Untitled, Chapter 5

            The rest of the evening passed with relative ease for Dyanne and her dinner companion.  It was a marvelous meal – one that Dyanne would never have dreamt of enjoying on her own, or even with Evan.  But with Xavier?  He seemed to ooze wealth and confidence.  Despite her unfamiliar surroundings, Dyanne found it would be easy to get comfortable both with his company and with his lifestyle.

            Xavier returned her home safely before ten o’clock.  They had spent only a small portion of the evening actually eating at the restaurant, then had taken a small stroll around the block to continue their conversation.  Xavier seemed eager to learn all about her: her favorite color, her friends, her family, her past, everything.  She couldn’t deny that she was curious about him too, but enjoyed answering his questions for her more.  Dyanne had been married for nearly two years, and she now couldn’t think of any questions Evan would have for her, or her for him, that they didn’t both already know the answer to.  They had grown so accustomed to each other, that it was a thrill for Dyanne to meet someone new.  The process was exhilarating to her.

            But now, the evening was drawing to an end.  They had pulled into her driveway, and Xavier was standing outside her side of the car, opening the car door for her.  He had such a polished air, she couldn’t help but noticing.

            “May I walk you to your door?” he asked her, offering his hand to her to help her out of the car.  She sat there stupidly for a moment, gawking at him, before gladly accepting his hand.

            “So…do you take every acquaintance you make at grocery stores out for a night of fine dining?” she asked, trying to put a note of teasing into her voice.  She felt so out of her league with him.

            He glanced at her sideways, a slight smile playing on his lips.  “Only the young, attractive women.”

            Her jaw dropped.  Just slightly, but it was enough that she was sure he had to have noticed.  Goodness, you’d think she were a junior high schoolgirl, the way she was flushing at his every glance and word.

            They arrived at her door.  She pulled out her house keys, and tried to fumble her way through a “thank you”.  She kept her eyes very carefully lowered, away from meeting his gaze.  Every time she saw his eyes, she saw him trying to stare straight through to her soul.  There was no way she could form a coherent thought while facing that kind of scrutiny.  Even without actually meeting his gaze, she could still feel his eyes on her.

            That much alone made it difficult to think clearly.

            “I had…  I mean, that was… Err, thank you.  Tonight was…”

            “Dyanne.”

            She made the mistake of looking up into his eyes.  As she should have known, he was attempting to bore through her gaze, into her innermost thoughts.

            “Dyanne, I asked you to dinner tonight with me not simply because I found you to be an attractive young woman.  I do find you very attractive, but I could have found three other attractive women at the very same grocery store the day that I met you.”  He took her chin between his thumb and forefinger, ensuring that her gaze was locked with his.  “But I wasn’t solely intrigued by your good looks.  It was your mind, your…essence.  You are a very beautiful woman, Dyanne, inside and out.”

            He drew her closer to him, simply by the gentle hold he had on her chin.  Her gaze lowered from his deep, dark eyes to his mouth.  His lips were slightly parted, and with a glance to his eyes once more, Dyanne could see he was looking at her mouth too.  Oh my god, she thought.  He wants to kiss me!

            Even as she came upon this thought, she couldn’t tear herself away from his hold.  She simply couldn’t bring herself to do it.  She was captivated.

            Xavier came close enough to nearly be able to do so, and closed his eyes as if in preparation for the final act.  Dyanne remained frozen in place, eyes wide as saucers, as though she were caught off-guard with the entire situation – which she was.  She knew it would be wrong to kiss him – she was married, after all – but she still couldn’t quite convince her body of this idea, despite her love for her husband.  She did love him.

            Didn’t she?

            Xavier paused just as their noses were beginning to touch.  It was as though the close, intimate, physical contact all of a sudden made him realize what he was doing.  He sighed audibly before turning to kiss her cheek instead.

            Dyanne almost sighed herself, with disappointment.  Her brain had turned to mush.

            He drew back from her, but took hold of her hands instead.  His hands were warm, she noticed, and strong.  “Dyanne.”  He said her name softly, almost like another sigh.  She wanted to melt in his arms.

            What was wrong with her?

            “Beautiful Dyanne,” he whispered.  “I would love to see you again, if  you would allow it.”  He looked down to her hands, enfolded in his own.  His thumb gently traced over her knuckles, back and forth, as he spoke.  “There is a business gathering coming up this Tuesday.  A cocktail party being held in honor of a prominent book release.  I, as the executive director of the publishing firm, am required to attend.  I was going to simply have my secretary accompany me, but I hope that will prove to be unnecessary.”  He raised his eyes to meet hers once again.  There was a confident gleam in his eyes as he looked into hers.  “Dyanne, would you do me the honor of accompanying me to this cocktail party?  I would, of course, provide you with suitable attire, as well as arrange transportation for the both of us.  All you would have to do is go along with me.”  His fingers came up to grasp her chin, tilting her head up to look at him more directly.  “Dyanne, say yes.”

            Her brain was still mush, and only became more muddy with his gaze so intently, admiringly, focused on her face.  She couldn’t have formed a complete sentence if her life depended on it, and she continued to stand there: stock-still, eyes wide, mouth gaping, breathing unsteadily.  It was a good thing she didn’t need to think through an entire sentence – only a single word.

            “Yes,” she said, with the little breath she had left.

            Xavier beamed, his eyes lighting up to a color similar to chocolate.  “Thank you, Dyanne.”  He leaned in to give her another quick kiss on the cheek.  “I will see you on Tuesday then.  Good night.”  And he left with nothing more than a wave.  Dyanne went inside, closed the door, and leaned back upon it before sinking to the floor.

            What sort of wild fantasy was this, anyway?