| Each year Howie had offered to auction a date with him for the foundation that was a remembrance of his dear sister, Caroline. He always was somewhat embarrassed that women were bidding ridiculous amounts of money to spend one evening with him and was very humble about the process. Yet he knew the money was a huge help to the foundation and he definitely did not mind spending a night with a wonderful lady. Only a few years had passed since the first Lupus fundraiser in Orlando, Florida occurred and therefore he had only had a few of these auctions. All had been wonderful evenings with him feeling good about what he had done, and the ladies feeling very satisfied with the amount of money that they had spent. That evening, he took the winner of the auction to one of the finest restaurants in the area, Bella, and decided that he would see how the evening went before planning the rest of their night. He arranged for his limo driver to pick the woman up at her hotel and bring her to the restaurant. Even though he had done it before, he was always nervous to see who was going to walk through the door and what they would be like. Around 7:30 pm his date walked through the door. A seemingly very pretty woman, he relaxed somewhat and greeted her with a hug and kiss on the cheek. That’s when a smile adorned her face. Normally, this would please Howie, but in this case he realized what he was going to be entertaining for the remainder of the night. Her mouth opened, and only a few teeth shown through her smile. “ Well Howie D! I can’t believe that a small town girl like me is here in this fancy restaurant with such a suave man like you…oooh you look good tonight, my Latin lover.” She said coming closer to him and forcing him to pull his head back. He was in complete disbelief. He couldn’t possibly back out now, she did pay all that money, and the foundation needed it. “That’s it, I have to do this for Caroline” he said to himself. He forced himself to not laugh or get up and leave during the meal. He was completely embarrassed throughout the dinner. This restaurant was one of the most respected for their fine Italian cuisine, yet Howie had arranged it that they could order anything that they wanted. Mary Jo, as Howie learned his date’s name was, ordered a T-bone steak and a can, yes, a can, of beer. He was appalled by her manners as she chomped on her food and let the beer spill down her chin as she drank it. He was happy to leave her at the end of the night when he walked her to her gate to catch her plane home to West Virginia. He stressed to his limo driver that he was to remain there, with the engine running for his return. “ Howard,” she said in her twang. He shuddered as his proper name came out of her mouth, only his mother calls him by that name, and it is much more meaningful coming from her. “It’s been a freakin’ fantastic evenin’ and I want to thank you.” She said placing her arms around him. He prayed to God that she was not going to try and kiss him. Luckily he did remember her saying something at dinner about “ her daddy told her never to kiss a man on the first date” “ Thank God for him” Howie thought. He waved a short goodbye to her before heading down the airport to his limo. As he passed one of the gates he heard an announcement that the flight had been cancelled. He glanced down and saw a beautiful girl sleeping peacefully on one of the seats, gripping closely in her arms, her boarding pass and shockingly, a Caroline bear. He thought for a bit and realized that he recognized her from somewhere…. “hmmm….” He said to himself as he continued to walk. “Wait a minute!” he thought to himself. He turned around to catch another glimpse of her. At a club in Cleveland a few months ago he had run into her in the alley on his way to leave. Yes, it had to be her. What a coincidence. He realized she had not heard the announcement and decided to turn around and go wake her up. Howie knelt down next to her and stared at her silently for a moment, noticing the content and peaceful look on her face. He slowly brushed a few strands of her hair out of her face, gently gliding his soft hand against her cheek. She stirred lightly awakening from a wonderful dream of her and Howie making love on a beach. “Oh Howie…” she moaned still rustling in her half sleep. He blushed slightly and smiled before leaning in to plant a soft sweet kiss on her lips. Suddenly the lips that were pressed against hers in the dream were suddenly real. She opened her eyes, peeking at first, then wide-eyed at who was kneeling in front of her. Howie released his mouth as she woke up. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.” He said gently. “Oh, no, you didn’t… I mean…” Melissa mumbled still trying to recover from the unbelievable experience of feeling Howie’s soft sensuous lips pressed against hers. “Shh, it’s ok sweetie, I just wanted to let you know that your flight was cancelled, they just announced it. I didn’t want you to wake up and be confused when no one was here.” He said comfortingly. “ Well, thank you.” She said smiling sheepishly at him and sitting up adjusting her hair and clothes from sleeping. “Oh, I’m sorry, I’m Howie D, but I think you already know that from the bear you’re holding, and do you remember back in September outside of the…” “Velvet Dog!” she said almost yelling. “ My name is Melissa, it’s nice to meet you, again.” She said holding out her hand to shake his, instead he reached out his arms and gave her a hug, bringing her closer to him. He still smelled of the same cologne and his shirt was as usual soft to the touch. She gasped lightly, taken by surprise at how sweet he was. “I know I was quite tired that night and did have a few drinks, but I guess I’m just really good with remembering beautiful faces like yours. You probably need a place to stay tonight, don’t you?” He asked lovingly. “ Well, I stayed with my friend… um yeah, I could use a place to stay, maybe the airline will arrange a hotel for me.” “ STUPID!” she thought to herself… a hotel, here Howie was practically telling her to come home with him… “ No need, you know they never give you a nice hotel room… I hope this isn’t too forward, but I would be happy to have you stay at my home tonight, my brother is out of town and it would be lonely there anyways.” Melissa was shocked at how quickly he was to invite her to his home, he hardly knew her. “ I know you’re probably thinking something is wrong cause I’m inviting you to my home, but we can get to know each other before we go back there and I trust anyone who is kind enough to donate money and their time to the foundation for my sister. Plus, you were cool before and don’t think I forgot how your hand felt on my back….” He said smiling. She blushed, remembering that moment. She had never forgotten it and played it over in her head a few times each day. He grabbed her hand and carried one of her bags as they walked back to his awaiting limo. |
