A New York Love Story (10 page)

Once outside, they started walking down Lincoln Street in silence. Cade noticed that Clover was still holding his arm; he hoped she wouldn't realize for a while. It was so relaxing to stroll along by her side – refreshingly
normal
. A girl and a guy, just like all the others, walking around New York City, shopping for Christmas.

“What were you doing at the store? You were there half an hour before our appointment.”

“I was early, so I stopped by to see if you might already be there. I hope you don't mind…” Clover nodded and he continued, “I like your two colleagues, they're nice. But I didn't get a chance to meet Liberty and I'd like to…”

“Hmm… I don't think it's a good idea for you to come back to the store. It's a dangerous place!”

“Why? Because I could be discovered by some fans?”

“Well, yes, that too… but…” Clover looked at him carefully. “Did Zoe try to come on to you?”

“I really couldn't tell for sure. She does come across as being very seductive, but no, she did not flirt with me.”

“I don't know how she does it!” Clover moved away and Cade immediately felt cold and empty.

“Does what?”

“To be so much a…
woman
! She's beautiful, intelligent and talented – in addition she's able to seduce any man who looks twice at her! It's definitely unfair.”

“Yet you don't seem really hostile towards her.”

“I can't even hate her! I just feel a healthy envy…”

Cade smiled at her frown. “You are two totally different women.”

“Really?! Don't tell me… I can't help but notice it every time we pass in front of any reflective surface together!”

“No, no – I mean you are
both
attractive, but in a very different way. I'm sure you charm different kinds of men.”

“Sure! I can seduce children and old men without any problem… sometimes even a father who thinks, hell knows why, that I would be a great mother.”

“Maybe because you are sweet…” Cade brushed her hair from her face. He couldn't help touching her. “And judging from the way you played with those boys on Thanksgiving Day, you seem to have a great talent with children.”

Clover made a face and continued her speech. “Zoe, on the contrary, attracts a larger range: sportsmen, musicians, wealthy WASP heirs and celebrities as well. In fact, you should fit perfectly in her men
category
…”

“It's not true that a man's
radar
always works the way you think. There are exceptions. Your co-worker is beautiful and she knows it. Maybe she exaggerates a little bit, relying mainly on her sex appeal to seduce men, but it looks like she's also able to attract
nice guys
.”

“What do you mean? So, you like her too…”

“Wait a minute! I thought you had just put me in the
men with muscles-no brain
category! And now you say I'm the nice guy type!” Cade shrugged, “however, just for the record, I'm not interested in her. I was talking about Eric. I'm sure he has a major crush on her.”

Clover stopped in her tracks. “How do you figure that out?”

“It reminded me of when I was sixteen. I had a crush on a cheerleader. I didn't dare approach her, but I was checking her out all the time. It pissed me off every time any other guy went near her. And Eric seemed very protective of Zoe.”

“It's true. She doesn't suspect anything, but I have been able to tell for a while now. One day Eric opened up to me and asked me not say a word to anybody. He doesn't think he has a chance in hell with Zoe, so he tries to be content with things just the way they are. If she discovered the truth, he thinks it would ruin their friendship, and Eric would lose everything.”

“It must be hard to suffer in silence like that, seeing her surrounded by potential boyfriends…”

“Eric consoles himself by watching Zoe's relationships fail even before they start. She doesn't have a very good taste in men… I'm afraid she's attracted more by physical assets than brains. She feels less threatened. Perhaps she thinks that an intelligent man couldn't love her…”

“Funny! Since she's adored by an obviously intelligent guy she sees every day!” Cade looked at her with a gaze of complicity.

Clover suddenly was curious: “What happened with your cheerleader?”

“She broke my heart by telling me I wasn't her type. Shortly after that she got pregnant and married an idiot… then she let herself go. She lost her looks and gained at least thirty pounds.”

“Ha! It serves her right!” Clover laughed.

“I saw her again ten years later at a high school re-union. Of course, since I was becoming famous then, she immediately started to flirt with me.”

“And?”

“She got a polite, but unmistakable rejection.”

“Bravo!” She laughed with her adorable dimples and Cade felt once again the impulse to kiss her – right there, in the middle of the street.

Then she turned serious and asked, “What about your ex-fiancée in LA?”

Cade became tense – it happened every time he recalled the mess with Alice.

“Honestly, I think that our relationship started more out of boredom than a deep and lasting affection. In the beginning it seemed that we had a few things in common. At least we both had the same career that brought us together in an environment like Hollywood. But then I realized she was only using me and my fame to further her own career – to become known more as a star than as a mediocre actress.”

“Well, it looks like she has succeeded with all the trouble she's been creating…” Clover observed.

“Yes, and I hope it will keep her warm at night!”

“So, you aren't suffering for her any more?”

“Suffering?” Cade shook his head. “You can only suffer when you still have feelings. This is not the case. Alice is definitely attractive, and at the beginning she was also somehow stimulating… but I soon understood that she didn't have any real love for me, beyond my movie star image. I probably just did what men do sometimes – I went with the flow – kind of passive, right? Now she has made me look ridiculous in front of half of America, and she's trying to play the victim with a broken heart. Too late, baby.”

“Ha! She'll probably end up like your cheerleader, but even fatter and marrying an asshole!” Clover said, making him laugh.

“Too bad for the husband!”

“Ok, now to work. Who shall we start with?”

“My father. He's the hard one.”

*

After about three hours, Clover felt that she had a complete history – down to the smallest details – of the Harrison family. They started with Cade's father, William. Clover learned about the loving relationship he had with his blonde and ethereal wife, Grace. She heard how Grace's abundant energy and determination helped to soften the rather sharp edges of her husband's difficult character. They had four children. Cade, who was the eldest; then Jake, now a successful writer; Heather, an interior designer, and Cecile, who was still in college.

Cade had talked at length about each one of them. He knew their personalities well, but – by the end of the afternoon – they still hadn't bought anything yet. Clover was surprised: he seemed to know his family's taste and desires, and in similar situations she would have already accomplished everything in a couple of hours.

“I thought it would be easy, but it looks like it's going to take me some more time and work to find the right thing for everyone in your family…” she said, while they were walking through Central Park.

“This time I really want their gifts to be special!” Cade walked head down. “But it felt like you had some very good ideas…”

“Apparently, not that many! We have been in so many shops and we're still empty-handed,” Clover clarified. “You've moved away from giving them anonymous checks to being way too picky… nothing seems exactly right. You're a perfectionist!”

“Aha! Maybe it's your fault. You're the one who introduced me to the
joys
of Christmas, and now I'm obsessed with the idea of buying the right gifts.” He put an arm around her shoulders, looking at her sweetly.

To avoid a panic attack, Clover slipped away and pointed at a café. “Would you like a
cup of heaven
?”

“I don't know… what is it?”

“You'll see.”

The interior of the café was pleasantly warm, but Clover preferred to sit outdoors, on a protected terrace with a view of one of the lakes in Central Park.

“I always tell myself I should rent a boat and have a picnic on the lake; but I always end up here during the winter, when the lake is almost iced over!” Clover was sipping her hot chocolate with a pile of whipped cream on top.

“None of your boyfriends has ever brought you here for a romantic boat tour?”

Clover choked. “Pleeasee! Who would do something like that? If someone should propose it, I would immediately suspect a plot to commit a homicide. Drowning me in the lake could be a good way of making me shut me up.”

“You pretend to be so tough! But I bet there is a sentimental romantic hiding under that crusty shell, and one day a man will ask you to marry him in one of those little boats, and our own little Clover will melt into a sea of tears, weeping with joy.”

Oh Jesus! Don't encourage my craziness…
she thought, trying not to picture the romantic scene. But it was too late. Clover already started to imagine herself in that situation. The vision was coming together: the silence broken only by the lapping sound of boats moving slowly through the water and the chirping of little birds in the air – a perfect background for the sweetest marriage proposal she could ever imagine. A man, blonde and beautiful like a Greek god, was leaning towards her, handing her a small velvet box containing the most beautiful diamond ring… a light breeze as the boat glided through the water towards the arch of a pretty little bridge covered by fragrant jasmine…

She made herself focus on her cup and changed the subject. “Hot chocolate, the best cure for every kind of pain!”

“After an afternoon with me, you really needed it, right?”

If I think that you'll leave and won't ever remember me, yes I need it,
she thought. Better start stocking up lots of sugar.

But she answered, “In a way, yes… being successful at my job is one of my few certainties, and with you it didn't work. This hot chocolate helps to soothe me and accept the failure.”

“There is no failure at all! I just wanted to think about it all a little longer… but I know I will end up following all of your suggestions. My father will be crazy about the complete
Star Trek
DVD collection with Leonard Nimoy's autograph… and the tickets for David Garrett's concert will absolutely thrill Cecile…”

“Yes, that could really be an unforgettable experience, especially if we could get her a pass for backstage. But we would probably need your movie star power and influence to do it, my dear.”

“Of course! I will definitely do that for my little sister…”

“She's a lucky girl; she has a brother who can grant her wishes, like the genie from Aladdin's lamp!”

“It was your idea, not mine…”

“Yes, but you were wise to ask for my advice. My brother wouldn't ever do something like that for me,” she said, with a shade of sadness in her voice.

“Oh, poor little lamb…”

“Very funny… but don't patronize me. I can still see you fretting over every idea that I dreamed up!” Clover mumbled, trying to ignore her inner desire to simply be hugged. The more Cade talked about his family, the more lonely she felt. She would have loved to be as valued by her family as he seemed to value each member of his.

“Hey, I wasn't rejecting any of your ideas, I'm simply a procrastinator. I'm sure we could still come up with brilliant new ideas before Christmas. So, you must give me some more time to convince me that these are the best gifts we can get…” Cade stared at her with his deep blue eyes.

Damn! How could he do this? How can he make her feel in raptures with just a look?
She didn't feel any different from all his stupid adoring fans, and she didn't like it. Clover put down her cup and suddenly stood up. “Let's go.”

They walked in silence for a few minutes. Central Park was less cheerful after dusk. People were rushing to get home and there was a sense of melancholy in the air.

“Something wrong?” Cade asked.

“Not at all, but it's time to go…”

“You got up all of a sudden, and I thought that I had upset you by asking for another date.”

“Another date? We didn't have a
date
today. I was just doing my job.” Her voice was uncertain…

Cade put his hands in his pockets. “Ah, yes! I had forgotten. You would never go out with me for any other reason, because you despise my way of making a living.”

“No, I don't despise it… I guess I just don't trust it… to trust someone who
acts
for a living is like putting a loaded gun in the hands of a child.”

“My god! Do you think it's easy to be on the other side? It's difficult for me to trust too. It's difficult to understand who really cares about me and who is just interested in me as the famous actor.”

“I'm sorry. I didn't want to be mean. After all you're a nice person and you deserve to be appreciated for who you are beyond your fame.”

Cade seemed pleased. “Did I really hear a compliment coming from you?”

“Don't get used to this. I change my mind quickly!” Clover made a face.

“Yes! You have changed your opinion about me. I know you like me… I can tell… admit it!”

Clover didn't answer and diverted his attention by pointing at a souvenir stand. “Look! Snow globes…”