Pulling into the parking lot of Georgina’s, I cut the engine and inhaled the smell of Italian food. It wasn’t Mama Maria’s, but it was the second best thing and I was starving.
Picking up the doctor’s note Roman had given me, I stared at the second thing he’d prescribed. Written in his actually quite legible doctor’s scribble was, lunch with a friend.
Lunch with a friend sounded lovely. The only problem was that I had no friends. I wanted to actually enjoy myself, and I knew if I invited one of the country club wives, I’d be too nervous and ready to leave as soon as I could.
So content with spending the day by myself, I made reservations, taking the time to dress up and do my hair and makeup before leaving. I loved my new hairstyle, and I’d even learned a few makeup tips from, Gina, the cosmetologist at Serenity Spa. I wasn’t trying to impress anyone but myself. I wanted to forget everything going on at home like Roman had said to do, and I wanted to go have some me time.
“A table for one for Aldridge,” I said to the hostess when I walked up to the podium on the outdoor patio.
She nodded and smiled as she grabbed a menu. “Right this way,” she said, getting ready to lead me inside, but a quick glance around had me stopping her.
“Actually, do you think I could sit out here? It’s a beautiful day.”
She smiled and nodded. “Of course.”
“Thank you.”
I followed behind her as we weaved through the outside tables. She stopped at a table for two next to a small garden.
“Is this okay?”
I inhaled the sweet smell of multi-colored blooms and peeled my jacket from my body. “This is perfect,” I said, sitting down.
“Great. Your server will be right with you.”
“Thank you.” I smiled up at her as she handed me a menu.
I was accustomed to going to Starbucks alone, but never out to eat. My uncomfortableness prompted me to eat outside where there were less curious stares in my direction wondering why I was unworthy of someone else’s company.
Swallowing hard, I ignored the few eyes that I felt pelting me like a hailstorm and let my eyes move over the menu.
Instead of deciding on my meal, I sat there, wondering when eating alone had become taboo in the eyes of those who had someone at their table. Why could I not enjoy a lunch by myself without being judged?
Lost in my own little world, I barely heard my name being called next to me.
“Samantha?” Roman’s voice moved over me, leaving chills in its wake.
I looked up to find him and two other men standing just on the other side of the iron gate that lined the patio seating. He was dressed in slacks and a solid color T-shirt, and I almost didn’t recognize him outside of his white coat and teal scrubs.
He towered over me, a grin transforming his lips into something I couldn’t quite name, but it made my stomach tighten slightly and I wrote it off as nerves. I realized I was just sitting there while three pair of eyes stared at me, waiting for me to do something, anything.
“Roman,” I finally blurted. “What a nice surprise.” I smiled.
“How are you?” he asked as if we hadn’t seen each other in years rather than days.
“I’m great. Just following doctor’s orders.” I gestured to my table.
His eyes moved to the empty seat across from me before clashing with mine again. “Are you alone?” he asked.
I nodded, swallowing hard. “Yes.”
I knew my face was on fire while I tried to focus only on Roman, who seemed to forget he hadn’t arrived here alone. The two other men stared at me like I’d just arrived on a spaceship from another planet. As if realizing for the first time that he wasn’t alone, Roman turned toward the two men.
“I’m sorry. Rick, Jerry, this is Samantha Aldridge. Samantha, these are two of my colleagues.”
“It’s very nice to meet you two.”
“Aldridge? As in Michael Aldridge?” the one named Rick asked.
He was the shorter of the three men, and possibly the youngest.
I smiled, and there was a source of pride behind it. I’d always felt it whenever someone recognized Michael and his accomplishments, for all the hard work he done to get where he was. It made me feel proud to be his wife, the one who had stood by him for all those years and the one who still stood here. But now, with that feeling also came the humiliation that they knew everything I was standing by.
“Yes. That’s my husband.”
“He’s a good man. A damn hard worker, too.” The older man, Jerry, smiled at me. He didn’t seem to know my husband’s history, so there was no added sympathy in his smile. “But I always say that behind every hardworking man is a damn good woman.”
I was sure that I’d never smiled so big in my entire life. Jerry didn’t realize the strength it took not to get up and kiss him for his words or how much I desperately needed to hear them.
“I will definitely be sure to tell him that.”
They all laughed, although Roman’s didn’t seem as genuine.
“Why don’t you gentlemen go on in and get a table? I’ll be right in,” Roman said to his colleagues.
When the hostess took the others inside, Roman turned toward me once they were out of view. I flushed as he gave me a complete once over.
“I like the new look.” His eyes moved past my chin and slowly over my neck and chest before his eyes clashed with mine again.
“Thank you. It was much needed. When I went to pay for my day at the spa, the bill had already been taken care of. Please let me...”
“No,” he said sternly. I bit my lip, wanting to argue, but the way he said the one word made me think twice about arguing with him. “So the ladies there took good care of you?” he asked, changing the subject.
“Well, it was actually the hands of Marcus, but yes, everyone there took very good care of me.”
“Ahh, yes, Marcus. I forgot he still worked there.”
I knew I was being silly thinking I heard a trace of jealously there, but I let myself enjoy the feeling even if I knew it wasn’t true. “Kind of like you forgot to mention your grandmother owns the spa.”
“Guilty. She didn’t drill you with inappropriate questions, did she? She forgets to mind her own business when it comes to my love life or lack thereof.”
“She was lovely. In fact, we made plans to have lunch.”
He groaned. “You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into.”
I laughed. “Honestly, she was perfect.”
“Sounds like the making of a friendship.”
I nodded. “I hope so.”
“And if memory serves me correctly, isn’t there supposed to be a friend involved here?” He moved his fingers, gesturing toward my table, and his eyebrows lifted as he stared down at me knowingly.
“Yes, I suppose there is, but that’s where the problems lies.”
Without asking if he could join me, he moved around the gate and slid into the seat across from me. “And what problem is that?” A small smirk moved across his thick lips.
I took a deep breath. “Well, I don’t really have any friends. As sad as that sounds, I can be honest.”
His smirked instantly transformed, his brows pulling in, and a look of sorrow transformed his face.
“It’s okay,” I said with a fake smile and an even bigger phony front. My hands fell into my lap, but I sat up a little bit taller and avoided his sympathy. “Trust me, I’d much rather enjoy my time alone than be here with one of the stuck-up ladies I’ve had some of the most unfortunate luck to meet.” With a genuine smile, I looked up at him, the sun warming my face.
The sorrow dissolved and was replaced with another sweet smile. “On that I can agree.”
We both laughed. Moving my hand to the menu, I fingered the corner of the leather-bound book.
As much as I tried to tell myself that I was content having lunch by myself, I couldn’t deny that I enjoyed Roman’s company. He was easy to talk to and probably the first real friend I’d had in a while. He was handsome, yes, and though I’d embarrassed myself entertaining the idea of an affair with him, I told myself I needed him much more as a friend than anything else.
I was in love with my husband, and the comfort of Roman’s arms in a one-night stand wasn’t going to change that. It also wasn’t fair to treat Roman that way after everything he was doing for me.
“I don’t want to keep you,” I finally said. “You actually do have friends to get back to.” I hadn’t meant for it too sound so depressing. “That was meant to be a joke.”
“Jerry seems to be a friend of your husband’s, as well.”
“Michael can be very charming when he wants to be. He doesn’t have many enemies.”
A strange expression moved across his face, one that tightened his lips and pulled at his brow. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he didn’t.
“Do you mind if I join you?” he asked suddenly, pulling out his phone and moving his fingers over the screen.
I was caught by surprise at his question, and it took me a minute to get my voice to work. “But what about—”
“I just texted Jerry,” he said, holding his phone up for me to see. He smiled then, setting it on the table and leaning back in the chair. “Looks like you’re stuck with me now.”
That wasn’t how I saw it, but I knew he was teasing me. Matching his smile, I leaned forward. “I could think of worse things.”
His eyes roamed over my face quickly before he looked away. Every time he looked at me, I felt as if he were seeing someone that didn’t exist—a woman with much more to offer. I felt like he saw the woman I wanted to be, and I liked it.
Lifting our menus, we skimmed our choices. As I looked over the many options, I couldn’t help but feel happy. Things were turning around for me. I was feeling better and looking better. Roman had done so much for me already, and we were just getting started.
“Samantha?” Roman’s voice moved across the table and sent chills up my arms.
When I glanced up, Roman was still looking at his menu, making me wonder if I’d actually heard him call my name. Then his eyes met mine.
“Me.” He said the simple word. His voice deep and stern as if he was making an important point. “You have me. As a friend.”