Chapter 53
The moment that Spencer walked into the room, the woman's arms flung around his neck. He meekly smiled before pulling the arms from him. His eyes darted across the room, trying not to make any contact, as he went to the other side of the room to the small table and chairs. She stood at the open door somewhat shocked as he sat down.
"Uh, hi. I, um, came by since I had to leave in such a rush the other day. I wanted to apologize for that," Spencer said, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Oh, okay," she said slowly as she closed the door behind her and heading to the bathroom. "I hope you don't mind, I have to finish getting ready for tonight." She didn't wait for an answer; she went into the bathroom, not closing the door, and started applying her makeup. She yelled to him, "There really was no need to apologize. You're sister or whoever that girl was that you were with, just ran out. I would have apologized to her if I could have; I think I might have scared her with my overzealousness. I couldn't help it, I was happy and excited to see you again."
"Um, yeah about that… she's, um, she's my girlfriend."
She poked her head out of the doorway, looking at him wide-eyed, "You have a girlfriend?"
"Yeah. Her name is Amanda. We, uh, met in the beginning of November. We officially became a couple three weeks ago today."
Her jaw dropped and she then put her hand over her mouth. "Oh… I'm so sorry I had no idea."
He knitted his eyebrows. "There really was no way for you to know. You never gave me the chance to tell you."
She pursed her lips together before dropping the corners of her mouth then mouthing the word 'oops.' She turned and went back to her makeup application. After about a minute she spoke up. "Is she mad that you came to see me? I know I would be."
"She doesn't know. She's in New York on business with an employee. She wants to expand her salon in Fredericksburg. They'll be back on Saturday. Tomorrow is her birthday."
"You don't even get to see her on her birthday?"
"No. I didn't see her for Christmas, either. We did, however, see each other on New Year's Eve and since we live in the same building we pretty much see each other every day. Penelope Garcia, our tech analyst, and Juan, her friend and employee, are planning a surprise party for her when they get back."
"That's cute. She sounds pretty special to you."
"I guess so. We haven't known each other that long, really."
She sighed and threw her eyeliner back into her makeup bag. She leaned on the doorframe with a smile and crossed her arms. "I think she is. You really didn't even say hello to me, or ask how I was, or what charity event I'm in town for. All you've done was talk about her. I'm not saying anything is wrong with that; I think it's sweet that you like her so much. I wish it were me, but apparently I missed that boat. I am glad to see you happy, though."
He smiled out of the corner of his mouth. "Thanks. I guess I am happy. We, uh, we haven't really talked since that incident at the ice rink. I don't like seeing her upset like that."
"That's a good thing," she said as she walked over to him. She sat across the table from him and rested her forearms on it. "It means you care about her."
They sat in silence for a couple of minutes, periodically looking in the other's direction, until she spoke up again. "Would you like to get some dinner? I'm starving and they only serve terrible hors d'oeuvres at charity events."
"Um… yeah, sure."
As they walked down to the garage to his car, Spencer kept his eyes glued to the floor. He opened the car door for her, "I didn't come here to talk about Amanda. I did want to see how you're doing." She quickly got in checked her lip gloss in the pocket mirror she kept in her purse.
While they were on the way to the restaurant she had suggested, she told him of the things that had happened since the last time they saw each other. It, for some reason, slightly bothered him when she told him of the men she had dated.
After they ordered and got their drinks, he looked over to her and said, "You look nice tonight." He took at pause then quickly added, "Not that you don't look nice on any other night. I mean, you look particularly nice tonight."
She softly laughed. "You still like me don't you, Spencer?" She raised her eyebrow and smiled at him.
"I, um… what?" Her laugh got slightly louder. She reached across the table and put her hand on his. Nervously, he pulled back and ran his fingers through his hair. After a few awkward minutes, they were brought their dinners.
To break the silence, Spencer tried to talk to her about the sculptures at the garden where they had last seen each other. She interrupted him after three minutes. She told him she was only there to ice skate, that she was not interested in any of the art. She found it pretty but boring and did not care to know about the meaning or the artists. She enjoyed being with him and thought that the fact he was as smart as he is was quite attractive, but she didn't care about the sculptures. That was why she was skating and not looking at the art work. He looked back down to his meal, disappointedly, thinking that Amanda would never say such a thing and how much he appreciated that fact.
He took her back to her room after dinner, where she invited him to be her escort to the event later that night. He decline, citing that he had work in the morning. She suggested that he could just stay in her room that night, if he went to the event. He fumbled over the words, declining again. He began thinking about how upset Amanda had been and he began to feel guilty about coming back. He smiled and said goodbye. He quickly turned heel and walked away before she could say anything.
The streets were pretty empty on his drive home. He listened to the oldies station on the radio as he thought back to what had transpired. When he got home he wrote his mother before showering and changing into his pajamas. The next night of reading, if there was to be one, would be her turn. He wanted to hear her voice but he knew that she would be out or asleep. He listened to the saved voicemail she had left him of the note he had left in the Chekhov book two times. That night Spencer slept on the pillow and under the blanket that Amanda had made for him.
