Chapter 3
He turned his attention back to Becky, “Tell me, how is the education congress going to be?” It intrigued him.
“It’s going to start with a speaker who is a librarian talking to us about how family members can bond with books.” Becky blushed and looked away briefly.
“Wow,” it impressed Collin. “That’s a brilliant idea!”
“That was how I felt when she gave me the idea,” a proud Evelyn chipped in. “Tell him more,” she urged Becky. She already saw that her friend was smitten with Becky.
“You are so creative,” an impressed Colin said.
“There is also going to be a book fair on Saturday.” Becky continued. She was so happy with herself. She likes it when she meets people who appreciate her work.
Colin listened with rapt attention as she talked. Her voice was so soothing. He liked the passion she displayed. It was so obvious she enjoyed her career.
The waiter returned thirty minutes after he brought the wine, as Colin instructed him. They made their orders and their conversation shifted to lighter topics as they ate.
When they were leaving after the food, Evelyn gave Colin a nudge. “You seem to like Becky.” Becky was out of earshot, walking ahead of them.
Surprised that she noticed, he just beamed and nodded.
“She’s a wonderful girl, and she is available,” Evelyn winked at Collin. “And I hope your thoughts are pure. I want no player around my girl. She’s been through some rough patches lately.”
He nodded, “I ain’t no player.” He placed a hand on his chest. “You of all people should know that.” Evelyn just smiled and jabbed him playfully on his arm with her elbow.
“I will send her phone number to you,” Evelyn winked at him.
“Oh thanks,” he touched her arm. “I was just about to ask you for it.” They both burst into laughter as they walked to where she parked her car. “I will be expecting you next week, Collin.” Evelyn opened her car door.
“Sure, I will be there most definitely on Saturday,” he told her.
Evelyn grinned, “thanks so much for lunch.”
“My pleasure,” he looked over at Becky, who was standing by the passage door of the car, “take care Becky, I will see you next week.” He was having a rush of adrenaline again as he looked at her.Nôvel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner.
“Okay,” she smiled back.”I will be expecting you, Collin.”
He waited for the ladies to get into the car. Colin watched as Evelyn drove off, wondering about how he could start falling in love with Becky at first sight.
Never in his life had he felt like that with any woman. It was almost four years after Lauren, his former girlfriend, and he had had no desire for any lady until now.
He smiled into the thin air and walked to his car. His veins were still popping with excitement when he got back to the office, Blake Tower, which housed the head office of their company.
He picked his phone off his desk an hour before lunch the following day to call Becky.
“Hello,” Becky said hesitantly from the other after she picked the call.
“Hi, Becky,” Colin smiled. “It’s Colin…Colin Blake.”
“Oh,” she cleared her throat. “I’m sorry I never knew it’s your number.”
“It’s okay,” he told her. “I got your number from Evelyn, I hope you don’t mind?”
“No. It’s okay.”
He asked if he could come over to take her to lunch.
“I don’t know,” she sounded reluctant. “I have a lot of work on my desk right now, Colin.”
“You need to rest your brain too,” he retorted with a chuckle.
In the end, she agreed to meet him at a Chinese restaurant near her office. She insisted she would drive to the place, that he didn’t need to come and pick her up.
Becky reached for her handbag at noon and brought out her makeup purse to refresh her face. She arrived thirty minutes behind schedule at the restaurant and it was worth it.
She saw him the moment she pushed open the entrance door. He was sitting facing the entrance.
When he made eye contact with her and smiled slowly, her breath hitched. She smiled back and walked up to him.
Colin watched in awe as she strode towards him. She was so beautiful; so breathtaking. Even though she was only wearing a two-piece business suit, with minimal make-up.
He stood up and put his arm around her in a half embrace as soon as she got to where he was.
“You look so elegant,” Colin smiled and stared into her face. His heartbeat speeding up by the second.
“Thank you.” She blushed.
“I’m sorry I came late,” she apologized.
“Oh, it’s nothing.” he waved a hand briefly and pulled a chair out for her to sit on before he sat down.
He beckoned for a waiter to make their orders for the drink.
They hit it off immediately. It was just as if old friends were meeting for lunch.
He was so warm and hilarious. He had her shrieking with laughter most of the time. They found out that they shared the same interests and the same views on most issues.
“Listen,” he smiled into her eyes after they finished eating before they took their leave. “Can we do this properly the weekend after the next. I mean…have dinner?”
“Dinner?” She asked, surprised that he wanted to meet her again.
“Yes, dinner,” he nodded. “I have to travel on Tuesday to Spain to check up on my dad.”
“Yeah,” she looked intently into his eyes. “I remember you and Evelyn were talking about his health. I hope it’s nothing too serious?”
“It’s not too much,” he said. “Thanks for asking.”
His parents had traveled to Spain for their bi-yearly holiday out of the country as usual, with the plan to stay for a month. Everything was okay until his dad broke his ankle when playing lawn tennis one evening.
“Oh, no!” Becky exclaimed when he finished telling her.
“It’s going to be about three to four months before they can remove the cast,” he said to her. “You know it’s the ankle and his age too will affect the healing process.”
“That’s a really long journey,” she said.
“You can say that again.”
“So can we have dinner when I come back?” He squeezed her hand over the table.
“I guess so,” she nodded, blushing all the way.