Love Love (22 page)

His dimple flashes like a neon sign as
he places one hand at the small of my back and laces his fingers
through my other hand, bringing it to lay upon his chest. I can
feel his heart beating rapidly. He leans in and presses his
forehead to mine, so close I feel the warmth of his breath tickle
my nose, sending a shiver up my spine. The wisps of his shaggy hair
massage my face, and the smell of java mixed with his own scent
whisks me away. All the anger has suddenly left my body. I can no
longer hear the taxis honking, feel the muggy temperature in the
air, or notice the constant rush of people bumping into us and
staring. The world has completely fallen away.

Our bodies sway from side to side and
all goes silent except for the soft humming that fills my ears. The
hum is oddly familiar, then completely recognizable. Brad’s voice
begins to caress me, “’It's never over, my kingdom for a kiss upon
her shoulder; it's never over, all my blood for the sweetness of
her laughter…’”

“
Jeff Buckley,” I whisper.
“He’s one of my favorites.” I feel him smile against my cheek. When
the humming stops, I instinctively pull away and gaze into his
sweet brown eyes. Suddenly, I feel vulnerable, like he can see
inside my heart, and I’m not sure I’m ready for him to see that
much of me. I lean my forehead back against his and enjoy the rest
of our very first dance together, silently hoping that it won’t be
our last.

When we finally reach the subway
platform, disappointment looms. Brad pauses for a moment and rubs
the back of his neck with his hand. I’m not sure if he’s nervous or
deep in thought; I can’t put my finger on it.

“
Can I ask you a question?”
He doesn’t wait for me to answer. “Are you and Dane
exclusive?”

I have to resist the urge
to roll on the ground, grab my stomach, and laugh hysterically. I’m
not sure what we are, but we’re definitely
not
exclusive. “No, we’re
not.”

The curve of a smile touches his lips
before he speaks. “Good. So…I was wondering if you’d like to go out
tomorrow night?”

“
Go out? You mean like on
a
date
?” I
emphasize the last word with a grin.

Brad shifts his feet. “Yup, a date.”
His smile is endearing and I want to accept immediately.

The problem is, I don’t do dates.
Mindless screwing, yeah, that’s what I do. But I can’t tell him
that, he’ll think I’m crazy. The thing is, as much as I keep
telling myself that, the thought of going on a date with Brad does
something to me. “Well, I really don’t do dates.”

Brad looks at me with a strange
expression and I suddenly want to eat my words. “What do you mean
you don’t do dates? Aren’t you doing dates with Dane?”

No actually, I’m just doing Dane. “Not
exactly.” Now I’m really embarrassed. I can’t imagine what he
thinks of me.

“
Okay. So then we’ll do
what we always do. Two friends just hanging out together. I mean,
we are good friends, aren’t we?”

It’s not what I usually do, but that
works. “Yes. We are. And yes, I’d like to hang out.”

The full-on dimpled smile I get after
I say yes nearly makes me combust on the sidewalk. “Great! So until
tomorrow then?”

“
Yes. Until tomorrow.” He
lifts my hands to his face and places a single kiss on the inside
of each of my palms.

As the subway doors close, I’m
squealing inside. The earth has suddenly shifted on its
axis.

***

I’m in
the middle of an amazing dream, full of giant dimples attacking my
mouth, when my phone rings the next morning and wakes me up, which
stinks because it’s Sunday and I could’ve slept in. When I see who
it is, I debate hitting ignore and going back to my fantasy because
it’s much better than the reality. The one with my mom. I suck in a
breath and pick up the phone. “Hi, Mom,” I exhale.

Her voice sounds as chipper as ever.
“Hi, dear.”

“
What’s up, Mom?” I try to
sound somewhat interested.

“
Well, as luck would have
it, I’m coming to New York City two weeks from this Saturday for
Fashion Week.”

Who’s luck would that be? I’d rather
win the lottery. My nonexistent excitement is blaring.
“Great.”

“
I thought we could have
lunch together.”

“
Okay. Well, you know I’d
ask you to stay here but…”

“
Oh no, I certainly can’t
stay in that tiny space you call an apartment. I’m staying at the
Waldorf. It’s going to be a busy weekend, but I’m hoping we can
manage to squeeze in lunch.”

She always knows how to win me over
with her kind words. “Sure, Mom.”

“
I’ll call you when I get
in.”

“
Okay, Mom.” As soon as I
hang up, I get a sick feeling in my stomach. I’m rummaging through
the medicine cabinet for anything resembling Tums, or even Valium
at this point, when I hear the front door latch click. “I’m in the
bathroom, Fran!”

“
What are you doing, Gabby?
I have to get ready for my date with Kyle,” she whines. “He’s
taking me to the Botanical Gardens.”

“
I’m looking for some
Tums,” I say, diving into the box of crap under the sink. Nothing’s
there either.

“
Let me guess. Patricia
Willis is coming to visit.”

“
Ding, ding, ding. You’ve
won! You’re going on an all-expense paid solo date with my
mom.”

Fran cackles, then moves past me to
turn on the shower. “So when is crazy coming?”

“
Two weeks, so I have time
to mentally prepare. Not to see me, of course. It’s for Fashion
Week; I’m just a detour.”

“
Well, you can handle that,
can’t you? At least it’ll be a quick visit.”

Fran strips down, reminding me that
she wants to shower.

“
Yeah, I guess,” I agree,
then sigh, because I’m not so sure everything will be
fine.

She turns the water on and hops in the
shower. “So tell me what the hell happened last night.”

My phone buzzes and I see it’s a text
from Brad. I can’t help but smile.

Brad: Good morning
friend

Me: I see your sense of
humor is in full swing this morning

Brad: :) It’s tomorrow,
you know

Me: Yeah?

Brad: We have a
date…cough, cough. I mean, we’re hanging out tonight

Me: Yup, hanging
out

Brad: See you tonight.
I’ll pick you up at 6

Me: See you
then

Brad: See you tonight
friend

Fran sticks her head out from behind
the shower curtain and eyes me curiously. “What was that
about?”

I let out a long, contented sigh. A
night with Brad will make me forget everything else, including my
Mom’s visit. “I’m hanging out with Brad tonight.”

“
Oh, you mean you have
a
date
with Brad?”
she coos, then goes back to washing her hair.

“
NO! I say adamantly. I
didn’t say that.”

Fran pokes her face out again, her
sudsy hair dripping on the floor. “You didn’t have to, your eyes
gave you away. Gabby’s got a date, Gabby’s got a date,” she sings
playfully. “So, back to telling me about last night.”

A swoony sigh escapes. “The night
ended up to be pretty spectacular.”

She makes a seductive
voice. “You spent the night with
Dane
?”

A silly grin spreads over my face like
melted butter. Picking up my lip gloss off the counter, I apply two
coats then check my pucker in the mirror. “I actually spent the
rest of the night with Brad.”

“
What the?” Her head weaves
its way around the shower curtain and I hear her mutter, “Shit!”
and then, “grab me a towel, I’ve got soap in my eyes.”

I throw her a towel and pucker my lips
a few more times. “Yup, the night was spectacular.”

“
I’m waiting here,
Gabby…”

“
Get your mind out of the
gutter, Fran, I don’t mean I had
sex
with him!”

I can hear her disappointment. “Oh, my
condolences then.”

I playfully punch her arm and push her
back into the shower. “We danced together…right outside of
Bloomingdale’s.”

“
You did what?!”

“
I just told you. We danced
outside Bloomingdale’s. It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever
done, really.”

Fran makes a gagging sound. “I can’t
believe I’m about to say this, but it sounds pretty
romantic.”

“
Fran, you have no idea.”
My body starts swaying back and forth on the wet floor as I hear
Jeff Buckley in my head and remember the feel of Brad’s arms around
me.

“
I love seeing that smile
on your face,” she says.

It feels good to me, too.

My body is tingling with excitement
and my brain is crackling with nervousness. I can hardly contain
myself and realize I haven’t been this excited since...well, in a
long time. Which reminds me that I need to call Dane. Instead of
doing the grown up thing and calling him, I chicken out and send
him a text instead, to let him know I won’t see him tonight, but
will make a point of it tomorrow. He seemed less than thrilled, but
honestly right now I only care about one thing. That one thing will
be here in twenty five minutes, so I need to get my ass in
gear.

I decide on my snug skinny
jeans and a blue sleeveless silk blouse that Fran once said brings
out my eyes. Yup, that’ll do. I curl my hair so it falls in soft
waves down over my shoulders, and keep my makeup light, as always.
A little shimmery blush, soft eyeliner, and another touch of gloss
to my already ruby lips. I pull on a pair of strappy black sandals
and I’m ready to go. Now all I need is my hot date. I mean
my friend
.

Only ten minutes to go and I can’t sit
still. Fran’s been out with Kyle for hours, so I have nobody to
talk to. My head is swimming with thoughts I can’t control, my
heart is thumping loudly, and it feels like tiny fireflies are
lighting up my heart. I can’t wait to see Brad. I don’t know what
it is, but being around him always makes me smile. I’m starting to
sweat just thinking about him, so I open a window, but quickly
close it when a blast of muggy August air forces its way in. Not a
good thing if I want to have perfect date hair. I organize the
magazines on the coffee table, straighten the pictures on the wall,
then sit down on the couch and wait.