The Moment She Knew (10 page)

She looked away shaking her head. She could understand where he was coming from. She didn’t want to get hurt or hurt anyone but that was risk you take with people. He sat at the edge of her couch clasping his hands behind his head. Neither one of them said anything for a few minutes, both lost in thought.

Finally Connor broke the silence. “Maybe taking things slow is the way to go. No one said we have to rush into anything. And honestly if it doesn’t work out maybe you can go back to Louie’s and find Soul Patch.”

“He did not have a soul patch
,” she scoffed.

“Like hell he didn’t! It was high fiving people around the bar. I’m pretty su
re it has its own Facebook page,” he smiled and saw her cracking one as well.

“So taking it slow
ly,” she said fidgeting with her hands. He nodded and got off the couch. “Yes, slowly. I like slowly. I can do slowly. I want to kiss you, slowly.” She could feel his warm breath tickling her lips. He leaned in and kissed her, slowly. Callie couldn’t resist speeding it up and Connor’s lips matched her pace.

“
Wait. What exactly is slowly?” Callie had no idea what guidelines she had to follow.

He waited a minute before responding. “It means we continue on getting to know each other and day by day we see where we are. I care about you.
A lot. You’re someone I want in my life and I will do what it takes to keep you there, there may come times when I mess up and you need to know this. We learn as we go. Talk to me, if we don’t communicate we aren’t going to get anywhere.” She was satisfied with that response. He gave her a quick kiss and headed towards the door, with his hand on the knob he stopped and turned around. “I’m going to the city next weekend for a night. I have a few things to take care of at my apartment. You should come with me. I can return the favor and show you some of my favorite parts of the city.” She thought about it and decided why not. “Good. If you said no I was going to make you an offer you couldn’t refuse,” he gave a half smile.

“And what
, pray tell, was this offer?” She asked, eager to know.

“I can’t
say. Since you said yes I will surprise you and take you there anyway.” Callie was curious to see what he had in store. 

Chapter 12

The week seemed to drag but it was finally Friday and Callie was going to spend the night in New York City. She looked forward to it because she rarely went anywhere, but was nervous because she did know if Connor was going to make a move. They had dinner at her apartment during the week which always ended with them kissing on couch but didn’t go any further than that.

Connor
put her bag in his Cadillac and off they went. He had made reservations at one of his favorite restaurants but had to take care of a few things first at his apartment.

They arrived at a building that was about thirteen stories tall and
was just breathtaking. “This looks like something celebrities live in,” she said, glancing around.

“I do have a few well known neighbors
.”

Connor
carried their bags in and watched Callie as she took in the sites. The building was comparable to a castle. The exterior of the building was brick coated in dark beige with arched entrance ways. Outside balconies covered some levels. Wrought iron fences surrounded the twelfth floor of the building, where the top apartments came to a point.  Connor greeted the man at the desk and stopped to chat for a bit. The elevator opened and Connor immediately started talking to the man inside. He referred to him simply as Shaw. “Shaw this is Callie. Callie this is Shaw.”

Shaw was a tall man with muscles. He had his share of tattoos going up and down both arms. He couldn’t have been older than forty. He was bald but not because he didn’t have hair but because he must have liked that style. He had dark brown eyes and a scar on his chin.
They greeted hellos and Shaw made a face towards Connor. Connor pretended not to notice. She wondered what that was about.

The elevator door dinged opened on the thirteenth floor. They walked down
a hall with cream walls and a green and gold patterned carpet. The hall had only two doors. Connor turned to the left and they all proceeded to enter through the door.

In his apartment, they walked down a plain hallway with no pictures or paintings. The walls were boring, an eggshell color with nothing to bring it to life. The floor was hardwood; no carpet or rugs were present. At the end of the hallway,
Connor dropped his keys in a tray on a table. As he turned to talk to Callie he noticed her mouth was wide open. The apartment was nothing like she expected. It was modern and big. It took up half of the thirteenth floor. The floor plan was open which she loved. The living room, kitchen and dining room all flowed together. The windows were tall, just about floor to ceiling. His apartment had a great view, overlooking a park.

All of the furniture from tables to chairs
were dark cherry wood. His couch was dark brown leather and looked brand new. There were no throw pillows or blankets, the lack of them and any art décor, made the apartment seem cold. The apartment looked as if no one even lived there. It was nothing like her apartment.

“Are you ok? Can I
get you something to drink? He offered.

“Water, water is good.
” Being here, in his apartment, made her feel out of her comfort zone. Connor brought her back a bottle of water she never heard of. He gave her a quick tour, “I have to handle a few things. I won’t be long so make yourself comfortable.”

Yea like that was an option
she thought.

They went to dinner at a local Italian place; it was
fancier than she hoped. After dinner they walked to a few shops Connor liked to visit when he had time. They were at a little coffee shop when the sky turned black. Raindrops the size of quarters came down fast, stinging any part of their skin it hit. They ran to the car and headed back to the apartment.

After drying off,
Connor poured Callie a glass of wine. She recognized the bottle; it was a sweet red wine she often kept in her apartment. “Nice choice of wine,” she smiled.

H
e looked up and smiled back. “I pay attention to you Callie.”

He came back with a small glass of wine for him
self and her glass was filled to the top. She looked at his glass then at hers and then looked at him. He laughed as he took a seat next to her.

“I swear I have nothing in mind, I know you don’t want to drink alone so I poured myself a little and you always fill your glass to the rim
.” He was right; why not fill it to the rim? But still she wondered if he was up to anything more. “Callie I swear.” She rolled her eyes. “I believe you. So what’s the surprise?”

“You
have to wait until tomorrow. We will arrive at 2pm, so we can grab lunch at a cafe near it before hand.”

“
Sounds like a date.” She took a sip of wine. It was chilled; just like she liked her red wine. Goodness it relaxed her. Outside, the thunder was rumbling louder and lightning lite up the black sky.

“So about this birthday party in a few weeks?”
She needed to know more details.

“Ah yes
,” he said, as he took a sip of wine.

“Does it fall on your actual birthday?”

“No my birthday is actually the 17
th
of October.”

“Shit, that only gives me a couple weeks to get you a gift. So what do you want for your birthday?”
She wondered what she would get a guy who has enough money to buy whatever he wanted.

“
Nothing. Really. Please don’t.” It sounded like he was pleading. 

“How can I NOT get your something? It’s your birthday and I normally would be all creative but
I don’t know anything about you,” she shrugged and took another sip of wine.

“Of course you do,
I’ve talked about myself.”

“Not
enough for me to be able to get creative with a gift. You only tell me what I can con out of you.”

“It doesn’t matter; I hate my birthday and just want
it over with,” he signed and took another sip of wine.

“Why would you hate your birthday?”
Callie loved her birthday celebrations. Friends and family all gathered. There was always food and drinks and cake, delicious cake.

He sighed
again. He didn’t like talking about it but he liked Callie and he wanted her to know more about him since she felt she knew nothing. He couldn’t hide or run from his past.

“It’s the day mother decided she didn’t want me. On my
third birthday, my mother decided being a mother wasn’t something she wanted to do anymore. What could a three year old do to make his mother hate him- on his birthday? I can’t remember much of my childhood before being adopted. Apparently I suppressed the memories or something, but how do you just stop loving your child? I must have done something unforgivable because I don’t get how you can just walk away from your kid.” He stood up and walked over to the window. The nasty weather outside continued. Callie didn’t know what to say. He paced a few times before stopping. “What could I have done to her?” His voice cracked and he had tears in his eyes. “How can I expect anyone to love me when my own mother didn’t.” Callie got up and did the only thing she could think of, she walked over to him and hugged him. He hugged her back. His grip got tighter as he positioned his head in the nook of her neck. He backed away after a few moments. “Shit I’m sorry; this was supposed to be a fun weekend. Let’s move on shall we?”

A crash of thunder shook the windows and caused them both jump. “Shit,
its really bad out.” Within minutes there were no lights across the park and within seconds the lights in the apartment building flickered. “That’s not good.” Connor called Shaw. “What does Shaw do exactly?” Callie asked. “He is security. Not just for me but for the company. He knows all about technology and security. If a company loses power we need to make sure that their security isn’t breached or threatened in anyway,” Connor explained. “Ohhhh and what was that look Shaw gave you in the elevator?” Callie crossed her arms, smiling, waiting for his answer. “I knew you saw that. Shaw knows about you, all about you. Apparently you are written all over my face. So when I had my genius idea of staying away and coming back home for a few weeks, Shaw saw it wasn’t doing me much good. He asked for a picture of you and I didn’t have one but I explained what you looked like and said ‘to simply put it, she is beautiful’ and he agrees.”

Connor
started talking on the phone to Shaw and Callie stood near the window blushing at Connor’s comment. She replayed what he said about his mother. It was heartbreaking to hear. The more Callie thought about it the more she convinced herself his mother had to have a reason. Who could just up and leave their child?

The weather was nasty out but lord she loved a good
rain storm. Add some lightning and thunder and it was one of her favorite things. After a few moments Connor ended the call, “Ok we are good.”

“Well that’s good
,” she replied and went back to looking out the window.

H
e watched her as she examined the weather outside. She fidgeted with her shirt, tugging at the hems. He watched her a bit longer, the way she was breathing, the way she bit her lip, and in the reflection of the window she noticed he was staring. “Will you quit staring?”

“You like this weather
, don’t you?” It was a question but he knew the answer.

“I love it
,” she said breathlessly.

“I can tell
,” he smiled at her.

“What do you mean?”
She narrowed her eyebrows.

“This weather is a turn on for you
.” He didn’t ask, it was a statement. It was a turn on but how could he tell. He knew she was confused so he enlightened her.

“I can tell in your body movements, the way you breathe and
it’s in your eyes. I pay attention, so I notice when you fidget, when your breathing increases and your mouth gives away much of your emotions.”

“I don’t like you right now
,” she said with a slight smile.

“Oh come on, that’s a lie. I can tell you like me. You
give it away.” The last part was a whisper.

“You aren’t supposed to call me out on it
!” She pushed him lightly.

He laughed
as he placed his hands in his pocket. She noticed his hands and smiled as she looked back out the window. He wasn’t going to make a move if he placed his hands in his pockets.

“If we get a black out
, does it affect your business or customers?” She wondered.

“No it would be fine
. I talked to Shaw and we are all set in case that happens. Why?”

“Ok good
, because it’s not a good thunderstorm unless there is a blackout. And I really want one.”

He leaned in close to her ear and whispered, “If we get a black out I can think of one thing we can do
to pass time.”

S
he pushed him away. “You said you weren’t making any moves! You lied!”