Watch Me Walk Away by Jill Prand Page B

“Went to the Wharf on Saturday night and Brad took me out on his boat yesterday. What did you do?”
    “Worked and worked out, nothing exciting. But I do have to go out of town on business this week. I am leaving tonight and won’t be back until Saturday. So would you like to go out then? I could take you out on my boat,” he suggests.
    “While that sounds nice I have a fundraiser to attend here in the city Saturday with Stuart. Why don’t we plan on lunch next week?” I am so hoping he says yes.
    “No I don’t want to wait until next week to see you. What about lunch today? There is a Japanese restaurant half a block down from your office.” His voice sounds strained, “Please, Lisa, I need to tell you something.”
    I don’t say anything right away, I am not ready to see him today. “Please, baby?” That’s all it takes that little endearment gets me every time.
    “I have a meeting at eleven and another at two-thirty,” I say.
    “I promise to have you back in plenty of time. I will make the reservation for twelve-thirty.” He gives me the name of the restaurant and the address. It really is right around the corner which is a good thing since I will probably be limping there.
    Allison comes back with two pairs of flats for me to choose from. We go over my schedule and I tell her I am having lunch out today. I tell her I should be back way before my two-thirty appointment with the production staff. We go over the agendas for both upcoming meetings. I don’t have time to think about Bobby and lunch but I still feel the added anxiety.
    I leave my office a little after noon so I can slowly walk to the restaurant. When I get there I am taken in right away. Bobby is already there and when he sees me limping he jumps up and puts his arm around me, “What happened?”
    “Some idiot pushed me on the subway stairs and I twisted my ankle when my heel broke,” I tell him. We are seated in a booth which is a good thing, Bobby puts me in the seat he was in so I can scoot all the way in and put my foot up.
    “Why didn’t you tell me? I would have picked you up in my car,” concern evident in his voice.
    “It is only half a block and it’s not broken just a little sore,” I assure him.
    “Well I am giving you a ride back and I will have my driver take you home tonight. I don’t want you to have to walk on it any more than necessary. And you will not fight me on this, Lisa, he would just have the night off anyway.” He reaches over and takes my hand, “Please let me do this for you.”
    My hand tingles where he is touching me, “Alright I won’t say no.”
    He releases my hand and bows his head. “I also want to apologize for Friday. I came on too strong but as soon as I saw you all I wanted was for you to be in my arms.” He looks up at me, “I never stopped thinking about you. I never stopped loving you.”
    “And you couldn’t tell me this eight years ago when you left me?” my voice shakes. “You didn’t want me to worry right? You didn’t want me to wait for you. You wanted me to forget you. Why did you get to make that decision? Did you think it was easier on me? Did you think I would just stop loving you because you left?”
    “You don’t get it.” He runs his hand through his hair and sighs. “You were so young, only sixteen. I knew you would be in that school with all the guys trying to go out with you and I didn’t want you sitting home not living your life.” He grabs my hand again. “Do you remember the day we met? I almost ran you over?” I nod. “You just blew me away. You were so pretty, all dark hair and your eyes that caramel color. I wanted to ask you out right there but I knew you were young. I found out you were only fifteen and I was already eighteen so I waited. I waited for two months for your birthday before I asked you out. It was always in the back of my mind how young you were.” He takes a sip of water. “I almost didn’t leave. I wasn’t the best student