***A Week Later***
Jennifer's article had taken off like a rocket. Only thing was, she wasn't writing under her name. She was writing under the name "Miss X". The article had gone over so well, that her boss had offered her a weekly lifestyle column. She had made him promise that her identity would be kept secret, and he agreed.
Everyone in the newsroom was talking about the new Miss X column, and trying to figure out who it was.
She had decided to make the column all about different topics in the area of love and relationships, dating and marriage.
Her first article, about people who have just a physical relationship without an emotional one, and whether or not that was really possible to do, had garnered more positive response than the paper had ever gotten. Her second article was going to be more of the same-about how to know when to say yes to a first date.
It practically wrote itself, and she was finished with it in no time. She decided to work on another story to have them publish, to help obscure her identity.
She worked steadily till 4, and then checked out and headed home.
***Jennifer's Apartment***
Jennifer came inside and put on her bikini and sat on her balcony for a little bit, soaking up the sun. She ended up taking a little nap, and only woke up because she heard the phone ringing.
She hurried inside to get it.
"Hello?"
"Hey, it's Susan. Laura and Vanessa and I are having dinner tonight, and we wanted to know if you wanted to join us".
"Sure, I'd love to. Do I have time to grab a quick shower?"
"Sure. Why don't we meet in an hour? You can come to my house and then we'll pick up the others".
"Great. I'll see you then".
"Wonderful".
Jennifer hung up and got ready and then headed to Susan's house.
***Susan's house***
Jennifer arrived right on time, and then she and Susan headed to get Laura and Vanessa.
They ended up at a Mexican restaurant, and all ordered margaritas.
Pretty soon, they were all talking about men.
"So, Vanessa, I saw Bill checking you out the other night".
"You did? He's cute, but Jonathan's way cuter".
"Jonathan is cute. I just wish he wasn't such a playboy".
"He's a really good guy when you get to know him".
"What about Bill?"
"He's nice, has a very kind and decent side, but he's extremely old-fashioned when it comes to women".
"With Jonathan's blue eyes and gorgeous smile, I'm shocked he's not married yet".
"Same here".
"I know someone who went on a date with him. She said he pulled out all of the stops and made it extremely romantic. And even though he was nice, she didn't think he would be able to top it, and he was so quiet and shy, that's why there wasn't a second date".
"What was your first date with Drew like?"
"Fun, I suppose. He took me to a sports bar, and we watched 3 football games and had wings and beer".
"How sweet".
"Yeah, it wasn't bad. I much preferred that over a stuffy formal restaurant where you have to whisper to each other at the table."
"Ideal first dates. Jennifer, you start".
"Dinner and dancing".
"Oooh, that's good. I like dinner and a drive up the coast".
"That's great too".
"I love simple dates, like a picnic in the park, or cooking dinner at home, and renting a movie".
"That's another good idea".
"My favorite dates from when Drew and I were dating, weren't exactly dates. I was busy with med school, and working at the hospital till 10 or 11 each night. Drew was working and in school to get his business degree, so literally the only time we had to spend together was late at night. So, we had a system. He passed my complex each day on his way home. If I was home, and wanted company, I would open the balcony doors. If he drove by and saw my balcony doors open, he knew he could knock and come see me. He usually spent the night on those nights".
"That's so romantic, like a secret code".
"Yeah, I thought so too".
By the time they left the restaurant, Jennifer was feeling good. Girl time was so good for her soul.
Susan drove them all home and then she and Jennifer headed back to her house.
"Thanks for the invite. This was so fun".
"Yeah, I agree. This house is so lonely when Drew is gone, but it's lonely when he's home too. I love girl nights".
Jennifer chuckled.
"I will see you soon".
She drove home, and sat on her balcony for a bit. The crisp night air felt really good.
She kept staring where the shirtless man usually was, but didn't see him.
After a while, she went inside, and headed to bed.
***The Next Day***
Jennifer was at work, hard at work on her next column installation, when she got a delivery of flowers.
One dozen white roses, with purple baby's breath, in a bright pink vase.
The card simply said "Hope you are having a good day".
No signature.
Hmmm….I wonder who this could be.
She got back to work, and put it out of her mind.
Around 5, she clocked out and headed home.
She went for an afternoon run when she got home.
As she was running back towards her gate, there was a car in the distance coming up behind her.
She didn't pay it any attention and just opened her gate and closed it behind her.
***Jonathan***
Jonathan was driving home, listening to the radio. He noticed a redhead running up ahead of him as he turned onto his street.
'I think that might be Jennifer', he thought to himself as he watched her go through the gate.
It made perfect sense. He knew she used the running trail, so that meant she had to live close by. He knew she liked running, and this woman had red hair and was definitely running.
He pulled into his driveway and opened the garage.
He tried to figure out how he felt about her all night long. Bottom line is, he couldn't get her out of his head.
***A week later***
Jennifer and Jonathan hadn't spoken since he saw her in the park that day.
He was at the office, when Deanne told him he had a phone call.
"Hello, this is Jonathan".
"Hey, it's James. Laura said she was going to invite the girls to go to a wine-tasting tomorrow night, so I figured I would have everyone over for poker. You in?"
"I'm in."
"Perfect. 6 p.m. I'll order some pizza, and everyone is bringing their own beer".
"Cool. See you then".
***Jennifer***
Jennifer was across town, at work. She had just gotten back from lunch when her phone rang.
"Hello, this is Jennifer Edwards".
"Hi, it's Laura."
"Hi! How are you?"
"Great. I have tickets to a wine-tasting tomorrow night, and Susan and Vanessa are going. Want to go with us?"
"Sure, I would love to. Thank you for asking".
"Wonderful! Your apartment is on our way, so we can swing by and pick you up. We'll pick you up at 6".
"Great, that sounds good".
They hung up and Jennifer got back to work.
***The Next Day***
Jennifer got home right at 5:30, and hurried and got ready. She picked a raspberry colored skin-tight t-shirt dress and beige strappy wedges. She threw on some gold necklaces and then quickly switched to a gold clutch.
She had just finished when Laura knocked on her door.
"Come in".
"Hi….oh cute place!"
"Thank you. I love it".
"I bet".
They headed out and picked up the others, and then arrived at the wine-tasting.
For the next two hours, they tasted over 50 wines. Jennifer found a black cherry zinfandel that she loved, and also a pomegranate Moscato that she declared to be her favorite.
They headed back to Laura's house to have dessert, and found the men still in the kitchen.
"Hey ladies…how was the shindig?"
"It was great. We brought some back with us. How's the poker game going?"
"Valentine is cleaning us out. What did you bring back?"
"One bottle of Black Cherry Zinfandel, one bottle of pomegranate Moscato, and one bottle of strawberry chardonnay".
The ladies poured themselves a glass of black cherry zinfandel.
"Anyone up for some banana pudding?"
All the men said yes, and all the women agreed as well.
Laura served up the dessert and the ladies all took some to the men.
Laura took James his plate.
"Now isn't that just beautiful! The way it should be-a wife serving her husband. To beautiful wives and happy husbands".
All the men clinked beer cans.
Jennifer bit her tongue.
The ladies took their dessert to the living room.
"Ok, please forgive me for asking. I don't mean to talk bad about anyone in someone's home, but Bill-is he always so obnoxious?"
They all nodded their heads.
"Glad it's not just me".
"He's special. Let's just leave it at that".
Jennifer chuckled.
"I swore after my last relationship ended that I would never in my life ever enter into another one again as long as I live, but if I do, and my husband treats me like that, he will be single before sunrise".
"Amen to that".
They stayed another hour and then started to head home.
Jennifer helped Laura clean up the kitchen and do the dishes.
"Thanks for your help".
"No problem. Can I borrow your phone to call a cab?"
"You don't have to do that, I'll be glad to take you home".
She turned towards Susan.
"Are you sure?"
"I'm positive".
"Thank you, that's sweet".
***Two hours later***
Jennifer was in her pajamas, making some tea when she heard a knock at the door.
She cautiously went and answered it and found Jonathan on the other side.
"Hi, what are you doing here?"
"I came here to talk to you. May I come in?"
"Certainly".
She let him in and then shut and locked the door behind him.
"I was just making some tea, do you want some?"
"No thank you".
She poured some water in a mug and then put the tea bag in and then covered it with a saucer.
"So, what can I do for you?"
"This".
He grabbed her face and kissed her before she could even react. She reached up and held onto his arms as she kissed him back.
He finally broke the kiss a few minutes later.
"I've been wanting to do that ever since I met you, really, and especially since I saw you tonight".
"I…I don't know what to say".
"Let me take you to dinner."
"Jonathan, it's almost midnight".
He chuckled.
"Ok, so maybe I didn't mean now. I might have meant tomorrow".
"Tomorrow works".
"I'm crazy about you, and I promise you, I'm nothing like Bill".
"I know that. I wouldn't have let you in if I thought you were".
He leaned down and kissed her again, and she wrapped her arms around his waist.
"I want to show you something".
He took her hand and led her to the living room and started looking for the balcony.
"I might be mistaken. I thought you had a balcony".
"I do, it's off the bedroom".
She led him to it and opened the door.
He stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. She reached up and grabbed them.
"You see that house over to the left with the balloon on the mailbox?"
"Yes, I do".
"That's my house".
"Are you sure?"
"I'm positive. I live there".
It started to sprinkle, so they headed inside.
They sat on the couch, and he put his arm around her.
"How did you know you could see your house from here?"
"I saw you running one day, as I drove home. I was almost positive it was you, even though I never saw your face. So, I decided to take a chance. I figured you were pretty close to my neighborhood somehow, since you use the neighborhood trail".
"My gate is the one with the bow on it".
"Good to know".
"Jonathan, can I ask you something?"
"You can ask me anything in the world".
"Did you…send me flowers last week?"
"Yes, I did".
"Thank you, they were lovely".
"You're welcome".
"Why didn't you sign your name to the card?"
"I was afraid you would be offended if you knew they were from me, since it was right after you and Bill had the Frosty argument".
"Ugh, I hate that nickname".
She was quiet for a moment.
"Are you sure you want to go out with me? I mean, it just seems as if our beliefs are very different".
"They aren't. I promise you-Bill's beliefs aren't my beliefs. I agree with him sometimes to get the subject changed or to avoid an argument, but I would never, ever treat a woman I was really interested in the way he suggests women should be treated".
"I'm glad to know that, but there's another reason why I was asking you if you really want to go out with me".
"What's that?"
She leaned over and got a stack of magazines off the coffee table.
She turned to all the pictures of him out on the town.
"See her? She's about 40 pounds skinnier than me, and I promise you, those are implants. And this one-at least 5 years younger, and a good 25 pounds less than me. And this one-she most definitely has implants, and I'm willing to bet those are extensions. Now look at me. My hair is short, and red. Not a redhead in any of these photos. I'm a good 20 pounds heavier than all of them, mostly more than that. I don't have fake anything, and I work in the press, but I'm not a big fan of being in the press. I don't fit the mold, Jonathan".
He took her hands and kissed her fingers.
"That's precisely why I want to go out with you and spend time with you. You aren't fake at all. And I would have no way of knowing if you or them had fake anything or implants or whatever, but what I can tell is that you have substance-they don't. There's a reason that you don't see me with a lot of second dates and the reason for that is those girls aren't interested in me for me-they are interested in my money."
"You have a lot of money or something?"
"Have you ever heard of Hart Industries?"
"Yes, I have".
"I'm Jonathan Hart, the CEO and founder."
Jennifer put her hand over her mouth.
"Oh my gosh…I had no idea".
"You mean the Hart Industries logo on the side of my plane didn't clue you in?"
"I was so tired, I didn't look at it. I thought it was your company plane, but I didn't know you were the company".
"What did you think I did for a living?"
"I really didn't know. I knew you were a businessman of some kind, but I didn't know what your actual profession was."
"You have no idea how glad I am to hear you say that".
He leaned over and kissed her again, slow and romantically.
"I better go, or else I won't go. I'll pick you up tomorrow night. Does 6 work?"
"Yes. How dressy of a place do you want to go to?"
"Nice but not formal".
"Got it".
He stood up and then helped her up.
He took her hand and led her to the bedroom, and made sure the balcony doors were closed.
"Is the gate locked?"
"Jonathan….I'm a grown woman. I know how to lock doors".
"I'm sorry. I just want to make sure you are protected, that's all".
"I appreciate it".
"I don't have a gate lock, but I should probably get one. I always lock the door up here though, and at night, I lock the one from the patio to the garage".
"Good job".
He kissed her forehead and hugged her for a moment.
"I'll see you tomorrow night".
"I can't wait".
She locked the door behind him, and then turned out the lights and headed to bed, with the biggest smile on her face.