When she was in deep thought, Tea managed to drown out every other sound and fully concentrate on whatever it was that was reeking havoc on her mind. Such was the case when Todd peaked his head inside her office, deciding to meet her at there, instead of the restaurant like they'd agreed. She did this thing, tilting her head and resting her hands against her forehead; her hands acted as the barrier between her brain and everything else around her. Todd loved to see her like that, so unguarded and so unknowingly beautiful.
Caitlin was surprised when Todd suddenly appeared, standing directly in front of her desk looking as uncomfortable as ever. She saw first, the dark shadow that moved over her crisp, white paper, making some of the letters difficult to distinguish. When she looked up, it was him with his hair dangling lazily over his shoulders and a ribbed shirt that accentuated his defined pectorals.
It took her a minute to recognize him because when she looked at him, she saw something different. She thought back to their first meeting and how dirty and utterly hopeless he looked. She felt sorry for him with his empty eyes and frail body, but since that first day, he had changed. He picked up some weight and his eyes were filled with life and an appreciation for the things that he cherished, namely Tea. Now, when he called the office for Tea, he was half-way polite, though still not conversational.
Tea had gone through an equally dramatic change. On the surface, she had everything but when people looked deeper, they could see what Caitlin saw, a woman who was deeply wounded by the hardships in her life. She used to work from early morning, to late in the evening, stopping to get a drink before she went home for the night. Caitlin felt a little sorry for her then, thinking it must be awful to not have anyone or anything to go home to. Now, looking at her, that sadness was still there, though not quite as visible. She left the office at a decent hour and when she came to work the next morning, she had a genuine smile on her face.
Once in a while, Todd would stop by the office with little gifts for Tea. Sometimes, he would nervously bring a bouquet of peach roses, others, he would send a driver to pick her up and whisk her off to some fancy restaurant. But whenever she saw him, she was reminded of a nervous teenage boy, chasing after his elusive crush. In fact, they both seemed to be a little nervous around each other, but so much happier together than apart.
Tea felt his eyes on her, caressing her body without touch, but she pretended not to notice. To have a man look at her the way Todd looked at her was something to be savored, something to appreciate. He didn't just look at her; it was much more than that. It was as if he was trying to glimpse her soul and become one with all of her. She knew he loved her, from the way he looked at her, the way he spoke her name and the way he breathed when he was around her and it was an amazing feeling to revel in.
"Workin' too hard, Delgado?"
She looked up at him, put down her pen and gave him one of the smiles her patented smiles. "Hey, you. What brings you here?"
She hadn't a clue how hard it was for him to be without her for those hours she claimed she had to be at work. Most days, he wanted to ride to the office with her, sit down on her couch and watch her the entire day. The little bit of restraint he had prevented him from smothering her too much. Now he knew what it was like for her when he would spend hours, days even, locked in his office at "The Sun," without so much as a phone call. At least in Llanview she had her own career, so there was something to occupy her time. In New York, he had nothing other than her.
He shrugged his shoulders and stuck his hands deeper in his pockets. "I don't know. Just wanted to see you, I guess."
"Todd Manning, are you saying you missed me?"
"I didn't say that, you said that."
She gave him another smile and raised a skeptical eyebrow. "That's too bad because I missed you. Are you going to continue to hold up the doorjamb, or are you coming in?"
He stepped in, quietly closing the door behind him. Even after all the time they'd spent together, he she still managed to make him nervous. There was nothing about her that should make him feel that way; she was the warmest person he'd ever known, but still, he was in love with her and didn't want to screw up what they had worked so hard to build.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothin'." He walked over to her and kissed her on the lips, lightly at first but it quickly escalated. Lately, he'd been having the same sexual urges he'd always had when he was around her, but they had become stronger. Not only were they stronger, the voices weren't around to discourage him. Now, when he kissed her, all he wanted to do was take it further and further, until he could melt into her.
"Wow! I wish you'd miss me more often."
"So, when are you getting' out of this place?"
"Why?"
"I just thought…maybe…we could…uh…leave early."
"O…kay," she said suspiciously, "just let me just wrap things up here."
*****
Todd made certain her calendar was clear for the rest of the week, though he didn't clue Caitlin in as to the reason. He wanted them to have some time away from the city and all of the distractions that came along with that. In a different place, there was no worry about past ghosts coming back to haunt them, if only for a few days, they would be totally free.
Caitlin was more than willing to help. She said she found it romantic, to which, Todd responded with a "whatever" and a roll of his eyes. As she moved around appointments, she thought of how lucky Tea was to have someone like Todd in her life. After all she'd heard and read about him, she expected some sort of loner type who lived to hurt others. Her preconceptions couldn't have been more wrong and the obvious love between he and Tea made her envious.
Tea let out a surprised yelp when she saw the limo parked in front of her office building. Immediately she knew something was up. She raised an eyebrow, but said nothing as she slid over to make room for Todd.
"I figured we'd travel in style today."
"I can see that."
It was apparent, as soon as they crossed over the bridge that they were going to the airport. Tea couldn't help but smile inwardly at Todd's romantic nature. He had been acting strangely ever since he stopped by her office and she now knew why. She cuddled closer to him, locking her arm with his; trusting him to take her somewhere special.
The car lurched to a stop, right near Todd's jet. One of the many perks of being rich and owning a plane was that you were driven straight to the doors. He got out first, extending his hand and helping her out. "You ready?" he asked.
"Yup."
*****
The plane came to a bumpy landing on the tropical runway. Tea clung to the arms of her chair, breathing raggedly. The turbulent plane ride was not a way to start out this vacation, but it did reflect the nature of their relationship. The fear of flying was something that had stuck with her from the time she was a little girl. With each successful take-off and landing, she said a silent prayer. With each day and night that she and Todd were together, she gave thanks to the Higher Power.
She still hadn't a clue where they were. Todd made sure to keep it a big secret; the only reason he divulged any information was when he presented Tea with a long, tropical skirt with a matching tank that tied in a neat knot, just under her breasts. Other than that, she was completely in the dark.
He looked over at her slightly trembling body and reached over for her hand. "You okay?"
"Yeah, a little nervous, but I'm fine. Now are you going to tell me where we are?"
"Nope, you'll just have to wait."
With a sigh, she closed her eyes and waited for them to get to the gate. The day was something out of a wonderful fantasy. How many people had the man of their dreams whisk them away to someplace in the tropics? As desperately as she wanted someone to do just that, it was hard to believe that he would ever reach a place so comfortable within himself that he could show her his romantic side. She thought she had to be the happiest and luckiest woman in the world.
"Mr. Manning, the car is waiting, just as you instructed," said the conspicuously absent stewardess during the flight who'd suddenly re-appeared.
"Okay." Todd withdrew a scarf he kept in his breast pocket and tried to cover Tea's eyes.
"What are you doing?" she asked, dodging his attempts.
"Come on, Delgado. If you want your surprise, you're gonna have to do it my way."
She resisted his attempts as he tried once again to blindfold her. It wasn't that she didn't trust him, it was that it reminded her of her father. Whenever she covered her eyes, it was to avoid seeing her mother punished for something she allegedly did. When she started to breathe a little roughly, Todd stopped but he was more concerned than frustrated.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing." She took a breath to make herself stop fighting this. What was in the past was over, her father wasn't there and he couldn't hurt her anymore. "Okay, I'm ready."
"You sure?"
"Yes. Just hurry up because I want my surprise."
*****
There was a place on the island that was very private and secluded. It jutted out over the ocean and at night, with all the lights, the city seemed like a giant, surreal dance floor. When they arrived, the sun was just beginning to set, giving everything within its reach an orangish glow. To himself, he had to admit, it was one of the most beautiful things he'd ever seen.
He didn't remove Tea's blindfold until they stepped onto the marble covered terrace. He took his time revealing the scene to her, enjoying her impatience as she bounced up and down in one spot.
"You're not in a hurry, are you Delgado?" he joked more than one time.
She twisted out of his grasp and he didn't fight her. He moved to her side so he could see the expression on her face when she first laid eyes upon their beautiful surroundings. "Oh my god!"
"So, you wanna eat here or-"
She playfully punched at his arm, and said, "Shut up."
There were no other customers around and the softest of music could be heard through discreetly placed speakers. The view was breathtaking, but what was even more breathtaking to Tea, was that she was here with the man who meant more to her than anyone else.
"I don't know about you, but I'm hungry." Todd quickly made his way across the spotless floor, over to the candle lit table in the center of the dining area.
"Wow, when did you have time to arrange all this?"
"It has nothing to do with time and everything to do with money." She joined him at the table, but not before placing a kiss on his cheek and another on his lips.
"Thank you so much."
"Yeah, whatever. So what do you wanna eat?" he asked, picking up his menu and pretending to read the words. He couldn't concentrate on them though; the letters danced around on the page. All he could think of was Tea and how she looked with her hair up and the smile that only came when he was around. "'Cause, if you don't see anything you want, we can have 'em go out and bring somethin' back."
"There's just so much to choose from."
"Well, if you want everything, we'll buy everything."
She giggled nervously, eyeing him over the top of her menu. She couldn't get over how good he looked. He was a beautiful man, but his eyes shone with a different light. It was the closest to happy she'd ever seen him, which made her all the happier. This was better than that childhood recurring dream, so much better in that this was real and something she could touch. He was real and what they had was strong and tough and could possibly last a lifetime.
Lifetime. It never occurred that something good could last longer than a few moments here and there. The life she lived didn't work that way. Happiness was always immediately followed by sadness; love was immediately followed by pain and so on.
"Delgado, you ready to order or not?"
She looked up to see both Todd and the waiter staring at her. She shook it off, cleared her throat and said, "Sorry, I must've drifted. I think I'll have the-"
"Lobster bisque with the spicy shrimp scampi pasta, and to drink she'll have a bottled water to go along with the bottle of Dom you're bringing us."
The waiter turned to Tea, who started at Todd in disbelief, for approval. He had a way of reading her mind and once again, he had done it. She nodded and kept her eyes on Todd the entire time while he ordered.
"How'd you know?" she asked when they were alone once again.
"Delgado, you don't live with someone for as long as we've been together without knowing what they like."
Her eyes widened in surprise that he would remember such a tiny detail about her. "I'm impressed Manning."
"You have low standards," he joked.
With each course they were served, the sun sank lower below the horizon. When it became too dark, with only the stars to light the sky, candles magically appeared around the perimeter of the terrace. Todd promised each waiter at the restaurant a hefty tip, if they made themselves invisible throughout the evening. The money seemed to have worked; it was really as if they were all alone.
They were both treading lightly, but as the evening progressed, the uneasiness was replaced with comfort. As the evening came to a close, things got quiet between them. It felt too good to be having dinner under the stars, looking over the city below with no signs of mosquitoes. It was almost too perfect.
Todd looked at his watch for the hundredth time that night, realizing that it was about time for them to leave. "You ready?"
After all Tea had eaten, she wasn't sure she could even move from her spot. She stretched and yawned, anticipating what Todd had in store for them next. "Yup"
He extended his hand for her and led her toward his next surprise of the evening.
