Chapter 21: Chapter 21

Natalia pulled her rented Ford Focus into the parking space beside Brad’s car and cut the engine. Grabbing her purse, she took his outstretched hand as he helped her out of her car, and with their hands still clasped together, they walked toward the front door.

The drive there had been pretty much a blur, so she got her first glimpse of the restaurant as she neared the entrance, and as soon as she did, her steps faltered. She thought she’d recovered rather quickly, but her hesitation must have shown on her face, because Brad turned to her and asked, “Is there something wrong?”

She flashed him a small smile. “I guess I was expecting someplace a little more….casual,” she said as she glanced up at the sign for Alain Ducasse, the ultra chic, upscale French restaurant just outside Bayside in the small, but trendy town of Summerlin.

Brad’s eyes twinkled as he smiled. “You’re an international superstar. I couldn’t just take you to Mercy’s Burger Palace.”

She grinned at the teasing gleam in his eyes. “Yes you could have and I would have been just fine.”

“But I wouldn’t have,” she said, scrunching his face into a frown. “I think I overdosed on Mercy’s as a kid. The thought of another Triple M Deluxe Burger makes me want to puke.”

She chuckled at the sour expression on his face. “Alright, then French it is,” she said as she let him escort her inside.

In moments they were seated at a secluded table tucked away in a corner that allowed them a great deal of privacy. Natalia was grateful. Her face wasn’t so noticeable that she got stalked like a Halle Berry or Angelina Jolie, but she was still known by many and sometimes she found private moments could quickly turn into awkward public spectacles, which was the last thing she wanted to happen tonight. She just wanted to enjoy a quiet dinner with an old friend in peace and complete anonymity.

“I was surprised that you came back this year. When I saw your

name on the list I thought someone had made a mistake.”

A tiny grin tugged at her lips as she shifted her gaze from unfolding her linen napkin in her lap to Brad’s face. “I think everyone was surprised, including me.”

He cocked his head to the side and studied her with curious eyes, causing her to fidget in her chair under the weight of his scrutiny. “Why’d you come back?”

The question was innocent enough, but there was a wealth of meaning behind it and they both knew it.

“For many reasons.” Heat crept into her cheeks and she looked away feeling slightly embarrassed. “The main one being that I needed to prove to myself that I was over my past—”

“And are you?”

She dragged her eyes back to his face, and just drowned in the crystal clear blue depths of his eyes. “I’m as over it as I’ll ever be,” she said truthfully, knowing that one could never truly escape their past, but

they could at the least come to terms with it, which is what she had done by coming back.

“And the other reason? For coming back,” He added when she shot him a puzzled look.

She smiled up at him. “To see you.” “Me?”

“Yes, you. I wanted to say thank you.” “‘Thank you’ for what?”

She held his gaze. “For changing my life. I know it sounds silly and

a little cliché but I never forgot how you treated me the last semester of our senior year. The things you said to me stayed with me and I owe a lot of my belief in myself at that time to you.”

“Me?”

She chuckled softly at the comical look of shock plastered across his

face.

She reached across the table and gripped his hand with her own. “Yes, you, Brad. I wanted to thank you in person,” she said softly and released his hand abruptly when shocks of warmth skated from her

fingertips all the way up her arm.

“I don’t know what to say. I mean, I don’t remember saying much.

I really can’t take credit for the person you’ve become—”

“And I’m not giving you credit for the person I’ve become,” she joked, her eyes sparkling with laughter. “But I am giving you credit for helping me realize that I wanted to be more than what I was.”

He smiled. “And here I thought I was going to get a finder’s cut or something.”

“I’m sorry to disappoint you there,” she said, shaking her head as she chuckled as his words.

He let out a longsuffering sigh and she found herself laughing harder. “Well then I guess I’ll just have to settle for that heartfelt thank you.” Laughter shimmered in his eyes for a few more moments, before

his expression turned serious. “I still don’t think I deserve any thanks but you’re welcome, Natalia. I’m proud of you and I was happy to hear of your successes through the years. You deserve it.”

She averted her gaze under the weight of his stare, feeling just a little embarrassed by the look of pride in his eyes. She would never admit it, but it warmed her inside to know that he was proud of the person she’d become. She wasn’t still the same girl who desperately sought the approval of others, but she was happy to know that she had Brad’s

*

“Ohmigod, I’m so stuffed. I forgot how rich French food is.”

Brad wagged his eyebrows at her from over the menu. “So, you’re sure you don’t want dessert.”

“Oh, don’t tempt me. I would love to but I’m going to bust out of this dress if I eat another bite.”

He grinned. “Alright then, but don’t complain later that you wish you’d ordered the Crème Brule when I’m digging in.”

“Oh you’re so evil,” she said with a surly pout.

She scowled at him for a few seconds before they both burst into fits of laughter at her antics.

As their laughter died down, they settled into a comfortable silence until their waiter returned. Despite his teasing, he declined dessert and quickly settled the bill.

“Thank you for dinner. It was great seeing you again and I had a wonderful time.”

Brad struggled to school his features into a pleasant mask as he tried to hide his disappointment. He didn’t want the night to end, but he couldn’t think of an excuse to extend it.

He opened his mouth to ask her out to lunch tomorrow but never got the chance when obnoxious cackles of laughter floated across the partition. He would have ignored it had he not recognized the familiar voices coming from just a few feet away.

“Did you see her? “Ohmigod. I can’t believe she had the nerve to show up and then she comes back expecting everyone to fawn all over her like she is some big time celebrity.”

“Why do you think she came back after all this time?”

“I don’t know. Probably to add Brad to her list of conquests. Did you see the way she was draped all over him? What a whore. Still the same old Natalia.”

Brad stiffened when Jessica and Steve, his old football buddy from school, broke out into another round of laughter. His eyes snapped to Natalia’s face. She sat there stiff as a board, but if the words had had any effect on her, she didn’t show it.

He immediately jumped to his feet, already headed toward the table on the other side of the wall where he was prepared to ruin Steve and Jessica’s dinner just as they’d just ruined his, but he was forced to stop when Natalia stood and blocked his way. He grasped her arms and tried to physically put her back down into her seat, but she wouldn’t budge.

He could have overpowered her, but he didn’t when she silently mouthed the words. “Let’s just go.”

He shook his head vehemently, but eventually relented when he glimpsed the pleading look in her eyes.

He nodded reluctantly, his jaw set in a tight frown as he clasped her hand in his and stalked angrily out of the restaurant, trying to be mindful not to drag her behind him in his haste to get out of there before he ignored her request and stomped back inside to do what he longed to do.

He stormed outside to the parking lot, and with his free hand pressed the button on his key chain. The car alarm beeped and as soon as the locks popped up, he reached for the handle to open the passenger door.

“Brad, I drove my car—”

“I would like to go somewhere so that we can talk in private. I’ll drive you back here—”

“No, Brad. Thank you for dinner, but I’m tired and I’m going back to the hotel.”

He glimpsed the resolve in her eyes and before he could stop her, she wrenched her hand from his, hopped into her car and pealed out of the parking lot.

“Natalia! Natalia!” He slammed his palm against the hood of his car. “Damnit.”

Not stopping to think about what he was doing, he jumped into his car, turned on the ignition and tore out of the parking lot after her