The Chase by Amber Riel (story reading txt) 📖

          Louis held my hand as we walked into a  building with walls with openings in them, kind of like windows.  The lights were dimmed to give it the romantic atmosphere feeling.  There were small round tables which sat two chairs at each.  The place was almost full of couples which the exception of a few empty tables.  There were a couple of spiral staircases on each side of the building.  We worked our way over to the maître d’ who kind of reminded me of Alfred from the old Batman cartoons those different stations would show for children.  He was tall and bout in his sixties with grey hair but bald from the forehead to the middle of his head.  He wore a black dress suit which included long black dress pants, black polished dress shoes, a white long sleeves dress shirt, and a long black coat which had a split tail in the back.  He had slightly grey mustache under his nose which was barely noticeable.  He fit the criteria for the role of a butler.  He wore a friendly and pleasant smile on his barely wrinkled face.  “Good evening, how may I help you?”

          “I made reservations earlier,” Louis replied.

          “Okay…. And what is the name, sir?” the man asked as he turned his attention to a long list on the podium and placed a pair of small silver reading glasses on his face.

          “Matthews.”

          “Okay let me see if I can find it.”  I watched as the man took his skinny long pointer finger on the list and searched for the name while he mumbled it to remind himself what he was looking for.  “Here we go Mr. Louis Matthews right?

          Louis smiled.  “Yes, sir.”

          The man looked up at us and smiled.  “Reservation for two…. Right this way.”

          “Thank you.”  Louis gestured for me to walk ahead of him.  “Ladies first.”

          I followed the man while Louis followed behind me.  We followed the maître d’ up the left staircase and over to a small rounded table covered with a long white table cloth.  Sitting on top of the cloth was a couple of small round lit candles and a vase with a few flowers.  We had the view of the town next to the wide window which covered majority of the room.  It was so beautiful.  The city lights lit the dark street up from below.  I was amazed by the captivating beauty of the town’s lights.

          Louis pulled a chair out from under the table.  “Sam,” he spoke with a sweet calming voice.

          I looked at him as he gestured for me to sit down.  I smiled and sat in the chair he had pulled out for me.  “Thank you.”

          He smiled as he sat in the chair across from me.

          The maître d’ handed us each a menu.  “A waiter will be here shortly to take your orders for food and drinks.”

          “Thanks,” Louis told the man.

          The man nodded with a smile then left.

          Louis turned his attention toward me.  He looked me up and down as we sat there in silence.  I could tell that he was trying to think of a conversation so I waited for him to speak.  “You look lovely tonight, Sam,” he finally said after a moment.

          “Thank you.  You look good too,” I replied.  I looked around the room, noticing a few other couples.  A couple of them were about our age while the others were older couples who were middle aged or older.  “This is a nice little place.”

          Louis nodded as he looked around as well.

          “Did you ever bring your wife here?”

          He looked at me and shook his head.  “No…. A true gentleman doesn’t bring his girlfriend to places that he brought his deceased wife too, not including family and friends’ homes…. Too many memories and his girlfriend isn’t his wife…. The two women are different therefore it’s better to keep them separated….” I could see sadness in his eyes as he spoke.  I could only imagine the pain that he was filling.  “I figured that it would be better to bring you to a place where I have no memories with any other woman…. And it was actually Eric who had suggested it…. This was about the only place I hadn’t had a chance to bring her too before she past so I agreed that it was a good choice to bring you.”  His eyes moved to toward the table cloth.  “I kind of feel like I’m cheating on Christy…. I know I’m not because she’s gone but it still feels like I am…. I know that she’d want me to move on but after having spent so much time getting to know her and even though she’s been dead for two years it still feels horrible for me to be with another women….”

          I intertwined my fingers with his to let him.  “If you don’t want to move into a relationship yet then take your time….”

          “It’s not that.”  Louis locked his eyes with mine.  “I feel like I’m not the guy you need…. I feel like you need someone better…. Even now….”

          I shook my head.  “I don’t want anyone else…. I admit that at first I hated you because of the fact that you were such a jerk to me but now I see that you’re not the person I thought you…. Honestly, I couldn’t imagine being here with another guy…. You rescued me from danger…. Out of all of the jerks I have ever met in my life…. I don’t think any of them would have been willing to fight that evil man to keep him away from me and…. Lainie…. I see how much you love her as if she’s your own child….” I kind of smiled.  “I find that to be cute and sweet when a man loves children and watches out for them…. I’m glad that I met you so please don’t ruin our first date because you’re worried about how I’m going to think of you.”  I suddenly leaned forward as I closed my eyes and kissed him.  The feeling was as sweet and breathtaking as when he had kissed me.  I had never felt anything like the amazing feeling I was feeling with him.  I slowly pulled myself away from him and locked eyes with him.  “And Christy would understand that you need to move on with your life…. It’d be one thing if she were still alive but because she’s not here anymore…. She’d want you to move on…. I know that you’ll probably never get over her completely but you don’t need to keep living in the past…. I’m here for you.”

          “Thanks, Sam.”

          A man about in his early thirties walked over to us.  He wore nice dress pants and shoes with a long sleeves white dress shirt.  The sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and he wore a rectangular white apron with pockets.  He pulled out a small pad and a pen, flipping through the pad.  “Ready to order?” the man spoke in a French accent.

          Louis kind of smiled.  “Sorry we’ve been kind of talking…. Can we go ahead and order our drinks though?”

          “Of course, monsieur.”

          “I’ll have water and, Sam, do you happen to drink any alcoholic beverages?  I mean occasionally,” he asked, fixing his words so he didn’t sound like he was assuming that I was an alcoholic.

          I smiled.  “Occasionally, if it’s there.”

          “Have you ever had wine before?”

          “No.”

          “Would you like to try some?  I mean you don’t have to get drunk…. I mean if you like it you can have….” He sighed, kind of frustrated with himself.

          I kind of laughed, knowing that he wasn’t trying to sound like a jerk on purpose.  I could tell that he was actually trying to be polite but didn’t know what to say that didn’t sound offensive.  “I like to try some.”

          Louis smiled with relief.  “Okay then…. Can you bring out your finest bottle of wine?”

          “Of course, monsieur.”  The waiter left, leaving Louis and I alone.

          “I’m sorry if I sounded rude…. I’m kind of rusty in dating because it’s been so long.”

          “It’s alright.  I don’t have much experience with dating either.”

          “Really?  But I was sure that you had men graveling at your feet…. I mean you’re beautiful….”

          “No…. I’ve only had one real boyfriend and I’ve met a lot of jerks who really could care less about me unless they want to make other girls jealous….” I sighed, kind of tearing up at the thought.  “I’m not beautiful…. I’m just me….”

          “You are beautiful…. Even when you’re not wearing make-up…. And those other guys don’t know what they’re missing out on.”  Louis took his right hand and placed his fingers on against my cheek.  He wiped away the tears that fell from my eyes.  “You don’t deserve a guy who’s going to break your heart…. I won’t do that to you…. I can’t tell you to trust me or believe me but I will show you…. I will not let you suffer.”  That time he was the one leaning closer toward me and he kissed me.  When he pulled away from me, he kind of smiled.  “That seems to be our third kiss.”  He kind of laughed.

          I looked up at him and slightly smiled.

          “Have you ever tried ratatouille?” Louis asked, changing the subject as he opened up his menu and started searching for something to eat.

          I gave him a funny and confused look at his question.  “Isn’t that a French meal?”

          Louis smiled at my response and nodded.  “This restaurant is owned by a French man and if you look at the menu you’ll realize that this is a French restaurant.”

          “Oh,” I sighed.

          Louis kind of laughed at me.  “It’s okay…. I didn’t actually expect you to know that.”

          “No I haven’t tried ratatouille before,” I replied answering his original question.

          “Oh then you should…. It’s worth trying.”

          “Okay then I will…. Do I remind you of your wife?” I asked, biting my lip.  It was something that was kind of bothering me to know and I didn’t want to upset him but it was something that I needed to know.

          Louis took a deep breath and locked eyes with me.  “No…. You two are completely two different people…. She was a blonde when she actually had a head full of hair before chemo and even then she wore blonde wigs…. You’re a brunette with dark brown hair almost black….  She had beautiful blue-green hazel eyes which changed color from day to day…. You have beautiful dark brown eyes that stay the same….”  He smiled slightly.  “She listened where as you’re stubborn…. The only similarity you two have is that neither of you realize how beautiful you are from the inside out…. Your personalities are different but I have a feeling that as time goes by I’ll love you the same way I was in love with her but in so many different ways…. So no you do not remind me of her…. If you did then I’d feel like the only reason why I’d be with you was because I was in rebound as you Americans call it…. That’s the same as using you I believe…. I couldn’t do that to