Convenience

Part 111

If Beatrice stayed for the rest of the weekend no doubt she would agree to see David. And that was not a good plan. This was a 'bulb' moment! Even though she knew that her grandfather was a pretty astute judge of character, she couldn't afford changing her mind. Not now. Beatrice resigned herself to the fact that the one man she was destined to love would probably hurt her again.

When she had first seen him, when her grandfather and his grandfather brought them together, she had fallen in love. Just a crush: she knew that. She was logical, rational and sensible. Falling in love, was not enough! She wanted to know more about him. So she went to meet his previous girlfriends. And after that, she had agreed to their relationship. She knew what she was getting into. No real ties, not from him. No real relationship, not with him. She agreed. She nearly giggled. A rational, logical woman! What relationship?

Anyway, today she knew that nothing much had changed. She found him attractive, more than that, everything she'd ever imagined. Still in love: With a man who had forgotten about her. But still, her heartbeat escalated. She didn't want to go through this again. Five years ago, her dreams could become true, she thought back then. She loved him. What she knew about him, she liked. His previous girlfriends all said he was a gentleman. Kind-hearted, caring, generous, thoughtful. But her dreams scattered over five years. Her heart said not scattered, just shelved. But now, it would destroy her if she took him back and then later if he walked, again. She wouldn't recover. She was older and wiser now. Beatrice was strangely disconcerted.

David muttered, "Never took you for a chicken."

Beatrice spun around, having caught the waiter's eyes and summoned the waiter. Then she asked, her eyes flashing angrily, "What?" She demanded, "What the hell does that mean? She kept her chin up and Beatrice scowled at David.

He tracked the rapidly approaching waiter. He tipped his head to one side as he studied her reaction. "You heard." He said softly leaning closer. It was enough to bring her to her senses.

The waiter arrived at their table.

"The bill please." David said with a smile in his voice. But his eyes remained on her.

The waiter asked, "Charge to your room, sir?"

"No. Card." David corrected. The waiter left the table to get the card reader.

Beatrice waited for the waiter to leave the table. She said, "Well, let me tell you that we are done!" Her mind returned to their conversation at hand. "Your dating history suggests you're the love-and-leave-type-man."

David crossed his arms leaned back in his chair fixed his gaze on her. Of course he did commitment. Or he planned to, when the time was right, with the right person. And now was the time, and he knew whom. "Wrong."

"Not my type!" She knew she couldn't take this further. Not if she wanted to emerge unscathed. This had to stop.

The one woman he'd consider as a life long-partner, was her. "I told you. I want you in my life."

"And what?" Her chest rose and fell as she attempted to quell her annoyance. "I want you in my life?" She snorted. How naïve and stupid, she berated herself.

And much to her amazement David laughed. She pursed her lips in agitation. David told her, "Ok, I get that." He rubbed a hand across his jaw. David said, "You need to go home." But he continued doggedly, "Given how well we got on today, don't you think we should think about our relationship." It was a statement rather than a question. Despite not having seen her in years, David instinctively knew her. And, despite feeling incredibly frustrated at the moment, he also felt strangely content. "We deserve this." It was then that David got a shock of his life. He'd fallen in love without noticing.

Beatrice snapped, "What makes you so certain?" Beatrice wished she were one of those women who could just screech and scream and vent to show how she felt. Instead she was cool and furious. She knew that David had no long-term prospects for her. "Just because we've had one day together and given that half of our time today we were either arguing or ..."

"That is not true!' He corrected. "You know we got on really well tonight. We talked about so many different things." He said, irritation showing in his eyes but not in his voice, "We laughed. Talked. Really talked. We have the same values." He ran a hand round the back of his neck. He shot her a disgruntled look. "The way we think about things. What we want in our life." David would have roared with annoyance had it not been for the fact that the waiter was close.