CHAPTER 6 How Much Do I Love Thee?
My phone rang right on cue.
“Good morning, Beautiful. Did you have a good flight?”
Without answering my question, she started with her own.
“Jake did you send me a driver? Who is this gentleman holding my name on a piece of cardboard?”
“Yup. The driver is there for you. He’s going to take you to your hotel. Just tell him which hotel you’re staying at.”
“Jake!” There was disapproval in her voice. “I’m not that helpless. I like taking the subway.”
“Emily, who really likes taking the subway? It’s too much of a hassle from the airport. You’d have to take the airtrain then transfer to a subway or take the train into Penn then get on a subway. Just get in the car. He’ll take you straight to your destination.”
“Okay, but no more of these unnecessary luxuries, okay? It’s a bit too easy to get used to this.” It sounded like she was holding back a giggle.
“Get used to it. I’m going to dote on you for a very long time. Enjoy your day and call me with updates.”
“Thank you. I’ll text, you call.”
The rest of my day went slowly. Of course since Emily was out of town, there wasn’t much going on at the hospital. I was tempted to buy myself a ticket and go visit her in New York. A phone call was a more realistic choice.
“Hi Jake!” Never could I tire of the excitement I heard in her voice when she answered my call.
“What are you and Sarah up to?”
“Hi Jake!” I heard Sarah call out.
“Tell her I said, ‘hi’.”
“He says, ‘hi’,” she whispered over to her best friend.
“I’m going to have to have a talk with Charlie. He has yet to call while Jake sat you in first class, sent you a driver, plus has called already,” Sarah grumbled to herself.
Emily proceeded to tell me about her morning. “Since you were kind enough to send me a driver, I asked him to stop by the Doughnut Plant and I picked up a dozen donuts for me, Sarah and Lily, her sister.”
“Oh, I like that place. Jane doesn’t live too far from there.”
I had three donuts this morning. I ate two tres leche and one blackout. I might be a bit heavier next time you see me,” she confessed like a school girl.
“That’s gross to eat three donuts.”
“I know. I also went next door and had a bialy.”
“Emily. Did you not eat up at Bacara?”
“No, I waited for you the whole time, remember? I couldn’t eat because I missed you so much.”
“Eew!” I heard someone shout. I assumed it was Sarah’s sister Lily.
“Well, since it’s my fault you didn’t eat well up in Santa Barbara, I made reservations for you at Le Bernardin tomorrow night. Do you and Sarah have plans already?”
“Le Bernardin?” The foodie in her couldn’t hide her excitement. “I tried for weeks to get a reservation. How did you do it so easily? I wonder if Eric Ripert will be in the kitchen.”
“He’ll be there. I checked. Sweetheart, I’m being paged. I’ll call again later. I miss you.”
“Bye. Have a good day.”
I went about having a nice day as it was a short one. The Chief let me off early since I did double duty out in Atlanta. Attempting to be a nice big brother, I surprised Jane and picked her up from the airport. She looked stunned to see me. I didn’t know why she was so surprised. Wasn’t I the poster boy for an ideal older brother?
“What on earth are you doing here? Are you here for me?” She still wore a shocked expression.
“You want to catch the van home? Should I leave? Some thanks I get for trying to be nice.”
“Why aren’t you at work? Hey, I hear you have a new girlfriend. When do I get to meet her? Tell me about her.”
“Her name is Emily and she’s a school teacher. She’s the same age as you. She’s actually in New York right now. I wish I could be there with her.” In my mind, I pictured what she and Sarah might be doing. There were six more days of this drudgery till I could see her again. “Hey, Jane. Can you try this on for me?” I took out the eternity band from my glove compartment.
“What’s with the monster ring?”
“I bought it to give to Emily when I ask her to be my girlfriend but I’m unsure about her size.”
“A bit sappy for you… I’ve never seen you this enamored with a girl. All those years with Kelley, had you given her anything like this?”
I ignored her commentary on my past love life. “Jane, this girl is it. She’s the sister you’ve been wanting your whole life. It drives me crazy I can’t progress as quickly as I would like to. I don’t think she’s thinking marriage just yet.”
Jane put the ring on her finger and it looked stunning. Goosebumps ran through my body thinking about Emily wearing this ring.
“Jake, it’s beautiful but can I give you a piece of advice?”
“What?” I wasn’t going to listen if she said anything negative.
“This is too serious if you just started dating. Get a necklace and have her wear it as a pendant. I can’t see any girl wanting to put this on her finger after one month of courtship.”
“You think?”
“I know. Where’d you get the ring?”
“Cartier.”
“Let’s stop by. I’ll help you pick out a necklace. I have to say, I’m impressed. This ring is gorgeous. I think Emily will like it.”
Not able to hold off any longer, my fingers dialed Emily’s number again. Her excited voice loomed over the speaker phone.
“Hi Dr. Reid. Are you not working today?”
“No. Apparently you took all the patients with you when you left. The hospital is empty and I’m done for the day.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me! You’re done for the day already? How come this doesn’t happen when I’m in town? I’m beginning to think you don’t really want to be with me.” She began her many bouts of giggling.
“Oh here we go again. Did we not work this all out at the airport?”
“We did but I can’t let you forget so easily how many times you’ve left me in the middle of a meal or just plain stood me up.”
At this point, Jane started cracking up.
“Who’s that?” Emily sounded surprised.
“Are you jealous I have another woman in the car?”
“Not as jealous as you’ll be if I tell you how many guys have asked me for my number this morning.”
“Seriously? Did someone ask you out already? I really have to lock you up.”
“I’m kidding,” she tried to play it off.
“No she’s not,” Sarah and Lily chimed into the phone.
“Aw Emi, how many?”
“You first, who’s in the car?”
“No, you first,” I argued.
We got into an information tug of war. I lost thanks to Jane.
“Hi, Emily. This is Jane, Jake’s sister.”
“Hi Jane! Did your sweet brother come pick you up at the airport?”
“No, Nick’s at school, the mean one came instead.”
Two of the three women in my life howled at my expense. My mother would have joined in the guffaw if she were here.
“I’m sorry we missed each other. I would have loved to meet you. Will you be in town long?”
“I leave on Sunday but I’ll be back in two weeks. We should get together then. I’ll tell you all about my brother.” Jane gave me a dark be nice to me look.
“Okay that’s a date. We’ll definitely meet the next time you’re in town. Since he won’t give me more than an hour of his time you’ll have to fill in all the blanks. Trust me, there are more blanks than bubbles filled in. I think he’s trying to hide something.” I’m sure Emily’s lips were forming into a smile.
“Okay, enough about me. Emi I want you to stay away from any strange looking men.”
“Then, do I have permission to talk to the good looking ones?”
“Emily!”
“Okay, Dr. Reid. I have to go. I’ll call you tonight when I get back to the hotel. Sarah and Lily are both extremely annoyed with me. I’m having too much fun on the phone. We’re trying to have lunch.”
“Where are you eating?” I didn’t want to let her go.
She whispered, “I’ll tell you tonight. They’re both staring at me right now.”
“Should I fly in to see you?”
“No,” she continued to whisper. “Spend time with your family. Your sister is in town. Bye. I miss you.” She hung up before I could say another word.
Jane’s eyes mocked me. “You’re pathetic! What happened to Dr. Jake Reid, the man every woman wanted to date? How did you become such a fool in love? Have Mom and Dad seen you lately?”
“Yup, this is what I’ve become. Mom’s talked to Emily as well. She likes her and can’t wait to meet her.”
“She does sound sweet. Set up a time for us to meet when I get back. So what else has been going on?”
Jane and I had lunch and picked up a necklace for Emily. Though my body was with Jane, my mind was with Emily. Since Sarah and Lily thought I called too often, this time I sent her a text instead.
Which hotel are you staying at?
The W at Times Square. Why? Are you coming to see me? Lily already has dibs on the rollaway.
Why there? The rooms are so tiny? How are the three of you staying in one room?
Don’t knock it. Sarah and I scrounged up all our points to stay there for three nights. Most of us can’t fly first class and stay at the Plaza. Plus, we like the Bliss products.
Okay. Call me when your day is done.
With the five of us in town, we went for sushi and the whole family noticed how I anxiously awaited Emily’s phone call. Nick and Jane tormented me the whole night playing doomsday naysayers.
“She’s not calling tonight. It’s already past midnight her time and your phone has yet to ring.” Nick started the harassment.
“Trust me, she will call,” I reassured.
“Why is my sister in law out so late without you? You think she met another guy? Didn’t you say she was hot?” Nick continued. It did make me nervous she was out past midnight.
“Mom, this Emily must be a future Reid. I’ve never seen Jake wait around for any girl. She actually had to tell him to stop calling her today. Remember how Kelley used to complain all the time about Jake’s indifference towards her? She used to call me and lament how he paid little attention to her. I’m so curious to meet her.”
“Me too. She sounds delightful,” Mom added.
Ring ring – there it was, the call I’d been waiting for since lunch. Not wanting to appear so desperate, I let it ring a few times before I answered.
“Hello?” I answered nonchalantly. My entire family burst into laughter.
“Hello?” Emily questioned. “Jake?” She sounded unsure.
“Hi Sweetheart.” I was back to my jovial self.
“Hi. You sound so different. Who are all those people in the background? You’re having way too much fun without me,” she pouted.
“It’s my family. We’re having sushi right now.”
“Bummer! I wish I could’ve been there. You know I’m weak to sushi. Jake. What’s with the suite?” I knew she would call to complain about her new room. “You can’t go around upgrading my life. I told you, it’s too easy to get used to this.”
“The three of you can’t stay in that tiny room. This way, you’ll be able to sleep comfortably. Plus I told you to get used to the doting.”
“No, I don’t want to get used to this. It’s not my reality. We’ll stay tonight but since Lily is going back to Jersey tomorrow, Sarah and I are going back to our regular room.”
Lily grabbed the phone from her. “Hi Jake. I’m Sarah’s youngest sister Lily. Thank you for the fantastic room. Don’t listen to Emily. Sarah and I will convince her to stay here. It is so much better than the cubicle they were in. I hear you have a younger brother. Is he as wonderful as you are?”
She sounded cute. “I do have a younger brother. If you’re ever out here, I’ll introduce you to him. And no, he’s not as wonderful as I am.”
“Who’s that?” Nick grabbed the phone from me. “Hello? Hi Emily. This is Nick. When will we see you? We’re all really curious to know what you look like. Yeah, Jake’s been going around talking about you to everyone. Ha! Ha! Ha! You’re funny. Alright, I’ll let everyone know you’re an urban legend.”
“Give me that!” I grabbed the phone from Nick. “Emily, why are you out so late?”
“Oh my gosh, you’re not serious are you? Aren’t you still out yourself?”
“But it’s past midnight your time and…”
“Jake.”
“Alright. Tell me what you did today.” As I started my long conversation with Emily, we all got back in the car and headed home. Nick drove for me.
“We went to this little pizza joint in Brooklyn run by a cute 75 year old gentleman. We waited almost two hours for a pie. This man makes all his own dough and tomato sauce, then grates mozzarella straight onto each pie. When the pie is done he reaches into a hot pizza oven and pulls it out with his bare hands. Can you believe that? To top it off he grabs a bunch of basil and oregano with a pair of scissors and snips them right onto the pizza. How much more homemade can you get than that? My new favorite vegetable is rapini. It’s wonderful on pizza. How come we don’t top our pizzas with rapini in LA?”
I loved listening to her talk about food. This had to be her biggest passion. Hopefully one day, I would take over as her biggest passion. It was going to be a tough fight. There was no guarantee I would come out the winner.
“After lunch, we had a slice of red velvet cake and walked it off in Soho.”
“Did you buy anything?”
“Nope. Nothing today. After Soho, we went to Babbo for dinner and I ate more carbs. I’m stuffed. I’m definitely coming back to you heavier.”
I liked the way she told me she was coming back to me. Our conversation at the airport must have solidified her feelings for me.
“We also saw some weird off Broadway show. It wasn’t very good. That was my day. What did you do?”
“After I picked up Jane, we had lunch, then Jane helped me pick out a present for you that goes with another present I bought earlier for you…”
“You bought me a present? What is it?”
“It wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you. Then we all had sushi and now we’re all going home. Emi, do you have to stay out there till Sunday?”
“Yes.”
“Can I fly in to see you tomorrow if the hospital is slow?”
“No.” Her answers were so blunt I shut down again. “Jake. I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings. I miss you very much but I need to explain something to you.” Emily was quick to catch on but I stayed silent.
“Are you listening?”
“Yeah,” I grumbled.
“Since Max and I broke up last June, Sarah and Charlie have purposely stayed apart from each other on Thanksgiving and Christmas so I wouldn’t feel alone. Sarah planned this trip with me months ago even though she could have been with Charlie’s family this week. I’m not going to abandon her because I met someone I really like. Do you get it now?”
“Alright… but, why can’t I come visit you for a few days?” I couldn’t help my five year old rant.
“Because Charlie could have been here too but Sarah made it so it would just be us. Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” I lamented. “I guess I’ll see you when I pick you up from the airport. By the way, I still have your house key. What do you want me to do with it?”
“Keep it for a while. If I lose my keys, I’ll know who to turn to. Good night.” On that note, I ended my first long day without Emily.
Tuesday was much the same except for the many pictures and texts I received from Emily while she was at Le Bernardin. She sent a food blog for each course she had from this 3 Michelin starred restaurant.
The first picture she sent was of herself eating.
Here I am eating my first course. It’s layers of thinly pounded tuna with foie gras on a toasted baguette. It’s so delicious! The aperitif goes nicely.
Second is a poached egg swimming in Osetra caviar with a wickedly delicious bubbly. Did I ever tell you how much I like caviar?
My third course is a salad. I generally don’t like salads but could eat this one every day. It’s topped with seared langoustines, wild mushrooms, shaved foie gras and sprinkled with a vinaigrette. We drank a German Riesling. Oh Jake, I wish you were here with me.
Fourth dish – Pan roasted monkfish in a sake broth. It’s amazing how they cooked this fish so perfectly. I don’t know what I’m drinking with it. I think it’s some French wine.
Fifth course was the most interesting pairing of crispy black bass in an Iberico ham and peppercorn sauce. The salty and spicy sauce played nicely against the buttery sweetness of the fish. We had a Spanish red wine with this course.
My sixth course was my favorite course! It was baked lobster on a bed of truffled foie gras stuffing. This course has three of my favorite gastronomic words - Lobster, Truffle, and Foie Gras. I know it’s hard to believe I would have such taste buds on a teacher’s salary.
Next course was my least favorite – the cheese course. I couldn’t get beyond the smell so I opted not to have it. Sarah enjoyed it.
Last but not least was dessert. It was a carmelized custard with hazelnut praline and brown butter ice cream. We topped it off with a Guatemalan rum.
Jake, this experience could have only been made better if you were here. As much as I enjoyed Sarah’s company tonight, I wish you could have been with me. Thank you for my most special gastronomic experience! We will catch a cab back to the hotel and crash. We are full from all the food and sloshy from all the wine. Sarah says, “Thank You!” as well. I will call you in the morning. I miss you dearly.
Though I hadn’t had dinner yet, I felt full just reading how satisfied Emily was with her meal tonight. I too wished I could have been there with her. In the future there would be other restaurants we would enjoy together. For now, a heap of contentment filled my soul.
Thanksgiving came and went and I felt a loneliness I had never felt before. There was this gap in my life that couldn’t be filled no matter who I was with. Emptiness followed me all day. Even with a room full of family, people I have loved all my life, I couldn’t shake this feeling that something - no I guess I should say someone - was missing. If this is what Emily was talking about when she told me how alone she felt, it made me sick to my stomach I made her feel this way.
Sunday couldn’t come fast enough. Emily’s plane would land at 8:00pm so I rushed to go get her. Giddy and nervous about seeing her I paced near the arrival gate. No matter what I tried, this bundle of nerves wouldn’t disappear. The sight of Charlie was a happy respite from my hyperactive senses.
“Hi Charlie. Did you have a good Thanksgiving?”
“Yeah, it was great. How was yours?”
“Mine was long. I couldn’t wait to see Emily.”
“So I heard. I got an earful from Sarah on how attentive you were all week.”
I guess I needed to apologize to Charlie? Maybe I had put him in an awkward situation.
“Sorry but I had to make up for all our botched dates. I think Emily was ready to stop seeing me when I didn’t make it up to Bacara.”
“Yeah. She wasn’t happy up there.” Charlie shook his head. “I want you to know Sarah and I are glad to see Emily so happy again. We haven’t seen her this lit up in a long time. You’ve been really good to her and for her.”
“Thanks. I have to tell you, whatever good I’ve been for her is miniscule compared to the joy she’s brought to my life. I was telling my sister the other day I’ve never loved any girl as much as I love Emily. I’d marry her today if I knew she felt the same way.”
Charlie looked somewhat uneasy. “Take it slow with Emily. She’s been through a lot and though I think she’s healed now, I don’t know if she’s ready to jump into a serious relationship so quickly.” He must have seen the uneasy look on my face. “I don’t mean to worry you. She’ll come around. I will admit, I’ve never seen her show so much emotion towards anyone as she’s done with you. You’ve brought out a whole new side of Emily. I can tell she really likes you too.”
Charlie’s efforts to try and make me feel better didn’t go unappreciated. We chatted more about our holiday when I heard my name being called and saw Emily running towards me. She placed herself wholly into my chest and my arms molded around her naturally. Seeing her solidified my knowledge that she had permanently tattooed herself into my heart. Her presence felt like an immutable fixture never to be removed.
“I’m so happy to finally be with you, Jake.”
“And I’m very happy you feel that way. I’ve missed you, Sweetheart.”
“Not as much as I’ve missed you,” she declared.
Stunningly, her blazing kiss in the middle of the airport surprised me even more than how much she missed me. I felt self-conscious for her, making out in public as many eyes were staring. When we both came up for air, Charlie looked at me to say, “Maybe I was wrong. She might be ready after all.”
Embarrassed to show her face after her attack, Emily buried her head in my chest. I kept both my arms around her and kissed the top of her head.
“Let’s go home, Beautiful.” I only wished this home was our home. I didn’t know if I could part from her tonight.