Being Harrison Bloom’s Girl

Hana looked surprised.

“Well, good for you, but when did this happen?”

“Roger asked me out. I said yes. I’m not going to tell anybody else about it. But if Harrison can date gorgeous, sexy blondes, I sure as hell can start dating, too.”

Hana nodded slowly.

“Well, don’t let me try to stop you. Have fun, Leigh. But if you need me to come and pick you up, let me know.”

Leigh smiled, a bright, hard smile unlike herself.

“Oh, don’t worry. I have no intention of needing to be rescued. I’ve had enough of moping. I’m going to have fun.”

Hana could only nod and watch, worried, as Leigh booked her cab and walked out the door.

Leigh’s bravado kept her going until she reached that lovely boutique hotel. Seeing it made her blanch a little, but she steeled herself and walked in. So what if she’d been running away from Harrison the last time she’d been there? She was done with running.

She was about to give her name at the restaurant when she saw Roger.

Her heart settled a little, and the edge was taken off, though not by much. He looked bemused, and he was still wearing his reading glasses.

With a smile, Leigh walked up to the table. Roger saw her, and his face was lit up by his smile as he got to his feet and walked to hold her chair out for her.

“Leigh, you look…”

The look in his eyes told her what he couldn’t seem to say. Leigh smiled, determined to put the past behind her for good.

“I should hope so. So do you.”

There was an awkward silence that, strangely, made Leigh feel better. This was what a date was like – it was normal. She was stepping into normal life again.

“Let’s not talk about class or college, shall we?”

Leigh nodded, agreeing.

“Let’s not. And let’s not get wine or champagne. Let’s stick to what we like.”

“Scotch and beer we’ll have, then,” agreed Roger, and placed the order quickly. “This reminds me of the life I used to have,” he said, after they were served.

“Really? Did you date a lot?”

“No, not really. I was too busy for it. Besides, all my poise seems to be reserved for the courtroom. Or, apparently, a classroom. When it comes to dating, I don’t usually know what to say.”

“And yet you managed to convince somebody to marry you.”

“I did. But that was before I knew the courtroom and had to reserve all my poise for it.”

“I usually make it a rule that we shouldn’t talk about work. But tell me about your work. I’ve been considering criminal law. Tell me what I can expect.”

That seemed to set Roger at ease, and conversation flowed easily, as did the Scotch and beer. Leigh found herself at ease, asking questions that genuinely interested her, telling him about her work in ways that she hadn’t been able to tell Harrison.

Soon, they started talking about family, carefully skirting around Harrison. But it was a relief for Leigh to find out that she had so much more in her life. She had spent the last few months in a cocoon where everything had been about Harrison and her. Now she could see beyond it, and she was glad to find that it wasn’t an empty wasteland.

“I can’t believe you have four sisters. I can’t imagine what it’s like to grow up with four sisters,” said Leigh, when Roger told her about his childhood.

“Well, my mother declared that we’d better all learn to cook. But I used to bribe my sisters to clean up. I’d do their laundry.”

Leigh chuckled.

She and Harrison hadn’t had such a relationship. Harrison had always been far too disciplined to need any favors from her at all.

“Sounds like you have a wonderful family. It must’ve been nice to grow up in such a big family. I sometimes wished that I could have that, too. Not that I wasn’t happy, but I was a very goal-oriented child. I didn’t need much coddling, really. I usually knew what I wanted and went about getting it.”

“You’d get along with my youngest sister very well. She’s very much like that. I’d like you to meet them, Leigh.”

That segue from casual conversation to meeting the family threw her, and made her eyes widen.

“I don’t think I’m up to a family inspection right now, Roger. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a bit of a notorious item at the moment. Why, gossip columns are full of me!”

Roger shrugged.

“I didn’t mean now. I meant sometime down the line. I don’t plan to keep teaching after the semester is done. We wouldn’t have to sneak around after that. I’d like you to meet my family then. If things are good with your family, I’d like to meet them, too.”

The panic was now beginning to make it a little hard for Leigh to breathe.

“My family is a little complicated.”

“I’m not pressuring you. There’s plenty of time. I’m in no hurry. I just want you to know that I like you – I really like you. I’m not trying to waste your time or mine. I want you to know that I think what we have is real and special, I suppose.”

Leigh was so suffocated that she had to get away. A little abruptly, she excused herself and made her way to the restroom. She looked at herself in the mirror, and wondered what was wrong with her.

She should be glad that Roger wasn’t looking for something quick and easy. Why wasn’t she?

Leigh knew why, of course. Harrison was why. She’d been running on anger and defiance, but that only took you so far. After a while, you had to figure out something more lasting to keep you going.

Did she want something with Roger? Or was she just using him to lash out against Harrison, even if that made absolutely no sense at all?

What the hell was she even doing?

What was the point?

Was she really that petty?

Roger was a good person. He did not deserve to be used like she was doing. What had she become?

Leigh looked in the mirror and saw a lovely woman, and wondered at how she was underneath that gloss. She was shocked when she realized that she had been trying to compete with Diane Masters, by getting decked up and wearing that dress. It wasn’t her style, not really.

Why was she doing this?

Because, she admitted to herself, feeling defeated, she wanted Harrison. She loved him.

Despite all their problems, she needed him, and she needed him to understand that she needed time – not time away from him, but time with him to work through her conflicted feelings about being identified as Harrison Bloom’s woman.