Season Five, cont.
Two more weeks and Sundays passed and Gale and I grew closer. We had dinner one night after a late shoot and ended up going out to a club. When he walked me to the door, I resisted the urge to invite him inside, vowing not to let his body overtake my mind as it had last time. I did play tonsil hockey with him, though, pulling him into an empty room at the studio or behind a truck at the location shoots. I never did it in front of Jenifer intentionally because I didn't want him to think that I was mean but I made sure that she caught sight of us parting and of the huge smile he usually had afterward.
The fourth Sunday, he arrived with an uncharacteristic spring in his step and a huge bottle of Asti Spumante. He greeted me with sweet kiss and shoved the bottle into my hands.
"What's this for?"
"For later." He gave me a wink and turned to the others. After another great gathering, he stayed to help Stacy and I clean up as usual. I went to the bathroom and when I came back, Stacy was gathering her jacket and heading for the door.
"Where are you going?"
"Over to Chad's." She had met a nice guy and had been spending a lot of her free time with him. "I'll call you later."
I told her to have a good time, then shrieked at the sound of the cork popping from the Asti bottle. I went around the corner and found Gale sitting on a stool, filling the second of two champagne flutes. He patted another stool and I sat, taking the glass that he was holding out to me.
"So, I asked you what this was for."
"Yes." He moved closer, training those dark, dreamy eyes on me. "And it's later."
"Yeah, but are we celebrating something?"
"Before I answer that, I want to ask you a question first."
