“Jake, I’d like to explain about the guys you saw this morning, especially Max. I know that was really uncomfortable and I’m sorry.”
“Emily, you don’t have to explain anything.” Jake’s face looked even more uncomfortable, than when he saw Max come out of the guest room.
“I do. Peter and Jeff went out to the bar with our friends and drank enough to where they couldn’t drive home. We found them lying on my doorstep, and they asked to spend the night.”
“Can I ask where you and Max were at this time? I assume you weren’t with them?”
“No. We went out for a bite to eat. I didn’t have any dinner, and Max suggested I grab a bite to eat before we met up with the rest of the gang. Our dinner took longer than expected, and when we got back to my house, Peter and Jeff were comatose on my front porch.”
Jake’s face turned a bit pale. “Dinner?”
“It was literally dinner. We also had a good talk, which I’d like to share with you whenever you’d like to hear about it. Are you OK? Can we go on with this day without us being uncomfortable with one another?”
I gave him a hopeful smile.
“I told Max last night that I was really looking forward to spending a whole day with you. Even though we’ve been dating a few months, I don’t think we know each other very well.”
“What do you mean we don’t know each other?” he asked while opening the car door for me. “Here, get in. We need to get going, or we’re going to miss our flight.”
Flight. OK, we were probably headed up to San Francisco. I delighted in the idea of spending this day with him.
“How can you say that we don’t really know each other?” I guess he couldn’t get over my last statement.
“Jake, when was the last time…better yet, has there ever been a time where we spent an entire date without being interrupted? Our first date at the Mexican restaurant, what happened? You got paged and went in to perform some surgery. Our second date, brunch at the hotel, what happened? The chief called you and told you to attend some conference in Atlanta. That’s also when we got into our first argument and couldn’t even talk it through because you had to leave.”
I could tell by Jake’s surly expression, he didn’t like where I was taking this conversation. I personally enjoyed it. “Don’t get me going on our third date to Santa Barbara that ended before it even started. And last night, you left me stranded before dinner was served. Although I think we did manage to spend an entire three hours together. That’s a record, you know.”
“What about all the times I come by, call, or text you?”
“Are you kidding me? The last time you came by my house, you got mad at me and left in the middle of dinner.”
“I apologized about that,” he defended himself.
“You did, but only after you realized you were in trouble because I wouldn’t answer your calls or your texts. You can be such a five-year-old at times,” I teased him. “And as for your calls and texts, you call from the hospital and have to hang up within minutes. Your texts look like an hour-by-hour hospital itinerary. How did you ever have a relationship with this schedule? Does your hospital have no other doctors but yourself?”
I shook my head and chuckled. Time was a limited and precious commodity with Jake. We had never really spent any quality time together, and we shared very few meals in their entirety. Jake stayed quiet for a while and looked to be thinking over our exchange. He turned his head toward me as if to retort but stopped himself.
“So, you see why I’m so excited to spend this whole day with you?” I put my hand over his sitting on the armrest. He turned his palm up and interlocked our fingers.
“OK. I get your point. I already feel very close to you, but you apparently need more convincing. That will be my mission today. Ask me whatever you like. I’ll answer all your questions.”
As we drove up the 5 Freeway, I did my best to get some answers. “Burbank airport, huh? Could we be flying to San Francisco? It couldn’t be Seattle, that’s a bit too far for a day trip. Any hints?” He wouldn’t budge. “Aw, come on. I thought you said you would be answering all my questions.”
“Not a chance,” he said with a sly grin. “You’ll have to wait till we get there.”
“OK, so here’s something about me you don’t know. I don’t like surprises. I like everything planned out, and I prefer to do the planning.”
“Control freak.”
Laughing, I answered, “I know, but I can’t help it.” Slowly I counted to five and then begged, “Please? Just a teeny tiny hint?”
Nothing worked till I started slowly working my lips from his neck up to his ear. “Are you sure you can’t give me a hint?” My poor attempt as a seductress worked…well.
“You’re not playing fair.” His body froze and the car started slowing down. “You need to stop before we get into an accident. I’ll tell you once we get to the airport. I promise.”
We parked the car in the long-term lot and got on the bus headed toward the terminal.