Tuesday came and Peter found himself pacing his office. It was 3:30 in the afternoon and he was waiting for a client to get back to him about a new contract. He moved to the window, tapping his pen on the windowsill. He hated waiting. He was trying not to think of Maria moving around his home, doing all the domestic things that he loathed to do. He pictured her in his bedroom, changing the sheets, vacuuming under the bed, kneeling on the floor to fetch a stray sock from under the bench at the foot of the bed. Her soft round bottom pushed out as her back arched like a cats. Curvy and sensual.
Christ almighty, he was having a domestic fantasy about cleaning. He really had it bad. He didn't even really know the woman but she had left a noticeable impression on him.
He glanced at the clock, yet again. Only 3 minutes had passed since the last time he looked.
The phone's ring made him flinch. At last.
The call lasted longer than he wished but at least it sounded like he'd be coming out ahead on this deal.
Forty-five minutes later he was cruising home. Trying not to speed, he was glad he had a small jump on the traffic that would be clogging the streets in another half hour. He drummed his fingers in time with a cereal commercial on the radio. All his nervous ticks were coming out today. He changed the station for around the twentieth time, not really caring what was on, just needing to do something.
Finally, he pulled into the drive, not waiting for the garage door to open he parked in the driveway. He tried not to look like he was in any hurry to get inside. He pushed open the door and noticed the stillness inside. Damn! He must have missed her. He casually made his way to his bedroom, with only a slight detour by the kitchen. Nope, she wasn't there. Damn.
He threw his jacket on the bed and kicked off his shoes, not caring where they ended up. He grumbled to himself, "Idiot. What are you 13?"
"Hello, Mr. Walker." A voice said coming out of the bathroom.
"Gah!" Peter almost jumped out of his skin when a woman came out of his bathroom carrying towels. It wasn't Maria.
"Oh, I didn't mean to scare you. I'm Teresa. The agency sent me today." She was a very thin older women with lots of grey streaked in her neat bun.
Peter shook his head. "Oh, Teresa...uh...." He tried to clear his head. "Great." He didn't know what else to say.
She stood still staring at him. "Well, I'll just finish up and get out of your way." She moved passed him and headed for the door.
"Yeah...no...I mean, don't rush." Before she could disappear down the hall he called to her. "Hey, Teresa? What happened to Maria? Is she alright?"
Teresa looked a little uncomfortable. "Well, she...um...she asked to be... " She shifted from foot to foot. "...transferred. She didn't say why."
"Oh." Peter frowned. "Right. Ok. Thanks, Teresa."
Damn.
He must have scared her off. She must have felt awkward coming back after seeing him practically naked and asking her about her personal life. Fine.
The rest of the evening past uneventfully. He had a run in the cool evening, with all the dog walkers, evening joggers and cyclists. He showered and put together a ham sandwich for dinner. He ate while he looked over the contract from this afternoon.
He was just settling down to watch the ten o'clock news, when the phone rang. He debated answering when he saw that it wasn't a number he recognized.
"Hello."
"Peter? It's Maria. I hope I'm not disturbing you."
Peter's heart thudded in his chest. "Not at all, Maria. This is a surprise. How are you?" He asked coolly. His face split into a huge grin and he punched the air in triumph.
"Great, Peter." She sounded hesitant. "I, um. I wanted to talk to you about the other day. I thought it best if I didn't work for you anymore."
His heart sank. Crap! He had scared her away. "Why is that? Did I do something to upset you? Maria, I'm sorry if I did anything...."
She didn't let him finish. "No, no, no! No, that's not what I meant. I just thought that ...." She sighed. "I've never done this before but...I had a really nice time having dinner with you and I thought that maybe..." she trailed off.
Peter's face lit up again. He tried to keep his voice calm, while he did a little happy dance, "Would you like to have dinner with me, Maria?"
"No." She said.
No? Peter blinked. No. Damn.
"I was going to ask if you wanted to have lunch with me tomorrow." She continued. "I don't have class until 2 tomorrow and thought you might like to join me for lunch." He could hear her puff out a breath like she'd been holding it and trying to get through the rehearsed question.
Peter let his shoulders relax with relief. "Of course! I mean, yes. I'd love to join you."
"Great. Do you know the coffee shop on Willowbrook? Sammy's?" She asked.
He grinned to himself. "Yeah, I love that place. What time?"
"12:30, ok?"
"Perfect. What made you think of Sammy's?" He wondered aloud.
She chuckled. "I used to waitress there when Sandra was a baby. Some of my friends still work there."
"Really? I used to go there a lot, a while back. Does Benny still work the grill? He used to make the best chili on Wednesdays."
He could hear the smile in her voice. "He sure does. What do you think I always go there for?"
They talked for a few minutes more about the people they knew there and all the regulars.
Peter was amazed that he'd never noticed her there before. They seemed to know all the same people that frequented the old place.
"I guess I picked out the perfect place." Maria said. "Well, it's getting late Peter and I've got an early day."
"Yeah, me too." Peter paused, "Uh..I'm really glad you called, Maria. I didn't know how to contact you or I would have asked you to dinner, sooner or later."
"Oh. Well...goodnight." Maria hung up.
"'night." Peter said a little too late.
Peter went to bed with a little smile on his lips. As he drifted off to sleep, he realized she hadn't answered his question about why she transferred. He was definitely going to ask her at lunch tomorrow.
