CHAPTER FIVE
He took her to a sushi bar not far from his clothing store, in a new sports car. It still smelt like leather, and the radio was playing songs she recognized on the top fifty charts. She kept her purse on her lap, and answered questions to his small talk, but not well, because her eye was almost always on his hand which rested on the stick shift. His hand was very close to her leg. He even kept touching her with each shift of the gear, and every time he apologized. The last time it happened he added, "It's a small sports car. I think I need to trade it in for something else because it's impractical."
Veronica was glad to get out of his car. She never spoke well when nervous. Most of the time she was beyond quiet. It was part of her upbringing. She was used to silence. He on the other hand spoke easily. And it was always a relief to find people who talked a lot. One of the reason Kimmy and her hit it off from the beginning.
They sat at the bar, and he ordered Saki and a mix of everything on menu they called The Platter. He poured her a glass of Saki, and then filled his before taking a few sips. "So tell me about yourself. I want to know everything." He said. "Start with your family."
"Sorry?" She asked. It wasn't the interview question she thought it would be. She laughed. She looked at him and smiled. "Oh! Your serious!"
"Yeah. You know, your parents, siblings. Humor me, I'm curious." He said.
She laughed again. "Okay." She thought. "Well, I am an only child of Bill and Emily Mitchell. They live just outside New York."
"Do you see them much?" He asked.
"No. Christmas and if that. As I said I am an only child and I was alone a lot growing up. I felt like was a third wheel around them, and I never grew out of that. So, I don't see them much I'm afraid." She said.
"So, I bet you want a big family of your own now. Most people who grew up as an only child do." He said. He smiled.
"Big? No. I might have two. But I'm twenty-three. I don't have time to date let alone get married and have kids. I'm too busy working to even think about dating." She said.
"No. Work has nothing to do with it. You probably just don't want to right now. Or as everyone says it, you haven't found anyone yet. Work never has anything to do with it. It's an excuse. I'm busy, and I make time. But then I'm not the best example. I haven't gone on more than one or two dates with the same person since college, except one. Don't get me wrong I don't have commitment issues." He laughed. "Although, if I'm being honest one of my girlfriends cheated on me, and ever since then I've been pretty good at weeding them out." Veronica apologized. "No. Honestly, it was years ago. I should have known better. 'I should have asked her to marry me, but she didn't think I wanted to, and so she decided it was time to move on.' At least I think those were her last words to me—something like that." He shrugged. "So did you even think you'd marry?"
"Wow, kids, marriage, and now this. This conversation is really . . . personal." She laughed and eyed him funny. "I usually never talk to people about this . . . but I'll answer this, then we should talk about something generic or I'll get uncomfortable. I like my shell—like you said."
"No, you don't have to tell me." He said and waved a dismissive hand.
"No, I'll answer it. But don't think too poorly of me. But . . . yes. In college I thought about marrying this guy, all the time! That was the sad part, because I was so in love with him for over a year (obsessed over him really—it was ridiculous)," she laughed, "but then when I finally had enough guts to ask him out and when we started dating I realized just how terrible we were together. It was nothing. Less than nothing."
"Wait! You didn't know him?" He asked surprised. "Sorry, I just thought you were more . . . guarded."
"Oh, no. I am guarded! But I did know him. We had classes together for years, and worked to together a lot." She said in her defense. "But I didn't really know him until we started dating. You know what I mean." She said.
"Not really, no." He said. "I'm a pretty good judge of character. I can usually peg a person by the first few meetings. People are all the same. Either they're decent or not. They're manipulative or not. They're a gossip or their not. They only see your money, or not. As long as you stay away from warning signs there isn't anything to fear really." He said. "I bet you knew in the beginning what you ended up not liking about this guy in the end."
"No. I didn't." She said. She smiled, but flushed pink. It was strange how easily it came to talk to him, but at the same time he was pushing her from her comfort zone. She usually would never breath a word about this, and only told a hand full of people including family, but she found herself saying, "He did drugs, and was abusive. I didn't know that, at first, but it didn't take me long to figure it out, and even less than time to get out of the relationship. He didn't actually hit me. He was too high and missed. But I'm sure he would have—eventually. It was the first time I ever saw him like that, and it was the last. I later told him it was over, and sense it was only two weeks into our relationship, he didn't seem that hurt. And like that it was over. So you see it isn't anything worth talking about. It was nothing, except maybe a mistake." She added, "And I can't believe I'm telling you all this." She laughed. "So embarrassing."
"I listen. At least I think that is why people tell me things, anyway. That and I'm an extreme extrovert. I have a lot of friends. Always have." He added, "But I admit I stand corrected. Not all relationships end from something that can be seen in the beginning." He said.
"No. I mean, I think you're right. I can see how you wouldn't go on more than two dates. You would know after that if you got along, and more dates would be a waste of time." She said. "Maybe that was why Marcus Yutan hinted you're a womanizer."
"Ouch! Really, he said that?" William sat back his chair. Veronica apologized. She couldn't believe she had just said it. It just came out. Things like that happened when she was nervous. She blurts out things that pop in her head with no regard to how it's perceived when she's nervous, and she told him that.
She finished by saying, "Maybe if I didn't break your nose . . ."
"What do you think? Do I seem like one to you?" He asked her interrupting her.
"I hardly know." She said quickly.
"I don't sleep with women I'm not monogamous with." He said blatantly. "I can count on one hand all the women I've slept with."
"You don't have to tell me that." She said flushing pink. He laughed under his breath.
He ordered water, drank thirstily from the cup, and then asked, "So how have you managed never to step foot on a boat. That is almost weird."
She laughed. "I've been on ferries." She added, "My parents hate the ocean, and so I've never been around the water much until recently. I swim at the Flex Gym all the time now. Okay, more like twice a week if I have time. And it's more of a dog paddle than swimming."
"Wow, you're an Olympian. That's impressive." He smiled. "I work out or swim in my building. It's usually pretty empty in the morning. I like it deserted. Actually, I am going to do an Iron Man Marathon in two weeks. Just before my birthday. I'm training right now."
"An Iron Man Marathon. Are you crazy? I couldn't swim two miles let alone swim, bike and run." She laughed, "Do you have a great high from working out, or a love of pain?"
"No. I just want to." He added, "Just once."
"You're crazy." She said.
"Maybe a little." He laughed under his breath.
"So is your family here?" She asked him curiously.
"No. My sister is in Philadelphia. She's married, and has two girls (twins), Cleo and Claudette. They are three, and her life! She loves them, and she's a great mom. Her husband, Devin, is a lawyer and like all lawyers he's a total jerk. I used to be really close with my sister until she married him." He paused, "Anyway, my parents are in Texas and still living in the house I was raised in. They've been married almost thirty-six, seven years now. Their going strong. They travel mostly these days. But they are always home for Thanksgiving and, or Christmas which is when I usually see them."
"Why is her husband a jerk, if you don't mind me asking?" Veronica asked.
"Not at all. He's just a jerk! It's everything really. He's cheating on her, and Nora just doesn't want to hear it." He added, "It was hard to hear cry about it each time he skips town for the weekend every time he got a new mistress, but she doesn't cry anymore which is even more sad. That and he says the stupidest crap, that is so rude. I don't know what she sees in him. I don't know why she is still married him. It's a mystery!"
"He sounds like a jerk." She said.
"So have you had sushi before? I can see you like it." He said.
"Yeah. I am brave about some things. Sushi is one of them." She said. "I have had sushi in every place I've traveled to which means I've had sushi in the Big Apple, New York City, Empire City, Gotham, The City so Nice, They Named It Twice, oh! and The Capital of The World. Well, I can't honestly say that now, because I didn't have time to find a sushi bar in Paris, and I couldn't speak enough French to find anything really. It was kind of a fiasco staying the extra two days."
He laughed before saying, "You're so timid it's cute. You should have called my room and I would have taken you around. I would have definitely taken you out to sushi if you asked."
"No. I would have bothered you." She said and waved a hand. "And I would have looked like an idiot. I'm still trying to recover from breaking your nose. That was terrible! Worse than that."
"Bother me?" He laughed. "Yeah, you're really annoying, hard to talk to, and not at all pleasant to look at. I would have been tortured for hours. Thanks for saving me the visit."
"You are teasing me!" She said and blushed pink.
"Yes." He said. He pushed his plate away. He was done eating. He turned his chair towards her and watched her drink water.
"You're done?" She asked him.
"Yeah." He said. "I'll wait for you though."
"No. I'm fine." She said and took one last bite of sushi before saying, "Let's go."
"Are you eager to get back?" He asked. "Because we could go through the park on the way back to William Berks." He added, "It's nice out, and I could walk off what I just ate." He stood up, and threw a few twenties on the bar table. "So what do you want to do? Walk, or dive back to William Berks?"
"Um." She stood up grabbing her purse as she thought. Not an hour ago she was wanting to walk in the park. And it was a nice day out. "Um."
"While you think about it, we'll walk." He said and then put his hand on her back to steer her out the restaurant. "So, here is an off the wall question for you." He said when they reached the sidewalk.
"Okay." She said slowly.
"I'm wondering what your bucket list is. You know things you want to do." He said.
"I haven't made one." She said honestly. "I'm pretty boring really. Ask me my five year goal or ten year goal and I could answer that! But I guess I've always wanted to go to Hawaii. Go on a hot air balloon ride. Maybe do something supper crazy like bungee jump or sky dive. But I doubt I ever will. I would be to scared when it came down to it. Although I have been on one of those sixteen story swings. That was creepy. There was nothing to hold onto."
"A five year plan. Okay I'll bite." He said with a laugh.
She laughed. "Okay. In five years, I want to be two years into a long engagement. I'll be working at Saxton Hip, but making more money. I want to be in Manhattan by then, and own a condo, preferably on the top floor that has a roof garden. So far everything else I've achieved in a year." She said.
"And in ten years?" He asked.
"I better be married by then! Yikes thirty-three and not married. No I'll be married. And if I have kids I'll probably quit, at least for a few years." She shrugged, "I want to make sure if I do ever have kids I don't ignore them. I'll make time for them." She added, "But really it's all dependant on if my husband wants kids. I don't think it would be a deal breaker for me though, if he didn't want them."
He quickly asked, "So what would you consider a deal breaker? Besides illegal drugs and abuse . . ."
"Religion. I couldn't be with anyone who wasn't a Christian. And I couldn't be with anyone who gambled, chain smoked, had control issues, stuff like that. But I could never be with someone who had close female friends. Acquaintances, knows their name, sure, but spent time with—no. I'm not secure enough for that." She said.
"That does smack of insane jealousy." He said with a smile.
"Is it? I think it is men not fulfilling a woman's need to feel important and secure in their relationship. Because a woman could be not jealous at all around one man, and insane around another." Veronica said.
"I was joking, Veronica." He said and nudged her. "Seriously, I'm the most jealous person on earth, and have been since I was cheated on. I find it inappropriate, and disrespectful to consider spending time with the opposite sex while dating another. If a woman doesn't like that about me, then it's obvious it would never work out between us. That is definitely a deal breaker for me too. But I think I would have to add, that I could never be with someone who was manipulative, dragged me to her parents house every other weekend, or asked me to quit my job because I work sixty hours a week, and twelve hours days. Which is why I'll probably end up marrying someone I work with." They cut through the park and reached the paved path before he said, "So my last question, and then I promise not to drill you anymore."
"No. I don't mind." She said. "But you didn't say your five or ten year goal."
"Mine?" He smiled. "It's the same I think. We'll no. I'll be engaged in a year, married in two. Kids by five years. Or sooner. Yeah, probably sooner. And in ten years I'll be doing something completely different like oil paint." He said throwing the idea out there. It was obvious it was just a thought. He truly had no idea what he would be doing by forty. He paused before saying, "Okay, so my last question."
"Okay." She said.
"Who's the actor your attracted to most?" He asked.
"What is his name! He plays in that movie with all those kids. What is his name?" She asked.
"I have no idea." He said and laughed.
"He has dark hair and pretty eyes. Kind of buff. He's really good looking. Anyway, I don't know. I'm not the biggest movie buff out there. I always feel I should be doing something else so I don't watch them. Unless it's with someone, then I'll make time. But typically I don't see them alone and like me my best friend, Kimmy is constantly busy." She laughed. "So I guess anyone who is tall, dark and handsome. What woman wouldn't say that though, right?"
"So you boyfriend in college had dark hair, pretty eyes, and was kind of buff?" He asked.
"No. I mean yes, he had dark hair. He was average, but actors are supposed to have unique combinations." She said.
"I have black hair and green eyes, does that qualify as unique?" He asked.
"I didn't notice." She lied and blushed.
"Are you curious who I would say?" He asked.
"Not really." She said. "I hear you date models all the time, so . . . I'm guessing any model turned actress." She laughed under her breath.
"You heard that, did you? You shouldn't believe everything you read." He paused, "I work around models. I meet a lot of them. I guess you could say it's bound to happen once or twice."
"I work with models, and I haven't run into that problem." She said thinking out loud and laughed. He smiled.