Thanks for the awsome feedback guys.
linliz68: Welcome back Liz
I can assure you that Tess will keep her hands off of Max.
Don't hate me after you guys read this.
Chapter 4
I arrive at the café fifteen minutes later, wearing a dark green shirt with black dress pants that obviously Maria picked out. If I had had it my way, I’d be wearing blue jeans and I tee-shirt.
Now I’m waiting inside the café for my date. I suppose I’m anxious to see who Maria has set me up with this time. There had been several other occasions where she’s tried to hook me up with “the one” but have failed horribly. I love her dearly for thinking about me and wanting me to be happy, but does she really expect me to find “the one” when she pairs me up with 250 pound women who are former weight lifting champions.
I think not.
“Max,” Maria calls as she walks out of the backroom. “Your date just called and she said that she was on her way,” she says excitedly as she takes a seat across from me.
“Who is this mystery person and why do you look like you’ve just found the cure for the common cold?”
“I’m not going to tell you.” I pout as soon as she says this, but she doesn’t give in. “But I will say that you’ll worship me when you see who I’ve set you up with,” she reveals.
“Oh God,” I moan. “You have set me up with a drag queen,” I accuse as jump up from my seat. “Maria, I don’t know what you’re doing, but this is not my idea of a fun time. Where is it written that you must hook me up with these… these people? How hard is it to find a nice coffee shop and pick out a nice, normal woman?”
“Max, those women were nice. You’re just being picky.”
Picky? I want to strangle her right now. “I still haven’t forgotten about the time you set me up with that magician,” I huff as I slouch back into my seat.
“What was wrong with Ester?” she asks defensively.
“You mean Ester the Exceptional? Maria, the woman tried to saw me in half with the butter knife at dinner.” I hear her snicker behind her hand and I shoot her an evil glare. I really believe she does this for her own enjoyment. And it being that I have nothing better to do and I have no willpower, I’m the one she chooses to pick on.
“Oh,” she suddenly squeals. “I think that’s her pulling into the parking lot. I know you’ll like her. Break a leg,” she says as she backs into the backroom.
“I’ll break yours if you set me up with another circus freak,” I grumble. It really sucks that I’m not kidding when I say circus freak. Ever heard of the bearded lady, well I’ve dated her… twice.
The bell above the door chimes and I look up. My eyes are frozen to the sight standing at the door.
It’s her. The girl I’ve been hopelessly staring at for the past couple of weeks and it suddenly gets hotter in the room. She couldn’t possibly be my date, could she?
I look to the door leading to the backroom and Maria is standing there, with her head poked out, nodding with a proud gleam in her eye. I suddenly want to run and kiss her senseless. I settle for blowing her a kiss before I gather my nerves and walk up to my date.
I stare, taking in her beauty. She’s wearing a simple short black dress with thin spaghetti strips holding it to her attractive form. Her feet are clad in a pair of simple black high heel sandals. Her hair falls around her shoulders in tight curls and it makes me wonder if her hair is naturally curly.
“Hi,” she says. I just stare. I’m in a trance, captivated by her sparkling green eyes. She’s stunning and I think I’m drooling.
She gives me a funny look and I snap out of my daze and wipe my mouth… just in case.
“Hi,” I say, as I offer her my hand. “I’m Max. Max Evans.”
She graciously takes my hand and I lift hers to my lips. I marvel at how soft her skin is. “I’m Serena Sampson,” she says. She smiles and I think I’ve died and gone to heaven. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”
“Finally?”
She nods, her features reddening in a blush. “Yeah, I’ve noticed you in here with your friends, but I was always too shy to come up to you,” she explains.
I smile. “I’ve wanted to come up to you too, but you know… fear of being rejected by a beautiful woman can hold a man back.”
She smiles bashfully and twirls one of her curls around her finger. There is a short silence between us, and it takes me awhile to get over the fact that I’m actually here with her. She’s even more beautiful close up.
“So, did you have a place where you wanted to go in mind, or do you just want to stay here?” I ask.
“Here is fine,” she answers with a nod. I escort her over to a table and pull out her chair for her. I get a whiff of her hair and I have to stop my eyes from rolling into the back of my head in pleasure. She smiles appreciatively at me and I stand there, unable to move.
“Aren’t you going to sit down?” she asks with a giggle.
I give myself a shake when I notice she’s was waiting for an answer. “Huh? Oh yeah… I was just um…” Sniffing your hair like a madman? Yeah, that’ll get her into my arms.
“Are you okay?” she questions and I’m suddenly horrified at the fact that I might have said that out loud.
I play it off as if I don’t know what she’s talking about. “I’m fine. Why do you ask?” I’m surprised at how causal and calm I sound, when in truth, I’m a nervous wreck.
“Well, you were just kind of standing there, staring off to space. It this a good time? Maybe we should do this another night,” she suggests and she’s already grabbing her purse and about to stand.
“No!” I shout. She frowns at my sudden outburst and I affectively grab the attention of the few customers in the café. “I mean… I’m just nervous. I’m sorry if I seem somewhere else tonight.” She nods in understanding and settles back down in her seat.
“So, how old are you Max?” she says, trying to make conversation.
“I’m nineteen, twenty in August. I’d ask how old you are, but I’ve been belittled and beaten up by enough women who say that you’re never supposed to ask a woman her age or weight,” I answer and she laughs. It’s like music. “So if you want to tell me, that’s cool, if not, I didn’t ask.”
“I’m twenty. I’ll be twenty one in July,” she giggles.
“Ahh, so, I’m dating an older woman,” I nod approvingly and she laughs again. I feel her bare leg brush up against my pant clad leg and I surpass the urge to groan. I want so much to just reach down and run my fingers over her delicate skin. But when my hand is halfway there, I realize what I’m doing and I clasp my hands on the top of the table. “So, tell me about yourself Serena Sampson,” I say, trying to direct my mind away from her leg.
“Well, um there’s not much to tell. I’m your average American citizen, who works at a hotel,” she states.
“Which one?”
“Star Hotel,” she responds. “My dad owns it and I work there part time, you know, just to get a few extra dollars for school. Once I get my degree in business, he’s going to let me run the place.”
“That’s a nice hotel. I’ve only been in there a couple of times.” I wondered about her mother, but he didn’t want to seem like I was prying.
“Yeah, we make a pretty decent living.”
I can’t get the thought of her leg out of my mind and I scoot up closer to the table. I feel the outline of her leg pressed against mine. I think she notices too, because she glances up at me and smiles flirtatiously.
“So, what about you Max? Who is Max Evans and why hasn’t some girl already snatched you up?” She flashes a charming smile and I swear my heart skips a beat.
“Well, it’s probably because I’m too busy with work, school and staring at you,” I say as I reach across the table and gently touch her hand.
“Oh… looks like I have a charmer on my hands,” she says and that gorgeous smile of hers forms across her lips again. I’m melting. But before I turn into a puddle of goop, I straighten up and pull my hand away from hers. I realize that I’m getting in too deep, too fast and I’m reminded that she has no idea that I have a daughter. Serena is too good to be true and there has to be a catch. And that catch is probably that she might not be able to accept the fact that I have a daughter. Most women I’ve dated can’t.
Serena senses the change in my mood and she frowns because of it. “What’s wrong? I didn’t say something wrong did I?” she questions, and I can tell that she’s genuinely worried that she did something wrong.
“No,” I quickly reassure her. “Serena, I have something to tell you and its best that I tell you now before we… um go any farther,” I explain.
“Oh God.” Her eyes widen and she reaches forward to grab my hand gently. “Are you dying? Do you have some terminal disease?” she asks and I have to laugh at that. It was so far from what I was about to say.
“No. I’m not dying. But I do have a three year old daughter,” I pause to gauge her reaction. Her face is blank, so I continue. “I’d understand if you didn’t want to continue this, I-I just wanted you to know…” I drop my eyes, waiting for her to make up some excuse and run for the hills. But she does the exact opposite. She pushes her leg further against mine and my eyes shoot up to hers. Her green eyes sparkle and again, I’m caught in a trance.
“Do you have a picture of her?” she asks.
My eyes bug out of my head at the thought that she is accepting it and still wanting to try this thing we have out. “Um… yeah,” I stutter as I pull out my wallet and show her a small picture of Jasmine.
“Oh… she’s a gorgeous little thing. What’s her name?”
I’m still in shock and I sit there like a dope with my mouth hanging open. “Oh… mmm J-Jasmine. She just turned three in May,” I tell her as she hands back my wallet.
Suddenly, her smile disappears and she looks up at me in question. “So that means that there’s another woman involved here,” she concludes.
I’m abruptly overcome with emotion, anger and pain washing over me as I think about the woman who left Jasmine and I three years ago. “She’s not around anymore. She left us right after Jas was born,” I say.
Again, she reaches her hand across the table to grab mine and I feel myself relax. “I’m sorry,” she whispers.
I shake my head and offer her a small smile. “It’s okay. We’ve gotten by pretty good so far. She’s just tall enough now to climb onto my bed, so she’s learned how to jump on Daddy’s stomach to wake him up at two in the morning,” I laugh.
She laughs and I resume my melting process. “She sounds like a ball of fun. I’d love to meet her someday,” she suggests.
I’m beaming now, my smile extending the length of my face. And I think I’ve just meet a real angel.
********
The night air is warm and breezy and the sky is clear. Serena and I have been walking through the park for about an hour now, talking about anything that came to mind.
“So, I haven’t seen you around the UNM campus. I’m guessing you’re transferring this year,” I say as we make our way to a bench along side the cemented path.
She nods as she curls her arm around mine and she threads her fingers through mine. My heart is doing double summersaults and I can’t keep the grin off my face. “Well, my parents were divorced and I had been staying out in Chicago with my mom ever since I was twelve. She died of pneumonia when I turned eighteen,” she reveals.
“I’m sorry,” I mummer. She smiles in gratitude.
“I was already going to CSU so I didn’t want to come home. But my dad started to get sick so I transferred to UNM so that I could help him out.”
“So who’s that woman that sometimes comes into the café with you?”
“My aunt.”
I’m about to reply when my cell phone rings. I mumble an apology to Serena before I reach into my pocket and pull out my phone.
“Hello?”
“Max, thank God I caught you,” My mom voices on the other end of the line.
I’m immediately worried when I can hear Jasmine crying in the background. “Mom, what’s wrong? Is Jasmine okay?”
“She had a nightmare and she’s crying for you. Phillip and I tried to calm her down, but she wants you,” Mom explains.
I nod, even though she can’t see me. “Tell Jas I’ll be right over,” I say before I hang up. I turn to Serena and I can tell she knows that our date will have to be cut short. “I’m sorry, Jas had a nightmare and it freaked her out. I’m sorry to…” She cuts me off with a gentle finger to my lips.
“You have to do what you have to do. We can do this another time,” she replies and it was then that I realize that we’ve drifted closer, our faces mere inches apart. She smells so good and I can’t help but bring my hand up to her cheek and then move to bury my fingers in her bouncy curls. Her gaze travels lower as she leans forward to brush a soft kiss against my lips.
The kiss was quick and simple, but I felt it all the way to my toes. I pull back, not wanting to go, but knowing I had too. We walk in silence back to the café and I lean in again, this time, gently caressing her lips with my own.
“Maria has my number,” she whispers to me. “Don’t hesitate to call.” She walks away and disappears into her car. I watch as she pulls out of the parking lot before I head to my own SUV. I have a mind to go up to Michael and Maria’s apartment above the café to thank her, but I really have to get to Jasmine.
I reach my parent’s house a few minutes later. And as soon as I walk through the door, I feel a small body attaching itself to my leg. Once I pry her fingers away from my leg, I lift her into my arms.
“What’s the matter pumpkin?” I ask as I rub her back.
Mom gives me a towel to wipe her face and once Jasmine calms down enough, she stutters out what happened. “I saw da monster, Daddy. It was big and gween and it scared me,” she cries.
“Did you have Beanie with you?”
She nods and holds up the brown teddy bear. “He saw it too, but he wasn’t ‘fwaid ‘cause he’s bwave like you, Daddy,” she states as she buries her face in my neck.
“It’s okay pumpkin. I’m here now,” I whisper to her.
“I wanna go home wif you Daddy,” she declares against my neck. I look to my Mom and she already has her bags packed.
“I figured she’d want to go home with you,” she explains. “So, how was your date?”
“Was I the only one who didn’t know I had a date tonight?”
She smiles and I know the answer. “Why do you think I was so eager to keep Jas tonight?”
I roll my eyes and shift Jasmine higher on my hip and realize she’s already half asleep. “I’d better get her home. I’ll tell you later.” We say our goodbyes and Jasmine and I head home.
TBC……….
You probably have already figured out who Jasmine's mother is. I'm giving out Dreamer insurance right now. I swear this will be fixed by the end of the story. I won't torture you guys too much.
Tiffany
If you read this part before the site went down, then it's almost exactly the same as the part that got deleted.