Page 151 of Lovestruck at Sundown
Me:I’ve read the comment section of more than a handful
of posts.
W.S.:Nothing like a good ‘ol comment section to brighten your day.
Me:Hahaha.
W.S.:Let’s see if you keep laughing when I slam my hand
on your ass for your insolence.
A badge notification slid down with Becca’s reply.
Becca:See you next Monday. Have fun.
Yes!
May 14, 2012
The doorbell rang,and I rushed to get the door. I was expecting CJ and David for lunch. Becca agreed to give me the rest of the day off so I could attend mass for the anniversary of my mother’s death, as I usually did every year.
“Hi!” I said in a high-pitched voice when I opened the door.
“Hey, gorgeous.” CJ went in for a hug as David and Aaron carried on an energetic conversation behind him. I’d invited Aaron over for lunch, too, so he could catch up with David since they rarely saw each other. “Oh! My! God!” CJ marveled at the thousands of white flowers that decorated my foyer and trailed deeper into my apartment.
“You sounded just like Janice.” I giggled. Nina had gotten me hooked onFriendsand even left me her DVD set as a thank-you gift when she moved out of the apartment to move in with Liam.
He laughed and slapped my arm with the back of his hand. After easing out of the laugh, he said, “William, right?
I nodded. “He sends them every year on this date.”
“Ugh. We must protect him at all costs.” CJ removed his light jacket and folded it over one of thefoyer chairs. “David?”
“Sorry.” David abruptly stopped his conversation with Aaron and greeted me with a tight hug. “Thank you for inviting us over, Miss Murphy.”
“You’re always welcome.” David called me Billie now, but he tossed in a “Miss Murphy” here and there as a pet name,for old time’s sake, he once said. I liked it.
“Hey,” I said to Aaron as he stepped in holding two manila envelopes.
“Miss Murphy.” He dipped his chin once and placed the legal-sized envelopes on the foyer table. I eyed them with curiosity. “We’ll discuss these after lunch.” He tapped the envelopes once, and I did my best to forget about them, or my curiosity would make me peek at the contents while Aaron wasn’t looking.
“Look around and maybe learn a thing or two?” CJ told David, waving his hands around the flower-filled foyer.
The three of them followed me to the dining room, where I had the table set and an Italian takeout spread waiting for us on my prettiest serving dishes. Spaghetti and meatballs, linguine alla carbonara, funghi risotto, burrata salad, and focaccia.
“Suddenly, you’re a fan of flowers?” David retorted to CJ’s remark, casually taking off his white doctor’s coat and draping it over the backrest of his chair.
“It’s not about the flowers,” CJ complained as I walked to the kitchen to grab us a bottle of red wine. “It’s about the thoughtfulness behind the gesture.”
I overheard their playful bickering while I uncorked the wine. When I returned, Aaron was observing them with amused curiosity. “Wine?” I offered. CJ and Aaron accepted, but David declined.
After we were done eating, I brought dessert to the table, consisting of two big, rectangular slices of tiramisu. We devouredthem in two seconds.
“Isn’t it William’s birthday today, too?” CJ asked, licking his lips and resting his hands on his full belly.
“It is.” I smiled, though I doubted it came across as entirely genuine. “He’s wrapping up in Prague this week and will be back next Sunday. So, we’ll celebrate once he returns.” I couldn’t shake the disappointment of spending our birthdays apart this year, but with his break in June and July, we planned to make the most of it before he embarked on the Haldor Stormbreaker press tour in August.
The sequel would begin filming in January, right after the holidays, since the movie needed to be shot in various snowy locations in the Scandinavian region. And then he would be gone for five more months and I wouldn’t see him for sure until the Cannes Film Festival for the screening and presentation ofSavages.
