Chapter 5: Can I see You Again?

“It’s okay,” I said reaching for my clutch that I had placed on the floor under my chair.

I fished out my phone to check the time. I had a bunch of text messages from Olivia checking on the status of my date, along with a few missed calls and voicemails from Sam. It was already nine at night, our date having started at seven. The last two hours sailed by unnoticed by the two of us.

“I should be going home anyway,” I said trying to put Arrow at ease.

His mood shifted with the introduction of the new man in the entryway of the private dining nook, and I couldn’t quite place the exact reason why he became so hyper-focused on me. When Ben and the other staff member had delivered our food, he made eye contact with the both of them, but now he seemed possessive almost like he was protective of me in front of the new man.

But I didn’t want to get ahead of myself. I was no one to Arrow, no one for him to feel protective of. As far as he knew, I was a teacher who lived with her roommate that lied about her dating profile and he just took her on an elaborate and expensive date.

“I’m so sorry to have to cut our date short,” Arrow said apologizing again. The mask was slipping back on his face, and it made me feel sad for the man who I had seen before me not more than a moment ago.

“Arrow,” I said quietly as I leaned forward, reaching forward and gently took his hand from its grip on the wine glass. “It’s fine, it’s late. I had a great time tonight. Thank you so much for giving me a great night.”

Arrow’s attention was on my hand that sat on top of his, mine hysterically smaller than his, even as he had a death grip on the tiny stem of the crystal wine glass. Frozen together in this position, I noticed the immense warmth that his hand seeped into mine, which were always cold.

A fraction of a time later Arrow nodded his head and held my hand in return after loosening his grip on the wineglass. The move was easy and suave. Arrow helped me up from my chair, his hold on my hand like an anchor as we wordlessly walked out of the safety of our little hideaway.

We brushed by the man who stood like a watchful soldier at the entrance of the nook. Arrow still didn't glance in his direction. The man followed us out of the now empty and quiet swanky uptown Chicago restaurant.

The brisk evening air washed over the exposed skin of my arms as we stepped outside onto the strangely empty sidewalk, our hands still linked. Arrow held me close to his body as we walked out. Tiny pops of electricity ran down my arm with every brush of his shirt against my bare skin. The smell of his oaky cologne soaked through my senses as we waited in silence.

Two cars suddenly pulled up, one black, large and expensive, the other black and small more of a sedan than a luxury vehicle, their arrival reminded me that I had forgotten to get an Uber. I had a plan before the date of making an excuse of using the restroom towards the end of the date to call for an Uber, but had completely lost track of time. Anxiety crept its way up my spine as to how I would make it home. Arrow was most likely being a gentleman, wanting to wait for me to leave. I didn’t know how to tell him I didn’t have a car.

“Miss Wagner, your car,” said the man who had informed us our date was over.

“Oh no, sorry that’s not my car,” I stuttered nervously.

“It’s the car that will take you home,” Arrow whispered to me.

“Oh,” I said with a stupid giggle.

Arrow walked me to the smaller of the two black cars. The man who interrupted our date opened the door for me. Unsure of what to do, I turned to Arrow. His eyes were looking over the car, his mask securely in place on his face.

“Thank you for dinner,” I said quietly to Arrow. His face turned down to look down at me. Standing side by side with him, I hadn’t noticed until now that he was so much taller than I was. His height was a bonus to all of his good looks, instantly making me feel protected and guarded.

“I had a good time,” I said smiling at him.

“I’m sorry it had to end,” he said speaking for the first time since exiting the restaurant.

“You know what they say. All good things must come to an end. At some point at least,” I said squeezing our clasped hands.

“What if I didn’t want it to end?” Arrow asked me with a small smile. I was happy to see some life coming back to his handsome face.

“That’s not how life works I’m afraid,” I said. “We both have work in the morning.”

“Then we should quit our jobs,” Arrow whispered to me, his head lowering to get closer to mine.

“Then what would we do?” I asked him, my voice lowering to match his.

“Run away,” he responded confidently.

“Where would we go?” I asked Arrow, loving every single minute of the man who was whispering secrets to me on the sidewalk.

“Anywhere they couldn’t find us,” Arrow responded his head creeping closer to mine.

“Who’s they?” I said begging for his head to dip closer to mine.

“Anyone who would threaten to interrupt us,” he commented quickly.

“We’d have to go very far then,” I said with a soft laugh.

“To the ends of the earth?” Arrow asked me, his head dipped a fraction of an inch closer to mine.

“Not far enough they’d still interrupt us,” I said.

“Then…” Arrow started to say something before a throat cleared behind him.

The man who was very quickly becoming enemy number one broke any hope I had of Arrows mouth meeting mine and ending this magical evening with a magical toe-curling kiss. I had been secretly imaging it since I had noticed Arrow’s lips, wondering if they were as soft as they looked. But the man who was hell-bent on sticking to his schedule was also hell-bent on ensuring that I would never be able to find out. At least not tonight.

The carefree expression that had just overcome Arrow’s face was quickly replaced by his guarded mask, but this mask had a hint of something I hadn’t seen before. It was a little more dangerous, a little more furious. He seemed just as annoyed as I was that we were interrupted, not once. But twice.

Arrow released my hand and guided me into the backseat of the waiting car. The soft leather seat felt cold on my backside. Arrow squatted down; the fabric of his expensive pants stretched across the muscles of his legs.

“Thank you for tonight. It was—It was one of the best nights of my life,” Arrow said before he stood up and closed the door.

Disappointment washed over me as the driver put the car in drive and the car's automatic locks engaged. We had never set up a second date or exchanged phone numbers. There had been no promise of seeing each other again. Even though I had only spent two hours with this man, I didn’t want to let him go. The mere thought of never seeing him again terrified me. Right before the driver pulled away from the curb, frantic knocking on my window startled me. I tried to roll down my window, but the window locks must have been engaged.

“Unlock my window!” I yelled to the driver. I couldn't see past the dark tint. The window was finally released and rolled down to reveal a panting Arrow.

“I want to see you again,” Arrow said to me, catching his breath.

“What?” I asked.

“Can I? Can I see you again?” he asked me.

“Yes,” I said with my whole heart.