The Dark Stranger

8. A Walk in the Park

I didn't believe her, of course. I was convinced that once they'd taken the measure of the two girls sitting at the table, the men in the cafe would fixate on Daisy. Why wouldn't they? If I were them, I'd be drawn to Daisy too. I'd never seen her from a sexual perspective before. She was my friend, after all. But after last night, I had to admit, I could see what they were seeing. Every little movement she made, the way she picked up her coffee cup, the way she moved her head when she spoke, her wistful glances out of the window, all these things made me want her just as they wanted her. Maybe more.

"I was wondering," I said, ignoring all the attention we were getting, "what happened last night... do you want to... would you be interested in..." My nerves got the better of me, and I choked.

"Do you want me to call Daniel? See if he'll agree to round two?"

"Yeah... no... that's not what I meant. Daniel's nice and everything, but... I was wondering if you wanted to..."

A mischievous smile spread across her lips. "You want us to spend some quality time together?"

I felt myself redden. "Only if you're interested."

"Are you kidding? Of course I'm interested. I said I organized last night for you, but it was for me too. I've always wanted to find an excuse to be with you. On a casual basis, of course," she quickly added. "I'm not looking for anything permanent."

"Me neither. But it would be nice sometimes, when we're in need of some TLC, or wanting to pass the time..."

She grinned. "Yeah, it really would. Friends with benefits, right?"

"Friends with benefits," I said. I picked at the pastry crumbs on my plate as Daisy collected her things. "Do you..." I swallowed. My pulse was racing. "Do you want to do it now?"

"We've got the whole day ahead of us," she said. "Why don't we take a walk first? It's a nice day." She sensed my dismay because she reached across and squeezed my hand. "That way we can build up to it. It'll be more fun that way."

"Oh, okay," I said, relieved. "Let's do it."

We left the cafe and walked a block to the city park. Feeling bold, I slipped my hand into hers as we wandered along the wide avenue of trees that bisected the park. The sunlight streamed through the branches above our heads, dappling Daisy with light. She looked more like an angel than ever.

Naturally, our physical closeness attracted more attention. Yesterday, I would have given anything to have men look my way. Today, all I wanted to do was be with Daisy. So I let go of her, hoping the looks would stop.

They did not. If anything, they got worse.

"They're all looking at you," Daisy remarked. "Just like at Emil's."

"They are not. They're looking at you. It's always you."

But the further we walked, the more I wondered if she was right. The men would glance at Daisy—how could they not? But then their eyes moved onto me and seemed to linger there.

I was bewildered. "Have I got something on my face or something?"

"Your face is fine," Daisy replied after a quick inspection.

"My hair then?"

"Rubes, you look great. You know, they could be checking you out because you're gorgeous."

"Don't be stupid," I guffawed, waving her remark away. "I must have spilled something on my shirt. Or I've forgotten to button it up." I looked down, petrified. My shirt was correctly fastened and stain-free.

"You really don't believe it's possible, do you?" said Daisy. "That men could find you attractive? Honestly, you have such a low opinion of yourself."

"With good reason." I immediately regretted the comment. No one likes self-pity.

Luckily, she knew me well enough to ignore it. "Tell you what," she said. "Let's try an experiment. You walk on the right side of the path, and I'll walk on the left. And we'll see which way their heads turn."

"Sure. But we already know which way that's gonna go."

"Humor me."

So she moved to the left of the broad path, and I moved to the right. Annoyingly, there was a quiet patch then, with no one approaching at all. Then, just before we reached the end, a group of young men turned onto the path. They were larking about as young men do, laughing and tossing a basketball around. As the distance closed between us, the transformation was quite astonishing. One by one, like a line of macho synchronized swimmers, each boy's head turned to look.

For a moment, I forgot Daisy wasn't next to me, and I automatically assumed the boys were ogling her as usual. Then I remembered she was on the opposite side of the path. I was alone. Every pair of those eyes was trained on me.

Baffled by my newfound appeal, I was seized by a rash impulse.

"Hey boys," I said as they passed by.

They all came to a sudden stop.

"Hey," said one.

"Can we help you?" said another.

"I was wondering," I said, "if you'd like to grab a beer."

They exchanged glances. "Sorry," said a third guy with a lop-sided grin. "Which one of us do you mean?"

"Yeah, Ruby," said Daisy, coming over to join me. "Which one do you mean?"

"All of you," I said, bold as brass. "Drinks are on us."

"Ruby," Daisy hissed in my ear. "What are you doing?"

"One way or another," I told her, "I'm going to finish what we started last night."