Table For Two, Tag: Beau

July 2nd 2012 2:00pm

Leah wasted little time contacting Beau for lunch. Only five days had past since she’d first met him. He’d come in as a new client and left a friend. Today would be a bit more relaxed. There would be no partial nudity, just the two of them over a good meal. She’d left a text message on his phone asking him if he’d like to meet for pizza. Beau had agreed and Leah showered and dressed comfortably for her lunch out. She made a quick call to Josh at his office and left him voice mail telling him she was headed into town for lunch to meet a friend and that she’d see him later that evening when he got home.

They’d begun working things out and right now their marriage was working. Leah was happy, almost content and had no complaints. Her mood was lightened when she stepped into Mancini’s. She’d arrived before Beau, she looked around and didn’t see him seated anywhere. She was shown to a booth settled in the back along the wall. They’d have plenty of privacy in which to chit chat during lunch. Leah slid into the side facing the door and the rest of the interior of Mancini’s. She’d be able to see Beau when he arrived. Leah didn’t want to be surprised when he got there, if she was startled unexpectedly she’d jump and feel silly.

With a smile resting on her lips she nodded at the waitress that had arrived at her table asking if she could get her drink order. Leah informed the kindly woman that she was waiting a friend and when he arrived she’d order a drink. The woman glanced at her wedding ring then she winked and said she’d be back when her ‘friend’ arrived. Leah didn’t know what all that was about but she shrugged it off. She was in a good mood, nothing was going to ruin it and she was looking forward to seeing Beau again. They had a lot in common and she felt a connection between them. The door opened and her eyes snapped over to it, waiting eager for Beau to arrive.

Beau had just been at Mancini’s the night before to meet his future wife; however, when Leah called, he immediately agreed. There was something about her that he was attracted to. As a friend, she could easily be exactly what he needed. It helped that this time he would have no need to take his clothes off, and he was much more experienced in pizza getting than massage getting. It was funny to him that she had chosen the pizza place; Mancini’s being his ‘first date’ spot in Evergreen.

He had taken a taken a long lunch for work in order to meet up with her. He brought extra clothes along in his truck to change into. Beau changed then sprayed on some cologne to mask that ‘I work on cars’ musk he happened to get on hot days like this one. Running a little late, he sped the whole way to Mancini’s. Not surprisingly, he wasn’t a very good driver. His driving habits were speeding constantly, sharp turns, and constant road rage directed at slower drivers. He was absolutely convinced his truck could do anything, and if it couldn’t, he could fix it anyway.

Beau had this unfortunate habit of checking his watch. He did it multiple times on the drive over and was now checking it again. He looked up from his watch and saw Leah in the corner. He lifted his hand and sent her a light wave while walking over. ”Hey!” he greeted her excitedly while sliding into the booth looking across from her, "I’m so sorry I’m just a bit late.” He had a big grin on his face. ”Thanks for asking me to lunch.”

Leah lit up the moment she noticed that Beau had walked through the door. He looked so damned fine and her face froze for a moment. Where had that come from? It was incredibly inappropriate to think that way about a man that was a friend! But she was married, not blind and he was fine, surely nothing wrong in thinking it, she hadn’t verbalized it! Shaking her head and feeling quite ridiculous over it she lifted a hand at his wave to greet him in return. Leah sat up a little more straighter in her seat as Beau neared the booth she’d chosen for them.

She was already grinning from ear to ear before Beau had slid into the booth opposite her. She was just as quick to forgive his being late. Her eyes lit up with intensity. Already Leah viewed Beau as a friend. It was nothing more than that. He was someone that she was comfortable being around in and outside of the small parlor she ran. It came effortlessly talking to him. ”You’re fine, it’s cool. I’m just glad you were able to meet me.” At the moment there was no sign of the waitress that had said she’d be back to take drink orders.

Leah was fine with that, she wasn’t in a hurry but it was in the back of her mind that Beau had an hour for lunch and that included driving time from and back to work, she didn’t want him to be late on account of her. ”You have an hour for lunch right? I’d hate for you to get back late. We’ll hurry. Oh. I never asked what you do for a living?” Leah settled back comfortably in her side of the booth and kept one eye out for the waitress, ready to flag her down when she next saw her.

Just seeing her was almost like forgetting the night before. The entire restaurant was a different place in some different world just because of this girl. He had to continually mentally remind himself of his arranged marriage with Nicole, the sweet, pretty girl he’d met and connected with, but at the same time, it was hard to not concentrate mostly on the arranged part of that. Him and Leah were just friends. She laughed at his dumb jokes and would call every once in awhile. It wasn’t weird to go to lunch with an attractive friend, especially when they are, as previously mentioned, just a friend.

He smiled and shrugged a little, “I fix cars, pretty much.” He chuckled a little, “It’s not very glamorous, but I’m good at it. No need to hurry with lunch, I can be late. I got most of my work for today finished this morning.” He glanced around for a waitress or waiter: pretty much anyone who would give him a drink. The glancing only lasted so long before he was looking across the table at Leah, noticing her lit up eyes. He thought back to his fiancée and mentally repeated all of the ‘we’re just friends’ speech he had given himself when he sat down.

“How have you been the last few days?” He asked her with a genuine interest, “Are things getting better with your husband?” Talking about her husband would fix his problem, he was sure. She was married, and he was engaged. That was all there was, and he really did hope she was happy in that marriage. If not for her own sake, it was for his own.

Leah stretched her legs out underneath the table, getting comfortable while at the same time being conscious not to kick Beau. Her smile rested lightly on her lips as she watched him from her vantage point across the top of the table. The booth was a bit cozy but Leah refused to dwell on it. Friends! They were friends, two adults meeting for lunch and to talk, there wasn’t a thing wrong with it. Mulling this over in her head she pushed it aside and leaned forward in her seat to rest her hands along the edge of the table closest to her. Still no waitress in sight so she focused her attention on Beau and waited to find out what it was he did for a living.

”My job isn’t exactly glamorous either but I like it, at the end of the day that’s what really matters don’t you think?” She shrugged a shoulder while mulling that over. ”I’m horrible with cars but if I ever need help now I know who to go to. What got you into working on cars?” This was her chance to get to know more about Beau and what made him tick, so to speak. Leah tapped her fingernails on the top of the table for lack of anything else to do with her hands. She chuckled lightly at Beau’s getting his work done in the morning and leaving his afternoon free. ”Good idea. No one wants to have to feel rushed when working. Where do you work? What body shop?”

She thought it awfully kind of him to ask how her last few days had been and she had a ready answer for him. ”I've been really good actually. Josh, my husband and I have been making some progress. We’re getting along much better now. And you? Have you meet your fiance yet?” Getting engaged and then married was a big deal and she was interested in how the process was going for Beau and how he was dealing with it.

Beau leaned back in the booth and rested one of his arms on the top of the booth while the other tapped his fingers a little on the table. It was the classic ‘waiting guy’ stance. He glanced over and finally saw a waitress walking towards their table. She was friendly enough and asked them what they’d like to drink, he smiled, “Can I just get a water?” He wasn’t in the mood for soda, and it was far too early for him to start drinking beer.

He nodded, “Yeah, if you’re happy then any job is a great job, and I work over at Gun’s.” He ran his hand through his hair a little bit before he responded. People always felt bad for him when he actually told them why he worked on cars, and that was why he rarely told anyone. “I was going to play baseball in college,” he started, “But then I blew out my knee in my senior year, and all my scouts backed out. To get by, I worked on cars.” Shrugging, he tapped the table a bit more with his hands. He hated being a downer, and he immediately regretted saying anything after the words came out.

He brightened up a lot, hearing that her relationship was better. He flashed one of those genuine smiles that made so many girls weak in the knees. “I knew it’d get better! But yeah, I met my fiancée yesterday.” He smiled a little. He wasn’t sure how excited to be about an arranged marriage. In all honesty, he woke up this morning realizing once again that he could not be a husband and had a bit of a panic attack before calming down and pushing it to the back of his mind, at least until now.

Leah watched on silently as Beau got comfortable in his seat. He didn’t seem to be in too big of a hurry and it helped her to relax and worry less about the time they spent having lunch. Their waitress arrived and she waited until after Beau had placed his drink order before she placed her own. ”I’ll have a Dr. Pepper if you have it.” The waitress said that they did and Leah thanked her and turned back to Beau as she walked away to fill their drink order.

”Guns? Really. I’ve heard of it. If I have trouble with my car I now know where to take it and I’ll know it’s in good hands.” Her smile remained and she skimmed a fingertip over the top of the table closest to her while Beau enlightened her as to how he got into working on cars, and he had her full undivided attention. ”Oh god, Beau. I’m sorry to hear that. That must have been difficult. You’ve done well for yourself though. And lord knows we need people that know what they’re doing under a hood.” Leah wouldn’t want Beau to think for a single moment that she felt pity for him, she didn’t, but she hated to hear that he’d had to give up his dream.

”Thanks, I appreciate hearing that. It is better, all around better.” Her eyes widened and rounded and she quirked an inquisitive brow at him. ”And? What’s she like? Do you think she’ll make a good wife for you?” More questions thrown at him but in truth Leah thought very highly of Beau, perhaps too high, and she wanted to see him happy. ”If you’re uncomfortable talking about something so personal we don’t have to, I won’t take offense. I don’t mean to pry, Beau.” Leah gave a smile of apology just as their waitress returned to drop off their drinks and take their order. Leah waited until Beau had ordered before ordering a burger and fries.

Beau truly was in no hurry; he felt no need to be. He enjoyed spending time in Leah’s presence. The little work he had could wait for this lunch to end. He listened as she ordered a Dr. Pepper; he felt like he looked a little girly for just getting water. Sometimes, he had really high ambitions to be manly, but with this girl being his massage therapist, there was really no hope there anyways. “Dr. Pepper huh? Can you taste all 23 flavors?” he teased her just a little bit; it was all just playful.

“Yeah, of course, I’ll give you anything you need done on discount.” He smiled as he offered his discounted services to her. When he said discount, it pretty much meant he’d do the repairs himself for the price of next to nothing, and it would cost nothing if he did the repairs at home. He couldn’t charge people he cared for that much. It was just impossible. He shrugged a little as she apologized, “Don’t worry about it. It was a long time ago.” His inner shell just hadn’t cracked yet; he didn’t want to talk about all the things he’d lost. He was in no mood for that. He changed the conversation instead, “What about you, Leah, what got you into the massage business?”

Chuckling a little, he thought it was cute how curious she was. “Oh no,” he corrected her, “Don’t apologize, it’s totally fine.” He scrunched up his nose: the way he did when he really tried to remember and concentrate on something. He was trying to think of how to describe Nicole. “She’s really…” he searched for the right words the best he could, “Sweet, and innocent, and sensitive, and likes horses.” He shrugged again, not sure what to say. Would she be a good wife for him? It was a hard position to fill, and he honestly felt bad for her. She deserved someone so much quicker to love than he could be. “She could be a good wife, I don’t really know.” He flashed an uncertain smile.

Sitting across from Beau, Leah began to think of her own marriage and how rocky it had started, and stayed. Josh was trying but it was slow going and they still had their ups and downs. She sighed heavily but a smile remained on her lips so as not to give away the directions of her thoughts. Hearing Beau’s sweet voice pulled her back into their conversation. She wondered what kind of husband he’d have made then she was pushing that thought as far back in the back of her mind as she was able to. He was teasing her and she was eating it up. She was chuckling and shaking her head. ”I love Dr. Pepper but no, I don’t taste all 23 flavors. I feel now that I’m being jipped and not getting my money’s worth. Think I should complain to the makers?” she asked, teasing back in return.

”Really? That’s very nice of you. I really appreciate that. I’m horrible when it comes to keeping my car tuned up with oil changes. I once forgot to keep it up and my engine seized, my father was livid.” Her father still to this day reminded her of it and how irresponsible she was. ”I hate to see anyone, especially a man as nice as you are having to give that up. Can you not play for leisure? Hit a few balls? We could do that sometime if you’d like.” Then came Beau’s question about her own career. ”I didn’t care to attend University, much to my father’s displeasure, but I did meet a nice woman at the library back in San Antonio who was a masseuse. We got to talking and meeting up in the library twice a week and I learned from her. I make decent money at it and I make my own hours. And the best perk is I get to meet some really nice people.”

It was refreshing to see that Beau wasn’t feeling put off by her curiosity, some people were, actually a lot of people were. But he was a friend and didn’t seem to mind which had Leah smiling from ear to ear. It was sweet how Beau spoke of his wife. Leah couldn’t help but wish that Josh got like that when talking about her, if he talked about her. Her smile slipped a bit but she wasn’t frowning. ”She sounds like a really nice woman. I wish both of you the best.” It came as a bit of a surprise that Leah was disappointed hearing that Beau thought she’d be a good wife. Her own marriage was on the rocks, she wasn’t sure if Josh felt anything for her or not, she doubted that he did even if he was trying to better himself. ”Of course she will be. Take it one day at a time, that’s my best advice. May I ask why you're concerned? I can see on your face that you are. With Josh it’s been kinda rough but we’re trying to smooth it all out. But between me and you? I think that he wished he’d married someone else.” She laughed softly to mask the upset she felt then she shrugged her shoulder. ”That’s enough about me. I want to hear more about you. What do you do in your spare time when you aren’t working?”

He shook his head and pulled a pen and a scratch piece of paper from his pocket. “That’s it!” he pretended to be mad. He wasn’t a very good actor, so it wasn’t very convincing, but he thought he was funny. “I’m going to write them a letter!” He began to write, and read aloud what he was writing, “Dear company that produces Dr. Pepper, my friend cannot taste all 23 flavors. We demand a refund,” He looked up at her from his letter writing and smiled. “Anything you’d like to add?”

Beau laughed at her unfortunate car maintenance. “From hearing that, you should probably bring your car in for me to check out.” He had figured it was reasonable and not just an excuse to see her again soon. He grinned when she brought up leisure baseball, “That sounds great, we could even just play catch and I’d be excited.” He listened attentively as she answered how she got into her career choice. Neither of them went on to higher education, but sometimes the best teachers were experience and someone who actually worked. He smiled again when she said that the best perk was meeting people, people like him. “I know what you mean, I met my best friend through my job.”

She was a nice woman, and she didn’t do a thing wrong. If he could get himself to be a good husband, she’d be a great wife. In order for him to be a good husband, he would have to give up the ‘Beau’ lifestyle. Mostly, it was giving up girls. Girls like Leah, and Lena, and coffee shop girls like Fallon. Holy shit, what would he do in his spare time if he wasn’t hanging out with girls? He’d have to hang out with his wife. He suppressed all those thoughts for the moment, and nodded at her well wishes, “Thank you,” he scratched his scruffy chin a bit, “I know it sounds cliché and everything, but it’s really not her, it’s all me.” He shook his head at her thinking. How could anyone want to marry someone other than Leah? “I’m sure that’s not the case, but when I’m not out and about, I like to play guitar, I guess. I need to get a boat out on the water, do some wake boarding and whatever. What about you?” He kept it modest. It wasn’t like to him to declare himself the best guitar player or the best fisher and wake-boarder. He knew he wasn’t, so why act like he was.

Leah’s eyes widened in disbelief as Beau went through the motions of penning a note to the Dr. Pepper manufacturers. She was amused by him and laughed softly at his antics, her eyes crinkling at their corners while watching him. It wasn’t just his writing the note but his reciting back to her what he was writing down and the wording he was using. Leah came very close to snorting she was laughing so hard, so hard in fact that tears welled in her eyes. She waved him off then wiped at her eyes delicately with the backs of her hands.

”What a well written note! They’ll get the message, they can’t possibly ignore it! And yes I do have something to add if you don’t mind. Could you include that I’d like a years worth of free Dr. Peppers. That should get our message across don’t you think?” It was good to sit with someone and just laugh. Not have to argue or stress over what she was saying or doing wrong. It was very good. More chuckles left her lips as his suggesting she bring her car in to him. Leah nodded towards Beau in agreement. ”Yeah I think I’ll do that. How about Monday?” She was grinning from ear to ear. She imagined the two of them on a baseball diamond throwing a baseball back and forth and she felt a little fluttery sensation in the pit of her stomach.

”I’d love to throw a ball with you, Beau. Let’s do it! It’ll be fun.” Leah was already looking forward to it despite no clear cut date or non date being set. ”Did you? That’s cool. I met mine at the massage parlor,” she added softly, lifting her gaze to meet Beau’s, because she spoke of him being her best friend, and she felt he was. It was made clear that his impending marriage wasn’t on Beau’s list of things to chat about so she let it drop. ”Like I said, if you ever need to talk, about anything, I’m only a phone call away.” She smiled and sipped at her drink wondering when their waitress would be back with their food order. ”Me? I’m kinda boring. I like to read romance books, the real steamy ones are the best. I like to be outside, I like music. I’d like to hear you play sometime, if that wouldn’t make you feel awkward. Maybe you could teach me to play? I’m not very musically inclined, sadly.”

Beau laughed too; he was overjoyed that someone found his jokes funny. Most girls just laughed because he was cute, but Leah was legitimately laughing, and he was absorbing every last laugh or giggle she would give him. He agreed and nodded to show her he did. The message would most definitely be loud and clear. He continued to read aloud as he wrote: “Once you get your act together and create a drink with 23 distinct flavors, send a year supply of said drink to Leah Finne in Evergreen, Indiana.” He tapped his chin, looking for the perfect ending. “Oh, and don’t forget to name the drink after me,” he smirked and looked up at Leah, hoping for acknowledgement of how funny he was. “With lots of love, Beau Hedlund. Letter finished!” He grinned.

“Monday is perfect, and I’d love to throw a baseball with you too! It’ll be great to get out.” It had been awhile, and his pitching arm had lost a little spunk from lack of practice, but he was excited to get the fine-tuned baseball muscles running again. He looked up at her, realizing she had called him her best friend. Smiling, he shook his head, “You are far too kind to me.” Now he had more than just one best friend. He listened along as she talked, and chuckled a little as she talked about the steamy romance novels. She was probably the first girl he had met that would so readily admit to reading them. He nodded, “Sure, I’ll play for you, and I’ll teach you how to play. It’s not too hard, I promise.”

The waitress walked back up to their table. He had eagerly drank nearly half of the glass of water upon its arrival to their table so the waitress refilled it for him then asked them what their food order would be, he looked over at Leah, “Ladies first this time,” he insisted.

Leah found it hilarious that Beau was penning a letter to the manufactures of the Dr. Pepper company. He was going all out in his letter and Leah was thankful she wasn’t mid sip when he recited out loud that he was going to add to his letter, she’d have no doubt choked on her soda from laughing over it. ”Ya know on second thought maybe we should as that they make a special batch just for us. Make it 24 flavors since we’ve been robbed of 22 since they came out with the stuff. Add that in there,” Leah said comically while tapping her finger on the page that Beau was writing on. ”Wait. You shouldn’t sign it lots of love or they won’t take you seriously. You gotta be firm with these people to get your message across, none of that love stuff.” Leah snickered and sipped from her glass of soda, watching Beau amusedly.

She smiled from ear to ear when Beau agreed to meeting up on Monday to throw a ball around. It was no great adventure but Leah looked forward to it as though it were. She lowered her eyes to her soda instead of looking across the table at Beau. ”I was thinking the same thing. The weather should be nice, a good day to be outside. Unless you already have plans. I don’t want you to have to change your plans or anything like that.” Leah hoped he didn’t have plans already, he didn’t seem to. She so enjoyed her time spent with him, perhaps she enjoyed their time together too much. Leah was thrilled that Beau would teach her guitar. Her eyes lit up. ”Really? That would be so much fun. I’m not musically inclined but I could learn to be right? I’ll teach you the art of a good back rub in exchange. It’ll be an even trade.”

Their waitress arrived and Leah smiled across the table at Beau, he was such a gentleman. ”I’ll have two slices of pepperoni and that’s it for me thanks.” Leah looked to Beau and for him to place his order. She waited patiently and sighed happily, just sharing the same booth with someone she got along so well with. ”Allow me to treat us to lunch today? You can treat us next time?” Leah assumed that as they were friends there would be a next time, hoped there would be.

Beau grinned, “That’s a great idea!” he penciled it in, cleared his throat playfully, and read it aloud to her, “We also demand a special batch of 24 flavored Dr. Pepper, just for us. It cannot be released to the world. How does that sound?” He laughed a little to himself crossing out the ‘love’ in ‘lots of love’ and changing it to the word ‘seriousness.’ He thought that really gave it an extra edge of seriousness.

He was incredibly thankful to be throwing a ball around with anyone. Baseball meant more to him than any girl, other than his mother, ever had. He only had brothers growing up, and the five of those boys created hell for their poor mother. Every day of the week, any number of those boys would have a baseball practice, baseball team bonding, or baseball team game. “I don’t have any other plans,” he smiled with a glint in his eye, “And I’d cancel them if I did.” He nodded, even though he’d never actually taught someone how to play guitar before, he was definitely up for it. “If I can learn, you can learn.” He took a sip of his water then chuckled a little, “Fair enough, guitar lessons for backrub lessons.”

“If I could get three slices of supreme pizza and a serving of breadsticks with marinara sauce, that’d be great.” He chuckled a little, and was a little embarrassed because he ate a lot. He was a big man and had a man-sized appetite. When she offered to pay for the meal, he shook his head, “I appreciate it, but this one’s on me. I wouldn’t be much of a gentleman if you had to pay.” He flashed a charming smile then handed the waitress his debit card so he could cut Leah off from trying to pay.

Leah was grinning from ear to ear, she thought that Beau’s addition to his letter was perfect. An amused glint had entered her eyes the minute he’d begun writing and had remained there. ”That sounds perfect! It’s ready to mail out. I think they’ll see just how serious this business is and we’ll get all the free Dr. Pepper we can possibly stand. Goob job! All ne need now is an envelope and a stamp.” Leah had half a mind to send it to the Dr. Pepper manufacturers, if for no other reason that a fun practical joke.

She’d not expect Beau to cancel plans if he’d already had them but he fact remained that he’d said he’d cancel them, for her. Not something she could recall Josh doing for her in the short time that they’d been married. Not for the first time Leah worried that she’d been paired up with the wrong man. Of course she didn’t lend voice to that, Beau was a friend and getting married and she was already a married woman. ”You’re a really nice guy, Beau. I’m very luck to be able to call you a friend.” She was thrilled that he’d be willing to trade guitar lessons for back rub lessons, she was stoked. ”Looks like we have ourselves a deal. Though I don’t want to take any of your time away from your fiance. I don’t want to cause any trouble.” God knows she wasn’t a home wrecker.

Leah stared wide eyed at Beau and the amount of food he’d ordered. He was a man after all and she knew how men could eat! Her own brother had eaten enough for two grown men before his death. ”Someone is hungry,” Leah joked lightly, waiting for the waitress to leave them and put in their food order. Once again on her own with Beau she refocused her attention on him. ”Are you sure? I wouldn’t mind paying. So...maybe next time I’ll pick up the bill. Thanks, Beau.” Leah didn’t have many friends but she did count herself lucky to have at least one good one. ”May I ask you something? I am in need of a little advice and I’m kinda stuck. My husband, Josh? He works late, and I’d like to umm...entice him home a little earlier. I don’t know what to do. Any ideas? You know, from a man's perspective.”