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4
Chase
The sun was directly in my eyes, making it hard to concentrate on the cars in front of me. Twice I had almost rear-ended the car in front of me. I tapped my thumb on the steering wheel to the beat of the music that was blaring through my speakers. I pulled into the parking lot and found a spot, quickly cutting the engine.
I pocketed my keys as I walked up the steps to the doors of the The Manor House and entered in behind the couple in front of me. While I stood waiting to speak with the hostess, I still couldn't help but wonder what the hell Sophie needed. I had not been able to figure out what could be so important that she needed to tell me in person. The urgency in her voice had me worried that something was wrong. Was she sick? Was she in legal trouble? It had driven me crazy most of last night and well into this morning, until I had no choice but to head to the gym and blow off some steam.
"Can I help you?" the young hostess behind the counter asked.
"Reservations for two. Should be under Sophie Lancaster." I watched as she ran her finger down the list of names in front of her, finally stopping and crossing our name off.
"Your table isn't quite ready yet, sir. If you would like, you can have a seat in the bar area, and I'll come and get you once it's ready. Should only be about ten to fifteen minutes."
"Sounds good, thank you." I made my way towards the bar, sitting in the first empty seat I found. I ordered myself a crown and cola and Sophie a gin and soda. The bartender set the drinks down in front of me, and I was passing him a twenty when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to see Sophie standing behind me.
I couldn't help but allow my eyes to run over her. I had never seen her in the dress that she wore, but it hugged her curves perfectly. She smiled at me, and I cleared my throat and stood up. "Here, take a seat," I said, offering her my bar chair.
"Thank you."
"This is for you. Your favorite: gin and soda," I said, moving the glass in front of her and leaning in to kiss her cheek.
Sophie looked up at me, quickly kissed my cheek, and smiled. "You remembered!"
"How could I ever forget? It was the only drink that didn't end up making you hang your head out of my car window every weekend when we were in college," I said, winking at her as we both laughed. Even though we still got out with our college friends once a month, Sophie never drank gin and sodas when we were out anymore and hadn't in years. It had strictly been a college thing.
"That is sadly very true. Although I don't think it’s a secret that I still can't hold my liquor very well." She smiled and looked up at me. As soon as I met her eyes, we both took a sip of our drinks. I placed my glass back down on the bar and looked back down to see the smile she had worn was now replaced with a look of nervousness. She was fidgeting with the strap of her clutch that sat neatly tucked in her lap.
"What's up, Soph?" I questioned, downing the rest of my crown and cola and signaling the bartender for another.
"Nothing, why?" she let out a nervous laugh.
"Look at you. You're a nervous mess. You never fidget, and you've just about broken the strap on your clutch."
"I'll be right back. I need to use the ladies’ room." Before I could say anything, she had jumped up and dashed through the crowd over to the washrooms. Minutes passed, and I was beginning to get worried.
I glanced down at my watch to try and determine how long she had been gone when the hostess came to tell me that our table was ready. I was about to ask her to hold the table when Sophie finally reappeared. Something was up. She didn't have her usual glow. The look on her face reminded me of the time we had been hanging at her parents’ house and we had accidentally broken her mother's antique lamp. It had been a present from her father. I smiled inwardly to myself as I remembered her standing with her hands behind her back trying to tell her parents what had happened.
"Our table is ready," I said as she got closer.
"Awesome. Just awesome," she mumbled. I frowned as I watched as she picked up her glass and waved for me to go first, but I refused and instead waved my hand, signaling for her to go first. Once she was in front of me, I placed my hand on the small of her back and together we walked to the table.
I was hoping to find out immediately what was going on, but once we were seated and the hostess had left, Sophie had conveniently buried her face in her menu. I frowned, and even though it was killing me, I didn't say anything while we looked over the menu. We had both settled on our choices by the time the waitress had returned to drop a fresh basket of bread onto the center of our table. We ordered quickly, and I reached in and cut a piece of bread for Sophie, passing it to her. She barely made eye contact with me as she reached over and took it from my hand. Her odd behavior was seriously beginning to get to me.
I sat forward, crossed my arms in front of me, and leaned on the table. "The suspense is killing me here, Soph. What was it you needed to talk to me about?" I asked, taking a sip of my Crown and Coke, while she buttered her bread and took a bite.
She looked around the room, ignoring me. I let out a breath and started slicing the loaf of bread again. "You know I adore you, right?" her soft voice questioned.
I looked up at her, pausing from cutting the loaf of bread. "Yes, of course, and I you." I winked, trying to lighten the mood, but she completely ignored me.
"And you know I'm not getting any younger, right?"
I frowned. "Neither am I."
"And historically you've always come through for me." She swallowed hard, setting her bread down on the side plate. "No matter what."
"Okay, let’s cut to the goods here, Soph. What's going on? Are you okay? Are you sick? In legal trouble?" The way she was carrying on, I feared she had some sort of terminal illness.
I proceeded to cut more slices off the loaf of bread.
