Deep Trouble with You

9 Date

For a moment I blatantly zone out staring at the girl, then snap out of it and jump up to pull out her chair and help her sit down.

When she settles at the table, from behind her and from the height of my own body, I take another look at her twins from a different angle.

Fuuuuck! And how the hell am I supposed to look her in the eyes now?!

I quickly drop into my seat so Ann doesn’t notice how my joy at seeing her has already started gaining momentum. She smiles slightly with a perfect white-toothed smile while her gaze runs over me in return.

Good thing I worked out today! I know I’m irresistible, but now my muscles are even more defined!

For a couple of seconds we just look at each other without saying anything, as if studying each other for the first time. Her eyes make me nervous, because they look so piercingly, straight into the deepest hidden places.

“You look absolutely stunning,” I give the girl a sincere compliment, and she blushes slightly, lowering her eyes.

“Thank you.”

A waiter approaches and we place our order. Ann didn’t play shy and ordered food like a normal person, not some half-dead little bird. So she definitely goes to the gym and doesn’t sit on stupid diets.

Devouring the beauty with my eyes, I suddenly notice an unexpected detail.

“You have a tattoo?” I nod toward the brunette’s arm, and she immediately runs her other hand over it, as if checking whether the image is still there.

On the inside of her forearm there was an image of a black panther, gracefully creeping forward, baring its teeth in a predatory stare.

“Oh, yes,” Ann looks at me shyly, smiling.

“I have tattoos too. A lot.”

“I can see that,” the girl shifts her gaze to my neck and swallows strangely. And more than anything in the world I want her lips to be there on my neck instead of her eyes.

She can see it! That’s just a drop in the ocean! My entire torso and arms are covered with works of art. If she has a tattoo, then she’s into that kind of thing and will appreciate it. Another plus point!

“Why a panther?” I ask, and the girl thinks for a moment.

“Well, when Kirill’s father left us, I got this tattoo as a reminder that I’m alone in this world now and have to stand on my own.”

“But you’re not alone. You have a wonderful son,” I look at the beauty gently.

“Yes. But it’s also a reminder that he only has me, and I’ll tear for us with claws and teeth. I simply have to be strong.”

“You don’t look like someone so bloodthirsty at first glance,” I laugh at her exaggerated threat, because the girl is impossibly gentle and sweet. Just how badly must someone have disappointed her once for thoughts like that to appear?

“Sometimes circumstances force you,” Ann shrugs. “I don’t let anyone wipe their feet on me anymore.”

Damn! Now that’s an unconscious stone thrown in my direction. I never planned to wipe my feet on her, but my lie could become a serious problem. She simply built such walls around herself that I couldn’t jump over them, so I had to resort to that lie.

Our food arrives and we start eating it, chatting casually and sipping delicious wine. The conversation stays on neutral topics, like favorite movies and hobbies.

It turns out Ann loves dancing and studied ballet for quite a long time as a child. Now I understand her sculpted figure and the majestic grace in every movement. And that must mean she’s got flexibility too…

And once again my thoughts run off into the horizontal plane with this girl. I can’t help my imagination and desires. As soon as I picture her slender legs spread wide apart, my d**k starts itching impatiently in my pants.

Talking with Ann was surprisingly easy. It felt as if she understood me with half a word. A pleasant conversationalist, smart, beautiful, and with quite a subtle sense of humor.

With every passing minute I became more and more enchanted. And by the end of the evening I was already sure I didn’t want to screw things up with her. For the first time in my life I wanted to try something serious with someone. However, my lie makes its own adjustments…

So I decided to follow my own plan and strategy, which is to win the girl over and make her fall in love with me. And later, when our relationship becomes trusting, I’ll confess everything honestly, explain myself, and crawl at her feet begging for forgiveness and understanding. There’s no way back for me. I won’t give up. Not with her.

After dinner I suggested that Ann take a walk along the river embankment, and she gladly agreed. Being next to this girl and just talking to her made me feel like some lovestruck schoolboy trying to impress a girl. I joked a lot, acted like a clown, and bent over backward so she would keep smiling and looking at me with shining eyes.

Spotting a street vendor, I quickly bought a long rose and gave it to the brunette.

“You know,” Ann sighs bitterly, “I look at you and I just can’t understand how someone could leave you, and with children too?” the beauty frowns in confusion, then immediately grows embarrassed by her own question. “Sorry, that’s not my business…”

“Why not?” I smile casually. “I’ve already burned through it, so it doesn’t hurt that much anymore when the topic comes up.”

“You have three children. You must have loved her very much…” Ann lowers her eyes, in which I manage to notice regret and some kind of resentment.

“Madly,” I sigh theatrically. Looks like the time for my heartbreaking story has come. “I was ready to do anything for her and I did a lot. We created a family, had children, and I was insanely happy. But apparently she didn’t share my happiness.”

We stop near a high parapet and direct our gazes toward the water surface where the reflections of the moon play across it. But Ann only glances at the water briefly; all her attention is focused on me.

“Family life weighed heavily on my wife. It became especially noticeable after Soli was born,” I sigh heavily. “She often left the kids with our nanny while she disappeared somewhere with friends. Only later did I find out those ‘friends’ had d***s. On one of our worst crisis days she told me she couldn’t live like that anymore, that this wasn’t the life she imagined and she wanted to change something. I didn’t pay much attention to her words at the time. So when I came home from work and let the nanny go, I was very surprised when my wife didn’t come home that night or the next days. Her phone was off, and a couple of days later I only got a message saying, ‘I’m sorry. I’m not coming back.’ Through acquaintances I found out she had gone to Malta to live with one of her lovers.”

“That’s horrible,” Ann looks at me with tears welling up in her eyes. “I don’t understand how someone could abandon their children. They’re such good kids… And what was she missing in you?” the brunette asks in confusion.

“It’s been a year now that I’ve been trying to replace their mother,” I smirk bitterly. “Sometimes I manage, sometimes I fail completely. But I’m really trying. The boys accepted our new reality more calmly because they were with the nanny almost all the time anyway. Solomiya had the hardest time. She used to cry at night calling for her mom, and I tried to be there, even though my own soul was tearing apart for the kids.”

I see Ann completely melt from my story, tears falling down her cheeks, and I don’t need that. The evening is only just beginning, and spending it drowning in tears is not my goal.

“But let’s not talk about sad things. This is our first date, and I don’t want to darken it with ghosts of the past,” I step closer to the girl and wipe a tear from her beautiful cheek with my finger. God, how I want to kiss her… and not only that. I wrap an arm around her waist and feel her tremble slightly. “You’re cold…”

I pull back and take off my jacket, placing it over her shoulders. She looks at me strangely.

“Nazar… hug me,” the beauty whispers pitifully.