Make Me Yours

“I gotta get back to work now. My mind tells me that we are going to find out who it is, very soon.”

With a wink, she stepped out of the office.

*****

It turned out Kelly was right.

The next day, another package came. Only, this time, it was a dress. A beautiful forest green dress that looked like it had been made just for Zoey. This time, the package was accompanied by a letter. It read,

“Shelton’s Rise. 7 p.m. Dinner date? I’ll have a limo waiting out for you. Please, don’t say no.”

“It’s definitely Xen.” Mariah said, matter-of-factly. Kelly had called her friends once they had seen the letter. All three of them were no staring at her from the computer screen.

“We don’t know that…” she argued, but was cut short before she could even finish.

“Bullsh*t. It’s a pretty big coincidence, isn’t it?” Jenny asked.

“Coincidences happen…” she tried to reason again, but heard how silly she sounded. Deep down, she was also convinced Xen was the one behind this. Only, she didn’t want to let herself believe it.

“Zoey, you are a beautiful, wonderful, smart thirty-year-old woman. We all know you know that there could be no other person behind this than Xen.”

Taking a deep breath, she stared at her friends. As she released it, she saw their expectant faces. Which was the more reason why she smiled sweetly as she responded.

“I guess we are going to find out tonight.”

With that, she ended the call, their protests dying off as they vanished from her screen. She knew that they had been expecting her to accept. Oh well, she prided on not being predictable. Those bi*ches already knew her too much.

Turning to Kelly, she said, “I guess he already picked out an outfit for me. I’d have to go home for the shoes and necklace, of course.”

“Keep your mind sharp; you have to tell us everything when you get back.”

“Don’t pry. Run along now, there’s work to do.”

She was still smiling when Kelly closed the doors behind her. This was what happened when you let your P.A get too close. But she loved Kelly all the more for her prying. It was simply out of love, and she adored that.

Zoey spent the rest of her day fantasizing about her date and getting very little work done.

*****

Xen glanced at his wristwatch and back at the entrance to this rooftop restaurant. He had searched for the city’s best date places and Shelton Rise had come up as one of the top search results. He had instantly fallen in love with the picture.

The quaint location, cozy setting and the fact that one could see the famous Colorado Mountains from this angle just made everything perfect. And that was exactly what he needed this night to be, utterly perfect. Just like Zoey Martins.

So, he had called up the restaurant and asked if he could book it for this night. Of course, they had been reluctant and he had completely understood. Being a business man himself, he knew what loss Shelton could incur from that. So, he had offered to pay them twice the amount they made on a very busy evening. A little bit of an overkill; but Zoey was worth it.

So, here he was, waiting for the woman he couldn’t stop thinking about. It was simply a lost cause – no more, no less. Zoey Martins had found her way into his senses and refused to leave. She was driving him crazy.

Every waking and sleeping moment, he thought of her. Even work didn’t keep her off his mind. He hadn’t felt this way in exactly eleven years. Yes, that was how long it had been. He knew that he was probably getting ahead of himself here, but after that night at Jo’s, he had decided that he was going to give it a try, all he could, and see where it leads.

It should count for something that this woman, of all the many wonderful and beautiful women he met all the time, would capture his attention. It had been long enough. Perhaps this was the universe’s way of telling him that it was okay to try again.

“Are you comfortable, sir? Is there anything you would like for us to get you?”

He looked up at the waitress who was smiling down at him. When had she gotten to his side? Look what thoughts of Zoey did to him.

He smiled as politely as he could. “There is nothing. I am quite alright, thank you. I’ll let you know if I need anything.”

This was the fourth time they were having this dialogue tonight. He supposed they simply wanted to make him happy with their services. Well, he was already impressed.

As she walked away, his phone came on, drawing his attention. He picked it up and saw that he had received a message. It was from Mr Casteo.

“I just dropped her off. She’s been received by some man, and is coming up the elevator. Do you want me to wait around?”

His heart skipped a beat and he sat up.

“Go do your business, Mr Casteo. I wouldn’t want you to get bored waiting on us. I shall call you when we are done here.”

A reply came back the moment he hit send.

“Copy that, sir. Have a lovely date. Your woman looks heavenly.”

Now, that made Xen flush.

“Thank you, Carlos.”

Another message came in, but he did not bother to read it. Instead, he set it aside as he saw her come into view, at the top of the stairs.

Everything else faded away, and he could only see her, watch her as she took in the empty room and registered her confusion, understanding, then surprise. Finally, her eyes came to rest on him and she smiled.

Xen could not breathe. He just couldn’t help it, but there was no way to not lose his breath when she stole it away.

He felt his lips begin to widen as she started to walk towards him and he rose on his feet.

She was so beautiful. So beautiful she almost looked unreal. Yes… that was the word: ethereal.

She was wearing the dress he had bought her, and the shoes. The pearl necklace rested prettily on her neck, as though it had been made for it. He was glad that this attempt at dressing her up had worked pleasantly well.

Eventually she got to the table where he was sitting and came to a stop.