Ache With Me

I was just putting in my earrings when my phone started to ring. Max’s name was flashing across the screen and I swore under my breath. He was fifteen minutes early.

“Hey, what apartment number are you?” He asked when I picked up the phone.

“I can come down to meet you, don’t worry.” I said, hurriedly slipping on my heels.

“No, no, I’m coming up, just give me the number.” I sighed.

“Sixth floor, I’m apartment G.” I hung up and started slicking on lipstick. There was a knock on the door a minute later and I walked as fast as I could without falling to answer it. On the other side of the door was Max, wearing a gray button down, tight black jeans, and his battered old leather jacket. A black beanie covered his hair and motorcycle boots rounded out the whole outfit. I’ll be honest and say he looked gorgeous, although that seemed to be his default setting, the prick.

“When did you get so much taller?” Max commented, kissing my cheek. Then, with a flourish, he presented me a bouquet of flowers he’d pulled out from behind his back. They were lavender roses, my favorite color.

“Thank you!” I clacked into the kitchen to put them in a vase. “And it’s the magic of heels sweetheart.”

“You’re actually in my line of sight now.” He leaned against the counter, watching as I snipped the stems and put them into a crystal vase my mom had given me a few years ago.

“Just because you’re almost a foot taller doesn’t mean you can be rude.” I stuck my tongue out at him. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go put some finishing touches on myself. Make yourself at home.” I left him in the living room to finish putting on my jewelry and grab my purse. With one final adjustment of my blazer, I walked back into the living room. Max was looking at a magazine, a purring Cheshire on his lap. He looked up at the sound of my footsteps and smiled.

“You look lovely.” He led the way down to where he’d parked his car- illegally, I might add- and I gave him directions to the restaurant. It was about a ten minute drive to Toulouse Petit from my building and it passed quickly. Max was just so easy to talk to and be around, even though my hands shook slightly with nerves. As comfortable as I was around him, there was still this edge of jitters that I couldn’t shake. Eden would probably say it’s because I like him, which is true.

He parked next to the curb and hopped out before I had even collected my purse, rushing around to my side to open my door. He helped me out, something was very thankful for because these heels were very high and it wasn’t easy to get out of low-sitting cars with them on. One hand resting on the small of my back, he led the way into the restaurant. Our reservations were set up through the newspaper, under Zina’s name. I told the hostess the name and she told us to take a seat and our table would be ready in a few minutes.

“So what’s with the beanie?” I asked, tugging on the edge of the black knit hat.

“My hair’s still blue and I figured it was better to cover it up than walk around with cornflower blue splotches on my head.” He lifted the hat so I could see he did still in fact have smears of paint in his hair.

“Did it not wash off?” I helped him straighten the beanie again so it covered all the spots.

“I tried like four different shampoos, it won’t come out.”

“I hate to say this, but did you try turpentine?” He looked horrified.

“Turpentine does NOT go in your hair, Lily. It’ll just make it worse.”

“Hey, it was just a suggestion.” I giggled. “I’ll help you get it out, I’m sure there has to be a way to remove paint from hair.” The hostess called us for our table and as we followed her to the booth, I heard Max muttering under his breath, “Bloody turpentine.” I slid into the booth across from him, setting my purse on the seat next to me.

“Good Lord this is daunting.” He commented, flicking through the menu. There were several pages of fancy French food.

“I’m under strict orders from Zina to enjoy our dinner, so order whatever you want.” Zina knew I was bringing Max along with me and I was positive tomorrow morning she would want to know everything that happened at this admittedly romantic French restaurant.

A waiter appeared to take our drink orders; I asked for a glass of wine, Max ordered a Coke.

“So I can drive home.” He explained when I questioned his choice of beverage. “I will probably drink some of your wine though.”

“You’re welcome to it, as long as you aren’t snockered when you drive me home.” We decided to skip the appetizers and ordered our entrees when the waiter returned. I chose to go outside my comfort zone and got braised rabbit with prosciutto and leeks; Max, another brave soul, was trying the fried pork cheeks. Talking and laughing with Max over good food was as easy as breathing. We sampled each other’s food throughout the course of the meal.

Max also sampled a bit of my wine, sneaking my glass across the table. “Look, you made your mark.” He held it up so I could see the pink lipstick mark on the rim of the glass. I laughed and took the glass back. Soon we’d cleared our plates of the food; I have to say, the rabbit was delicious. The waiter cleared the plates and then asked if we’d like to see a dessert menu.

“Sure.” I said. Zina wanted me to try a few different things on the menu and since we’d skipped the appetizer we might as well try the dessert. Max and I pored over the menus and eventually decided on the molten chocolate cake. When it arrived, we set the plate in between us and began devouring the massive slab of cake. The two of us battled over the pistachio ice cream; he got the last bit of ice cream, but I got the cake. All too soon we were paying the check and making our way out of the restaurant. He opened the car door for me before getting into the driver’s seat.

“Oh God that was good.” I moaned, resting one hand on my full belly.

“I agree, thanks for bringing me along.” He glanced over at me, grinning. “Feel free to invite me any time the paper sends you to check out restaurants.”

“I’ll keep you in mind.” I laughed, digging through my purse for my phone to start making notes of what we’d eaten and the prices and such. All too soon, we’d pulled up in front of my building. I made Max park legally this time, since the cops started coming around to give parking tickets at this time of night. He walked me up to my apartment instead of just leaving me at the curb, which was both nice and nerve wracking. Should I invite him in? I had work tomorrow morning and I needed to be early to start the article, but another part of me wanted this night to never end.

“I had fun tonight.” Max said, breaking me out of my thoughts. We were standing at the steel door of my loft.

“So did I.” I fiddled with the cuffs of my blazer, trying to keep my hands busy so he wouldn’t see how bad they were shaking.

“Well, I’ll be off then.” He leaned down, and I thought he was going to kiss my cheek like he usually did. This time, though, he pressed those full lips against mine, in a sweet peck that was far too short for my liking. “Good night Lily.” He flashed me a quick smile and then headed off down the hallway.

I was still standing in front of my door, mouth hanging open like an idiot, when the elevator doors closed in front of him. I shook myself, trying to get my brain to work properly again and unlocked my door.

He kissed me. I let out a short squeal of happiness, then stopped myself. Where did this leave us? Did he just miss? Was it a platonic kiss? I groaned and started stripping off my clothes for bed. I decided to forgo pajamas and just go to sleep in my underwear. The bathroom lights were too bright for my taste at that particular moment as I brushed my teeth and cleaned off my makeup. As I curled up in bed, Cheshire already asleep at my feet, I couldn’t help but replay the evening and that short kiss.

I made a note to call Eden first chance I got and turned the lamp off. I had a long day ahead of me tomorrow and I might as well try to get some rest.