Rendezvous Part 3

Natalie blushed and looked away. She felt terrible for prying and bringing up an obviously painful subject. She looked at Derrick’s hand and noticed no signs of a ring, but many in their profession didn’t wear jewelry for risk of contamination or injury. Derrick sipped his drink and looked around the lobby.

“I’m sorry Derrick. I feel bad for being nosy,” Natalie softly touched the back of Derrick’s hand.

The warmth of Natalie’s touch ran through him. He missed being touched, held, or even feeling loved. His wife was almost void of emotions in terms of their intimacy unless it was to front for the children and family. Derrick wanted out, but knew it would be a tough and very expensive fight. To make matters worse, neither of their families would condone a divorce. Coming from old money didn’t allow for such privileges especially when children were involved.

“It’s okay,” Derrick said in a near whisper. “Not your fault. Hopefully your life isn’t filled with such issues?”

Natalie couldn’t mask her smile. Lloyd was a great guy. He owned a detailing company, which turned a profit every quarter. He’d branched out and set up two additional stores out of state. One is another part of the state and the other out of state. He’d just completed an expansion of the original storefront to accommodate his booming business. They’d met when she was adding new features to her car and in spite of their very different backgrounds; they hit it off very well. Lloyd was not intimidated by Natalie’s career or ambition. Their lives balanced in practically every way.

“I have to admit that my personal life is actually healthy. My boyfriend and I have been together for about three years now and things are pretty good,” her smile grew.

Derrick smiled back. “Don’t be ashamed of that; its’ a good thing to have someone you can be close to and close with. I’ve almost forgotten what that’s like,” Derrick made a face. “Anyway, let’s change the subject to something more interesting. Say, the new enhancement cameras we’ll be using soon,” he chuckled.

Natalie was curious, but didn’t want to make Derrick uncomfortable again, so she went with the change. They talked shop, traded college stories, and anything that didn’t have to do with their emotional lives. It was almost 11 o’ clock when Natalie’s cell rang and interrupted their conversation.

“Excuse me,” Natalie stood up, “I need to take this call”.

Natalie walked away, but it was obvious that she was speaking with Lloyd. Derrick watched Natalie’s body language and smiled and could see she was into the conversation. For a brief moment he lived vicariously through her although it was almost too much for Derrick to bear, especially knowing that in spite of his respect for her relationship, he found himself too taken with her to wait out her call. After a few minutes, Natalie turned to Derrick and raised her index finger indicating that he should wait. Reluctantly Derrick obliged the silent request.