Love and Food (13 page)

“The past couple of weeks, I’ve noticed that Kyle hasn’t been around.  Has he been busy at work or something?  I was seeing him around all the time and now it seems like he’s disappeared.  I was just sort of wondering why he isn’t supporting you during a time like this?  I’ve also noticed that you haven’t been wearing your wedding ring.  I’m not trying to pry of anything.  I just noticed and I was wondering.”

She takes a deep breath.  She’s surprised that Ethan hasn’t asked her about Kyle sooner, actually.  She knew his questions were going to come sooner or later.  “Yeah, Kyle hasn’t been around because we’ve broken up.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, how come?”

“I found out that he was cheating on me,” she says, the pain that she was just starting to ease returning.

“Oh, Haillee, I’m so sorry,” he says, moving from the chair he was sitting in to a spot next to her on the sofa.

“It’s okay.  It wasn’t the first time.  Right before I met you, I found out that he was cheating on me, but I took him back.  He apologized and I thought that he was sincere.  He promised me that it was never going to happen again and because of our history together, I believed him.  I thought that he deserved a second chance, so I gave it to him.  Things were fine for a while, but then he started acting strangely again.  I had suspicions that he was cheating again, so I hired a private investigator.  At first, the private investigator was coming up empty.  Kyle was doing everything that he said he was doing.  Right before I was going to call off the private investigator, she caught him cheating and the rest is history.”

“You must have been devastated,” he says, taking her hand.  She doesn’t pull away.  She lets him hold her hand.

“It was very devastating.  I had our whole future planned out.  I was so excited about starting our life together and starting a family.  It was heartbreaking, but I’m starting to get over it.  I have the things with the restaurant to look forward to, so that helps to move on.”

“You’ve probably heard this a million times from your friends, but you deserve better.  I think that you’re a wonderful woman, who has some many wonderful qualities.  A guy like Kyle doesn’t deserve someone like you.  He’s a fool to have let you go.”

“You’re right; I have heard it many times from my friends.  I think it’s the expected response when your friend gets cheated on.”

“It probably is, but I mean it.  I think that you’re great.  I think that you’re more than great.  You’re beautiful and you’re talented.  You’re smart and creative.  You’re the full package.”

“Thank, Ethan.  I appreciate your kind words.  Just before you came over, I was going to order Chinese.  Are you hungry?”

“I’m starving.  Chinese sounds great.”

“Okay.  I’ll order some.  You like chicken fried rice?” she asks.

“Love it,” he says, squeezing her hand.

She doesn’t want to, but she has to pull her hand away from his to order the food.  Holding hands is just like the kiss and the hug from the other day.  She doesn’t want it to stop.  She liked the warmth of his hand surrounding hers.  She liked feeling his skin touching hers.  She feels so comfortable with Ethan.  It’s strange.  She had wondered if she would ever be able to feel comfortable and safe around another man that wasn’t Kyle.  Ethan makes her feel both of those things. 

The food quickly comes.  They sit at the kitchen table and talk continuously.  There are no awkward breaks or uncomfortable pauses.  It’s as if they’ve known each other their entire lives.  There are moments of laughter and contemplation.  There are moments of deep discussion about deep issues and moments of light banter.  She finds it so easy to talk to Ethan.  She likes hearing him speak about different things.  She likes the sound of his voice.  His voice and the way that he speaks to her is so calming and reassuring.  She feels peaceful in his presence.  The time that she’s spent with him, she has barely thought about the stresses she feels regarding the restaurant.  He’s helped her forget.  She’s thankful for that.

When they are finished eating, hours have passed and they’ve almost drank both bottles of wine.  She can’t believe how fast time has slipped by.  She doesn’t want him to leave.  She wants him to stay a little longer. 

“Hey, I have this movie that I’ve recorded that I’ve been dying to see.  You want to watch it?” she asks Ethan while she clears the dishes and places them in the sink.

“Sure,” he says, standing up and helping her clean up.

“It’s a romantic comedy,” she says, waiting for him to turn her down.  She could never get Kyle to watch romantic comedies.  All he wanted to watch were action movies.  If she had a romantic comedy picked out, getting him to watch it was always a big argument and then if she was able to convince him, he’d fall asleep in the middle and she would end up watching the rest of the movie by herself.

“I don’t care.  I like all movies,” Ethan says, following her into the living room.

“Are you just saying that?” she says, sitting down on the sofa and picking up the remote to find the movie.  Ethan sits down next to her, his shoulder touching hers.  She’s feels a shot of electricity shot through her body.  It’s a strange feeling, but she likes it.  She wonders what it would feel like if he ran his hands over her skin.  Would his fingers shot little sparks through her as his fingers traced her skin?  She pushes the thought from her mind. 

“Yep.  I like all movies.  One day when you come over to my place, look at my movie collection.  You’ll find all sorts of different genres of movies,” he says, smiling at her.

When she goes over to his place?  Thoughts of herself being in his home fill her mind.  She wonders what his place looks like inside.  “Where do you live?” she asks, curious about where a man like Ethan lives.

“Not too far from here, actually.  You know that new condo building they just built over on Sycamore Street?”

“Yeah, I do.  It’s supposed to be one of the most luxurious buildings in the city.  You live there?”

“I do.  It’s really nice.  I think you’d like it.”

“I’m sure I would,” she says, pressing play on the remote and starting the movie.

A quarter of the way through the movie, Ethan puts his arm around his shoulder.  She welcomes it.  She leans into him and halfway through the movie, she lays her head on his shoulder and snuggles into his strong chest and shoulder.  She feels him lay his head on top of hers and she smiles.  Being so close to him feels so good.

They watch the movie and she makes note of his behavior.  He laughs at the funny parts and he doesn’t tell her to be quiet when she talks during the movie.  Kyle was always telling her to be quiet when movies were on.  Kyle would always say, “Shhh, I’m trying to watch the movie,” if she commented on something on the screen.  It used to annoy her so much.  Ethan doesn’t do that once.  He seems to welcome the conversation and voices his own observations to her during the movie.  It’s the first time in a long time that she has sat with someone and enjoyed a movie.

When the movie is finished, she finds that she’s disappointed.  She contemplates whether or not she should ask Ethan to stay for another one.  He interrupts her thoughts.

“Haillee, I should probably leave, but I don’t want to,” he says, as she picks up the remote to turn off the movie.

“So, don’t,” she says and looks at him.

He leans in and kisses her.  She drops the remote control onto the floor and wraps her fingers around his neck, returning his kiss.  She kisses him hard, with a sense of urgency.  She wants him to know that she is not going to back out this time.  She wants his lips on hers.  She is not going to refuse him this time.

She feels his hand cup her head and then stroke her hair.  His touch is so gentle.  She leans back and pulls him on top of her.  She likes the feel of his weight on top of her.  She lifts up his shirt and runs her hand over his back.  She likes the way his skin feels under her fingers. 

She feels him lift her shirt and cup her breast over her bra.  She can’t help but moan.  She never imagined that his touch would feel this good.  She doesn’t want him to stop.  She needs this.

“Haillee, are you sure?” he asks her, kissing her neck.

“More than you know,” she says, running her hands through his hair.  “Let’s go into the bedroom,” she says, breathless.

“Are you sure?” he asks her again.

“As sure as I’ve ever been about anything,” she says, pushing his shoulders, so he’ll get up.  When he pulls back and looks at her, she strokes his cheek.  She wants this man to make love to her and she wants it to happen now.  There is no question in her mind.  It’s something that she desperately wants.  She wants to get lost in his touch and his caresses.  She wants to get lost in his kisses and the heat.

She grabs his hand and leads him into the bedroom.  She can’t get inside the room fast enough.

* * * * *

Mack is in a rush.  Haillee has demanded his presence at the restaurant.  He rolls his eyes as he locks the door to his house.  He wonders why he is rushing for someone that doesn’t give a shit about him.

When he turns the corner of his house, he is surprised to see a man standing by his car.  He recognizes the man immediately.  It’s Marcos Perilli, the man who owns the restaurant across the street from Haillee’s. 
What the hell does he want?
  “Can I help you with something?” he asks Marcos, annoyed by his presence.  The last thing he needs is to deal with this creep.

“Hello, Mack,” Marcos says, extending his hand for a handshake.  Mack doesn’t want to, but he shakes Marcos’ hand simply out of courtesy.  He really can’t knock Marcos’ for his treatment of Haillee.  The restaurant business is a cutthroat business.  He understands what Marcos was doing that day in the restaurant.  Haillee’s restaurant was going under.  That’s the facts.  He can’t knock Marcos for recognizing it and trying to make his restaurant more successful.  He can’t say that he wouldn’t do the same thing if he were in Marco’s position.  Haillee has the bigger space of the two.  If he needed more space, he would probably eye Haillee’s space too.

“What can I do with for you?” he asks Marcos again, his attitude towards the man softening.

“Well, a little birdie told me that you’re not happy with your current place of employment.  Is that true?”

“If it were true, I don’t see how that’s any of your business or concern,” Mark replies, wondering where this conversation is going.  Why is Marcos waiting for him outside of his home?  It doesn’t make sense to him.

“Well, that where I think you are wrong, Mack,” Marcos continues.

“How so?”

“Someone told me that Haillee changed your menu.  I am under the impression that you worked very hard on that menu.  I imagine that you spent hours upon hours crafting that menu.  Am I right?”

“You own a restaurant.  You know how long it takes to create a menu, so yes; it took me a long time.  Not to be rude, but is this going somewhere?  I’m kind of in a rush,” Mack says, hoping to end the conversation.

              “Well, the news that Haillee had thrown out your menu, got me thinking.  It got me pondering how a person in your situation would feel.  I imagine that you must have been really upset when Haillee did that to you.  From what I understand, you and Haillee go way back and are really good friends.  I couldn’t help but wonder to myself, what kind of friend would do that to another?”

              “Marcos, Haillee needed to change the menu and start over.  There are no hard feelings between us.  I think that you’ve got the wrong impression.”

              “Have I?  Let me cut to the chase, Mack.  If I were a man in your position, I think that I would want a little revenge.  I think that I would want a little payback for the knife that I now find in my back.  I would think that it would only be human nature to feel that way.  Am I wrong in
that
assumption?”

              “I think so.  What do you want, Marcos?”

              “I am here to offer you a way to get the revenge I think that you desire, but don’t want to admit it.  I am here to offer you a lot of money to do me a little favor.”

              “What kind of favor?” Mack asks.  He can’t help but be a little curious of what Marcos has in mind.

              “What I am asking of you is to sabotage Haillee’s grand opening.  I am willing to pay you an incredible amount of money to do so, as well as a job at the end.  You can come and work for me and I am willing to pay you double what Haillee is paying you now.”

              “How much money are we talking about?”

              “A hundred thousand dollars for the sabotage and double what Haillee is paying you to work in her kitchen.”

              “Marcos, have you lost your mind?  I can’t do that.”

              “Well, think about it and get back to me.  I don’t expect an answer right this minute.  It’s a lot to consider.”

              “Marcos, I…”

              “Have a good day, Mack,” Marcos says, interrupting him, turning and leaving before Mack can say anything more.

              Mack gets into his car and sits.  He thinks about Marcos’ proposition.  Does he want revenge against Haillee for what she did to him and his menu?  Does he want revenge for the knife that she so carefully placed in his back?