learned about it back in my student days, before I left for the States, and I’m sure it’s still there. After enjoying the day, I could take her up there, where no one else would be able to see…
I shake my head to myself, sharply. There’s no point in these fantasies. Even if I still can’t take my eyes off her. Even if every word we’ve spoken together has lodged a little more firmly inside my chest. Even if everything I learn about her makes me want to learn more, and more, and more.
There’s no point because I have to go.
“Well, this is where I leave you,” I say, reluctantly. I make a show of checking my watch, even though I’m sure down to the second what time it is, as they turn around. “I’m afraid I have to go, or I’ll miss my business dinner.”
“Oh, that’s a shame,” Liliana exclaims. “We’ve been having so much fun.” Her cheeks heat again then, and I think she must not have realized she was going to say it before she did.
There’s something about her that I can’t help be drawn in by. She’s so straightforward. She keeps saying what she thinks. Good or bad, she blurts out her opinions, not worried about who might hear them. She says what she wants. I like that about her.
Actually, I think I might love it.
“It has been wonderful,” I say. “I’m a slave to my work, however. Please, forgive me for leaving you now.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Frank says, even though it’s not him I’m apologizing to. He walks closer and reaches out to shake my hand. “You’ve been a huge help. Thanks so much.”
“Yes, thank you,” Liliana says, clearing her throat. It’s adorable. She’s trying to be polite, but I can see she doesn’t mean it at all. She’s upset that I’m going.
It’s as much as I can do to stop myself from picking her up and running away with her.
“Ciao,” I tell them both. I force myself to start walking backward so that I’m at least making some progress away from them. “Enjoy the rest of your stay.”
“We will,” Frank replies, waving quickly before turning away.
“Ciao,” Liliana says, her voice a little faint, an echoing wave lingering longer and slower. She holds my eye until I turn to walk away, biting my own lip to stop myself from turning back.
“I apologize for my tardiness,” I say, slipping into a chair. “I hope you haven’t been waiting for too long.”
“No, not too long,” one of the men I’m meeting, an older man I’ve done business with a few times, replies. “I was just saying to Charles here, it’s not like you to be late. Ever since I’ve known you, you’ve always been punctual.”
I grimace. “Yes, I must apologize again,” I say, shaking my head. “I went home to change, and I didn’t count on there being a little traffic to get through.”
Charles laughs. “You misunderstand me,” he says. “What I mean is, you’ve earned the chance to be late a time or two. You can get away with it.”
I smile, and the others at the table with us laugh. “Alright, alright,” I say, lifting a hand in surrender. “I don’t apologize at all. Are we satisfied?”
“He said you were a charmer, too,” one of Charles’ associates, who I’ve never met before, puts in. “We’ve ordered a few bottles of red for the table – I hope you don’t mind?”
“Not at all,” I tell him. “Let’s get the business out of the way so that we can enjoy ourselves, shall we?”
There’s another chorus of laughs around the table, and we begin to talk deals. When the waiter comes, I give them my order for the food as quickly and quietly as possible to avoid disturbing the conversation. Then they move away, and I watch them for a brief second before turning my attention back to the group.
At least, that’s my intention. But as it turns out, bringing my attention back to the matter at hand isn’t so easy. Because my gaze follows the waiter past the front of the table, which means I end up looking right at the door – and at the person who just came in.
And I don’t think I can believe my eyes.
I have to blink twice, look away, and then back before I believe it. It’s really them.
It’s really her.
Liliana and Frank just walked into my restaurant, only an hour since I last left them.
My instinct is to call