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I can’t messthis up.
I also can’t stop from grinning as we make our way along the beach. It’s late, but there are some tiki torches lighting the path that we’re on and there’s a full moon providing light as well as we try to find a place to stop to have some dinner.
Part of me can’t believe that she agreed to all of this. This trip was a desperate measure to win over my girl, but I was fully prepared for her to tell me no and demand to be taken back to Los Angeles. It would have killed me, but of course I would have done it.
“How about this place?” I ask, pointing to the restaurant right on the water.
Chloe nods, looking a little sleepy, and I know that it’s been a long day for her. I need to get her fed and back home because I have big plans for us for the rest of the week.
I take Chloe’s hand and lead her into the beachside restaurant, asking for a table outside by the water. Her hand feels so good and right in mine that I don’t want to let her go when we take our seats.
“What are you hungry for?” I ask Chloe as we both open our menus.
“Hmm,” she says, pursing her lips as she looks over the menu in her hands. “Maybe the roasted mahi-mahi.”
I nod, deciding on the same and setting my menu aside so that I can focus on Chloe. I don’t have much time to show her that we’re perfect together.
I was getting so frustrated back in Los Angeles. I could see how perfect our lives would be together. I started clearing out my place so that there would be room for her to move in. I learned everything that I could about my girl and started adding touches that I thought she would like. I couldn’t wait to show it to her, only then she never took me up on any of my date offers.
The waiter comes over and we each order the mahi-mahi. I order us a bottle of wine, the Moscato kind that I know that she likes, and I’m rewarded with one of Chloe’s smiles.
“So, tell me about yourself,” I say.
“What do you want to know?”
“Everything, but we can start with the easy stuff. Family, childhood, that sort of thing.”
“Well, I have a sister. She lives in Sequoia right now. She just started college there.”
“Sequoia University?” I clarify and she nods. “So, she’s younger then?”
“No, she’s older. She has, er had, cancer, so she put off college until she was in remission.”
The waiter opens the wine bottle, pouring it into my wineglass and I go through the ritual of tasting it. I nod and he smiles as he fills both of our glasses.
I wait until Chloe has tried some before I ask the question that’s been on my mind.
“And what about you? You didn’t want to go to college?”
“Not really. Or not right now, anyway. I spent the last few years with Elodie. I took care of her, brought her to her doctor appointments, cleaned up her vomit after the chemo. I’m just burned out. I didn’t want to throw myself into classes and dorm life. I wanted a break.”
“So you started working for me.”
“Yeah, and I got my own apartment. I love my sister more than anything, but it feels like I’m finally starting to live my own life.”
“To living,” I say, raising my wineglass and clinking it against hers.
Our dinner is set before us and we both dig in. I learn more about her as we eat.
She was born and raised in New York City, went to the best private school in the city along with her sister Elodie. She doesn’t really talk about her parents that much and when she does, she doesn’t look happy to be discussing them.
I want to know more, but I don’t want to ruin the evening, so I let it be for now.
“What about you?” she asks as we wait for our dessert.
“What do you want to know?”
“Why hotels?”
