Surprise Part 2

           Rachel stared up into his deep blue eyes. Who was this guy and what had he been told about her? She had to admit she was curious, but then she thought about walking back into the party. Suddenly she smiled. What would Alison think about her coming in with her cousin? She probably was inside gloating that she had finally put “late” Rachel in her place.

            Well, she wasn’t going to let her do that! And she wasn’t going to let down Marni either. Oh, and why not go back inside with their cousin? What would Alison think of her re-entering with Gregory? Suddenly she wanted to know. She resisted her immediate urge to grab his arm.

            “Lead on, kind sir,” Rachel said with a wide smile, instead holding out her arm in a good-natured invitation. “But I do expect you to shield me from your cousin’s wrath. Even if what you’ve heard about me is unkind and you won't tell me what it is."

            His own smile was quick, and his blue eyes danced as he took her arm. “Oh, it’s not unkind. Well, at least not what Marni’s told me. Alison…” he waved his hand from side to side, but he was grinning the whole time. “She can be… well… let’s just say we know her thoughts on everything.”

            His easy nature had her smiling despite herself and for the first time she had looked at her watch as she left home, Rachel found herself starting to relax. She was very aware of his soft touch on her arm as he led her back through the door. Luckily the noise of the room swallowed them up the instant they re-entered as everyone gathered around Marni for a round of toasts.

            Rachel spied Alison across the room, but she was busy giving heated directions to an uncomfortable-looking waiter in the corner and didn’t appear to notice that she had come back inside.

            Good! Perhaps she could continue to stay away from her for the rest of the party. She turned back to Gregory who was making his way to a table where glasses of champagne were being filled with abandon.  He snagged a couple and turned around and handed one to her.

            “To making new friends,” he said with a quick smile.

            She nodded and accepted the toast and the glass, sipping at the bubbly liquid. “Don’t you just love champagne?” she said and then wanted to kick herself. How stupid was that comment?

“Especially when shared with new friends,” she quickly added. How dumb was she going to sound before all this was over? “Now, are you going to tell me the many wonderful things you have heard about me? No.. no, actually, I would like to hear about you instead.”

            He drew back. “What? You mean Marni hasn’t bragged about me to you?”

            She blinked. While she had seen so many pictures of him in the family pictures, she couldn’t remember her friend ever focusing on Gregory. She knew her friend’s family abounded with attorneys and accountants and business managers who all seemed to draw in enough cash to keep them traveling the world, visiting exotic locales and buying expensive homes.

            “No, not that I remember,” she admitted.

            “Well, can you blame her?” he said with a sudden shrug. “Afterall, I’m the black sheep of the family.”

            “Really?” Rachel drew back in surprise at the sudden serious tone to his deep voice. Now she was curious. “What is it you do?”

            He cocked his head to the side, his blue eyes serious for a moment before dancing with merriment. “Do I dare tell you?” he asked leaning toward her and dropping his voice to a near whisper. "It's absolutely scandalous to Alison and my mother."

            The light tone of his answer and the soft sound of his voice sent a slight tremor through her. Rachel replied as she always did when thrown off balance. She laughed. “Is that all you do? Promise answers and then not give them?” she asked, shaking her head. “So far you haven’t told me about what you know about me and now you are keeping secrets about what you do. I’m beginning to think you are a giant tease. You know about me, but I’m in the dark. This isn’t fair!”

            His laughter joined hers, but he still didn’t reply.

            “Two of my favorite people! Finally you meet!” Marni appeared beside her from nowhere, throwing her arm around  Rachel’s shoulder and hugging her. “I am so glad you are both here to celebrate my birthday. This is just the perfect present.”

            Rachel hugged her friend quickly, happy to see she was enjoying herself, given Alison’s earlier chilly behavior. Perhaps she had given away the surprise, but she could see from Marni’s pink cheeks that she was enjoying the party.  

            “Happy thirtieth,” Greg said, leaning over to hug Marni as well.

            “Do you know I met this woman on my birthday, exactly 10 years ago?” Marni said, hugging Rachel again. “She was rushing across campus to a meeting with her adviser and she dropped her book bag with all her papers inside. They flew out onto the sidewalk and across the grass just as a breeze came up. Remember? There we were, scrambling around like nuts to round them all up. You were running late, as I recall.” She jabbed a finger at Rachel. "Just like always."

            Rachel rolled her eyes and laughed in recollection. “Just like today.”

            Marni shook her head and hugged her again. “You wouldn’t be you if you weren’t running late, and I love you for it. If you’d been on time and been organized you wouldn’t have needed my help that day. And you wouldn’t have bought me a milkshake later to thank me for helping you. And we wouldn't have shared our darkest fears and become friends.”

            Rachel laughed in recollection. “That’s what she told you about me, isn’t it?” she asked Gregory. “That I am always late and that I’m always dropping things.”

            He winked. “Sort of… but that’s not what caught my interest.”

            “Gregory is a serious tease,” Rachel said.

            “Totally,” Marni said. “You should have seen the way he teased me when we were growing up. He had me convinced there was a bear living in the woods by the house and if I went out there after dark it would come out and carry me off to its cave.”

            “It kept her indoors when I had to babysit the kids,” Gregory said with a wink at Rachel. “She was horrible to babysit for at night. She’d take off the minute my back was turned. And her mom would refuse to pay me because I was doing such a lousy job. Once I told her about the bears she stayed home and watched TV until my aunt and uncle came home.”

            “So you’re a good babysitter?” she said. “I’ll have to remember that.”

            He looked surprised. “I didn’t think you had children.”

            She drew back and laughed. “I don’t. But I have two very rambunctious beagles who sometimes need babysitting when I travel out of town.”

            “Aha! Well, I’m a wizard with dogs,” he said with a gentle laugh. “Now that I could handle. Dog sitting duties are among my many skills.”

Well, it appeared he knew she wasn’t married and didn’t have children.  Or at least he seemed to know she wasn’t involved since he had already asked her about having a drink. Now she was definitely intrigued. Just what did he know about her and what about him? She glanced at the expensive suit and crisp blue shirt that made his eyes stand out.

She touched Marni’s arm. “He says you’ve told him a lot about me. But you haven’t told me about him. Why not? He says he’s the family black sheep. What does he do?”

He gave Marni a warning glance. “Let her guess,” he said. "You've always said she was a good judge of character. I'm curious what she thinks."

“Well, it starts with an A,” Marni said, joining in the teasing. "And I have given you hints before."

“A? Lots of possibilities there.” Rachel looked him over again, taking in the expensive clothes, the gold watch with a black leather band, again registering that he wore no wedding band. But she had basically known that. What did he do?

 Just what does Gregory do for a living?  Is he an

A)    Attorney

B)   Artist

C)   Architect

Please vote in the comment section by tomorrow night at Midnight