Animalistic Galley Fin (8 page)

“How could I not? Your father entrusted you in my care. He saved me many times when we were in ‘Nam. Without him, I wouldn’t have come back in one piece. I owed him my life. The least I can do is help his daughter.” Hoffman beamed like a proud parent. “You’ll tell me if you’re in a pinch, won’t you?”

“I certainly will, sir, don’t you worry.”

The old man laughed boisterously. “Well, then. I’d better get going. I have a lunch date then a few rounds of golf with Judge Stevens this afternoon. Tell my daughter, I stopped by.”

“You’re not going to see Sabrina, sir?” asked Chris.

Hoffman waved him off, making his way to the door. “I’m sure she’s busy or something. Some other time.”

“Dad?” Unexpectedly, Sabrina happened to be passing by in the hallway and saw Mr. Hoffman. “I didn’t know you were stopping by,” she said while balancing a stack of documents in her arms.

“I came to see how Arielle was doing, that’s all.”

Sabrina cast a look in Arielle’s direction. It wasn’t irritation, or a sneer like usual. It was a sad look.

It was a side of Sabrina she had never seen before. Chris was right. Mr. Hoffman treated Arielle better than his own daughter.

“You want to stop by my office, dad? I haven’t seen you in weeks.” Sabrina tailed her father out of the view.

“Some other time. I’m busy.”

Well, that was awkward.
Mr. Hoffman made time to see her, but not Sabrina. Arielle could see now why his daughter turned out the way she did.

Judging from his facial expression, Chris seemed to be having the same thought, but he didn’t say anything. He only nodded at her, then left her office.

Arielle retreated behind her desk and sank into her seat.
What a day already.
The revelation caused her mixed feelings, but the residual anger she was feeling toward Sabrina melted away.

~~~

During lunchtime, Trent stopped by the office, a giant bouquet of sunflowers in hand. It was a pleasant surprise to have him come over with a gift.

“This is from mom,” he said, placing the flowers on her desk. The bright yellow floral arrangement was coupled with sprigs of baby’s breath. “She insisted you get this today. To lift your spirits. She knows work isn’t fun. So how are you doing?” He slyly checked out his surroundings. “You have yourself a nice office. Killer view too.”

“Lucky me. When I got demoted, I got to keep my office. And my paycheck too. It seemed the firm wanted me to work less with the same perks.”

He laughed. “Explain to me how the demotion was a bad thing… How about your secretary? Don’t associates usually have one?”

“Well, except my secretary. She was reassigned to a new associate. No big loss. She wasn’t terribly good at her job anyway. By the way, how did you get in here? I know the receptionist doesn’t usually let visitors go straight in.”

“Really? She was very nice to me.” Trent pointed behind him.

Arielle realized there was a flock of women milling around her office door, staring dreamily at him. Emma, the receptionist, waved her hand energetically at Arielle while grinning from ear to ear.

Why of course…

Arielle stared at him.
Good lord, he IS one hell of a looker,
she realized.
Any woman would fall for him instantly. What have I been doing for the past two weeks?
“I see you have a bunch of female fans already. Maybe you should consider acting or a modeling career.”

Trent grimaced. “No thanks. I’m not a people person. Maybe next time I should come with a paper bag on my head so I won’t make a scene.”

“You’ll do no such thing.”

He shot her his killer smile. “Well, I don’t want to bug you while you’re working. You’re going to come to my mom’s dinner party, right?”

She nodded.

“I’ll pick you up at six?”

“Sounds like a plan. You know, your mom and I have really bonded. Aren’t you worried she might replace you with me?” she joked.

Trent dismissed her with a wave of his hand. “Babe, you can have her all to yourself. A lot of the time, she drives me nuts with her constant mothering. It’s suffocating.” He started to leave, but turned back and planted a kiss on her cheek. “This is for our audience so they know I’m staking my claim on you.” He winked. The women by the door parted to make way for him.

The most satisfying outcome from this pleasant interruption was seeing Chris’ expression. Once the crowd dispersed, Arielle noticed that her ex was standing in the hallway with his mouth gaping open.

For the first time since she caught him with Sabrina, she felt that all the emotional anguish he had put her through had been paid back a thousand-fold.

It was priceless.

~~~

The dinner party that Trent’s mom had in her house was more about socializing than actual dinner. The chef that was hired to cater the event served them minuscule French frou-frou food that, even with the five-course menu, she and Trent were still hungry afterward. They decided to stop and get some sandwiches, then head to Washington Square for a late evening picnic in the park.

They walked to see the fountain, then stopped to watch some street performers before heading to the bench area, away from the crowds. Trent had ordered Cuban sandwiches from a shop in the Village and she had a yummy gordito. They washed the sandwiches down with some iced tea.

“Does your mother often have dinner parties catered by a chef like that?” she asked.

“All the time. Mom can’t cook except for salads or maybe a dessert that doesn’t require the use of the stove or oven, but she’s good at microwave things. But John, he’s good at cooking. He’d make someone a great wife someday.”

Arielle chuckled. “How about you, Trent? Can you cook? I’ve only seen you with takeout.”

“I can make grilled cheese sandwiches. And mac and cheese from the box. Does that count?”

“It counts.”

“Do you cook?” he asked back.

“Nothing fancy. As long as I have the recipe, I can manage. My mom was a domestic diva. She forced me to learn to cook when I was six as part of ‘bridal training,’ she said. She was an old-fashioned schoolmarm.”

“I bet she made great home-cooked meals. Do you miss her?”

“Every day. But it’s a little easier now. I mean, toward the end of her sickness, I knew she’d be gone in less than a month, and yet, I wasn’t ready to let her go. But I had to. She was in so much pain. She didn’t even recognize me anymore.”

Trent’s eyes softened. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

The mood turned somber and Arielle quickly changed the topic of their conversation. “Anyway, I was surprised that Vanessa asked me to be her bridesmaid. It’s an honor, but I barely know her. And I don’t think her sister Stacy liked it.”

The dinner party earlier was a get-together between the Alexander and the Lyle families to discuss the upcoming wedding of Quinn and his fiancée, Vanessa. Vanessa wasn’t exactly the woman she had imagined as Quinn’s fiancée. Quinn was refined, elegant and rather haughty and stiff, while Vanessa was a free-spirited nerd, friendly, with a down-to-earth personality. She had two sisters – stunningly beautiful sisters that didn’t look like her at all. The oldest one was the wife of a congressman and the other was an actress. Arielle thought both of them were rather stuck up. Especially Stacy, the Broadway actress. She gave Arielle a dirty look because Arielle came with Trent and the two were chummy. Stacy had even tried to change Vanessa’s mind about the bridesmaids’ thing while they were still at the dining table. Vanessa put her foot down and threatened to elope if she didn’t get the wedding she wanted.

Arielle thought Vanessa seemed to actually prefer to elope, rather than having a grand wedding in the first place. But her own mother and Savannah were eager to hold a large reception. Arielle liked Vanessa. She found a kindred spirit in her. Vanessa had a great self-confidence and Quinn seem to dote on her. There were times when Arielle was bothered by her own self-consciousness. She wished she could be more like Vanessa.

“You’re family now. You’re mom’s new daughter,” said Trent. “As for Stacy, she’s sour because I ditched her a couple of times in the past.”

“You ditched her? How come?”

He grimaced, looking uncomfortable. “When Quinn and Vanessa had an engagement party in January, I was on R and R and she inserted herself into my life, expecting me to drive her places. So I acted like a bastard and ditched her. She hates me now, but it’s probably better that way. That woman has all the telltale signs of trouble. A smart man wouldn’t touch her with a ten-foot pole.”

“Trent, are you deliberately being dense?” Arielle put down her food. “She obviously likes you and wanted to get your attention.”

Trent grinned. “I’m not an idiot. I just don’t like her. She’s not my type. On the other hand, you’re totally my kind of girl, Arielle.”

At times, Trent could be so darn adorable. He was sweet and sincere for a guy who looked like a Hollywood heartthrob. Good-looking men were usually arrogant jerks from her experience. Chris was a living testament to that specific male specimen. Trent had been complimenting her over little things for the past two weeks and it made her realize that she never escaped his attention. He was so into her. She had gotten used to being invisible, so his affection felt like a breath of fresh air.

It was also wonderful.

He made her blush, and her heart beat faster. At times, it made her feel like a school girl with a crush. But damn it. It made her happy.

Arielle tried to play it cool. “What do you like about me, Trent?”

“Everything.”

“Even my bed head? Me without makeup in the morning?”

“I’ve seen you in a Santa suit stuck in the chimney and I’m still crazy about you. I can’t really explain it. The men in our family chose our mate based on instinct. I can’t get you out of my head so I’m staking my claim on you.”

“Mate?” Arielle laughed. “What are you, a caveman?”

“I wish I were, because that would make everything a lot simpler. I would just club you over the head and drag you back to my den, making you my cave wife.”

She couldn’t stop giggling. “Are you always like this when you pursue a woman?” she asked, curious. “You have dated, right?”

“I’ve had girlfriends. Things just didn’t work out.”

Now her curiosity piqued. “Why’s that?”

“Let’s see. I dated a Japanese girl when I was in high school in Tokyo, but her parents didn’t like the fact that I was an American, so we broke up. When I was in Israel, I dated a girl I met there, but her parents didn’t want her moving to America, so we broke up. And when I was in the Air Force, I dated a fellow service member, a southern girl from Tennessee. But my mom hated her parents–”

“Because they’re American?” she joked.

“Right. Because they’re American. Actually, her parents were quite obnoxious and it offended my mom’s delicate sensibilities. The real deal breaker was when I found out later she was only after my family money and connections. She didn’t care about me, so I had to pull the plug on our relationship.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that.”

Trent waved her off. “It just wasn’t meant to be. Anyway, how was work today?”

“You know what, it was actually nice to be able to go back to the office. Everybody was so nice and oh, guess what, Mr. Hoffman actually visited me at work.”

“Mr. Hoffman as in Robert Hoffman, your former boss?”

She nodded. She told him that Mr. Hoffman offered her the use of his condo in The Bronx if she were still pressed for accommodations.

“But you did tell him that you had that taken care of, right?” Trent sounded worried, as if she were going to move out.

“Yes.” Arielle laughed. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Thank God. I thought I might lose you to some old dude.” He quieted for a second, then asked, “Sorry for asking, but did you see your boss and your ex? I can imagine that must be awkward when you went to work this morning.”

“It was, but I needed to face them, anyway. It’s not like I could avoid them forever since we work at the same place. Sabrina was indifferent as usual but Chris was surprisingly apologetic. We talked a bit and we wrapped up our loose ends. It had been a long time coming and I’m just glad it was over.”

Trent watched her with ardent intensity. “How do you feel now?”

She let out a long breath. “Relief like you wouldn’t believe. It is as if a heavy boulder has been lifted off of my chest.”

“Are you over him now?”

“Over and out.”

“Fantastic. Then perhaps you might start to notice me.” He threw her his killer smile that made her forget to breathe for a second. “When you’re ready, give me a sign. If you weren’t still dealing with such an avalanche of chaos, I’d have hunted you until you were mine. But I don’t want to do that. I don’t want to fuck this up. You’re precious to me.”

Hunt you until you’re mine.

How barbaric. And at the same time, it was kind of thrilling. His declaration stunned her. “Are you always this honest?”

“I’m not a flirt like John. I’m a simple man. And I’ll always be honest with you in the hope that someday, you’ll return my feelings too. Until then, I want you to know that you’re not alone. I’ll be your friend, your confidant, and one-man cheering squad.”

She searched his eyes and found sincerity in his deep emerald gaze. “You really like me, don’t you?” she asked in a small voice.

“Like?” Trent laughed. “Babe, you have no idea. But I don’t want to scare you so I’d better stop talking.” He motioned at the remnants of their dinner on the bench. “You done eating? Want to get going? You have work tomorrow.”

“Yeah, I’m done. I’m taking these leftovers home. You?” He also didn’t finish his sandwich.

“I’ve had enough. Cuban sandwiches are rather heavy for this time of the night. I probably could polish it off if I had an empty stomach.”

“I agree.”
      

As she helped him clean up their mess and put everything in plastic bags, Arielle received a few envious stares from women as they passed them.

What the hell am I doing?
The thought sobered her.
I’m with an insanely hot and kind-hearted guy and we’re just friends. Something is wrong here. If I go out with him right away, would that count as a rebound relationship?