21 Tales by Dave Zeltserman Read Free Book Online Page B

my food came to five dollars and seventy-four cents. When she turned to take another customer’s order, I dropped twenty dollars next to my plate and left the diner.
    I had several sales calls to make before leaving Wichita. It was at the first one, The People’s Credit Union of Wichita, that I spotted her. I had an appointment to talk with the operations manager about switching their business to us, but I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw her. According to the plaque on her desk her name was Lena Hanson and she worked as a loan officer. She was sitting down so I could only see her from the waist up, but that was enough to know she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen or was ever going to see. For a long moment I stood there lost in her golden hair and green eyes and perfect soft lips, watching as she absent-mindedly chewed on the end of a pen.
    She sensed that I was staring at her. As her eyes caught mine, at first there was nothing but a slight frown, then I could see the recognition hit her.
    Dammit, she knew Dave Stevens. Dammit!
    I wanted to bolt, pretend I never saw her, anything as long as I wouldn’t have to stand there and watch her hate me – or at least hate the person she thought I was. But I couldn’t move. It was like my legs had turned into bags of wet sand and I had no strength to move them. So I stood frozen, dreading what was coming, but unable to look away. The hatred never came, though. As the recognition drained away, it was replaced by something more like surprise, maybe even fear. She seemed to freeze up, her color dropping several shades. Then, looking around to see if anyone was watching us, she stood up and came out from behind her desk. As I looked at her I realized she was even more beautiful that I had at first imagined. Her body was damned near perfect. Thin, athletic, but with all the right curves. And those legs, Jesus, I felt my mouth grow dry as I looked at those legs.
    Moving cautiously, she walked over to me, stopping about two feet away. “How… what are you doing here?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
    There was a faint smell from her, something like magnolia blossoms, at least that’s what I would’ve imagined magnolia blossoms to smell like. I wouldn’t have been able to move away from her if my life depended on it. Not if you’d put a knife to my throat. Over the pounding in my head, I heard myself telling her that I had to see her, that I couldn’t leave things the way we had left them before.
    Fear flickered for a moment in those heart-stopping green eyes. “Meet me tonight at Maloney’s. Seven o’clock. We’ll talk then.”
    She glanced around to check whether anyone had noticed us, and then walked back to her desk. She seemed like some fragile, beautiful porcelain statue as she sat staring intently at her hands folded in front of her, her face tense, unmoving. I watched her for a long moment and then turned and left the office. I didn’t stop until I got into my car.
    I sat there feeling shaky inside. After taking a few deep breaths, I called the manager at the credit union whom I was supposed to meet and told him I had to cancel our appointment. He didn’t much care. There was only a small chance he would’ve switched his business, anyway. After hanging up, I closed my eyes and thought about Lena Hanson.
    I had never pretended to be Dave Stevens before. I didn’t intend to with Lena either, but the words just came out of me. Of course I could’ve gone back in there and told her who I really was, but I didn’t. I had to meet with her. I had to somehow have a chance with her. The thought of doing anything else was suffocating. Later I’d figure out a way to set things straight between us, but until that time I would be Dave Stevens. I had no choice.
    With the way I was feeling I knew there was no point in going through with any sales calls, so I cancelled the rest of the ones I had that day. I couldn’t keep from thinking about Lena,