CHAPTER 8
Bobby pulled up to the Drake Hotel and turned his keys over to the valet. He stood outside for a minute, wishing for a moment that he hadn't given up smoking. He reached for his cell phone and dialed Sarah's cell phone.
"Hi Bobby, are you almost here?"
"Actually I'm right outside. I just gave my keys to the valet."
"Grrr… Bobby, you were supposed to call me when you got close, so that I could meet you in the lobby. I'll hurry and be right down. Oh, we have a reservation for dinner in about half an hour, I thought we could get a drink in the bar while we wait."
"I'll see you there." Bobby asked the doorman where the restaurant was. It was across the lobby and down to the left. He passed the restaurant on the way to the bar, so he stopped to double check on the reservation.
"Good evening, sir. Can I help you?"
"I hope so. You have a reservation for Stevens for 7:30?"
"Let me check." The hostess ran down the list of names in front of her. "Um, no sir, I don't have a reservation under that name for any time and we are fully booked." She looked up apologetically.
"What? Oh wait, is there a reservation under the name of Goren, for the same time?"
"Yes, that's better. 7:30, a table for two." This time she looked up with an expression full of relief.
"That's right. We'll be at the bar."
"Let me give you a pager. It will vibrate, just like a cell phone. If you haven't finished your drink, you're welcome to bring it with you from the bar."
He took the pager and slipped ii into his jacket pocket. "Thank you."
The bar next to the restaurant was a quiet and refined place in dark wood with soft lighting. A couple of men were sitting at the bar watching ESPN on the TV hanging above the bar. He sat at a table with a sight line to the entry, so that he'd be able to see Sarah as she came in. As he sat down a waitress came over.
"Can I get you a drink, sir?"
"Yes, I'll have a double Glenlivet, neat, and a double Bombay martini, dirty, straight up with four or five olives on the side."
"We have blue cheese stuffed olives or regular pimento stuffed. Which would you prefer?"
A voice from behind the waitress said, "Oh, I'd love the blue cheese stuffed olives." Sarah had come up behind the waitress while Bobby was ordering.
"Blue cheese stuffed it is. I'll get this right out to you." The waitress smiled as she walked over to the bar to give the bartender the order.
Bobby stood, his heart was racing, and his palms were sweaty. "Sarah, you look… amazing."
Sarah, who was just as nervous as Bobby was, replied, "Well thank you. That's… that's what I was going for. Amazing. You look pretty good yourself."
Bobby plucked at the lapel of his jacket as he said, "What this old thing?" Bobby stepped forward to pull out Sarah's chair. As he did, he caught the scent of her perfume, Valentino. He'd never told her, but that scent always made him weak in the knees.
"How 'bout a hello hug?" Sarah asked as she set her evening bag down on the table.
She reached out for him and as he stepped up to the embrace, she smelled his cologne. He was still using Varvatos Vintage. She'd suggested he try that not long after they started seeing each other. She loved the scent on him. The combination of Vintage colognei, soap and Bobby was powerful.
They sat and Sarah looked closely at Bobby. "Well, it's kind of hard to tell in this dim light, but you do, you look really good. Things must be working out for you." She could see that he'd lost some of the extra weight she'd noticed when he was in L.A.
"Not too bad. Work is work, about the same as always, all consuming. We're working with a new captain, Deakins retired. Other than that, I've got no complaints."
"Deakins retired. Wow, wasn't he a little young to retire?"
"He had his time in, and there were some other things going on. He was set up by a former cop, they played it out that Deakins covered up for one of his detectives on a bad shooting, and no, it wasn't me." Bobby added before Sarah could ask. Bobby looked up and grinned as Sarah dipped her head as she realized she was staring at him. "He rationalized that it would be easier and better for the department to just walk away, so that's what he did."
"That's so unfair. I know you really liked him. It must have been hard to see him go through something like that."
"Eames and I tried to get him to fight it. But he was really worried about the morale of the department and the squad if he chose to fight it, so he walked away. He and Karen have moved up to Mount Kisco and is working with the local PD on a consulting basis."
"Mount Kisco? Wow. It really is a small world, isn't it?" She thought about her connection to Mount Kisco.
"I don't know about small, but deeply intertwined."
"That's no joke."
The waitress returned with their drinks and a small plate of olives. As she placed the small plate between Bobby and Sarah, she said, "I brought a few extra olives, they're really good,"
Sarah smiled up at the woman and said, "Oh, thank you so much. That's really nice of you."
Sarah picked one up and took a small bite to taste it. "Oh Bobby, you've got to try one of these. She's right, they're great." She popped the rest of the olive in her mouth and reached for her drink.
Bobby passed but he did pick up his drink and take a big gulp from it. This didn't escape Sarah's notice.
"Are ya a little thirsty Bobby?" Sarah asked.
"Just a little, I'm better now." Bobby's eyes crinkled over the top of his glass as he smiled. "So tell me some book tour stories. I'm sure you've got a hundred."
"A hundred and one." Sarah said as she grinned back at him. Sarah started to recite a litany of crazy events that had occurred from Los Angeles all the way across the country to New York.
The pager from the restaurant started vibrating its way across the table. "I guess our table is ready." Sarah continued her recitation as Bobby threw a few bills on the table and started to pick up their drinks.
"Oh, sir, I can take those over to the restaurant for you." The waitress came over carrying a small tray and placed both drinks on it. "Follow me, and we'll get you all set up over there."
