Second Chances (3 page)

Just after eight, thirty minutes after her children were tucked in to bed for the night, and a solid hour before she would be able to relax herself, the phone rang.  She took a deep breath and answered.

“I’m calling about the ad in the paper,” a warm male voice began nervously.

“Yes?”  Hannah said, feeling suddenly shy.  This was worse than a job interview and immensely more important.

“Are you the woman who placed the personal?”  He was full of questions but offered nothing in return.

She sighed.  “Actually, I am.”  She didn’t know whether this was going to be some crank calling to chastise her for her audacity, or a candidate for the role of her savior.

“Well, I guess I’m calling for more information,” he said.  “When can we meet?”

It happened that quickly.  The next thing she knew, she had scheduled a meeting over drinks the next evening.  “It’s ladies night,” he explained.  “You pick the place.”  And her mind had reeled.  She had given this absolutely no thought.  It couldn’t be any of the places Brett was known to frequent.  And unfortunately, that single criteria limited her greatly.  In the end she had settled on The Graduate on 51.  It was one of those dying bars that most nights was very quiet save for the crowd of regulars gathered around the pool tables.

Everything fell into place.  Over the course of the evening, she had managed to schedule a total of four…meetings.  The first, who was actually the third to call, was meeting her at 5:30 for drinks.  Hannah figured she could split an appetizer with each man and over the four courses it would be the equivalent of a meal.  The second, her first caller, would begin at seven.  The second caller had the eight-thirty meeting time, and finally, the man who called at ten would be meeting her at ten.  Whew. 

Then, there was the issue of finding a sitter.  Once Amy knew of Hannah’s plans, she volunteered to leave work early to be there by five to stay with the twins.  And all she wanted in return was…details.  That seemed a small price to pay, so Hannah readily agreed.

After reminding herself repeatedly that this was a business arrangement and not a date, she had carefully chosen her wardrobe.  Hannah wore black pants and a pink scoop neck blouse.  She dressed up the outfit with conservative applications of jewelry and makeup, a mere dusting of powder and a thin coat of lip-gloss.  First impressions were everything, she repeated to herself. 

Hannah parked under the light pole closest to the bar, locked her vehicle, and marched to the entrance.  She found a booth against the far wall that allowed her an unobstructed view of the door.  And with that, she sat, glanced at her watch, and waited for her first…interview.

At nine-thirty last night Gavin had sat restlessly in his study, mulling over his lawyer’s advice.  He had hobbies.  He had lots of hobbies.  He just couldn’t think of one right now.  He sighed.  Maybe Ms. Pendergast had a point.  The problem was that he couldn’t focus on anything but sweet revenge right now.  It was clear that he couldn’t reap the justice he needed from India, but maybe…  Ugh.  No good.  How could he ever find an adequate replacement for the real woman deserving his wrath?

He moved a file and discovered a newspaper his mother had left on his desk with a note.  It was the Creative Loafing that had just been distributed that day.  The post-it read, “Why not?”  And then in bigger letters, “Please!”  Gavin sighed loudly this time.  But then one of the ads caught his eye.  He was intrigued.  A smile spread across his face.  This could work out nicely.

By ten fifteen he had called the number and initiated a meeting that would change the course of his life forever.  Satisfied, he leaned back in his chair and savored his brandy while staring into the fire crackling on the other side of the room.  And over and over, one thought repeated in his head.  What kind of woman places an ad for a sugar daddy?

Well, he was about to find out.  Though his appointment wasn’t for hours, he had decided to go there directly from work.  It would give him an opportunity to scope out the bar, have a drink, and grab a bite of something to eat.  Gavin knew his error immediately.  He was extremely overdressed.  Everyone else there was in jeans and t-shirts, or the women wore typical club wear. 

In fact only one person stood out.  The woman sat in a booth wearing what he would describe as business casual.  He grimaced. 
Very conservative.  She was struggling to appear calm and collected, but was fidgeting every so often and glancing at her watch.  Gavin studied her over his scotch.  The longer he watched, the more convinced he was that this was his date. 

An overweight sweaty man walked in, paused at the door then marched over to her table.  He said something that made her smile shyly.  She gestured as she offered him a seat then focused her attention on the man.

Well,
he thought,
more than one date this evening. 
He chuckled to himself. 
That is precisely what I would have done.  Very practical.
  And he moved to the seat around the corner of the bar where he could enjoy without being so obvious.

Her date arrived five minutes late.  That was a strike against him.  He brought her a rose.  Nice touch.  But it was red.  Common.  Lacking imagination.  The date wore on until she swore she could feel every second of the interminable hour and a half ticking slowly by.  She tried to focus on him, hear what he was saying, but at the moment, she was distracted by the growing beads of sweat accumulating over his lip, precariously close to dropping into his cavernous mouth.  Strangely enough, despite the pile of napkins in the center of the table, he hadn’t even attempted to dab, or mop.  And the mother in Hannah was dangerously close to doing it for him.

She glanced at her watch.  It was 6:50.  This date had to end.  Her next meeting was on the verge of taking place and this guy, who could never be in the running regardless of what he offered her, had to go. 

“Well, it was really nice meeting you,” Hannah began, completely interrupting him.

“Oh,” he said.  “Oh, oh.”

Hannah rose as though to go.  “I need to use the ladies’ room and then I have…plans.”  She fidgeted with her left ear lobe, an obvious sign that she was lying to anyone who knew her.  This jerk didn’t.  In fact, he hadn’t even tried to get to know her.  Instead, he had spent the time boasting about his life, what he had to offer a woman.  Given the fact that he’d barely let her get two words in edgewise the entire evening, she was certain he would mistake her lobe fiddling as a flirtation.

“So, when can I see you again?”  His eyes sparkled as he eyed her figure.

Never!
Her mind shouted, but outwardly she simply said, “Leave me the best way to contact you and I’ll let you know once I’ve made a decision.”  She had heard her boss say that numerous times to prospective employees.  It always worked with them.  And Hannah had no reason to believe that it would fail on this occasion.

The man rose awkwardly to his feet and leaned in to kiss her cheek before he passed her a business card and strode away.  As soon as his back was turned, she swiped at her cheek, certain his slippery kiss was a combination of saliva and sweat.  Hannah sighed.  It had only been a partial lie.  She really did need to pee.  And definitely check her makeup.  That’s what women did on dates, right?  It had been so long and she was so grossly out of practice that she no longer knew how to act in such a social situation.

Her second date arrived right on schedule.  Punctuality was a plus.  He looked as though he had walked right off the cover of GQ.  Plus.  And minus.  She sighed. 

He smiled warmly showcasing a perfect set of even pearly white teeth.  Her eyebrow shot up quizzically.  She couldn’t stand men who spent more time on
themselves than she did.  And as the mother of four-year-old twins, she was lucky she found time to shave her legs and pits.

“My name is Tad,” he began, reaching for her hand.  Hannah went in for the shake, but he turned her hand over and kissed just above her knuckles seductively.

She pasted a smile on her face.  Great.  Another playboy.  “Hannah,” she said seriously.

Tad had exhibited a sense of humor, a moderate amount of intelligence, a good deal of interest, and more than a healthy amount of vanity.  By eight twenty-five, Hannah was tapping impatiently.  Again, she worried over how to end this date in time for her third dud to show up.  She tried subtle.  But the ‘well it was nice meeting you’ line went right over his head.  Instead, Tad had reached across the table and caressed her hand as though it was some sort of invitation.  She squirmed.  “I really must be going,” she said and moved to rise from the table. 

Tad grabbed her arm.  Initially she was shocked by his audacity.  She whirled to face him and immediately wanted to slap the look off his face.  This was a man who was used to getting his way.  “Let go,” she said through gritted teeth.

Instantly, Gavin sat up straighter on his bar stool.  He might just have to blow his cover and go to her aid.  Other than the fact that she was soon to be the object of his revenge, he really had nothing against her.  And he never could condone a man making unwanted advances on a woman.  Just as he rose from his seat, however, a new man entered the picture.

He watched in fascination as the man dispatched the cad effortlessly with a grace that seemed natural.  Gavin sat down and took another swig of his scotch.

“Yeah, I thought she was really going to get what’s coming to her,” a distinctly male voice to his right commented.

“I beg your pardon?”  Gavin said, confused.

“Oh, sorry.  I’ve been watching her,” he said gesturing to the woman at the table.  “There has been a regular parade of men through here over the last few hours.”

“Oh, yes.  That,” Gavin said, returning his attention to his drink.

“I mean, she looks perfectly innocent, right?  Well, looks can be deceiving I guess.”  The guy dipped another soggy fry in ketchup and stuffed it into his mouth.

Moments before, Gavin also might have thought the worst of her, but there was something sweet about her, something that made him want to step in and protect her.  He sighed.  He had been far too long without the comforts of a woman.

Her third date saved her.  Hannah sighed.  He had smoky gray eyes and dark brown hair.  He looked at her with concern that made her stomach kind of twist about.  It wasn’t attraction exactly, but she knew this guy was different.  This was someone she could talk to.

“Thank you,” she began breathlessly.  Cocking her head to the side, she studied him.  He seemed ill at ease.  Could he really be just as nervous as she was, a real person, just like her?  “I was going to head to the ladies’ room, but I can wait.”  She slid back into the booth and gestured for him to sit opposite her.