Just For Tonight

Mini Chap 3

"This is a boa constrictor digesting an elephant."

"Seriously?"

She can't believe how innocent he looked when she said that. She couldn't help but laugh at him.

"I really thought its a hat."

"A person with true understanding about things would see the boa rather than a hat, the author of the book which that drawing came from wants to say that."

She glanced at him to gauge his reaction to her long explanation. Most guys flee after she speaks her mind, that's one of her tactics to shoo guys away after all.

But he just nodded and looked engrossed at the drawing, "Boa constrictors eat their prey whole and hibernate for six months, right? That's why he asked me that days ago."

"He reads the Little Prince with interest. I like this kid."

He smiled, "A lady that can handle my nephew. Lucky."

His phone suddenly vibrated, "Speaking of the little rascal. Do you mind?"

"Go ahead."

She stared at him as he called his nephew. The exchange was light and playful, she may not admit it out loud but she liked how he was so close to his nephew. She was even forced to talk to the kid for a few seconds just to justify that she existed.

After the call, Marcus turned his phone off and sipped his coffee. "Sorry about that. The matter is finally settled. Now you know I didn't pick you up randomly at the club to get you in my pants or something."

"Yeah. Yeah. My fault."

"You shouldn't. By the looks of you, I bet you have to manage strangers wanting to strike a conversation all the time."

She doesn't want the conversation to steer to that direction so she just shrugged.

"He is a smart young man. I'm certain you get used to losing when it comes to him."

He smiled and looked away, "Yeah. He's a lot of work."

"How old is your nephew again?"

He looked at her as if he realized something, "I know that look."

Damned those eyes. She can't unsee them.
"What?"

"You handle kids at work, don't you?"

She gave him a look, "Why do you say that?"

"Because we always have that kind of look given to us by people who have met my nephew. Between me and my brother, believe me, we get that kind of look a lot."

"Well......." She guessed she can lower a bit of her guard down, he bought her a good kind of coffee 10 minutes ago. "Actually, I'm a doctor."

He grinned at her, "How old is he in your guess, Doctor Lilian?"

The way he leaned on his chair and gave her that expectant look makes her want to amaze him. She tried to look nonchalant and toyed on the tissue paper with the drawing on it, "I'd say he's 7. And I have a very big inkling that he is way more talented than his age."

His mouth slowly changed into an approving one, "Simon is 7 years old. And he's a gifted child. Has an IQ of 190, and he likes reading difficult books."

"Oh." She is positive she knows who he is now. But she will be damned before she will admit that.

Lilian knows that men hates women to be above them. If they know that you knew more about them than they know you, they would demand to know you better.

She doesn't want that. She wants this to be a one night casual encounter. She's more comfortable this way. Being alone is a luxury she can't afford to lose.

"The Little Prince is a versatile book, though. Its not that adult for him."

"I gave him that book. I should've just given him a normal boy's gift so I wouldn't have this kind of situation all the time."

"Try giving him a toy next time. Make sure you study the design and composition of it."

He laughed at her joke, "I don't have an escape route, do I?"

She chuckled, "I'm afraid not."

They laughed over their cups of nearly empty cups of coffee.

A waitress came to their table, "Need seconds?"

They stopped laughing and looked at each other, the waitress's question hanging heavily between them.

But one night casual encounter can be something more without having to know each other on a deeper level.

"This one's on me."

The face she saw when he glanced back at him made her want to withdraw that decision she made a few seconds ago.

He looked at her with that same unguarded look he gave her the first time they met, shook his head as if he realized something and look away, just to glance at her back with those piercing green-blue eyes.

"I can't stop thinking that if I mess this up you would just disappear in front of me."

That was a clear pick-up line right there. And her brain warns her to stop right there and leave.

"You're not messing it up so far."

But he's not a stranger anymore. She can handle the mind chase even if it would last the whole night. There's no harm in indulging oneself sometimes, right?

She's off-duty the next day anyway.

"This is just coffee, Marcus."

He looks at her as if to say something but decided against it.

"Cheers."

"Cheers."

Maybe this is the night for first times.