by Adam’s dark glance in her direction.

“No, no,” Hal insisted. “She really should know the story. And besides, if you don’t tell her, I sure will.”

Adam glanced at Jesse again and then scowled at Hal.

“Go ahead, tell them,” Maria lightly smacked Adam on the arm. “I’m sure she’d love to hear it from you and not Hal.”

Adam released a grunt and then a sigh. He used a napkin to wipe off his mouth, tossed the napkin back on the table, and then released a long sigh.

“We met at her restaurant,” Adam began the story, his voice gruff. Jesse could tell that he had told the story multiple times.

“I was trying to make a reservation for Hal with an associate of his,” Adam explained. “They had to discuss casting for his film, I think. It’s not really important.”

Adam looked directly at Jesse, though his eyes were bored, and Jesse nodded to let him know that she was being attentive, though he would certainly rather not be telling the story in the first place.

“I tried to make the reservation over the phone,” he said. “But I wasn’t having any luck. I tried to keep from using the Hal Roberts card for as long as possible, but as usual, I had to pull it out. Unfortunately, not even that worked. So, I went to plan B. I told the punk on the phone that I would go there myself if he didn’t make this reservation happen for me. Well, the punk obviously didn’t know who I was or what I was capable of. So he still didn’t make the reservation.”

Maria and Hal smiled on either side of her, and Jesse couldn’t help wondering where this story was going to go.

“Well, you don’t know much about me,” Adam said. “But I am a man of my word, if nothing else. So, I got off the phone and got in the car, and I headed over to that little restaurant to give this little punk a piece of my mind. When I got there, I saw this little host at the front, and I knew he was the punk from the phone right off the bat. So, I asked him again about the reservation. Arms crossed, real intimidating, you know the drill.”

Maria laughed lightly and placed her hand on Adam’s arm.

“Well,” Adam shrugged. “Just like I thought, the kid got real intimidated. That was the plan, you know. I never really would have touched the kid. Maybe. But he told me to hold on for a moment, and I thought that he must surely be going to get me my reservation. Little did I know at the time that he was going to fetch the manager. If I had known that, I probably would have laid hands on him.”

The three listeners at the table laughed, but Jesse still couldn’t find the idea of Adam hurting another person very funny.

“So the boy comes back, and this beautiful woman is in his wake,” Adam said. “And you know, a pretty woman has a way of taking a man off guard. So, she explained to me very kindly that their restaurant was at capacity for the evening, and that they would have a vacancy the next day, but no sooner. Very polite, very simple.”

Jesse nodded and looked over at Maria, who had a soft smirk on her face.

“Well, I just don’t know what happened from there,” Adam said. “I went in ready to fight a little punk host, not have a verbal debate with a beautiful manager. So I sort of just let go of the reservation and changed tactics. I posed that since she couldn’t get me the reservation I needed, she should go on a date with me, instead, just to make up the difference.”

Jesse nodded eagerly, ready to hear where the story would go.

“She turned me down,” Adam said. “And I have to admit, I was a little crushed. And she let me think that I had no chance for a long while.”

“He forgot about the reservation entirely, mind you,” Hal interjected.

“Well, that’s not really my job now, is it?” Adam snapped, cocking his head and raising an eyebrow. “Anyway. I kept at it, and eventually, I wore her down.”

“He came to the restaurant every day for weeks.” Maria rolled her eyes. “And I kept turning him down. But he never did take the hint. And then he started bringing flowers. And after a week of that … well, what woman could resist that?”

Jesse smiled as Maria looked over at Adam and gave him a soft peck on the cheek. She saw Hal looking her way out of the corner of her eye, and she looked in his direction to see him giving her a soft smile. Again, she blushed, and she turned back to her cake and her wine.

Soon, they were all finished, and again the small team of waiters appeared to clear their plates.

“Thanks, guys,” Hal said to them as they moved away. “You can go ahead home whenever you finish up.”

“Yes sir,” the two said and turned back to their task.

Jesse looked after them. She wondered how they had gotten to this point in their lives, and how they had landed a job working for Hal Roberts.

“All of my employees live here in the building,” Hal explained. “Expense-free, of course. But under the condition that they have to be ready for anything and always on call. I try to give appropriate notice, but I do expect prompt response at all times.”

Jesse was surprised by his revelation. She had wondered what all this building was used for, and why he needed an entire building to live in himself. She saw now that she probably couldn’t begin to imagine what all this building was used for, and she realized that she would probably never find out.

“Why don’t we take this into the living room?” Hal suggested, and Adam and Maria nodded.

Both men stood and drew back the chairs so that the women could stand. Hal gave Jesse a smile and offered her his arm, and Jesse took it, allowing him to lead her back into the hall and across into a large living room. It was a very elegant space with sleek leather couches and a glass coffee table.

Hal led Jesse over to one end of the couch and gestured for her to sit. He left the room for a moment and returned with yet more wine glasses and a bottle of what Jesse guessed was a very fine wine. She was already fairly tipsy, and she knew that another glass of wine would likely be enough to get her drunk. She found, though, that she had finally relaxed enough to have a good time in her present company, and she wasn’t intent on ruining the mood by refusing to drink.

It seemed, though, that Adam and Maria were not shy about refusing at all.

“I’d better not,” Maria held up a hand and gave Hal a tight smile. “I’m a bit of a lightweight.”

“Oh, come on,” Hal smirked down at her and raised a brow.

“You heard the lady,” Adam said, crossing his arms. “She’s had enough.”

“Well, your defender has spoken.” Hal sighed and reached to pour Adam a glass.

“That’s enough for me as well,” Adam shook his head. “I need a clear head to do my job.”

Hal scoffed and rolled his eyes.

“Well, then, I hereby give you the night off,” Hal tried, but Adam shook his head.

“Sorry, Hal,” he said with a smile. “I’m done.”

Hall shook his head, let out a long sigh and looked over to Jesse with a shrug.

“I guess it’s just up to you and me now,” Hal said with a sly grin as he poured her glass. Jesse looked at the filling glass with trepidation, and she sighed, knowing that she would likely have a headache to show for her indulgence. Nevertheless, she raised the glass and took a sip, enjoying the richness of the wine as it swirled around her mouth.

Hal poured himself a glass, and once again the four companions became engrossed in conversation. Hal and Jesse explained the circumstances under which they had met to Maria, and Maria explained how she had come to manage the restaurant. Just as she had suspected it would, the wine went straight to Jesse’s head, and she became ever more amicable as the night passed.

Jesse found herself increasingly less inhibited, and she allowed her eyes to wander over Hal beside her. He had taken off the jacket of his suit, and she could see more of his neck than usual. With how close he was sitting to her, she could smell his clean, crisp, and spicy scent wafting toward her, and she couldn’t help breathing it in.

Jesse could feel herself becoming increasingly excited by his presence. She knew it was the wine, but she found herself becoming more and more restless. Her skin was tingling, and she could feel her blood pounding in her veins. She barely paid attention to the conversation going on around her, so focused was she on taking in all of Hal’s appearance that she possibly could.

“Well, I think it’s about time that we headed out,” Adam said, about to stand.

“Yeah, it’s about that time,” Maria said, taking Adam’s hand and allowing him to help her stand.

Hal stood, and Jesse too prepared to stand. She swayed on her feet, and Hal moved quickly to gather her against his side, steadying her. Jesse could feel his solid frame against her side, and she felt her heart beat even harder in her chest.

“Well, you two take it easy tonight,” Hal said, shaking Adam’s hand and bending to kiss Maria’s cheek.

“You too.” Maria smiled. “It was nice to meet you, Jesse.”

Maria extended her hand, and Jesse shook it.

“It was nice to meet you as well.” Jesse smiled and then released Maria’s hand. Jesse glanced over at Adam, who gave her a nod and a smile.

“Goodnight, Jesse,” he said.

“Goodnight,” she replied, giving him a smile and now feeling more comfortable and less intimidated with him around.

The other couple made their way out of the room, and Jesse heard a couple of doors shut. She was keenly aware of the fact that she and Hal were alone in the room together. Hal helped her sit back down on the large couch, and he remained standing for a little longer to pour them each another glass of wine.