Silken let out her breath in an exasperated sigh. “For the eleventeenth time I told you, it’s not a date. Max is having his brothers over for dinner and he said it would be great if I could come and you, too.”
“Right.” Suave’s tone dripped with sarcasm. “He invited you and then you went and tacked me onto your invitation, didn’t you?”
Silken looked away then walked over to the closet and began rifling through Suave’s clothes.
“Didn’t you?”
God, why couldn’t Suave just let it go? “Well…not exactly.” Silken’s voice grew muffled when she stuck her head farther into the closet, hoping that Suave would just let it drop. But she knew Suave, and that wasn’t going to happen.
“So what exactly did you say?” There was that bulldog tone again. Once Suave had chomped down, she was going to thrash and wrestle until Silken gave in from sheer exhaustion.
Realizing she might as well come clean and save herself the inevitable fight, Silken withdrew from the closet and went over to the bed where she plopped down. “I said,” she bobbed her legs up and down, not looking at Suave, “I’ll come meet your brothers if my little sis can come, too.”
Suave gave her a look of horror. “You did not say that.” At Silken’s nod she began to sputter. “That sounds so…juvenile. What are we, in kindergarten?” She clenched and unclenched her fists then swung her arms, looking for all the world like she didn’t know what to do with herself. Then she shook her head and heaved the mightiest of sighs, like she’d finally realized the futility of trying to reform her sister.
“You’re going on a date, Silken,” she said slowly, carefully, as if speaking to a toddler. “You don’t bring your sister along on a date.”
For a long while Silken just sat there, staring at Suave. Finally, she gave a hrumph and hopped off the bed. “Fine. If you’re not going then I’m not going either. I’ll call Max and tell him right now.” Holding her head straight, not giving Suave another glance, she flounced past her and out of the room.
Suave gasped then ran after her. “Silken, are you crazy? You can’t cancel your date because of me. You have to go.”
Silken stopped and turned then she shrugged. “No, I don’t. I’ll just tell Max something came up,” then her eyes narrowed, “or that I have to stay home with my sister.”
Suave narrowed her eyes back at Silken. “Then he’d hate me for ruining his plan. You wouldn’t.”
“I would.”
Suave began to pout then her shoulders slumped and she expelled her breath in a soft whoosh, a sure sign that she was accepting defeat. Smart girl.
“All right,” she said. “I’ll go with you,” she stuck a finger in Silken’s face, “but we’re going in separate cars. When I’m ready to leave, I’m leaving. You’re not going to have me stuck there till all hours of the night when I want to get to bed.”
“Fine.” Silken turned and set off toward her own room. She didn’t want Suave to see her triumphant grin. “Wear the black dress with the bow at the back. You look cute in that.”
That got her another hrumph from Suave but it didn’t matter. She’d already won this battle. Suave, the consummate homebody, would not be home alone - at least not tonight.
***
When Silken pulled into the driveway of Max’s home, Suave’s car was nowhere to be seen. No surprise there. Her sister, ever the careful one, was probably plodding along the highway well within the speed limit. Silken, on the other hand, never drove at less than ten miles above. Anything less and she felt like she was driving backwards. Settling deeper into her seat she leaned back to wait. It would be another five, maybe six minutes before she’d see the Volvo pull up beside her. But no worries. They were early so she’d pass the time catching up on some good music on KISS FM.
But when she flipped on the music Silken did not hear a single note. Instead, her mind flashed to Max. So much had happened between them in the last two weeks, since that day they’d gone out to lunch.
It had taken a while to get over the humiliation of his reprimand but eventually she'd relaxed enough to actually enjoy the afternoon at Shiraito Restaurant. After a meal of Sushi, Miso Soup and Teriyaki Chicken they lingered over coffee and dessert and soon she found herself so caught up in the conversation that she was shocked when he tapped his watch.
“Time to get you home,” he said, “before your sister sends out the troops.”
That was when she checked the time on her cell phone and realized that it was almost eight o’clock. She couldn’t believe they’d been sitting in the restaurant for almost four hours. And not just sitting. Talking.
Who could have known that Maximillian Davidoff would be such a funny, down-to-earth kind of guy? There was not an ounce of snob about him, no matter that he was the richest man she’d ever had lunch with. And he was rich, no doubt about that. The owner of Davidoff Cosmetics would be worth billions. But just looking at him, lounging in his chair across from her, you’d never tell.
Which brought her to her next question. Why had he asked her out? And he’d even gone and kissed her. Her. The woman who had embarrassed him in public, not once but twice.
As she sat in the car waiting for Suave she shook her head, still baffled by what must be the mystery of the ages…at least as far as her life was concerned. Because why would a man like him be interested in a woman like her?
And he was interested. There was no doubt in her mind about that. A man who’d been acting like he had these past couple of weeks – calls every few days, lengthy conversations over the phone, one of which had lasted almost an hour, and now this – an invitation to his house to meet his brothers.
She'd been blown away but she'd acted calmly and demurely accepted his invitation. Suave would have been so proud.
The lights of the Volvo flashed in her rear-view mirror and she blinked, suddenly realizing she’d just spent all her wait time daydreaming about Max. She would have laughed if it wasn’t just a little bit scary. Was she going soft on Max? She shook her head, knocking the thought loose and dashing it out of her head, then she got out of the car and waved Suave over. She wasn’t going to think about any of that, not tonight. Tonight she would get to know his family and just have fun.