Moments: A BWWM Short Story Collection

XIV. Blind Date (Pt. 2 of 3)

Twenty minutes passed in relative silence, broken only by quiet chewing as we worked our way through the appetizers I kept ordering. Things had cooled off, both in terms of stares and the turmoil in my head, and I'd substituted lemon water for alcohol in the hopes of keeping it that way. I couldn't trust myself when I was buzzed.

Alexander had remained quiet since we'd sat down. I didn't know if it was from guilt or nervousness, but I was relieved not to have to engage with him. My anger had cooled to depression now that I'd vented on him, and I just wanted this date to be over.

"Are... you two ready to order an entrée?" the waiter asked sheepishly.

"Another round of onion rings." I said tersely, drumming my nails on the table.

The waiter gave a forced smile and departed, and Alexander caught my eye as it drifted to him. Depressed or not, I hated how handsome he was. No lawyer had the right to have such a manly chin or those icy-blue eyes; it just wasn't fair.

"So... who's the last person you've destroyed for money?" I asked, half to remind myself that I was sitting across from the man who'd helped ruin my life. "Another former girlfriend of my ex? Or do you suck blood freelance like a vampire now?"

"The latter." Alexander said with shy smile. "I keep my cape in my briefcase."

I rolled my eyes at his pathetic attempt at a joke. If he thought a little self-depreciation was all it took to get on my good side, he was more hopeless than I knew.

Alexander cleared his throat and looked down at his powerful hands.

"All joking aside, I did stop working with him. He deceived me too, you know; he'd always frame himself as the victim and wait until the last minute to give me details. I went into the matter involving his legal action against you under the impression that you... um... had embezzled money from his company."

I fiddled with my soup spoon, trying and failing to block out the memories of that stuffy court room and my sweltering pantsuit. Now that I looked back on things, I had felt a slight flutter when Alexander had leaned over the table to push the papers towards me, and there had been a strange look in his eye as I turned up to him. I'd just been too grief-stricken to notice it at the time; not that it mattered now, of course.

"When I saw you in that court room though, I..." Alexander breathed out. "I knew you couldn't have done any of the things he'd said you did. You were so broken up, so... devastated by it all. I hated myself for going through with it, but I don't break my word no matter the circumstances. I wanted to comfort you afterwards, but then I thought that I'd just be taking advantage of you emotionally, so I... stayed away."

I turned the spoon over in my hands as I looked into those unfairly perfect eyes, which quickly blinked and looked away. This was starting to sound like...

"It started as guilt; I think." he continued after a moment. "I'd cut people off before, but it was always rich businessmen who'd recover, not a single woman who'd had the rug pulled out from under her. I wanted to not think about you, but the more I tried the more it haunted me, and I came to realize... that..."

Alexander licked his chiseled lips and trailed off into silence, and I knew.

"Are you saying you love me or something?" I asked. Alexander breathed out.

"I... I don't know, I just... I just couldn't get past the thought that I should've done something two years ago. Part of me said I should just leave well enough alone, but the rest of me... the rest of me kept insisting I make things right."