Page 2 of Secret Admirer
“We had a heart-to-heart. I bought my own house when I was twenty-one. I own a safe, boring car that works like a dream. He raised me well. None of that fills me, here.” She tapped her chest. Her father wanted her to be happy and ripping cars apart to fix the broken pieces wasn’t fulfilling. She shrugged. “He sees that I'm unhappy. Besides, he’s got his new girlfriend and her son, who he’s also teaching to be a mechanic. He doesn’t need me so much now.”
“Unhappy?” Melissa sat forward, her elbow on the plastic table top. “Is this because of Javier?”
Rebecca cringed. Javier had been a huge mistake. She hadn’t seen him in weeks, since they’d been in bed and he'd called her Katie in the heat of the moment. She couldn’t escape fast enough from that fiasco. Her face felt hot but she couldn't tell her friends exactly what had gone down. “No. I’m sick of dating guys like Javier.”
Sweet Destiny, busy planning a wedding to a trustworthy man she'd known since they were all in first grade, said, “What do you mean?”
Her stomach knotted. But, friends were always her rock. Melissa and Destiny knew everything about her life and stood by her, and she’d do the same for them. Everything, except this. Red-hot humiliation replayed in her head. She’d thought maybe Javier loved her, and one day would marry her. After she’d agreed to hit the sheets, he’d cried out ‘Katie.’ She’d scrambled out of bed, grabbed her clothes, and raced home.
"Out with it," Melissa said.
She met Melissa’s cool gaze. “He called me someone else, in bed.”
“Rebecca, no!” Melissa sucked in her breath. “What a jerk.”
They were on the same page.
Last night, Rebecca had cleaned her house and put all her tools in the garage rather than the living room. She'd skipped out on dinner with her dad and made some decisions.
This morning, she’d told him her plans to start college. He'd called it a waste of money, as she had skills most women never learned. Being a mechanic made her father happy, but what made her excited was designing a truly safe environmental car and not one of those hybrids that most people thought were ‘good’, when in truth the creation of that car did more damage to the earth than driving a good car for ten years.
She sighed. “Look, working at the garage and staying in this same circle isn’t conducive to meeting a classy guy who will treat me right, and remember my name in the moments that matter.”
Melissa’s lips pinched like she saw through her. “But you’re definitely going to FIU and not hoping to meet some guy who will fulfill you?”
“I don’t chase men. I’d love to go to school in New York or be accepted at Cal Tech or MIT, but those require a ton of tests.”
Destiny quickly said, “Rebecca, you can’t go to college and disappear on your friends. I’m getting married and you’re in the wedding.”
Her friend was living the dream. “FIUischeaper and easy to commute to from my house.” Rebecca reached across the table and squeezed Destiny's hand. “I’ll probably stay, but either way, your wedding is important. I’ll be there. I promised, and I always keep my promises. I can take a flight if I move away.”
Melissa leaned back, placing her newest phone on the table beside her, and indicated that their meal had arrived. They were quiet while the waitress set everything down. Once they were alone again, Melissa said, “Look, there are rich socialites in Miami.”
They could dress up, hit South Beach and go to more clubs, and then not be remembered, again. And rich wasn’t the plan--she didn't care about money, but class. Easy drinks and men on vacation were not the kind she’d build her own happily-ever-after with. And a good man with a heart wouldn’t be buying drinks and expecting to see her naked in exchange for the fruity vodka mix she’d order. So, no thanks. She tried to explain, “Even if we pretend we’re twenty-one and go to all the party spots, that isn't the man I'm looking for. I want a hard-working, upscale guy to treat me right. I want him to think I’m his princess.”
Melissa nodded like she was okay with that answer. “Those guys exist in Miami, but I still say a man with connections will be better for you than some random mechanic or airport worker like Javier.”
Goals were important and the next time she needed a man with bigger goals.
Melissa was right on that part.
Neither of them had methimyet. Melissa worked in retail and Rebecca worked in her father’s garage. The garage for sure wasn’t the place to meet sophisticated men looking for the forever kind of love. “Where do you suggest I hang out for a man like that?”
“Some hot master's degree student at FIU maybe,” Melissa said. “Or one getting his PhD. Smart guys are cuter than meatheads like Javier anyhow.”
Destiny handed over her tablet. “Let’s be specific. Show me a picture of the kind of guy you want.”
Huh? A picture. She went to the search engine but held her finger above the image button as she said, “This will just be an example.”
Melissa nodded. “Good idea, Destiny. We need to know who you are looking for and then we’ll figure out where you can meet him.”
A group project to find her true love. She was in. She browsed through "classic gentleman" as her search and stopped at an Italian in a nice suit, with chocolate brown eyes, a strong jawline, and muscles molded to perfection. In the photo, he was giving money to a charity. Rebecca scanned for his name-- Bartolomeo "Bart" Morgan, philanthropist.
She handed the tablet to Melissa first. “Okay, but this is just an example. I don't need someone to always wear a suit. I love his clean-shaven face--I bet he’s the kind of guy who brings flowers to brighten up the day, remembers your birthdayandtreats you like you matter.”
Melissa rolled her eyes but her face had paled as she handed the tablet to Destiny and said, “This guy looks like he wants to run the world, and would toss his children out of their homes if the children were bothersome--hissecretarywill send the flowers.”
Melissa acted like she knew this guy, but that was impossible--maybe she'd had to deal with someone like him in her job. Rebecca snagged the tablet. Bart’s gaze made her imagine being treated like a princess and adored. He was breathtakingly handsome. She turned off the screen and returned it to Destiny. “It’s just an example, but where would I meet a guy like this?”
