Don't You Remember (23 page)

We continued up the road and crossed over two blocks and arrived at Ruby’s. Sean opened the restaurant door for me and let me go inside first. He walked to the maitre de at the front desk.

“Reservation for Gallow.”

She looked down her reservation diary and said “Ah… Mr Gallow, yes, please come this way.”

We followed the maitre de to a secluded table set in a corner of the room. It had two candles and a single red rose placed on it.

“Here we go. Is this table to your liking, Mr Gallow?” she asked.

“Yes, it’s perfect. Thank you.”

Sean pulled my chair out for me and gestured for me to sit down. I did. We got comfortable at our table and, as if on cue, our waiter arrived.

“Can I get you any drinks?”

“A bottle of champagne,” Sean said.

“What’s the occasion?” I said wincing as I said the words. I had worked out that Sean was going to propose and I had the audacity to say ‘what’s the occasion?’.

“Every day is special with you,” he responded casually as he rolled up his shirt sleeves.

Our champagne arrived and as our waiter poured the drinks I found myself fussing with my hair, then my shirt. I fiddled with my chair as if to get myself perfectly comfortable, ready and waiting for this big bombshell that was about to be thrown on me.

He took one of my hands and placed a champagne glass in it, then took my other hand in his hand. “I’m nervous to ask you this,” he said.

I gulped.

“I want to ask you to marry me.” Without letting me respond he said, “But don’t answer just yet, there’s more.”

I gulped again.

“I’ve been asked to set up an Office in Dubai.”

I nodded to show I understood.

“I want to take the job. It’s a big opportunity for me and I want you to come with me.”

“I see.”

Not letting me say any more he continued: “And if I do this then I will be leaving in four months. I’ll do a couple of trips there first to try and find some real estate for the office and for us to live in. If that is, you want to come. I know this is a lot to take in. It’s not just a marriage proposal, it’s also a life changing proposal.”

“Right,” I said, pausing to think. “So when do you want me to give you an answer?”

“When you’re sure you want to come.”

“And, if not?”

“Then… Well let’s cross that bridge later. I don’t want you to feel as though you are under pressure.”

“What would I do out there?”

“You’re a writer, you can write.”

“OK,” I said slowly still in deep thought. “And are you absolutely sure you want to do this?”

“Absolutely 120 percent sure. I’ve never been so sure. This is the opportunity of a life time and if this goes well then I’ll be made a partner in the firm.”

“So this is huge. A big deal?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Getting married is one thing, changing my entire life is another. It’s not that I’m opposed to the idea, I want to explore my employment options and see what work opportunities there are for me, if that’s OK with you?”

“That’s perfect with me. The fact that you’re not giving me a flat out ‘no’ is a bonus.”

“Did you honestly think I would say no?”

“Not really, I didn’t know what to think. I just told myself to go for it. To be honest I felt like I’d won this contract against the odds and that maybe, just maybe I could win over the most amazing woman I know too.”

“You say the nicest things,” I smiled tucking my hair behind my ears.

Sean added, “You know you could also be a lady of leisure. There would be no pressure to work. We won’t need the money; the package they’ve offered is very good. There’s a large travel element too, so we could well and truly see the world. If you want to, you could just enjoy ex-pat life and be one of those ladies who lunch.”

“Mmm,” I said, looking at the menu. I wasn’t sure what to think about being a lady of leisure as I had always thought of myself as a career girl.

“Oh, and one other thing,” he said while scanning the menu. “It’s my cousin’s birthday on 9 March and he’s having a big party at a new club in Midtown. We’re invited.”

“I’ll write it down,” I promised as I opened my bag and picked out my pocket sized diary.

“I think it’s at a night club called Amber,” he finished.

“Right.” I noted the information in my diary and wrote the words ‘black dress’ and underlined them.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Eliza woke up next to Johnny and looked at his sweet face, all baby-like while he was asleep. She was getting more and more broody these days with her sister recently having had her second baby. She unnecessarily put herself under pressure to have children soon as well. Eliza wanted children but she didn’t want to have them on her own. She wanted her children to have a father and someone to share the responsibility of their upbringing. And Eliza knew Johnny would be a fantastic father, he had so much to give a little person. Sometimes she imagined what their little family would look like. She saw herself and Johnny with a boy and a girl in that order, precisely two years apart. They would probably still live in New York or maybe they would move to Los Angeles or even Malibu, so the kids had more space and could be close to the beach.

Johnny opened one eye and caught Eliza staring at him. “What?” he asked yawning.

“Nothing, I was just looking at you sleeping. You look so sweet and innocent.”

He laughed and grabbed her close to his body, pulling her so she fit underneath. “Why don’t you slip out of these?” he asked pulling at her tank and pajama shorts.

Eliza took her clothes off and giggled. “What are you going to do to me?” she teased.

“Whatever you want.” He nuzzled at her neck.

“You do what you want,” Eliza said, looking directly into Johnny’s eyes. She really did love this wonderful man.

He opened her legs, positioned himself between them and entered her easily. Eliza positioned her hands on his chest, feeling the firmness of his pectoral muscles. She moaned moving the arch of her back playfully enjoying his body inside her. She looked into his eyes to try and get closer to him, to connect, but somehow he looked right through her, as if somehow he was not living in the moment. Was he thinking of someone else? Was he thinking of his ghost? She reasoned with herself that Johnny had moved on, their relationship was stronger than ever. Was it Eliza who was looking too deeply into a situation that didn’t exist? Perhaps it was her who had doubts, not the other way around? She dismissed her silliness and told herself she was making a mountain out of a molehill.

Eliza was a good lover, but she didn’t let herself go enough, preferring to pleasure her partner, rather than losing all her inhibitions and having satisfaction herself. For a selfish lover this would be the perfect relationship, but Johnny wasn’t single minded when it came to making love. For him the session was very much a win win situation for both parties. This is what he loved about making love to Jen, they were so in sync with each other, both unselfish making sure it wasn’t one sided, but equally selfish making sure that each of them was pleasured. Johnny loved the way Jen had no reservations with him and he had never found someone he enjoyed making love to quite as much. But what did that matter when she was no longer around?

Johnny finished and rolled over on his side taking Eliza in his arms.

“I hope you enjoyed that?” she said sincerely.

“I did, but did you?”

“It was great,” she smiled.

“Was it?” He sounded surprised.

“Making love to you is always wonderful, don’t sound so surprised,” she confirmed.

For Johnny making love to Eliza wasn’t wonderful. Sure it was good, even good enough, but not wonderful or sensational. Perhaps he would never experience sensational again.

He stroked her back with his finger tips. As they relaxed he remembered the party. “Lize, Michael’s got his birthday party on 9 March. It’s at that nightclub, Amber. Are you free?”

“I don’t think I am,” she said, rolling over to her bedside table where she had placed her filo-fax. She flicked over to 9 March “Johnny, I’m in Barbados for three days on a shoot.”

“Never mind. I’m perfectly capable of going on my own. Michael’s wife asked me to perform one song, so I’ll get the guys together and organize something special.”

“What a great gift for Michael and all his guests. Imagine a private party in a night club and the lead act is an international band called Johnny Cromwell and The Fuel Injectors,” she said, writing the name in mid air and flashing her fingers to highlight the name as if it was a neon sign.

“Yeah right,” he laughed.

“It’s true,” she said, playfully slapping his upper arm.

There was silence for a while as they lay there with their own thoughts.

“Lize, if I was going to ask you to marry me, and I’m not saying I am.” But that was exactly what he was thinking and she knew it. “If I was going to ask you and if I was going to present you with a ring. What kind of ring would you want?”

She grinned like a Cheshire cat and responded quickly. “A single princess cut diamond.”

“That was easy.”

“I know what I like.”

“You certainly do.” 

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Eliza left for Barbados and Johnny took the opportunity to plan his proposal. First he needed a ring. He called his assistant, Sandra, who worked remotely a couple of days a week and also at the Hunter Management office for another two.

“Sandra, hi. It’s Johnny. Listen, can you get in touch with a handful of good jewellers in New York and ask them to provide you with samples of a princess cut diamond. The diamond needs to be excellent clarity and at least one carat. Tell them it’s for a high profile person with a view to buy. I don’t want you discussing this conversation with anyone. You are the only person I have told so there is no way it should get into the hands of the media.”

“Yes, Johnny, got it. You can trust me,” she replied.

“Ask them to deliver the ring samples directly to you and you can them present them to me. I only need to look at half a dozen different rings at the most.”

“OK I’ve got it,” she said, jotting it down on her pad of paper. “I’ll be in touch shortly.”

“Thanks Sandy. You’re a star.”

“No, Johnny, you’re the star,” she said jokingly.

Sandra dealt with all of Johnny’s needs and organized everything from Johnny’s grocery shopping through to his clothes being laundered. She dealt with Johnny’s cleaner and his driver; dealing with any domestic issues, but there were rarely any.

When Johnny was at home, he wanted down-time and to spend it writing music, reading, working out, or going for a ride or run in Central Park. Occasionally he would experiment and cook something new. While on tour Johnny was surrounded with people constantly, and at home he needed some space. The best part about being on his own was that it gave him time to write music. That was why Eliza still kept her own place a couple of blocks from Johnny. When Johnny took time out to write music Eliza would often go to her apartment and leave him to it. But that arrangement would change once they got married. He would have to buy a much bigger apartment, which wasn’t a problem in the slightest. Johnny’s current apartment suited all his needs for now, but after marriage he would need to have a room completely dedicated to write and rehearse music. It would be his music room with piano, guitars, microphones, amps, etc. He could get used to living with Eliza permanently, as long as he had the freedom and space to write.