Chapter 5
Cara
Pinch me, I thought. I had barely been able to breathe when I saw him, standing with flowers in hand, in a crisp button-down shirt. Classic look, and on him it was more than classic. It made him look like what I imagined in the romantic books I read. His blue eyes were even brighter than before.
I regretted not putting more effort in to my dress. Especially my choice on leather flip flops instead of heels. And, flowers? When was the last time someone showed up with flowers? Never.
This really was a real date. I wasn’t even sure that those existed in the world of internet dating and meeting at a bar. The butterflies in my stomach felt more like spastic bees. I knew that my hands had started to sweat, so I had grabbed on to his arm, rather than his hand. His bicep. I remembered how his arms had looked earlier, and I could feel the strength and width of them now. I closed my eyes for a moment to take it in, hoping he didn’t notice that I was squeezing him or holding my breath, and allowed him to lead me to the car.
His car was a dark blue Audi A5 convertible, with the top already down and everything shiny and clean, although the car didn’t look as though it was brand new.
“Are you okay with the top down, or would you rather not get your hair messed up?” he cordially asked.
I dug out a hair tie from my purse, always a must-have while working at a gym, and smiled as I held it up. “I’m always prepared for windy adventures,” I said in a flirtatious voice, and threw my hair back in the messy bun I had always used as my go-to. So much for straightening my hair.
Opening my door for me, his eyes danced as he motioned for me to step in. “My lady,” he said with a smile.
I stepped in, holding my dress until I sat down. I looked at the gear shift as he gently closed my door and walked around to his side. A manual transmission. I loved to drive, and there was something very manly about a man who still drove stick shift with all of the fast cars that had automatic transmissions nowadays.
Another little flutter in my stomach happened as he got in to the car. Oh my gosh, he was gorgeous. I could not take my eyes off of him, and every move he made drew me more to him. Just the act of sliding on his sunglasses made me tingle. This was quite possibly the best first date I had ever had, and I was only two minutes in.
“Terrapin sounds okay?” he asked as he smoothly shifted into gear and drove toward Atlantic Avenue. “I didn’t think to ask if you had any preferences, but we can always change it if you want.”
“I generally just go to the restaurants I can walk to on the boardwalk, but I’m not that picky. I’m sure what you picked is fine,” I replied, trying to find a way to ask all of the questions I wanted to without looking like I was too interested. Again, I reminded myself to stay guarded, as he could be from the other side of the world for all I knew. Or have a girlfriend back home. Or decide that I was not worthy of him. My insecurities began to kick in.
“Great. It should take less than ten minutes to get to, so sit back and relax,” he said, turning up the music just enough so that with that and the wind, there was not enough space for small talk yet. Genius. Maybe we wouldn’t run out of things to talk about at dinner. What had LJ and I talked about when we went out to our cheesy dives? His business, mostly. I doubted that Caden knew anything about owning a tiny convenience store and spending time at cheap burger joints and dollar taco bars.
I sat back and closed my eyes, enjoying the feel of the wind mixed with the warmth of the sun. The music he had picked was my favorite: acoustic covers. I smiled and let myself relax. Opening my eyes after a couple of minutes, I saw Caden smiling as he glanced over at me. What was this feeling? I wore a perma-grin on like a fool. I honestly couldn’t stop smiling if I tried. From heartbroken to happy within a matter of hours, was that even possible? Hold back, I reminded myself again. This was just a fun night being of being courted, nothing more.
We arrived at the restaurant, parking in the last parallel parking spot out front.
“Don’t move,” he gently commanded. He pushed the button to put up the top, opened his door, and was quickly at mine, opening it all the way and standing in front of me with his hand extended. “Shall we?”
We stepped out of the car, and Caden shut the door behind us. At that moment, the door to Terrapin then opened, as if they had been expecting us. Caden put his hand on the small of my back, once again exciting the butterflies in my stomach, and led me toward the entrance.
“Good evening. Do you have a reservation?” asked the host as he led us to the reservation desk.
“Yes, for two under ‘Zahn’,” Caden answered. Well, one mystery solved.
“Oh, I see,” said the host with a smile.
“Ms. Lauren,” Caden said, “if you will follow me right this way.” Crooking his elbow, I allowed him to lead me to the far corner of the restaurant.
It was quieter here, and there was a candle and a bottle of champagne on the table. A quick glance around allowed me to assess that no other table had this service. I looked at Caden, and his smile beamed back at me. I giggled again as the host pulled out my chair for me to sit. I felt so silly. Smiling, giggling, full of wonder like a teenager again.
After Caden was seated, I had to ask, “How did you know my last name?”
The response I could have guessed, had I not been so in awe over the flowers, the table, and the man himself. “You know we come here a lot for meetings. I just asked the concierge if there was any way they could look up the name of my date for tonight. I guess they figured I came there enough to not be shady, and you happened to somehow be the only Cara staying at the hotel alone. I took a chance. I wasn’t sure if it would seem creepy or sweet, but I was hoping you would think it was sweet.”
My only response was to blush. I had no idea what to think, nor what to say to this man who had completely changed my entire world, at least for the night. Luckily, the waitress came to fill our water glasses and tell us about the specials. She smiled at Caden, and talked as if he were the only one at the table. A wave of jealousy came over me, as I felt even more insignificant. She was younger than me, probably mid-twenties, with perfect long blond hair and a tight black dress. I subconsciously touched my hair, as I remembered that I still had it up and wind-blown. As she finished the list of specials and asked if we wanted to start with a bottle of wine, Caden looked over at me.
“Whatever this amazing lady beside me wants is what we will have,” he said, looking at me as if he hadn’t noticed the waitress’s attention on him. More jumping butterflies. How long could this last?
“Um, a Sauvignon Blanc, please. Whatever you suggest,” I felt my voice shake a little.
“I will bring the Santa Maria from Chile. Is that okay?” she asked of Caden, obviously displeased that Caden deferred to me.
“Of course. Tonight is all about Ms. Lauren.” He ignored her gaze and continued to hold my eyes.
I could almost imagine the waitress rolling her eyes as she turned on her heel to get us our wine.
Caden finally broke eye contact with me and turned to the menu. “I’ve heard the ahi tuna here tastes really fresh. Is there an appetizer you'd like, or is that okay to start?”
“Surprise me. I don't think I've ever had a man order for me,” I teased, mostly trying to hide the nervousness I felt every time I tried to talk.
“Okay, but you have to eat whatever I order,” he teased back.
I just smiled, still afraid to speak and let him see my trepidation. He was like no one I had ever dated before. Definitely a social step above my last boyfriend, and his manners left me wondering what I had been missing out on all this time.
As the waitress, Grace, her name tag read, came back to the table, she presented the wine to Caden.
“The fair lady will do the tasting,” Caden indicated, winking in my direction. Great. My thoughts went from not doing the tasting correctly, to spilling the wine on my dress, but I just nodded. Grace filled the wine glass bottom, and held it out for me to take. I vaguely remembered from a wine tasting that you should hold cold wines by the stem so your hand doesn't warm them, so I did my best to gracefully hold the glass the right way, slightly twirling the wine to release the flavor. Taking a small sip, tasting the citrus notes, I smiled and nodded my approval. She filled both of our glasses, and Caden ordered ahi tuna.
“So, now, Cara, where shall we begin?” he playfully tapped his fingers on the table.
“How about a toast?” I managed to choke out. “To my knight in shining armor. May he always find me and save me from the sloths that fill the bars at the beach.”
Not bad, I thought. He even gave a little chuckle.
“To us few good guys, and the ladies who allow them to grace their presence,” he cheered me, as we lightly clinked our glasses together. So far so good—no glass breakage, no spilling.
“Do you live around here?” he asked.
“About two hours away, in Richmond. How about you?” I answered, with an odd hope he was going to say the same.
“I live that way also. In Bon Air.” It was the answer I had hoped for, but it was almost too perfect.
“What brought you, here, my fair Cara?” he intoned with an Old English accent.
“I was just looking for a knight to arrive. How lucky am I that you were here? Right in our very own Virginia Beach,” I said with a laugh. I took a large gulp of wine, as his eyes watched for my real answer.
“Actually, I came here to clear my mind. I had a break up, if you could call it that, and I thought the waves would be the perfect solution to wash it away,” I admitted, quietly.
“Who in the world would let you break up with him? He must be a fool. Lucky for me, though, it allowed me to run into you.” He shook his head at the thought of someone “letting me leave.”
“Truth is, he left me. He never said why, just packed up and left.” I looked down at my place setting. Wasn't Rule Number One of a first date to not talk about past relationships? I had already messed up and we hadn’t even gotten to our first course.
In an effort to cover up my faux paus, I added, “Enough about my life. What about you? Other than work, what do you do back in Bon Air?”
As he opened his mouth to answer, my phone buzzed in my purse. I ignored it, not wanting to be rude, but the quiet thought that it may be LJ sprang into my head. What was I doing here? I had to at least know if it was him.
“...and when I do have spare time, I like to just hang out. Watch bad television, go to the local brewery, or walk around outside aimlessly,” he was in the middle of answering me, but my thoughts had tuned out the beginning of his answer. I wanted to scream at myself, “God, Cara, get your head back in the game.”
“I love how many breweries have popped up in Richmond! Which is your favorite? I’m a fan of Center of the Universe, even though it’s a little far north.” I picked a subject that I was interested in to try to force my mind away from my phone.
“Awwww, yes, the Pocahoptus is a favorite of mine for sure. Are you an IPA fan, or a stout kind of girl?” he asked.
“IPA for sure, though I do like the darker beers when it gets cold in the winter.”
The waitress came back with the tuna, and asked if we were ready to order our main course. I excused myself while letting Caden order for us. Walking to the bathroom, still excited about my date, but now with a curiosity that would hold me until I knew. Once in the bathroom, I looked at my phone. It was an unknown number. Before I clicked it off, a voicemail popped up. The timer said the voicemail length was one minute. I hit the button for playback, and brought the phone to my ear. Just silence, with some static in the background. I listened for the whole minute, as no audible voice could be heard. Then, I held down the button to turn my phone all the way off.
“Screw you, LJ,” I said to the mirror, “you're not going to ruin this for me. You left me.” I pulled my hair out of the bun and walked back out to the gorgeous man who was waiting for my return.