Dream Date (19 page)

“Marissa will be arriving in an hour,” she told him as she checked her other errands on her smartphone.

Moments later, Hughes opened the door and stood aside to let Amanda in. She set her messenger bag on the floor and then took off her jacket. She put it on a hanger beside the entrance.

“I’ll be in my bedroom. Call me when Marissa gets here,” Amanda said, walking to her room with her bag in hand. She sat down on her study desk, and then pulled out her MacBook from the bag. As the computer booted up, Amanda started thinking.

Was being so cold to Nathan and pushing him away the right thing to do?

Though Amanda felt displeased that Nathan had shown feelings for her, even though he already had a girlfriend, she was starting to feel something for him. Unfortunately, whether Nathan had a girlfriend or not, Amanda couldn’t date him. If Hilbert had sent goons after her, he most likely could make Nathan disappear. The bastard also used his father’s prominence to shield himself. Amanda couldn’t do much against a senator’s son.

Amanda sighed, feeling the pangs of love she hadn’t felt in years.

Nathan was in his dorm’s kitchen pouring himself a glass of milk to go with the waffles he was having for breakfast. The sound of a door opening caught his attention, and he turned around. Ashton appeared in the kitchen doorway. His clothes looked disheveled.

“Had a wild night?” Nathan asked, shooting his friend a knowing smile.

“You’ve got
no
idea,” said Ashton, walking to the fridge and looking inside.

“So, did you and Judith…do it?”

Ashton tapped his fingers on the door of the fridge, and then looked at Nathan.

“No.”

“What, you managed to resist? No way. You’re not exactly the King of Abstinence.”

“Shut up, bro,” said Ashton with a laugh. “You won’t believe what happened.”

“What?”

“Grecia happened.”

Nathan’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Grecia? What did she do?”

“She made a freakin’ scene in the parking lot.”

 “It’s not exactly a scene if there wasn’t anyone else around to see it.”

“Whatever. She screwed up my date with Judith.”

Nathan made a hissing sound.

“And what did you do? Punish her?”

“Hell no! We, um…I brought her here.”

“You...wait a minute. Which of them arrived first?”

“Grecia. I’m not sure she knew that Judith was coming, but when I told her that, she just wouldn’t go.”

“And then Judith showed up.”

“Yep. So what does Grecia do? She kisses me.”

“Damn, bro. That girl’s determined to keep you.”

“No shit. You should have seen Judith’s face. She’s not going to want to see me again after that stunt.”

“I gotta say that’s a great story. I can’t remember the last time anyone blew one of your dates.”

“It’s never happened!”

Nathan laughed.

“So, Judith left, and you brought Grecia here as a consolation prize.”

“No, dude! At first, I was angry and tried to get Grecia to leave. Next thing I know, she’s taking her freakin’ top off!”

“In the middle of the parking lot?”

“Not exactly, but still. She was right about one thing, though.”

“What?”

Ashton thought for a moment.

“That I’m still freakin’ attracted to her.”

Nathan whistled and then cut a piece from one of his waffles. He ate it, pondering over the story Ashton had just regaled him with.

“Are you and Grecia going to be back together?”

Ashton turned his head, having had his train of thought interrupted.

“What? Hmm, I wish.”

“Just be with her and don’t ogle other girls. Everyone has seen the way you look at Grecia, especially Kayla. She reckons Grecia has fallen hard for you.”

“I haven’t met a woman who makes me feel what she makes me feel. That’s what scares me.”

Ashton opened the fridge again and helped himself to some milk. He then looked in the freezer and pulled out a sausage-and-egg croissant sandwich.

After finishing his breakfast, Nathan drove to work. Although his mind was too occupied on the tasks he had to do, Nathan still found time to relive the great day he’d spent with Kayla. They had a lot of fun at the park.

Only one thing worried Nathan. He was hoping that Kayla wouldn’t take it the wrong way. If she so much as suspected that Nathan felt attracted to another woman, he’d surely lose her. And Nathan wanted her too much to bear the pain of not seeing her again.

A quarter of an hour before his break, Nathan felt his smartphone vibrate in his pocket. He looked at the caller ID. Nathan excused himself to go to the restroom, where he answered the call.

“Hello! Dad?”

“
Good morning, son. How are you doing?”
Jeffrey asked. He was calling from Joliet.

“I’m great, dad. How are you?”

“
Same as you. I didn’t interrupt you at work, did I?”

“Things are slow at the moment. I have a half-hour break before I have to go back.”

“
I won’t take much of your time, then.”

“Don’t worry, dad. It’s great to talk to you.”

Jeffrey paused a moment before speaking.

“
How has your third year been so far?”

“It’s been nice. The classes are getting harder, and more interesting. As I’ve got my core courses out of the way, I can study more about law.”

“
I’m proud of you, son. Before long, you’ll graduate and become a great lawyer.”

“It’s gonna take some time, Dad. I still have to go to law school after leaving Cornell.”

“
Those years will fly. By the way, how are your friends? Are you still in touch with Ashton and Marissa?”

“Of course, although Marissa transferred to Parsons last year, remember?”

“
I do. You don’t live too far from each other anyway. Where do you plan to go to law school?”

“I’m not sure. Manhattan, perhaps.”

“
That’s a huge city, Nathan. It’ll overwhelm you.”

“It won’t, dad. And I’ve got Marissa to help me just in case I get lost or something.”

Jeffrey and Nathan laughed.

“
You’re still dating the girl you talked to me about in the summer, right? Kayla, if I remember?”

“Yeah, we’re still together,” Nathan said, although he unconsciously thought of Amanda. Jeffrey knew all about her. He’d advised Nathan to go out and meet other women. It was on his suggestion that Nathan and his friends flew to Miami the spring break he meet Kayla. His parents used to go there often on vacations.

“
What’s wrong, son? You sound strange.”

“I’m all right.”

“
You and Kayla haven’t fought, have you?”

“No! We went out to the park yesterday. It was a lot of fun. We had ice cream.”

Jeffrey didn’t speak for a few seconds.

“How are things going with the business?” Nathan asked to break the silence. Jeffrey was a mechanic and owned his workshop, called Ferland Mechanics. Not the most original name, but the shop was one of the best of its kind in Joliet.

“
Like a charm. I’m even saving money now to sell the house and move somewhere else.”

“What? You’re leaving Joliet?”

“
No. I have my roots here. At this point, I couldn’t move if I wanted to. I’m just buying a new house.”

Jeffrey ran his workshop out of a converted building next to his house. It was built long ago where there had been nothing but a small lot.

“You mean you’re moving Ferland Mechanics too?”

“
Yeah. There’s a buyer interested in purchasing that land to open a notary office.”

“Good luck, then. You show me photos of the new house when you move.”

“
I sure will. Just don’t post them online.”

“I won’t,” said Nathan, chuckling. His dad didn’t trust the Internet much—to him, the ‘Internet’ only consisted of the popular social networks, e-mail, and the Web site Jeffrey ordered written to promote his business.

“
Okay, I’ll let you return to work now, son. Say hello to Kayla for me.”

“Sure.”

“
And bring her down here sometime. We still haven’t even met in person.”

“I know, dad. We’ll see you as soon as we can.”

“
I look forward to meeting her. You take care, son. And make her happy.”

“Yeah, I’ll do so. Bye.”

Jeffrey hung up. Nathan wondered if he should have told his father about Amanda. Nathan could have used the advice, but he didn’t want to say anything when things were so uncertain.

***

The sound of the doorbell alerted Amanda to Marissa’s arrival. She and Jonathan looked at each other. He’d arrived shortly after Amanda’s visit to Hilbert. She had felt too tense to concentrate on her work, and so she had phoned Jonathan to come. Luckily, he was already in the city training another client.

“I guess we’ll have to wrap it up,” Amanda told him, getting up from the weight bench.

“Doesn’t matter. We’ll catch up next time,” said Jonathan. At that moment, Hughes entered the room.

“Ms. Tilley, Marissa Velásquez is here.”

“Thank you, Hughes. Tell her I’ll be there in five.”

Hughes nodded, and left.

“I’ll take a shower,” Amanda said, wiping her chest and arms with a towel. “You can wait for me here if you need to use the bathroom. I won’t take long.”

“Don’t worry, Amanda. I’ll leave now.”

“Okay,” she said. “I’ll see you on Tuesday.”

Jonathan nodded, and walked out of the room. As he passed through the living room, he saw Marissa. Upon seeing him, she froze.

“Good morning, Ms. Velásquez,” he greeted, stopping a few feet from her. “Amanda will see you shortly. I’m her fitness trainer, Jonathan Clayton.”

“A…a…it’s a pleasure to meet you,” said Marissa, lost for words as she shook Jonathan’s hand.

“You’re Marissa, right?” Jonathan asked, smiling. It took a couple more seconds for her to recompose.

“Sorry. Yeah. I’m Marissa.”

“I heard Mr. Hughes announcing you by name.”

“Oh,” said Marissa, struggling to look normal. “So, you’re Amanda’s trainer?”

“That’s right.”

“I see. Uh…do you travel a lot?”

“Only some. Most of my clients are from the city. I mostly just travel to other cities within this state.”