Her Greatest Weakness

Some of the guests were starting to leave as the evening drew to a close. Emily and Pam walked into the foyer of the hotel together, having enjoyed a lot of delicious wine and food.

Suddenly, Emily heard someone calling her name. She turned around to see Byron walking quickly across the lobby towards her.

“Oh, here he comes,” Pam whispered, “I’m going to leave you two alone. I’ll just run to the ladies room.”

Emily suddenly felt shy because she could how strongly his attention was focused on her.

“I was hoping to speak to you again,” he said, “I can’t believe you’re leaving already. I am really sorry about the other night. It was so stupid of me not to realize that you would be put off by a strange man appearing at your house.”

“Thanks,” Emily said, “I really appreciate it. I should have known you were not someone like that.”

“I feel like a jerk,” he said, ruffling his hair in a nervous gesture. “After we had such a good time in the restaurant, I didn’t want to go back to my regular life. That’s why I was so unsociable in the limo. I was going to ask for your phone number, but then I thought maybe it would be too much, after everything you’ve been through. But later I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I had to see you again.”

Emily stared at him as she realized he was not just being polite this time. Byron was really interested in seeing her.

“Well...” she said, “you could have sent a telegram.”

He grinned, looking relieved, “I didn’t know there were telegraph stations still around.”

“I’m just kidding,” she said.

“I know.”

“Or you could have sent a letter by mail,” she suggested, giving him a slightly evil look.

“A letter?” he said, “What is this, the 19th century?”

“I like hand-written letters, though,” said Emily.

“In that case, I’ll write you a letter,” he replied. His lips were smiling, but his eyes were searching hers so intensely.

A few more guests emerged from the party, chatting and laughing.

“Did you and your friend have a good time?” Byron asked.

“Yes,” she said, “I wish I could take a dog. I imagine each of those pups will grow as big as a horse.”

“Do you like big dogs?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said, “they’re so goofy and friendly.”

Byron took out his phone and showed her a picture of a huge fawn-colored creature.

“I have a Great Dane,” he said, “Would you like to meet him?”

“Of course,” Emily said without thinking. This was definitely an excuse for a date, and he easily got her to say yes. He already knew her greatest weakness!

“Here,” he held out the phone, “You can type in your number, and we’ll get together soon.”

“What about... Christine?” Emily asked. But she was already putting her number into the phone anyway.

An annoyed look crossed Byron’s chiseled face.

“Christine and I are not together, if that’s what you mean. I brought her along as my date to help get more publicity for the charity, but we’re just on friendly terms.”

“She seems nice,” Emily said, trying to test his reaction.

“You’re joking, right?”

“Oh, so you noticed.” Emily couldn’t help but chuckle, “I kind of called her a snob, so you probably don’t want her to see you with me.”

“I don’t really care,” Byron said, “Although maybe it’s best if she writes something nice about the animal shelter. I should get back to her since she is my official date for the evening, but I’ll call you soon, okay? By the way, you look really cool.”

“Oh, thanks.” Emily felt a strong blush creeping up her face.

“I like those hair clips,” he added, “Did you make them?”

“Yeah, I did.” Emily was so pleased he actually remembered what she told him about her hobby of making hair clips. “And the dress too.”

“You are amazingly talented as well as beautiful.” His eyes devoured her in such a greedy way that her blush intensified even more.

After he left to return to the party, she couldn’t stop smiling. Pam got caught up talking to another guest from the gala, and Emily went to join her on the couches in the lobby, but then an older woman came towards her. The woman was maybe in her fifties or sixties, with wheat-blond dyed hair and blue eyes. She was impeccably dressed in a stylish metallic green blazer and skirt combo.

“Hi, it’s Emily, right?” said the woman, who moved with wonderful poise and grace despite her age, “I’m Sylvia Russel, Byron’s mother, and I wanted to introduce myself since you two seem to be hitting it off so well.”

“Nice to meet you, Ms. Russel.” Emily was caught a little off guard as she was definitely not expecting to meet Byron’s mother, who already knew her name. Emily recalled seeing her at the party, but why did she appear now so suddenly? Had she been hiding behind of the the big marble columns or just hovering nearby and listening in on their conversation?

“Please call me Sylvia. I couldn’t help noticing that you and Byron are great together. He seems to come alive when he’s talking to you. Forgive me for overhearing. I came into the lobby to talk to him, but when I saw you two together, the chemistry was out of this world, and I didn’t want to interrupt.”

“Well... I don’t know what to say.” Emily felt flattered, but she suspected there was something more to this conversation.

Sylvia studied her with blue eyes that looked so much like Byron’s. “I have an offer for you.”