Chapter 7

Cilla stirred the remnants of the ice cubes in her glass with her straw. Jon looked at her, the sun drawing out the deep red tones in her hair, her eyes; gray with just that speck of blue tugged at him. He felt her start to pull her hand away and he let his fingertips graze the back her hand as she did. Cilla had all she could do not to yank her hand back from under his. When he touched her it was as if her nerve endings were on fire. She cleared her throat, “so Jon, how was the party? Did your daughter enjoy the cake?”

Jon fiddled with his own glass, what was it about this woman that had him all out of sorts? “Steph loved the cake and it was a huge hit with her friends. Don’t be surprised if you get a bunch of calls for more cakes. I passed out your number to all of her friends yesterday.” Cilla smiled, “my business thanks you. Speaking of the cake, you paid me too much.” He waved her off, “if you had seen my daughter’s face, you wouldn’t think so. Believe me; it was worth so much more than what was in that envelope.”

Cilla ducked her head, accepting a compliment was never easy for her. She looked back up to find his eyes trained on her. “Thank you.” The waitress came over to them “can I get you folks anything else?” Jon looked at Cilla, “no, I think we’re all set.” She left them and Cilla stood, “I should be going. It was nice to see you again Jon.” She grabbed her purse and made to leave when his hand on her arm stopped her, “do you have any plans for the rest of the afternoon?”

She looked at the hand on her arm and let her gaze travel up his arm to his face, his eyes, there was something there in the summer sky depths, something she wasn’t sure she could name. “No” she heard herself say “I don’t. I was just going to wander and enjoy the nice day.” Jon smiled, “would you mind some company? I really don’t want to go back to my empty apartment just yet.” She sighed softly, she had really wanted to wander back to her apartment and chill out for the afternoon or maybe get a head start on tomorrow, but how could she say no to him?

“Okay, what would you like to do?”

With his hand on her lower back he urged her away from the café, “why don’t we grab a cab to the Park and wander around there for a bit?” Cilla nodded her assent and he hailed a cab. They entered the park at the south end, 59th Street and walked toward Wollman Rink. They stood and watched people on their inline skates for a while when Cilla turned to him, “isn’t this where you got arrested?”

Jon chuckled and shook his head, “of all things to remember, you had to remember that?” She smiled at him, “could’ve been worse. I could have mentioned the hair. Or the spandex.” Jon laughed, “I swear I will never, ever live the 80s down.” He nudged her, “come on, let’s walk some more.” They moved on, up toward the Shakespearean Gardens.

They found a bench and sat, “it’s so pretty here.” Cilla was looking at the flowers and foliage. Jon looked around and then back at her, “it sure is.” She turned to look at him, “what are we doing Jon?” He rubbed his hands on his thighs, “sitting on a bench in Central Park.” She rolled her eyes, “you know what I mean.”

He leaned back against the bench and sighed, “I don’t really kn...” he stopped and then started again, “no, that’s not true. I was out walking today trying to get you out of my head when I saw you at the café. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since you walked out of my apartment yesterday.” Cilla was surprised by his confession. “You haven’t been able to stop thinking about me? I think you ate too much cake yesterday.” She stood and walked closer to the flowers, this couldn’t be happening.

Jon stood and touched her shoulder, “why wouldn’t I think about you?” They walked as they talked, heading toward the reservoir. Cilla shrugged her shoulders, “I’m nobody special Jon.” As they neared the path around the water she was nearly knocked over by a jogger. “Sorry” the man called out as he kept going. Jon steadied her, taking her hand in his. She felt the jolt up her arm when their hands met. So did he.

Cilla looked down at their hands and then up to his face, if he was being honest, so could she. “I thought about you too.”