An Unexpected Hunger (18 page)

I felt a breeze as the door on my side swung open and Ricky’s fingers undid the knot in the back of the apron.

It took my eye
s a few minutes to come into focus.

“A parking garage? How romantic,” I said.

Ricky managed to smile even harder than before. “Come with me.” He reached out his hand and led me to the elevators, out into the street.

“
Philly?” I asked as he guided me down the block. All he did was nod.

We w
alked a couple of blocks before making it though another building. Ricky whipped out his cell phone.

“We’re here,” he said. He ended the call
, and stuffed the phone back into the pocket of his black pants. “It’ll be a just a minute,” he said to me.

I sauntered over to him
, and tugged at the collar of his button down shirt. “What will?” I asked. The anticipation was killing me.

“You’ll see
.”

I kissed him hard on the mouth, pulling him close
to my body. Grabbing his hand, I placed it high on my thigh, just above the hem of my dress.

“Don’t start what
you can’t finish,” he mumbled, my mouth still on his lips.

“Who said I wasn’t going to finish?”

He smirked, and I pulled away when I heard the door next to us open.

Ricky grabbed my hand and led me through the double doors, my cheeks burning red as the man holding the door smiled.

He led us through a small lobby that smelled like fresh paint. The elevator ride up took a few minutes, and when it finally opened, we walked into the most spectacular dining room I had ever seen. The entire front of the room was lined with crystal clear windows, floor to ceiling, the Philadelphia skyline shimmering in the night sky. Dining tables made from dark wood were arranged elegantly around the room.

Our guide led
us around the bar, which glowed with a soft white light. We passed a hollowed out wall, every square inch covered with wine bottles. “Wait here just a minute.”

I looked at Ricky, nestling my face into his arm. “What is this place?” I asked.

“Do you like it?”

“Like it? It’s amazing.”

He kissed me on the forehead when I noticed someone approaching from around the corner. He was tall and round in the middle. He wore a white chef jacket and black pants.

“Ricky!” he said with a smile. He offered his hand out and shook
it firmly. “It’s good to see you again.”

“You too. Thanks so much for getting back to me so soon.”

“Is this the lovely lady you spoke of?” he asked, offering his hand to me.

“Robert…this is my girlfriend, Alexa. Alex
a this is Robert Park.”

My stomach churned
at the sound of his name. Robert Park was the most well known chef on this side of the country. While I was still in California, I had heard about the new restaurant he was planning to open in Philadelphia.

“It’s nice to meet you Chef,” I said, taking his hand.

“Call me Bobby. Ricky tells me you graduated from culinary school.”

“Three years ago,” I said. “I worked as a station chef at D & B Prime before I moved back home.”

Robert looked impressed. “D & B Prime, huh? I’ve heard of that place. It’s got a wonderful reputation.”

“She’s amazing in the kitchen,” Rickey beamed. “I know one day she’s going to have her own place.”

I smiled sheepishly. “Your restaurant is unbelievable.”

“Let me give you a tour.” We
followed Robert to the immaculate kitchen where I listened to him explain how he and a few of his close staff were working on dishes to prepare for their opening night in just a few days.

“So
, are you two hungry?” he asked.

“Are you kidding?” I replied.

We chose a booth that was nestled in a corner, directly facing the window. Robert disappeared back into the kitchen, promising to return shortly.

“How did you do this?” I asked Ricky, looking around. It was taking all I had not to bounce up and down in my seat.

“I called in a favor,” he said coyly. “I met Bobby a while ago.” He leaned in his lips close to my ear. “Anger management,” he whispered.

“Really?” I mouthed.

Ricky nodded his head and smiled.

A few minutes later the parade of food began: lobster salad and foie gras
spring rolls, roasted tuna loin with baby bok choy, red wine-braised short ribs served with a potato puree. Ricky and I ate every last bite, happily sipping Pinot Noir.

“You introduced me as your girlfriend,” I said, taking a sip from my glass. I swi
shed the liquid in my mouth and felt it warm my chest as it slid down.

“Is that okay?” Ricky asked.

“Yeah,” I smiled. “More than okay.”

Ricky paused mid-chew
and leaned in for a kiss. I caressed the side of his stubbly jaw line, for a few seconds marveling in the serenity of his brooding eyes.

Just when I thought I couldn’t eat anymore
, Robert brought out a dessert medley of coconut cake and crème brulee.

I dropped my fork on the plate. “If I eat anymore I’m going to burst out of this dress,” I said.

“Nothing wrong with that,” Ricky teased.

I looked out into the
skyline, soaking in the breath-taking view. “This is amazing.” I turned to see Ricky staring at me. “Thank you.”

He planted a soft kiss on my lips
, hovering his face close to mine, gently brushing back the hair behind my ear.

“I love you
, Alexa.” His voice trembled.

“Ricky-”

“I know it hasn’t been that long since you’ve been home, but I don’t care.” He grabbed my hand from under the table. “I wanted to tell you before you left for school. I should have told you
then
how I felt, but I was a coward, and I couldn’t. When you moved away, I thought I had lost my chance. But then you came back to me. The way I feel about you…I’ve never felt with anyone else. You see past my bullshit, you always have. You understand me, and when I’m with you I never feel like anything is beyond my reach. I love you, Lexy, and I wanted to tell you that before I missed my chance again.”

If I hadn’t already been sitting, Ricky’s speech would have put me on the floor. It’s something I never would have expected to hear out of his mouth
, and at that moment I became speechless. Mia had mentioned, more than once, at his longstanding crush on me. I never let myself believe it.

Thinking about the memories I had
of him, it was all starting to make sense. All the times he walked me to class barely uttering a single word, the incident with Jimmy Serrano, all the hours he spent at my house after my dad died. I had always thought it was just a ploy to sleep with me. I never considered for even a second that could have been anything more, too busy convincing myself that he was nothing but trouble.

“You don’t have to say it back,” he said. “
It’s not why I said it. I’ve been holding that in for years, and I wanted to let you know.” He gave me a shy smile, and finished the last sip of his wine. He didn’t give me a chance to respond and changed the subject back to the meal.

Robert made one final appearance and walked us back to the elevator. I thanked him profusely
, and he invited us back when everything was in full swing.

The elevator ride
was silent and the car ride home too. I replayed Ricky’s words over in my head.

“Will you stay with me tonight?” Ricky said.

I agreed, and he drove me to my house to pick up a change of clothes. It was almost midnight by the time we were in the driveway at my mom’s house so I was surprised to see the light on in the kitchen.

“Wait right here. I’ll only be a minute.” I walked into the house and
it smelled like a mixture of mint and lemon. In the kitchen, mom was by the counter, a steaming teakettle in hand.

“Hey,” I said. “What are you still doing up?”

“Oh…I couldn’t sleep.”

“Is everything alright?”

She walked over to the kitchen table and sat down. “How was your evening?” She took a sip from her mug.

“It was nice,” I said, joining her at the table. “Really nice. Ricky took me to this unbelievable new restaurant that hasn’t even officially opened yet.”

She nodded her head. “That sounds wonderful.”

I smiled. “Mom…what’s going on? You’re starting to freak me out.”

“Who’s Danny?” she asked.

I could feel all the
blood in face drain to my feet. Why was she saying his name? It couldn’t be the same Danny I knew. The same one I left in California. The same one who wrote me the letter that I burned and then flushed down the toilet. The same person that I told no one about, except Ricky.

“
What?
” I asked when I caught my breath. “What are you talking about?”

“He called here. More than once.”

“When?” I asked, darting my eyes to the landline phone.

“The calls started just after you left.” She took another sip of her tea.

“And what did he say?”

“Well, at first he said that he was a friend from California
, and he had lost your cell phone number.”

“Did you give it to him?” I asked, frantic.

“No…I may be many things Alexa, but stupid isn’t one of them.”

My heart relaxed a little,
if only for a few seconds.

Mom cleared her throat. “But then he kept calling, every hour as a matter of fact, and by the last call he told me that he was the boyfriend you left behind
, and that it was very important that he spoke with you.”

The shrill ring of the phone went off again, making me and mom jump in our seats. I walked over
to it, ripped it off the wall, and slammed it down on the counter.

“Do me a favor,” I said to her. “Keep this unplugged for a while.”

She nodded, and I made my way upstairs.

“Alexa!” mom called from the foyer. I stopped halfway up the steps and leaned over the banister.

“Is everything okay?” Her brows were furrowed and the lines around her mouth were even more creased.

“Yeah, mom. Don’t worry. Everything is fine.” I forced another smile and headed to my room, hoping she couldn’t see my heart pounding out of my chest.

I FELT RICKY’S eyes on me as we laid in bed, my mind wandering back to the conversation with my mom. Why was Danny still calling? What did he not understand about leaving me alone? Every time I considered how strange it was that he would go out of his way to call my mom’s house, it made me even more nervous.

“Are you okay?” Ricky finally asked.

I had been so distracted that I hadn’t even noticed he had been kissing my shoulder.

“I’m fine,” I said. “Everything’s fine.”

I shifted in the bed, sitting up so that I could take a deeper breath and calm down. I felt queasy and my palms were damp. I swallowed hard, trying to keep down all the wonderful food still sitting in my stomach. But it was no use. I dashed to the bathroom, just in time to hurl my face into the toilet bowl. I grabbed the mouthwash off the sink, and swished until the taste in my mouth disappeared.

“You are NOT fine!” Ricky said. He cradled
me when I was done and led me back to the bed, covering me up with the comforter. “You feel warm. Maybe you have a fever. I’m going to get the thermometer.”

“Ricky-”

“Don’t move! I’ll be right back.”

Before I could say another word, he ran downstairs. After a few minutes, he returned with a glass of water.

“I’m going to Rite Aid. I don’t have a thermometer! Take a sip of this.”

The cold water soothed my burning throat. “I’m fine. I don’t have a fever.”

He sat on the edge of the bed next to me. “Was it the food?”

“No! It was
definitely NOT the food,” I said, taking another sip.

“Then what’s wrong? Your
face is the color of chalk!”

“Danny keeps calling,” I mumb
led, casting my eyes on the water.

“What? I thought you changed your number?”

I traced my pointer finger around the rim of the glass. “He’s calling my mom’s house. She still has a landline.”

“Did you talk to him?” he asked.

“No. I ripped the damn phone off the wall.”

Ricky sprung from the bed and started to pace the room. “Why is he still calling you?”

“How should I know?”

Everything about Ricky’s body language was brimming with
exasperation. “I don’t like this. I don’t like this at all.”

“I’m sure he’ll get the hint,” I said.

“He should have gotten the hint a
long
time ago.”