Almost Lovers (17 page)

I beeline for the coffee machine and tried
to overt my eyes from the stove, not wanting to see Lydia naked
this early in the morning, or ever.

"Good morning," said Robert, with a chipper
voice as smooth as honey.

I stopped and looked toward the stove. Lydia
wasn't cooking; Robert had a spatula and two plates out with a
smattering of breakfast goodness on each of them. I looked around
the living room for signs of life but didn't see anyone.

"Lydia stay over?" I asked, not wanting an
answer.

"Lydia?" asked Robert, "Oh, no - she had
something to do this morning. I stayed here last night. I thought
it might be time we caught up on some things,"

"Oh?" I said, taking the full cup of hot and
delicious coffee he offered me.

"We left so many things unsaid," said
Robert, flipping a pancake.

He caught the pancake in the air with a
plate and smiled, handing the plate to me. I had no idea who this
person in my kitchen could be but it couldn't be the Robert I knew.
He didn't make breakfast and didn't talk about things left unsaid.
He actually mastered the art of the unsaid word.

"Is that so?" I asked, still cautious as I
dumped a river of syrup on my plate and began to devour the
breakfast he had made.

"How have you been?" he asked, "Are you and
that one guy pretty serious now?"

He turned away from me, fussing with the
stove and pouring more pancake batter in the pan. I took a slurp of
my coffee. Did he want to try again? Could it just be wishful
thinking? I didn't want to risk it and find out he wanted to get
back together. And now he thought I was 'off the market'. I knew I
should have just stayed home and waited for him to get bored with
Lydia. Flings never last forever, right?

"I wouldn't say we're serious, exactly," I
tried to find better words to describe Sebastian and I, "I
suppose...friends is a good way to describe us. We're close
friends, not serious, not a relationship,"

Robert flipped another pancake and looked at
me, smiling the biggest smile he had ever given me.

"Wow," said Robert, "It's just crazy that
you're not that serious,"

He kept that smile plastered on his face,
continuing to flip pancakes. He had about six pancakes on his plate
now for some odd reason.

"I don't know why that's crazy," I said, "I
told Sebastian that I was not looking for another
relationship,"

I could feel my heart fluttering. It could
be the coffee or the prospect that Robert might be considering
getting back together.

"I don't know many men...any, actually," he
said, "That buy cars for someone they're not in a relationship
with,"

I looked at him sideways, confusing setting
in.

"What are you talking about? I still drive
my same old car," I set down my coffee and smiled back at him
now.

I had no idea what would give him the idea
that Sebastian would do something as outrageous as buy me a car.
The thought was ludicrous.

"So… the white sports car downstairs with
the giant red bow on it," said Robert, eyebrows up as though there
could be no denying what he was talking about, "you have no idea
where it came from and why it has a giant tag on it with your
name?"

If I had coffee in my mouth I would have
spit it out. I leapt up from where I had been sitting at our
breakfast counter and raced to the window that looked out on to our
street. Sure enough, there was a white sports car with a giant red
bow and tag that said "
To Prussia, With Love
," and it was
not a small bow.

"Oh my goodness," I said, placing my hands
over my mouth that was now hanging open.

"Tell me again," said Robert, peering over
my shoulder. He had apparently followed me from the kitchen, "how
serious are you two?"

The only thing I could think was that there
had to be a perfectly logical explanation. But before I could offer
a few, there was a knock at the door. I looked at Robert, who
looked at me, and we both went to see who it was. Robert opened the
door. He didn't bother asking any questions. He took one look and
went back into the kitchen. There stood Sebastian, smiling at me
and holding up a set of car keys.

"Ready to go test drive your new car?" asked
Sebastian.

I jumped up and down and started screaming.
I couldn't help it. Logic said I should tell him to take it back,
not to take such an elaborate and over the top gift but who turns
down a new car, and a beautiful sports car at that?

"Hang on," I said, extremely animated as I
held my hands up as if I could freeze him in his place, "Don't
move, I am going to go change,"

I raced to the bedroom to find something
reasonable to wear and run a brush through my hair. I must have
spent five minutes getting ready and by the time I got back to the
door I knew it had been 4 minutes too long. The atmosphere had
changed though my excitement remained.

"Ready to go?" asked Sebastian, a smile on
his face but not as wide as it had been.

I looked back and forth between Sebastian
and Robert a few times. I hesitated. Something had happened while I
had been changing. I wasn't sure what had happened but something
had definitely been said. Robert didn't look at me from where he
sat, eating his stack of 8 or more pancakes.

"We'll talk later?" I asked Robert.

Robert gave me a little wave, still not
looking at me. I wanted to ask, wanted to find out why he had
suddenly become so distant, but I had a brand new car waiting for
me downstairs. Sebastian held those keys up and jingled them. I
resented the feeling like I was being taunted with a dog toy but in
reality was still elated to hear the jingle. My eyes lit up and I
decided there would be time enough to talk to Robert about our
relationship after I took a test drive of my new car.

I reached out to grab the keys and Sebastian
held them just out of reach.

"First one there gets to drive," he said, a
playful look on his face.

I felt that familiar spark in my heart when
that mischievous look flashed at me. We hadn't talked about our
kiss. I had forgiven him and he had mostly been content with Lydia
being furious. I accepted his challenge and took off for the
elevator, ignoring the sparks between us.

"Close the door," I shouted over my
shoulder, knowing that it gave me an unfair advantage.

I punched the button to close the elevator
doors, bouncing as I wanted the doors to close more quickly,
certain he would sneak in at the last minute. But the doors closed
and there was still no sight of Sebastian.

I wondered if he was still standing there
with Robert. Perhaps I should have asked what had happened while I
had been changing. Maybe there had been more tension there than I
had realized. The last thing I needed was fighting.

I thought about waiting until the elevator
came back down but decided I wanted to make sure I drove my new car
first. I walked out to the street and leaned on the hood of the
beautiful car. And it could only be described as beautiful.
Anything else wouldn't do it justice. The white paint glistened and
the curves of the metal body streamlined in a way that said it had
been built with speed and luxury in mind.

"Maserati," said Sebastian.

I turned around to see him saunter across
the little stretch of grass in front of the building. He tossed the
car keys to me. I barely caught them.

"What?" I asked.

"Maserati," he said again, "It's the car
that suits you best. Grand-mama said you needed a company car and
wanted me to pick something for you. This is what I chose. I hope
you like it,"

"Like it?" I asked, "I love it, it's
beautiful! It's amazing!"

I wrapped my arms around him and gave him a
big hug. His arms wrapped around me as soon as I was on him and he
picked me up from the ground and spun me around. We both smiled at
each other and then I felt awkward, looking up for a second and
wondering if Robert was watching. Sebastian must have noticed that
my smile faltered because he set me back on the ground. I smoothed
my outfit out in awkward silence.

"Ready for a ride?" he asked finally.

"Are you?" I asked, excited to try her out,
"Where should we go?"

We both got in the car and fastened our seat
belts quick.

"Hmmm," he said, "How about Las Vegas?" he
asked, with a wink.

"No," I said, laughing at him, "You're so
silly. Where else?"

"We could start small," he said, "You could
drop me off Victoria’s. I didn't have any of the staff follow me so
I don't have a ride back,"

"That'll be perfect!" I said, "I love the
winding roads to the castle."

“Castle?” he asked.

I bit my lip.

“It looks like a castle,” I offered in
explanation.

“It does, doesn’t it?” he said, “Because it
is…” he gave me a sweet grin and raised his eyebrows as though it
were a secret.

And in that moment we smiled at each other
and my heart didn't flutter, my knees didn't melt. I just felt
happy. I felt like everything in the world was right. This is what
happiness felt like. And I immediately followed that feeling with
regret. I looked up at our apartment window one last time as I
pulled away from the curb and onto the street. Somehow I knew that
Robert was watching. I couldn't see him but I knew. And it made me
sad because that used to be me and I knew how it felt to be the one
watching.

Just thinking about Sebastian's lips on mine
had the power to make me breathless. And what's worse, I had run
out of my apartment without even thinking about why I did all of
this to begin with. He dangled those keys, his sexy body filling up
that door frame and I ran out the door without a second look at
Robert. I knew I had messed up. I just didn't know how badly. By
the time I got back from dropping off Sebastian at the castle I
still had hope that Robert would be in the apartment, waiting as I
had all those times.

I wanted to leap out of the elevator and
bolt down the hallway when it stopped on our floor but I contained
myself. Mostly, my nerves were ruining me. I couldn't help but
fidget every time the elevator signaled a floor being passed.
Anxiety had never been something I handled well. And here I seemed
to be signing up for it.

By the time I got to the apartment I already
had my key out. I was prepared to fling the door open and profess
my love and apologies. What did a car mean compared to what Robert
and I had worked at for so long? We were supposed to get married,
start a family and be each other's happily ever after. If he would
give up Lydia I would give up Sebastian without hesitation. If he
would give up Lydia.

And who should I find in our apartment?
Silence and a note. I left the door swinging wide open and snatched
up the note as soon as I saw it. A quick skim and I summarized that
he couldn't wait on me any longer - he had gone to work.

I crumbled up that familiar lined yellow
paper and tossed it back onto the kitchen counter. When I turned
around the last thing I expected to see was Lydia in a slinky black
dress and heels. But there she stood, giving me a look that would
kill if it could.

"What do you want Lydia?" I asked, no
patience and all attitude.

"New car?" asked Lydia.

"Sure is," I said, letting a bitchy smile
cross my lips, "Sebastian picked it out just for me,"

I knew her button now and I was going to
press it until she short circuited. Because after the wedge she had
driven between Robert and I, she deserved every bit of it.

"You're not his type," said Lydia, walking
slowly with a dramatic click every time a heel hit the hard floor,
"He's just using you to get me back,"

"Is that so?" I asked, "How's that working
out?"

I gave her all the pent up frustration I
could, hitting the bitch-o-meter with every word that fell out of
my mouth. Maybe driving around for an hour in a brand new Maserati
had made me bold or I just loved rubbing every bit of it in her
face.

"If you know what's good for you you'll make
sure it works out," said Lydia, arms crossed in front of her and
her feet spread in a gladiator type stance.

If her feet were any farther apart her dress
would snap up and it would turn into a shirt instead of an overly
stretched shirt-length dress.

"You're problem," I said, waving a
dismissive hand at her and realizing immediately I had never done
that to anyone before and wondering where I had picked it up, "Not.
Mine."

I gave her my best bitch stare. Honestly,
when she started walking toward me with the look of death in her
eyes I couldn't imagine my bitch stare was worth that much anger.
It wasn't as if I had honed in on this skill or practiced at all.
She had a hotter temper than I had realized. I braced myself for
whatever crazy she decided to bring to me in my own kitchen.