latest blush.
“A couple small points before I leave. Sir, if you feel on the table along the right edge as you’re facing it, you’ll feel a button. We don’t like to intrude much, so if you need me for anything at any stage, just press that button and it delivers a non-lethal electric charge to myself. I’ve been conditioned to respond very quickly. OK?”
“Got it.”
“And if nature calls, you’ll find a door on the opposite side of the room to where we entered, so that’s behind you and to your left, ma’am, that will take you through another light trap and to the restrooms. If there’s nothing else, I’ll be right back with your champagne.”
Andy was lightning quick with our champagne, and even filled up the first glasses for us, and left us with some bread and various oils to dip it in, if we could figure out how to aim for them. After a bit of small talk, I tried to get some information out of Ryan.
“So you’ve got me at a disadvantage,” I said.
“How so? You think I’m blind too? Makes the drive over here all the more impressive, huh?”
I laughed. “No, like, I feel like you know a lot more about me than I do about you. You’ve been in my dorm more than I have, you know what I’m studying, you know I’ve never… well, before you… I’m just not usually like that. And you, you’re this big mystery.”
“Well, how do you think we can even up the scores?”
“Tell me about, well, what is it you do? Mmmm, try the oil closest to you, that’s a good one.”
“I’m self-employed. I own a cosmetics company,” Ryan said.
“Cosmetics? Can I get discounted lipstick from you?”
“Sure.”
“How did you even get into that? Did you take, what, chemistry at Highston?”
“No, engineering actually, but I wish I’d taken marketing. That’s what the company really is when you get down to it.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, all I did was source some generic cosmetic lines from overseas. Things like moisturizing cream and lipsticks are incredibly cheap and easy to make. I slap my brand on it, and I have a pretty good marketing system in place. Orders are all either fulfilled by Amazon or drop-shipped if ordered via my website or social media. I keep the marketing budget flowing, and swap out the marketing materials when it looks like people are getting tired of them. Pretty much everything is automated or outsourced. I haven’t had my hands on any cosmetics in almost a year.”
“You serious?” I asked.
“Of course.”
“I never would have guessed that.”
Andy returned with our food, then promptly excused himself after making sure we had everything we needed. The food smelled delicious, and my stomach rumbled as I tried to guess just how my chicken had been prepared.
“So cheers to champagne bottles that remain intact,” Ryan said.
“Cheers.”
“I’m holding my glass up.”
“Oh, haha!”
I carefully found my glass and waved it around in the general area over the table until I heard the musical clink, then took a sip. Next on the agenda was finding my knife and fork.
“My turn,” said Ryan, “speaking of Champagne bottles. Where did you learn to fight like that?”
“Oh, just self-defense classes and boxercise,” I said. “A long time ago something… um… happened to me and I promised it wouldn’t… it would not… happen again without a fight. I’m… I’m sorry. I don’t really want to talk about it.”
“It’s OK.” Ryan was silent for a moment. “Well, I got one thing right that night.”
“What’s that?”
“You’re incredible.”
When Ryan said it, I couldn’t stop myself from believing him. I could feel the admiration in his voice, the same way I’d felt it in his body on the night we met. After suddenly getting a sinking feeling when reminded of that night ten years ago that set me on this career path, his words picked me right up again.
The food was delicious and, as the meal progressed, I felt myself relaxing, laughing and blushing. I almost lost it when we traded forkfuls of our meals for testing purposes, and I accidentally stuck a piece of chicken in honey-mustard sauce into his eye.
I hadn’t allowed myself much time to have fun in my life, but I recognized it when I felt it, and this was it. The way Ryan made me feel, even when I couldn’t see him, feel him or smell him over the food made the lines between Sarina Bell and Sarina Beckett all too easy to blur.
By the time we