A New York Love Story (14 page)

He knocked on her door. No answer. He did it several times, then he grasped the knob and opened it. “Clover?” He heard noises and her curses coming from somewhere inside, and decided to enter. “Clover? It's Cade! Is everything okay?”

“Yes! No-o!! Ugh! This sucks!”

Her stressed voice made him chuckle. “Where are you?”

“In the kitchen – I'm struggling with this damn oven!”

As soon as he entered he saw the chaos. It looked as if a bomb had exploded in the middle of the kitchen. There was food everywhere, and Clover herself had flour on her nose and her t-shirt and jeans were stained with sauce. She stood in front of the oven. She had a pan in one hand that seemed filled with a sort of lasagna; and with the other hand – clenched into a fist – she was banging on the stove.

“Jesus! What happened?”

“There's no end to my shitty luck! It wasn't enough that I had the stupid idea to invite my crazy family for dinner, that I decided to cook for them and that they will be here in three hours… now this damn oven doesn't work! It really has complicated everything…”

Cade glanced at the counter top where there was flour all over the place and an egg yolk was dripping gently onto the floor. “Aha! Was it the oven's fault? Bad oven!” He tried to restrain himself from laughing.

Clover glared at him, furious, “Oh – so my troubles make you laugh, Mr Movie Star?”

“Honestly? A little bit!” He chuckled and came over to her, neatly avoiding a pool of sauce on the floor. He wanted to hug and kiss her, but instead he stroked her cheek lightly. “How can I help? What can I do?”

“Could you just prepare a dinner for three or four people in less than two hours and straighten up the mess in this kitchen in the remaining hour! That way I will have time to try and sort out my appearance. Although my mother doesn't expect class and perfection from
me
any more – she gave that up a long time ago – this mess could shock even her!”

“Why three
OR
four people?” Cade was perplexed.

Clover shrugged. “I don't know how much effort my brother made to convince his wife to come. I suspect this will be another year that she doesn't show up… but I never really know.”

Cade nodded, staring at the pan she had in her hand. “Is that lasagna?”

“Yes, it should be. I watched a TV cooking program a week ago, and I decided to try this recipe.” She was desolate as she stared at the mess around her. “But I'm not sure it was such a good idea.”

“Do you have any alternatives?” Cade felt tenderness for her evident anxiety. She was biting her lips and frowning, but at his question she smiled. She looked at him, her eyes shining, “Pizza! A huge pizza with a mountain of French fries… maybe the French fries could spell out my name! I really thought about it, but my mother hates pizza. She finds it
so vulgar
!”

“I wonder why…” Cade was laughing.

“However, I'm afraid she'll have to make do with it, since my oven doesn't work and now I've lost all my enthusiasm for cooking.”

“What about if I help you? I know how to cook. Nothing fancy, but something
more elegant
than pizza…”

Clover looked up at him, perplexed, and he noticed she was barefoot. Without heels she was five inches shorter, and had a touching, vulnerable air.

“Why are you here?” she asked.

“I wanted to wish you happy birthday…”

“That's very sweet. Thank you!”

“So, do you want my help or not? You can consider it my birthday gift…”

Clover sighed and nodded. “Ok, if you really don't have anything better to do…”

“I'm on vacation, actually
in exile
in a foreign land – do you remember? It's not much fun to be alone all day hidden in a house.”

“Well, good then! Where should we start?”

“Let's start by going to my house. I have more kitchen utensils and ingredients there… also I can't work without my apron and my immaculate counter top!” He was very happy: he had just found the perfect excuse to get her out of the house.

Clover tried to protest, but he put a finger on her lips. “Shhh… come to my kitchen. Your oven doesn't even work! We will bring everything here when it's ready, and I'll help clean up this mess before your family gets here.”

“Hmm… the journalists would pay a fortune to see you wearing an apron and mopping a floor. The Prince of Hollywood,
house boy for a day
!” she laughed.

Cade faked a terrified look. “I don't want to even think about it. The tabloids would go wild for months with this story!”

While Clover was putting on a pair of shoes and a jacket, he grabbed her keys with the excuse of helping her lock the door. He kept the keys and sent a text to his secretary, Scott, to go ahead with the plan to deliver Clover's gift to her house. He added some additional instructions. He had no doubts about Scott's efficiency. He was a clever guy and resourceful. He knew how to transform his thoughts into reality. Come to think of it, he should give him a raise!

Once they got to his kitchen, he showed Clover where everything was, and explained how to prepare some simple dishes. They stood side by side, enjoying the intimacy of cooking together. He left the kitchen just for a few minutes to give Clover's keys to the delivery people and to give them instructions. Half an hour later he got a text from Scott, saying that it was all done and that the keys were in the mail box. He sighed with satisfaction and went out to retrieve the precious keys…

Clover checked the time; her family were expected in less than an hour. “I should go clean up the kitchen and take a shower. The dinner will be definitely be beyond my mother's expectations; I don't want to give her any other reasons to complain!”

“Let me help you…” Cade was setting the dishes in the warming oven drawer.

“No, I can manage it. You already helped me a lot! And my mom and brother will be amazed by your delicious dishes… this is a great gift! Thanks again…”

“Not at all! I promised you full
service
…” Cade headed to the door and she couldn't help but follow him.

They crossed the street in silence. Cade began to feel nervous about his birthday gift.
What if she doesn't appreciate it?
After all, he had taken a big liberty with it. She was so proud and she might even get offended. His excitement about surprising her had quickly turned into anxiety, just as Clover was opening her front door.

Clover took off her jacket. “It's freezing in here. I need to turn the heat up higher. But there is a good smell… I remember the stink of eggs and of my horrible lasagna when we left. I was afraid it wouldn't go away, and my mother would notice something like that immediately. Sometimes she sounds like a snob, as if she were from a rich, aristocratic family; but the truth is she grew up eating hamburgers! Maybe
this
is the reason she's now…”

She couldn't finish her sentence as she stepped into the living room. Cade glanced at the new lavender corner sofa and the small glass coffee table in front of it. The room was different: more elegant, but still cheerful and informal, exactly as he had hoped… he looked at Clover.

She was completely puzzled. She kept staring at the room, as if she didn't recognize it.

“If you don't like it…” Cade passed his hand through his hair.

“How did you do it…?”

“Actually, getting you out of the house was easier than I expected.”

“Oh, my god!” She went over to the sofa to touch the soft fabric. “It's exactly the way I wanted it! How did you know I wanted a sofa this color and with this shape?”

“You mentioned it, the first evening I came to your house.”

“Really?” Clover's big eyes were glittering with joy and Cade began to relax. She seemed to be okay with it after all.

“I remembered you said that you dreamed of a lavender sofa… but I didn't remember anything else. I asked my sister for advice. You know, she's an interior designer. I described to her the size of your room, that it's not very large, and she took care of everything.”

“Your sister has wonderful taste!” Clover turned round to sit on the sofa, then she had a second thought. “I will try it after my shower. I don't want to spoil it!”

“So, do you like it?”

“It's fantastic, gorgeous…” she stood in front of him. “How should I consider this?”

“As a birthday gift, naturally!”

Rising on tiptoes, she kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Cade. This is the best gift I've ever received.” She smiled, her cheeks glowing with emotion. “And I hadn't even given you my wish list; you simply remembered what I said… I'm deeply moved and surprised.”

“Isn't that the purpose of a gift? I learned from
my teacher
…”

“Jesus! First you helped me cook, then you've transformed my living room… now I can't really accept your help to clean the kitchen. I would feel too guilty!”

“I would also feel guilty if you had to clean the kitchen now, instead of taking a shower and relaxing on your new sofa before dinner.”

Something in his tone made her suspicious. She ran to the kitchen, and seeing it neat and resplendent, she jumped with joy. “I
adore
you!”

Cade's satisfaction hit the roof. “I confess, I was a little nervous about all this. I was afraid you might have misinterpreted it, get angry for the intrusion, and throw all the dishes we cooked together at me! One never knows with you…”

“How did you organize all this?”

“Scott, my secretary – he can manage every detail, even from a great distance…”

“You should give him a raise!”

“Done!”

Clover looked around. “Well, now I only have to take a shower and get dressed.”

“I'll bring the dinner over in a few minutes.”

“You don't need to do that! You're not my personal waiter… I can do it.”

“Ok, if you want…” Maybe this way he would have an excuse to see her again before her family arrived.

Clover stopped him at the door, “Cade?”

Yes?”

She seemed slightly embarrassed. “Would you like to stay for dinner?” She didn't even let him answer. Moving her hand as if dismissing her proposal, she added, “I know, it's a stupid idea! You don't even know my family – and it's probably just as well – also my mother would immediately go and tell all her friends that she met Cade Harrison, just to show off. Then you'll find yourself in trouble. I had forgotten you are incognito here. Please, forget what I just said.”

Cade smiled and ignoring her torrent of words, said, “I would love to stay for dinner.”

“I've proposed it because I felt bad letting you go home by yourself, after all the work you've done… but… wait… what did you just say… that you want to stay?” Clover blinked.

“Yes, after all my work this is the least you can do for me!” he joked.

“Look, my relatives are really boring… and I warn you: I will be very, very tense. Usually, I explode after ten minutes with them, although your presence might calm my mother and inhibit my brother… however, the possibility of an explosion still exists. It could be embarrassing.”

Amused, he took her chin in his hand and said, “Now I'm starting to feel confused. So – do you want me to stay or not?”

She sighed deeply. “Yes. I really would like you stay and join us.”

“In that case, I accept.” He touched her lips. “I'll go make myself beautiful!”

“As if you really need to! You've already caused enough trouble in that department!” she mumbled.

*

Her birthday dinner always made her nervous, but this year she was especially anxious. She wondered how on earth she could have come up with the craziest idea of her entire life! Why did she invite Cade –
Cade Harrison!
– for dinner, and with her family?

Her mother would be totally shocked, definitely! It would be worth it just to see her jaw drop! But after tonight, Nadia O'Brian will want to be updated about Cade, every single day!

This had happened once before, when Clover was in college. For a while she dated the son of one of her mother's friends, and Nadia had stressed her with questions and advice the whole time they were dating. Eventually, when Clover left Simon, her mother couldn't stop patronizing and criticizing her… “you won't ever find another guy who can put up with your strange, difficult character! Darling, if you are waiting for Prince Charming you'll be alone for the rest of your life!” on and on
ad infinitum
.

Therefore, that evening Nadia O'Brian surely would make the
mistaken assumption
that there was something going on between Cade and Clover. So when he returned to LA she could only imagine her mother's reaction… “You should have thought about this
before
dating him… what did you expect? Of course he would be returning to LA!”
… blah…
blah… blah.
As if it wasn't already hard enough for her to think about Cade leaving!

Well, too late. She couldn't take his invitation back. She would have to explain to her mother that Cade was only passing through New York, that they were just friends and – more importantly – that she must not tell anyone that he was in Staten Island. She felt pretty confident about the latter. The idea of upsetting a celebrity would keep her quiet, although it was going to be hard for her not to brag to all her friends about the evening.

Trying to forget her anxiety, she focused on the difficult task of selecting what to wear. Her bed was covered with clothes! She had a nice dinner planned, a new elegant living room and a guest of honor to surprise her family, she couldn't spoil everything by wearing a flour sack!

She heard a soft knocking on her bedroom door and Cade's voice calling. “Just a minute!” She looked around at the mess. It looked like all her clothes had erupted out of her closet like a volcano! She was without makeup, her hair was soaking wet and she was wearing an old bath robe that barely covered her – a lovely image for the most desired man in the country!