CH 7
A/N: Sometimes I have a hard time with pacing, I'm trying here. I kind of like the pace of this story so far. If anyone disagrees, please feel free to leave feedback. I love your feedback. It helps.
True to her word, Elena brought them food in a matter of minutes. She had these little cold cut sandwiches composed of olives, tomatoes, and some aioli spread on the bread.
When she set them on the table, Mindy noticeably perked up in interest. She'd been starving. The salad she'd had for lunch was long gone. They were cute little sandwiches, and Mindy had pulled her phone out of her clutch to snap a picture of them. "What are these called?" She smiled sweetly at Elena. "They're just so cute, I have to tweet about this."
Elena smiled. "Bocadillos, they're just little sandwiches. You're sweet though."
Danny stared at Mindy with an exasperated expression. He rolled his eyes and mumbled something under his breath. She turned her attention to him. "What?"
Elena patted him on the shoulder laughing and excused herself. Mindy continued to stare at Danny in askance. "You have something to say?"
He grinned. "I said that's rude. You do that on all your dates? Pull your phone out willy-nilly to snap pictures of sandwiches? I swear, it's a wonder you get any second dates at all. They probably think you just escaped a psych ward." He relaxed back in his chair and picked up the beer Elena had brought with dinner.
Mindy wanted to be irritated with him, but the slight buzz she was experiencing made her feeling utterly magnanimous. She just smiled widely. "Oh, you really are an old man. You don't even realize that this is a perfectly acceptable, in fact culturally normal, thing to do." She glanced back at her phone and posted the photo.
"Culturally normal, maybe for teenagers, but you're an adult. Maybe you could find a guy who wasn't a prick, if you didn't date ones that think stuff like that is ok. You should find someone who wants your full attention." He set his beer back on the table and picked up one of his bocadillos and began eating it.
The statement surprised her. It was surprisingly insightful and, in a backhanded kind of way, flattering. Mindy took another sip, ok a gulp, of wine and then did the same. The intermingling of simple flavors on her palate combined with her state of incredible hunger resulted in a nirvana-like experience. She forgot the weird conversation they'd been having and closed her eyes. She must have made a weird noise or something because she heard Danny clear his throat and shift in his seat.
When she opened then and looked at Danny she could see a little sheen of sweat across his brow. He took his napkin and swiped it across his head distractedly. "Would you two like a room?" She smiled. So, she was breaking through his cocky act a little bit. It wasn't exactly how she planned it, but better than nothing.
She stared at him innocently. "What are you talking about? I'm just enjoying my food. You really had me worried for a minute when we walked into a bar. I thought you were going to leave me to starve after that less than filling lunch earlier." She felt a little aioli on the edge of her bottom lip and flicked her tongue out to capture it, lingering just a second longer than necessary. She saw his nostrils flare somewhat on a short exhale. Oh, this was going to be easier than she thought.
Danny reluctantly pulled his attention back to the food in front of him and quickly polished off his sandwich, grabbing his beer to wash it down. When he glanced back up, she was finished as well, sitting there patting the corners of her mouth with the napkin.
Before Danny could think of anything to say, he was saved by a small commotion by the stage. Ed had come in and taken his place at the piano. A tall saxophonist in a worn, slightly mashed looking fedora sidled up beside him. A third man wearing all black was standing alongside, seemingly aimless. Ed started to pick out an upbeat melody, running up and down the length of the piano.
Mindy's attention was diverted. She had a surprised look on her face. Up until that moment, the music in the room had been with one long and a winding continuance of improvisation. The sudden shift in energy had her curiosity piqued. She turned to Danny. "Is this what you were talking about? Really makes you wanna move?" The saxophonist started in with a slow building sound and Mindy rose from the table, moving over to Danny's side.
She picked up her glass of wine and drained the last of it, placing it back on the table carefully. She grabbed Danny's arm and hauled him from his seat. "Real men back their words up with actions, right?" She still had her hand wrapped around his upper arm and could feel a pleasant warmth emanating from him.
She headed toward the empty space in front of the stage. There was a couple of people standing around with drinks in their hands, shuffling and swaying to the cadence of the music. A crowd was beginning to form on the edge of the cleared area. Mindy glanced around. She hadn't noticed the people streaming in. The entire bar was taking on a whole new ambience. Ed had brought an air of excitement to the room.
The man she'd seen before standing beside Ed and the saxophonist was tapping his foot and without preamble he pulled a little trumpet from under his jacket. Mindy had never seen anything like it. She looked at Danny. "What is that?"
When she looked up at him questioningly, the open curiosity on her face caused the warmth in his stomach to spread outward. He swallowed and attempted to recover his composure. "It's a pocket trumpet." Just as the words left his mouth the man in black pressed his lips to the tiny trumpet and it let out a high pitched note quickly receding into a run of quick up and down notes.
Mindy's eyes widened in surprise. "Danny, this sounds like a weird mix of jazz and salsa music, and I can totally salsa my butt off." Head fuzzy with wine, she darted out to the dance floor, dragging him behind her.
Danny couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm as she pulled him after her. This was the way it always was between them. Whether it was actually physically doing something or not, she was always running headlong into things, while he reluctantly dragged his feet behind her. Not this time. If there was one thing that he could do and do well, it was dancing.
When they reached the middle of the dance floor she released him and closed her eyes. She began the quick two step hip swinging shuffle characteristic of salsa dancing. She spun in a quick circle in front of him. Her hair swished along after her, the tip of if just brushing his face.
He stepped forward and placed his hands on her hips. She opened her eyes in surprise, her mouth making a quick little "o" before it transformed into a sultry half smile. She raised her hands to his shoulders and matched her steps to his.
Danny was glad for the need to concentrate on his steps. It would have been so easy to get caught up in the feel of her underneath his fingertips, the way she responded to his gentle nudges. He reached up and grabbed one of her hands and twirled her out from him.
When she returned to his embrace they were pressed up against each other fully. They continued the little back and forth dance motion, both sets of hands traveling where it felt natural. His own hands at her hip and splayed across the bare skin of her back. Hers clutching at his shoulder and waist.
As if encouraged by the pair dancing so uninhibitedly, several other couples had migrated out onto the floor and were swaying their hips alongside them. Danny felt a surprising exhilaration that had been absent for a long time. There was an inescapable smile plastered on his face.
The quick beat of the salsa-like melodies began to taper off into a slower lilting cadence. Their feet slowed to an unhurried set of steps. They swayed together, panting slightly from the previous commotion.
Danny could feel his heart drumming in his chest from the exertion. Mostly from the exertion, he told himself. The flower he'd placed in Mindy's hair had begun to slip out of place. He reached up to it and repositioned it. It was as if he touch broke some spell they'd both been under. She looked down sheepishly and slowly stepped back from him, her hands still on his arms. "Well, that was certainly something." She gave him a quick once over and a wicked smile graced her features. "Is that a trumpet in your pocket or…." She trailed off.
Danny's composure completely slipped. He turned to the side and swiped his sleeve across his forehead. "What… " He looked around, as if expecting someone else to step in and say the right thing. He sighed. "Get a grip, Lahiri, this isn't a real date, remember?"
He took her hand and led her off the dance floor back to the table they'd been at. She pulled her hand from his a little more forcefully than necessary. "Oh really, Sweaty Palms Castellano? It's not a real date? Go on, just pretend you don't think this is hot?" She gestured to herself top to bottom.
He should have been irritated, or even embarrassed, but he couldn't stop thinking about how euphoric dancing with her had been. His brain was still flooded with endorphins. Instead of just shrugging her off, he leaned in close. He face was inches from hers. He gripped her upper arm while leaning in to talk into her ear over the music. He felt her tense a bit. "Not a bit."
He smiled when he felt her tense up for real. She shoved him away with an audible "ugh." She backed away to look at him, when she saw the wide smile across his face, the anger on hers was replaced with puzzlement. Good, she was off balance. He liked that.
Still staring at him she snatched her clutch off the table and slipped her phone out of it. She raised it up and snapped a picture of him. "This is going on instagram. Caption: Danny Castellano has lost his mind, reportedly saying Dr. Mindy Lahiri is 'not a bit' hot."
She was in the process of posting the picture when she saw the time on her phone. "Oh my god, Danny. It's past nine. This was supposed to be an early evening. We both have work in the morning, and I loathe admitting it, but hangovers are so much worse now than in my twenties." She put her phone back in the clutch. "Hate to say it, but we need to wrap this up."
He smiled at her. "Who's old now?" He squeezed her shoulder. "Don't worry, you're with an old man, remember? We'll head out right after I say goodbye to the Calloways." He drew her over to the piano where Ed and Elena were chatting between songs. The bassist was still plucking a melody out on his cello.
Elena looked up with a contented smile on her face. She moved over to Danny and whispered something in his ear, patting him on the back. His mouth fell open slightly, and he flushed a bit. He gave her a quick hug then turned toward Ed. "We're gonna head out. It's kind of late for doctors to be out on a week night." He grabbed Ed's hand and gave it a firm shake. "I can't tell you how sorry I am I've stayed away so long, Ed."
Ed grinned up at him. "Danny, this life we live is cyclical. Sometimes we think we have everything figured out, and it crumbles around us, and we think it can never be the same again. So we avoid all the things that remind us of what it once was. That's no way to live, so eventually you start doing the things you love again, and life just clicks back into place." He reached out to Elena and pulled her close to him. "I know you'll be coming around again." He gestured toward Mindy and she stepped forward grabbing his hand. Elena placed a hand on her shoulder. "You two have a good night."
The warmth Mindy felt under Ed and Elena's gaze was strange to her. It was as though she had received approval of some sort. She flushed a little, but shook Ed's hand anyway. She turned to Elena and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "I know I'll be back, if for the food alone." Mindy smiled as her and Danny retreated, his hand protectively on the small of her back.