A slender man with average height, dark skin, and light brown eyes put his wallet back into his loose fitting jeans. He wore a red T-shirt and steel-toed boots.
He was not at all the type of man that Elexis would be interested in. She tried not to look away from Bryan, her boyfriend of two years. He was the perfect partner for her. Solid, dependable, loving, well dressed. Bryan made life less scary.
But the man in steel-toed boots putting his wallet away, he scared her. Nothing about him screamed evil-ax-murderer. But he made her sit taller in her seat.
Elexis would glance over and see him alone at his table. She was careful not to stare too long. If she did and Bryan noticed, she would pinch her arm as punishment. She loved Bryan. She didn't understand why she kept looking at the other man, but she couldn't help herself.
Gnawing on the inside of her lower lip, she watched the waitress wish the man a good night. She told herself that it was a good thing that the man was leaving. Then she would probably never see him again, and she wouldn't have to feel as if she were cheating on Bryan, the man she truly loved, adored, and cherished.
Elexis sighed.
When the mystery man walked out of the restaurant, Bryan had been talking about work and had asked a question.
Elexis shook herself, "What? I'm sorry, darling. I was somewhere else for a second." Somewhere with a man who made her nervous.
Bryan looked down at his laced hands on the table; he was thinking. "You seem to do that a lot recently. I'm not boring you am I?"
"What?! No! No, no, I'm sorry. Really, Bryan, I just had a long day too and my concentration is shot."
His eyebrows lifted the worry from his face, "Oh! Well, what happened? Tell me about it."
Elexis shifted in her seat, "Oh, it was just another crazy day. Juggling personalities and all. Nothing special."
"Oh." The worry, which once was gone, turned around and settled back onto Bryan's brow. "Well, it must have bothered you quite a bit. I'm sorry for that." He paused a moment. "So, like I was saying, I thought we could go away for awhile. On a trip. To get away from work and spend more time...just the two of us..."
Elexis gave herself another pinch for having such terrible thoughts about another man when she had her own prince charming right in front of her. "Of course! That sounds like a wonderful idea. Where should we go?"
"I thought maybe an island somewhere. I know you love the beach, and it would be fun--carefree. We could build sandcastles and swim with dolphins."
Bryan told Elexis to buy herself a new swimsuit. He would take care of the rest.
No comments:
Post a Comment