Page 58 of Boss from Hell
“What’s up?” she asked.
“Nothing.”
“So why are you staring at me as if I’ve grown a horn?”
How ironic. It was me who’d grown a horn from just looking at her. “I changed the tickets,” I said, handing them out to her.
She looked down at them. “What? These are VIP tickets? How could you even buy them at the last minute?” she exclaimed, her eyes shining.
It was exactly the reaction I had been hoping for. I looked her in the eye and said, “Everything and everyone can be bought for the right price.”
I watched her intently for any kind of guilty reaction, but there was none when she asked. “Oh dear. Are we talking a lot of money here?”
I nodded. “You don’t want to know.”
“I do want to know unless they cost more than I earn in a month. That’ll just spoil the concert for me.”
“In that case, we should leave.”
She gasped. “Oh!”
I opened the door for her and shut it after us. It could have been awkward in the elevator but surprisingly enough, it wasn’t. That old chemistry sizzled and crackled between us. If I had a choice, I’d have hit the elevator to take us back up to her apartment, the concert forgotten.
Outside, my driver was already waiting with the passenger door open for her.
“I thought we’d have a light dinner before the concert. There’s a nice restaurant near the venue,” I said.
“Sounds great,” she said happily.
The hostess led us to our table and a waiter brought us the menus.
“I’m not sure I can eat anything,” Lillian whispered. “I’m full just from sheer excitement.”
“Eat. It’ll be a long night for you.”
The waiter returned and we gave him our orders. Lillian ordered a shrimp, lobster and black butter concoction, while I went for the roasted duck breast with pea and wild garlic velouté sauce. I sat back in my chair, my gaze on Lillian.
“How is your mom doing?” I asked. The more I could get her to talk, the more chance that she would accidentally reveal something I could use. Even the smallest thing could be helpful.“Have you tried again to convince her to sell the house and get something smaller?”
Lillian grew solemn. “No. I’m a coward when it comes to my mom. I hate causing her distress. I had the perfect opportunity to ask her when my sister was there, but it was such a nice evening and we hadn’t been together in months so I just let it go.”
I nodded. “Understandable …Tell me about your sister.”
She cheered up and regaled me with stories about her, her husband and children. Nothing I could use, but to my surprise I enjoyed listening to her talk. Some time ago I would have dismissed such talk as chatter or gossip. Ultimately uninteresting.
She stared at her empty plate in surprise. “I can’t believe I ate all that. Goes to show how important good company is.” Her cheeks reddened as if she had just realized what she had said. We were both treading carefully. Friends with a past.
“Thank you. I… like your company too,” I said.
“Good,” she said softly.
I paid the bill, and we left shortly after. Outside, the air was cool and the sky a gorgeous deep blue streaked with wavy orange lines.
We weren’t the only ones walking to the arena. Couples, groups of friends, and even solo concertgoers strolled along the walking path. It felt good to be anonymous. I was used to commanding respect or curiosity wherever I went. Being a regular guy out on a date with a beautiful woman was different and exhilarating.
Simple was the word.
It dawned on me that this is what I’d craved from the women I’d dated in the past. Simplicity. Enjoying something as simple as taking a walk.