This is my entry in the "
When A Man Loves a Woman
" event.
Thanks to stev2244 for giving me a read, and to blackrandl1958 for her guidance and editing.
Can you love someone too much?
Tom wouldn't have thought so, but then he hadn't yet met Eleanor McKenzie.
Tom never believed in love at first sight, but when Eleanor walked into the club, there was no other word for it; he was smitten.
She wasn't movie star beautiful, but she was very pretty, with straight red hair pulled back into a simple ponytail.
Although she radiated friendliness, even the pussy hounds were scared off.
Well, "faint heart never won fair maiden," so he pulled his shoulders back and marched to his fate.
"Hi, my name's Tom. May I buy you a drink?"
She had a strange look on her face, Tom thought that maybe she was wondering,
Who does this schmo think he is? Then she smiled.
"Thank you, Tom. My name is Eleanor, Eleanor McKenzie. I'll have a Cosmo if you don't mind."
He ordered her drink and got a refill for his own.
They chatted for a while until Eleanor noticed the time.
"Shit, Tom," she said, "I didn't notice the time. I've got to get going."
"May I have your number?"
She hesitated for just a moment, then gave him her number and was off in a flash.
Tom wondered if the number was real, or if she'd really go out with him, but he was determined to give it his best shot.
The next morning, Tom wasn't sure if he'd look too eager if he called right away, or too disinterested if he waited. He decided not to play silly games, and just go with his feelings and call her;
after
he had a cup of coffee.
He picked up his phone and opened his contacts, found Eleanor's name and punched "Call."
"Hello, this is Eleanor."
"Hi, Eleanor, it's Tom, from Spiro's."
"Wow, you don't waste any time do you?"
Tom thought he had blown it until he heard her delightful laugh.
"Don't worry, Tom, I'm just teasing you. What can I do for you?"
"I was wondering if you'd like to go out sometime, maybe dinner and dancing?"
"'Sometime' seems awfully vague. I have a rather full social calendar. Could you be a little more specific?" she said with a teasing tone in her voice.
Tom was pretty sure that she was just toying with him, but decided to call her bluff.
"How about this Friday?" he asked.
Eleanor hesitated as if she were deep in thought, then replied, "Well, it
is
rather short notice, but it so happens that I don't have any plans. Pick me up at 7:00. Make reservations at Chez Louis."
She hung up without even saying good-bye.
Chez Louis was one of the more expensive restaurants in town, but not exactly a budget buster.
He realized that he had no idea where Eleanor lived, so had no idea what time he should plan for dinner.
He called her right back, but got her machine. He left a message and just hoped that she'd call back in time for him to make the reservation. Tom couldn't know, but Eleanor rarely checked voicemail, she usually relied on texting.
Thursday came and went with no call. He tried calling again, but just got her machine again.
Friday morning arrived and he was just about to call and hope that it wasn't too late to get a table when his phone rang.
"Hi, Tom, it's Eleanor."
"Thank God you called, Eleanor. I couldn't reach you, and didn't know what time I should plan on for dinner."
"Oh, no worries, Tom. When I didn't hear from you I went ahead and made reservations for eight o'clock." She felt a little guilty teasing him, but he was so cute when he got flustered that she just couldn't resist.
She didn't hear from me? Tom thought. Oh, well, no harm, no foul.
"Before you hang up, Eleanor, what's your address?"
"Why would I hang up, Tom? My address is 2125 Commonwealth Avenue. Remember, seven o'clock," she said, and was gone.
She lived in Brookline, and Chez Louis was in Boston, so an hour might seem a lot of time, but between traffic and parking, it was probably for the best. That's assuming she was ready on time, of course.
Tom pulled up in front of her building and was pleasantly surprised that she came right out the front door just as he was getting out of his car.
She had a light-weight coat on, so Tom couldn't see what she was wearing, but her hair was in a fancy up-do, showing off her slender neck to good effect.
Tom hustled around the car to open the door for her. As soon as she was seated, he closed her door and went back and got into the driver's seat.
As he fastened his seatbelt, he caught a glimpse of a slender leg as she adjusted her coat. He was looking forward to seeing what she was wearing.
When they got to the restaurant, Tom was disappointed that she was careful not to give him any sneak peeks, but his disappointment vanished when he took off her coat at the coat check.
It was a relatively modest red version of a LBD. It grazed a spot just an inch or two above her knee, but it clung to her curves just right, with a vee neckline held up by spaghetti straps, showing just a bit of cleavage.
He was able to check out her ass as they were led to their table. As with everything else about her, it was just right. While not a Kardashian badonk-a-donk, it was round and firm. It looked just the right size for his hands..
He was gentleman enough to keep his eyes up as they made pleasant conversation through the last mouthfuls of dessert and sips of coffee.
"That was a most delightful meal with a charming companion," she said. "What do you propose we do next?"
"Royale is right around the corner, why don't we go there so I can dazzle you with my dance moves."
"You seem pretty sure of yourself. Let's go, and we'll see who dazzles whom," she said with a smile.
Tom retrieved their coats, helped Eleanor into hers, took her arm and led her into the night.
They walked over to Royale. Tom checked their coats, then they went into the club proper and found a table.
After a round of drinks, they hit the dance floor, and while Tom did impress Eleanor with his moves, he couldn't hold a candle to hers, especially when she moved sinuously like a cobra rising out of a snake charmer's basket.
When they danced a slow number Tom could feel her braless nipples poking into his chest, and did his best to keep his erection under control.
Thankfully, they returned to their table and Tom was able to discreetly adjust himself while waiting for another round of drinks to arrive.
No sooner had their drinks arrived when a good-looking guy approached their table.
"May I have this dance?" he asked, extending his hand to Eleanor.
Without a backwards glance, Eleanor took his hand and followed him to the dance floor.
Even through his anger, Tom had to admire her dancing, but that didn't stop him from stewing over the blatant disrespect shown him.
After a couple of fast dances, Eleanor returned to an obviously upset Tom.
"What's the matter, Tom? You look like you lost your best friend."
Tom took a deep breath to try to settle himself.
"Don't you think that he was incredibly rude, him asking you to dance without asking me first?"
"Why, did you want to dance with him?" she asked with a snicker.
"You know what I mean!"
"Oh, come on, Tom, this is the twenty-first century, times have changed."
"Good manners never go out of style, and you just went off with him, without even a concern for me, your date."
Eleanor just sighed in exasperation and stood up.
"Come on, then, dance with your date."
Tom suppressed his anger and led her to the dance floor.
After a couple of fast songs, a slow song started and Tom drew Eleanor into his arms.
They had barely started when Tom felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around. It was the same guy from before.
"Mind if I cut in?"
"As a matter of fact I do..."
"Oh, Tom, don't be selfish, it's just one dance," Eleanor said as she deftly disengaged from Tom to move into the stranger's arms.
Tom stood there for a moment feeling foolish, then returned to their table.
Tom was sipping his drink, but when one dance turned into three, he was gulping it. Eleanor, meanwhile, was simply enjoying the dance with barely a thought of Tom. When it turned into five, he swigged it down and walked out. He didn't leave any money; let Mr. Wonderful pay her tab.
As he handed in his coat check he realized that he still had Eleanor's. He thought about just walking out with it, but handed it to the girl at the desk.
"There should be a woman in a red dress looking for this at some point," he said, leaving a tip before leaving the club.
Eleanor returned to the table, initially unconcerned about Tom's absence, assuming he simply went to the restroom.
When he hadn't returned in fifteen minutes, she called his cell, but it went straight to voicemail.
She left a string of voicemails and texts, each one angrier than the last, until she gave up and called an Uber. When she got home, she tried one more time before she went to bed, planning to rip his head off in the morning.
Meanwhile, Tom hadn't even walked a block before his phone started ringing. He didn't need to look at it to know it was Eleanor. He just turned it off, got his car, went home and went to bed.
When he woke up he took a shower and started brewing a cup of coffee on his Keurig before turning on his phone. Sure enough, there were at least a dozen missed calls and several messages. He had just deleted the last one when the phone rang. Of course it was Eleanor. Deciding it was best to rip off the band-aid, he answered.
"Good morning, Eleanor," he said as cheerfully as he could manage.
