“Oh, I don’t know, I have some deliveries to make and…”
“She’d love to,” Janet says as she steps through the curtain and begins to untie my apron.
An amused smirk appears on Alek’s face, as I try to rebuff my nosy employee, “But…”
“But nothing,” she insists. “You need to eat, and this handsome gentleman is offering to take you to lunch. The deliveries can wait until you get back.”
One glance in Alek’s direction confirms that he is fighting back a laugh. I slip the apron over my head and hand it to Janet. “Well, it appears I’m available for lunch after all. Let me get my purse and I’ll be ready to go.”
He smiles victoriously and winks at Janet, “Great.”
I step back into the workroom and hurry to the mirror to check my reflection. Giving my hair a fluff, I grab my purse, take a deep calming breath and step back through the curtain. I walk around the counter, my focus solely on Alek, “Okay, ready to go?”
He sweeps his arm out in front of me, “Please, lead the way.”
“Call if you need anything,” I call back to Janet over my shoulder.
“You know I won’t,” she singsongs in reply as Alek opens the door allowing me to walk through first.
When we get out on the sidewalk, Alek stands beside me, “Where to?”
“There’s a little café down the street that makes a great cranberry chicken salad.”
“Sounds perfect.”
We begin walking down the street, silence stretching between us, before we begin to speak at the same time.
“I hope you don’t mind me stopping by.”
“What are you doing here?”
We both begin to laugh, and Alek apologies, “I’m sorry, please, ladies first.”
I smile and shake my head, “I was just wondering what you were doing here? I didn’t expect you to still be in town.”
“Ah, well, I have another performance tonight.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize that.”
“It’s not advertised, but it is my favorite part of the tour. I schedule time at local hospitals during my tour to perform for the patients, children specifically. Sometimes we recruit the local high school band to accompany me.”
I turn to look at him, a sense of pride stirring inside me that this man would be so ready to give back to a community he’s not part of. “What made you start doing that?”
“I spent a lot of time in the hospital as a child. They had a “Healing with Music,” program, that’s where I learned to play violin.” He shrugs nonchalantly, “It’s my way of giving back.”
“That’s really sweet.”
He brushes off my compliment, “I don’t know about that.”
We stop in front of the café and I turn to face him, “I do. And I’d venture to say that the patients and families you perform for think so too.”
His eyes find the ground before shyly meeting mine, “Thank you for saying that.” He pulls the door open and motions me inside, “Shall we?”
“Yes, I believe we shall,” I say as I smile and pass in front of him to walk through the door
Chapter 4
Alek
The line moves swiftly in the quaint little café, and before long, we are standing at the counter placing our order. I hand my card to the cashier to pay for our lunch, not missing the curious glances between Rose and me. I remember her saying this is one of her favorite places and I’m sure she will have questions to answer the next time she comes in. The cashier hands back my card and promises to bring our order out shortly.
I place my hand at the small of Rose’s back and guide her to a table in the corner. Leaning forward, I whisper in her ear, “I’m sorry.”
She turns quickly, bringing her face dangerously close to mine. Her breath catches and her gaze drops to my lips, before catching my gaze again and taking a step back. “Um, what are you apologizing for?”
Her voice is just above a whisper and holds a bit of breathlessness. I'd be lying if I said I wasn’t affected by it. I clear my throat and pull out a chair for her, “We received some curious looks, I’m afraid you are going to be interrogated the next time you are in here.”
She smiles as I take a seat across from her, a bit of pink tinting her cheeks, “It’s fine,” she says with a shrug. “It’s one of the hazards of living in the same town all your life.”
“Charleston is a fairly large city surely you don’t know every resident?”
Her smile is easy as she accepts my teasing. “No, not all of them. I did practically grow up on this street, though. And the business owners tend to support each other.”
A feeling of melancholy washes over me, “It must be nice to have that sense of community.”
Rose tilts her head as she studies me, “Surely you have the same thing with the musicians you play with.”
“I did when I played in the orchestra, but now that I tour solo…”
She finishes my statement with a touch of sadness in her voice. “You spend most of your time alone.”
I shrug nonchalantly, “Hazard of the job I suppose.”
Before our conversation goes any further, a server arrives with our order. Rose had said the chicken salad was her favorite, so I decided to give it a try as well. I bite into the buttery croissant and savor the mixture of flavors.
“You were right, this is delicious.”
She takes a sip of her sweet tea, “Now you know why it’s my favorite.” She raises her sandwich for another bite, and then lowers it. “Alek, why did you ask me to lunch?”
I sit my sandwich down, and debate with myself about how honest I should be. Knowing it’s all or nothing, I look her in the eye as I give her my answer. “Last night when you were in my dressing room, I felt some sort of connection between us. It’s not something I experience often and I wanted
