Tales From a Broad (26 page)

Ding.

The elevator doors opened again and this time
it was the one and only Cooper. I clenched my body as I watched him
step out of the elevator. Good God, was he handsome
.

I had almost forgotten just how good-looking
he was and immediately found myself comparing him to Simon. Both
men were attractive in completely different ways. Simon had rugged
good looks with tousled brown hair, a strong, muscular build, and a
casual style of dress. Cooper had more of an elegant look—short,
dark hair with a classic side part, a long and lean build, and a
penchant for tailored clothing. Cooper was always impeccably
groomed and tonight was no exception. He wore white pants, a navy
sports coat, brown loafers, and looked as if he had lived in
Florence his entire life.

Our eyes met, and as his pace quickened
toward me, my heart skipped a beat. I realized with relief, I had
made the right decision to meet him here. Boy, had I missed him. As
he smiled at me, I had to swallow the lump in my throat. Be strong,
I scolded myself. Show a little self-respect.

“Hi, Luce,” Cooper said when he stopped in
front of me. His smile looked a little shaky as he looked at me
expectantly. I was relieved to see I wasn’t the only nervous
one.

“Hi, Cooper.” I smiled.

I went to kiss him on the cheek, but at the
same time he went in for a hug. While I switched to give him a hug,
he switched to give me a kiss. It wasn’t the smoothest start, and
after the volley of awkward movements, he basically ended up with a
handful of my hair in his mouth.

I laughed as we pulled away awkwardly.
“Sorry.”

Beads of sweat shone on Cooper’s forehead. He
quickly pulled a tissue from his jacket pocket and wiped his
forehead. “Is it warm in here, or is it just me?”

I looked around at the other guests who wore
sweaters over their summer dresses. “I think it’s just you. I feel
pretty good.” A trickle of sweat slid down my stomach and I prayed
fast and furiously that I wasn’t spotting through my tank top.

“Luce,” Cooper said, taking in a shallow
breath, “you look great. You’re even more beautiful than I
remembered. Single life suits you.” He gave me a tight grin.

I wanted to say, ‘Oh yes... I love being a
lost soul roaming Europe with my young niece with no job, man, or
prospects at home. It’s so great to be free.’ Instead, I smiled
modestly.

“Oh, I don’t know about that.” I waved my
hand dismissively. “Besides, I’ve gained so much weight since I’ve
seen you. I kind of fell out of my gym routine.”

Oh, shut the hell up, Lucy. I immediately
wished I could pull the self-deprecating words back into my mouth.
Why did I feel the need to make excuses for the way I looked? I’d
been making such strides on learning to take a compliment before I
was ripped away from therapy to take this stupid trip. It had been
so great until now.

“Well, if you had,” Cooper said looking me up
and down, “I would never know.” He also didn’t seem to know that
he
was the reason I fell out of my gym routine in the first
place.

“I do have a question.” Cooper looked at me
with an eyebrow raised. “I had said we would meet here because I
assumed you would want to avoid your hotel.”

“I do. That’s why we’re here,” I said
pointedly.

“But ... are you planning to change?” Cooper
sounded bewildered. “I thought we would go somewhere a little
more...”

I looked down at my outfit as he gestured at
my clothes, clearly disapproving. Unbidden, the memory of the night
Simon made me feel like the most beautiful girl in Paris while I
wore a similar outfit popped into my mind. My face flushed, and I
drew a breath.

“Cooper, the plan was to talk. Not go to a
five-star restaurant.”

“Oh, right. I know. I just thought... Never
mind. You look great. Would you excuse me for a moment?”

I nodded and Cooper turned around and walked
over to the concierge.

I saw them speaking for a few minutes as the
man behind the desk jotted some things down. He looked over at me,
smiled, and then picked up the phone.

“What was that all about?” I said when Cooper
returned.

“Nothing. I just wanted to cancel the
reservation I’d made. Let’s do Florence your way.”

A flash of anger bolted through my gut. At
home, Cooper had always chosen where we ate and with whom. I
realized the number of times I had chosen our destination were few.
I wasn’t sure if it was his general nature to want to control the
situation, if he just assumed I liked the same kind of places he
did, or if he thought he was being kind by showing me the right
places to go.

Usually I didn’t mind. After all, what girl
didn’t love shopping in designer stores on Fifth Avenue, dining at
top spots, or getting her nails done behind the red doors of
Elizabeth Arden instead of at the corner sweatshop.

Suddenly, though, I wasn’t quite so amused by
his need to be the one in charge. Maybe I liked eating with my
hands in a tiny Ethiopian hole in the wall in the East Village—a
place Cooper refused to go even after I read a flattering review in
The Village Voice
—or casually dine in a Florentine
trattoria
on a side street. I had always played along,
stifling my wants just to please him. Well, not anymore. He lost
that right.

“Do Florence my way? And what way is that?” I
said dryly, while Cooper laughed aloud.

“Casual, no pressure. Whatever way you want
it to be.”

I gave him a sideways look. “Are you talking
about Florence or us?”

Cooper narrowed an eye. “That’s subjective,
my pretty lady,” he said with a smile. “Shall we?” He offered me a
bent arm.

I went to take his arm and stopped myself,
folding my own arms awkwardly across my chest. “Sure.”

“You’re not going to make this easy for me,
are you?”

“Not a chance.” I smiled sweetly and started
to walk. “I passed a quaint little restaurant right outside the
hotel. Want to try it? I looked it up in Fodor’s,” I said, waving
my phone, “and it seems to be a favorite amongst the locals.”

“Sure.” Cooper walked alongside me. “I’m all
yours. Just lead the way.”

“So, how are things at work?” I said, as the
doorman opened the door and we stepped onto the sidewalk.

Cooper rolled his eyes. “Stressful, as
usual.” He groaned reaching for his phone. “I think you just put a
hex on me. As soon as you said the magic word, it began to
vibrate.”

“What word? Work?”

“See?” Cooper cried, holding the buzzing
phone in his hand. “You did it again.”

“Oh, for God’s sake, just turn it off.”

“Ah, yes, have you heard the news, ladies and
gentleman?” Cooper pretended to speak into the phone. “The market
will now cease all financial affairs while Cooper Thomas is on
vacation.”

“Very funny,” I said, shooting him a look.
“Now tell me something, how did our dinner turn into a
vacation?”

“I had the days,” he said with a shrug.
“Don’t worry. I’m not expecting anything from you.” He stuffed the
phone back into his pocket.

“Good, and thank you for putting your phone
away. That damn thing buzzing on the dresser all night long is one
thing I do not miss at all,” I said holding up a finger.

“Are you saying there are some things you do
miss?” Cooper wore a hopeful look as he awaited my response. I
didn’t give him the courtesy of one.

“Here we are,” I announced with a flourish
instead, stopping in front of the restaurant, relieved I didn’t
have to answer Cooper’s question.

“Luce,” Cooper said gently, placing his hands
on my shoulders. “Can you please answer the question? Do you miss
me at all?”

My eyes welled with tears. “That’s not fair,
Cooper.” I looked away and my gaze fell on a gaggle of teenage
students who stood in school uniforms, armed with books and Grande
cups of Starbucks. For a brief moment, I wondered how Starbucks
could be so popular in the motherland of espresso.

“Hey,” Cooper said, tipping my chin to look
up at him. “I’m sorry. I would do
anything
to take back all
the hurt I caused you.” He had become teary-eyed as well.

“What are you doing here, Coop?” I looked
into his watery eyes searchingly. “I was trying to forget about
you. I was trying to find myself,” I cried, with my hand on my
chest. “Why are you doing this? Why
now
?”

“I messed up, Luce,” Cooper replied, throwing
his hands in the air. “I took the best thing that ever happened to
me and threw it all away.”

He ran his hands through his hair, clasped
them behind his head, and looked up at the sky in despair. “And you
want to know the worst part of it all?” he said, snapping his head
back down. “I failed you. I let you down. I abandoned you at a time
when you needed me by your side.”

Cooper looked down at the street and hung his
head. He looked like a pathetic little kid, and part of me wanted
to hug him tight and tell him that all was forgiven. The other
part, the angry part with the broken heart, just wanted to slap the
shit out of him.

I groaned inwardly, feeling like a fish being
reeled in slowly. This was the side of Cooper that always got me. I
had always melted when I saw glimpses of that vulnerable child, the
one who always tried so hard to get his mother’s approval. The one
who blamed himself for his father’s abandonment so many years ago.
The one who was so afraid of being hurt again, that he had built a
wall around him.

“But why now?” I said again. “Why all of a
sudden?”

He looked up at me and stared into my eyes.
“This isn’t all of a sudden, Luce. I came to my senses about a
month after we broke up, but I was afraid.”

He saw my incredulous look. He was admitting
to being afraid? Macho-in-charge Cooper?

He nodded. “Yes. I was afraid to admit I was
wrong. I swallowed my pride and thought I would get over you. Of
course I didn’t,” he said. “Then that night when you called...”

The reminder of my juvenile behavior in
Amsterdam caused me to cringe. “I was really banged up.”

“I figured you were. You made some pretty
bold statements.” Cooper frowned and looked at me gravely.

I squeezed my eyes shut and massaged my
temples. “Was it that bad?” I peered at him with only one eye open.
“Please don’t tell me I was mean,” I whispered.

“No, not at all. It made me feel great that
you gave all my jewelry away. To the homeless woman on the corner
of Fifth Avenue and Fifty-Seventh Street, no less.”

I bit my lip. “I told you that?”

“Oh yes. That was one of the nicer things to
which you confessed.”

I waved both hands in front of him. “No more,
please. I am so sorry.” I placed a hand over my chest and looked
him in the eyes.

“You’re
sorry?” Cooper sounded
shocked. “I deserved every word of it. Just so you know, you
could’ve said a hell of a lot worse and I would still be standing
here.”

We stood awkwardly in front of the
restaurant. “Do you want to...?” I motioned to the window.

“Sure. ‘Mama Lucia’,” he read from the sign.
“Based on the name alone, I like it already.” Cooper opened the
door with a flourish. “After you,
bella
.”

I walked past him, and if there were such a
thing as a gastronomical orgasm, then I had one upon entry. The
smell was amazing. We walked by a circular table with platters of
fresh antipasto. A massive bowl of basil was the centerpiece, and I
had to curl my fingers to resist the urge to grab a sprig. I drew
in a deep breath of what was probably responsible for the
overpowering scent that filled the air.

I looked around at the locals and listened to
their lively language bounce around the room. The tables were
covered with red and white checked table clothes, vases made of old
bottles, and more breadcrumbs than I could imagine.

I expected Mama Lucia herself to come
waddling out of the kitchen. Again, it seemed I had stepped onto a
movie set, and like the day I spent with Simon in the French
countryside, I couldn’t keep my heart from beating a little faster.
I felt higher than I had gotten in Amsterdam and took in a slow
breath, enjoying the scent of fresh basil and truffles that wafted
through the room.

“This is...” I began.

“Not ideal, right?” Cooper said, pulling a
face.

I blinked at him. “I was going to say,
perfect.” I felt somewhat deflated and frowned. “What don’t you
like about it?”

“I don’t know.” Cooper’s lip curled as he
looked around. “I know it’s your namesake,” he laughed, “but it’s
kind of loud, no? And wouldn’t you rather go somewhere a little ...
nicer? I can call the concierge and try to get our reservation
back. Or maybe he can suggest something a bit fancier, with casual
dress?”

“A-ha. I was wondering when the old Cooper
would be making an appearance,” I said, rolling my eyes. While I
had warmed up to Cooper’s vulnerable side, his snobby side was far
harder to overlook.

“What does that mean?”

“Well, I know how you like things to be just
so.”

“Buona sera
,” the maitre d’ came
over.

I looked at Cooper uneasily.

“Buona sera
,” Cooper’s voice boomed.
“Table for two, please.”

I looked at Copper and raised my eyebrows in
question. He gave me a subtle nod and smile.

“Right this way,” the maitre d’ said. On our
walk through the restaurant, we passed the biggest wheel of
Parmesan cheese I’d ever seen in my life. I turned around to point
it out to Cooper, but he was already tapping away on his phone.

“Here we are,” the maitre d’ said, holding
out the chair for me.

“Grazie
.” I grinned at him.

“Can I see the wine list?” Cooper
requested.

“No signore
. No list,” he replied,
wagging his finger. “Just a nice house red.
Delizioso
,” he
said, kissing his fingers. “All you can drink.”