Chapter 9

Angela slept a big part of the day. It was after one p.m. before she finally dragged herself out of bed and into the shower. When she got out, she put on her yoga pants and a tank and went out to the kitchen. Thomas was there, washing some dishes. There was what looked to be some kind of quiche sitting on the counter. It smelled delicious.

“You made quiche?”

Thomas laughed. “Yes, if aliens happened to inhabit my body.”

She touched the sides of it, it was still warm. “Where did it come from?”

“Mrs. Granger in 2B brought it up. I saw her at the mailboxes yesterday and she asked about you. I told her you’d been a little under the weather so she baked you a quiche.” He handed her a spatula and a small plate. “I made omelets. Trust me; you’re better off with the quiche.”

She smiled and took them out of his hand. She cut herself a piece and took it to the table. Before she could turn back around, Thomas sat a steaming mug of coffee down in front of her. “Thank you,” she told him, taking a seat.

“You’re welcome. Did the extra sleep help you any?”

She moved her neck back and forth and said, “Yeah…I suppose. My body is so sore. I’m beginning to wonder if this is some kind of weird virus or something.”

Thomas stepped behind her and before he touched her he said, “I’m just going to rub your neck for a few minutes. It looks like you have some kinks there.” Angela started to protest, but as soon as he touched her, she realized how good it felt. He gave her neck and shoulders a little massage and by the time he finished she was so relaxed that she was practically asleep again.

“Wow that felt great. Thank you.” Thomas was beaming.

“You’re welcome. You’re full of knots. Sometime when you’ve got the time we should do a full back massage and loosen you up.”

Angela wasn’t sure that was such a good idea, so she avoided it all together and said, “So what’s on your agenda today?”

“I actually have a date tonight.”

“Oh good! With whom?” she asked. He’d gone on to tell her about a young woman he’d met a few months back from Rhode Island. She was in town visiting her brother and she’d called him. They actually had a great conversation while she ate, it was less awkward than any they’ve had in the past few weeks. It was almost like it had been before. She spent the rest of the day slowly getting ready for her date with Steve and at five on the nose; he called to let her know he was downstairs. She told Thomas good-bye and wished him luck. Then she told him she wouldn’t be home tonight and waited for him to get angry. He surprised her by saying,

“Thank you for letting me know. I hope you have a good time tonight.”

She smiled at him and said, “I hope you do too. Let yourself have some fun.”

“I will.” She headed down to meet Steve then. When she got there, he was standing against the blue sports car with a bouquet of purple lilies in his hand. He was wearing a light gray suit and a paisley gray and blue tie that matched his eyes. His short hair had been finger styled and he was clean shaven. He looked so good she wanted to take him right there.

“Hi there, beautiful,” he said. She kissed him on the cheek and took the flowers he offered. Up close, she could see that his eyes were bloodshot.

“Hello gorgeous, these are beautiful, thank you.”

He opened the car door for her and as she slid in he said, “I could go to the ends of the earth to find some that are as beautiful as you, but I doubt that I could.”

“Aren’t you the sweet-talker? You look tired. Is everything okay?”

“Yes,” he said. But, he didn’t sound so sure. “I’m just wondering if I’m coming down with something. I’m feeling a little tired and earlier I had a spell where I felt terrible. I have to tell you what I did…you won’t believe it.”

“Uh oh, does this involve Kim?”

He raised an eyebrow and said, “Sort of, unfortunately.”

He told her then about meeting Kim and waiting for Stryker. Angela confirmed that she’d actually spoken to Kevin Stryker on the phone and he was in fact the CEO of a successful company in Houston. Steve acted relieved to hear that and said, “For a second or more, I actually imagined that she’d made him up. When we got to his room, baby…I just don’t know what happened. I saw the bed and I remember thinking about how hot it was and how I had to lie down. When I woke up it was about two hours later. Kim was sitting in a chair watching me. I freaked out a little bit; I didn’t know what was going on. Kim told me that I just laid down on the bed and passed out. She said Kevin had to leave to catch his plane, but she’d made excuses for me, telling him I was sick.”

“You were confused when you woke up?” she asked.

“Yeah, disoriented and really groggy.”

“That’s exactly how I’ve been feeling. Maybe it is some kind of virus and I’ve given it to you. I’m so sorry.”

He smiled at her. “You’re sweet. I was so afraid you’d be angry with me.”

“For what?”

“Being alone with Kim in a hotel room. I swear I was fully dressed when I woke up…Well, almost.”

“Almost?”

“My tie and jacket were off and my shirt was untucked, but Kim claims I did all of that in my sleep. She said I kept going on about how hot it was. I remember being really hot and clammy, so it makes sense.”

“Wow, that’s just…weird. How are you feeling now?”

“I feel much better. After I was wide awake I went home and showered and had a couple of cups of coffee and a lot of water. I’m good as new now.”

“Does your body ache?” Steve’s posture change like he was going to say something, but he changed his mind.

“Not really.”

“Not really or not at all?” she asked.

“I just feel…kind of the way I do after I have a lot of sex.”

Angela thought about the dreams she’d been having about Thomas and how she wondered if she’d been touching herself in her sleep and shuddered. “Oh…”

“I swear nothing happened between Kim and me. I would remember that.”

She smiled but her stomach lurched at the thought. “I believe you. I was just thinking that I feel that way too sometimes in the morning. If this is a virus, it’s the strangest one I’ve ever had.”

“Me too,” he said. “Hopefully the doctor can figure it out when you see him on Monday.”

“I hope so. Let’s drop all of this virus talk now though and have some fun.”

“I second that,” he told her as he got off the Hollywood freeway near a theatre called “Pantages” where they would be seeing their play. He pulled the car into the lot of a place called Blue C Sushi. It was directly across from the theatre.

“How does sushi sound?” he asked her.

“Wonderful.” They left the car with the valet and went inside. They were shown to a table at once and ordered warm Saki and beer. They both completely put the subjects of Kim, Thomas and work away and they talked about much lighter subjects. Steve told her about a fund-raiser his mother was hosting in mid-September that he’d love for her to go with him. It was a dinner/dance to benefit wounded veterans. “That sounds great. Will it be at the Long Beach house?”

“No, my mom does things on a much grander scale than that. She’s rented out the ballroom at the Millennium Biltmore for the evening. There will be live entertainment and a silent auction. It should be a lot of fun and it’s for a good cause. You’ll get to meet a lot of our family’s old friends and business associates….”

“Not to mention your mother,” she said with a slight grimace.

He laughed. “Oh, Mom is nothing to worry about. Just because she was in charge of supervising all executions during the second world war…”

“Stop it!”

He laughed and reached for her hand. He rubbed his thumb over the soft skin and said, “She’s going to love you.” He picked up her hand and kissed it. “Just like I do.”

“I hope so,” she said. “I told my mother about you.”

His face brightened. “You did?”

“I did.”

“What did she say?” The waiter came then and interrupted them for their order. When he was gone she said,

“Well, I was nervous…I was afraid they would think it was too soon after Blake. But she took it really well. She asked a lot of questions about you and seemed satisfied with the answers and then she asked me the question she always does, she said, “Angela, are you happy?”

“And what did you tell her?”

“I said I was, deliriously so. She was satisfied with that. That’s all a parent ever really wants to know, I guess.”

Steve laughed and said, “My father was that way…but I have to warn you, my mother is a little more about the whole society thing and what people think…”

“Oh no! Will she be upset that I’m not a society girl?”

He still had her hand and he squeezed it. “Not at all. I swear baby, she’ll love you.”

“Well now I’m nervous.” Their food was delivered to the table. Steve had over-ordered as usual. Angela had become used to it, that and the fact that he always took the leftovers and gave them to the first homeless person he saw.

“Don’t be nervous,” he said. “Let’s enjoy our evening tonight, no nerves. I’ll take you and introduce you to Mother before the dinner/dance and that way you’ll feel like you have the hard part over with. I promise she’ll love you as much as Ana does.”

They talked about Ana then as they ate and this man she’d run off to see today. Steve was amused by it, telling Angela that his sister never got that excited over a man. “Has she had many serious relationships?”

“No, he was the only one, really.”

“Why did they break up?”

“His mother didn’t like her,” he said, seriously. Angela looked horrified, Steve smiled.

“You punk!” she wadded up her napkin and threw it at him. Laughing, she said, “You’re just trying to make me nervous.”

“No baby, I’m trying to make you smile. It worked. God, I love that smile.” She loved his too. It filled more than just her heart. She felt like her soul was full when she was with him. They finished their dinner and then headed across to the theater for their show. They had both seen Phantom of the Opera before…Angela had seen it three times, but it was both of their favorites and this version didn’t disappoint. Afterwards Steve asked her, “Where to now? Would you like to get a drink or are you ready to head home?” The night was so clear and where normally the stars aren’t visible in the Los Angeles sky because of the smog, tonight the sky was full of them.

“Can we take a walk around the grounds tonight?” she asked him. He leaned over the gearshift and pressed his lips into hers.

“We can do anything you want.”

“Good,” she said with a smile. “I want to take a walk in the moonlight…and then I have some sultry ideas for the rest of the night.” She winked at him and he grinned. As he started the car he said,

“Get us home quickly little pony, she has some sultry ideas.”