Heartbroken

Chapter Two

An hour later, after major help from Megan, Shay stood dressed in a pair of white pants, roped sandals, and an aquamarine halter top. Megan had applied make-up lightly on her face: shadow on her lids and blush on her cheeks. To add to the simple look, Megan had gently tousled her red hair so it framed her face perfectly. She stood outside her apartment, waiting impatiently for him to pull up and curiously wondered what kind of car he would be driving. The loud roaring of an engine caught her attention and ignited her interest. A sapphire blue Corvette raced around the corner and came to a lightning stop in front of her. Toya reached over and opened the door for her.

"Jesus Christ, you are rich!" she exclaimed as she climbed in next to him. She squealed as she almost shut the door on her sandaled foot.

"Not entirely," came the similar response. She whistled at the leather interior as she ran her hand over the console. Apparently he was rich if he could afford an apartment downtown by the Lake and a Corvette as well. And apparently he did not like to talk about it or even admit to it, either. He pulled away from the side of the curb and sped away. "How are you this morning?"

"Fresh," she answered, throwing her nose in the air. He laughed, reached over, and tousled her red hair affectionately. "Hey! I just fixed my hair."

"I know," Toya said with a small smile. From behind the sunglasses she had the sense that his eyes were still saddened. She bit her tongue and stared out the window, desperately wanting to ask him why he was sad. He asked, "Is something wrong?"

"No, not particularly."

"You look like you want to say something," he observed smartly. Shay nodded. "Well, go ahead. Ask me."

"No, it's nothing."

"Yes it is. Obviously something is bothering you. Feel free to ask me anything," he informed her with another small smile. She sighed and gave into his sweet nature.

"Are you sad?" Shay asked bluntly. Turning in her seat, she stared at him while waiting for an answer. He pondered it for a minute before responding.

"No, I am not. What gave you that idea?"

"Oh, nothing. It was just a question," she flopped back into her seat, facing forward and flustered. She really wanted to know what made his eyes look so puppy dog sad, but obviously he was not going to be telling her the truth any time soon. Either that, or he really was not sad and just had naturally sad looking eyes. She was betting on the first over the latter.

The restaurant overlooked Lake Michigan with a small veranda for customers to sit on. It was a small place that was elegantly decorated. Toya sat down across from her, smoothing down the front his emerald dress shirt as he did so. He had already helped her carefully into her seat. A smile graced his lips as a waitress came to bring them menus and glasses of water.

"May I get you anything else to drink?" the waitress asked hopefully, pushing her long black hair behind her ears. Shay arrogantly blew the hair from her eyes as the waitress flirted with Toya.

"I'm good with just water, thank you," she interrupted the flirting and batted her lashes serenely at Toya. He smiled once more and nodded in agreement.

"Thank you, but water is fine," he said. Almost sadly, the waitress sauntered away and stood at a good distance, waiting for the moment in which she could come back and assist him with his choice for a meal.

"She was flirting with you," Shay told him over the menu.

"Yes, I know that," was all he said about it. He looked over the menu, trying to decide on what he would like to eat. She took his silence as a fact that he was not going to discuss the issue further and decided to do the same.

"Everything is so… expensive," she murmured.

"Hm? Do not worry about it," Toya reassured her with another one of those smiles that she was starting to realize could make her weak in the knees.

"But—"

"I said, do not worry about it so do not worry about it, Shay," he told her sternly with a hard look that was probably harsher than he meant for it to be. She offered a meek grin and went back to the menu. In the end she settled for the fresh fruit plate while he had the endless minestrone soup with a side salad. Perhaps it was because they were both a bit nervous that they both decided to eat lightly. Either that or, like her, he did not want to make a heavy dent in his wallet.

"So…" she started, not quite sure where to go with the conversation. It was awkward to say the least because they had only seen each other once in their lives and talked twice since then.

"So," Toya repeated, setting his spoon down on the side of the plate underneath his soup bowl. "You go to University of Illinois at Chicago, correct?"

"Yes, I do."

"What are you studying?"

"Well," a smile overtook her face as she thought about what she wanted to do with her life. "I plan on being an English and Photography major. I want to go to graduate school for Journalism. I hope to do something with photo-journalism."

"Very admirable," he nodded and spooned a bit of soup into his mouth.

"What about you?" she questioned.

"I am done with school," he began. "I majored in International Business with a minor in Japanese. I graduated from University of Chicago."

"That's a good school," she made a face.

"What is the face for?" Toya raised an eyebrow and made his own face in response. "Is the food okay? If it is not I can get the waitress…"

"No, no! I like the fruit," she assured him. "It's absolutely amazing. I haven't had fruit this good in a long time. It's so sweet and perfect. Anyway, something is bothering me."

"What is it?"

"Will you be honest with me?" Shay met his steady gaze with her own serious one. He only nodded. "In truth, I just like to know, are you rich?"

He remained silent for a few minutes, just staring her down but she never adverted her eyes.

"Does it really matter that much to you?" Toya inquired softly, putting down his utensil.

"Well… not really, but this food… it's just so expensive and then your schooling and the Corvette and living at the Lake… it all costs so much…" she pointed out.

"Hardly," he smiled as her nose crinkled up in distaste.

"Can you ever give me a straight answer?"

"Of course not. Seriously, though, Shay, do not worry about it. You will be well taken care of. I promise that none of this is out of my price range. Can you settle for that?"

"I guess I can," Shay sighed in defeat. He smiled that smile and picked up his fork.

"Would you like to go out for dinner Friday night?" he asked in between bites of salad.

"Yes!" she practically exclaimed and almost spilled her drink down her shirt. She cursed quietly to herself. He just chuckled and took a sip of his water.

"At least that will not stain," he muttered. "So Friday it is."

"Yes, Friday," she agreed. She added in, "Not as erotic as Tuesday, but…"

"I could call you something very rude," Toya shot back.

"But you won't. You're too sweet for that," she gave him a big, fake smile and then let out a burst of laughter as he made his own face; one that made him look like he just swallowed a lemon.