Chapter 4

The shop was filled up by evening with teenagers and adults coming in. Brandon watched Beth weave between customers like a pro, with that smile on her face. She looked very happy to be of assistance. Actually happy. How many people did he know, who were genuinely happy to help? Beth couldn't help but watch out for Brandon and that annoyed her. He was supposed to go but he wasn't leaving. The fact that he'd said he was waiting for her, made her feel responsible for him. What he ate, where he sat, if he was feeling disturbed in any way and all of that. She felt responsible for him. What irked her even more was that Jackie had showed up, but had gone straight to Brandon and began talking to him like he was the YIN to her YANG. Due to the inflow of customers, Beth had to stay later then intended and all the while, Brandon watched her selfishly. 

She sighed as she turned the sign and stepped out with Brandon, locking the door. Her small phone showed that the time was 10:25 p.m. 

"You look tired," he noted.

She nodded weakly."Working tends to do that to you."

They started walking down the road.

"Where's your car?" He asked, honestly looking around for a car. When she said nothing, he turned around to see if she'd maybe left, only to see her standing there, with a look of amusement on her face.

"Nice one," she chuckled and kept walking.

He frowned slightly, "I'm not joking, Elizabeth."

She frowned, looking at him like the words goat milk was painted on his face.

"I could barely afford clothes and you know that. What makes you think I have a car?"

He blinked at how carelessly she'd said it, feeling bad.

"I'm sorry, i-"

She waved him off and continued walking. "It's okay."

They got to the junction and she stopped. She looked at him with expectant eyes and he returned the look, except, he looked confused.

"Well, goodnight," she bade.

He frowned. "How will you get home?"

"I'll walk," she said, without missing a beat.

"What?"

She began to laugh. "You should get going." 

She turned but his voice stopped her, "You want to walk home by this time?"

All she did was look at him with a gentle smile on her face, like she was watching a new born baby get used to the world.

"How about I drop you off?"

"No!" Came her response, so sharp, he felt like she'd slammed a door in his face.

He frowned.

She groaned. 

"Brandon, you have disturbed my day enough already. Go home. Don't worry, I got tips-most of it being from you." She narrowed her eyes at him, remembering how he'd sent a not do discreet Evan to drop a wad of dollars in her bag. His expression didn't change. 

"I'll take a cab." 

"No, you won't."

"And so what if I don't!? Why do you care!?" She rose her voice, frustrated with him. He cared. Maybe more than he should. He didn't want to know why though.

She sighed, calling her frustration back under her sleeves. "Go home, Brandon."

She began to walk away. He watched her go, finally wondering why her departure made him feel.... sad.

Beth heard his footsteps behind her and stopped walking. Taking a deep breath, she threw her hands in the air and muttered, "Quanta frustrazione in un giorno." So much frustration in one day.

She turned to face him, eyes alive with slowly building anger.

"Brandon, I'll ask you again. What do you want?"

He wanted to talk to her and keep talking to her. He wanted her to laugh with him. He wanted to be around her. He wanted and wanted and wanted and it was scary. Too much too soon. Too much. Just then, like a freaking siren, the bet popped back into his head, causing him to grit his teeth.

"Fuck," he whispered.

"Excuse me?"

"A date." He stated. Not because of the bet. He... He wanted to go out with her. His wants weren't foreign to him. This level of need, was. Worst part, she was like the well, calling to his pail of need to draw from her. 

"A date!?" She sputtered, confused to the bone.

"Yes."

"With me?" She asked again, thinking him mad. 

He nodded. 

She tilted her head to the side, squinting at him. He could all but taste her confusion, but he found her mannerisms cute. He took a step closer.

"Just this one time. Let that be my compensation for the amount of times Betty tried to jump me."

For the life of her, she laughed.

He smiled. That sound.....

"Why?"

"You fascinate me," he stated. His words were so simple, yet, so complex.

"How?"

"Come out with me and you'll see."

"No."

"I'll come by the coffee shop everyday till you agree."

She narrowed her eyes teasingly, thinking he was joking.

He kept a straight face. Seconds turned to a full minute but his expression didn't change. Her smile dropped.

"You're serious?" She asked, sounding like it was pure hell.

He nodded. "Yes."

She suddenly narrowed her eyes. "Are you threatening me?"

He blinked, lowered his eyes down to her feet, took a step closer to her, making her feel aware of just how small she stood in front of him and she was a whole 5 feet and 7 inches. His eyes met hers. She felt her heart begin to race and grimaced. What was that?

"Just one date?"

He nodded. "Yes."

"And you'll leave me alone?"

No woman had ever wanted to be away from him so desperately. It picked at him... But he nodded.

"Yes."

"Okay."

His lips suddenly curled up in a small smile. When he began to bend, her eyes widened and she made to step back but he caught her hand and pressed something into it. She couldn't look down to see what it was because of how close his face was to hers.

"I saw you give all your tips to Betty." He said, his warm breath seducing the shell of her ear. 

"Use this to get home and sleep tight," he ended. She almost flinched when his lips touched her cheek. Her heart began to pound. 

He stood up straight, staring down at her like he was trying to see into her. It was getting harder to control her breathing.

"This is for being a sweetheart," he said, then cupped her face and kissed her forehead. Beth's eyes roamed wildly as an unconscious look of fear sat on her face. He saw it. 

She didn't know how to respond to being touched... Hmm.... Why? He saw that she wasn't quite a fan of it either. That made him all the more curious.

"Goodnight, Elizabeth."

She watched him walk away, pink in the face. He got into his car and drove off. She was still standing there, wondering just what in the name of sugar cubes had happened. 

Later that night, Beth lay on her bed with both her hands under her cheek, thinking. Brandon.... He wasn't so bad.... Why... Why had he been so interested in her though? Was he up to something? Or did he just want to be friends? 

Brandon lay in his bed with both his hands underneath his head as he stared at the roof. The day hadn't gone badly at all. He could remember times when she'd look at him and a cute crease would appear on her small nose as she huffed at him in frustration. How her eyes openly expressed how she really felt and how they'd showed her desperation to get rid of him. He was beginning to want things again. Looking to his phone as it's ringing interrupted his thoughts, he reached for it and checking the caller id, answered.

"Hello, Margret."

"Good evening, sir." 

All he did was hum.

"Mr. James came by today. Since you were out of the office, I scheduled a meeting with him for tomorrow morning."

He waited but she said nothing more.

"You called me by this time of the night to tell me that?" He couldn't help sounding snarky.

"Th-the director of oil and gas, Mr. Hyukushi, would also like to have a meeting with you."

Brandon was a hand through his hair.

"You realize that you could have told me these things tomorrow at the office?"

"I-i'm sorry-"

"Don't worry about it, Margret. Thank you for informing me."

"You're welcome, sir."

He nodded once, not that she could see him, and ended the call. So much to get done, yet, his date with Beth was at the forefront of his mind.

Beth had arrived a little late to work the next morning. She'd woken up later than she had planned to and after talking with her mom some, she'd made her way to work. What Brandon had pressed into her hand the previous day had been money and she had been too frazzled to check as soon as he'd stepped away from her. She had felt wrong for taking his money and the guilt only intensified when she walked for a while before concluding that she couldn't walk the other mile home. She was too tired. Maybe having money to transport herself had made her lazy? She'd counted the money while in the cab and realized that he'd given her a thousand dollars. Who kept that much in their pockets? Wasn't that a bit too much for a cab? 

As she wiped down tables in the afternoon, she wondered how he was going to contact her. He didn't have her number or anything. She'd caught herself watching the door at different times already. 

Frustrating.

 It was frustrating to find someone frustrating, but want for their presence. It was frustrating to not be able to understand why. As she righted a chair she'd mistakenly pushed aside, she heard,

"Elizabeth."

And stopped breathing. It was him. She turned to see his ocean blue eyes staring down at her with a smile on his face.

Waking up this morning, she had been the first image his mind had conjured up. His eyes trailed down her fit. She was wearing her work polo but this time, with a blue jean skirt and black flats shoes. The strangest urge to hold her took over him but he curbed it quickly. Maybe he was just sex starved. He need to get laid and he needed to get laid quickly.

"You're here again?" She squeaked out.

"In the flesh." He said, giving her a full smile. She tried her best to gulp discreetly, and lowered her eyes. Her heart was racing again.

"Do you want to eat something? Let me drop this and take your order." She made to move away but he spoke up,

"No. I'm not here for food."

"Oh?" She tilted her head to the side, with a small frown on her face. "Why are you here then?"

"We have a date, remember?"

Oh! Yeah. That... "And?"

"Are you ready?"

Her eyes widened, "What?! Now?" He couldn't be serious.

"Yes," he nodded.

Her mouth opened, closed and opened again. She was taken by surprise.

"I-you see that I'm working, right?" 

Before he could speak, she heard a voice behind her and turned to face Jackie.

"Did you just say I should go?" She asked in shock.

Jackie nodded.

"With him?" Beth asked, darting her thumb backwards at Brandon, needing to confirm that she was hearing right.

Once again, Jackie nodded, smiling at her. In her confusion, she watched with an open mouth as Jackie winked at Brandon, and turned back to catch Brandon's wink back. What sorcery was this?!? 

"But Jackie, rush hour is-"

"Going to be fine without you. Here's her bag." Jackie said, handing over her hobo bag to Brandon, who took it, went to take Beth's hand and began pulling her out of the shop, while saying his goodbyes to Jackie. Beth's eyes widened when she saw the machine he drove. He opened the door and it went up. Up! With his hand in hers, he helped her into the low car, dropped her bag with her and went to the other side of the car. He got in to see a cute frown of displeasure on her face. As he shut the door, she began.

"Brandon, i-"

Her words ceased when he leaned over and kissed her cheek. Then sat back and looked at her. "Yeah?"

Her cheeks flushed. She huffed and crossed her arms, looking at the road in front. She felt his eyes on her and after a while, she turned to him to find a rather fond smile on his face. She grimaced at him.

"What?"

He chuckled lightly, then leaned over and stretched out his hand. Beth froze, watching his every move. He came really close, but quickly pulled back as his hand got a hold of her seat belt and helped her secure it. He did his own and started the car. The sound of the engine had Beth's eyes widening. A machine!

As they started down the road, she couldn't keep her eyes off the ground and the dashboard, wondering how it felt like they were hovering above the earth, yet, zooming on it at the same time. She felt so close to the ground. Like she would drop any second. As her eyes perused the luxurious and robotic interior for the umpteenth time, she asked,

"What kind of a car is this?"

He glanced at her, saying, "It's a McLaren F1."

Her brows rose. "I heard of it once. It's a very powerful car."

He smiled at her innocent curiosity, "That, it is."

"How do you know Jackie?" She asked.

"I don't."

Her eyes narrowed. "What did you just say?"

The tone of her voice caused his eyes to dart in her direction. She had a scary look on her face.

"You don't know Jackie from anywhere?" 

Careful with his tone, he said quietly, "I don't."

"You mean to tell me that Jackie booked me off to a total stranger?" 

"I'm not a stranger, Elizabeth. I'm your date for the day."

Sighing and rubbing at her eyes, she sat back, looking out the window. After a while of silence, she felt lighter. Watching everything zip past as they sped down the road, made her smile. She looked to him.

"Where are we going?"

He looked at her smiling face, and had to remind himself to look back at the road.

"Where do you want to go?"

"Stop here."

He frowned. "What?"

"Stop the car here, please." They were two streets away from her house.

He slowly stopped, looking confused.

As he turned to her to ask her what he'd done wrong, he caught the shy smile on her face and felt himself relax a bit.

"Can I pick?"

"Where you want us to go?"

She nodded.

"Sure."

"How about the beach?"

He saw the way her eyes widened as she suggested it.

"The beach?"

She nodded again, more enthusiastically. He watched her pony tail sweep the headrest of her seat as she nodded.

"Please, Brandon, I haven't been to the beach in a very long time," She implored, looking pleadingly at him with her big brown eyes. She was literally fidgeting in excitement and anticipation, the little nymph. How could he refuse her? 

She grabbed his arm, "C'mon please? I didn't say no to your forced date." She pointed out.

He laughed. "Fine." 

Her smile was worth it. He felt happier being the one to make her smile.

"Hold on, I'll be right back." With that, she scrambled out of the car and figured out how to close the door before breezing off. Where was she going? He watched her go, staring at her shapely legs through the windscreen. Beth barged into the house, making Sarah jump in shock.

"Oh my word, ELIZABETH!"

Beth winced. "Sorry, mamma." She pressed a kiss to her cheek before running for the stairs.

"Beth, why are you back so early?" Sarah called after her.

"I have a date!" Beth called back, pulling off her clothes and running into the shower. 

"A date?" Sarah mumbled to herself with a smile of wonder on her face.

Beth took a quick shower and slipped into a sweetheart necklined white dress with cup sleeves, having a fitted bodice that descended into lovely loose pleats at the waist, ending just above her knees. Fastening the only necklace and bracelet she owned around her neck and wrist, she pulled her hair into a rough bun, put on her pin earrings and put on the white and brown fluffy flip flops she'd bought only a while ago. Smiling to herself in her mirror, she smattered on a light coating of lipgloss over her lips and realizing she left her bag in Brandon's car, she splashed some perfume on and went down the stairs.

Sarah gasped upon seeing her, and pressed a hand to her chest.

"My beautiful girl. I knew this dress was made for you the second I saw it at the mall."

Beth smiled widely. "You think it's okay for the beach?"

"Yes. You look wonderful, my girl. Why don't you ever let your hair down though?"

Beth just shrugged and pulled Sarah into a hug. 

"Gotta go mom. Please, take care of yourself and take your medicines okay? If you have any problem-"

"Call me," Sarah recited along with Beth, rolling her eyes. Beth groaned, "Mamma, I'm serious."

"I know. I'll be fine, honey. You'll tell me all about this guy later. Now, go."

Beth smiled at her and after one last look around, went out the door. She walked quickly, trying not to keep Brandon waiting much longer. 

Where is she?

The only question on Brandon's mind. He didn't enjoy waiting, most especially when he was waiting without a clue, which brought up the question of why he'd waited for her the previous day. He sighed, admitting to himself that whatever it was that caused him to let her to get under his skin so bad, it wasn't letting up. He was about to get out of the car when he caught a glimpse of something white and looked again. A gracious figure was strolling in his direction. As he narrowed his eyes, the figure became clearer. His breath caught in his throat. Beth.... She looked absolutely stunning. She got to the car and got in and all through her apologies, he couldn't say a thing. He was transfixed. The white dress reminded him of a lilly flower. Beautiful and enchanting in all it's simplicity. 

"Brandon?" She called out with a worried frown on her face.

He blinked. "Yes?"

"Did you hear me? I said-"

"It's okay, Elizabeth." He wanted to kiss her. "You look wonderful."

The way he breathed it out, like he wasn't capable of saying anything else. She blushed and smiled. "Thank you."

He still kept staring. 

She frowned again."Brandon?"

He cleared his throat. "You ready to go?" 

She nodded, still looking him with worry. Was he maybe offended? 

He forced his eyes away from her and started up the engine, sending a wave of excitement through her.