Here at Last (5 page)

He called
my room after he had checked in
to
ensure that I ha
d already arrived. By that time, I
had
set up our booth and had
ordered
additional copies
of our flyers and DVDs
due to the anticipated size of the event
. Given that this wa
s
the
San Diego
office’s
first
tradeshow
, it was
important
for
us to make an excellent first impression
for
the companies and
government agencies
who could become
our
clients.

On the first evening, t
here was a cocktail party.
JT
had texted me that he was going to check out our booth and would meet me
downstairs at
the
party
. I’d gone upstairs to change
into a dark blue dress with a V neck and heels. I put on my great aunt
’
s sapphire
and diamond
necklace and
earrings
and took the elevator back downstairs.

The room was filled with a hundred people or more, most of whom had drinks in their hands and were chatting away.
I scanned the room and spotted JT, who was dressed in a beautiful dark blue tailored suit and was talking with two older gentlemen when he saw me.

“Excuse me,” I saw him say as he ended his conversation and made
his way over to me.

We both smiled. Parties weren’t my thing, and it was nice to see a familiar face in the crowd.

“Sophia,” he said
warmly
.

“Hi, JT. How was your flight?”

“Fine,” he shrugged.

“I’m really sorry you had to fly up here. I’m sure you had something better to do.”

“This was going to be my first weekend off in months,” he smiled. “Oh, well. What are you going to do?” Changing the subject, he said,
“
The booth
looks great
.
”

“Thanks.
It looks like the conference will be pretty well attended, but
I think we’re set
with handouts
for the next two days.”

JT
nodded. Then, he
gave me the rundown on
several
people in the room. This
was an opportunity to network with other vendors and to
develop relationships with potential clients. Over the next hour, we used a divide-and-conquer strategy.
M
y responsibility was to talk with the different scientists
who were there and learn
more about their research needs and protocols
. Being the consummate businessman, JT would talk with as many of our sponsors as he could since they represented potential clients
. After about
ninety
minutes, JT returned to me
,
and
we shared what we’d learned.

By then, it was dinner time, and the party was winding down. T
he two of us left the hotel and caught a cab to
one of JT’s favorite restaurants.
Panevino
Ristorante
is
a beautiful Italian restaurant with delicious food and
an incredible view of the Las Vegas Strip
. After the waiter seat
ed us, a fresh basket of bread wa
s delivered to
our
table as
were
two glasses of water and a bottle of wine
from the restaurant’s extensive list
.

I
looked at JT and
smiled.

He
looked up from his menu. "What is it?"

"I think this is the first meal w
e've eaten outside of the office."

The waiter poured two glasses of wine for us, and JT raised his. “Here's to getting out more often," he said.

“Who are you kidding?
” I laughed.
“
I don't think we'll ever get out more often
.
"

“
That’s a sad thought
,” h
e
said
. “Maybe we both need to make a point of it.”

For a while, we chatted about work. Then, after another glass of wine,
JT seemed more relaxed than I’d seen him.
We ordered our meals
and, for the first time, talked about ourselves. I learned that JT had grown up in Boston before his family moved to Houston when he was 14.
His father was an accountant in the oil industry, and his mother was a cellist who left his father
and
returned to Boston once JT turned 18.

“She missed the northeastern culture," he told me.

His
sister
Denise was six years
his senior
and lived
in Chicago
and
was married with two
adult children
.

Like me,
JT had
had a love of the heavens
ever
since he was a child
.
When he was young, he’d always dreamed that, when he died, he would become one of the brightest stars in the heavens
so that he could keep watch over those he loved
.
He’d
beg
u
n collecting antique spyglasses
to get a better view of the sky
.
Even after he
’d bought
his firsts few telescopes, he continued to
add to his
spyglass
collection
.

Then, it was my turn.
My older sister,
Rhonda
,
was married with
three younger
kids
– Marta, Jeremy, and Michael
– and lived
near my parents in
northern
New Jersey. I had grown up on the outskirts of Morristown and had spent plenty of time working and playing in New York City
, which I considered home
.

“What are your parents like?” JT asked.

“My parents?” I
raised my eyebrows
. “They mean well, but they're probably two of the most severe people
I've ever known
.”

He smiled. “I'd like to meet the
m some day.”

I sho
ok my head. "I don't think so. When Rhonda and I were growing up, t
hey terrified all of
our
friends.
” I looked up at him and smiled. "
They don't play well with
other
people."

He laughed.
“
Y
ou’re not much like your parents
are you?
”

“In some ways, I
probably
am
like them
.”

O
ur waitress delivered our meals,
and
we realized how hungry we’d been. After
a delicious
dinner
of salad and
angel hair pomodoro capellini
,
w
e walked outside and
hailed a
taxi
. We were both full and tired and
remained
quiet
during our
ride
back to the hotel
.
I looked out the window as we drove
by brightly lit clubs and
hotels and
recalled my first trip to Vegas
many years before
. After having driven through the dark
desert night for hours
, I
came upon
the unnaturally bright and active city in the
distance
,
and it had
appeared like a mirage.

I turned to see JT watching me. “You’ve been here before?” he asked.

“Once. Many years ago.”

He nodded and turned to look back out the window.

The taxi pulled up in front of our hotel and dropped us off.
As we walked through the lobby and
rode the elevator up to the eighth floor
,
JT was strangely quiet.
Arriving
at our floor
,
we
disembarked
and walked down the hallway to
ward
our
room
s
.
W
e arrived
at JT’s
room first
,
and
he looked at me
for
a
long moment without saying anything
. I had a strong sense
that he wanted me to go into his room with him
, and
I took a few steps beyond his room toward my own.

"Thank you for dinner," I said.

“My pleasure," he said quietly.

“Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” he replied.
He stood outside his door and watched me until I reached my room. As soon as I opened my door, I looked back at him, and
he nodded and entered
his room, closing the door behind him
.

I couldn’t wait to take a shower and head straight to bed.





When
I walk
ed
back down
the hall
to JT’s room
and
knocked
softly
,
he
opened the door, and I stepped
into the darkened room
.

“I was hoping you’d come back
”
,
he said.

I took a step toward him, and h
e pulled
me
into his arms
. As
we kiss
ed
, he stopped just long enough to take off my suit jacket
and t
hro
w it on
to
the chair
before reaching
down to unbutton my blouse.
Kissing me, he moved us toward the bed.
With each forward step of his,
I
took a step back until
I bumped the
bed with
back of my
legs
.
I
sat down and moved
back a little
,
l
y
ing
down
in the middle
of the bed
. He
took off his
jacket and tossed it onto the chair with mine. Watching me, he unbuttoned his shirt and threw it onto the chair. T
h
ere was enough moonlight in the room that I could see the contours of his torso.

"You
’re
beautiful," I said softly.

JT froze. “This isn't going to work
,” he said,
shaking his head
.
“I can’t do this with you.”

“Why?” I asked, feeling hurt.

He turned toward the window and looked out. “I think you should leave.”

I realized, then, that h
e wanted
sex
,
not a relationship
.
When I told him that he was beautiful, it became personal, and he
’d
shut down.

I
got up and fetched my clothes, putting on my blouse and buttoning it
up
.
JT stood in silence looking out the window. When
I put my shoes back on
,
I
left
feeling humbled and rejected
. A
s I stepped out into the hallway,
a man
turned the corner, and we nearly collided. When he looked up at me, I realized i
t was Him.
Our eyes met
,
and
h
e
suddenly
understood
everything that
had
just
transpired between JT and me
.

We stopped in the hallway a few paces down from JT’s room. The man reached out and placed
his
hands on my
arms
. Looking into my eyes, he said softly
, “Don’t do
this. This isn't what you need
.
Come with me.
”
We walked down the hall to my room.
When we entered, I closed the door
behind us
. Reaching for my hand, he
led me
to
the
center
of the room
and
lovingly
held me for a long time
.