Unlocked Hearts

He was the perfect gentleman just like Kelsey promised. Melrose was floored when she opened the door to see the beautiful man in front of her, his soft brown hair that was styled in a boyish manner, his light green eyes that dazzled her from the beginning and don’t get her talking about his body. She tried to restrain herself from jumping on him the moment he showed the gorgeous smile. All in all, he was fucking sexy!

Of course, Melrose didn’t have anything planned as she was flustered when her friend Kelsey who decided to invite herself over and help her dress up for the fancy restaurant they were going to, the dress kind of gave it away, and introduce the two formally.

Melrose almost melted when the man kissed the palm of her hand as he introduced himself as Garron, what a lovely name. A dreamy sigh almost fell from her lips as he escorted her out of her flat with Kelsey right behind them and wished her luck. She acted like a teenage girl when she was around Garron; she tripped over a dozen of times making a complete fool out of herself.

She knew that she shouldn’t be picky about his hair, but seeing that it was straight as a stick kind of threw her off. Pushing that selfish thought behind her, she smiled genuinely when he pulled out her seat like a gentleman and gently slid it back where she sat comfortably. “Thank you.” A bright smile shined on her lips as he replied, “Anything for a beautiful woman.”

Besides the fact that he didn’t have curly hair, he was so sweet, kind, courteous, and generous when their food came he saw the way she was staring at his food and offered to cut her a piece of his meal. Flustered, she declined repeatedly while he reassured her that it was nothing and even asked if she liked it. Melrose didn’t think there was nothing wrong with him until they started their small talk. “So,” Melrose started as she cleared her throat, “What do you do for a living?”

Garron licked his lips, “I’m a real estate broker.”

Melrose nodded, trying to stay interested, “Oh that’s interesting. What kind of real estate?” That question was her ultimate doom as Garron started to explain what kind of real estate that he purchased or sold to other individuals. He even started going off topic to finance and how the economy was declining at a rapid rate leaving him in a more difficult spot to sell property.

She tried her best to stay interested, but every time she tried to steer the conversation into something lighter, he would turn back to the previous topic. It felt like hours as he went on and on about the same things, immediately she felt herself regretting ever agreeing to this date. As much as he was a gentleman he really knew how to talk excessively, now she knew what Kelsey was talking about. The thing was, she told stories; he shared about the values of money and what to do in the stock market.

Yes, he even added stock marketing into the lecture she was receiving. It felt like economics class all over again. Sitting up straight in her seat, she sipped on her wine slowly as her eyes stayed glued to her date with a soft smile on her lips the whole time. It was rude to start thinking about something else and even meaner to think that she rather be anywhere else than here.

Melrose felt guilty thinking such things as she tried to reinvest into the conversation as she asked certain questions before she was relieved from his lecture when he excused himself to the bathroom. A long sigh tumbled out of her lips as she leaned back into her chair hoping that dessert came quick because her mind was starting to fall asleep. No matter what she did, her mind would wander somewhere else.

Sitting in the chair dumbly, she looked around the quiet restaurant to see people muttering amongst themselves having a good time. Most of them are anyways. Then a sudden English accent from beside her said, “Excuse me.” Melrose turned herself around to see who it was and her eyes looked at him curiously when he continued, “I hope I’m not intruding, but you look quite bored as your date explained the wonderful world of real estate.”

Melrose gave him a stiff smile as she sighed in guilt, “Is it that obvious? I don’t want to be rude and tell him that I don’t understand a word he had said for the past hour. He’s really a nice guy and he’s really sweet and so perfect, ugh” she groaned throwing her head back in frustration, “I just wish I didn’t feel this way about him.”

There was no reason as to why she was spilling her guts to a total stranger, but the friendly vibe and kind eyes let her know that whatever she said was between them. He nodded in understanding as he said in comfort, “There is no way in knowing that you wouldn’t be interested in him without spending time with him. Don’t feel guilty about what your heart is telling you. Obviously, he is just not the one for you.”

Melrose glanced over to the man on the other table feet away from her as she bit her lip, twiddling her thumbs; she scooted closer to him as she whispered, “What should I do then? What should I say if he wants another date?”

She was growing nervous that Garron would want another date with her, it was inevitable with the smile he was throwing her way was obvious he might want to see her again. The stranger shifted his body towards her as if he was giving his undivided attention to the lost woman who clearly didn’t know what to do, “Tell him the truth. There is nothing more honest than that, men prefer you telling them straight with what you want. If you want to stay friends or to never see one another again, it’s up to you.”

“But what if I hurt his feelings? I don’t want to do that.” Her voice came out in a little whine as she furrowed her brows in worry.

Without missing a beat, he stated, “It’s better than ignoring his phone calls or giving him some lame excuse of not wanting to see him again. Don’t let a man waste his time on someone he will never be with. Besides, he’s a grown man. He’ll get over it.”

Pondering in her thoughts, Melrose thought over what he just said as her brown eyes were captured by the large grin on his face. It was then that she realized something, “I’m sorry! I probably am keeping you from your date.” She sheepishly smiled. He laughed it off as he shook his head, “It’s not a problem and she’s running a bit late I guess. I’m Tom by the way.” sticking his hand out for her to shake.

She smiled kindly as she took his pale hand into her own tanned one, “Nice to meet you Tom. I’m Melrose.”

“Melrose.” Tom said softly, “What a lovely name.”

Melrose beamed, “Thank you. Your name is lovely too.” Tom laughed as he shook his head telling her that her name was far lovelier than his seeing that he had even heard of such a name before. The flattering compliments she was getting from this stranger was making her heart flutter a lot more than when she was spending her time with Garron.

Then Tom’s eyes flickered behind her as he muttered, “I shouldn’t keep you from your date. He looks a bit bothered.” Melrose looked behind her to see Garron walking towards them with a grim expression on his face. She pursed her lips as she leaned away from Tom seeing that she has inched closer during their conversation together. The red head didn’t know that she was getting intimate with the man she barely knew, but she couldn’t help it. He was far more entertaining than her date was and his advice made her more at ease with what she should do.

Fixing her chair, she smiled at her date as he glared at Tom, “Who was that you were talking to?”

Melrose felt a lump stuck in her throat, she was horrible at lying and seeing that she didn’t want to hurt his feelings in any way, she tried to stick to the truth. It probably would look bad if she explained that during his trip to the bathroom she started talking to a stranger who kept her entertained, yeah that definitely sounded bad.

“I’m Tom, an old friend of Melrose.” Tom interrupted the interrogation as he smiled at Garron.

Garron frowned as he placed his napkin over his lap again as he snapped, “I would very much appreciate it if you don’t interrupt our date with your constant yammering. We were in the middle of a very important conversation.”

She was beyond shocked to see how rude her date was being towards this lovely man that decided to step forward and help her out. He had no right to act this way and had no reason to be jealous. Before she can say anything, Tom didn’t respond as he stood up from his table, “Well I’ll be off then so I won’t disturb your date. Melrose, we should exchange numbers so we can catch up some other time.”

“That would be best, thank you.” Garron gave Tom a stiff smile as he saw Melrose and Tom exchange phone numbers.

Melrose’s heart swelled with joy as his blue eyes landed on hers, “I’ll see you soon, Melrose.”

“Okay.” she muttered, she didn’t know what else to say as her eyes stayed glued to the man as he disappeared from her line of vision. Once she focused on her date again, the dark look in his eyes told her that he did not find anything she did pleasant.

For the rest of the evening, Garron was stiff and cold. Even when he dropped her off, he cut the good bye short as he walked her up to her door and made sure she went in safely. There were no words exchanged about another date much to her relief. Should she be relieved? Melrose felt guilty for having Garron become this insecure man around Tom; she was just talking to another person. It wasn’t a big deal, was it?

Melrose didn’t even bring up Tom, but when Garron kept bringing up the topic she sat there stiff when he fired away how someone like her knew someone like Tom Hiddleston. She had to make up some lie as he rose a brow at her explanation as he stated that he was some famous actor, Melrose tried not to look confused as she try to recover her lie with another lie. None of her lies made any sense as she started to fidget in her seat from his interrogation. Then it was all too much for her as she requested kindly if he can drive her home.

Garron quickly agreed as the couple walked to the car in silence. It was by far the worst date she has ever been on, but at the same time she gained a new friend, so in the end it wasn’t all that bad. The worst part was telling Kelsey. Oh how she looked forward to telling her what happened.