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“Not at all,” Sean laughs – but then he glances at his watch, and his expression clouds over. “Ah. I didn’t realize just how late it got. Actually, I hate to say it, but I do have to head out soon.”
“Right,” I say, trying to sound light – but in truth, the idea puts a knot in my throat. I don’t want him to go. I realize that the second it becomes a reality, not just a possibility.
Sean finishes his drink, then checks his phone. “It’s a shame,” he says. “I’ve been having a really good time.”
“Me, too,” I say. I’m trying so hard to sound cheerful like it’s all fine, but it isn’t. I don’t manage it very well, because he hesitates instead of getting up to go.
“Are you going to be alright?” he asks.
“Oh,” I say. “Um, yeah. I mean, I should be, right? It’s just Melbourne. I’ll head back to my hotel.”
“Don’t let that one asshole this morning put you off from having a good vacation,” he says. “You deserve to enjoy yourself.”
“Yeah,” I agree. I look down at myself, at my white dress with this obvious brown coffee stain. Oh, God. I have to walk down the street like this. It didn’t seem so bad when I was sitting here with Sean, but now that I have to go out there alone… I can just imagine how everyone is going to be staring at me. It’s so embarrassing.
“You know,” he says, still not getting up. “I’m just going to a boring business dinner. I… I don’t know. Maybe we could go together? You can have dinner on your own, and after I’m finished with the guys I have to meet, we could get a drink.”
I bite my lip. “I don’t mean to be an inconvenience,” I say. “I’m sorry. You should enjoy your trip, too. You don’t want to have to play babysitter.”
He grins at me. “Believe me, I’m not playing babysitter. I mean it when I say I’ve had a good time this afternoon. I just want that to continue.”
I look down at myself again. I want so badly to accept his offer, even if it is a little weird to eat separately in the same place. But… “I can’t really go to dinner like this,” I say. “Sorry. I didn’t bring many nice things with me, either. I just thought I would be walking around all day, looking at tourist things, not going to nice restaurants.”
“That’s alright,” he says, standing up. He stretches out his hand towards me with a smile. “I think I can take care of that.”
“You can?” I ask, staring at him. “How?”
He shakes his hand towards me, emphasizing that I should take it. “Come with me, and find out.”
I want to stay with him because when I’m with him, I don’t feel quite so embarrassed about all of this. So, in the end, it’s not much of a choice. I take his hand, and he helps me get to my feet, then leads me out as I slip my purse onto my shoulder.
We start walking along the street, and it’s only after a few minutes that I realize we’re still holding hands. It feels so natural, like the most obvious thing in the world, that it didn’t even occur to me. But we’re really doing it – and that thought actually startles me into pulling my hand away, by accident more than anything else.
Then I curse myself in my head when he doesn’t reach out for me again.
We walk side by side, and I realize as we laugh and talk together that I don’t even feel self-conscious. I do catch someone staring at me and that’s the first time I remember I was scared about going out wearing my coffee-stained dress. With Sean by my side, it seems easier to deal with everything somehow.
It doesn’t hurt that I notice most of the stares go his way. He’s so tall, and so handsome too – it’s no wonder people are staring. If I saw him and didn’t know who he was, I think I would assume he was some kind of movie star. Or at least a model. He doesn’t look like the average man on the street.
We’re almost back to the station when he stops and pulls me to the side. “How about here?” he asks, gesturing to a nearby doorway. I look up and see that we’re outside a vintage clothing store.
“Here for what?” I ask, feeling kind of stupid.
“For your new dress,” he says, with a funny kind of smile as if it should be obvious. “I said I would take care of it, didn’t I?”
I look up, and then back at him. “You want to buy me a new dress right now? I figured we would just divert past my hotel.”
