Friday Night Fiction Chapter 6

If you missed the first 5 chapters you can find them at http://noarose.blogspot.com/


Everyone’s a star and deserves the right to twinkle. Marilyn Monroe


Chapter 6: THE PROPOSAL

Noa’s mind lilted through a replay of the evening’s conversation on the forty-five minutes drive back to Palos Verdes. Pleasant enough, even though it meant another problem for Noa to handle in her already overloaded schedule. Noa exhaled slowly. I think that‘s the one thing I want more of, time. It’s becomes more precious as there is less of it to waste. Spend it wisely. Noa chided herself.

Noa knew her friends thought she was out of her mind to continue the cat and mouse relationship with Jett, and maybe they were right, but Noa was not one to give up. She didn’t believe in throwing people out of her life, especially if she had once loved them, or perhaps loved them still. She believed love did not vanish, it simply morphed into another form of caring. Love might not be constant, but for Noa, it was eternal. But she would rather spend the rest of her life alone, than endure it with a watered down version of true love. She could never be satisfied with settling.

To be honest, Noa found most men self-adsorbed, boorish and intellectual duds. Forget biceps, Noa found brains the sexiest part of a man’s anatomy. Jimmy Carter, Henry Kissinger, Alan Greenspan, Colin Powell, Stephen Hawkings and Bill Clinton were men among the living she would love to spend an evening with---dinner only and wives invited. The dead list was longer.

Even as a teenager, Noa abhorred the dating scene. To her it was a waste of time to spend an entire evening with someone whom she was not remotely interested in, just to have a date. There were so many more satisfying ways to spend her time. Reading the classics, plein-air painting and running like a gazelle through the rolling hills of her parent’s farmland. Visiting her grandmother, babysitting nieces and nephews, and preparing for college –Noa had goals, and getting out of Iowa was a top priority. It was wide-open country filled with too many narrow minds.

Boys, especially the locals, were of little interest and did not fit into Noa’s plan. Noa knew falling in love with a local boy would mean never leaving, and living the life of his choice, not hers. She needed to pursue her own passions and design her own life. A path few chose in her area and era.

Noa mused as she drove down PCH. How far from Iowa she had come! But not without pain, loss and other life lessons sometimes administered with a stinging slap, and other times by slow euthanasia. The letting go was always hard, but Noa knew no one escaped it.

Noa smiled as she recalled the first time she met Jett. Bel Air Hotel, 1997. She returned the night before from a visit to Iowa to hire a new innkeeper at her bed and breakfast inn, a holdover from her divorce settlement. With that accomplished, and a quick family get together dinner, Noa flew back to LA to finalize the biggest deal of her career.

Jett was the buyer, even though Noa had never met him. The transaction was conducted via phone, fax and Fed-X. Jett was familiar with the land, later confessed to seeing Noa’s picture in one of the glossy upscale real estate magazines, and called her to write the offer. Sometimes a girl gets lucky.

Noa valet parked, and crossed the footbridge entrance. The Bel Air was her favorite hotel in Los Angeles. Old, lushly landscaped, regal and romantic, it was tucked away on Stone Canyon Drive in ritzy Bel Air. Noa recalled her last visit was an overnight stay with her ex-husband in an attempt to resuscitate their dying marriage. She remembered the setting, the food, the room and the sadness that not even a luxurious setting with all its amenities could fill the emptiness in her heart. Marriage is difficult when your spouse is a stranger. Noa had not returned since.

The patio dining room was choice seating for Saturday brunch. Noa was escorted to Jett’s table. He stood, all six feet four inches, and Noa extended her hand.

“Finally, we meet!” At five feet seven Noa rarely felt short, but Jett towered above her.

“Hello, Miss Noa, you look exactly like your photo.” The voice was deep and low.

Noa laughed. “Were you expecting someone else?”

“Well, you never know.” Jett chuckled, “Some of those realtor photos are pretty old. You know, more the way we were, not the way we are.”

A slow smile crossed Noa’s lips. A sense of humor, yes, she liked that.
“True. But I don’t like any surprises.” Noa realized her faux pas immediately. Jett had not mentioned he was black, but he also did not mention he was tall or any other physical characteristic. Maybe he saw it as a non-issue. Noa did. She hoped she had not offended him before she even sat down.

“Are you surprised?” His manner was friendly, but mildly taunting.

“Pleasantly.” Noa placed her napkin on her lap, and then looked up to meet his eyes.

“Right answer. Here, this is for you. A little token of my appreciation. You did a great job. Very professional.” Jett pushed the gift bag toward Noa.

“You didn’t have to do this. Shall I open it now?” Noa was accustomed to purchasing gifts for her clients, not receiving one from them.

“Please. I’d like to know if you like it.”

Noa removed the ribbon from the first box—perfume. “Oh, I love it! It’s one of my favorites, Poeme. And, what’s this? More?” Noa lifted the second box from the bag.

“I couldn’t decide which to purchase, so I took both. I’m usually not indecisive, but scent is so personal. If it’s not for you, you can exchange it at Neiman Marcus.”

Noa looked at the second bottle, -----she was not familiar with it, but it would become one of her favorite scents. “You didn’t have to do this, but thank you.”

During the weeks prior they had engaged in many phone calls, primarily business, but Noa had informed Jett, as well as the rest of her current clients, when she was going to be out of town. He inquired if her husband would be traveling with her, and that prompted a short foray into her marital status and his. Noa did not find this unusual. The client agent relationship could become quite close in a very short time. It was important to develop trust early on. Revealing personal facts was an effective way to develop the relationship, and discover the motivation and needs of a client.

“You’re not finished yet.” Jett glanced at the bag.

Noa looked perplexed, then removed the tissue from the bottom of the bag to find a slim, narrow box. A sliver pen. “Oh, this is exquisite!”

“For your next offer, and our next deal.”

“I’ll toast to that.” Noa placed the gifts on the chair next to hers, and lifted her champagne glass. This was an unusual man, she thought, and very intriguing.

In the middle of their breakfast there was a flurry of activity at the reserved table next to theirs.

“Secret Service.” Jett said, motioning with his eyes to the dark suited duo.

Moments later, Nancy Reagan entered with friends, and was seated for brunch.

She witnessed the proposal.

After the champagne, Eggs Benedict and cappuccino, the server brought a small cake to their table.

“For me?” Noa looked perplexed but pleased.

“A belated birthday cake. You did have a birthday while you were away, right?”

Noa was amazed he remembered. She had casually mentioned her family in Iowa was having a small dinner in honor of the August birthdays in the family, and since that included her, she had to stay an extra day. She said it as a means of explaining her delayed return to LA.

“How kind and thoughtful of you. It’s been years since I had a birthday cake! And it’s chocolate, my favorite.” Noa declined the candle offered, but heartily accepted the generous portion from the server.

Jett and Noa lingered over another glass of champagne. Then without warning, Jett placed his napkin on the chair next to him, and stood. Noa took this as a cue that brunch was over, and she pushed her chair back in preparation to leave.

Jett suddenly knelt on one knee before Noa, and took her left hand in his. Noa’s face registered confusion first, followed by complete disbelief. Brunch had proven what Noa suspected. Jett Krabe lived large. But this was beyond large.

“Noa, will you marry me?” By now the attention of most of the diners was focused on table one.

Noa laughed nervously. “Jett, get up. Is this some kind of joke?”

“I never joke about money or love.” Jett remained on his knee. “ I also don’t hesitate to go after what I want. I fell in love with who you are before I ever saw you. Today just confirmed that.”

Noa sat stunned by the turn of events. “Please, Jett. People are staring.” Noa struggled to make sense of the moment. There was a current flowing between them from the moment she arrived. But this was incomprehensible, and as close to crazy and impetuous as Noa had ever come, but she said yes.

Such a moment.