Page 26 of Meant to Be

Before I could change my mind again, I flung the Frisbee in the general direction of the woman, knowing that Thursday would lead a merry chase. He did, of course, and a few seconds later, I was standing next to her, trying, quiteunsuccessfully,not to stare. To put it bluntly, she was the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen—which was really saying something, as I’d obviously seen plenty of gorgeous women in my day. Everything about her glowed. Her skin, her pink lips, and her long, shiny hair that looked like sunlight. And that was all before she glanced up to meet my gaze with thesehuge,intense pale blue eyes that melted me. For a fewseconds, I couldn’t speak. Then I somehow got it together, stumbling over my words as I mumbled a vague apology for my dog. She gave me a remote smile that said she knew what I was up to—like,Listen, buddy, I’m no dummy; I’ve seen this dog trick before—and in that instant, I could tell she had a little edge. Meanwhile, if she knew who I was, she pretended not to.

Over the next several minutes, we introduced ourselves and made small talk. Yet even as she answered all my questions, she retained an air of mystery. Like she didn’twantto be known. Not byme,anyway.

Fortunately, she had a makeup artist with her, and he seemed more than eager for our conversation to last as long as possible. He kept chiming in on Cate’s answers with additional color commentary. As we talked, I kept studying her face, and suddenly realized that Ihadseen her before—on a billboard near LaGuardia. I blurted that out, resisting the urge to also tell her that she was even more beautiful in person, somehow knowing that a statement like that, although totally true, would sound like a line.

Meanwhile, I knew I was running out of time—and that she had to get back to work. Any second, I was going to have to say goodbye and might never see her again. It made me panic a little inside. Ihadto see her again.

There was really no way, though, not without breaking my cardinal rule about cheating. Even if I kept it platonic, it would still be cheating given what I was thinking. I had never believed in love at first sight—how could you love someone you didn’t know? But this woman gave me that feeling. Like a chemical reaction. A little explosion in my chest.

As I stalled for a few final seconds, I told myself to think of Margaret. That worked for a moment but then backfired, as I had to face the fact that I’d never, not for one second at any point in our relationship, experienced anything approaching this feeling.The realization made me a little sad, then gave me the justification I was so desperately seeking.

“So I know you have to get back to work, but I’d love to, you know, get together sometime…. Do you think I could get your number?”

She stared at me for several seconds, as if genuinely contemplating the pros and the cons. Then, just as I thought she was going to reject me, she nodded. Before she could make a move, the makeup artist was eagerly jotting a number down on the back of a business card.

“Here you go,” he said, handing it to me.

I thanked him, then looked back at Cate for permission. “So I can call you?” I said.

She gave me a little smile, then shrugged and said, “Sure…why not?”

In that instant, I knew I was screwed.

—

The next day,after Berry had driven out to the Hamptons last minute to join me, I made the mistake of casually telling her that I’d met someone “interesting” the previous day.

She shook her head, frowned, then said, “Oh, Lord, Joe. I know that look.”

“What look?” I said, doing my best to hide my smirk.

“The I-met-a-hot-girl look,” she said.

“I didn’t even say it was a girl.”

“Well? Was it?”

“Yeah,” I said, I’m sure looking as sheepish as I felt.

“Okay,” Berry said. “And…was it ahotgirl you had no business talking to?”

“That feels like a trick question,” I said.

“Ugh, Joe,” she groaned.

“What?”

“C’mon, spill it. Who is she?”

“Her name’s Cate.”

“What’s her story?”

“She works in the fashion industry.”

Berry raised an eyebrow. “Thefashionindustry? So another model, huh?”

I stared back at her and blinked, feeling a stab of guilt.

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