The Heart Wants What It Wants

Chapter 7

“George!”

It made him smile. He didn’t think anybody had ever sounded that relieved to hear his voice.

“Did you get home all right?”

“Yes. Yes, of course, thank you. I… The car is amazing. Thank you, you’re really the kindest person I’ve ever known. You really didn’t have to do it. It’s amazing that you did it. I’m babbling, I know, but I’ve never had anybody do anything of the sort for me and it’s amazing. And Thomas, he told me off for not taking care of my car properly, I’m so ashamed. I really love that car, I bought it when I couldn’t afford it, and I worked three jobs to pay it off, and get it running. I really thought the check engine light was just wired wrong, I didn’t think I really needed to check the engine.”

George chuckled.

“It usually means you need to check the engine. Thomas will take care of your car, don’t worry about it.”

“I’m not worried about it. But, well, I can’t really keep this car. I had to take it, it was just Thomas and me, one of us had to take one car and the other had to take the other one, and I didn’t want him to feel bad, but I can’t take the car. I don’t know whom to get it back to, though.”

“It’s yours.”

“No, that’s impossible.”

George sighed a little.

“You do need a car, don’t you, Diana?”

“I do, but I can rent one for a week, while Thomas fixes mine. That’s good enough.”

“Consider this one a rental.”

“I can’t afford a Porsche!”

George chuckled again.

“You can if it’s not costing you anything. Don’t think too much about it, Diana. It’s my pleasure.”

“But…”

“Of course, if you really don’t want it, I have a way out.”

It was impulsive. He hadn’t planned that.

“What’s that?”

“If you’re not in town for the weekend, you won’t have to use it.”

“What?”

“Take a long weekend. Come here and spend it with me.”

That was definitely not planned.

“What?”

“You’re repeating yourself.”

“I can’t just… You’re in Japan. You said you’re in Japan.”

“I am. I’m in Osaka. It’s really lovely. I’ll be busy until Saturday, around noon, but after that – I was thinking of going to Kyoto. It’s a lovely town if you like peace and quiet. Do you like peace and quiet?”

“I… I don’t know what to say. I can’t, of course I can’t. I have work.”

“You don’t work weekends, do you?”

“No, but I… Japan is a long way away, I can’t… No, it’s out of the question. I really can’t.”

“Of course you can. Think of it as a way to avoid using the car.”

“That is absolutely ridiculous. That makes no sense.”

George laughed again, because she was right. It did make absolutely no sense. He had no idea why he was doing it. He’d never done anything of the sort before.

“Aren’t you too young to worry about whether things make sense? Aren’t you supposed to seize the day?”

“Yes, but this is ridiculous. I can’t just drop everything and fly to Japan. I bet I wouldn’t even get tickets so late, and it would cost an arm and a leg!”

“Would I ask you to make the arrangements, Diana? Of course I wouldn’t. I’ll take care of all of that. You just have to come here and have a good time. Spend the weekend with me.”

“I… George, I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“It’s not right.”

“What does that have to do with it?”

“I… You’re making my head swim.”

“I can do a lot more than that if you come here, Diana. I want to spend the weekend with you. It’s just a weekend. We’ll have separate hotel rooms. You’ll have a break. Don’t you need a break?”

“We all need breaks, but…”

“It’s settled, then. All you have to do is take Friday off.”

“I can’t take Friday off just like that!”

“How about if I toss about five hundred billable hours to your firm?”

George really had no idea why he’d said that. The last thing he wanted to do was to bribe a woman to spend time with him. It was humiliating, to be honest. He’d never had to bribe a woman to spend time with him – with him!

“I absolutely cannot let you do that,” said Diana, to his relief. If she had accepted the bribe, he might have been disappointed.

“Well then, come because I want you to, and because you want to.”

There was a pause, that threatened to lengthen long enough to make him wonder if he’d been cut off.

“All right.”

“Yes?”

“Yes.”

Relief – he felt relief, pure, stunning relief. He hadn’t realized how much he needed her to say yes. This was uncharted territory for him.

He should get the hell away and leave things be.

But it was too late now. He was committed for the weekend. His own fault. He’d pushed for it.

“I’ll have Charlie email you the details you need.”

“You’re not going to charter a flight, are you? Because I can’t say yes to that. It’s a terrible waste and the carbon footprint that would leave behind… I can’t let you do that.”

George almost laughed out loud. Really, Diana was unexpected.

“I won’t. You can fly commercial. Thursday night, Diana. Japan is ahead of you.”

“I… Okay, but I need to get Friday off.’

“Do what you need to. I’ll see you in a couple of days.”

“Okay,” said Diana, and George hung up, knowing he was being abrupt and probably unreasonable.

But there was something about Diana. He hadn’t been able to get her, that kiss, every simple touch of her hand, out of his mind. He needed to get her out of his system. He needed to have her, find out for himself that he was building something up where there simply was nothing, and get back to his life.

He couldn’t afford distractions.

He would not allow distractions.

He would get Diana out of his system, and then he would go on with his life. That was the plan.

Or at least, that’s what he told himself.

Diana wasn’t sure what the hell was going on. But she did know one thing.

She needed reinforcements.

And that meant Alex.

“I need you now, Alex. You’ve got to come over.”

“Di? What’s wrong? Are you bleeding? Do you need a doctor? Is there blood?”

“No, I’m fine. I mean I’m not bleeding but I sure as hell need you. Please. Come over.”

“Twenty minutes. I’ll be there in twenty minutes,” promised Alex, and sure enough, Alex was there in twenty.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been gladder to see you.”

Alex grinned at her best friend.

“You look like you were hit by lightning. No, seriously, your hair. It’s a mess. It looks like you stuck a finger in a socket. And whose is that blue Porsche? I saw it when I was parking my bike. Boy, what a beauty!”

Unlike Diana, Alex actually knew her cars, and she liked them. She would have really appreciated a gift like that.

A loan. A loan like that. Not a gift. It was not a gift.

“Well, it’s… The thing is… Well, that’s the thing. I’m opening a bottle of wine. I’m getting the ice cream out. It’s low fat. It’s actually frozen yogurt with no added sugar. It’s just frozen yogurt, it’s not even dessert, I’m sorry, Alex.”

“I picked up chocolate so it’s fine, I can make do with your silly yogurt. Wine, huh? Well, let’s get it out and you can tell me all about it.”

So Diana got the wine, the mismatched wine glasses she’d gotten from Alex as a gift, and she took a deep breath.