“Ring. Come on, ring.” Dean sat in front of Terry’s phone willing it to spring to life. After sending all those flowers, Piper had to call. She just had to. He looked up at the clock and groaned. Piper had gotten the last bouquet at five o’clock, and it was now nine o’clock. Four hours, and she hadn’t called at all. Defeated, Dean dropped his head into his hands, letting his hair fall over his arms.
“Still no word?” He looked up to see Terry saunter into the living room. He was carrying a plate of food in one hand and a drink in the other. He sat down next to Dean on the couch.
Dean shook his head. “Nothing.”
“Well, maybe she hasn’t had a chance to phone you yet,” the plump, dark-haired man suggested as he set the drink down on the coffee table in front of him. He then offered the plate to Dean. “Here. You haven’t eaten supper yet, and Sarah makes the best fish in town.”
“Thanks,” Dean mumbled as he took the plate. He set it down on the coffee table next to the drink and stared at the phone again.
“You know, you staring at it isn’t going to make it ring,” Terry pointed out. When Dean didn’t answer, he just shrugged his shoulders and turned his brown eyes to the telly as he switched it on. It was time for Arthur’s Knights, and not even Dean’s sulking would keep him from watching Mary Fenton.
The familiar Medieval notes of the theme song to Terry’s favorite show drifted out of the set and filled the room. Dean tried to ignore it, but soon found himself drawn into the plot. It was one he had seen before, but it had been a while. Apparently, it was the episode where Sir Lancelot was trying to win Queen Guinevere’s affections. Whatever he tried didn’t seem to work, and Guinevere kept telling him that she was going to marry Arthur. It was her duty.
As the show continued, Lancelot tried everything, and nothing was working. Finally, he got an idea and found one of the servants. He borrowed the poor man’s outfit and served the king and queen dinner that night. While serving Guinevere her dinner, he slipped a note under her plate. She found it, and they met in a private room.
Dean leaned forward and watched Arthur’s first knight pour his heart out to Guinevere. She seemed to melt at his every word. He was glued to the screen and didn’t look away until the credits started to roll.
Terry, oblivious to Dean’s reaction, turned off the telly and stood up. He glanced at his friend’s untouched plate and shook his head. He snatched some of the chips off it and said, “You better eat this before it gets cold. Sarah wouldn’t like it.”
Dean continued to stare at the blank screen in front of him. “All right. I’ll finish it.”
Terry looked quizzically from Dean to the telly and back again. Once again, he shook his head and headed for the door. “I’m going down to check on things in the pub so Sarah can get some time off. Good night.”
“Night.” Dean barely heard the door close as Terry left the room. He was still thinking about the television show he had just seen and the idea it had just given him.
*************
Piper inwardly groaned the minute she saw the sign for The Village Café appear in the distance. She really wasn’t in the mood for the café that day. She wanted Italian, Chinese, anything but a deli sandwich. She glanced over at Emerson and noticed that he was completely oblivious. He was headed for his favorite restaurant, and he was happy and safe in his orderly world. She couldn’t stand it.
“Emerson,” she began.
“Yes?”
“Why don’t we try someplace different today? I’m in the mood for some Chinese.”
Emerson laughed as he pulled into a parking space. “Piper, you know Chinese upsets my stomach.”
Piper would not be defeated. “All right, then what about Italian?”
He turned his piercing brown eyes to her and sighed. “Why change a good thing? We’ve been coming here ever since we started dating.”
She frowned and quickly looked away. There was no way to make him understand so she just went along with him. Why waste her breath arguing?
Inside, Emerson led Piper to their usual table, and they ordered their drinks. When the drinks came, Piper rested her chin in her right hand and played with the straw wrapper. Before she knew it, she was taking it and tying it into a knot. She pulled the knot until the wrapper broke apart, and the knot fell out. She smiled to herself; someone was thinking about her. She looked up at Emerson to see him carrying on a conversation with their waiter. Obviously, that someone was not Emerson.
After she and Emerson ordered their lunch, Piper slumped in her seat. She was so bored. When did her life become so stagnant? She thought back to all of the flowers she received the day before and smiled. What Dean had always lacked in responsibility, he could always make up in spontaneity. Dean always had a way of making anything fun, even when he did mess up.
***************
“Forget it, Julia. I’m never going to see him again,” Piper declared as she slammed the front door and stalked to the couch. She sat down and crossed her arms in defiance.
“Why not? Dean seemed like such a sweetheart. What did he do?” Julia walked out of the kitchen and sat down beside her.
“He is such an inconsiderate, rude asshole! I sat at the amusement park and waited for two hours. He never showed.” Piper grabbed the remote control and turned on the telly. “I’m through with dating. I’m going to be a nun for the rest of my life.”
Julia laughed as she stood up. “You are not going to be a nun. Besides, I’m sure that he has a good explanation.”
“Yeah, right.”
Before Julia could make it back to the kitchen, the doorbell rang. Both flatmates exchanged surprised looks. Who would be at their door at ten o’clock at night? Julia crept over and peered out the peephole. Dean was standing on their front stoop, and he didn’t look too good either. His hair and clothes were ruffled and his left eye was black. He looked pitiful. Julia quickly turned to Piper.
“It’s Dean. Do you want me to let him in?” she asked.
“No.”
“Oh, come on. He doesn’t look so good, and I’m sure he’s got a reason.”
Piper glared at Julia. “Whose side are you on anyway?”
Ignoring her flatmate, Julia opened the door and invited Dean in. Piper just turned away and pretended he wasn’t there. She heard him thank Julia and then his heavy boots walk toward the couch. She felt him sit down next to her, but she refused to look at him.
“Well, I’ve got to go check my roast. I’m sure it’s burning,” Julia announced as she quickly fluttered into the kitchen.
The minute the door closed behind her, Piper tore into Dean. “Where the hell were you tonight, and what are you doing here?”
“I got caught up at work, and it turned ugly. I’m sorry. I got there as soon as I could, but they told me you had already left,” Dean pleaded.
For the first time since he had arrived, Piper glanced over at him and saw his black eye. She quickly became concerned but tried to suppress it. He had stood her up; she had to let him know she wasn’t going to take that.
When she didn’t answer, Dean spoke up again. “I’ve got a surprise for you. I know it won’t make up for what I did, but I really am sorry. Please, Piper, say something.”
The beseeching tone in his voice caused her to soften a bit. “What kind of work gets you a black eye?”
“Delivering a product that someone isn’t happy with.” His voice sounded so sorry and so upset that Piper couldn’t seem to hold onto her anger.
She relaxed a little bit and gently touched his eye. He winced a little, but let her look at it anyway. “Come on. We need to put some ice on that,” she said.
He followed her into the kitchen and sat down at the table. Piper placed some ice into a dishtowel and put it on his eye. Julia just continued to look after her roast. After a few minutes, Piper broke the silence.
“You’re not going to tell me what you were delivering, are you?”
“I can’t. I don’t want you involved.” Before Piper could respond, Dean quickly changed the subject. “I do have a surprise for you, though, back at my apartment. Will you come?”
Piper felt her strong resolve crumble as she looked into the one blue-green eye that wasn’t covered by a dishtowel full of ice. She agreed, and Dean leaped up from the seat, almost banging his head on the small chandelier above the table.
A few minutes later, she found herself standing outside his door, wondering what he had in store for her. Before he would let her in, Dean asked that she close her eyes. At first she said no, but he eventually talked her into it.
She felt herself being led into the apartment and sat down at a table. Then Dean told her she could open her eyes. When she did, she saw that she was sitting at a lovely table set for two. A white tablecloth was draped over it and a red candle sat in the middle. Directly in front of her was a single sunflower. She smiled as she picked it up, amazed that Dean had remembered when she told him it was her favorite. The whole place was beautiful, and she was completely surprised.
“You did this all for me?” Piper asked as she looked up at a grinning Dean.
“Of course.” He then produced boxes of Chinese takeaway. “And for our dining enjoyment tonight, we have Wang Kerr’s Chinese Takeaway.”
“Takeaway?”
Dean laughed as he set the boxes on the table. “Yeah, I kind of burned myself on the stove when I tried to cook earlier. I decided this would be safer.”
Piper laughed as she stood up and kissed him. “Thank you.”
He looked up at her with puppy dog eyes. “Am I forgiven?”
“Yes, just try not to let it happen again.”
“Deal.” With that, they sat down to enjoy their meal.
***********
“All right, who ordered the grilled chicken?” A male voice quickly pulled Piper back to the present, and she glanced over at Emerson to see if he had noticed she had been daydreaming. Apparently, he hadn’t. He was too busy looking up at the young man who held their food.
“I did,” he answered. The waiter placed the plate in front of him and turned his attention to Piper.
“I guess you got the roast beef.” He set the plate down and leaned close to her ear. “Too bad it’s not Chinese, eh?”
Piper’s eyes widened, and she looked at the waiter for the first time. The sea-colored eye that winked at her from underneath a hat was unmistakable as was the baritone voice. Their waiter was Dean! Her mouth dropped open. Before she could say anything, though, Dean slipped a note into her hand and quietly walked away.
She looked over at Emerson to see if he had noticed. He was too busy diving into his sandwich to notice anything. Curious, she opened the note and read, “Meet me by the bathrooms. Dean.” This was not happening. This just was not happening. She looked at Emerson again, then looked over towards the bathrooms.
This had to stop. Obviously, ignoring Dean wasn’t going to make him go away. She was going to have to tell him to leave her alone. Piper quickly folded up the note and stuffed it into her pocket. She took a sip of her drink, then excused herself from the table.
She sauntered back towards the bathrooms and disappeared around the corner. There was Dean with a huge grin on his face, standing by a large fake plant. Piper narrowed her eyes and trudged over to him.
“What do you think you’re doing here? Stalking me?” she demanded.
“Piper, I’ve missed you. I want you to see how much I’ve changed, how much I’ve grown up,” Dean tried to explain.
“You call this grown up?” Piper sighed and tried to pull herself together. “You have got to stop this. I am engaged to Emerson.”
“So? Just because you’re engaged doesn’t mean you can’t come see my surf shop.”
Piper closed her eyes and took a slow, deep breath. Her resolve was crumbling, and she knew it. She opened her eyes and looked into Dean’s sincere face. On the one hand, she knew she had to try and make him go away; on the other, she was starting to miss him.
“How did you get in here?” she calmly asked.
“My mates Tally and Barry helped me out on that one. They sneaked me in through the kitchen and let me serve your food. I owe them a couple of new boards anyway.” A slow smile crept across Piper’s face, and she couldn’t seem to stop it. Dean caught it and began to laugh. “Ah ha, there’s the Piper I used to know. I knew she was in there somewhere.”
“Dean, I appreciate all of this attention. I really do. But I can’t go to Cornwall. Not now. I’m spending the next two weekends with Emerson, and then we have our wedding. I’m sorry.”
Dean’s grin faded, and his eyes became stormy. “You’re still going to marry him, aren’t you?”
Piper nodded. “Yes, Dean.”
“And there’s nothing I can do about it?”
“No.”
Dean sighed and stood up to his full height. “All right, then. If that’s what you want.”
Piper gave a regretful smile. “That’s what I want.” She tentatively reached up and ran a hand through his soft hair. “Good bye, Dean.” With that, she turned and walked away.
~~~~~~~~~~
Dean stood next to the fake plant and watched her go. What was he doing? Why was he there in London chasing a girl he hadn’t spoken to in four years. Maybe Piper was right. Perhaps he should just pack up everything and head home.
As he considered the idea, he sauntered out into the dining room and watched the couple from a distance. Emerson was animatedly chatting on and on about something. As he spoke, he waved his hand in the hair and laughed several times. Just how he expected a wanker to act. He then glanced over at Piper and was surprised to see her reaction. For a woman who was determined to get married, she looked awfully bored. She slowly ate her sandwich and hardly seemed to be paying attention to her fiancé. In fact, it seemed like her fiancé was having a conversation with himself and wasn’t bothered by it. All of a sudden, a new thought appeared in Dean’s mind.
He couldn’t let her go. In reality, he had never let her go, and now was the only chance he had at winning her back. He realized that everything he had done – moving to Cornwall, learning to make boards, getting the surf shop – had not only been done for himself, but for here as well. Piper may have thought that this was over, but it wasn’t. Not by a long shot. He hadn’t come all that way just to see her marry some other guy. With his determination set, he put the cap back on and marched back over to their table.
“Is everything all right here?” he asked as nicely as he could.
Emerson smiled up at him, completely oblivious to who he was. “Of course, thank you.”
“Are you sure you don’t need another drink?”
“Why would I need another…?” Before Emerson could finish, Dean reached out and knocked over his glass of tea. The glass fell off the table, and the hot liquid landed right in the middle of Emerson’s lap, staining his expensive suit. Emerson immediately screamed and jumped up from his seat, furiously trying to wipe off the offending dark spot that was growing on his light grey pants. Piper stood up to try to help him, and her eyes met Dean’s. She glared at him accusingly, but strangely, there was no anger in her green orbs. Dean just chuckled as he winked at her and ambled to the door.
No, this wasn’t over. This was war.