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"You might never eat there again after waiting an hour for food," he said.
"We were there that long?" I asked. I glanced at the clock on the dash. It was close to 9pm, and I was pretty certain the studio would be empty by now.
"This whole trip is already going by way too fast," he said.
"You just got here today," I said, smiling at him from across the console.
"I know, but it's already nine o'clock."
"Don't think about it," I said.
I wanted to hold his hand. I reached over, and he easily gave his hand to me, grasping onto me gently. We almost never lost contact, and our connection was never awkward or forced. When it came to body language and general comfort, we acted as if we had known each other for our entire lives.
Isaac had told me in previous phone conversations that he never had serious girlfriends. He would date a lot but never commit to anyone. I assumed that things were different between us and that Isaac wanted more to happen with me than previous women. I had never come out and asked him that in so many words, but he behaved as if things were different with me. We hadn't made each other any promises, but we had become close talking on the phone, and these first six hours together had been charged and full of stolen glances and accidental touches. My heart was given over to him already.
I was comfortable around Isaac, but my body reacted nervously every time I looked at him. I loved how manly he was. I loved the sound of his voice and the stubble on his jaw. I loved that he knew how to fix things but that he also smiled a lot and was hilarious. He had rhythm, and he wasn't afraid to dance. We put on music while we were in the studio painting, and I saw him moving to the beat.
Isaac and I applied the third and final coat on twenty giant candy canes. He helped me work quickly. We had only been there for a little over an hour, and we had managed to get most of it done.
Isaac went to use the restroom, and Kathy came in during the one minute that he was gone. I was thankful I heard the door because otherwise Isaac would have had to handle the encounter without me.
I came down the hallway just in time to see Kathy come into the lobby. Isaac met me in the hallway, but he had no idea Kathy had come in, so I turned to him with an unreadable but serious expression. "My boss just got here. It's no big deal, but she's right here." I spoke quietly so Kathy couldn't hear me, but then I turned to her with a smile. "Hey! We're almost done with those candy canes. Isaac came up here to help me and it's going about ten times faster."
"Oh, I didn't know you had someone here with you," she said, looking Isaac over.
"Did you say your name is Kai? Are you the one who called and left a message?"
"Isaac," I said. "This is Isaac. Did Kia call and leave a message?"
"Yes, some guy named Kai called, saying he was your friend. He said he was interested in teaching one night a week at the downtown location." She made a face at me. "We hadn't talked about interviewing for that yet."
"I'm not interviewing anyone. I ran into Kai at the airport and told him we were looking at opening it. He's an old friend. He would be a good teacher, though, if he's thinking about it. I'll call him back sometime."
"And who are you? A friend of Ari's who came to help her finish the set pieces?"
Isaac looked at me. "Are we friends, Ari?" he asked staring into my eyes like Kathy King wasn't even there.
I blinked "We're friends, at least," I said, confidently. I turned to calmly smile at Kathy, and she just stared back at me with a wide-eyed expression. I should have probably been sensitive to her discomfort with this situation, but I couldn’t apologize for something that I was so happy about. I wanted more than anything to say that we were way more than friends, so it already seemed like I was lessening things as it stood.
Isaac stepped forward. "I’m Isaac. I live in Washington, and I came to spend Thanksgiving over here in Georgia."
"Oh, really? Washington state? When did you get here?"
"This afternoon," Isaac said. "I'm staying in a hotel not far from here. Ari said she had some painting to finish, so we came by here so I could help her. I told her I wanted to see the place, anyway. She has nothing but good things to say about her job, and I’m glad to finally be here and see it. It's a beautiful studio."
Kathy put a hand to her chest, looking charmed. "Oh, well I, welcome to Atlanta. Ari has been my right hand for a few years and she has really done an amazing job. I don't know what I'd do without her."
"She has good things to say about you also, Mrs. King."
"Did you say you're staying at a hotel? I've got plenty of room at my place if you need somewhere to stay."
Was Kathy King so smitten by Isaac that she would instantly offer him a place to stay?She was either that charmed or she was trying to keep him away from me.
"Oh, that's okay," he said. "Thank you, though. We'll be in Savannah on Thursday."
"Oh, are you going with Ari home to meet her family?"
Isaac glanced at me. I knew he was asking my permission to tell her the truth, and I gave him a slight easy smile letting him know he couldn't mess up. His eyes shifted back to Kathy. "Yes, ma'am, I plan on meeting the Morenos. I'm looking forward to that."
