Let's Play, page 4
This is glorious!
Gabriela knew then and there that she wanted to do this, learn this. And be part of this world. The only other time she remembered feeling the kind of thrill she was feeling now was when she was on the dance floor.
The circle disbanded, and then the group members started giving each other hugs. Beginning to feel a little self-conscious, as she didn’t know anyone except Sean, she started backing away, heading back to her chair.
‘Gabriela!’
She heard Sean shout her name above the now boisterous school. He indicated with his hand for her to come over to where he was standing with Mestre Escorpião. She went over.
‘This is my friend Gabriela, whom I was telling you about,’ he said to the Capoeira Master.
He told his Mestre about me?
Mestre Escorpião greeted her with a smile and gave her kisses on both cheeks.
‘Very nice to meet you,’ he said. ‘Did you enjoy the class?’
‘Oh, definitely! I’d love to come back and try it sometime if that’s alright?’
He was tall, though not as tall as Sean. He was also tanned, with short black hair. He was also most definitely from Brazil. That accent was unmistakable.
‘We’d love to have you. Anytime,’ he said.
The Capoeira master chatted with her amicably for a few minutes as Sean went to get his gym bag. He was very charming.
Then it was time to go. She walked with Sean back out to the corridor.
‘Are you hungry?’ he asked.
‘Starving!’ And she was. She’d only had a little piece of toast for a late breakfast.
‘Great! How about we go grab something to eat?’
‘That sounds good.’
‘Do you want to wait for me by the main entrance while I go get changed?’
Then he touched her again on her shoulder and started heading in the direction of the changing rooms. She went to the main entrance as he’d suggested and then sat while she answered some text messages from her friends.
◆◆◆
Sean stepped out of the changing room shower and towelled himself off as quickly as he could. He didn’t want to keep Gabriela waiting too long. It made him happy that she’d come. Seeing her again, in general, made his stomach flip. From the crown of her curly black hair, to the way those skinny jeans hugged her waist, to the soles of her dainty feet, she was beautiful. When he saw her waiting for him outside the class earlier, he was glad that his anxiety that she might not turn up was not well-founded. He realised that a part of him really needed her to be there today for some reason.
Now, having her wait for him right in this building made him feel happier than he’d felt in a long time. He pulled on his shoes, grabbed his gym bag and headed to where she was waiting for him.
There she is!
She sat crossed-legged, fully absorbed in her mobile phone. That gave him the opportunity to observe her candidly. At that moment, her brow was knitted, as if confused by something she saw on the phone screen. Then her mouth perked up on one side, like she was thinking about what to type. He wanted to learn all of her little quirks.
As if she sensed him coming, she looked up and smiled.
Now that’s a smile I could get used to!
‘What do you feel like eating?’
‘I’m not too fussed. I’m sure I’ll be fine with whatever you usually eat,’ she said happily.
‘You might regret saying that,’ he warned playfully. ‘Do you like Thai?’
‘Love it!’
‘How did you get here? Did you drive?’
‘No, no. I wasn’t up to driving into Central London on a Sunday, so I took the tube.’
‘Good. I have my car here so I can take us to the place I was thinking of… if you don’t mind,’ he hesitated.
Just before they stepped outside, she said, ‘Why would I mind?’
‘Well, we only met a couple of days ago. I told you before that I would never want to do anything to make you feel uncomfortable.’
She gave him a bright smile. ‘Strangely enough, you’ve made me feel nothing but comfortable. But, thank you for being such a gentleman.’
That elicited a chuckle from him. ‘You think I’m a gentleman, huh?’
She was right about him of course. He was raised to always treat women with respect.
He held her gaze for a few more seconds by the door.
‘Yes, I do.’ Her tone was a little more serious this time. She meant it.
He led her to where he had parked his car around the corner and deposited his bag in the trunk. He drove a recent model, navy-coloured BMW, which he loved. It was spacious, with cream leather seats.
‘Nice,’ he heard her say, almost under her breath. She didn’t voice it louder, so he didn’t raise it. He drove her to one of his favourite Thai restaurants. It was only about ten minutes away.
‘Good afternoon, Mr. Lancaster,’ the host greeted him by name. ‘Table for two?’
This seemed to surprise her as her head whipped around to him with a question in her eyes.
‘Hello Yok. Yes, for two.’
Then, to Gabriela, as they followed the host to their table, ‘I’ve been here a few times before.’
When they were seated at their table, he could see that she was now biting her bottom lip and there was a shadow in her eyes. Her forehead was also now slightly knitted. He could tell that her demeanour had changed.
He quickly added, ‘I’ve brought business associates here before.’ An unspoken message passed between them. ‘They have a large private dining room upstairs for corporate clients.’
He watched as the shadow slowly disappeared, and her face seemed to relax again like it was before. The last thing he wanted her to think was that he’d brought her to a place he took other women to. And by the way he saw her react, he knew that’s exactly what she’d thought.
After they were handed their menus, she said, ‘What’s good?’
‘Everything!’ And he wasn’t exaggerating. He loved the food here. ‘What do you fancy?’
‘How about fish?’
‘Do you like salmon?’
‘Love it!’
‘Rice or noodles?’
‘Noodles’
He had the perfect suggestion for her. She readily agreed to pan-fried salmon in tamarind sauce with Pad Thai. As it was one of his favourite selections, he had the same. They also decided to share some dumplings.
‘I love tamarind. As a kid, whenever my parents took me back to their islands, we always went stalking the food markets looking for the best fruits. Tamarind was one of my favourites.’
Her statement piqued his curiousity. ‘And which islands are those?’
‘My father is from Cuba. He came here to study over three decades ago and never returned, except for vacations of course.’ She said this with a chuckle.
‘I bet he must have met your beautiful mother and decided he was never leaving.’
At that, another shadow crossed her face. But this one was different. This one was filled with sadness.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘If that’s not something you want to talk about, I understand.’
She swallowed and then her smile slowly started coming back to her face.
‘It’s okay… really.’ She seemed to want to reassure him. ‘You’re right, actually. After he met Mamá, he refused to move back. How did you know she was beautiful?’
‘I assumed that’s where you got your looks from.’
Her eyes widened at the meaning in his words, and then he saw the blood rush to her cheeks. He could see that what he’d said pleased her. He quickly realised that that was all he wanted to do… please her. Whether it was with his words or with his body. All of it.
She cleared her throat and then went on. He could see that she did not want to address his compliment, and he let it pass.
‘My maternal grandparents came here in the late forties from Trinidad. Mamá was born here. And…’ she hesitated. ‘And died here too. Four years ago…’
He saw the hand that she had on the table shake. He instinctively took it. Any comfort that he was able to give her, he wanted to.
‘I’m sorry to hear about your Mom, Gaby,’ he said as he caressed her hand.
She gave him a small smile. ‘It’s alright. I need to get used to talking about her.’
He nodded. ‘Also… do you mind that I called you Gaby?’
‘It’s okay.’ Her smile was a lot brighter this time. ‘Actually, a lot of my friends call me Gaby. Don’t ever let my father hear you calling me that, though. He hates when people call me that. He’s a little sensitive.’ She laughed. Clearly a memory was playing through her head.
‘Noted!’ He realised that he was still holding her hand and let her go.
‘He used to say, “That’s the name your mother gave you, so that’s what people should call you!” Never mind that he almost never called Mamá by her given name.’ She smiled at the memory.
‘What did he call her?’
‘“La Duquesa”. He said he called her that because she had very exacting tastes.’
‘Ah, that’s where your club got its name from.’
She nodded.
After that, their conversation continued to flow easily. They munched on their dumplings and when their main course arrived, she started to eat hers with absolute joy. He loved watching her eat. It was good to see a woman who took pleasure in good food.
She asked him about his background and his life too.
His parents were both lawyers. His mother was in family law, his father in corporate. He had two younger siblings, a twenty-six year old brother and a twenty year old sister. He grew up in west London and now he owned hotels. They both told tales of their wild childhoods and how he’d discovered Capoeira.
‘I was going off the rails a bit as a teenager and my father decided that I needed to learn some discipline and have somewhere to place my wild energy. My father’s friend suggested Capoeira and then he enrolled me. He would hear no argument. That’s how I met, João. By the way, that’s Mestre Escorpião’s birth name. His nickname, Escorpião, is Portuguese for scorpion. So, I went, I loved it and I stayed. The rest is history.’
‘Wow! I really want to try it out, if it’s still okay that I come.’
‘Are you kidding? I want you there.’ That was one thing he knew for sure.
‘Good. And I think I now understand why Escorpião nicknamed you “Raposo”.’
‘Oh?’
‘I saw what you were doing when you were fighting those yellow belts in the circle. You were tricking, distracting and outsmarting them. They never knew where your kicks were coming from. Very aptly named. You were definitely as sly as a fox.’ She giggled then, a sound that Sean was taking so much pleasure in.
He smiled. ‘That’s the aim of the game. And F.Y.I., the “circle” is called a roda. It begins with an ‘r’, but in many parts of Brazil, their ‘r’ is pronounced more like an English ‘h’. ‘Roda’, is Portuguese for “circle”. Also, we never say “fight”. Remember I told you the night we met that Capoeira is a game too?’
She nodded.
‘When we want to face off with someone in the roda, we always say, “Let’s play”.’
He could see that he had her full attention as he explained. This gave him pleasure too.
‘When’s the next class?’ He could see excitement in her eyes.
‘There’s a beginners class on Tuesday night at six thirty, if that works for you.’
He could see her mentally check her calendar. ‘And what time does it finish?’
‘Eight.’
She started chewing on her bottom lip.
He couldn’t help it. Watching her do that brought about an immediate, primal reaction in him. We wanted to reach across the table and plant kisses all over that lip that she was biting on. Naturally, he didn’t. He didn’t want the need he started feeling to scare her off.
‘I have some high-brow clients coming to see the club at eight-thirty on Tuesday night. They’re looking for a venue for a bachelor party. The club is open on Tuesdays, and they insist that they want to have the meeting with me at a time when the club has people in it. Tuesday is the only night they can make it. So, I’m not sure if I can get back to the club on time if I go to the class on Tuesday.’
Another thing that he realised he knew for sure was that he needed to see her on Tuesday, no matter what.
‘What if I promise that after the class, I’ll break every speed limit to get you to La Duquesa on time to meet your clients? And because I’m such a nice guy, I’ll even wait for you until after your meeting and make sure you get something to eat.’
He could see that his proposal had surprised, intrigued and tickled her.
‘Can I counter your proposal a little?’
Now he was the one who was intrigued.
‘You may.’
‘How about after my client meeting, I make you dinner?’
He couldn’t have been more surprised if he’d tried.
She wants me to come over!
He ached to be alone with her.
‘You’re inviting me over for dinner?’
‘Ye…yeah. You’ve looked after me so well today that I want to repay the favour.’
Oh…
He could feel his jaw involuntarily tightening a fraction. ‘I don’t need you to repay me, Gabriela.’ He hoped that didn’t come out as forced as it sounded to his ear.
‘Hey… What’s with the harsh “Gabriela”?’ She said this while mimicking his tone. This time, she was the one who touched the hand that he’d had on the table. He liked how it felt when she touched him. ‘I didn’t mean to offend you. I just wanted to show my gratitude. Plus, I love cooking.’
Gratitude…
Not exactly the feeling he wanted to elicit from her right now, but beggars can’t be choosers. He decided to accept what she was offering with some gratitude of his own.
‘I would love for you to cook for me.’
‘Great! It’s a date!’ Then she blushed again. ‘I mean… uh…’
She was still touching his hand and was about to pull away when he grabbed hers. He gently squeezed it to reassure her.
With pure, unabashed desire in his eyes, he said, ‘It is a date!’
◆◆◆
It had been months since Gabriela went on a real date. Now, she found that excitement was building up inside of her to have her first official date with Sean on Tuesday.
They finished their food, Sean paid the bill, and they got up to leave. As they walked past the host, she said to them both, ‘Thank you for coming.’ And then to him, ‘I hope to see you again soon, Mr. Lancaster.’
This time, Gabriela didn’t immediately start thinking that this might be the place he brought all the women he must date. When she’d realised that they knew him by name, she was shocked by the wave of jealousy which hit her. She did her best to disguise it, but she was almost sure that he saw it all over her face.
As much as she would have liked to spend the rest of the day getting to know him better, she’d already promised her father that she’d go over to visit him this evening.
They got into his car once more and she gave him the address of her Maida Vale house. Once on her quiet street, she indicated which driveway was hers. He drove up and parked behind her black Mercedes.
‘Nice place,’ he said as he came around to open her door for her.
Her house was a beautiful, semi-detached, red brick property with a large front garden and driveway.
‘Thank you.’
She stepped to the side, and he closed the car door on her side.
Without warning, her heart started racing. Here she was, on her own property, a place that had her imprint all over it, and she was standing here like a shy teenager in from of the cute guy.
‘I had a great—’
‘Gaby, I—’
They spoke in unison and then both burst out laughing. This helped to ease the tension. He stepped towards her then. She was now between him and his car.
‘Oh, Gabriela, Gabriela…’ he said, gently shaking his head from side to side.
How was this man managing to make her name sound like the sexiest thing he’d ever said?
‘…where have you been all my life?’ he continued, stepping even closer. He lifted his hand and slowly caressed her cheek. Of its own volition, her mouth fell open slightly, and she took a much-needed breath in.
It was at that moment that Gabriela knew that he was going to kiss her. She had no objections. He softly held the back of her head, and slowly his own head started to descend. Her eyes closed in anticipation. And then everything stopped. Not the kiss of course, but it was the rest of the world that stopped. She heard nothing else but the sound of his breath and the thud of his heart against her chest. When their lips touched, it was gentle, and soft and Gabriela was entranced. His tongue gently probed her mouth, and he licked every inch of her lips gently. Then he dove in for more. By now, he had her up against the car. The metal should have felt a little cold on her body, but she was burning up. He deepened the kiss even further and her hands went up too, around his neck.
‘Gaby…’
She heard him mutter this in between kisses. Her name sounded like dripping honey.
Her hands explored the rippling muscles of his back then she grabbed his arse. It was perfect!
He then started planting kisses down along her neck. She could hear herself pant. She wanted more and yet more of him. Then his tongue come out yet again and licked her neck in slow sensual strokes. Her head fell back in ecstasy.
