It's Got A Ring To It (14 page)

“Well, I’m from the old school.”
H
e laughed. “Where’s she coming in from?”

“What age constitutes old school? Does thirty-two qualify?” I asked,
wanting to know if barely making it into the thirties makes me an oldie but
goodie or just a regular dusty.

“Uh, I’m thirty-six and I qualify, but really it’s a state of mind.”

“I’ll accept that for now, but only because I’m not going to be the
one to go off on a tangent,” I ragged on him a bit. “So, getting back to where
we were, she still lives in San Diego. After college, she decided to go back
home. Nothing like having the beach right outside your window.”

“I know. With this Vegas heat, I wouldn’t mind wading through the
surf right now.”

“It’s funny, all my fantasies involve white
sand beaches with low-arching palms
whispering the breeze of summer romance. And some kind of pi
ñ
a colada or fruity drink.” I looked up just in time to
catch the confused look sprawling across his face. “Awkward! I’m sorry
.
I didn’t mean to go into
detail about my fantasies.”

I expected him to say something, but he just smiled knowingly and
scooted closer.
The heat of his forearm slightly grazed mine,
sending hot shivers through my body.
Still smiling, he turned to me with
a warm whisper, “
T
here’s
something about you,” he said with what could’ve easily been misconstrued as
dripping lust.

I wanted to say something equally ambiguous and filled with innuendo,
but I drew a blank.

Still, he smiled with that sexy grin. “I want to know about you.
The real you.
Not the you that’s on display, but the version
behind that huge brick wall that you’ve built.”

“What makes you think I’ve put up a wall?”

“Your eyes,” he said matter-of-factly.

Before I could deny it, I gave in. It would take more energy to come
up with a plausible story. “What did they tell you?”

“That you’ve been hurt.” Even if I wanted to say something, I d
idn’t think
I could have.
Myles read me like a book. And he was right. I
was
open. So much so, that I was afraid to look him in the eye
for fear of what else he would find out about me. He knew it, too. Gently, he
placed his hand on my mine. “Look
,
Laila
.
I just want to know the
woman who’s been occupying my thoughts since our paths crossed.”
A
verting
my gaze
, I pretended to iron
out a few wrinkles on my top. “How about we play a little game to get to know
each other. You in?”

It sounded fun enough. Besides, I couldn’t think of a reason not to
play. “Uh
…
sure.”

“Promise. Cross my heart, it’ll be harmless.”

“So what are the rules of this allegedly harmless game you’ve come up
with?”

“Ok
ay
. You
get five questions with no tangent questions to try to get more information,
but you must be honest. You can challenge the truthfulness of the answer, but
if you choose to do so, you must answer an additional question about yourself.
What do you say, fair enough?”

“Go for it. You start.”

“Oh no, ladies first.
Laila
, my lady
,
ask away
.
”
H
e gestured with a wide swing of his hand
indicating the open floor.

“Let’s see. What do I want to know? Hmm…” The books around the room
gave no clues. Initially, I didn’t want to ask anything too serious
or
deep, but I didn’t want
to waste a question either. “Where’s your favorite place that you’ve visited?”

“Way to play it safe. But I’ll answer it. My favorite place by far
would be Victoria Falls in Africa. It’s right on the border of Zambia and
Zimbabwe and it
is
nature at
its best. I’m talking panoramic vistas of waterfalls and jungles that span
farther than the eye can see. It was both spiritual to the soul and nourishing
to the eye. When I got in the water and let it rise around me at the edge of
the fall, it was like everything else ceased to be and I was left with a
one-on-one between me and God.”

“Wow. I hope you don’t expect me to top that.” I took another sip from
the strawberry banana smoothie to take the edge off.

“No. But I’m not going to beat around the bush like you.” He didn’t
hesitate for a second. “
Laila
,” he paused for effect
,
“
w
hat are you looking for in a man?”

“Well, don’t hold out on my account. Please don’t be shy,” I said
sarcastically
,
and
laugh
ed.
I hadn’t decided whether
to be honest or not, for fear he might be able to discern that he
was
what I wanted in a man.

“Please tell me you’re not one of those women who has a checklist.”

“No. I don’t have a list.” I lied, making a mental note to shred and
burn it. “Honest. I jumped back in feet first and eyes open. This time, I just
know what I want. Loyalty and honesty should be a given. And I don’t think a
sense of humor is too much to ask. Physical attraction is a non-negotiable.
Preferably taller than me.
Good hygiene. Self-sufficient and
smart with a good job…and knows how to dress.”

“So? You’re still sticking with the story that you don’t have a list,
right?”

“Oh, no you don’t. No tangent questions
.”
I smiled,
taking full pleasure in throwing
his rules back at him.

“Touché.”

What better way to dodge his sideline questioning, than with a
whopper of my own. Without hesitation, I put the ball back in his court.
“Myles, why
are
you single?”

“Now we’re getting somewhere. I see you decided to jump into this
game head first.” At first he was playful and enjoying the joke at my expense.
Then, his tone changed slightly.
A notch higher on the
serious meter.
“No, but to be honest, I haven’t found anyone worthy.
Before you say anything, I don’t mean it in a snobby elitist way. Losing my
parents made me very cautious about
who
I let into my
life. There’ve been a lot of real nice girls out there
and
a few skanks, but no one that I’m willing to let into
my
close-knit family I’ve
built between me and my sister…I don’t know. I suppose there’s someone who I’ll
end up with, but I take things real slow.”

I halfway expected him to pussyfoot his way around the answer, but
his unfiltered bluntness about his family suddenly made me regret hurling such
an invasive question at him. Even my apology felt weak. “You just seem like
such a great guy. I figured, either there’s some hidden flaw or you are one of
those guys who will never grow up.
Some eternal lady’s man.
I hadn’t considered a third option.”

“Okay. Let’s not get
all serious
. This is
supposed to be fun.”

“So take your turn already.”

Time flew by. The conversation zigzagged from my love of candy to his
obsession with pizza. Myles educated me on the healing powers of watching a
Bulls game with a
fully
loaded
thick slice of pizza. His face lit up with every story. I could
tell that he was reminiscing about his family. With every mention of his
parents, his expressions softened and I could feel myself falling into familiar
territory. Everything in me wanted to run, but my feet were planted firmly in
their place.

The game turned out to be very informative and pretty fun, until his
final question. Asking why someone
wasn’t
married yet,
was
a simple enough question.
Q
uite
typical really for a single person over the age of thirty.
I should have
been used to the question, as many times as I’
ve
been asked. From my parents, to aunts, and
clients, I kept my regular flippant answer locked and loaded in my arsenal,
“Nope. Not yet.” Inevitably, they’d faithfully instruct me not to worry and
as
sure me
that I would find someone. It wasn’t so much the pitying smiles or the
whispers. In fact, I never did worry until so many people told me not to. But
it was something so innocent and unassuming about the way Myles questioned me.
I needed to tell him the truth. Too much time had lapsed since I’d been honest
with myself.

“I made it to the church once,” I blurted out. There. It was out on
the table. Take it or leave it. And, he took it. Not where I was expecting, but
it was in his hands, nevertheless.

“Makes me think God’s on my side.” Winking, he teased as he
compassionately rubbed my arm and smiled a sincere grin
.
“
G
o on,” he urged me.

At that moment, I hadn’t planned on going any more in depth than
simply stating the facts. But, the way his pleading eyes weighed on me, the
choice really wasn’t mine. I continued at his request. Myles listened with an
earnest ear and a sympathetic heart absent of the judgment I imagined would be
there. That smile showed up again after I’d laid out all the major details from
Ethan’s infidelity and cowardly dismissal to my broken heart and long-awaited
catapult back into dating. Still, after I’d finished talking and unloaded my
past on him, he was still beaming. So much so, that my face reddened under his
beguiling eye.

“What?” I asked coyly.

“You’re amazing, that’s what.”

“I tell you I’ve been crushed beyond self-recognition and you say I’m
amazing. Well, I’m going to have to have my heart demolished a little more
often.”

“You’re blushing,” he noted, clearly enjoying my uneasiness.
Those eyes of his pierced right through me.
“Most people
would have foundered after all that you went through, but you’re still here.
Stronger.
Smarter because of it.
And I must say
you’re…stunning.”

The edge releasing from my body was tangible.
Embarrassment,
was
one thing, but more
than anything, I felt relief. He knew. And still, he sat there smiling in
all his
splendor. And bonus, there would never be an awkward
moment for him to find out. Tormenting
i
mages crossed my mind of us at our
engagement dinner and someone slips and says, “Myles I hope you’ll make it down
the aisle. The last one didn’t even make it to the church.” I shook the thought
from my head and comfortably rested my eyes back on him. For a short while, I
hesitated. Then, just as comfortably, I leaned over and rested my lips on his.

fourteen

“Then
what happened?”

“Geez
,
Brooke. You always have to
get
right to the dirty details. Can’t you ask
me something normal first, like what we have in common or what did I wear?
Seriously, you’re so crass.”

“Al
l
right,
so what did you wear?”

No matter what, Brooke always liked to get straight to it.
Eventually, she’d get to the meat and bones of the story, but not before the
juicy details. Probably out of habit. She majored in journalism with a minor in
mass communication. If things went according to her plan, she’d be the
nationally syndicated news anchor, Brooke Davenport, married to the heir to
some throne or hotel fortune. Not only
was
she the spitting image of Grace Kelly, but
she also ha
d
secret
aspirations to marry into royalty. That
was
pretty much
her
in a nutshell, annoyingly gorgeous
,
nosy
,
hopeless romantic
,
thick and
thin kind of friend.

Unlucky for her, things tend
ed
to go every which way but hers. The
nightly news wasn’t in the cards, though she gets to grill hundreds of
passengers on every trip while fastening seatbelts, demonstrating how to get
seats in the upright position, and weeding out possible terrorists. Still no
crown on the horizon, but neither was an end to her search. Just about no one
was off limits to Brooke,
except
for
her passengers.
The one rule by which she faithfully abid
ed
.
Surprisingly, she
never made her bed where she work
ed
. Aside from the whole news anchor and
prince hiccup,
she nailed
being
the best friend and roommate.

“That cute little black jersey tank with the
racerback
you borrowed when we went to Miami and black capris.”

“I see not much has changed. You’re still in mourning
over
that fool, wearing
black all the time. Should’ve at least worn a little black dress, if you must
go all
goth
…easy to take off
.
”
S
he laughed it off, but there was no joke
behind it. “If this guy is as hot as you say he is, I would be leaving nothing
to the imagination.”

“That’s because you’re probably a size negative one and you have
gigantic boobs. There’s no need to leave anything to the imagination when it’s
all on display
,
anyway.”

“Ugh, don’t be a hater. I’m just saying you should be trying to reel
this one in. These things don’t just happen, you know
.
”

With her, it
was
always about fate and destiny, and signs. I gave her the whole rundown on
meeting Myles and everything up until my kiss,
as we drove
home from the airport. Naturally,
she was convinced that Myles and I were meant to be.

“You think it was some random coincidence that your phone numbers
were mistaken? What about the bridal salon, your mom meeting him in the post
office and hiring him as the wedding photographer, then the gym? Get real. And,
that was pure unadulterated chemistry on the side of the house. I’m hot just
thinking about it. Ooh
…
”
She swooned

“We were only going over photo layouts.”

“Is that what they’re calling it these days?”

“You’re such a pervert.”

***

A call button dinged and Brooke bee-lined toward it. I could see her
in the aisle with her fake smile beaming. From all her stories, I wondered what
outrageous request she’d get. I adjusted myself in the seat, trying to get
comfortable, but the emergency aisle had the only open seat on the flight. I
would’ve hoped for a better seat, but flying standby on her buddy pass, I
couldn’t complain.
Pretty much the worst seat on the plane.
Besides being stuffed in between one person
—
who
se
muffin top protruded over the armrest into
my seat
—
and
another orchestrating a snoring symphony,
my
seat didn’t recline. However, the man
directly in front of me undergoing a cough attack reclined
his seat right
into my lap, while his
screaming toddler educated the entire plane on the alphabet. All in all, I was
a sardine without the ability to recline or claim either armrest.

Needless to say, sleep was out of the question. My only relief was
Brooke. Thank
G
od for
her. When she wasn’t doing her emergency protocols or drink services, she let
me join her in the galley, where she’d give me the rundown on all the crazies
aboard. Flights to New York never failed us. So far, a guy had to be cut off
from drinking and about three people had to be advised to turn off their
iPhones. At least three or four times, she had to explain that it interfere
d
with the plane equipment
and transmission to the flight towers. Brooke said it with a smile, but I read
right through that
fa
ç
ade
. If she could, she would slap people and
use quite a few choice words while doing it.

As Brooke glided down the aisle toward me, her chipper grin shifted
to rolled eyes. The call button must’ve yielded a doozy of a request. As soon
as we were in earshot, she angled a cart so no passengers would be able to get
into the galley. “Wait ‘til you hear this one,” she said, exasperation dripping
from her breath.

I could barely contain
myself,
I was dying
to know what happened. Getting to hear the inside scoop made me feel like I got
into a flight attendant sorority without being hazed. Two other flight attendants
inched in closer,
just
as
eager as I was to get the scoop. To see the three of them huddled together in
their navy blue uniform dresses with daintily tied scarves, reminded me of a
human Neapolitan sundae. Although Brooke is anything but
v
anilla, her creamy porcelain skin and
flowing blond hair fit the bill. Ebony
was
just that.
A chocolate
goddess.
Flawless with full red lips and a wavy dark brown mane
elegantly swept up into a classic chignon. A delicate silver chain necklace
hung down her décolletage ending in a sweet pave diamond ball to match her stud
earrings. Only a couple inches taller than Brooke’s average height, she towered
above their strawberry redhead counterpart, Paula. While she was undoubtedly
the curvaceous one of the trio, it
was
definitely in a Norma Jean voluptuous
size sixteen
,
hourglass
sort of way. Batting long lashes and a
va
va
voom
pout, I most
certainly was the plain Jane of the lot.

Brooke jumped right in, “Oh
Lordy
be
. Remember that lady with the little chubby baby in 26C?”
Ebony and Paula nodded in agreement. “Well, she just asked me to…wait for it,”
she said for effect as she covered her heart
,
feigning shock. “She just asked me to help
her pump her breasts.”

“No, she didn’t
.
”
Ebony and Paula gasped simultaneously in utter disbelief.

The breath might as well have been ripped from my chest. How could
people be so out of it that they think it
was
ok
ay
to ask someone to get in on the pumping
action.
It
was
already controversial enough to pump in public, with or without a cover.

Brooke continued despite our blatant shock, “
A
pparently her husband holds the breast or
the pump for her while she pumps.” A roar of laughter rumbled from the group,
followed by an abrupt shush to ensure the passengers didn’t get any ideas of
coming back. No one heard us.

“So how’d you get out of it?” I asked, still trying to catch my
breath.

“I just told her it was against company policy and she had the
audacity to look at me as if she was peeved that I refused. I could just see it
now, sexual harassment suit, accusations of contaminating the milk and making
her baby sick. You never know what they’ll cook up. Anna Marie based out of
Chicago, got spit on by some crazy loon on a flight and
she
got sued by the passenger
.
I’m not signing up for that crap. Shoot. They never cease to amaze me.”

With the sound of yet another call button dinging, we all looked at
each other wondering what could possibly follow that one. It could’ve been
psycho
-
mom with another
crazy request.

Paula peeked around the corner
, released
the air she’d been holding
,
held her hand to her chest
—
It wasn’t 26C, but 2B
instead
—and said,
“I’ll take this one
.
”

 
Brooke didn’t have to say
a word, but Paula knew she dreaded
having
to walk
past the crazy mom again.

“Ok
ay
, you’re
not off the hook yet, missy
.
”
Brooke pointed at me accusingly while I pretended to be confused. “So, you get
to his house to do the layout stuff and…?”

“And we picked out a great photo package for Lena. End of story.”

“Oh no you don’t. Please tell me you finally had passionate lusty
one-night-stand sex with him?”

“Wouldn’t necessarily say one-night-stand?” I cowered and blushed.

 
“So you admit that it was
passionate and lusty?”

Everything in me wanted me to lie, but I was tired of feeling
ashamed. I wanted to brag and gossip with my best girlfriend, who would be just
as happy for me. “It was so hot. I had no idea that’s what sex could be like.
Ethan was so structured about it. He practically had a freaking schedule with
start and finish times mapped out in his head. And heaven forbid we deviate
from it. All hell would break loose and we’d spend an hour or so talking about
the importance of his time. Ugh! Just thinking about it pisses me off that he
was so selfish.”

“Then don’t think about it and get back to the unstructured bliss
because I need to know what happened.”

“When the photography business was over, Myles invited me to sit at
the dining table. He poured me a glass of Riesling while he prepared a culinary
masterpiece. I’m talking butternut squash soup with sage, broiled filet mignon
with steamed asparagus and hollandaise sauce served with
parmesan
potato puree. I really wanted to try the chocolate torte
,
too.”

“Who cares about the food? I don’t want to hear another word about
the food unless he licked it off of your body,
Laila
.
Now go on.” Brooke can be so pushy and impatient, but I’m the same way. Get
right to the good stuff.

No sooner did I attempt to get on with the story did Paula sashay
back down the aisle with eyes bugged out and mouth agape. “Brooke…”
she t
eas
ed
in a prolonged singsong way.

“What?” Brooke hesitantly
asked
“What
happened now?”

“It took all my strength not to read it, but I have a note that I was
asked to pass along.”

We were practically on top of Brooke as she opened the vomit bag
that’d been folded a bazillion times into a small little origami-like square.
Corner by corner, she unraveled the paper puzzle until ballpoint script peeked
through. The words were tiny and about as neat as it gets on a crumpled bag
meant for bodily fluids.

“What’s it say?” The curiosity was killing me.

“Al
l
right, let me read it.”

Brooke, when I saw you as I boarded the
plane, I knew I couldn’t get off this plane without asking you for your number
or at least giving you mine. I know that I would regret it and always wonder
what would’ve happened if we had the chance to meet
—

“Wait a minute. How did he know your name?”

Eager to continue with the letter, she only pointed to her name badge
and resumed reading.

… And see what could’ve happened. Usually,
I just sit on the flight and read or finish up some work, but I can’t
concentrate. I know that you’re working, but if I could introduce myself to you
in person, that would be great. Not to worry if you’re busy.

Looking
forward to meeting you,

Drew

(212)
555-8763

“Oh my gosh
!
This is so ridiculous. You know that I don’t date passengers. Period,” Brooke
blurted out, failing to contain even a smidgeon of her repressed excitement.

Paula smiled smugly
.
“
Y
ou wouldn’t say that,
if you saw what he looked like.”

Brooke
was
so
funny, and stubborn. I knew she was dying to hear his description, but her own
rule stood in the way. She was red with embarrassment. And after all the years
I’ve known her, embarrassment almost always meant that she was dying to know.