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Scene #45
Delia slowly swirled the tip of her tongue around the edge of her
spoon to lick the chocolate off its rim. "If you keep that
up, I'm going to embarrass myself right here," Frank groaned.
"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about." Frank
signaled the waiter before he replied, "I can think of a lot of
uses for chocolate and that hot little tongue of yours that aren't
appropriate for our current location. Would you like for me to
share them with you?" Delia's face flushed but she brazenly
answered, "What did you have in mind?" Their waiter appeared
at the table before Frank could respond. After passing over his
credit card and allowing the plates to be cleared, Frank paused
until the waiter had moved on before answering. "I'm not sure
you're ready to hear what's in my mind. It might shock you," he
teased. My thoughts might be too raw for a sweet little innocent
like you." Delia's spine stiffened. If only he knew what a
sore spot he had just hit! "Maybe," Delia slowly drawled, "I'm not
as sweet as you think." She watched Frank's eyes darken and a
faint hint of red swept over his cheekbones. Again, the
waiter's arrival prevented a response. Frank quickly signed the
check and then stood, throwing down his napkin and moving around
the table to help her stand. "Let's get out of here," he growled.
Delia rose on shaky legs. "I should have kept my mouth
shut," she thought, silently berating herself, as she felt the
tension in the air. Knowing it was too late to take back her
hasty words, she allowed Frank to lead her out of the restaurant.
Frank's first thought was to drag her to his car and drive
her straight home to demonstrate his ideas for chocolate. Even as
he did a mental inventory to see if he had the ingredient in his
pantry, he grasped Delia's elbow. He felt the fine tremor that
moved through her body. "Are you cold?" he questioned, although
he already knew the answer. "I'm fine," she replied though her
voice shook slightly. Outside, Frank paused. "Where did you
park?" His question was gruff but Delia was too nervous to really
notice. "In the side lot" Keeping a hand on her
elbow, Frank guided along the sidewalk, down the steps, and into
the parking lot which bordered the bayou and a small park. He
could still detect the fine tremors running through her body and
knew that despite her bold speech in the restaurant, Delia was not
ready to explore all the things that had flashed through his mind
as he watched her licking her spoon. "Do you have to go home
right away?" Frank questioned. Under his fingertips he felt her
muscles tighten and rushed on before she could reply. "I thought
maybe we could sit in the park a few minutes." Delia felt
her muscles loosen and the breath that had been trapped in her
lungs slowly exited her lungs. "I'd like that. It's been a long
time since I've been able to sit and enjoy the park." Delia picked
her way across the uneven parking lot and sat at the nearest bench
under a huge oak tree and waited for Frank to follow. She wasn't
sure what he was up to but he wasn't following up on the
conversation from the restaurant and for that she was grateful.
After taking in a lungful of air and trying to get his body
under control, Frank followed Delia and joined her on the park
bench. "So," he asked as he searched for a neutral topic, "Why
haven't you been to the park lately?" "What?" Delia was
surprised by his question. "You said you haven't been to the
park lately. I asked why not." Delia was silent for a
moment. Frank began to wonder if she would answer his question when
she quietly began to speak, pain shimmering in her voice. "It
reminds me of a time when I thought life was perfect." Her voice
broke. "I don't think I'm ready to talk about it." Frank
knew without being told that something traumatic had happened.
What he had thought would be a neutral topic had backfired and
inadvertently caused Delia pain which had not been his intention.
He scooted over and placed his arm around her shoulders. "Why
don't we not talk? Let's just watch the sun set over the bayou."
Delia relaxed into his body, grateful that he was not
pushing her to talk about her past. They sat side by side in
silence as the golden globe of the sun turned the sky into a
flaming waterfall which slowly gave way to indigo. As the moon
entered their view, Delia shifted and stated, "I really need to
head home. I have an early day tomorrow." As she tried to move
away from Frank, she felt his arms tighten. Her eyes flew up to
his face and met eyes nearly as black as the sky. "Damn but
you are so beautiful. You take my breath away." Frank leaned down
and touched his lips to hers. He pulled back to meet her eyes and
then came back for a longer deeper kiss. He heard noises in the
background but he was so focused on Delia that they didn't
register. All of a sudden, a bright light exploded into his face.
"Police! Don't move!" was shouted by an unseen voice behind
the light. Frank looked around. "Wow! I knew when I kissed
you lights exploded but I didn't realize they were police car
lights." "What's going on? Delia stuttered, caught between
arousal and fear. "I don't know babe but I have a feeling
it's not going to be good."
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