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I’m pretty sure my mouth drops open. “You have a charity?”
“Yes, don’t look so surprised. I said I work a lot, not all the time.”
“Tell me about your charity.”
So, the man has another side, one that he doesn’t exactly let the world see. But I guess now that this will be broadcast on TV, the world will know all about it.
“I don’t really talk about it much. It’s closely tied in with work.”
“I appreciate you telling me about it now,” I say, leaning across the table and laying my hand on top of his, where it rests beside his full water glass.
I register the widening of his eyes as our skin makes contact, surprise evident from my actions. I’m sending really mixed signals today. First, I tried to get out of this whole charade, and now, I’m touching him, invested in what he has to say.
Hot and cold, Alice. Really nice.
“Throughout my short time of being a surgeon, I’ve seen how my patients and families are affected by the stress of surgery, the hospital bills, and sometimes the length of time they have to stay. So, I formed a nonprofit charity, funded strictly by donations to cover the costs for those families.”
I stare at him for the longest time.
Who knew the gruff, surly man I met in my classroom that first day had the biggest heart?
“That’s … really sweet,” I tell him, and I swear I can see his neck reddening.
“It’s nothing. Just something I am passionate about and work on in my spare time. I help set up galas and races to collect donations along with some other colleagues who also have charities.”
And now, all of my extracurricular activities sound selfish and lame on the tail end of what Simon works on.
“I love that.”
A silence descends over us, as Simon is obviously done talking about his work and hobbies and I don’t want to follow up with my boring things.
A waiter appears and drops two plates in front of us with cheesecake drizzled in chocolate sauce and strawberries and a dollop of whipped cream on the side. It looks delicious, but my appetite has suddenly fled, my stomach turning when I realize how I misjudged Simon. Not that he was any help with the judgment. He did treat me with impatience and apathy whenever we had to interact, but maybe it’s just a front, a wall he erected. I wonder what happened to him to make him behave that way until someone gets to know him.
Maybe I’m wrong though. Maybe that’s just him, but a niggling in the back of my mind tells me that it’s not. And I want to be the one to break down his wall.
Whoa there, Alice. Calm down. You barely know him.
But I guess that’s the whole reason for doing this show—to get to know him.
We wrap up dinner, not saying much else, which I’m sure is not great for our ratings but I can’t bring myself to care. Before, I wanted to be the one kicked off today, but now, I’ve changed my tune, wanting to see where this thing goes.
We step off the set and turn to face each other, suddenly feeling strange that bright lights and a camera aren’t shoved in our faces.
Simon clears his throat, putting his hands in his suit pockets, the material stretching across his broad shoulders as he looks down at me. I stand about five feet five inches, and I estimate his height to be around six feet—the perfect height for me as I look up at him, twisting my hands in my skirt, like I did at the beginning of the day.
“Can I talk to you for a moment?” he asks me.
I sense a change in his mood. I don’t know how, but it’s like I became attuned to him during the meal, hearing him talk passionately about what he loves. Or maybe a part of me has always been a little attuned to him since the first time I saw him scowl at me.
“Sure.”
He cups my elbow and leads me away from everyone else to talk in private. His face has grown stony again. He’s lost the openness from dinner, and I become tense, unsure, and confused.
“What do you need?” I ask as soon as we stop in a shadowed corner.
Maybe he’s trying to off me, so he doesn’t have to go through with this anymore.
“I have a huge favor to ask of you,” he says.
