Third Time's the Charm

It was official. Today was the longest Thursday in recorded history. Ok, maybe I was being a bit dramatic, but today seemed to be never ending. All day I had been looking forward to that blissful moment where you let your hair down, toss your bra in the hamper and pull on your sweatpants. You know the one. It was usually accompanied by a sigh of relief and the feeling of pure relaxation. Very few things in life are sweeter than that moment, except maybe adding in a nice glass of wine and an attractive man to share it with, but sadly none of those things were within my reach today.

I shouldn’t complain though. My day had been spent at an amazing art gallery, which just so happened to be owned by my boss’s fiancé and was the venue of the event I’d been helping my boss plan. It boasted an incredible view of the city and some interesting works of art. This time tomorrow the gallery would be full of people schmoozing, dancing, and bidding on the array of donated items and a few of the finest bachelors this city had to offer. All in the name of charity.

My boss had given her brother, Rob Fairweather, a deadline of tonight to bring his contribution to the fundraiser and according to the phone call I’d just received he was going to make his submission. Just in the nick of time. I set my laptop aside and headed downstairs to let him in and see what he brought.

“It’s really coming down out there.” He announced as he shook the rain out of his hair and held out a basket for me to take so he could secure the door after he entered. “Thanks for waiting for me Lexi, you’re a real lifesaver.”

I turned to lead the way upstairs to my makeshift workspace.

“Wow there are some really great packages for the auction tomorrow. I feel a little embarrassed that I waited until the last minute. I mean I’m sure Marcus did a great job, but still.”

I rolled my eyes. Marcus was his personal assistant and a good friend of mine. We worked down the hall from each other for siblings and had become the best of work buddies. “You don’t know what he got?”

I smiled as he blushed and shrugged. “Not the particulars. I just gave him an overview and sent him off with my credit card to put together the perfect date.”

We moved over to the large windows. The stunning view had drawn my attention more than once today.

“Beautiful, isn’t it? This place is unreal and your future brother-in-law is quite the artist.”

“Ian shared that my sister is his muse and ever since then I try not to look to close.”

“So, we shouldn’t talk about that half-finished painting in the corner?” I gestured in the direction of a painting that the more I looked at it, the more I was convinced that the finished product would be a nude portrait of his sister.

His response was cut off by a loud crack of thunder and sudden enveloping darkness which startled us both.

“Do you think the power is going to be out long?” I had no idea how long my laptop battery would last, and I needed to finish the write up of his package and send it to the online auction site for early bidding before I went home. Wait, could we leave? The gallery was very secure but how did that work with the power out? Plus, I was kind of hungry, the muffin I had for lunch was long forgotten.

“Good questions.” I hadn’t realized I was saying my thoughts out loud until he spoke. “I’ll call Ian and see what we can do when the power is out. You finish entering what you need and save it while you still have some battery.”

We parted to take care of our prospective tasks. I worked quickly to get the write ups finished. I hit save and sent up a silent prayer that the measly 6% I had left would last long enough for me to upload the packages to the auction site with my phone’s hot spot.

“Well, I have good news and bad news.” Rob announced as he walked in the room.

I squared my shoulders. “Hit me with the bad news first.”

“A girl after my own heart. So, the bad news. I spoke with Ian and he said we’re stuck here. The security system is keeping the gallery secure, but it keeps us locked in. He said he’s trying to have the security company send someone to let us out, but he said it might be a while if it’s a widespread outage.”

“Oh God.” Looking around the space I was using as a makeshift office, I realized there were definitely worse places we could be stuck. “And the good?”

“Well, this is a part of my package.” He held up a bottle of Merlot. “I figured we could hunt up some other provisions and sit out on the covered balcony make the most of our wait.”

The good news portion of his announcement did hold some merit. “I saw some cookies and an apple in the kitchenette, and if my memory serves me right, there might be some M&Ms in my bag.” I offered. “I’ll put that together, if you get everything else set up.”

After a few minutes I stepped out on the balcony and paused, somewhere he found a lantern, some candles and a couple of blankets. The wind had brought in a storm, but the enclosed glass was installed in such a way that we were protected from the rain. We could sit out, watch the storm, and still stay dry. “Wow, it looks great out here.”

“Here let me take that.” He moved to take the plate from my hand. I’d foraged an array of snacks for us. I might have raided a couple of the gift baskets but figured there was more than enough time to replace the pilfered items.

The more I took in the space that more in awe I was of what he’d set up. “I can’t believe you managed to find all this.”

I watched as he opened the bottle of Merlot he had brought and began to pour. The deep plum colour of the wine looked almost magical as it splashed in intricate cut glass of the tumblers he had found. “I feel like I should say something clever as I pour this, but I really know nothing about this wine, other than how much it cost.”

A snort of the most unladylike laughter escaped at his words. “Sorry, that just reminded me of this horrible date I went on.”

“Oh?” He inquired as I accepted the glass he was holding out to me. I tapped mine against his. It wasn’t every day you shared that first sip of silky red wine, locked in an empty art gallery, in the dark, watching a storm roll over the city skyline.

“My last date was awful.” I shared, shaking my head as I remembered. “The kind of awful that makes you rethink dating.”

“Now this I have to hear. If you tell me, I’ll share one of mine dating horror stories.”

I took a sip and related the tale of how I had gone on blind date with an investment banker to a local vineyard. The wine was terrible and the group we were seated with had taken the tastings far more serious than I’d imagined. Trying to lighten the mood I’d written a joke for my comments. It had not gone over well. Not one bit. “They were horrified and the rest of the date was spent berating me on not taking the tasting seriously."

“What did you write?”

“It was so silly.” I took a big sip, bracing myself. “Cloudy with a chance of meatballs.”

He burst out laughing. “That is amazing.”

Rob filled my glass again before he went on to share one of his stories. I was not even sure how much time had passed. We sat there, sharing a bottle of Merlot, wrapped in blankets, watching lightning dance across the city. Talking about everything and nothing with no cares for the clock.

“You know this might be the most enjoyable night I’ve spent in a long time.” I said honestly.

“Me too. After my other attempts to ask you out failed so epically, who knew all it took was a power outage and a glass of Merlot to spend an evening with you.”

“Other attempts?” I was surprised by his words. Of all the things he would have said, there was no way that I would have guessed he was interested in me that way.

“My first attempt at asking you out ended up with you, me and 8 of our coworkers sitting in a bar sharing drinks after work.” A shocked gasp escaped. I knew the night he was referencing. He’d casually mentioned going out for a drink after work, as everyone was leaving the boardroom. Marcus and I were gathering up papers and I had never imagined he had been speaking to just me and not the entire group. The disappointment he must have felt by me being oblivious and encouraging our coworkers to join us.

“Oh my God.” I covered my mouth with my free hand. “I had no idea.” He stilled the rest of my apology by placing his hand over mine and shaking his head.

“I knew that I’d messed that one up, and I was hoping for a second chance at asking you after we’d danced at the staff holiday party, but there was that mishap with the tray.”

I blushed. If there was a moment to be forgotten, that would top my list. He’d come up to me and placed his hand on my back and leaned in to speak to me. It was perfectly innocent, but as soon as I felt his hand on the bare skin of my back I panicked and stepped away without looking. Right into a waiter holding a tray of hors d’oeuvres. So embarrassing.

“But tonight proved to be my lucky night. Turns out that third time’s the charm.” His smile was brilliant as he stood and held out a hand to me. “Dance with me?”

His phone had been playing music softly in the background. Slow songs that were perfect for dancing. I stood and stepped into his arms.

“I have a confession to make.” His words were quietly whispered as we swayed to the soft crooning of Ed Sheeran.

“A confession?” He nodded in agreement before proceeding.

“I planned my basket with you in mind for the winner.”

I laughed. Okay, I had would not have guessed that at all, and shared that with him as we continued to dance.

“Sorry to interrupt folks.” The voice startled us. It belonged to the security guard. We’d been so wrapped up in the slow swaying that we never heard his arrival. “If you want to gather up your stuff, we can get you on your way home.”

We parted to clean up the space and gather my stuff. Even though this night did not go as planned, I was sad that it was coming to an end.

We stood in the doorway, bracing ourselves for the mad dash through the rain as waited for the security guard to lock up. “I really enjoyed tonight.” I told him. “I would do it again if you asked.”

“That’s good to know.” He bent down and placed a light kiss on my cheek. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you win a certain auction item tomorrow.”

My laugh carried across the parking lot as I ran to my car.

“And I’ll be replacing that Merlot.” He called out.

He was right, third time was definitely the charm.