Odette walked out of her house just a minute later than Jess' Uber had arrived, so he'd had time to get out of the car and wait for her, as it seemed the only appropriate thing to do. She'd texted him before, that Rory was home and she'd be right out, as if telling him not to come to the door. He wasn't sure what to make of it, but he let it go, assuming it was probably just the matter of not wanting to explain herself. He realized though that Odette probably didn't know that Rory knew of their earlier association.
"Well hello there," Jess, dressed in black, a grey suit on top, greeted her with his sneaky smile, as she stepped down the stairs in her mini skirt and a black chiffon shirt, her grey leather jacket over her shoulders. They almost matched. She'd added a low hanging minimalistic pendant and wore a pair of black suede wide heeled pumps that was one of the few pairs of heels she knew she'd be able to dance in, that still looked hot. "You look stunning," he added.
She kissed his cheeks, Jess stealing the third deeper kiss on the lips. It was almost beginning to be a trademark of his and she certainly didn't mind, especially now when she was relieved of having chosen a smudge proof lip ink for the evening.
"You've cut your hair," she commented, running her fingers through his hair that was now an inch and a half shorter, than he'd had the week before. "Looks good," Odette commented smilingly.
Jess led her to the car, his hand on the small of her back, opening the door for her with his other hand. While the motion of getting dressed up and being take out like this was not unfamiliar to her, not at all, even Logan had been in his position for the better part of the year before. Yet now with her newfound freedom the experience felt different. It was no longer the assumption of a standard date to her. She could tell Jess was trying to impress her, show his best side or his range even, but it didn't seem forced, rather just at the border of his comfort zone as far she knew, making a statement in turn, as she'd been the one last time to stretch her horizons a little. He wouldn't have really needed to do that, but she appreciated the gesture.
He took her to a trendy Italian fusion place on Madison Avenue. As she removed her jacket, it revealed her shirt back panel, which had half-see through lower half, exposing the curve of her back.
"And here I was thinking you couldn't look any more amazing," he whispered to her ear. There had been a week's worth of foreplay really, and this was just torture.
She smiled in response, each of his words making her gut flip just a little, while she tried to keep herself composed.
"So, did you get settled in?" Odette asked Jess, after they'd ordered their Shiraz.
"Half-unpacked, but yeah," he replied. His place was a mess, but it was livable already.
"I liked your place in Philly, definitely had a lot more character than the rental," she added.
"Definitely, but I think that place too is not quite me anymore," Jess replied.
"What? Feeling old?" Odette laughed at the thought of his bachelor pad.
"Nah, I still have some good years on me," he replied jokingly, just before their wine was brought to the table and the waiter took their order.
"How old are you anyways? You must be about Rory's age, right?" she asked, realizing for the first time that she might actually be quite a few years older than he was. He had a certain maturity to him, which had never really made her think about it before.
"It's funny you should ask that. I'll be 33 next week," Jess replied.
"And you weren't going to tell me?" she asked in a slightly disappointed tone, playfully, raising her eyebrows and at the same time feeling a little self conscious about her own age.
"I've never cared much for birthdays, usually just try to ignore them," he explained.
"We can't have that…," she scolded with a smirk, "come on, I'll celebrate with you, we can make it low key," Odette offered, knowing he'd still be in town the entire following week as well.
"Well that's an offer I can't turn down," Jess replied. He certainly wasn't going to argue with any suggestion which involved spending more time with her.
"How old do you think I am?" Odette asked carefully, knowing that it needed to be addressed at some point so he wouldn't be surprised if he found out later.
"Come on, my mother taught me better than that. I know that's not something you ever insinuate to a woman," he chuckled, shaking his head. "Besides, age is just a number. It really doesn't matter to me. If it was up to me, there would be no birthdays, just one continuous line of life," he added.
"Well I think it's fair you knew that I'll be 37 in the end of July," Odette confessed, taking a sip of wine.
"You don't look it, not by a long shot. But as I said, it doesn't matter," he confirmed. He had had his doubts, but not because of anything she'd said, done or how she looked - she looked a lot younger. But it was in fact the urgency of having a baby soon, that had made him a little suspicious that she might be. But when it came to everything else - he just didn't see the age, he saw a person.
The determinedness he'd said that with, relaxed her a bit. She knew there could be issues that the number could cause, but for now, she admired his stand and the way he'd managed to make her feel.
They continued to talk about what they'd done during the week. While they'd been in touch almost the entire time, they'd never really gone into the day-to-day, the way Odette spent her days actually coming as a surprise to him. To him it was rather unusual and a little intimidating that someone didn't have to work for a living, making him wonder a little how much ahead in life she was in fact compared to him even if it wasn't the type of money she'd earned all by herself. He knew already that he would lose that comparison and he wasn't doing to let it bother him, but it was still something that created an interesting comparison - and for the first time in his life, he understood how many women were treated differently because they dated wealthier men - and now it was him, while clearly not poor, but in a very similar situation. And if someone wanted to - they could suspect him aiming to take advantage of her, which of course he wasn't doing.
Odette explained how she'd worked before, almost to her breaking point at some time in her life, and that someday she might consider working again - whether it was in the same line of work, that was the current plan, or not… she still didn't quite know.
They were just about to finish their meal when all of a sudden Jess could see Odette's face freeze up as she barely managed to swallow the sip of wine she'd been enjoying, when from the direction of the entrance a woman's overbearing voice approached them.
"Odette, darling, it's been too long," a tall blonde dressed in a red cocktail dress addressed her, pretend-kissing her cheeks.
From the use of her old name Jess too became apprehensive, almost protective, just waiting for her que on how to react.
"Evelyn, I certainly didn't expect to see you. How are you?" she replied politely, but not overly enthusiastically, letting Jess know form the change in her pitch this wasn't a welcome meeting.
"Oh, I'm just having dinner with my fiance's parents this evening," Evelyn said, showing off the gigantic diamond on her finger.
"Oh my! Best wishes to you," Odette replied, glancing over Evelyn's ring, as it was appropriate.
"And who might this handsome man accompanying you be?" Evelyn asked.
Jess cleared his throat, taking the lead. "Jack Evans," he shook her hand politely as he rose.
"Very nice to meet you Jack Evans," she said. "Alright, I must return to our table, but we should definitely catch up sometime," she added, waving her hand in goodbye.
Odette waited until she was out of sight, before taking another large gulp of wine. It was clear that she'd been alarmed by the run-in.
"Shit," she muttered under her breath, her mind already running amock.
"You okay?" Jess asked, concernedly. "I gather this was not supposed to happen," he added, receiving a nod in return.
"You want to get out of here?" he asked.
"I think it would be wise," Odette replied, a touch of panic in her voice.
He paid their bill, and they hastily walked down the street minutes later.
"Fuck," she exhaled, angrily as they were a little more than a block away. Above all she was angry at herself. For being out in the open like that, for not being more careful. Perhaps New York had not been the best decision? Maybe she should've cut and dyed her hair? Maybe she should've told him not to take her anywhere fancy where she might run into someone she knew? But she knew that the latter was unrealistic - out of the 26 000-something restaurants in New York, it was pure chance they'd ran into her.
"Hey, it's going to be okay," Jess tried to assure her.
"She knows my brother. I'm not sure how much they are in touch but still. It could theoretically reach him that she saw me," Odette explained, breathing rapidly.
"Hey, she might have seen you but she doesn't know your new name, she doesn't know where you live," Jess spoke softly as he stroked her arms, trying to calm her.
"Jack Evans?" she asked with a questioning smile, after realizing that he was in fact making sense.
"Used to be my pen-name when I first started," he explained.
"That was some quick thinking on your end, thank you," she replied, feeling good that least Evelyn didn't have anything to go on other than the visual.
"Feeling better?" Jess asked, after giving her a comforting hug. He blamed himself a little, for having picked that exact place. But he knew that there was no way he could've known.
"Yeah," she sighed, wondering if and how she could be more careful in the future.
"Do you feel like going home or are you up for more?" Jess asked, with his crooked smile, hoping that she wouldn't just want to go into hiding.
She didn't want to let that event ruin her night. He was being so perfect, he looked really good and she certainly didn't want Evelyn, who was an incredibly self-obsessed person her brother had once dated, ruin her evening.
"No, I don't want to go home," she replied, having almost gathered herself. Instead, she wrapped her arms around his waist, his hands deciding on a comfortable position on her hips in response, and pressed her lips eagerly on his, knowing that the way kissing him made her stomach clench, was the quickest way to distract her. It certainly worked.
They took a cab to a club he knew. The place didn't look like much from the outside, but inside it was as if a completely different world: rough brick walls and large mirrors, chandeliers, mirror balls and an eclectic choice of lighting sources along with exhibits of taxidermy and abstract sculptures, with a slight touch of the 50's.
"This place is quite crazy, especially when they have performance artists, but they play an interesting choice of music," Jess explained after he'd ordered them some more wine. The place was certainly an interesting one, enabling them to talk amongst themselves side-by-side, his fingers travelling just slightly under the edge of her skirt under the table, just as a tease for now. They talked, drank and people watched - there wasn't just one type of people what wondered in and out of the place, rather a selection just as eclectic as the place itself. The DJ played 50's soul, 60's rock mixing in newer but somewhat more alternative dance music.
As they finished their wine Odette dragged him to the dance floor. He wasn't reluctant, it was his idea after all, but he enjoyed the way she took charge every once in a while. They dance to Little Richard, some catchy 60s rock she didn't quite recognize and the Kinks, among others. It was the kind of music that just enable to have fun and relax. It was when the DJ began playing slower music, Nouvelle Vague's "Dance with me" among them, when Odette began to feel fully in her element, letting everything go. The song was a perfect combination of French and something - everything - more, enabling them to really get lost in the music. The sound took over the lead, adding even more flirtation into the mix, the motions of their bodies becoming organic and in sync, forgetting everything else. The heat between them grew more powerful with every beat, her hips moving with his, into him, her hands reaching towards the ceiling, his holding on to her hips or just moving with her.
It didn't take long until they knew they needed to get out there. As they waited for their Uber to take them to Jess' place, which was closer, they made out in the dark corner by the entrance and his hand made his teasing path up along the inside of her thigh whenever other people weren't in sight.