Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad-Chapter 882 : Meals & Myths

*Bianca*

The next morning when I woke, I stretched luxuriously. I wanted to lay in bed and curl up like a lazy cat, but I was shocked fully awake when I realized Leo was gone. His side of the bed was stone cold.

I sat up in bed, rubbing at my eyes and looked toward the bathroom. The air was thick and warm. From the bed, I could see that the mirror was still fogged with steam and it billowed from the bathroom into the room. I smiled to myself. Leo had not been up too long because there was evidence of his lobster boil shower still in the air.

I did not get it. He always did that, run the water so hot he could have boiled himself. He seemed to love it, though. I shook my head at his scalding hot showers and got out of bed. I stretched again, yawned, and grabbed my robe from the back of the door.

It was not like Leo to leave so early in the mornings. I would just go down stairs to see if he was still around. When I walked in the kitchen, he was there. He had on one of his ubiquitous suits. He was polishing off what looked to be a really tasty breakfast and sipping coffee.

“Good morning,” I said, kissing his shaven cheek and stealing his coffee for a sip before giving it back to him. I forgot how he liked to drink black coffee. I preferred sugar and cream in mine.

“Good morning to you, sleepy head,” he teased.

“No, you’re just up really early,” I said, giving in to another yawn.

“I hope I wasn’t the reason you woke up. I went for an early run, showered, and I didn’t mean to disturb you.”

“No, I do not think you woke me. I think you not being there did.”

He looked over at me, his features soft, his eyes tender. “Well, now, I would have missed you if you’d left me too.”

“Why so early?” I asked, stealing a piece of his leftover toast and nibbling at it.

“I have an early quarterly financial meeting I have to get to,” he turned his wrist and winced a little. “Speaking of which, I’d better get going, or I’ll be late. And all that hard work to get up and exercise early will be for nothing.”

“Have a good day,” I said.

“You bet,” he said, leaning down to kiss my lips.

“See you later,” I said a little dreamily.

“I love you,” he whispered, kissing my lips again and heading out to start his day.

Okay, that was super sexy. He just did it for me, and the way he’d said he loved me, the look in his dark eyes, the way he touched and kissed me. my stomach fluttered and the butterflies there swooped and swirled all over again.

I thought about the way we’d declared our love for one another. His deep voice telling me that he loved me. those eyes, dark, intense, and soulful, seeming to telegraph the same sentiment. His lips tenderly taking mine. Me, telling him back, giving him the words he gave me. those wonderful words he not only said but showed.

This was all getting so real. Every time he touched me, my body went up in flames. Every time he spoke my name, my skin pebbled with goose bumps, eager for the warmth of his touch to feel the stroke of his palms, the gentle caresses of his clever fingers.

Each time he said the words, soft and sweet, or strong and firm, my stomach fluttered, full of those butterflies. He was amazing, and I could not help but love him. He made it so very easy to accept and want him. I still struggled with trusting him, but I was not sure if that was because of past events or because I truly felt I could not.

I needed to stop mooning over Leo and start doing something productive today. I really wanted to learn more about LA. Why not start now? I ran back up the stairs to get my phone and brought up Isabel’s contact.

“Are you free for brunch today?” I texted.

I did not wait for her to text me back. I decided I’d get dressed. If she responded to my text, I would already be finished dressing. If she did not, I could still go out to brunch. It just would not be as much fun without having her for company.

Isabel: “I’d love to.”

Me: “Why don’t you pick the place? You know LA better than I do.”

Isabel: “How’s Poppy + Rose on Wall Street?”

Me: “Send me the address, and I’ll meet you there as soon as I can get through the traffic.”

Isabell: “LOL! See you there.”

I sent her a thumbs up emoji and finished getting ready. I figured casual for something like this. I had already pulled on jean capris and a soft yellow cotton tank. It was light and casual the way I wanted. I slipped into soft yellow sandals and twirled my hair up into a twist with a yellow clamp. I switched purses and snagged a matching cardigan on my way out of the room just in case the restaurant was too cool for me.

I thought Isabel was a great person. I had liked her nearly from the moment we met. I was so glad when we exchanged numbers. Now, we were going to have brunch and get to know one another better. I hoped we would hit it off, so I would have somebody other than Leo I knew well in the United States.

It was always an adventure to travel through the city. Even though I refused to drive for the most part, and Leo always provided a driver, it was exciting to see the huge buildings, all the colors, stylish and chic women along with the strange and unusual. I mean people actually walked around the city wearing only a string bikini with miniature dogs on leashes that were in more clothes than their owners.

When I was dropped off, I met Isabel at the door.

“How are you?” she asked, pulling me in for a hug.

“I am well, and you, thanks,” I replied.

Isabel held up two fingers to the hostess and we were seated at a classy little table.

It was really nice inside and cozy.

We ordered our drinks and looked over the menu for a few minutes. I ended up ordering eggs benedict, while Isabel opted for crab benedict. After making our orders, we started talking about our courses.

“I’ve always found World War II interesting, so I’m signed up for that course this semester,” Isabel said, fiddling with the salt and pepper shakers.

“Really, I enjoy studying the second World War as well. I find the psychology and sociological aspects of the war very fascinating. How could people cheer Hitler on? How could they possibly justify looking the other way or joining in? it’s an interesting and terrifying study in how people can be conditioned or conned into just going along with the status quo.”

“I agree. Have you read his manifesto?”

“I mean who has not?” I asked as if everybody shared our interest in the insanity that was Hitler.

“Have you decided on your schedule for this semester?”

“Yes, I’m a little annoyed that I did not have the prerequisites to take the World War II course, but I did get the Sociology of Wars course and another favorite Ancient Greece.”

“I’m in your sociology class, maybe we can study together. Are you taking The Politics of World War I?”

“You bet, so I can take A Study of World War II next semester.”

“Awesome. I’ll be able to help you then.”

“Yes, that’s great. We’ll help each other this semester by studying together and maybe next semester you can tell me all about A Study of WWII.”

You better believe it,” Isabel agreed as our food was delivered.

For a few minutes we ate in silence. Both of us doctoring our food with salt and pepper and other condiments that made the dish better.

“Did you hear about the big gang attack that happened a couple nights ago?” Isabel asked, dipping a corner of her English muffin in the hollandaise sauce.

“No, I had not heard,” I said, feeling something inside me go cold.

Why did it feel like this was something I needed to know about but dreaded to hear? Why did a part of me wonder if the fighting had something to do with Leo?

That couldn’t be the case. I’m just being an idiot. No way does the man I love and know as a real estate mogul have anything to do with gangs.

It didn’t even compute why my mind went there. I shook my head at myself and continued to eat while Isabel told me what she knew of the events around the gangs and what happened. I never watched the news here because I was not even used to being in LA yet.

“There was some kind of incident between a couple of gangs. Three people died during the shoot out. I’m surprised you hadn’t heard. It seems to be all people can talk about right now.”

“I cannot imagine something like that,” I said, my mouth going dry for some reason.

“”It happens all the time in certain parts of the city, but this was different. The gangs that were fighting the other night were in a more popular district of the city. I think that’s why so many people are talking about it. It’s still on the news. Usually, the talking heads on TV find something else to talk about in a twenty-four-hour period, but they’re still talking about this one. Whatever happened, it must have been between some pretty powerful people in the city because even though there’s buzz about it, no one’s been arrested for what happened the other night.”

“That’s sad. I hope their family and friends eventually get justice,” I said, feeling sad for the loss of human life.

When we finished eating, we stepped outside.

“It was so nice to get to know you better,” Isabel said, giving me a quick hug.

“Yes, this was such a nice time to spend with you.”

“We’ll have to do it again sometime soon,” Isabel said, hailing a cab.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

“I’ll call you soon,” Isabel said and climbed into the cab.

I smiled to myself and was glad I’d met Isabel and befriended her. Now, I had someone other than Amara, who was not all that interested in history, but indulged me. I also had Isabel to talk about World War II with. I saw the car drive up and walked to the curb and waited for the driver to open the door for me.

I was happy with the afternoon I had spent making a new friend. Now, I was going home to have a lovely evening once Leo got home. Maybe he’d want to have dinner in tonight. Maybe we could eat dessert in bed again.