Chapter 6:

We sat in the dining room for 3 hours. I was telling her that she had exaggerated about the way people were at Masrani Global and she told me that her experiences had been that way. We started talking about how we would handle the answering of questions during the interviews. We agreed not to interrupt each other and to only add things to each other's answers that wouldn't lead to other questions, that way we can avoid being caught off guard.

By the time Claire had finished eating her grilled salmon, my stomach started making whale noises. Really loud whale noises.

"I thought you said you had eaten a big breakfast." she says drinking her iced tea.

I look down at my stomach and then up at her "I did! But apparently its all been digested."

I start looking right and left until I spot a waiter and ask for a menu.

"Well, if the stomach wants it, the stomach gets it. Yes, could I have a BLT with fries and a Budweiser, please?"

"Of course, sir." The waiter takes the menu and I turn to Claire.

"Oh, don't look at me like that. It's a good ol' American lunch."

"I'm mainly impressed by the amount of food you eat. Where do you even put it all?"

"See Claire, the wonderful thing about the human body is that everything that comes in, must come out one way or the other." I smile at her. I love it when we banter at each other, and I can tell it's about to happen.

She scrunches up her face and says "Owen, that's disgusting."

"What! You do it too!"

"Owen, stop! That's a very inappropriate talk to have while we're eating!"

"We're not eating right now! I never understood why people act all grossed out. We all do it! It's normal. It wouldn't be normal if you didn't poop!"

"God! Keep your voice down. You have no filter do you?" she says leaning forward.

"Nope, and that's why you like me. Admit it. All your life you've been surrounded by people who control every single word they say and every single thing they do. I spice things up by saying and doing whatever I want, whether people will approve of it or not."

She leans back and starts chewing on her bottom lip.

"You have me all figured out, don't you?"

"I don't think so. We haven't even been to our second date, Claire."

"Speaking of, when are we going to have that date?"

"Oh, I already started planning it. But you are going to have to wait until all of this is over. That way we can have all the time in the world"

She looks surprised. "You're planning it? I thought Owen Grady didn't plan anything"

"Of course I'm planning our date. I want it to be perfect, and perfect can't happen without some planning."

She raises an eyebrow, "So when is this date going to be again?"

"As soon as all of this is over."

"In two weeks."

"Two weeks."

A little time later, my BLT is brought to me and I eat it with such gusto even Claire can't resist a bite from my burger. After I'm done eating, we decide to take a stroll around town. Claire asks me to wait for her in the lobby while she changes clothes. While I wait for her, I start looking at the brochures they have for tourists, to see if there are any new attractions we could see. I'm so focused reading a brochure about Cirque Du Soleil, I don't even hear Claire come up behind me.

"Hey, you ready to go?"

I jump, "Motherf…! I think I peed a little."

She laughs "Oh come on! I wasn't even trying to scare you!"

"That might not have been your intention but you certainly did!"

She pats me on the back "Okay, I'm sorry. Now let's get going! We're wasting daylight."

I stand up straight and salute her, "Ma'am, yes, Ma'am."

She grabs my hand and starts walking towards the door. "Come on, soldier."

From the hotel's main door in Times Square to Central Park, we talk about anything and everything. It's kind of nice actually, not having to talk about questions and interviews. So far, this walk has been amazing. We stop and sit on the edge of the big fountain in the park.

"So, how come I don't know much about you? Where you come from and the like." she asks, sitting on her left leg while swinging her right one a bit.

"I could say the same thing about you."

I'm trying to deflect her questions as long as I can. Where I come from and my family are sensitive spots. But I know it won't be long before she has me spilling my guts out.

"You know more about me than I know you. You know I have an older sister, two nephews, that I am from Wisconsin, that I'm a bit of a workaholic…"

I bark a laugh "A bit?! Your middle name is work!"

She looks at me a bit annoyed. It doesn't last long. "Actually my middle name is Dallas… and that's one more thing you know about me now."

"Your name's Claire Dallas Dearing?! Wow! Why Dallas?" Keep deflecting. But I actually want to know.

She groans, "My parents had this gross thing, were they decided to name us after the place we were conceived in. I know, gross!"

"Yeez, that's quite… unique. Wait, what's Karen's middle name?" You're running out of questions to ask, Owen.

Claire tilts her head to the right "India. Her middle name is India. Don't think I don't know what you're doing. You're deflecting."

Busted.

"Sorry. It's just that my family is a bit of a soft spot for me. I don't talk about or to them much."

Her face softens; she puts her hand on my thigh.

"Okay. How about we do this. I ask you rapid-fire questions and if you don't want to answer one, just say pass. Tell me what you feel comfortable with. I promise I won't ask you to give me any big, complicated explanation. You'll tell me the rest when you feel ready."

I don't know what I did in my past life to deserve her, but I'm glad I did whatever it was. This time, we both lean forward at the same time and kiss. Stars explode behind my eyelids. Everything around us disappears. In this moment it's just us, and I know we're just getting to know each other, but I know for a fact, I will never kiss another woman ever again except her.

We eventually have to break the kiss so we can breathe. She leans her forehead against mine. Her eyes are still closed. I run my thumb along her bottom lip and she opens her eyes and smiles.

"Ask away, Claire Dallas Dearing."

She laughs and sits up straight. "Okay. Ready?" I nod.

"Where did you grow up?"

"New Haven, Connecticut."

"Do you have a middle name?"

"Yes, I do. Next question."

She puts her hand in the water and throws some water at my face.

"Hey! Didn't I answer your question?!"

"You know damn well you didn't!"

"You have to be more specific. I don't read minds."

"Ugh, fine! Do you have a middle name and what is it?"

"See, now that's specific. My middle name is Luca."

Her eyes widen a little. "Italian. Named after someone?"

"Yes, my maternal grandfather. He was a first generation American. His parents came from Florence."

"Okay, Owen Luca Grady. Do you have any siblings and what are their names?"

Now that is a question I'll answer gladly and proudly. "Just one; a sister. Her name is Isabella, she's 22 years old. She's my favorite person in the world."

She nods and smiles one of those closed mouth smiles and continues.

"Why did you enlist in the navy?"

"Nonno Luca was in the navy; a soldier during the Second World War. When I was a kid, he would tell me of the time they saved a whole family from a fire started by a hand grenade in Salerno. There was a little girl among the people they saved, maybe 4 or 5 years old. After they were taken to safety, the soldiers said their goodbyes and the little girl approached my grandfather and gave him a ribbon. She hugged him and thanked him for saving her family. Since he told me that story, I've wanted to help people, save people, like my grandpa did. So, a year after I graduated, the opportunity presented itself and I took it."

"So that's where it comes from. I wondered why you didn't even hesitate to help me find Zach and Gray, even though the possibility of dying was very real. I guess I have your nonno to thank for that."

I sigh, "Yeah, he was an amazing dude. He passed away during my third tour. When I found out, I was devastated. I became reckless. I would put myself in situations that weren't safe. It's a miracle I didn't get killed. My lieutenant noticed and sent me home. He told me I needed to grief and I couldn't do that in a place surrounded by death."

Claire doesn't let me wallow in my own misery. She grabs my hand, gives it a tight squeeze and asks the next question.

"When was the last time you talked to your parents?"

I rub my face "Directly? 11 years ago. Through Isabella? 8 months ago. I haven't heard their voices in 11 years."

She puts her head on my shoulder "Do you miss them?"

"Yes. More than I like to admit."

Claire hums. We stay like that for a while, in companionable silence, enjoying each other's company.

"Claire?"

"Yes?"

"Do you want a pretzel?"

She raises her head really fast (she almost got me on the chin) and gives me that deadpanned glare that I love.

"What is with you and food?"

"Food is life, Claire. Plus, it's been almost 4 hours since our last meal. It's a perfectly acceptable moment to have an afternoon snack."

I stand up in front of her and stretch out my hand. "Come on, we can grab it in our way out. We should get back anyway, it's getting dark."

She looks at me and reaches for my hand.

I buy the pretzel and eat it by myself. I offered her some but she said something about 'a moment on your lips, forever on your hips' or some nonsense like that. It's close to 8pm when we get to the hotel. It's nowhere near late, but we have been up since early, so we decide to call it a day. I walk Claire to her room.

"I had a really good time today, Owen."

"Me too. I think we could call it our unofficial second date. What do you think?"

"I think we can call it that. Thank you, by the way, for trusting me enough to tell me all the things you told me today. It means a lot."

"Of course. Now though, you know more about me than I know about you. So, how about in our official second date, I'm the one asking you the rapid-fire questions?"

"I think that's only fair. By the way, tomorrow a reporter of the New York Times is coming at 11am, so we don't have to wake up as early as today."

"Wanna have breakfast together. 9am?"

"Yes."

"Yes? Great! See you tomorrow then."

"Okay."

I grab both of her hands and kiss her. Slow and amazing and out this world. We break it off and I kiss her loudly on the cheek, she giggles.

"Goodnight, Owen."

"Goodnight, Claire."

She opens the door to her room, goes in and closes it. I turn around and start walking towards my room while doing a happy dance.