Invitation Only and Grand Farewells

Chapter: 2

He knew better than to allow Mary to go alone to Chicago with Sue Ann. It was a recipe for disaster. So Lou took the first flight out. When he called Mary the last thing he expected was to hear drunken laughter in the background. It sounded like there was a party in her hotel room. And he couldn't decide rather he was being overprotective or incredibly jealous.

He didn't really have a plan, he just wanted to see her. And he was willing to do whatever it took. The plane ride was only an hour but it was more than enough time for several scenarios to run through his head. None of which he liked.

When he reached her room he took a few seconds to gather himself. The last thing he wanted to do was lose his temper. He knocked on the door and waited for some sort of response.

And when he didn't get one he did the only thing he could think of. He went down to the front desk and asked for a key to her room, telling the young man that Mary was his wife and he wanted to surprise her.

Lou went back upstairs and let himself into her room. He fixed himself a drink and tried to make himself comfortable. "Maybe she just went out for dinner." he mumbled to himself. "I hope."

Seconds turned into minutes and minutes were evolving into an hour. Lou was pacing the floor, his third scotch in his hand. More scenarios dancing through his mind. He glanced at the clock. It was almost ten and still there was no sign of Mary.

He could feel his temper flare. This was most definitely jealousy. There was absolutely no room for doubt or denial at this point. He heard the sound of shuffling outside the door and then watched as the lock on the doorknob turned.

His heart raced. And he prayed that she was alone. That she hadn't met tall, dark, and handsome. That he hadn't swept her off her feet. And more importantly that she wasn't about to take him to bed with her.

"Mr. Grant, what are you doing here?" she asked, closing the door. "And how did you get in here?"

"With a key." he polished off his scotch.

She slipped off her heels as she made her way across the room. "Something wrong?"

"Where were you?" he was a little curt with her.

Odd line of questioning. "Having dinner." she dropped her shoes next to the chair.

He noticed that he was still pacing and stopped mid step. "Alone?"

"No." she replied. "Sue Ann forced me to go with her and these two men she found wandering the hallway." he was tense, she could sense it. "Why? Is this about the phone call?"

"You mean the phone call where all I could hear was giggling and drunken laughter in the background?" it was almost as if he were angry with her. "That phone call, Mary?"

Mary nodded. "So that's why you're here." she said. "You're checking up on me."

"No, I'm not checking up on you." he sat his glass down on the dresser.

She couldn't quite read his motivation. But surely he hadn't flown to Chicago to check up on her, he would have just called back. "Okay, I'll ask you again. Why are you here?"

"Why do you think I'm here?"

Mary arched an eyebrow as he made his way over to her."What exactly did you think was going on?"

"I don't know." he said. "I knew that Sue Ann was with you and you know how she is. Especially with men."

"And what you think that Sue Ann rubbed off on me?" she asked with a laugh. "Seems like you've wasted a trip."

Lou loosened his tie. It was suddenly a thousand degrees in the room. "I wasn't sure what I was going to find when I walked in here."

Mary tilted her head to study him. "Are you jealous?" she asked, uncertain. He didn't answer. "What the hell, Lou?"

That was prompt for a response. "What makes you think that?"

"Oh, I don't know." she sighed. "Could it be the fact that you flew here because you thought something was going on? Or getting the bellboy to let you in my room? Or standing here interrogating me about my evening?"

"I didn't interrogate you."

"Certainly feels like it."

He was defeated. Absolutely defeated. "I thought maybe you were with a guy."

Mary shrugged. "So?" she said. "What if I was? How is that any of your business?"

"It's not."

"Then what is it?"

Now was the time for the truth. "I want you, okay?" his words a little louder and a little angrier than they he meant for them to be. He took several steps back from her. "I want you." this time his words were a little quieter, a little softer.

Silence lingered in the room. She wasn't quite sure how she felt. Or what she felt. She was more confused now than she had been after the last time he had kissed her.

Mary sat down on the bed. "What about Charlene?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I think that's over."

"You think?"

"Mmm hmm." he sighed. "She went on tour with some band."

"That's not good enough for me."

"She said maybe we could pick up where we left off when she returned." he had hoped that would satisfy her enough.

Mary wasn't exactly sure she liked that. "So, what, I'm just a placeholder until she gets back?"

"No! No of course not! It's not like that." he told her. "Don't you remember when I kissed you? At Ted's birthday party?"

Of course she remembered. She could still feel his lips on hers. It was something that not even a generous lover like Paul could make her forget. "Why did you kiss me?" she was finally able to ask him the question that had been on her mind for weeks. She wanted an honest answer. And a good one too.

"Because I wanted to." he answered. "I watched you with him all evening and the only thing I could think of was that he didn't deserve to be out with you. You deserve someone better."

She reached out for his hand, wanting him to sit down next to her. "And you're that person?" his hand was warm in hers and she couldn't seem to let go.

"Maybe." he joined her on the bed. "I'm certainly closer to your type than he ever will be. You're not still seeing him, are you?"

Mary shook her head. "No." now it was her turn to be honest. "The only reason I kept seeing him for as long as I did was because of Charlene."

"Charlene?" he didn't understand. "What does she have to do with any of this?"

"You started dating her right after Ted's party."

"Because you were seeing Paul." he explained. "Besides I didn't think the kiss meant anything to you."

Mary sighed, heavily. "Damn."

"What is it? What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong." she told him. "It's just, the kiss did mean something. It did." there she had said it. She was finally able to admit how she felt.

"Let's just start over, okay? Let's just try this again."

"Okay." she agreed.

"Lately I've been having these feelings for you." he told her. "That's why I kissed you that night at the Red Lantern. And it took a hell of a lot of courage for me to do it. I mean, you have no idea how much. And then I had to watch you walk out with tall, dark, and dumb."

"Why couldn't you just tell me all this?"

"I wanted to." he said. "I tried to with the kiss. You would think by now I would know that I need to express my feelings a little better. I guess old habits die hard. The only question is, how do you feel?"

"Well, I'm not sure." she said, carefully. "When you say you have feelings for me what do you mean? More than friendship? You want to spend more time with me outside of the office? Like dating?"

"I'm not sure what any of this means." he was being honest. "I'm incredibly attracted you. I can't stop thinking about you. All I know is that I want you. All of you. And if that scares you I'm sorry, it's just that...I wanted you to know."

Mary nodded. She was taking some time to let everything sink in. "When you kissed me that night at Ted's birthday party it was all I could think about for days." her voice was low and soft. "But you never said anything else so I thought that maybe it was just one of those things."

"You never said anything either." he replied. "I thought that maybe I crossed a line that I shouldn't have."

"No, you didn't. You didn't do anything wrong. In fact you did everything right."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." she exhaled. "You have no idea how right."

Lou smiled. "Now that's intriguing."

"I don't think I've ever been kissed like that in my entire life." she felt completely vulnerable. Like everything was on the line.

He lips were inches from hers. "Maybe we can try this again?"

"Yeah." she smiled. "I'd like that."

His kisses were soft and sweet but lingering. He was holding back a bit. This was fresh and new. And the last thing he wanted to do was overwhelm her.

"It's okay." she whispered. "Please."

And that was all he needed.

tbc...

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