“Or something like that,” Helen said clicking her tongue on her teeth. She noticed he left out what he thought of her—Helen—but she’d have to let that slide. It would be too humiliating to ask him about it twice. But she could ask him something else, “So, what was the deal with you and Laura anyway?”
“Nothing much. She chases me and I keep running. That doesn’t mean I haven't got stuck going on dates with her once and awhile, because I have. It was just never as meaningful for me as it was for her.”
“Why don’t you like her?” Helen asked.
“I don’t know. She’s a nice person. She’s smart, successful, well-connected, and sort of pretty, but I can’t force myself.”
“Why not? If she’s all that?”
Mark thought for a moment before he answered, “Laura is very disciplined. She eats the way she is supposed to, works out as much as she is supposed to, votes, and visits her parents. I don’t know how to describe it. She lives on a tight schedule. I can’t live that way. If I were to get close to her she’d slide me into the appropriate time slots, and I’d just become another thing on her ‘to do’ list. I’d hate that. I don’t want the woman in my life to hand me a number and ask me to wait in line.”
“Makes sense,” Helen agreed.
“The truth is I asked her to go to the New Year’s party with me and she turned me down because she had an offer to go with someone else the January before. The guy who asked her completely forgot about it. He asked someone else in the meantime and he wasn’t willing to break his date when he realized his mistake. I don’t know why she believed him in the first place. Who’s going to remember something like that eleven months later? So, after she found out her date had fallen through, she came and asked me to take her two days before the event. I was insulted she was using me as her last- minute life-line, so I lied and told her that I already had a date so she was on her own. Then I called your escort service.”
Helen nodded. Yeah, that explained why Mark had called her agency. She smiled. It was cute that Mark’s boss, Collin, had been the one to suggest it in the first place.
“Laura surprised me that night,” Mark continued. “I didn’t expect her to be so childish when I introduced the two of you. She must have been threatened. That made me think she liked me a lot more than she’d admitted, but I was still mad about being second fiddle to a loser.”
“So, that’s how she lost her chance to be with you?”
“I guess. I’ve tried to stay friends with her. She wouldn’t be a good person to cross, but if she’s really set on getting me then she’s going to be disappointed,” Mark said, scooting the vegetables off the cutting board and into the frying pan.
“What are we having?” Helen asked, looking over his shoulder.
“Oh! So fancy! I’m making you a stir fry.”
“Yum!” Helen said enthusiastically.
Mark gave her a sideways glance. “You don’t have to act so hyped up. Surely you’ve had men cook for you before.”
“Actually, I haven’t,” Helen said as she checked on the rice. “Is there anything else I can help with?”
“Wash the bean sprouts, Princess,” he instructed.
“Okay.”
“You mean you’ve never had a guy cook for you before?” Mark asked.
“Nope,” she said.
“I find that hard to believe.”
“Well, when I’m working as an escort I’m seldom at anyone’s home. I’m usually out with lots of people. None of my dates would dream of doing anything as nice as make supper for me. They’re all worried that if they don’t show up with a woman on their arm they’ll look like losers in front of their friends. They’re not actually trying to win me over,” Helen explained.
“What about before the escort service? When you lived at home, one of your little boyfriends must have done something for you,” Mark persisted.
“What boyfriends are you thinking of? You mean someone more significant than a nervous boy approaching me at my locker and asking timidly if he can be my boyfriend. If you mean something more than that; I haven’t had one. No grand passionate love for me, and to be honest, I don’t really see something like that in my future.”
“Why not?”
“Oh, because I’m more like the girl-next-door than a hopelessly unattainable escort, so I don’t think it will be possible. I’ll probably date an average-looking guy who works in accounting for a respectable year, get married six months later, have three kids and die old and happy. Nothing special.”
“Accounting? Do you already have someone picked out?” Mark suddenly flared. His back was to her as he flipped the contents of the frying pan.
“No,” Helen denied. “I just mean I don’t have any extraordinary plans for my life, but you’re very sweet, Mark. You’re the first man to cook for me.”
“Put the spouts in." He sounded weary. Helen did.
“So, where did you get the idea to go work for an escort service?”
“I already told you my cousin, Mindy, works for one. I was poor because I missed out on a scholarship and a grant. I ran out of money and if I didn’t want to go home branded for life as a failure; I needed money fast. On my darkest day, Mindy asked me if I wanted to go to work with her and I said I would because it was my last chance to make enough money to pay everybody off.”
“And did you?” Mark asked.
“Yep. I don’t work for them anymore. I have my dream job working for the ‘golden boy’ of the office—”
“The ‘golden boy!'” Mark exclaimed, interrupting her. “Yep! All the girls ogle you. Didn’t you know?”
“No."
“It’s true,” she said, taunting him. “I’m very lucky.”
“And you really don’t hope for anything more exciting in your life than being my assistant?” he asked, looking at her incredulously.
The look in his eyes confused Helen and so did his question. She didn’t know how to answer, but she did know one thing without question. There was no way a guy like Mark would be interested in her if she was only ‘Helen.’ Her answer came out easily after she had that thought.
“Aw, Mark,” she said. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. You don’t think it would be exciting to bring a wholesome guy home to mommy and daddy? I promise you, it would be. Imagine if I took home a guy like Alexander or Dominic home. My parents wouldn’t know what to do. If it were Dominic, they’d be afraid to talk because he’d think anything they said was stupid. You know, he’s so obviously critical of everything; he’d sneer at them. If it was Alexander, they’d remember his commercials and advertisements and worry I’d sold my soul to Satan.”
“How about me?” Mark asked boldly. “How do you think your parents would react if you brought me home?”
Helen almost squeaked. She hadn’t thought about that. “Hmm,” she said, trying to sound complacent. “I’m not sure, though I’m sure you’d do better than the Figura boys. What about me? How do you think your parents would react to me?”
“I think they’d—”
Just then the doorbell rang and interrupted him.
“Were you expecting anyone?” Helen asked.
“No,” he said, turning down the heat under the vegetables and going to the door.
Helen followed behind him. She hoped it wasn’t Dominic or something.
Mark looked through the peep-hole and looked at Helen. Then he sucked in his breath and opened the door.
“Hello Laura,” he said when he saw the blonde.
Helen wanted to disappear when she saw the look of utter horror displayed on Laura’s face. Why hadn’t Mark warned her? She could have hidden in the closet.
“Mark,” Laura said quietly. “I didn’t realize you had company. I thought maybe we could have dinner." She was carrying takeout bags in her hands.