Evergreen Eyes

Chapter 5: He's Who?

Laiden sat there staring at me. I was breathless, and a bit weirded out. Never in a million years I expected this would be happening right now. Why is he here?! There was surely a misunderstanding. I could not believe it.

"I am sorry," I smiled at the airport stranger sitting at the table who looked just as confused as me. "We must have the wrong table."

"Laiden Ulbrecht?" The host asked him.

"Yes, I am Laiden Ulbrecht," He replied. Shocked would be an understatement for the emotion I am feeling right now. I couldn’t believe my handsome airport stranger was Laiden Ulbrecht, my future husband. The man I am about to be married to.

"This is your table, ma'am," The host said, leaving me there dumbfounded and shocked.

Laiden stood up asking, "You are Olesia Aksan?" There was surprise written on his face.

"Yes," I blushed.

"I thought..." He went and pulled my chair out for me. "I thought you said your name was Ola,"

"That is what my family calls me for short," I sat and continued to blush.

"Well," He said sitting back down.

I could feel my cheeks swelling with blood as he leaned back smiling at me. He wouldn’t say anything but just stared at me; half smiling, half caught in thought. The fire's light flickered on his face giving him a mesmerising appeal. Every time I went to take a glance I would have to look away, because his stare was incredibly intense. Those blue eyes of his pulled me in.

He began to laugh, "So, when I went looking for my fiance at the airport, I really found her, but did not know it was her." He was right there in front of me but I did not know it was him.

"Yeah, and the coffee shop thing," I began remembering the second time we met. When he bought me coffee and I offered him to spend time with me. I was really bummed when he denied the offer.    

"I bought you coffee," He smiled. "Thinking I was helping out a stranger."

"Well, we practically are strangers," I said straightforwardly. It was true, we are strangers. We know nothing about each other.   

"True," He said, taking a drink of his water. "Why do you keep blushing?"

I blushed even harder knowing he noticed. I began to remember all the weird fantasies I made up about him. How I wanted to marry him and not Laiden Ulbrecht; and now he was Laiden Ulbrecht.

"I'm sorry," I apologized. "It is just that, I pictured you to be... well, like a beast." I said.

"Why?" He asked raising an eyebrow.

"All the stories and rumours I heard about you in Poland," I laughed at the thought. "They all described you as some sort of giant with miles of ladies."

"A giant, no," He denied it. "But the miles of ladies." He gave me a cheeky smile.

"I doubt a guy would ever deny a*********s about him being with lots of girls." I said laughing. 

"Well, some might," He shrugged his shoulders.

"Who?" I asked.

He sat there thinking for a moment then said, "Gay ones."

I laughed at his joke, then quickly quieted, "I should not have laughed at that."

"Why?" He was still chuckling over his own joke.

"Because it looks bad when you are meeting someone for the first time and you are laughing at these jokes," I pointed out.

"Ola," He said point blank. "We are going to be seeing a lot of each other whether we like it or not. So don't worry about first impressions."

"I know," I said quietly.

He began half smiling and half staring at me again, "I am just glad it is you I am marrying."

"You don't even know me," I killed his compliment.

"No, but I know from our few conversations that you are not going to be boring," He said.

"Yeah," My fantasies came running back into my head. I was dying to tell him about them, but I knew I would eventually die from embarrassment. Either way you looked at it, it was a lose lose situation, but I would rather die keeping quiet.

"What can I get for you two to start with?" A waitress walked over asking.

"Oh," It hit Laiden that he hadn't even looked at his menu yet. "Ummm... I am not very hungry right now. Do you have Zywiec?" Zywiec was one kind of Polish beer.

"Yes, Sir'" The waitress answered.

"I will have one of those then," He smiled at her.

"And you, miss?" She turned to me.

"Just water, please," I said. I wasn’t really used to drinking.   

"No," Laiden cancelled my order. "She will have a Zywiec also."

"Okay," The waitress said, leaving. "I will be right back with your drinks."

"Zywiec?" I was surprised by his choice.

"You are Polish," He said. "You should be able to handle it."

"But my family doesn't ever drink in public," I said.

"You are a part of my family now," He said light heartedly. "Don't worry about it."

I settled a bit in my chair trying to relax, before I said, "The real question is, can you handle it?"

"I can handle anything Polish," He looked at me with his blue eyes smiling.

I blushed again looking away. I had dreamed about him hitting on me, and now it was finally happening! What do I do?! He was making me nervous.  

"Why do you always look away when you catch my eyes?" He asked. "I like to look at you, beautiful eyes."

I blushed even more once again; and I prayed and hoped the dim light and the fire's blaze would hinder its obvious appearance upon my face. God what was this man doing to me?!

"I don't remember you being this shy," He said to me.

"You weren't exactly my future husband or hitting on me," I replied.

"But I am that same person," He countered.

"You may be personality wise," I corrected. "But you are not the gorgeous airport stranger anymore."

"Gorgeous, eh?" He caught the word. I gasped, for I didn't even realize I had said it. Oh! Why did I have to say it?!?!?

"Here are your drinks," The waitress said, placing one in front of each of us. "Are you ready to order your meals?"

He looked at me, expecting me to order if I was ready. I silently shook my head.

"What do you want?" He asked.

"I don't know," I was put on the spot.

"Something simple?" I suggested. 

"A pizza?" He asked.

"Sure," I agreed. "Can we get pepperoni toppings?"

"Yes," he said. "One pepperoni pizza, please."

"Okay," The waitress said, taking away our menus.

"What girl wants something simple?" He began teasing me.

"What would you know about girls?" I played along. Then I realized how stupid my question was. He was handsome. He obviously knew something, otherwise he would not look this nice.

"I have been around a couple," He replied.

"How many is considered 'couple'?" I began digging up the dirt.

"Dated or became exclusive?" He asked.

"Both." I answered. 

"I don't know how many I have dated," He took a drink of his beer. "But I think I have been exclusive with about twenty three." I gasped.

"And how old are you?" I asked.

"Twenty."

"That is more than one girl per year," I sipped my beer.

He shrugged his shoulders, "How about you, beautiful eyes?"

I began to quickly ponder over the matter. Should I lie and say something like eighteen, but that could sound bad, and what happens when I have to name all of them. I would be caught in seconds. Plus, I would have to live with it for the rest of my life.

"Only a few," I was embarrassed by my meek number.

"Why only a few?" He was surprised.

"I don't know," I said honestly. "I guess I just was not attractive enough."

"No," He disagreed. "I honestly doubt that was it."

"Then what do you suppose it was?"

"Your beauty is so stunning," He said without pause. "They knew you would outshine them."

"You are going to get in my pants, don't worry," I never could take compliments well.

"So I can't compliment you just to compliment you? I have to have an alternative motive?" He had a point.

I quickly blushed, "I'm sorry."

"I would not have said it," He began. "Unless I meant it."

"I know, I shouldn't have assumed it of you," I was rapidly becoming more and more embarrassed.

"Don't worry about it," He threw the subject off.

"So, how far have you gone?"

"Excuse me?" I asked, nearly choking on my beer.

"I am just kidding," He said drinking his beer.

"Okay," I said relieved.

"But seriously," He touched back on the subject.

"Do you really want to know or are you just playing?"

"What kind of question is that?"

"A reasonable one," I defended.

"If someone was willing to share their personal side of their life with you, you would want to hear it, right?" He proved a point. "It is a natural curiosity in all of us."

"Gorgeous and smart," I began to loosen up and flirt along with him.

"The beer must be working," He laughed.

"It's Polish beer," I reminded him. "I can handle it."

"Just like I can handle Polish girls?" He poked at me.

"Whoa," I stopped him. "I thought it was just Polish things. When did it become Polish girls?"

"When I laid my eyes on you at the airport."

"Oh, really?" I was becoming more intrigued by this conversation.

"Yeah," He was sure of himself. "Do you honestly think I did not know you were the last one off the airplane?"

"What?" I was completely surprised.

"I had to talk to you. To see if you were still single," He began. "But that was quickly crushed when you said you were a Polish mistress."

"How was that crushed?" I had to dig more into it.

"Come on, when a girl says she is waiting for two 'henchmen' to find her and she is a Polish mistress, it kinda hints that you are taken," He took a swig at his beer.

"But you didn't know that," I said.

"And then I saw you at the coffee shop with your little Polish flag beanie," He told me. "It was really hard to deny your offer to sit and have a cup of coffee with you."

"Then why did you?"

"Because I thought I had to go to lunch and meet my future wife," He said it as if it was obvious.

"But you didn't even show up for that," I pointed it out to him, remembering my shock at their absence.

"It was because of business," He said. "And I didn't want to have thoughts of a certain charming brunette I had just met."

I laughed at his comment, remembering once again how I thought the same exact thing numerous times. In fact the last time I did I was in this restaurant's lobby.

"What's so funny?" He caught me in the act.

"Nothing," I couldn't tell him.

He simply gazed in my eyes for a while before saying, "Tell me."

"It's just that every time I saw you, I was worried I would be thinking about you when I finally met you," I laughed at how confusing it sounded.

"I like how you make me sound like two different people in that sentence," He laughed with me.

"Here is your pizza," The waitress interrupted.

"Thank you," Laiden said half laughing.

"Can I get you anything else?" She asked.

"Some more beers would be nice," He said.

"I will be right back with those," She said leaving the table.

"Another beer?" I inquired.

"It's Polish," He reminded me.

I didn't need to comment, my laugh was enough to make him grin at me.