CHAPTER THREE---Let The Games Begin

Continued from A Second Chance


Richard had no backbone and he knew it. He never could turn her down and god knows he had tried many times. There was just something about the woman that got under his skin. He told himself it was just a simple attraction to her, a temporary loss of common sense that had blinded him. He only *thought* he was in love with her before he fled to Paris. After he could get his thoughts in order, he realized it was all just an illusion. He figured that as long as he kept distance between them, he was fine.

It was just dinner, after all. Just food eaten in the evening instead of at lunchtime. They ate lunch together quite often. So, he rationalized, it was almost exactly the same. His mind ran through all these frustrations while he stood at her door and she waited silently. He gave in and accepted the invitation.

Caroline beamed. "Great." She exclaimed. "I'll get the French bread if you'll put out the plates on the coffee table." She bustled around the kitchen, pulling out food and wine glasses. "How about wine, Richard?"

He just nodded as he followed her instructions. She set the food down on the low coffee table and smiled shyly at him. Self-consciously, Richard sat on the couch, Caroline on the floor on the opposite side of the table. He just stared down at his food for a moment, savoring the sight and smell of the rare treat of home cooked food. He was forced to eat out most of the time only because that corner of his room jokingly called a kitchenette could not really be used to put together anything more complicated than a can of soup. He was really tired of trekking around town looking for an inexpensive way to eat. He was having trouble keeping weight on his thin frame as it was.

"Richard, is everything okay?" Caroline watched anxiously, expecting the guy to bolt for the door any second. She was still trying to work out how she could date Richard without the guy actually realizing they were dating.

"Definitely." He started to dig in with relish.

Caroline watched the process. She noticed how his long slim fingers gripped the fork and knife. She watched how he pushed food against the back of the fork tines with the blade of his knife. Raising the food to his mouth, he chewed slowly. She must have shared food in his company hundreds of times but these small details had been missed. She had never noticed the shape of his hands or the way he cut small even sized bites. It was funny how love changed your vision, she mused silently.

"So, Richard, how old were you when you first learned to cook?" She took a bite of the chicken. "Wow, this is delicious." She said with honest enthusiasm.

He paused in his concentration. "Let's just say I was too short to reach the counter without the aid of a chair. And thanks." He took another bite. It was almost sensual in the way he shut his eyes and slowly chewed his food. Hot waves slithered across Caroline's cheeks and across the back of her neck. She decided it would be better to just look down at her own food and not at Richard.

"Well, tell me about it." She repeated. He opened his eyes and frowned with annoyance. "Richard, it's called being sociable. People converse during a meal. It's normal."

"Caroline, you should know by now that I'm not normal. When are you going to give up?"

"Never." She smirked.

Richard sighed dramatically. "Okay, I guess I was about four or five years old. My mother started drinking so I just started to cook things. Simple things I could find in the freezer. Whenever the food ran out, I managed to shame her into going to the market for more. That's it. End of story." He finished off the last bite of food and sighed again.

"So tell me about your grandmother." Caroline encouraged.

Richard picked up their empty plates and carried them into the kitchen. On impulse, he grabbed the bottle of wine and brought it over to the low table. Pouring wine into both glasses, he debated what he would say.

"My grandmother was my mother's mother, hard to believe they were related. Maybe mothering skips a generation, I dunno. She always gave me extra attention though. She encouraged me to follow my dreams of being an artist. When I was a teenager, she defended me to my parents. You should have seen the looks on their faces when my 98-pound grandmother started pointing her finger and screaming at them."

Caroline watched his face as he recalled his favorite relative. His usually stiff features softened. He spoke so gently that she could feel the love he had for the woman. She could only wonder what kind of a man he would have been if this woman had raised him instead of the dysfunctional parents she had met. On the other hand, would he have been the sarcastic, adorable Richard that made her laugh if he had come from a different family?

Richard twirled the stem of his nearly empty wine glass between his thumb and forefinger. "I left home as early as I could, supporting myself with demeaning little jobs. When I was in Europe, she passed away. Since my parents couldn't locate me, I didn't find out until I returned a year later." His features had hardened again. He poured himself another glass of wine.

"So you never had a chance to say goodbye to her. That's too bad. Everyone needs closure, Richard." Caroline had reached her hand out between them and laid it on top of his. He looked up at her, startled. She quickly pulled her hand away and bit her lip to hold back an automatic apology. She knew he didn't care to be touched. At least, by her.

"Caroline, it all happened a long time ago. I got over it like I've gotten over every rotten thing from my childhood. I don't need closure."

"But-"

"Caroline, I don't want to discuss it anymore, okay? Maybe I should head on home."

"No, don't leave yet. It's early." She desperately searched for something to keep him there. "I know. How about a board game?"

"How about a board game?" He echoed her question slowly without sharing her enthusiasm.

"Sure, it'll be fun." She had jumped up and ran over to a cupboard under the staircase. She sorted through a pile, debating which game would be best. Richard was rather surprised that he was still sitting on the couch instead of moving for the door. Truth be told, he had had several glasses of wine and was feeling extremely mellow and relaxed about now. Staying a few more minutes wouldn't hurt. Caroline was saying something but her voice was muffled as her head was inside the cupboard.

Walking back to Richard, she dropped a Scrabble game on the table and settled down across from him. He started to shift around nervously, his glance shooting around the room.

"Relax, Richard. It's just a game."

He caught himself and covered with his usual sarcasm. "I was just thinking of you and how you hate to lose. You don't want to play Scrabble with me." He stated matter-of-factly. "I'll slaughter you."

Caroline looked up at him in surprise. "We'll see about that. I'm pretty good at this game."

Richard regarded her for a moment. "Care to wager a little something?"

Caroline was hooked. "Exactly what do you have in mind?"

He mused to himself for a moment. "If I win, I take a day off work, paid of course. If you win, I'll work an extra day with no pay. Deal?"

"You'll work for no pay and no complaining? It's a deal." She reached out to shake his hand. He hesitated then shook hands. She noticed the hesitation but decided not to let it get to her. Caroline laid out the letter tiles face down, mixing them around. Both helped themselves to the game pieces, avoiding eye contact.

"Okay, ought to be a short game." Richard started first. He laid down his first word, Q-U-I-B-B-L-E. He added up his score and wrote 46. He looked up, pleased with himself. Caroline was staring, open-mouthed.

"Quibble, Caroline. As in, what you and I do all day long. And with two triple letters score, I get a 46. Your turn."

Caroline composed herself and looked at her letters. They were horrible. She put the chosen letters down.

"B-O-S-S, Richard. As in, what it sounds like." She wrote down a score of 12 points.

"Does that mean I have to let you win?" He helped himself to more tiles. He smiled. This was easy. He hadn't played this game in years but it was like riding a bike. At least, he supposed so since he had never ridden a bicycle. He laid down U-M-B-R-E-T-T-E. He added up his score of 20. That was low for him.

"Umbrette? That's not a word, Richard."

"Yes, it is. Are you challenging me?"

Caroline stopped, then shook her head.

"It's a bird, Caroline." He took more tiles.

"What did you do, read the dictionary for fun when you were a kid?"

Richard didn't look up as he answered, "I liked to read. Besides, it comes in handy when playing Scrabble games. Your turn."

After taking more letters, Caroline took another look at what she had. "Oh." She whispered. "Oh. Ohhhh." She started biting her lower lip.

"Okay, poker face, what have you got? Lay it on the table." Richard knew he sounded impatient. He just kept thinking he was having a good time tonight-and he knew he shouldn't. This had to stop and soon.

Caroline laid her letters on the board. She lined up the letters E and X next to one of Richard's letter S. Both sets of eyes stared at the small word as if it was alive. Caroline could feel her face color. She brushed it off. "Double letter score-18." She looked up and smiled at him.

Richard had regained his composure too by now. They played furiously, debating word choices and watching the other play. They were down to a few tiles now and it was Caroline's turn. She looked sheepish as she played her only remaining choice.

"C-A-T? That's the best you can do?" He actually grinned at her. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen him do that. She looked down at her two useless leftover tiles and placed the letter -S- at the end of the word.

"So there." She crossed her arms across her chest and grinned back at him. They both sensed the awkwardness at the same time. Richard cleared his throat.

"Okay, my score is 423. Yours a pathetic 279." He looked up at her. "I told you I would destroy you."

"Wow, Richard, are you this graceful when you lose too?" Caroline knew the reason for the low score was because she couldn't concentrate. She just wanted to watch him up close. It was as if she was really seeing him for the first time. Even so, she couldn't help but tease him. "Maybe you just cheated."

"I don't cheat, Caroline." He sounded offended.

"I think you do." She shot back at him.

"You're a sore loser." He was getting more agitated.

"You're a cheater."

Richard got up and headed for the door. "If you're so sure about that, why don't you demand a rematch, Caroline?"

Caroline started to tell him that she had just been teasing him and then stopped. All those hours she had spent on how to get him to go out with her and the excuse was handed to her by Richard himself. She put on an offended look.

"A rematch? Bet on it."

"Double or nothing?"

"Next Saturday. This time, I'll make dinner." She grabbed his hand and shook it.

"Deal. See you Monday."

"Right. See you Monday." She echoed. She smiled at the backside of her door as it closed.

Richard stood in front of the closed elevator door. What in the world had just happened? A rematch? What was WRONG with him? He shrugged, thinking it must have been the wine. It wasn't until much later that he realized his careless comment was his second mistake.

* * * * * * *

Annie stumbled into Caroline's loft for her usual cup of java, the only thing that could wake her in the morning. Besides a sleepover guest, that is. Since her thoughts usually ran in this particular order, the subject of Caroline and Richard naturally followed in this progression. She had found herself stuck between doing what she really wanted and doing what was right. A quandary, to be sure.

She had stupidly, STUPIDLY, she repeated to herself, promised Caroline she wouldn't tell Richard of Caroline's new found feelings. She had stupidly promised Richard she wouldn't blab about that love letter of his.

"Hey, guys. Hope you have plenty of that dark brown stuff this morning." She yawned widely. She poured herself a cup, spilling some on the counter because she was too busy eyeing the two of them. Sitting on either side of the huge desk, both were deeply engrossed in their work. Even Caroline had barely looked up from her work. How boring. She yawned again.

Annie wandered over to their desk.

"So, Ritchie, whatcha doing?"

"Ignoring you. That should be obvious to you by now."

"But that's so boring." Elbows on the desk, she rested her chin on her hands and leaned over the strip he was coloring. He quit coloring, laying the pencil down.

"Okay, little girl, why don't you go outside and play in the street, a really busy street. Mom and I are busy working." He didn't realize the implication of what he said but Annie picked up immediately.

"Mom and I?" She repeated. "Hmmmm. That sure gets the imagination going. If I don't, are you going to spank me?" She grinned at him mischievously.

Caroline had been quietly listening to this exchange. Now she had to interfere.

"Annie, don't bother your father. He's working."

"Yes, Mom." They looked at each other, trying to suppress their laughter and failing miserably.

Richard laid his pencil down again with a decided thump. "Caroline, whatever happened to that pact we had last year of separating YOUR private life from our business life? I still can't concentrate with Annie in here all the time." He was angrier than he should have been but he preferred the quiet. The biggest thing was his general distrust of Annie when she was in this kind of mood. She knew too many of his secrets. Any minute she could just open her lips and something embarrassing would fall out. Right in front of Caroline. The thought practically made him squirm.

"Since when do you have to concentrate to color inside the lines, Pops?" Annie, undaunted, started playing with some of his pencils.

Something inside of Richard just popped. He always felt that he was outside the loop when it came to Caroline and her friends and this seemingly private joke about him between them brought it up again.

"Caroline, something has got to change around here-" He started to shout.

"Richard, quit yelling. It's not that bad." The tone of her voice was rising to meet his.

"Well, I don't know how else to get your attention-" He was standing next to his chair now.

Annie whistled. Both were standing and leaning slightly across the desk, glaring at each other.

"Now, now. I hate to see my parents fighting. It could seriously warp me. I think you two should just kiss and make up." Annie crossed her arms, smiling and just waited. "Go ahead. One big kiss. I want to see it."

Richard's eyes grew wide and Caroline seemed to pale a bit, then sat back down. Both returned to their work but Annie wasn't through yet.

"Aren't you two bored with this whole routine? I know I am." She teasingly placed one hand over the picture Richard was coloring. He calmly continued drawing his red marker across her hand and up her arm.

"Hey!" Annie jerked her arm away, scrutinizing the damage. Richard couldn't help grinning. Score one for him.

"Annie, why don't we go over to your place. I need to borrow my blouse from you." Caroline was guiding Annie by the shoulder out the door and safely into her own apartment.

"Annie, can't you stop teasing us?"

"Naw, it's too much fun. Besides, you're too slow. I want to see some action, girl. If you want the guy, go for it."

Caroline sank down on Annie's sofa. "Annie, I have to go slow with Richard. Really slow or I'll scare him away. Somehow I have to get him to date me without knowing he's dating, if that makes any sense. And I think I've figured out how."

"He'll be comatose?" Annie grinned broadly. "Now that gives you some interesting possibil-"

"Annie, forget it. Just don't rush it, okay? Promise me?"


* * * * * * * * * * * * *


Next Saturday followed the routine of the previous Friday night. Just as she promised, Caroline made a dinner to be proud of. Because she wanted it to be perfect, it took hours. Instead of being impressed he was just sarcastic.

"Wow, I didn't know you could really cook, Caroline. I thought it was just a wild rumor you started to get a date."

"Very funny, Richard. Of course I can. I don't think you're allowed to LEAVE Wisconsin until you can cook. Besides, we had six month winters so what else could I do?"

"Ahhh, those Wisconsin winter stories. Remind me to never return to that frozen tundra. Once was enough." He shuddered with the memory of that trip to dedicate Caroline's park. He wandered over to her coffee table and sat down on the floor in front of it.

Instead of Scrabble, she pulled out a checkers board. Both of them sat facing each other cross-legged in front of the coffee table. It already felt like a familiar routine. Richard had to keep reminding Caroline that it was her turn again. She managed to make a little headway on the game but her mind wasn't really on it.

"Richard, tell me more about your grandmother. You must have really loved her."

Richard hesitated several minutes, lips pursed together. He never talked to anyone about his personal history. It left him feeling vulnerable, wide open to hurt. He had found over the years that it was easier to keep himself shut off. For some unexplainable reason, he found it difficult to keep his mouth shut around Caroline, starting with the very first day of work when he just had to blab about Julia. He shook his head in disgust with himself. Caroline noticed this.

"Well, if you don't want to, that's okay, I guess...." Her voice wandered off.

"No, no it's okay. Hmmm, my grandmother..." Richard began to recount times with his favorite relative, leaving Caroline laughing and forgetting completely about the game of Checkers they were supposedly playing. Once again, Caroline had to marvel at the sensitive man underneath the cynicism that seemed to possess him most of the time. She didn't want the evening to end.

Just as on the previous Friday, she lost again.

"Caroline, I don't think you were concentrating on the game. Got something on your mind?"

"Um, no, not really. This was fun. How about next Saturday? I'll make dinner again or we can go out to eat if you want..."

Caroline's voice wandered off as she noticed Richard's expression.

"Or not." She finished.

"Dinner?" His voice cracked a little.

"Well, yeah, who wants to cook for one anyway? It'll give me an excuse to practice my cooking."

Richard looked down at the ground, a motion that was becoming a habit. It made it difficult to read him. "Sooo, just killing some extra time as friends, right?"

Caroline's eyes widened. "Of course." She lied. "As friends." She smiled widely at him out of habit as she always did, not because she felt like it.

"Well, if you're sure that's what you want to do. I'm sure something else will come up by then. Feel free to cancel, it won't bother me." He announced casually. Caroline thought it a little TOO casual. He waved goodbye at the door.

"It's a date." Caroline murmured to the back of the closed door, sighing with satisfaction.


CONTINUED IN CHAPTER FOUR-THE WITCH