Chapter 3
Hannah stepped out of the cab, placing her feet on the concrete sidewalk while dusting off the back of her dress. She felt still uncomfortable, but wanted to go out of her way to impress Russell. “Thank you,” she said to the cab driver as she closed the back door and walked toward the door of the old, Italian restaurant in the heart of New York City. With a soft exhale, she looked through the window to see Russell sitting at a table waiting on her. She placed her right foot in front of her and started walking toward the old, glass door where a man in a tuxedo was waiting on her.
“Hello, do you have a reservation?” he asked politely.
“I’m here meeting someone,” she replied. “I can see him sitting at the table in there.”
“Oh, great.”
Hannah smiled as she stepped past him before stopping and turning around. “Hey, I have a weird question, and I’m sure you get this all the time.”
The man turned and looked at her. “Yes, what is it?”
“If a problem breaks out, can I go into the bathroom and find a gun above the toilet? I need to make sure I have all of my options open,” she quipped sarcastically with a coy smile, referencing an old mobster movie and provoking a hearty laugh from the Italian. She turned around and walked toward the table to see Russell waiting on her with a bottle of white wine already sitting in the chiller. “I see you already know me too well.”
Russell stood up from his chair and walked over to Hannah’s, stepping in front of her quickly and pulling her chair out from under the table and allowing her to sit. “I’ve discovered your love for white wine, yes,” he said as he pushed the chair under the table. “I’ve also figured out that you’re a lot more fun when you’ve had a few glasses.” He looked dashing in his grey sports coat, dark jeans, and white button up shirt tucked into his pants.
She laughed as she looked up at him walking around the table to sit down. “I tend to do better when my blood alcohol level is slightly elevated.” The restaurant was very old and possessed a great charm to it. The tables were all small but covered with red and white checkered table cloths and large, old chandeliers were hung over each table that provided a dimly lit ambience. The walls were all made of an old wood paneling and possessed several black and white photographs of the Italian countryside and small, Italian villages.
“I think we all have that crux. How was your trip here?”
Hannah reached forward and grabbed the glass of wine that was already waiting poured for her and took a sip. “The cab was dirty, but I’m used to it. It’s New York City, there is no such thing as a pristine taxi.”
“I’m sure you’ve gotten accustomed to those on the other end of the world,” said Russell as he sipped from his small glass.
“Believe it or not, New York City taxis make some of the ones that I’ve been in look sanitary,” she quipped sarcastically. “Last week, I was in Delhi to meet with several investors and made the mistake of taking a cab, even though it was the better choice than the overcrowded bus. I sat down in the back seat and it was wet and had an awful, pungent odor that was coming from the fabric. I sucked it up and dealt with it until I got to my destination, when I stepped out and saw chicken droppings in the floor board. I got so grossed out that I promised myself I would walk from my hotel to my meeting for the rest of my trip, which I did.”
Russell laughed heartily at Hannah’s misfortune, turning his head slightly as the waiter walked up. The two placed their orders quickly and he turned away, leaving the two to continue their discussion. “So how was India?”
“It was the worst place I’ve ever been to in my life,” she said. “That trip, I went to Shanghai, Delhi, Seoul, and Tokyo in four days before finally arriving in Sydney. My new job tends to send me all over the world, but I’ve been spending the first part of it in the Eastern Hemisphere.”
“Does it bother you to be away from home for so long?”
“No, not even a little,” she said with a smile. “I love to come home and I love knowing that I have a home, but traveling is a lot of fun,” she explained with a smile on her face, relaxing as the alcohol quickly began to course through her system. “That’s one of the things that I love about my job. I get to go and see things that many people can only see in a google search. I got to fly into Dubai a few weeks ago and look on at beautiful landscape and scenery as we landed in the airport there. There are so many things that I get to do because of my job that really makes it amazing.”
Russell nodded slowly as the waiter walked up to the table with two salads, placing them in front of them politely. “Thank you,” he said as he looked across the table at Hannah. “And thank you for actually going on a date with me tonight.”
“Was hanging out on my couch eating Chinese food not good enough for you?”
“I’m not saying that,” he continued. “I’m just saying that it is nice to actually spend time with a woman out in the city. I don’t get to date someone that often and to actually be out here with a beautiful woman really makes my life a bit better.”
“Well I’m happy that I can make your life a bit better,” she said with a sarcastic smirk. “So, tell me, do you miss Wales?”
“Often, but not every day,” he replied. “And there are certain things that I miss about Wales. I miss the football, or soccer as you say, and the overall culture. I miss my family, but in reality, I cannot have the life that I want living in Wales. I cannot work for the firm that I want to work for if I live in the United Kingdom, unless I’m living in London. I cannot be a part of a city that possesses hundreds of different cultures or be the person that I want to be if I’m not living in New York City. I do enjoy traveling and helping with the various acquisitions of companies for my clients, but honestly, I enjoy living here far more than I ever would’ve imagined.”
Hannah smiled. “What about relationships? Have you had a girlfriend since being in New York?”
“I’ve had one serious one, or at least semi-serious,” he said as he took a bite from his salad. “It lasted for about eight months, but she wanted it to go a lot further than I ever intended on it going and she wanted it to make it there at light speed. I wasn’t at a point in my life where I was ready for a relationship of substance, and to be honest, she wasn’t the woman I wanted to be with anyway. The sex was great, but that’s all she really offered.”
“All she really offered?”
“Yes, she was an idiot,” he said with a smile. “Everything was about appearance and how things seemed. She refused to have a conversation about anything meaningful and instead, focused on what she saw on television and took it all as fact. If she saw a beautiful new trend somewhere, she did what she could to mimic it instead of trying to find out why it was a trend and whether or not that trend would last. It was boring.”
Hannah laughed. “I’m sure it was,” she said as she took a bite from her salad. “I don’t think I could handle being around someone who spent all day talking about fashion and popular culture. I do a good job to just not look like I rolled out of bed.”
“I do a good job to put on pants,” he replied. “If I could walk out of my apartment in my underwear, I would make that happen.”
“I completely agree,” she joked. “Honestly, I wear the same style of clothes every day, no matter the occasion.”
“Then why are you wearing a dress?”
Hannah sighed, knowing that this question would have came up but still not prepared to answer it. “Honestly, I did it to impress you,” she confessed. “I wanted to look good for you.”
Russell shook his head as a light smirk appeared over his face. “That’s cute,” he stated calmly. “But you didn’t have to put on a dress to impress me. I’m more attracted to your personality than anything. I love your sarcasm and wit more than your taste in fashion.”
Hannah scowled as she turned her head to see the waiter walking up with their entrees. “Are you telling me I put on this damn dress for absolutely nothing?”
Russell shook his head in disbelief. “Yeah, I’m sorry.”
“When we leave here, if we go somewhere else, I’m going home to change,” she announced. “I’m getting out of this dress as quickly as possible and forgetting about it.”
“Are you going to bury it in your closet and pretend it doesn’t exist?”
“I’m going to potentially place it in my garbage disposal,” she continued in anger as she looked at the entrée that was placed in front of her.
Russell laughed as he grabbed his fork and placed it into his lasagna. “It’s a great dress though,” he said, doing his best to console and comfort her. “You have great taste in clothing, even if you choose not to exercise it very often. I’m sure there have been many men in your life who have enjoyed seeing you dress up from time to time.”
“Ha!” she exclaimed as she looked across the table. “I don’t typically date.”
“What?” he asked, perplexed at the statement. “What do you mean, you don’t typically date?”
Hannah smiled as she placed the fork down and sat up in her chair. “Usually, I don’t go on many dates with men. I meet up with them, have a few drinks, and it ends later on in the bedroom. I’ve never wanted to date anyone because I’ve never felt a genuine connection with someone. I’ve never wanted to actually be at an Italian restaurant with a man until I met you.”
Russell placed the small piece of lasagna in his mouth as he listened to Hannah speak, digesting what she was talking about as he listened closely. He chewed softly as he looked across the table at her, allowing for a few seconds of silence to fill the area while he figured out a way to make his next statement. “So why me?” he asked. “What made you want to go on a date with me?”
“You’re not an idiot,” she replied with a smile, making Russell chuckle under his breath as she explained herself. “I look at you as more than just a means to an end. Now, don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t mind reaching that end with you, but I think I’m at a point in my life where I actually want more. I actually want to spend time with a man and I want to spend it with you. I’m ready to try something new.”
“That’s sweet,” he said with a smirk. “Well, perhaps tonight we can have a great time with one another.”
“That’d be nice,” she replied. “That’d be really nice.”