Since we parted in New York, I had thought about nothing other than her. I knew I had to go back and see her but my intentions were not that of a hungry teenager. I Was angry at myself for letting my feelings get in the way of things. After all, was she not a superstar? And who was I to want anything from someone of her status?
I made arrangements to fly back to the States and called her the night before the trip.
"Hi, Natalie?" I said over the phone.
"Hello there," she replied casually.
"I'm flying in tomorrow," I announced.
"Well, I'll see you when you arrive," she said somewhat coldly.
I felt chills run down my spine. Obviously, she was not so excited to hear from me. But was it not her that called to tell me that she had called? I few seconds later, I received a text message saying "In a meeting ... can't talk much ... just get your ass over here and call me when you arrive."
I must have thought about a thousand different scenarios on the plane of how our meeting would end up. But in the back of my head I know she was only in for a quick fling and nothing more. I psyched myself up for just that and decided to settle for whatever it was she was offering. I mean, can a man really complain about this situation?
I arrived at JFK and called her. Again, she casually answered me and gave me directions to her Fifth Avenue penthouse. This time I had geared myself up to be casually brushed off in a telephone conversation. Of course she had people around her all the time and she definitely couldn't be seen too excited talking to anyone on the phone.
I arrived at her apartment around 6pm. It was early June and it was quite warm in New York. She opened up the front door herself and immediately pulled me in and planted a huge kiss on my lips. I was in heaven and all my fears of rejection melted away. She even dragged what little luggage into her apartment herself. Then she stood back and looked at me with a grin that I would, and usually did, pay money to see!
"I've been waiting for this," she announced softly.
"And I've been dreaming about it," I said and moved in and hugged her, lifting her off her feet. I simply stood there hugging her for must have seemed as an eternity.
"Dream no more," she softly said. I gently put her down on her feet again and moved a step back to admire her. She raised both her arms to her side and twirled. "Well ... here I am. What do you want to do?"
"Right now, I want to freshen up and slip into something comfortable," I replied. "Then, I just want to sit down and look at you."
She softly smiled and showed me the way to the shower.
Her apartment was stuff dreams were made of; a Fifth-Avenue penthouse overlooking the park. Her bathroom was luxurious yet very elegant; not loud and vulgar like many rich people love. I showered and dressed in my usual hoe attire of shorts and T shirt and looked for her. She was seated in her living room. She smiled at me as I came into the room and sat down next to her on her giant, cozy couch.
"So, how long do you plan to stay in the States?" she asked.
"Well ... that all depends. I have all the time in the world, so I think I'll stay until I start turning into an inconvenience for you," I laughed.
"That long?" she chuckled.
"No really, until you need me out of your life," I chuckled back.
"I have to be in LA next week, so why don't we drive cross-country?" she said.
"I really am all yours. "
"So, that's OK with you," she asked.
"Anything's OK with me as long as I'm going to be with you. So tell me, do you have work coming up, or are you going for meetings and stuff like that?" I asked.
"Meetings," she confirmed. " I'm signing for another movie so I have to go and meet the producers and make all the necessary arrangements," she explained.
"I just don't want to be in your way," I said.
"You won't be. I want you here. I want you with me ... have you forgotten that I called you?"
"It's just a little hard to understand, that's all," I said.
"I'm only a woman," she said softly and reassuringly. "And you're a man."
"You're not just any woman ... you're THE woman ..." I blurted out.
"I have a favor to ask you," she said.
"Please ... anything ..." I said.
"I want you to stop looking at me like a superstar," she sweetly said.
"That's not it, Natalie," I sincerely said. "I look at you as THE woman; THE woman. You could be washing dishes in a restaurant for all I care. It's not about you being a superstar; it's about you being you. "
She looked at me for a long moment then shifted closer to me, held my face in her hands and planted a huge kiss on my lips. We must have kissed for at least fifteen minutes before she released my face from the grip of her hands. "I see," she said.
"You have to understand that I'm not exactly a player when it comes to women," I said. "I mean, I married at a reasonably early age, had kids and lived the typical life that's expected of me. Don't get me wrong, I have had my share of play, but that was a long time ago. I did very well for myself throughout the years, though. I piled up some cash and invested in some stock that did well for me. So ... yes ... I'm doing well ... but ... you're so much different from what I've been used to all my life. "
"You're a man," she said, giving me a real sense of honor.
"There are billions of men on this planet."
"Oh, not really, you know: Males, yes; men, no."
"Can I ask you a question?" I asked.
"I can feel where you're going with this," she replied. "So I'm just going to go ahead and say what I think I want to say."
"OK," I said in anticipation. I wanted to know if she really understood what I wanted to know before I even asked her.
"I don't know what you are to me at this point. All I know is that I wanted to be with you ever since the moment we parted. And believe me, it's not about the sex or anything. I feel safe with you. You carry yourself with a sense of dignity. You're a kind man. You're soft spoken and considerate. I genuinely like you. I thought about you a lot when you left and found myself wanting you to come back. You see, I have an issue with trust. I just can't let myself open up to people because in my business everyone is out to get something. I always have my guard up and it's exhausting. When we met, I was just so tired of holding my guard up to the point I just said to hell with it. That very day I had a huge argument with my co-workers, like I told you and I was just fed up. I wanted to be myself for a change. I just needed to be with someone that doesn't want anything from me. And don't get me wrong, I'm no fool, I am an excellent judge of character. I never get a good feeling about someone who turns out bad and I never get a bad feeling about someone who turns out good and I'm talking first impressions here. I observed you when you went into the reception of that secluded hotel and asked for a room. Immediately the girl warmed to you. She gave you a huge smile. The kind of smile a person gives to a person they trust. She instantly liked you. I hadn't seen you properly till that moment. But her reaction to you gave me a good feeling about you. Then when you found out who I was and when you jokingly bowed to me, I kinda liked your sense of humor ... the way you almost kicked yourself for not recognizing who I was. Women feel these things, you know?"
I was looking into her big beautiful eyes entranced by her words. "I'm not here because I don't want anything from you," I said sheepishly.
"Oh, I know, I know ... but I AM sure you're not here to take advantage of me. You ... you ... you're nice and I like nice. I never liked the arrogant pretty boys or arrogant power players who think they can have anything they want. Of course there women out there who lust after pretty boys or powerful men but I'm not one of those women," she said.
"So what do you think I want from you, Natalie?" I asked with sincerity.
"Me. You want to be with me. The way you look at me just melts my heart. You have the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen and I don't mean they are pretty eyes, I just mean that you have a very meaningful look. I feel you appreciate what you see. When we were driving down to New York you just seemed in tune with everything. You're a foreign man who came to meet his friend who turned out to be dead. I could see the appreciation of life in your eyes. You appreciated me," she concluded.
"And here I was, wondering what to say to you when I saw you."
"Does that answer the question you wanted to ask me?"
"I've been thinking about how our second encounter will turn out to be. I've been thinking about things to say to you. I wanted to come up with things that will make you feel OK about me without being pushy," I said.
"Exactly, and I feel that of you. Bottom line is: now you're here, I know you make me feel happy. Now, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Let's just enjoy each other's company and see what happens. Let's just play along," she said.
"I honestly don't think I've ever been happier to see someone in my life," I said.
"Actually, I don't either."
"When do you want to start off to LA?" I asked.
"How about right now? I can pack some stuff to eat and we can start off tonight. Let's stop at a hotel on the way and just lose ourselves in the moment. How does that sound?" she said.
"Let's go."
We prepared some things for the road; a few clothes and some food and we took off in her car. Of course I drove. I told her I wanted to see Chicago so we decided we would start off by driving towards Columbus, Ohio and maybe settle in a hotel or motel in that area. We also decide we would, later on, drive to the same hotel we first made love in and then the other hotel we first stayed in together in Colorado.