Secretly Admired [FICTION]

The phone rings, interrupting my perusal of my mail. I drop the envelopes on the kitchen table and wrestle my phone from my purse.

“Hello?”

The voice on the other end offers me the best news possible. “This is Johnathan from the Golden Goblet. You are on the wait list for a table for Valentine’s Day. The impossible has happened, someone cancelled their reservation for two at seven. Would you like it?”

“Yes, of course.” I hold in a squeal of delight.

“Very good, ma’am.” His voice rises like he is questioning why a woman would be reserving her Valentine’s dining experience, but he diplomatically keeps the question to himself.

I take a deep breath and ignore the implied question. I don’t need a snooty waiter judging me for wanting the most romantic day of the year to actually be romantic.

“Thank you,” I say.

“You’re very welcome. We will see you and your guest next week.”

“See you then.” I hang up the phone and breath a sigh of relief.

My attention strays back to the mail spilling across the table. I quickly dispatch the junk mail and find myself with three pieces that require further attention. The first two are bills. I recognize those easily and set them aside. The third, a large card envelope intrigues me with pink hearts carefully penned around my address. I don’t recognize the carefully penned capital letters that spell out my name, so I rip open the top and ease the card loose.

“My beloved,” I read aloud, feeling my heart skip a few beats as I picture my boyfriend Rex penning those words. As I continue I realize this is neither his style nor his handwriting. “I have been admiring you from afar for so long that it feels like forever. I know you probably don’t feel the same, but how will I know if I never confess my feelings for you. Whether you share my feelings or not, I would like to treat you to dinner on Valentine’s Day.”

I lower the card to my heart, take a deep breath, and shake my head to clear the sudden fuzzing feeling that has overtaken me. “Seven at The Golden Goblet? I know it is your favorite.”

I gasp and read on. “Just tell them you are there to meet Prince Charming of Sherwood Forest. I don’t want the wrong Prince Charming to steal you from me.”

I put the card beside the bills and turn away. I start scrubbing the kitchen to clear my head. I mull it over for the five days that fall between receiving the letter and the big day. I decide to just meet up with Rex as I planned. Hopefully, that helps my secret admirer move on without breaking his heart.

Valentine’s Day arrives. I call Rex to see when he plans to pick me up. He doesn’t answer. After a few more tries, I send a text. I wonder what he has planned. Maybe he just plans to meet me at the restaurant, so he can get there early. I put my hand over my mouth as the import of what that could mean hits me. I push the thought aside and get ready.

When six o’clock comes and goes without hearing from him, a tinge of worry creeps in to dampen my spirits. I drive myself to the Golden Goblet and smile sweetly at the valet as he takes my key. Instead of heading right to the host to be seated, I linger behind a ficus tree, peering out from among its leaves to see who had the same idea for Valentine’s Day as myself.

As I peer through the greenery, I see Rex’s friend Thomas arrive. I make a soft noise in my throat. I never realized he was dating anyone. I assume that he is showing the host a picture of his date as the dapper man shakes his head. Thomas leans in to whisper something, prompting the other man to nod his head and hold out his hand. As he slips the host a bill, the host’s sour face becomes more genial. He smiles and says something that makes Thomas laugh and then leads him back into the dining room with two of the swanky, leather-bound menus under one arm.

As the clock hands spin closer and closer to seven, I hear my phone pinging to inform me that Rex has finally replied to one of my texts. I glance at the time before reading the message. Seven has come and gone five minutes ago. I frown and open the text.

“I’m not coming. I really wanted to hold out a little longer, but I just can’t have dinner with you tonight. Hope we can still be friends.”

“What?” My confused and horrified question turns the eyes of the other waiting parties to me.

One of the men, who had been arguing with his date in hushed tones a moment before perks up. He offers me a sympathetic look, but I can see the hunger in his eyes, a hunger for a reservation that he clearly didn’t think to make in advance. I frown at him and step up to the host. His eyes light up.

“Right this way, miss.” I recognize his voice from the phone, but I haven’t spoken yet.

“How do you know which table to take me to?”

“The young man showed me your photo. A very nice young man.” He smiles knowingly at me. “I don’t think the photo did you justice though.”

I flush at the compliment. Still confused, I follow him to the waiting table where all I see is a menu. Was Rex messing with me? I got here early. How early did he have to be for me to not see him?

“Sir, your lady has arrived.” The host informs him and he drops the menu to smile up at me.

I gasp. “Thomas. I thought Rex…”

“Oh. Are you meeting Rex?” His face falls.

“No. He couldn’t make it.” I bite my lip.

He looks up at me and clears his throat. At a loss for words, he picks up his water glass and takes a long drink. 

The host feels the change in the air and bows gracefully after pulling out my chair. “Your waiter will be over soon to help you.” His face clearly reflects a feeling that we may need more help than our waiter will be able to offer as he hurries away.

“So…um…you’re my secret admirer?”

His face flushes as he looks down at his hands. He nods his head and then looks up at me through his eyelashes to gage my reaction.

“But Rex is your best friend.”

“He knows. I kind of told him when he told me he was thinking about breaking up with you.” Realizing what he said, he holds up his hands as if hoping to somehow pull the words back from the air before they reach my ears.

“Don’t worry about it. At least you told me in person.”

He pales. “I don’t know what to say…”

“You better figure it out,” I say on impulse. “I have decided not to let him spoil my dinner. I’ve been wanting to come here for months.”

“You’ll stay?” A hopeful smile brings some color back to his face. 

“On one condition.”

“Oh.”

“We can talk about me. We can talk about you. But we are not going to talk about anyone else, and we certainly aren’t going to declare ourselves a couple. This is all very sudden…” I want to impose more rules or run away and cry, but the hopeful smile on his face and the aromas mingling in the air around me convince me to take my seat.

“Agreed. I am content to just be your friend…” He stops talking, but I swear I hear two words echoing in the air. “For now.”

~All love stories have to start somewhere. Hope this introduction made you feel the love. I also hope you have wonderful plans for this delightful Hallmark holiday, even if it just buying yourself heart-shaped box of yum on February 15th. Who hasn’t heard some version of, “If you don’t love yourself, how do you expect someone else to love you?"~