Page 30 of Tell Me What You Want, Or Leave Me

“That was a nice little nap you took.”

“How long was I sleeping?”

“Three hours,” he says, caressing my hair and kissing my forehead.

“Three hours!”

“Yes, my love.” He laughs.

I’m surprised I slept that long.

“Do you want something to eat?”

I nod. I’ve slept like a polar bear, and now I’m ravenous.

At that moment, Graciela emerges from the bathroom. When she sees me, her eyes sparkle, and she comes quickly to sit by my side.

“I’ll tell the flight attendant to bring you two something to eat,” Eric says.

“Dexter asked me where I was last night,” she whispers conspiratorially.

“And what did you tell him?”

“That I had dinner with a friend.”

“Did you have a good time with your friends?” I ask, remembering she was meeting a couple.

“They were floored with my new look, and we had a very good time,” says a smiling Graciela.

We both laugh aloud, which draws the attention of the men. Eric grins, but Dexter is very serious.

“Wow...somebody is not very happy.”

“Dexter wanted to know my friend’s name, and, when I wouldn’t tell him, he got really pissed,” she says in a low voice.

I smile at that.

“He barely said a word at dinner last night and spent the whole meal checking the time. When Eric and I went to bed, he stayed up by himself.”

“When I came back at three in the morning, he was right there, awake.”

“What?”

“Yes,” she says, laughing. “He was in the living room, reading. When I came in, he didn’t say a word, and I went straight to my room. A few minutes later, I heard him go to his room.”

I look over and see Dexter watching us. I’m a little surprised that this seems to have worked so well.

“Let me see if I understand, Graciela. When you’ve flirted with Dexter in the past, he’s never responded?”

“Never.”

“But what did he say?”

The flight attendant brings us a pair of trays with a smorgasbord of treats.

“The last time I tried, which must’ve been about a year ago, he told me not to do it again because he couldn’t give me any of the things I wanted, and he didn’t want to disappoint me.”

“I see...”

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