EXCERPT:
Her glass seemed to keep magically refilling itself. She’d take a swallow or two, and when she looked back, it was full to the brim again. “Mr. Blackwood,” she asked, “are you trying to get me drunk?”
“Drunk? No... more relaxed, yes. You seem a bit nervous yet.” He smiled a hundred-kilowatter at her. They could be a hard-drinking crew sometimes, even after all these years, and he wanted to be certain she wasn’t a nasty, or wantonly horny, drunk. Both could spell disaster for having her write about them.
The beer was pleasantly traveling around in her brain, and the smile didn’t faze her this time. Much. “Well, I’m beyond relaxed right now, and on my way to buzzed. I’ll warn you; I get silly and tend to talk in shorthand if I drink too much. So just you watch those little refills, or this is as intelligent as this conversation will get.”
“Talk in shorthand? What’s that mean?”
“Oh, you know, blurt out something in the middle of a thought, and you haven’t a clue what I’m talking about. Combine two or three words into one. I think faster than I talk.”
The waitress arrived with his food, warning him that the plate was quite hot. Korina asked her for two glasses of water. “Trust me, you’ll need it,” she told him.
The enchilada was enormous and swimming in green chile sauce. “Christ, this is huge! Tell me you’ll share. I can’t possibly eat all of this.” He picked up his fork and cut a dripping wedge of cheese-covered tortilla.
“Maybe a bite or two. That chile smells too good to pass up.” She grinned, waiting for him to take that first bite.
He put the forkful into his mouth. “It’s not that hot,” he admonished through his mouthful of food.
Don’t laugh yet, Kori, just wait ‘til he swallows and the burn kicks in...
He swallowed. “I don’t know what all the fuss was ab--Oh FUCK! My tongue is on FIRE!” He grappled for his beer.
“Don’t do that,” Kori managed between laughs, “beer makes it worse.”
Heedless of her warning, he took a long pull on the glass.
“Ahhhh...” he smiled, only to immediately replace it with a look of shock. “Shit! Now it’s my whole mouth!” The waitress arrived with the water, and not a moment too soon in JT’s opinion. He gulped down half the glassful. “Now it’s better. You eat this stuff? Voluntarily? What the hell is in it?”
His forehead glistened with perspiration, his nose was running, and his eyes were watery. The green chile is good today. She grinned.
“I told you--green chile. What is in that is an acid. Once you get used to the burn, it’s addictive. Just scrape the sauce off. That’s where most of the heat is, anyway.”
She picked up a spoon. “Tell you what--if you want to share, I’ll eat the chile sauce and get it out of your way.”
He pushed the plate toward the middle of the table, and she scooped up a spoonful of the lethal goo. “Mmm,” she said after popping the spoon into her mouth. “Such wonderful torture.”
He scraped the enchilada fairly clean of sauce and tried another bite. “You’re right. Now it’s not so bad. But you are an evil woman.”
Kori had a few more spoonfuls, sniffling happily. “Evil? But I warned you. And sooner than you warned me about the car roof, I might add.” She took a swallow of beer and sniffled again.
She would so well fit in with this band. Now it begins. He vowed to get even. “How can you do that? Just eat it plain, like it was a spoonful of soup?” Soup from hell, that is. Oh, yes, you’ll get yours, just you wait.
He realized, with that thought, the decision was made. She was the one. Nobody else so far had dared to even try to play with him. Not only had she tried, she’d succeeded, and he was plotting his revenge. What better proof did he need that she was a good fit? Now, how to broach it…
“Oh, you get used to it, build up a tolerance. Just like anything, I guess.” She met his glance and held it with her honest blue eyes. “You’re around something long enough, you learn to love it.” She swallowed nervously and looked away. “Could you turn those down or something?” she muttered.
His eyes widened in total innocence. “What’d I do now?”
“It’s not what you did. It’s how you look. How you look at me, like you’re looking through me straight into my thoughts. Cut it out. It’s unnerving.” He probably couldn’t help it, it’s just how his eyes are so clear, but still... The beer--how much have I actually had, now?--was taking over, loosening her polite tongue and letting her say what was on her mind without editing.
“Should I just close my eyes, then? I look how I look. I can’t help it,” he lied, thinking that maybe he’d let the beer cloud his judgment. This was a woman who didn’t need his convincing charm act.
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1 comment:
Thank you for letting me, Kori and JT visit your blog today!
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