Can't Help Falling in Love (4 page)

    
“Benny the Dip said I should call you, but he said you were too beautiful for
me and there might be sparks.”

    
Allison almost choked on his words.  She looked at him with an expression
that crossed between surprise and confusion. “You mean you would like me to
help?”

    
“Sure!”

    
“Now that I’ve met you, I’m certain I could add value to your campaign.” She
smiled her most winning smile and carefully considered her next words before
she spoke. In front of her sat a man who was on the cusp of fame and fortune,
and he had just profusely complimented her. She did not want to offend him, but
she did not want to appear desperate for a new client either.  “Naturally,
I’m flattered,” she commenced, “and I think we should get started right away.”

    
He seemed to again inhale his second donut, and he reached for a third. “You’re
right. It’s now or never.”

    
Allison smiled. “When I went into business on my own, I did so because I wanted
the freedom that went along with being self-employed. This way, I can choose
which projects I want to work on and which ones I don’t want to work on. I would
enjoy working with you.” She had the presence of mind to hold back from
revealing her innermost thoughts.
After all, what person in my field
wouldn’t kill for the chance to help an obviously rising star, albeit a
fledgling? What if he and his band really do take off? I hope I’m not biting
off more than I can chew!
Allison knew that she was ready to take on this assignment and finally spread
her wings. “In short,” she continued, “I have more flexibility this way—and
although I may have to spend time with my other clients, I’ll do my best to
give you my undivided attention as often as needed.”

    
His expression became pensive, and he looked at her like James Dean brooding
over Natalie Wood. “Good then. I want you to take us on. My first record’s
getting some play on the radio stations around here, so maybe you can come up
with some ideas that’ll work.”

    
Allison lit up. “We’ll have to proceed quickly. I want to develop and produce
promotional material for your appearances. We’ll need to spend some time in a
studio with a photographer right away. Unfortunately, I don’t have more time
today. If you have time late tomorrow afternoon, I’d like to meet with you
again then.”

    
“Are you free in the afternoon? We’ll be at the Eagle’s Nest real late tonight,
but maybe around four?”

    
“That’ll be fine.”

    
He rose to leave. He gathered his tear sheets up and deposited them back in the
envelope. “Miss Webster . . . .”

    
“Please, call me Allison,” she quickly interjected.

    
“It’s been great meeting you. I’ll look forward to seeing you tomorrow.” They
shook hands, and then he turned to go, but he turned back toward her. “Allison
. . . .”

     
“Did you want to take another donut with you?”

    
“No thanks. Three’s enough. Umm, there might be one catch about you being our
marketing person.”

    
She noticed that his eyes twinkled as he spoke.
“A catch?”

    
You might think about modeling in some of the pictures. With your hair in a
pony tail, you could easily pass for one of the girls in our audiences.”

    
Was
he serious? I’ve never modeled for any magazine ads
.
“But I’m not a professional model!” she protested.

    
“But you could be.” With that comment, he turned toward the door. “I’ll see you
tomorrow!”

    
Allison was speechless. He had again complemented her, but he also bewildered
her and dismissed her with the turn of one phrase, not to mention the fact that
he had bewitched her with his brooding gaze draped in those mesmerizing long
eyelashes, his southern but respectful drawl, his deliciously curled lips that
were so near hers, and then . . . that whirlpool of passion he inadvertently
stirred up inside her that whirled like a washing machine on spin and then
coursed through her veins like hot steam. Because she could not yet organize
and digest her entire encounter with him, she merely said, “Goodbye!”

    
He stopped short of closing the door behind him. “You might get a chance to
hear our new record if you happen to be listening to WHBQ around
ten o’clock
tonight. It’s a rhythm and blues song
about a blue moon and a love that said goodbye.”

    
He shot her another one of those disarming smiles that sent her head reeling,
and then he closed the door behind him.

    
She sat down again, mentally and emotionally exhausted and struggled to regain
her composure.
What
had he meant by that? Am I losing my wits because of the rush from the coffee
and jelly donut, or am I sensing that there really is more to his feelings
about me that he’s willing to show? Maybe that seemingly shy and extremely
polite exterior hides a deeply-dug well of passion that’s just waiting to erupt
like volcano magma? I can tell we’re just about the same age, so maybe we’re
both frighteningly caught up in something larger than either of us can imagine?
Is this the start of something big, just like Bill said?

    
Marge brought her back to reality. “Miss Webster, are you alright? Your face
just blanched of all color. You look sick. Do you need
a
bicarbonate
?”   

    
“No, I think I need a priest!”

  
Allison arrived at the
Memphis
airport forty-five minutes before
Karen’s plane was scheduled to arrive. While she was glad that her little
sister was returning home, she would not normally have been so early. As she
sat at the gate, the tasks that needed to be attended to came to her mind. She
could have worked on more copywriting back at the office. She could have
reviewed the layouts her most talented freelancer dropped off that morning. She
could even have done something that did not take much concentration, such as
stopping at the printer’s to check the progress on the completion of a
brochure. As always, there was a lot to do, but she could not keep her mind on
her work.

    
All Allison could think about was her new assignment helping promote his band’s
new record. She was not sure exactly what she would be doing for them yet, but
that did not matter. She had a new challenge, and she thought about her meeting
that morning with him.
What a wonderful guy!

    
Most passengers had deplaned when Karen stumbled through the door from the
tarmac and entered the terminal. She looked somewhat disheveled in a flannel
shirt and blue jeans that fit a bit tighter than usual. While she was tall and
pretty like Allison, she tended to be pleasantly plump compared with Allison’s
lithe build. Her tight blond curls danced around her face and down the back of
her neck, and she wore no makeup. She peered over a hefty armful of packages
she juggled while looking for her sister. Karen expected Allison would be
there. They always met each other, but Allison was nowhere in sight.

    
Then, she saw her sitting at the far end of the gate, lost in thought. Little
did she know her sister was fantasizing about a handsome and talented musician,
totally oblivious that the plane had even
arrived.
She
was caught up in an enthralling daydream about him and the things he had said
and insinuated that morning.

    
How
unlike Allison!
Karen
thought, as she trudged clear across the terminal toward her.
She’s
usually so down to earth.  I wonder what’s been going
on
since I
left.

    
“Allison! Allison!” Karen called, as she finally stood over her sister. “Come
back to this world and help me!” She dropped her packages with a thud that
finally jarred Allison back to the present.

    
Allison jumped up and hugged Karen. “I’m so glad you’re home! How was your
trip?” She eyed Karen closely, knowing that she had a tendency to dismiss facts
and feelings she did not want to deal with. This was to have been an important time
for Karen and her boyfriend, Freddie, but the first thing Allison noticed was
that her sister had taken off her engagement ring. Allison saw her sister’s
eyes glass over with tears, and she knew she was upset. 

    
“My trip?
Not what I expected. I gained five pounds
and blew most of my savings on a shopping spree! I guess I’m just no good at
shedding old boyfriends.”

    
The terminal was nearly empty by now of other passengers, so Allison asked
sympathetically, “Do you want to talk about it?”

    
“What is there to talk about? Freddie’s been going out with another woman for
three months and never even told me! And to think I thought we were going to
get married. I must walk around with plugs in my ears and a paper sack over my
head at times!”

    
Allison thought about her sister’s uncanny ability to fall in and out of love,
so she replied with concern, “Long distance relationships are difficult to
sustain. He was geographically undesirable, at best. You’ll meet someone new,
hopefully someone much nicer!”

    
Karen smiled faintly through her tears and put on a happy face. She dismissed
the uncomfortable topic with her usual, quick style and bent over to retrieve
her packages. “You bet I will. I’m not upset. I just retreated into a cookie
and cake cocoon and gained five pounds that I’ll have to find some way to take
off!”    

    
Allison knew not to ask any more questions. She sensed that Karen’s
relationship with Freddie had been cooling off long before her sister left for
vacation. In any case, moving on to other topics seemed best. She was sure that
Karen was already thinking and planning about where to find new romance. Karen
was like that. She refused to dwell on past hurts and speedily blocked them out
of her mind. She liked being in love and had a special knack for getting there.

    
Allison picked up the rest of the packages, and the two sisters headed for the
baggage claim area to retrieve the luggage. She had promised herself she would
say nothing about her sensational new client to anyone until after her next
meeting with him. However, once she was alone with Karen, keeping secret the
fact that she had just met the most exciting guy in years proved too difficult.

    
“I landed a new project while you were gone,” Allison coyly commented, knowing
this would provide a fine distraction. “It came like a big Christmas present
all tied up with a big red bow and covered with glitter. You’ll never guess
what was inside the box.”

    
“Something tells me it was more than a cashmere sweater.”

    
“Just a gorgeous man who’s the heartthrob of nearly every
girl in
Memphis
right now.”

    
“I suppose he’s what you were mooning about when I got off the plane? You
looked like Deborah Kerr longing for Burt Lancaster in
From
Here to Eternity
!”

    
“How’d you guess?”

    
“Come on now, Allison. I may be younger than you, but I wasn’t born yesterday.
I know when my sister is thinking about something that has her obsessed, and I
also know how she looks when she’s thinking about a new man. I can tell by the expression
on your face. You know, just because my latest romantic relationship went bust
doesn’t mean you should hold out on me about yours. Fact of the matter is
,
it’ll make me feel good to hear about it. At least
there’ll be some vicarious thrills today. Now, own up!”

    
“Karen, it
is
just a new job,” Allison replied almost
convincingly. They sauntered over to the conveyor belt that would bring Karen’s
luggage from the plane. Allison hesitated before she went on, knowing so little
herself about how the new project was going to play out. She did not want to
seem like the matter was sketchy, and she had no desire to tease. So, she
decided to simply lay out the facts she had right at the moment. “He just needs
some new promotion ideas and photos,
that’s
all. I’m
sure nothing could ever happen between us. We travel in different worlds. I’m
eight to five, Monday to Friday, and he seems to work odd hours, sometimes late
at night and under the craziest circumstances you can ever imagine. I mustn’t
let myself believe anything could come of it.”

    
Karen was quick to disagree.
“Nonsense!
How can
anything exciting happen if you don’t let yourself believe it can? Tell me more
about him!”

    
Allison was glad that Karen mirrored her own giddy sense of shock over the
impact the singing dreamboat had made on her. She was dying to spill her secret
and her eyes twinkled as she spoke. “I’m sorry, Karen, but I can’t. I mean, I
could, but it’s only mundane things like the fact that he can sing like a
dream, has his first record just out, and has that unusual knack of stirring a
crowd of teenage girls to
a frenzy
!”