After Theo and I placed our orders, he began to tell me about the purpose of his meeting. His office in London was the sister company of an office in New York. Apparently they had a lot of sister companies scattered throughout the globe. He was headed to Tokyo in a week, then Sydney, Australia, the week after that.
“Wow, I don’t know how you do it. You must be immune to jet lag,” I remarked, taking a sip of my wine.
“Believe it or not your body does adjust if you do it often enough. You get used to the different time zones.”
“If you say so!” I raised an eyebrow.
“It’s a great way to see the world.” He shrugged.
“Oh, no doubt, but I guess after a while it would take its toll if you had a wife and children.”
“And that is precisely why I have neither one of them.”
I gave him an uneasy smile, wondering if something were to happen to Kate, would he become his nephew’s guardian, and if so, how would he be able to maintain that type of work schedule? What was I thinking? Firstly, I had to remain positive for him that his sister would beat cancer. Secondly, it was really none of my business. I was happy when the waiter came to our table to bring our food, preventing me from asking a question that wasn’t my concern.
We spent the rest of lunch making plans for what was left of the afternoon and the evening. After sharing an apple strudel for dessert, one that was right up there with the one I had in Austria, we headed back to Theo’s hotel so he could change. I waited in the bar area, sipping on a club soda with lime while playing around on my phone to kill the time while he went up to his room. A message from Kate popped up just as I was trying to beat the next level on the mindless game I’d been playing.
Kate: Hope you and Theo are having a great time! Have a drink for me. Wish I were there!
I wished she were too. I wanted her to be here happy and most of all healthy. I imagined the fun we’d have shopping, going to shows, and out to dinner. Just like our nail-painting party back at the hotel, it would be a fun girls’ get-together. I blinked away the tears, wondering if she’d ever get to travel again. Would she be too sick or worse yet? No, she would beat this cancer. She would be there to watch her son grow and make the trip one day that I had just imagined. I sent her a message back, hoping it would give her the courage to believe in herself that she would.
Me: Anytime you want to come, I’m here! And you have a free place to stay. Just let me know and I will plan out all the details! It will be a blast!
I was so deep in my thoughts of Kate that I hadn’t even realized Theo was walking into the bar area. He was now dressed like the man I first met, in jeans and a black wool coat with a gray sweater underneath.
“Ready?” he asked.
I took one last sip of my club soda, grabbed my coat from the barstool next to me, and we were on our way.
_______________
“It’s so cold, I think my cheeks are about to fall off,” I said to Theo after several hours of exploring. We had hit all the touristy spots mostly by foot. Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, the Empire State Building, and we finished off at the edge of Central Park. “Sorry we ran out of daylight. I would’ve loved to have taken you on a tour of Central Park. But trust me, you don’t want to go there at night.”
“A little adventure never killed anyone,” Theo teased.
“Yeah, unfortunately that kind of adventure just might,” I said as we walked down 59th Street. It was getting later, but I didn’t want the night to end. I was enjoying myself so much, and I didn’t know when I’d get to see him again. For the first time since I arrived home from my trip, I didn’t feel alone, so I was thrilled when he suggested we stop off at a bar we were passing by to warm up with a drink.
We continued the nonstop conversation we were having walking through the busy streets of Manhattan, maneuvering around droves of people, now from the comfort and warmth of a barstool with a Moscow mule for me and a vodka on the rocks for him.
“So, do you think I was as good as Nino as your tour guide?” I asked.
“Better!” He gave an enthusiastic nod and grinned.
“Wow, you better slow down on that drink there, buddy, it’s making you say crazy things.” We both let out a lighthearted chuckle. “So, when are you heading home?” I asked.
“Sunday afternoon.”
“Oh.” I raised an eyebrow, wondering why he wasn’t going back tomorrow, and as if he was reading my thoughts he continued.
“One of the blokes I met with today—”
I held up my hand to stop him. “Okay…what exactly is a bloke?” I laughed.
“Come on now, Jillian, I thought you spoke fluent British.” He laughed back.
“I thought we established that I didn’t with my lack of understanding of surname.”
“Oh, right?” He nodded. “It’s another…British way of saying man, fellow, guy, chap. You get it now?”
“Cheerio,” I replied, feeling very British until Theo nearly spat out the sip of drink he had taken. “What? I’m trying to talk British.”
“Cheerio means goodbye.” He smirked.
“Oh, I guess I really need to brush up on my British television a little more.”
He gave me an endearing smile as his amusement heightened and his big green eyes locked with mine as if he was really seeing me for the first time. “So,
