Come with Me (Let It Be Me #2) (20 page)

She started singing along to one of the Backstreet Boys’ hits. It was one of her favorites while growing up. She and Emily used to sing and dance to it in her bedroom in front of the mirror and holding hairbrushes as microphones. After the first refrain, she caught Ben watching her and laughing.

“Ha! I bet you’re just dying to sing along too,” Liz said. “Admit it, you know the lyrics too!”

“I won’t admit to anything,” Ben said, grinning at her before turning back to watch the road.

Liz laughed.

Liz sang along to songs by several boy bands, Britney Spears, and Green Day. Ben resisted singing along, but she did find him tapping his hands on the steering wheel to some of them.

Liz noticed they were going north. They were at the Cross Westchester Expressway and about to exit at the New York State Thruway.

“Didn’t think this was going to be a road trip,” Liz said, intrigued.

“We’re halfway there,” Ben said in assurance, taking her hand again and resting both their hands on his lap.

Liz wasn’t familiar with the route he was taking, so she gave up trying to guess where they were going. They were quiet for the next half hour, and Liz liked it that the silence between them was comfortable.

When he started to slow down, Liz sat up. Before he turned the car, Liz spied a signboard that announced the Warwick Drive-In with a list of movies below it.

Liz looked at Ben, starting to feel excited.

“A drive-in theater! I haven’t been to one! I love it!” she exclaimed. She loved the idea, and it was great Ben thought of it. 

Ben grinned, squeezing her hand, which he has been holding on to. 

He released her hand briefly as he handed over a bill to the booth attendant. 

“Which double feature do you want?” he asked as he drove slowly into the lot. There were already a number of cars parked around the area. “They’ve got chick flicks, cartoons, and comedy.”

“We can go for the comedy,” Liz said, grinning. Having Ben sit through one chick flick would have been acceptable, but he might just not take four hours of it. 

Ben nodded, then drove to a spot across the screen that would be showing the comedy flicks. Liz noted they would be showing a Steve Carell film and a Vince Vaughn one.

“This is going to be awesome,” Liz said.

“I’m glad you like it,” Ben said as he turned off the engine, smiling at her. “I knew you were into movies, and I hoped that you either haven’t gone to a drive-in or you haven’t been to one in years.”

Liz was touched by his thoughtfulness. “Thank you, this is perfect.” 

Ben checked his watch. “The first movie won’t start for another forty minutes. Let’s head to the snack bar and hoard food.”

“Sounds like a plan!” Liz agreed. She was hungry. She and Ben had lunch in Brooklyn before going to the library. That was hours ago.

Ben opened the door for her. As she got out and he locked the doors, he took her hand as they headed to the snack bar.

Liz loved the old-school feel of it. Around them, Liz saw families, couples and groups of friends enjoying the vibe of the place. 

She and Ben lined up to wait for their turn to order their food.

“What do you want?” Liz asked. ”It’s my treat this time.” Liz has yet to treat him to anything.

“No way,” Ben said vehemently. “I’ll pay for it of course.”

“You’re such a Neanderthal,” Liz kidded. 

“Isn’t that what you like about me?” Ben said, winking, draping his arm around her shoulders. Liz instinctively wrapped her arm around his waist. He leaned closer to speak softly into her ear. “You like it when I turn into a caveman in bed.”

Liz looked at him with her mouth agape, swatting him at his chest. She looked around to see if anyone heard, outraged to find that there were some kids around them. No one seem to have heard him though.

She felt Ben shaking and when she turned to look at him, he was laughing silently. “Benjamin Wright,” she warned sternly. It was true though, for the past weeks they’ve been quite adventurous with sex – they have probably tried it in ever spot and corner of her apartment! 

Ben squeezed her shoulder, still laughing, before they turned back to the menu board of the snack bar.

Liz tried to make up her mind. 

“Okay I’ll have hotdog with cheese… umm, then fries – no make that nachos, peanut M&Ms, gummi bears, and bottled water,” Liz enumerated, looking at Ben self-consciously. She had a weakness for junk food. 

Ben beamed at her. “Good choices.”

“What are you getting?” Liz asked. 

He just smiled at her secretively. 

“You’re such a tease,” Liz said, patting his torso.

When they reached their turn, Ben dictated to the lady Liz’s orders then enumerated his. “Then a cheeseburger, mozzarella sticks, butter popcorn, Raisinets, and a Pepsi.”

Liz grinned at him. “We’re quite a pair of junk food addicts,” she said, as the lady gathered their orders.

“Well we’ve been getting quite a lot of workout all week,” Ben said, lifting his eyebrows playfully. “Maybe it isn’t just junk food we’re addicted to.”

“Ah you’re relentless!” Liz said, her cheeks burning.

The lady placed their orders in two box trays then told Ben the total. After Ben paid, the two of them walked back to the car. Ben insisted he carry both trays, and Liz knew it was futile to debate with him.

As they rode back in the car, Ben passed Liz her tray of food. He opened the windows to bring the cool night air in. He then tuned the radio to find the frequency for the movie’s audio.

“This is pretty exciting,” Liz said. “Have you ever been here?”

Ben shook his head. “Not this particular one, but Alex and I and a few other friends went to the Empire Drive-in in Queens a little after college. It was amazing. No one brings cars. All the cars are reclaimed and part of the installation. We should go there the next time they hold it.”

“That sounds really interesting,” Liz said, trying to hide the thrill that Ben was somehow talking about the future. They never really talked about anything beyond a week away.

The movie started shortly and by then the sun has set. The place was filled with cars, and although Liz hasn’t been to a drive-in before, the feeling was nostalgic.

Liz hasn’t watched the Steve Carell movie before so all the jokes were new and were funny to her. Ben admitted to have watched it before, but he still laughed to some of the jokes. Liz and Ben ended up sharing their popcorn, fries and mozzarella sticks.

The first movie ended a little less than two hours later.

“I need to stretch my legs and go to the ladies’ room,” Liz told him. It would still be a while till the second movie will start so they had time to go out.

“Let’s go,” Ben said. He collected their trash – they finished everything except for the candy – then they both got out the car. Liz stretched her legs and arms then they walked to the area where they could stow their trash and go use the toilets.  

There was a short line for the toilet; it must have taken Liz twenty minutes to finish but she still found Ben waiting for her outside, checking his phone. Even after several weeks, she still couldn’t quite believe she was dating him.

“Sorry for the wait,” she told him.

“No problem,” he said, smiling reassuringly, wrapping his arm around her waist. 

The second movie they both haven’t watched, so it was interesting to discover which jokes made Ben laugh. Liz was glad to find out that they shared a similar sense of humor.

The second movie was over by ten and their candies were all eaten by then. It took a while before Ben was able to drive out because of all the cars filing out. 

“You enjoyed it?” he asked.

“You don’t even have to ask,” Liz said, smiling at him. 

Ben reached over to grasp the back of her neck, massaging it. It was soothing and welcomed after a somewhat long day. 

He let go after a while and turned on the radio. He surfed the channels until he found one with a slow Justin Timberlake song playing.

He took Liz’s hand and held on to it. 

The ride was calming and the music was soothing that Liz found her eyelids growing heavy. She was too tired to even warn Ben.

She didn’t even know how long she napped. Her eyes were still closed when she heard Ben singing softly along to a Maroon 5 song. His voice was cool and clear, and he carried the tune well. 

Liz couldn’t resist keeping her eyes closed. She opened them and turned to him. He still was holding on to her hand so she squeezed it, and smiled at him. He smiled back, bringing her hand to his lips.

Liz kind of expected for him to stop singing, but he surprised her by continuing with the song. Liz wondered if it was one of his favorites.  

It was somewhere along the second stanza though when Liz’s chest started to burn and she suddenly felt choked up. 

She knew then that she was falling in love with him. 

It may seem silly that she realized it while she listened to him sing, but him being comfortable with her, and she with him – it just felt right. He excited and calmed her at the same time. He was everything she wanted in a man and more. 

The song ended and Liz squeezed his hand again. She looked out the window to see they were back in familiar grounds. Still peering out, she tried to keep her emotions in check, but it was difficult. The rush of emotions was overwhelming her. She thought about telling him, but it might be too soon, and there were all the complications of their work.

As Ben stopped the car in front of her building, that was the only time she looked back at him, and she felt like her heart was about to burst. But she tried everything she could to try to act like nothing has changed.

Ben smiled at her and combed his fingers through her hair and stopped his hand by the side of her jaw.

“You’re tired,” he guessed. “You better rest.”

“It was a long but wonderful day,” she said, in a strangled voice she failed to control. “Thank you.” 

Ben leaned forward and tenderly touched her lips with his. It was so sweet that Liz wanted to weep, but willed herself not to.

Ben leaned back and was stroking her hair, and was just gazing at her, and Liz hoped he couldn’t read the emotions in her eyes.

The last thing she wanted was to scare him off.

Chapter 26

Ben

 “Now I’m hungry,” Liz announced, her head resting on Ben’s chest.

Ben kissed her head and said, “I’ll order dinner.”

Ben was in Liz’s apartment. It was a Wednesday night and they were supposed to go out for dinner as soon as Ben got to Liz’s apartment after work, but he and Liz got sidetracked.

He slipped out of the bed, and was pulling on his clothes when he heard his phone ring from the living room. 

“I’ll just get it, then call to order some food,” Ben told Liz, as he buttoned his pants. 

“Sure,” Liz said as she got up as well. 

He quickly walked out of Liz’s room then walked to Liz’s dining table where he left his phone earlier.

“Alex,” he answered. 

“Where are you, man?” Alex asked.

“I’m – uh – at the gym,” he fibbed out of panic. As soon as he said it, he felt ashamed. He and Liz have been seeing each other for a little over a month but Ben hasn’t found a way to tell Alex about it.

“Why don’t you come over to my place after?” Alex said. “Kayla is here. You haven’t had dinner with us for quite a while. Kayla’s pretty excited about our Michigan trip.” Kayla was able to get some time off from work to join them.

Alex was right. Since he started seeing Liz, he’s hardly seen Kayla since he would only see Alex for work-related matters during office hours. He also hasn’t joined the Stone Homes meetings for a while now.

They were flying to Michigan in two days to check the location Frank found for the movie, and Kayla was able to take some time off to join them.

“Sorry can’t tonight, man,” Ben said. “Maybe tomorrow?”

“Hold on, I’ll ask if Kayla is free,” Alex said. Ben heard him talk to Kayla. “Okay, Kayla’s volunteering her place tomorrow. That okay?”

“Sure, see you then,” Ben said. “Thanks.”

Taking his phone with him, he went to the kitchen where he knew Liz kept her stack of flyers of restaurants that delivered to her area. 

He flipped through them, checking what seemed good.

“Chinese or sushi?” He asked, loud enough for Liz to hear.

He didn’t hear a response. He took the flyers with him then walked back to the bedroom. He found Liz seated on her bed, looking dazed. She was already dressed back to the jogging pants and shirt she had on earlier.

“Hey, you okay?” he asked, walking over and rested his hand on her shoulder.

Liz jolted from his touch, then she looked up.

“Hey what’s wrong?” Ben asked again.

Liz shook her head. “Maybe I was just hungrier than I thought,” she said in a soft voice.

“Are you feeling dizzy?” Ben asked, kneeling down on the floor and resting his hand on her knee. 

Liz offered him a small smile. “I’m fine,” she said. “So what did you order?”

“I was thinking between sushi and dimsum,” Ben said. “What do you prefer?”

“I’m okay with either,” she said. “Order whatever you want.”

Ben nodded. “Okay.” 

Thinking sushi would be prepared and arrive more quickly, he called the Japanese restaurant. He ordered a lot, so Liz would have enough.

“I’ll check your fridge so you can snack on something first,” Ben said. 

“I’m okay, the sushi will arrive soon.” 

“Okay, we can watch some television while waiting,” Ben suggested.

Liz nodded, so Ben stood up and took her hand to pull her up. She followed him as they walked to her living area. 

They sat on the couch, as Ben handed her the remote control. 

“Go ahead, I’ll watch whatever you want,” Liz refused. 

Ben nodded, feeling a bit off. Liz usually had an opinion, and it was the second time tonight she just gave in. 

He leaned to kiss her cheek, then gathered her in her arms until they both lay on her couch spooning each other like they usually do.