> Julia's eyes widened, having not expected this - well not any of it but > certainly not this on top of the ballet - and she smiled again as she > started to open the door and Derek was already there, completing the task > and then helping her down. > > "Okay," she admitted, teasing him "Who did you use your accent on this time? > This place is practically always booked months in advance."
Derek chuckled, the matre'd I suppose." > She had been gone a while but the parking lot more than spoke that this > particular place was the same as it had been. > > "No wonder you feel lucky." she added as she chuckled and, arms around each > other's waist and Julia laying her head on his shoulder for a moment as they > approached the door, admitted that he had pulled off a pretty good last > minute surprise date. > > The doorman opened the door while the SUV was parked and they entered, the > matre'd smiling in greeting before addressing Derek "Mister Rayne, I'm glad > you could make it. This must be your wife?" "Yes," Derek replied without hesitation. > Julia smiled in greeting and nodded. > > "Is it possible to have a word alone with you, Mister Rayne?" the gentlemen > then asked with an apologetic look at Julia. Derek looked at Julia leaving the decision to her. > She patted Derek's arm and pointed to the nearby bar "I'm going to get an > iced tea." > > She left the two to talk, hearing the man saying something about a slight > delay in seating but that a private room was available if Mister Rayne would > that like..... > > > "Iced tea please," Julia asked the bartender when she reached it "Decaf." > > The bartender nodded and set about getting it, just as someone spotted her, > also at the bar and with a couple of women friends, and called out > curiously. > > "Julia? Julia Walker?" > > Julia turned to see who had called her with a polite half smile. > > "Connie Matthews." she spotted a woman, who moved over to her with a pleased > grin "College dorm...?" > > "Oh," Julia's smile turned more friendly, remembering her now "How've you > been doing?" > > "As well as can be expected, where have you been keeping yourself? Haven't > seen you in -" > > "Oh wow, check out the number at the door." one of her friends said, drawing > both women's attention at the tone of voice used. Feminine appreciation. > > The woman nodded in the direction she was speaking and Julia started to turn > out of curiosity when the bartender came with her drink, Julia turning to > him instead as Connie gave a low whistle of appreciation and agreement to > her friend's unspoken opinion. > > Julia took a sip of the drink and turned then, only to almost chuckle when > it became obvious the women were talking about Derek. Her gaze took in his > form and again she had to agree that he did look especially good in a suit. > > "Us single females mourned the day that one got hitched." Connie shook her > head. > > "He's married?" the third of Connie's trio asked, surprised. > > Connie nodded and started to include Julia in as she answered "Read it in > the papers the other day. San Francisco's most eligible bachelor marries. > I wonder who was able to dupe him after all this time." > > Julia raised an eyebrow "Dupe?" > > "Well okay," Connie relented "Not dupe persay.. but whoever caught that > man's attention caught it good. I think every single woman has tried to > catch it and he was totally oblivious to it." > > "So, Walker," Connie then asked, gaze mischievous as she nodded once in > Derek's direction "On a scale from 1 to 10, how would you rate that one?" > > Julia fought a grin and took another sip, deliberately keeping her ring hand > angled away as she looked in Derek's direction again "Off the scales." > > "Good taste." Connie chuckled "I wonder if he's here with that wife." > Since Julia was already in the bar and seemed to be comfortable, Derek decided they would wait their for their table. There was far mor atmosphere in the main dining room. Not to mention the piano player was in there. He thanked the matre'd and entered the bar spotting Julia amongst a group of women. He headed in their direction. "Good evening ladies," he said as he slipped into the middle of the group to get to Julia. Once beside her, he put a hand on her shoulder and spoke softly. "It's going to be a few minutes, so I told them we would wait in here."
