Someone Like You

Chapter 8 - Taqueria to Ruth's

Two days later, I found myself on a second date with Sean Henry. He picked me up at my apartment and took me to Taqueria 27 on Foothill. He hadn't asked me where I'd wanted to go, but it turned out that I loved this place - gourmet tacos and tequila? What's not to like?

It was Sunday night, but the place was packed. He put in our name at the hostess' station, but we still waited for about 20 minutes before we were seated. When she called out his name, he grabbed my hand and pulled me through the crowded restaurant. I looked down, staring at the backs of his legs - beige colored chinos that were just about an inch too short, showing a hint of the bright yellow SpongeBob SquarePants socks he was sporting. We turned this way and that way, and I only looked up when I felt a soft hand on the wrist of my right arm as I wandered past a table tucked near a nook along the right wall.

"Jen, is that you?" I had been hearing that voice in my sleep for three weeks and the sound of it stopped me dead in my tracks and my heart froze over like Elsa's castle in Frozen. I stood stock-still, not daring to look up at him and not wanting to move away either. Sean pulled on my other arm, but when he realized I wasn't budging, he turned back to look at me. With all the bravery I could muster, I finally looked up and saw Andy, sitting at a table to my right. He was wearing a dark blue button down shirt and faded jeans. His hair was stylishly unkempt.

He looked like a fucking Ralph Lauren runway model.

Across from him was seated the most gorgeous woman I had ever seen in person. From her height and bleach blonde hair, I was fairly certain she was the captain of the Scandinavian Swimsuit Team. When Sean looked back he did a double take, no doubt flummoxed by her beauty as well. In addition to her straight, white blonde hair, she had green eyes, perfect teeth and large, fake boobs. She was also really skinny, much thinner than I.

Like a cluster bomb exploding overhead, suddenly the last three weeks made total sense. Sure, Andy had been flirting with me on the mountain, why not? Flirting was fun, but he only dated Beauty Queens like the Miss Norway contestant seated before him. I must have laughed to myself because Sean gave me a quizzical look.

I turned my head in Andy's direction to regard his perfect face and was taken back by the displeasure in his features. Clearly he was not happy to see me. Gone was the penetrating gaze that made me feel like a delicious pork product. His covetous expression was replaced with something almost malevolent that suggested impending violence. I must have pulled back when I saw how angry he was, because his visage softened appreciably.

"Andy. You're... you're back from your trip," I managed to say. When at first I had not dared to look at him, now I found that I could not look away.

"I got in late last night." His voice was calm and even, but hinted at unbridled turbulence just below the surface.

"And you had a good time?" I bit my lip, looking at his face, admiring the curve of his jaw and his straight, perfect nose.

"It was productive." His date, because clearly that's who she was, coughed delicately, breaking the trance between us. He turned towards her, and said, "sorry, Jennifer Parks this is, uh, this is..."

"Caroline!" she interjected tersely, clearly quite perturbed that her name had not been on the tip of his tongue.

"Right, sorry, Caroline, of course it's Caroline, sorry hon," he said sheepishly.

I turned toward Sean to make introductions, but he beat me to it. He reached across me, towards Caroline and said, "Dr. Sean Henry, nice to meet you." She shook his hand daintily, smiling coyly. He belatedly also reached out to shake Andy's hand and from the look of it, Andy shook it forcefully, because once pleasantries were properly exchanged, Sean was shaking out his hand behind his back.