"How's the fish?" Ethan says, scraping at his plate with his fork.
I nod at him in approval. We are quiet and I feel awkward, but I remind myself that I never have to see him again after tonight. I smile up at him and he shovels a giant bite of spaghetti into his mouth. Ethan is nice looking. He's tall, dark and kind of handsome. Our mutual friend Regina set us up and I've never known her to get something so wrong.
"So, you're into film?" he smiles at me over the flicker of the candle in the middle of our table.
"I am," I sip my wine. "I studied at Columbia in Chicago. I thought I'd mentioned that already," I look down at my fish and take another gulp of wine.
"Huh, maybe you did. I'm sorry,"
"Will you excuse me? I'm going to go... powder my nose," I push my chair out and almost run to the bathroom. Once I'm inside I feel safe. He can't bore me in here. I look at myself in the mirror. Blonde hair hanging in loose curls over my shoulders. And this dress. Regina did get one thing right. My green dress hugs me in all the right places. My eye shadow makes my blue eyes pop and I am proud of my beauty.
Returning to the table, Ethan is doing something on his cell phone.
"Sorry," he smiles but doesn't look up. "I'm checking on some investments,"
"Listen, Ethan..." I start but he puts a hand up.
A moment passes and he looks up at me, "What were you going to say?"
"Maybe we should get out of here," I say, desperate to leave.
"Shall we go back to my place? I've got a Merlot that's about 20 years old. Think you can handle it?"
I smile, "Sure."
Ethan and I get into his very nice car and sit in silence the entire way back to his condo. We walk up the back stairs that are nestled into a private beach area and step out onto a deck of steel and glass. The view is stunning. The ocean is glittering and lapping at the shore hypnotically. Ethan opens the door for me and I step inside. The interior is just as stunning as the exterior.
"Wow," I say, astonished. "So this is your place, huh?"
"Up, bupbup, shoes," he points to my shoes and then to a small mat by the door.
"Of course, I'm sorry," I slide off my pumps that have been digging into my ankles all night and we both look down a hallway when we hear singing.
"Oh, Jesus," Ethan walks down the hall. "Maggie?" he calls.
A woman wearing only a towel pops into the hallway. Her hair is wet and hangs over her shoulders, dripping. "I thought you were out tonight, I'm sorry!" she almost laughs.
"Audrey, this is my sister, Maggie,"
I wave. Maggie looks at me wide-eyed and back at Ethan. Just then Ethan's phone buzzes and he answers. He puts up a finger to me and steps into what I assume is his office. Maggie walks over to the large white sofa and plops down.
"So you're the blind date?" she smiles at me.
"I guess so," I blush.
"Well, my brother has dated some real dogs, let me tell you. You're certainly a giant step up from the washed up, coked out women he usually brings around," she pulls her hair up and fastens it with a tie from around her wrist.
Ethan pops his head out from his office door, "Maggie, Audrey, this is going to take a moment. Someone has a problem and as usual I need to fix it," and just like that, he's gone again.
"Well, I think I'm just going to go then," I turn for the patio door.
"Have a drink with me," Maggie says and I turn around.
"Uh, okay, sure. Did you wanna change?"
She laughs, grabs two bottles of wine, and leads me out on the patio. We walk down the beach and she stops when we reach a lifeguard chair. She hops up with ease and I do my best to make it look that easy. We listen to the waves and Maggie uncorks both bottles, taking a long pull from one of them and handing me the other.
"I'm sorry you got set up with my brother, he's pretty lame. I mean, other than the fact that he's letting me stay here," she smiles at me. Her eyes are sparkling against the ocean and her bright red lips curve perfectly upward when she smiles.
"So what brings you to L.A.?" I ask, taking a drink from the bottle she gave me.
"I wanted to get away from Vegas for awhile."
"You live in Vegas?"
"Not as of right now. I'd like to stay in L.A. but aside from waitressing jobs I can't really find anything that brings in a steady paycheck. What do you do?"