Page 26 of The Facilitator: Part 2
I sipped quickly from the fine glass while I scanned the room. Mackenzie placed his hand on my thigh and Itensed.
“Nervous?” he asked, and I nodded. “Good. You shouldbe.”
My eyes widened, I wasn’t sure if it was good to be nervous or not. The way he held his glass, swirled it slowly, so the ice cubes clinked against each other before lifting it to his lips had me wetting mine. He took a sip and then ran his tongue very slowly over his lower lip to catch whatever residue was there. I wanted to suck that tongue into mymouth.
He knew the effect he was having on me, and his eyelids lowered a little as if desire had flooded through him aswell.
“First, we eat,” he said, as he caught sight of Veronica standing in thedoorway.
Other guests had the pleasure of a maître d’ showing them to tables. I wasn’t sure I wanted to stand out from the crowd as much as we did. Our table was to one side, slightly shielded from the rest of the room by a Japanese Byobu. The art on the panels, extended to make a room divide, was exquisite. I stared at the dragons and phoenix, the reds and golds, blues and greens were vibrant still. I wanted to feel the material the images were painted on. It looked like a fine silk, but it also looked old. Too old for fingers tospoil.
“My great great someone or the other brought that back from Japan. I suspect they’d just invaded. I seem to recall history also states he came back with a wife, but I’m not sure. Anyway, it’s beautiful and I thought perfect to give you some privacy,” Iheard.
Veronica had stepped beside us, holding a bottle of champagne. Without another word, she poured two glasses. A waiter followed her with a bottle of red wine he uncorked with flair. He gave the cork to Mackenzie to inspect. He decanted the contents and left it to breathe, as he said, and we were once again on our own. I picked up my glass and held it until Mackenzie did thesame.
“Thank you for a gorgeous necklace and outfit. I’m an extremely lucky lady,” Isaid.
As we clinked glasses, he said, “Lauren, I’m the luckyone.”
As I sipped, I let my fingers trail over the diamond choker. I was sure it would be an item that would live most of its life in a safe,sadly.
“I took the liberty of ordering for you,” Mackenzie said, as a waiter approached with twodishes.
“I don’t mind. When we are here, I rather like it,” I said quietly. I held hisgaze.
We ate a starter of seared scallops in the lightest lemon sauce. This was followed by venison accompanied, finally, with the red wine. Both dishes were mouth-watering and I declined a dessert. As the meal had progressed, so my nerves had ramped up a little. Mackenzie had mostly chatted throughout dinner, although he’d said nothing about our evening to follow, of course. I’d mostly just listened. I didn’t trust my voice not to squeak, such was the level of my anticipation. I just wanted for us to move on to the nextstage.
“I can tell you are anxiously waiting for what comes next,” he said, lifting a coffee cup to hislips.
“I am, I’m excited for whatever you haveplanned.”
“I like to hear that you’re excited. It proves you trustme.”
“I do, completely. I know you’ll catch me, Mackenzie,always.”
He didn’t answer, but I saw him swallow hard. It wasn’t difficult to know how much he loved me. He often told me how overwhelmed he felt by the depth of feeling he had for me, and I swelled with both pride and anxiety at that. It was a weight on my shoulders to know he loved me so much, and I was fearful of disappointing him oneday.
He placed his cup down and stood. He held out his hand and I placed mine in his palm. As we left the room, he was handed a key: a large brass key with a red silk woven tassel. We climbed the wide and sweeping staircase, still holding hands until we reached the first landing. At that, I had to let him lead the way. We turned left, a route I had taken before. Although I wasn’t sure of the exact room I’d visited before, I thought it was the one after the door we stopped at. That meant…I sucked in abreath.
“Do you know where you are?” he asked, before he placed the key in thelock.
“I think so,yes.”
“Do you want toenter?”
He was asking my permission and confirming I wasready.
I paused for a moment, wetted my lips, and felt every muscle in my stomach flutter at thethought.
“I do,” I said,firmly.
“I fucking love you,” he whispered before kissing mebriefly.
The lock disengaged with a firm clunk. The heavy door swung open and I stepped into a room I’d seen before. To one side was a large wooden cross; in the middle of the room was a leather bench, wide enough to lie on. I noticed hooks on each wooden leg. Against one wall was a long cabinet. I knew it would hold drinks and various implements, and I knew Mackenzie would have requested the contents in advance. Against the other wall, the one I stood and looked at, was a pair of very heavy velour red curtains. Each had a gold braid and tassels down the edge. I looked up. Above that was a redlight.
The only thing new was a wide, stainless steel metal beam that went from ceiling to floor just a few feet away from thecurtains.
“The curtains were on the other side, weren’t they?” Iasked.
