CHAPTER 3 IF AT FIRST YOU DON'T SUCCEED...
"Let me take your coat." Caitlin takes Alicia's coat and hangs it in the hall closet. "Would you like a glass of wine?"
"Thank you, that would be great. I'm glad you called me this afternoon," says Alicia.
"Well, I ruined our date last night and wanted to make it up to you. I feel terrible about what happened."
"It's fine, things like that happen. I understand that this is a new thing for you and that it's going to take time to process. However, something smells wonderful. What did you fix?"
"Nothing special, I just threw some things together," she said sheepishly, secretly thanking the girls for all their help.
"If that's nothing, I would love to see what you could do with more time." Alicia smiled at Caitlin, taking her breath away.
"You can have a seat in the living room and I'll bring your wine to you. I hope you like Sauvingnon Blanc." Caitlin goes into the kitchen and gets the appetizer Zoe prepared and takes it back out into the living room. Alicia is sitting on the couch taking in the surroundings.
"I love your place, Caitlin. It's so warm and inviting. The candles are a nice touch. Have I ever told you that wild flowers are my favorite?" Alicia looks at Caitlin and smiles. I never would have thought about her going to all this trouble, Alicia thinks to herself.
"Really? They're my favorite, too. They remind me of walking through the park as a little girl. I used to pick them for my mom." Caitlin is taken back to her childhood for a moment before she remembers the food and wine in her hand.
"I hope you don't have any shellfish allergies, or else this could be really bad. You don't, do you?" Caitlin looks expectedly at Alicia, waiting for some sort of confirmation.
"Well...I do have...I'm just kidding. I'm not allergic to anything, so you should be safe with dinner tonight," Alicia jokes to Caitlin.
"Great. Let me put this stuff down and go check on the chicken and I'll be right back." Caitlin carefully sits the food and wine on the table in the living room and goes back into the kitchen. Okay, calm down. She's just another human being, nothing special...except for the fact that I am totally in to her. Caitlin tries to forces the butterflies from her stomach. She can't remember the last time she felt this way about someone, or if she ever really has. She checks the chicken before returning to the living room.
"It shouldn't be much longer before dinner is ready. How's the shrimp?"
"This is wonderful. I can't believe you had time to do all of this. I am definately impressed."
"I would be lying if I said I did it all myself. I had some help from my friends. They know that this evening is important to me and they wanted to help me make it perfect," Caitlin admits. "I don't want you to think any less of me, but I want to be completely honest with you, too."
"Everyone needs help. Although, I will have to remember your friends the next time I throw a dinner party," Alicia laughs. "So...tell me more about yourself, Ms. Dowd."
"What do you want to know? I grew up here in New York, across the bridge in Brooklyn. After high school I went to business school where I met Mia, Zoe and Juliette. We all ended up moving back here and each of our careers were born. Mia choose the publishing route, Zoe choose the investment route, Juliette decided on the hotel industry and I went with my passion." Caitlin watched Alicia to see if she could tell what she was thinking. "So, that's me in a nutshell. Most people like the abbreviated version, so that's what I stick to now days."
"Well, I'm not most people." DING! "Saved by the bell."
"That's dinner. If you want to grab your glass of wine, you can go into the dining room. I'll have dinner out in just a minute." Thankful for the timer going off, Caitlin hurries to the kitchen to get the chicken out of the oven. Why can't I get myself together, she thinks to herself. I have a beautiful woman here with me and I can't do anything but look at her. Aaaggghhh! Caitlin takes the chicken out of the oven and the asparagus and rice from the warmer.
"Do you need any help in there?" Alicia asks.
"No, I'm fine. Just relax and I'll be right there." Caitlin takes another look around the kitchen to survey the dinner. She takes the asparagus and rice into the dining room and sits them on the table before she goes back for the chicken. "Do you need anything else while I'm up? More wine?"
"That would be wonderful, thank you."
Caitlin returns with the chicken and the chilled bottle of wine and sits down at the table next to Alicia. "What should we toast to tonight," she asks.
"How about to food, friends and the most romantic dinner date I've possibly ever been on?"
"I'll toast to that," Caitlin says.
During dinner, they talk about their day and the ad campaign surrounding the photo shoot next week. "The steps to the church are going to be a beautiful background for the start of wedding season. We should be able to take the photos and build an awesome ad around them. How did you get the church on such short notice?"
"Actually, my brother is a priest at the church. I called him up this afternoon and asked him about using it. He said that there wasn't anything going on Tuesday at the church and that we should be fine there for the afternoon." Caitlin looked at Alicia to see her reaction about her brother being a priest.
"Wow, it's nice to have friends in high places I guess." The wine is beginning to take effect and they both laugh and begin to relax a little more. "The curry-thai chicken was superb. I've never had chicken quite like it before. Thank you."
"Would you like some dessert? I have some home-made Tiramisu in the fridge, just waiting to be eaten," Caitlin playfully says.
"I think I would. I haven't had Tiramisu in a long time."
"Okay, I'll go get it and I'll put on a pot of coffee...unless you want to stick with the wine."
"Actually, I think the wine will be just fine."
Caitlin can feel herself starting to blush as she walks into the kitchen. She gets the dessert ready and carries them each a plate back to the table. "Here you go, I hope you like it. Would you like to go into the living room with this?"
"Yeah, that would be nice," Alicia says.
They walk back into the living room and notice that the sun has gone down. The candles are giving off a seductive light that seems to glow with anticipation. They sit down on the couch and quietly begin eating their dessert. What do I do now? Is it the same as being with a guy? Of course it's not the same! Oh my god, what do I do?!?!?!!
As if reading her thoughts, Alicia sits her plate down on the table and slides closer to Caitlin. She takes Caitlin's plate and sits it next to hers on the table. Slowly, she moves in and kisses Caitlin gently on the lips. Caitlin's body goes limp for a moment, reeling with delight. She regains control of herself and moves her hands to Alicia's face. She has the softest skin I have ever felt, thinks Caitlin.
Alicia pulls slowly away from her, looking into her eyes with a passion Caitlin has never seen before. "I am so glad you called me this afternoon. I have wanted to do that to you since I saw you on the way to work this morning."
Caitlin sits back a little, unsure of what she should do next. "I've wanted that too," she says. She leans closer to Alicia and pulls her close for another kiss. "Do you want to stay with me tonight?"
"I thought you would never ask."