Destroyed Dreams (6 page)

Robert returned to the cabin and kept watching for Melissa to come out of the bedroom. After several hours, he still has not seen her and walks to the edge of the deck to see if her car is still in the driveway. Seeing that it’s gone, he decides to stop for the day.

His thoughts weren’t on the job anyway.  He regretted making her mad, but how he dealt with his life wasn’t really any concern of hers. After packing up his tools, he jumped in his truck and headed to TJ’s bar as usual.

As he parked his truck and got out, he happened to glance across the street and see Melissa standing in front of the hardware store talking to Michael. Michael had inherited the hardware store from his dad, and seemed like a nice enough
guy, but when Robert saw him talking to Melissa he saw red.

It made no sense, and he had no right to feel the way he did. Melissa and he had shared several conversations and that was the extent of their relationship. Deciding to test the waters, he headed across the street.

Melissa saw Robert park his truck and then head across the street to where she was talking to Michael. Robert didn’t look exactly happy and she wondered what he had stuck up his craw this time.

“Melissa, sorry I’m late. You ready to head over to TJ’s now?” Robert knew he was pushing his luck, but hoped that Melissa would go along with the ruse and pretend that she had already planned to go to the bar with him.

Melissa hid her grin at Robert’s not so subtle attempt to insinuate they had a standing date. Well, two could play that game. Smiling warmly at him, she replied, “I thought maybe we could grab a bite to eat first. The food over at the diner’s supposed to be good. Let’s head there instead.”

Robert had to give her marks, she gave as good as she got. Catching on that she knew what he had been up to and had decided to call his bluff, he decided to be a good sport and play along.

“I was over at the diner for lunch today and I believe they have steak and shrimp on the menu this evening,” Michael offered, not having caught on to the undercurrents between Melissa and Robert.

“Turning to Michael, Robert asked, “Did you get anymore of the deck board in yet? I’m gonna be ready for it day after next.”

“It should be here on tomorrow’s truck. Did you want to have it delivered out there?”

Robert thought for a minute and then nodded his head. “If you think your truck can make that last turn, that’d be good. I’d have to make several trips with my truck to haul that much lumber up there.”

“I’m sure the guys can make it up there. I’ll have them put you on the schedule for first thing in the morning. They’ll probably be there before 8 o’clock so make sure you’re ready for them.”

“Will do.” Turning to Melissa, he grabbed her elbow and turned her in the direction of the diner, “Are you ready to eat?”

“Sure. Bye Michael, it was nice talking to you.”

“See ya later Melissa. Robert. You two have a nice evening.”

Robert steered Melissa down the sidewalk, keeping hold of her elbow to keep up appearances, just in case Michael was still watching.

Melissa looked sideways at Robert, “So, jealous much?”

“I wasn’t jealous; I just assumed that you would want to spend time with a real man, not a boy.”

“Boy, Michael’s not that young. I think he’s nineteen or twenty.” Melissa laughed as she finished speaking. She couldn’t believe that Robert had been jealous of a kid.

“He thinks he’s a lot older than he is.” Robert saw the smirk on Melissa’s face and couldn’t contain his own grin. Okay, he would admit to himself that his jealousy had been unfounded, but that was all he was willing to admit to.

Entering the diner, Melissa was pleasantly surprised to see that instead of the standard diner booths, there were actual tables complete with centerpieces and tablecloths. Commenting to Robert on this fact, the hostess informed her they closed down at 3 o’clock each afternoon so that they could convert the diner into a more restaurant like atmosphere.

Melissa looked around and told the hostess to be sure and
convey her compliments to the owner. When the hostess informed them, she was the owner - Melissa gave her several more compliments. By the time the hostess left them with their menus, she was beaming from ear to ear.

Robert had watched in fascination as Melissa worked her magic on the owner. He could just imagine her in the courtroom, working her magic and spinning her story to the jury. He would bet money she was a remarkable sight.

Melissa smiled at Robert as she picked up her menu. Not feeling the need to make small talk, Robert picked up his menu as well. The waitress came, took their orders, and then brought their drinks.

Melissa continued to smile at Robert and made small talk until after the server had left. Looking across the table at him, she offered, “This is much better than that dark bar, isn’t it?”

Robert smirked and replied, “Well, I guess it depends on your perspective. This sure isn’t TJ’s.” Robert looked around at the well-lit room and tried not to let his nerves get to him. He would readily admit, to anyone who asked, that he liked women. He had picked up his share of women at bars and spent a night with them; but that was usually where it ended. It had been a long time since he had felt the need to ask for a repeat with any of his conquests.

Looking at Melissa across the table, he realized he couldn’t remember the last time he had gone out to dinner with a woman. Especially one like Melissa, one who expected him to have some manners and entertain her with his wonderful gift of conversation.  She was bound to be disappointed when this meal was over.

The more he thought about it, the more dinner seemed like a date and he didn’t do “dates.” They made him nervous and implied a deeper relationship maybe in the future. He liked his non-committal one-night stands; no one expected anything of him the next morning, not even himself.

Melissa watched Robert and hid her smile as his nervousness continued to grow. Whatever was running through his mind was certainly putting him on edge. He probably thought she would look at dinner as a date of some sort.  Clearing her throat and hiding her grin, she let him off the hook, “It was nice of you to join me for dinner. You didn’t have to, you know. You could have waited until Michael wasn’t looking and then headed for TJ’s. It wouldn’t have hurt my feelings.”  Melissa cocked her head and watched as he processed her statement.

Robert looked at her and realized he was probably making more of this than he should. He was seated in the diner with the most gorgeous babe he had spent any time with in a long while, and he was so worried about whether or not she thought this was a date, he was forgetting to enjoy himself. Mentally kicking himself, he looked at her and decided to go with the flow and enjoy the evening. It didn’t have to mean anything tomorrow and he might as well enjoy himself. After all, he had enjoyed their conversations in the past, even if she did tend to make his hackles rise with her opinions.

“Well, I needed to eat. Drinking on an empty stomach is never a good thing.”

Melissa nodded her agreement. “I’m sorry I made you mad with the comments about your former girlfriend. I was only trying to help.”

Robert wasn’t sure he wanted to re-visit their earlier conversation. He had been mad when she stormed off. After watching her leave, he had sat by the lake for several minutes thinking about the past and had realized that his anger wasn’t directed at Melissa, but himself.  It embarrassed him for her to know how easy he had rolled over and given up.

“Well, I probably should have pursued some sort of action against Kathryn; I just didn’t have it in me at the time,” he offered.

Melissa took a moment to compose her response. She really didn’t want to fight with him anymore, but she still was having trouble understanding his reluctance to stand up for himself. “I don’t want to start a fight again, but I really don’t understand how you could just let her get away with everything.” Holding her hand up to stop him when he started to answer her, she continued, “Let me finish. I can understand being hurt and not wanting to fight her over the money and things she took from your apartment. I really can. But I can’t understand why you would hide from the world and not go after your dream job. You are so talented…”

This time Robert was successful in stopping her, he reached across the table, grabbed her hand, and squeezed it as he started talking, “I can see where it wouldn’t make sense to someone else. But you have to understand, after Kathryn bailed, I was so hurt and disillusioned, I wasn’t sure that anything I believed to be true, actually was true.  How could I have missed the fact that she was sleeping with so many guys? I was too trusting and believed her when she said she was with her friends.

“It wasn’t a very large jump to start wondering if everything else she had told me was true. Before long I found myself questioning my drawing ability, my ability to design; I even started questioning whether I had been a good boyfriend and lover.”

“But that’s silly. Why would you question anything that snake said? She’s pond scum after what she did to you. Why would you care what she said?” Melissa couldn’t understand why he couldn’t just wash his hands of his former girlfriend and everything she had done and said. It happened several years ago and he had evidently moved on, but her actions were still dictating his future.

Robert could feel himself starting to get irritated with her again. She was like a dog with a bone; she just couldn’t let things be. “You might think it’s silly, but that’s how it was and how it is. I didn’t have the desire or energy to deal with her actions back then, and I don’t want to deal with her actions now. I just want to forget and move on with my life. As far as my dreams, well, dreams change.”

Melissa shook his head as she said, “But your dreams don’t have to change. You could still get your old dream back and find the perfect job if you wanted to.”

Robert held on to his temper and decided it was time to change the subject. He wanted to tell her just to mind her own business, but he also was enjoying spending time with her and didn’t want her to storm off again. “Why don’t we talk about your dreams for a change? Do you really enjoy helping people end their marriages, or are you just stuck in a job you hate?”

Melissa knew what he was doing and had to give him marks for effectively turning the tables on her. Where he had been on the defensive, now, she was the one running scared. She did not want to talk about her failed dreams. She was saved from an immediate response, as the waitress appeared right then with their food.

“This looks wonderful.  How about we talk about anything other than each other’s failed dreams for the rest of the evening?” Melissa offered as she took the first bit of her dinner.

Robert nodded, “That sounds like a very diplomat move counselor. You’ve got it. So, follow any sports teams?”

Melissa laughed and shook her head at him.
Sports and politics were both areas she was very opinionated. “How about we talk about something that’s not liable to end up with us fighting again?”

Robert laughed with her and agreed. They made small talk as they finished their dinner and ended up talking about places they would like to visit some time. They discovered that they both had similar tastes in vacation spots and as they left the diner, they were both laughing easily with each other.

Standing outside the diner, Melissa retrieved her keys from her bag and turned to Robert, “Thank you for dinner. I didn’t expect you to pay. I intended for us each to pay for our own.”

“I know you said that, but I didn’t mind. Do you want to head over to TJ’s for a while?”

Melissa was tempted, but didn’t want to chance disturbing the fragile peace they had found. “I don’t think so. I’m kind of tired and think I’ll call it an early night.” She had found herself becoming even more attracted to him throughout dinner. She already liked looking at his hot body, but now that she was getting to know his personality, her attraction was getting hard to contain.

Throughout the end of their meal, her eyes had continually been drawn back to his mouth and she kept wondering what he kissed like.

Those types of thoughts needed to be kept hidden away. Robert was great to look at, and she enjoyed watching him work, when he wasn’t looking, he had even starred in her dreams the night before, but reality was never as good as the dream. They were just starting to get along and she knew that throwing sex into the mix could seriously upset that fragile cart.

Robert nodded and after looking both ways, gestured for her to precede him across the street. “Well, drive safe and I’ll see you tomorrow then.” He watched her walk down the sidewalk and get into her vehicle. He wanted to call her back and convince her to spend more time with him, but he also knew that his control was on a very tight leash where she was concerned. He had enjoyed getting to know her over dinner, and her laughter and smile turned him on more than he felt comfortable with.

She wasn’t the type of woman you slept with and then walked away from. That scared him enough to keep quiet as she drove away. She had a smokin’ hot body, and if the passion she had shown him in her defense of his right for justice translated to the bedroom, she’d be a firecracker between the sheets.  As much as he wanted to go there, he knew that he needed to stay away from her. He didn’t do relationships and he doubted she did one-night stands. End of story.