He took her to Chinatown for lunch. He dressed in a t-shirt and jeans with a generic cap to try to keep a low profile. She wore shorts and sandals with a teal blue blouse. She put her hair up in a pony tail that Sid couldn’t seem to keep from tugging on every time he managed to get behind her.
“Will you STOP?” she said, exasperatingly fixing it again. He just laughed at her and shook his head. They walked quickly through the street, past the little man creating caricatures and she hesitated only long enough to touch the red silk of a kimono as they passed by. He led her to Ming Yeng where he said they had the best Chinese food he’d ever tasted. He said they had a lobster dish that was incredible.
The day was lovely. She really enjoyed herself, enjoyed just being with Sidney until he was recognized and a mob of people surrounded them. Suddenly, she found herself separated from him. She wasn’t exactly pushed out of the way, but quickly became just one of the crowd until Tony appeared out of nowhere at her side. He handled the crowd with great skill, not aggressively, but assertive. He organized them in a make shift line and Sid was able to step back and sign a few things. She tucked her hand into his arm and he patted her hand looking down at her with a weak smile. A few minutes later, Tony had the crowd dispersed.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I knew it was like this. I guess I just didn’t expect such a swarm,” she said with a nervous giggle.
“Usually Tony is with me, but I was hoping we could get on without him for a while. Guess I was wrong.” He smiled at Tony and shook his hand in thanks. Tony nodded to them both and fell into step behind them. They got back to the car and hotel, in turn, without further incident.
Sidney felt unusually bad about the afternoon and arranged for them to have a romantic dinner in their room. He had bought her that silk kimono that she spotted as a surprise. It was waiting on the bed, wrapped up in a lovely box with a bow. She wanted to wear it for him. It was beautiful. It was red with gold embroidery scrolling up and down. She put her long her up in a French twist and put on some long gold earrings. She thought the effect was rather nice. She took a breath and opened the door to join him in the outer suite.
She caught her breath. There were dozens of roses and candles lit all over the room. He was fiddling with the radio, looking for just the right music. He settled on some soft jazz and turned to her.
“Wow, you look beautiful,” he said softly.
“Is that surprise?” she teased.
“You know better.”
She went to him and slid her hands up the black, cotton oxford that he wore with his black jeans. She wrapped her hands around his neck and pulled him close. She brushed her lips across his and closed her eyes. He kissed her softly, pressing one hand into her lower back, the other at her neck.
“You didn’t have to do all this, you know.”
“I wanted to. I wanted to salvage what time we have left.”
“What’s to salvage? I had a great day. I know what you live with. I love you, mobs and all,” she smiled. “I was just a little unprepared.”
“It’s not always like that, you know.”
“Sidney, it doesn’t matter if it is. I’m with you, no matter what.” He kissed her again and then began swaying with the radio, holding her close.
“You dance?”
“You sound like you’re shocked.”
“Well, I guess I didn’t think you’d have time for dancing. Hockey takes up so much of your time,” she grinned.
“I didn’t say I was any good.”
He swung her around and dipped her, making her laugh. He kissed her long neck and pulled the pick from her hair, letting it all fall. He picked her up in his arms and carried her off to the bedroom.
“What about dinner?”she said, breathless.
“My dinner’s in here.”
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