He rested his cheek in his hand as he drummed his fingers nervously on the red linen tablecloth. He shifted his position several times during the few seconds I stared at him and suddenly I felt the tiniest bit of relief: he was nervous as well.

I took a deep breath, told myself I could handle this, and approached the table. He looked up and flashed a smile—nearly choirboy like in its innocence and sincerity-- and he stood up! Stood up! No one had manners like that anymore, and he proceeded to shock me further by pulling the chair out for me.

“Wow,” I said, genuinely impressed. “Not many guys remember to do things like that.”

“I’m just glad that you showed up! I was almost sure you were gonna stand me up.”

“I almost did,” I said, immediately wishing I’d kept my mouth shut because in those infinite blue eyes of his I saw a fleeting, but visible look of hurt.

“I almost didn’t get here, I mean.” I was nervously trying to patch it up. “The traffic was insane.”

“Oh, yeah, tell me about it,” he said, that smile returning, and with it came a general feeling of calm. “Um, would you like something to drink? They’re renowned for their wines here — "

“No thanks, I don’t really drink. But I’ll have an iced tea when the waiter comes around.”

He seemed delighted to hear that, opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it.

“So. . .” I began, my curiosity raging, “exactly what happened today? You said that woman had been following you? What was she, an old girlfriend?”

“Yes,” he said slowly, his gaze shifting to the tablecloth again, “well it’s a bit of a long story. . .”

“I’ve got time if you do.”

Tobey met my gaze again. I felt my stomach twist again and my pulse picked up its pace ever so slightly. . . at that moment, loosing myself in his deep blues, I would have done anything for him to take me into his arms and kiss me as he had done before. But I snapped myself out of it and focused on his words.

“Her name is Tracy. She’s my Mom’s best friend since God knows when. I hadn’t seen her since. . . hell. . . I couldn’t have been more than nineteen—“ he paused, “how old are you anyway?”

“Er. . . twenty-three. Why?”

“Thought so. Anyhow, I know that she and Mom have been visiting here from Oregon and they wanted me to come stay the weekend with them down at Mom’s condo down in San Diego. It’s for Mom’s birthday.”

“Sounds like a nice little getaway!”

“Sounds like hell! Mom and I, well, we get along, but three days in close confinement might just push the both of us over the edge. I just. . . I’d rather not deal with her if I can help it. And Tracy, well, you saw how she is: pressing her nose up against the window like that! She’s the nosiest busybody I’ve ever known. Plus her two daughters will be with her and they’re just as bad as she is. . ." He smiled. "One of them has the silliest idea that she's in love with me."

"Oohhh," I said, laughing softly. "I see. . ." Not that I can't blame her. Look at this guy. . .

". . .So I’d told Mom that I was going to be out of town this weekend with my girlfriend, so I couldn’t stay with them. I said my girlfriend’s parents were having their thirtieth wedding anniversary and I just had to go with them to New York . . .”

“Ah, so you lied is what you did. . .”

Tobey grinned. “Well, I did say that I was gonna send her a present in the mail and promised we’d get together really soon. So when Tracy spied me in the mall. . . well, she wasn’t exactly thrilled. She said something like ‘So! You must be shopping for an anniversary gift with your girlfriend.’ She said that my Mom was just in the other store and she was sure she’d love to meet the lucky girl.” Tobey shook his head now. “She knew very well that there wasn’t any girlfriend. And no trip to New York. So. . . I just. . . I just panicked! I . . . well, the first person I spotted was you. I told her ‘ah, there she is!’ And I went in. . . and, well of course, you know what happened next. . .”

“I vaguely remember,” I grinned.

“Anyway, so. . . you basically saved my neck. And I thank you for it. I realize how awkward that was, but I promise you I don’t normally go up to girls and just start. . .”

“I know, I know.” I laughed and took a sip from my iced tea. “So, did they buy it?”

“Hook, line and sinker.”

We both laughed.

“I guess that’s a plus to my being an actor,” he laughed, “When the situation calls for a bluff, I rarely get called on it!”

He was eased, calm in my company and I have to admit, the feeling was quite mutual.

“So what did you tell them then? About you’re not going to San Diego?”

His smile faded somewhat-- enough to put me on my guard.

Something was wrong.

“Well. . . that’s what I needed to ask you. . .” he took a deep breath. “Tracy, she. . . she saw you. She knows what you look like. . . and Mom really, really wants to meet you, so. . .” He adjusted his shirt collar, cleared his throat and leaned forward.

In a soft, barely audible voice he said, “I need you to be my girlfriend for the weekend.”

"Um...” I stammered. “W-well I guess I could do that." I said.

The waiter came to take our order.

I had not looked at the menu and Tobey went ahead and ordered. I was intrigued when he only ordered vegetable dishes. I did the same realizing that he might be a vegetarian and I didn't want to make him nauseous by ordering a meat dish.

"So you mentioned that you were an actor, have you been doing that long?" I asked, not remembering seeing him in any films.

"I have been doing it for a while," he replied cryptically. "I am getting into producing."

“Oh, I see.”

"Will posing as my girlfriend this weekend conflict with any of your previous plans?" he said, quickly changing the subject.

"No, I guess I could help you out this weekend."

"My mom is having a cocktail party tonight maybe you can go with me and she could meet you."

"Okay" I said, glad to have the opportunity to spend more time with this handsome man with the gorgeous eyes.

I continued to stare deep into his blue eyes, and I thought I would just melt to the floor. I would not have been surprised if I suddenly looked like a stick of butter to him.

His eyebrow raised slightly, confused at my returning reaction. Nervously, I twiddled with my napkin and looked downward. "Uh, sorry, I'm not really good at this stuff," I muttered. My sandals were suddenly very interesting.

He reached over and lifted my chin up so I would stare directly back into his eyes again. I could feel the heat rise into my cheeks, and he just smiled back.

We were silent for a few minutes, not really saying anything. This was an awkward silence, and I hated awkward silences.

"So...uh...if I'm going to be your girlfriend I might as well know some stuff about you, huh?" I asked, anxiety edged into my voice.

He nodded. "What would you like to know?" he responded, taking a sip from his drink.

My eyes widened, I didn't even think of that! "When's your birthday?" I asked in my haste. Stupid!

He laughed. "Actually, it's June 27th. I'm turning 26."

I blinked. Oh God, what next? "Um...what are your hobbies?"

"Board games. I love board games, especially Backgammon."

Backgammon? Ooh, I loved that game!

"Really, backgammon? I'm really good at that!" I ended with a laugh that was natural, and vibrated outwards and ringed through the restaurant. I leaned back in my chair and smiled. This was gonna be good.

"Really?" Tobey's eyebrows raised in shock.

"Yep, my dad's a big fan of the game. When I was younger we would play it all the time," I replied feeling confident about it.

"Well I think I'm gonna have to see this for myself," Tobey smiled as he leaned forward and placed his elbows on the table.

"What?" I didn't expect that to come out.

"Well, I wanna see how good you are. What do you say, you can come to my place after and we can play?" Tobey suggested.

OK, now I needed to think about this. He had asked me to go to his house... what was wrong with that? OK, the positives were that he was really cute, he had those beautiful blue eyes I could just lose myself in... STAY ON TOPIC, NATALIA! He was nice, really polite and seemed like a genuine guy . . . but it could have been an act. He was an actor . . . ! Oh what was a girl to do?

I took a deep breath and scanned the restaurant for the waiter, I prayed that he came back sometime soon.

I hope Tobey doesn't take offense to my silence, god this is so rude! I looked up and Tobey was giving me the "Well?" look, it was kind of annoying. I scrunched the napkin in my hands underneath the table, I was now really nervous. My stomach was turning in all directions, I thought I was going to be sick

I smiled sheepishly. "I'd love to play backgammon with you Tobey, but....." my voice trailed off.

He raised his eyebrows at me expectantly.

"I just.....I don't feel quite comfortable going home with a man I just met," I blurted out, feeling like a fool, even though it was the truth.

Tobey's eyes grew round. "Oh!" he said. "Oh, Natalia, I didn't mean to imply......"

I felt my face grow hot, I couldn't look at him. I probably sounded like some prudish little girl.

"I completely understand," he said gently.

I suddenly felt all the tension drain from me.

"Wow, a girl with morals, that's a rare thing in LA," he said. "I really admire that."

I smiled at Tobey. "I don't know about morals, I'm just a little shy about these things." I could feel my face growing warm again.

Tobey gave me the sweetest, most sincere grin then. I felt like I was basking in its warmth. "I don't bite," he said in his soft, breathy voice, "I promise."

My heart is drenched in wine
But you'll be on my mind
Forever

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