Chapter 5

“Thomas! Have you been doing my laundry?” Angela was putting her dirty laundry in the basket to take down to the laundry room. There was only one pair of underwear in the hamper. That didn’t make any sense. She hadn’t done laundry in a week.

Thomas poked his head around the corner and grinned. “Are you serious? I barely do my own laundry.”

She smiled. “I thought it was a stretch…I just seem to be missing…some things.”

“Uh oh, the laundry room thief strikes again.”

“The laundry room thief?”

“Yeah, about a year ago, people were complaining that they’d put their laundry in and when they went to get it out, things were missing. Mostly lingerie. What did you lose?”

“Um…I don’t think the laundry room thief took mine. My underwear is missing but they seem to be missing out of the hamper.” Thomas curled his lip.

“You don’t think I’m a creepy pervert who likes dressing up in my best friend’s frilly panties, do you?”

She laughed. “Well, I didn’t…”

“I’m sorry,” he said, “I confess. I tried it on, but it didn’t fit. They all split right down the middle.”

Angela was laughing and shaking her head. “You’re crazy.”

“But you love me.”

“Yes, I do,” she said. “Can I ask you a favor?”

“Absolutely anything,” he said. She caught a glimpse of that look he gets every now and then…the one that makes her wonder if Joanne and Steve were right and Thomas felt more strongly about her than she thought. It was gone almost as soon as it appeared.

“Don’t threaten Steve again. I’m a big girl. I can decide who I want in and out of my life.”

His eyes darkened. “What do you mean? Are you and Steve back together?”

“No…not yet. We’re talking. Please respect that and be nice, okay?”

Thomas’s breaths seemed to be coming more rapidly and Angela could tell that he didn’t like the idea of her talking to Steve. He was silent for a few seconds and he seemed to be calmer as he said, “You know I respect you, Angela. I just don’t want to see you hurt. So, I’ll be nice…for your sake…but I don’t have to trust him.”

“No, you don’t. But, if I get back together with him I wish that you would. I’d love for us all to be friends.”

“Like we all were when Blake was alive?” It was said with malice and Angela felt it like a knife.

“I can’t believe you just said that. Nothing will ever be the way it was when Blake was alive. Life changes and it evolves. I miss him like an amputated limb and you know that. But, I also believe he would want me to be happy. How dare you, Thomas? You were there when I was grieving. You saw how hard it was on me. I’m just beginning to heal. Why would you want to drag me back there again?”

He took a deep breath and then suddenly a look of regret was on his face. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to take you there. I’m such an ass sometimes. I’m incredibly afraid of you getting hurt. But you’re right. I need to take a step back and let you make your own decisions.” She still looked mad so he said, “I’m really sorry, Ang…forgive me?”

“You really do need to back off, Thomas, okay? I don’t need you to be my father. I just need you to be my friend.”

Thomas opened his arms and said, “That’s all I want to be. I’ll do my best, okay? I promise.” Angela moved into his arms and gave him a hug. When it seemed he was holding onto her a little too long, she stepped back. Picking up her laundry basket she said, “I have to get this laundry done and then it looks like I’ll be making a trip to Victoria’s Secrets.”

“Ooh! Can I come?”

Angela laughed and threw a towel at him out of the basket. “No pervert! Go back and watch your game.”

**

“What do you want to do for dinner?” Thomas yelled to Angela. She was in her room and he was getting hungry.

“Um…I’m not going to be here!” She yelled back. Thomas furrowed his brow. It was a weeknight. She didn’t usually go out with Joanne on the weeknights clubbing. He wondered if they were just going to dinner why she hadn’t asked him to go to, or at the very least, if he wanted anything. He started down the hall towards her room. Before he got there, she stepped out. She was wearing a little black dress and a pair of black hooker heels. Her long hair was curled and laying in soft ringlets across her shoulders and down her back. She looked fucking gorgeous.

“Where are you going?” She looked at him funny and he realized he’d said that a little harsher than he had intended to. “You look amazing.” He forced a smile.

“I’m going to dinner, with Steve.”

Thomas’s facial muscles hurt from holding them in place. “Oh…okay. I guess I’m on my own then.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry. I didn’t get a chance to tell you when I got in. You were on the phone. By the way, why did it sound like you were talking to someone about looking at a place? You’re not moving out now, are you?” She chuckled.

“No…I was talking to Mike, the maintenance guy. I think the hot water heater is going out. Have you noticed the water doesn’t get as hot as it used to?”

“No…it seems fine to me.” She walked over and picked up her purse. Thomas had to re-direct his eyes back to her face when she turned and looked at him. The dress clung to her from the scooped neckline to the tiny skirt that was barely long enough to cover her vagina. “I might be late, so don’t worry and don’t wait up. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“You’re not going to sleep with him, are you?”

She took a deep breath. “Thomas, I thought we agreed that I would make my own decisions and my own mistakes.”

“We did. Just use your head, okay?”

She looked annoyed and she didn’t answer him. She went towards the door and when she got there she said, “Have a good night.” As soon as she was gone, Thomas turned and slammed his fist into the wall. A hole tore open in the plaster.

“Fuck!” That hurt his hand like hell and it didn’t appease him. He picked up a vase off the mantle and threw that into the bricks. It shattered into about a million pieces. That made him feel a little bit better. He walked over and grabbed his wallet off of the counter. Stuffing it into his pocket, he grabbed his keys and left the apartment.

**

Steve was waiting for Angela downstairs. She’d asked him not to come up, trying to keep the peace. This would get old fast…it was good that she had appointments to look at apartments this week. “Hi gorgeous,” he said, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

“You look pretty darned gorgeous yourself,” she said. As a matter of fact, she could barely breathe at the sight of him. He had on a tailored black suit that looked as soft as butter. He didn’t have a tie on and the smoke gray silk shirt underneath was opened enough at the top to give her a hint of his muscular chest. She missed that chest. Her hands tingled at the thought of touching it. Steve held the car door open for her. It was a light blue Jaguar that she’d never seen before. The seats were white and the softest leather she’d ever felt. Steve got in the other side and she said, “New car?”

He grinned. “No, but you’ll soon come to find out that cars are my weakness. When my father passed away, we had more cars than we had garages between us. This one has been in storage. I sold a few of the others that I’m not as attached to.”

Angela ran her hand across the smooth leather. “It’s really nice.”

“Thanks. It’s special to me because my father bought it back in the seventies. He and I restored it together.”

“Oh wow! I really thought it was new.”

He grinned again. “I guess we did a good job then, huh?”

“You did a great job. Maybe when I’m old, I’ll hire you to restore me.”

He laughed. “I can’t imagine you ever needing restoration. Besides, if you stick with me, I’ll keep you young and healthy forever.”

Raising an eyebrow she said, “Oh really? How do you plan to do that?”

“I’ve been reading a lot on the healing and youth restoring powers of sex…”

Angela laughed. “Okay, baby steps, remember?”

Feigning innocence he said, “Hey! I was just discussing current events.”

She shook her head at him. He’s so damned hot. She looked at his profile as he drove. He was clean shaven and with a completely smooth face he looked five years younger. His blue/gray eyes shone even in the dark and he looked like he’d gotten a lot of rest since she’d seen him last on Sunday night.

He drove them to a place called Osteria Mozza. It was an upscale Italian restaurant on Melrose. The first thing Angela noticed as they walked in was that it was dimly lit and had a warm feel to it. The walls and tables were made of rich, dark wood and the floors were highly polished wood of the same color. The seats were covered in plush tan velvet and all of the tables had candles flickering in the center. It smelled fantastic and even if she hadn’t been hungry, her taste buds would have come alive as soon as they walked in. The second thing she noticed was that they were the only people aside from the staff. She didn’t say anything until they were shown to a table near a large window where they could look out onto the patio and the hostess left.

“Where are all the people?”

Steve grinned. “I asked them to not have any.”

“You bought out the entire restaurant? Are you crazy?”

“Well, when you put it like that…”

She giggled. “I’m sorry, but….really?”

“I wanted to make sure all of their attention was focused on us.” The waiter showed up then with a bottle of wine that Steve must have ordered ahead of time. He tipped it to show Steve the label and when he nodded, the waiter opened it and poured a little in each of their glasses. They both tasted it and Steve deferred to Angela.

“I think it’s perfect,” she said.

“Good. It’s one of my favorites.” He nodded at the waiter and he filled both of their glasses and left the bottle to chill.

“Are you ready to order, sir?”

Steve looked at Angela. She hadn’t even had a chance to pick up her menu yet. “Do you know what you want?” She asked him. He gave her a lustful look and said,

“Definitely.” She felt herself blush in front of the waiter and mouthed,

“Stop it,” at him. He smiled and said,

“Yes, I thought if it’s acceptable to you that we’d order several different plates. None of them are a lot of food, but together we’ll get a taste of almost everything good here and it should fill us up.”

“That works for me,” she told him. Steve proceeded to tell the waiter what they wanted, “Shaved Brussels Sprouts, salami salad, baby kale with the pine nuts and ricotta salata, Burrata de Pugila, Goat Cheese Ravioli, Butternut Squash Mezzelune, Grilled Beef Tagliata, Garganelli with ragu bolognese and the Orecchiette with sausage & Swiss chard.”

“Very nice choices, sir,” the waiter said. He nodded to Angela again and scurried away. Angela laughed and said, “Are you sure no one else is joining us? That is a lot of food.”

“The portions here are small. It’s almost like a tasting menu, but not quite that small. I wanted you to get at least a taste of all of their best dishes.”

“It all sounds wonderful,” she said, “Even the stuff I had no idea what it was.”

“A lot of their dishes are very authentic Italian. Have you ever been to Italy?”

“No, the only place I’ve been outside of the U.S. is Canada and Blake and I took a cruise to the Mediterranean for our honeymoon.”

“Those are both good choices. I’d love to take you to Italy sometime though. Tuscany and Venice are both a must.”

With a smile she said, “They’re on my bucket list.”

“What else is on your bucket list?” he asked, taking a sip of his wine.

“I want to go to Scotland or Ireland someday and spend the night in a castle. I want to learn how to surf. I want to skydive…”

“An adrenaline junkie, huh?”

“Maybe…just a little.”

“So what about a race car?”

“What about it?”

“No driving a race car on your bucket list?”

“I’ve never really given it much thought. Is it pretty exciting?”

“Exhilarating,” he said. “It’s hard to describe…you’ll have to try it.”

“Really? And where would I do that?”

“I’ll take you out to the track anytime you would like to go and we’ll put you in one of our cars.”

Angela was surprised at the little thrill that it gave her. “Okay,” she said taking a drink of her wine, “I’m going to take you up on that.”

Dinner arrived one course at a time. Steve was right that there wasn’t a lot of each dish, but it was all so rich and delicious that by the time they finished eating Angela was stuffed. Steve insisted she had to try the cheesecake anyways. All she was able to eat was a single bite, but it may well have been the best bite of dessert she’d ever had.

They walked outside with Angela holding onto Steve’s arm. She felt warm and satisfied…and happy. While they waited for the valet, Steve pulled her into his arms and dipped his head. He found her neck and gave her a soft kiss right in the spot that she loved so much. She shivered and felt her body respond immediately. When he brought his head up, he looked at her with his beautiful blue eyes and said, “So, am I taking you home…or am I taking you home?”

She grinned and said, “Kiss my neck again.” He dipped his head and this time let his tongue come out and skim across her soft skin before planting a kiss. When he brought his head back up in a breathless voice she said, “Yeah, you’re taking me home…with you.”