Second Chance with Love (3 page)

Then he stopped.

David's face took on such an embarrassing look of bewilderment that Hilda creased her forehead in response.

"Eh, I forgot you're name. Ha, ha!" He gave himself a gentle face-palm.

"Oh," said, Hilda, "I didn't say. My name is Hilda.” She smiled.

He smiled and blushed a little, bid her a wonderful afternoon after making note that he'd been speaking to her for over half-an-hour, and then left in a stunned silence.

Hilda sat feeling a pinch of disappointment, though she was unsure why. If only he'd return, she'd apologize for any offense she caused.

He must have come back, Hilda imagined as she felt the presence of someone.

"You're back, I never meant to seem offhanded it's just…." Hilda turned, expecting to see David. But it was him. The guy from earlier.

"So, what's your name?" he asked.

"Hilda,” the word stumbled out of her mouth.

"Hmmm." He sat down as if she were saving him a seat. "Just Hilda?"

"Hilda Borja.” He smiled and looked about to speak, when a high-pitched laugh rang out in the room. Hilda and Nathan both turned towards the source of the disturbance.

Hilda gasped as she saw Melanie folded over, laughing at the man in sunglasses, who had since removed them. She wore a broad grin on her face.

"Your friend seems to be having a good time,” Nathan smiled. Try as she did, Hilda could not ignore his eyes, particularly his long black eyelashes.

"You're friend doesn't seem to be having such a bad time, either,” Hilda gestured with her book to their friends.

"I don't know, it could actually be worse than it seems,” he intoned with a smile.

"What do you mean?" Hilda looked back at them.

“I mean his allergic reaction,” Nathan pointed out. "You see, he probably tried to play it off with his oh-so-cool attitude, but your friend probably persuaded him to remove the glasses, discovered his reddened eye and now he has to back peddle and try and charm her by being funny."

"You think?"

"He's too cool to show it, but he's probably sweating buckets. I just hope she finds him funny."

"Wow, but I wouldn't be too concerned. My friend is harmless."

"So why are you here? Something tells me you're not particularly happy to be here,” observed Nathan, his cool eyes studying her.

"It's not that I'm... okay, it did take some convincing to get me here." Hilda looked into his eyes and felt herself unable to look away. They were a swirling dark brown she had never encountered.

"Anyway I want to say I've seen you at a gathering before, but I don't think I would forget someone like you." Nathan said.

"Well, I'm not as activity in my church as I could be." Hilda felt an intense burning in her cheeks that she was powerless against. She followed his gaze, which was pointed to the table, and she suddenly realized she was fiddling with the corners of the pages from her book.
Calm down Hilda, try and be cool
. She felt like a fourteen year old in the company of an adult. He was so cool and calm, whereas she found herself coming apart at the seams just from being at a table with him.

"Your eyes tell me that you're that there's an artist in you." He gave her a pointed look.

Hilda glanced away only for her eyes to fall on his firm jaw line. She felt herself sweat. Quickly, she dared her gaze to rove to where Melanie and her companion stood to discover them now seated. How did she do it?
How was she so comfortable
, she wondered,
here I sit in front of the most incredibly handsome man I've ever seen, much less spoken to, and I feel stupid?

"I’m majoring in photography, but I’m so not enthused on all of the papers I have to write,” stated Hilda, at the same time she wondered at her rapid dampening palms. She needed to behave more like he did and not be so anxious. "What about me suggested that I was an artist?" she asked.

"I can't say for sure, but something about the way your glance touches on things. Your eyes look alive, as if they would like to transform the world. At the same time, I also noticed you turn inward. You're an introvert, for certain,” Nathan said.

"You've seen all of that in such a short time?" Hilda didn't believe what he said was merely to chat her up; there was something deeper. One single glance from his eyes communicated something to her that she had never seen but sometimes felt in her 18 years.

"How could I not?" he acknowledged.

And how could she not see his eyes.

Nathan watched her smoothing over the rumpled book. He didn't know why he was reacting like this to her. He had other matters to attend to, such as Mr. Grady, and yet again his choices were stumped by his thoughts about his family. They would be concerned if Gerald Grady offered him a place in his firm, and if he accepted. Gerald Grady was a man most believed to be driven by greed. Nathan had a lot on his mind.

He told himself that he shouldn't be here. But an undeniable attraction pulled him to Hilda. And it wasn't just her remarkable hazel eyes and pale delicate skin that caused his heart to beat harder, it was something beyond her beauty. He could not explain why she affected him. It made him both afraid and captivated.

"Excuse me, I just need to head to the restroom." Hilda got up, her face glowing red. Nathan watched her collect her bag. “I won't be long,” she promised.

"No worries,” Nathan's deep voice stated.

He knew she liked him, but she was so nervous and he felt it'd be hard to open her up. She left the table. At least she had left her book, Nathan observed. Maybe his honesty had not caused her to take flight as he first imagined. Otherwise she wouldn't have left her book.

Nathan looked down at the book. Then something caught his eye. He was unsure why he had taken an interest in the paper in between the covers of her book. As if his hand had a mind of its own, as if that mind were merely curious, his hand slightly opened the book. Nathan drew his fingers along the edge to discover the letter. Reading the first few words, held his breath. Nathan replaced it, feeling moved and guilty. He immediately regretted his actions and bit back a curse.

His text tones blared.

Startled, Nathan almost freaked.
A message, Nathan
, had to remind himself. It said:
Mr. Grady wants to meet you this weekend!

He couldn't quite get a handle on the situation. What did Mr. Grady want? He understood that if Mr. Grady took him on in his firm, he'd be making a whole heap of money. Excitement pulsed through him. He'd have everything he'd ever dreamed.

Nathan raised his eyes. Hilda stood at the table.

Their eyes said it all.

“How about I take you someplace away from here?” Nathan whispered, and even with the chatter in the room, she seemed to hear clearly, because her eyes widened.

“Sure,” Hilda replied in a whisper.

He waited with baited breath. With every step his heart scrambled and floundered, but nothing, not a hand on his shoulder, nor the blaring sound of sirens, or the desperate cry of “stop!” Let them look, he thought, as he waltzed out the entrance weary of every passerby’s chance glance or occasional car that drove by. Why would anyone be suspicious? He wondered. He never looked over his shoulder.
Let them stare, there is nothing to be worried about.

Hilda walked behind, but despite Nathan's thumping pulse, he didn't want to look back to see if she still followed him. Nathan walked along the street. Weighted on him was the in-wrought sense of emptiness. But it was not over. The rage of chaotic unrest swelled within him. He had with him something more priceless. He hailed a taxi, then furtively he looked around, then looked over his shoulder.

Hilda. She was still behind him. Even though she clutched her bag and looked nervous, nevertheless, she stuck with him. At that point, Hilda was all he needed.

“Get in,” Nathan added. After opening the taxi door, his movements were fueled by adrenaline and excitement.

Once inside the taxi, Hilda turned to him, “Where are we going?” she questioned, in a small, brittle voice.

“I'm going to take you to a real bar,” affirmed Nathan.

It was Hilda's first time at a bar. Even as a student, such places held no interest for her. Hilda received many offers from friends to nights out where they'd go to various bars. Hilda declined all those offers, and eventually her friends understood that it was because of her faith as a Christian. She chose to resist any circumstance where she might be exposing herself to getting drunk. Or better yet, any sort of carnal temptation. So why Hilda found herself in such a place now baffled her. And with a mysterious guy.

To make matters worse, she'd lied to Melanie about her whereabouts. Nathan also lied to his friend Scott.

Hilda didn't mind or react to the occasionally ladybug-like fluttering in her stomach. She sat in the bar, and stared out the window. While Nathan was in the bathroom.

She had seen him reading her father's letter earlier. What held her back from confronting him about looking at something so private? Why hadn't she stopped him? Why wasn’t she even mad at him? These were the thoughts that swam through her mind as she sat, waiting for Nathan to return from the restroom.

Hilda, as a general rule, tried to hide her emotions. But now she seemed unable to contain herself. What they were doing seemed so exciting. It seemed so far beyond the safe little Hilda, the good girl Christian. She kept peering at the entrance to the bar, where she expected Melanie or her mother or anyone who might recognize her to walk in.

When they left the bar earlier, she hoped Melanie hadn't seen her. The whole ordeal had an uncanny feel to it, as if any moment she might emerge from this dream of a wild time with a gorgeous man to only half-recall -- or half-forget – what happened. This whole experience was startling and unexpected.

Hilda knew she shouldn’t be there; her conscience told her to leave a message for Nathan with the bartender and then leave. Plus, lying to Melanie for a guy she just met? She could not believe what she had done. She didn't feel herself. It excited and troubled her.

Earlier, she returned to Melanie and her companion, whose name was Scott, and told them she was not feeling well. This was her first time lying to Melanie ever. Hilda, at once, stunned by her impromptu lie, could only listen to herself. And even in her stunned state, Hilda managed to maintain the ruse.

And despite the fact that Melanie appeared to be having a wonderful time with Scott, she looked really concerned once Hilda said she was feeling unwell. Hilda had to plead for Melanie to stay and have a good time and to convince her friend that she could get back home alone. Melanie's concern and innocence left Hilda weighed down with guilt.

When the sharp sound of her cell rang in her bag, Hilda hesitated to check it. Hilda’s fears were realized as she saw the number.
Melanie
. She was probably calling to check it she were okay. Hilda looked to the far end of the bar toward the men’s restroom, hoping Nathan would appear.

“Hi Mel,” said Hilda, answering the phone.

Nathan leaned on the restroom sink. He'd been about to call Mr. Grady with his answer to the proposal, when his mother called. He had groaned before he took call. Now he glanced at his watched as his mother spoke on.

“…and I told the young man to turn off his iPod and listen to me,” mother said, put on her strict teacher voice she used on her third graders. She was engrossed in the telling of what happened to her that day. It was as if she were trying to act out the scene for Nathan over the phone. Or so Nathan imagined.

Nathan frowned at to the mirror.

"
Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit
, I said to him. I never shouted. But you should have seen him, I sure put the fear of the Lord in that boy,” she chuckled.

"What happened?"

"Well, your dad and his security team obviously heard me reprimanding him and came outside to see what the fuss was about. When they saw that I had apprehended a shoplifter they were most pleased with me. Your dad wasn't pleased with the boy, to say the least.

"Oh, Ma you need to be careful," Nathan could feel the tense worry as his eyebrows furrowed. He never felt comfortable about his mother’s acts of courage. "You'd think a woman of your age you'd leave it to the authorities to handle,” said Nathan.

"Not a chance, Nathan. Sometimes you have to follow the path of righteousness,” she declared. “Your dad does it all the time.”

“Yeah, but he's paid to do it. I don't want you being reckless. You need to be more careful,” lectured Nathan.

“We raised you and your sister to right wrongs wherever and whenever you can.”

Nathan knew his mother was fearless, and that was his main fear. She didn't mind having conversations with strangers. She would go at late night and never hesitated to put herself in harm's way if necessary.

"I remember my mission trips. They were a lot of fun back then. Things weren't always as easy as they are today. Missionaries are well protected, but back when we were young and made do with what we had.”