Unexpected
By Julianna
Rated PG
The usual disclaimers apply. The character of Frank Donovan belongs to Shane Salerno, Don Winslow and NBC Entertainment. My thanks for letting me ‘borrow’ him and take him out to play with. ;) Any and all original characters belong to the author.
Elizabeth Becker stood behind the registration desk and reviewed the list of guests that had made reservations and would be checking in that day. Most names were unfamiliar to her, but there were a select few who’s names and faces she would never forget. Airlines had frequent fliers, her hotel had repeat guests. Some had become as familiar as members of her own family. A family that had owned and run this small boutique hotel for the past 82 years, a legacy she was more than proud of. In an age of impersonal service, this hotel brought to its clients a sense of warmth and caring that even 5-star resorts were hard pressed to match. Her responsibility was to make sure that that level of service was maintained and even, at times, exceeded.
At first sight, no one would mistake Elizabeth for a stunning beauty. She was neither short nor tall, neither skinny or fat, and her hair reflected a shade that was neither brown nor blond, but a combination of both. There were two things that anyone who met her would never forget, however; her eyes and her smile. The former were a piercing shade of ice blue, almost clear pale gray in the bright sunlight. The latter, inviting and genuine, a smile that melted even the most difficult and obstinate guest.
As she perused the list before her, a certain name stood out, and a small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. It had been almost 2 months since his last visit, if she remembered correctly. Within the last 2 years or so, she had seen him at least a dozen or more times. Each time, he would check in and stay for a long weekend, most often arriving late on Friday and departing late the following Monday. She knew almost nothing about him other than his name and the pertinent information that came from his credit card account. And one more thing…..the fact that he worked for the government. A piece of information revealed only because that same credit card was tied to a larger government account. Other than that, she knew nothing. Nothing except for the fact that she found him irresistibly handsome. When she’d first met him, he was quiet and rather aloof. He would sign in at the desk, retrieve his key and retreat to his room with a minimal amount of interaction with any of the hotel staff. During the weekend, they would often see him leave in the morning and not return until much later in the evening. Again, with as few words as possible exchanged with anyone around him.
During his 3rd stay, however, something changed. One night, he returned to the hotel earlier than usual after his day out, and approached the desk in order to ask a question. He had wanted some suggestions as to where to eat in the area. Elizabeth had been on duty that night and approached as he talked with the clerk manning the desk at the time. She politely interrupted and offered a few suggestions of her own.
The moment she introduced herself and offered her hand, the strangest expression crossed his face and for a brief moment, she was afraid that he would refuse to shake her hand. After the momentary lapse, however, he did indeed return the gesture and even managed to smile at her before heading off to one of the restaurants suggested.
The exchange seemed to be a turning point in their relationship. Relationship, that is, only in the sense of how she and the staff interacted with him on any following occasion. Gone were the brief and almost sterile contacts, and in their place were open, friendly and inviting conversations. The handsome stranger no longer, he joined a long list of individuals that she and her staff looked forward to seeing again.
She had to admit, however, that he was not the only changed by the brief conversation that they had that night more than a year and a half ago. She too sensed something different. Maybe it was the light that seemed to flicker for but a moment in his eyes as they shook hands. Maybe it was the way his very genuine smile reached his eyes and made his whole face light up. Or maybe……just maybe, it was how he made her feel like she was the only in the room when he looked directly in her eyes for the first time. His eyes……that was the key to it all, she decided. The man had the warmest brown eyes she had ever seen. The kind of eyes that a woman could drown in and secretly wish for no rescue.
An almost melancholy sigh escaped her lips as she shook herself from her reverie and handed the paper back to one of the clerks at the desk. As she did, she happened to glance up and saw the object of her daydream walk through the front doors. Straightening, she smiled widely and made her way toward the reception area.
“Mr. Donovan……it’s so nice to see you again,” she stated as she extended her hand.
“Ms. Becker,” he returned. “It’s always a pleasure to see you. How is your family?” he inquired, as he always did. Not long after their first real ’meeting’, she’d had the opportunity to tell him about the hotel’s history and how her parents had retired some five years earlier, leaving the day-to-day operations to herself and her two brothers.
“They’re fine. Thank you so much for asking,” she answered, as her hand remained enfolded in his. “And yourself? How have you been since your last visit?”
“Things have never been better, although…..” he began, hesitating for just a moment, before continuing, “I was wondering if you could help me with something.”
She smiled brightly at him as she replied. “Of course! You know you only have to ask. How can I be of help to you?” she inquired, hardly noticing that he still held her hand.
“I need to arrange for a small dinner…..a private dinner,” he explained.
“A dinner party? For how many guests?”
“Just two,” he answered with a slight twinkle in his eye.
A knowing smile crossed her face, before she responded. “Ahhhh…..of course. I would be happy to help you out in any way I can.” Pondering the request for a second or two, she added, “May I suggest one of our suites as the setting? The view of the bay is spectacular, especially at sunset.”
His smile brightened considerably. “Perfect. Perhaps you could also suggest the menu and any other small touches you think would be suitable?”
“I would be honored,” she answered, returning his smile as he finally released her hand. Turning then toward the desk, she motioned for him to follow. “We’ll just get you checked in first . If you’d like, we could meet later and discuss the details of your dinner.”
“That would be wonderful. Thank you,” he responded, as he signed the slip she had put before him.
“Just call down to the desk, and one of the staff will page me.”
Retrieving the key from the counter, he addressed her once more. “I’ll do that, and thank you…..for all of your help.”
“You’re most welcome, Mr. Donovan. I hope you enjoy your stay with us and I look forward to meeting with you later,” she told him, a heartfelt smile gracing her face.
Frank smiled once more before heading toward the elevator around the corner.
Elizabeth turned back to the counter only to find the desk clerk staring past her at the place where Frank had walked just seconds ago. Clearing her throat loudly, she stirred the girl out of her daze.
“Sorry,” the girl mumbled, slightly embarrassed. She glanced up briefly to see that her boss didn’t seem to be too displeased with her actions. “You have to admit that he’s one darn sexy man,” she offered sheepishly, as she looked around to make sure that no patrons would hear what was being said.
“Yes….well…..” Elizabeth uttered, stumbling over her words a bit. “Still…..you shouldn’t be so…..obvious about what you might be thinking,” she told the girl, although she couldn’t quite blame her for her reaction. More than a few of the female staff had made similar comments over the years.
“I know…….but……he sure seems to like you a lot!”
A bit taken back by the comment, Elizabeth stiffened a bit and her eyes widened. “Well, I can only say that we’ve know each other for quite a while now. It’s only natural that there would be some…..some…..casualness in how we talk to each other.” For some reason the girl’s comment bothered her more than she cared to admit.
“Yeah…..maybe,” the clerk offered, as she tried not to break out into a full-fledged grin looking at the way her boss seemed to be rattled by her observation. “I mean the way he held your hand like that! It just seems to me that…….”
Before she could finish, Elizabeth sternly interrupted her. “I think this is hardly a proper conversation to have about a guest.” The girl quickly looked back to her work, obviously embarrassed about being corrected by her superior. Seeing the girl’s discomfort, Elizabeth added, “Well……it doesn’t matter anyway.” She waited for the clerk to turn toward her once more. “You may not have noticed, but he wears a wedding ring. This dinner party he mentioned is obviously for he and his wife.” She watched as the words registered with the girl. A slight widening of the eyes followed by her mouth forming a silent, “Ohhhh.” Elizabeth gave the girl a small smile before she herself turned and made her way back into her office.
~*~*~*~
The next day, Elizabeth busied herself as she normally did. She arranged for some theater tickets here, made some difficult to get reservations there. She even managed to track down a rare brand of wine that a certain guest had requested to accompany dinner that evening. All in all, a typical Saturday. She reminded herself several times throughout the day that she had an appointment to keep at 7:00 PM with Mr. Donovan. After checking in yesterday, the two had met and arranged all of the details for his little get-together. The meal, flowers and even music were carefully selected and arranged for. She was sure that the evening would be splendidly romantic, if she did say so herself. Given the ambience of the surroundings and Mr. Donovan’s more than obvious charms, how could any woman resist? As one final request, Mr. Donovan had asked her to stop by the suite to make sure everything was in proper order. She had the utmost confidence in the skills of her staff, but she was more than happy to acquiesce to his request. After all, he was one of her favorite guests.
At exactly 7:00, she politely knocked on the door to the suite and waited for Mr. Donovan to answer. When he opened the door, she was momentarily taken aback by the sight before her. He was dressed in a smart gray/black suit, white shirt and a coordinating gray tie that did so much to accentuate his already dark, smoldering good looks. For a second or two, she could have sworn she forgot how to speak, but quickly recovered as she smiled in greeting. If he noticed her unease, he gave no indication of it as he stepped back allowing her to enter.
“So what do you think?” he asked, motioning toward the elegantly set table and surrounding candlelight. “Is this what you imagined?”
She had to admit, the effect was stunning. The table was set-up directly in front of the large bank of windows which over-looked the water and the slowly setting sun. The flowers selected adorned the table and several other pieces of furniture throughout the room, but it was the candlelight that set the tone of the evening more than anything else. It was pleasingly romantic without being overstated. A small satisfied smile graced her lips as she took in the scene. “It’s perfect,” she stated in a quiet voice as she was momentarily caught up in the mood of the room. Turning back toward him once more, she added, “I’m sure that your dinner guest will be more than pleased.”
“I’m glad,” he returned, an inviting smile warming his face.
“When will your guest arrive? I ask only because I want to be sure to make myself scarce before she gets here.”
Frank’s smile faltered for a second or two before responding. “Actually, there’s no hurry.”
“Oh? I assumed that she would arrive shortly and that’s why you asked for the meal to be served no later than 8:00.”
A hesitant look crossed his face before he responded, “No….there’s no hurry. Besides…….she’s already here.”
For a second or two, Elizabeth had a hard time registering what he had just said. Her first thought was that the woman in question was indeed already there and perhaps elsewhere in the suite. She almost turned her head to look for evidence of it, when she caught the look in his eyes and audibly gasped.
She was speechless. She was absolutely sure that all of the color had just drained form her face as she stared back at him. He couldn’t have meant……..he didn’t mean….. Looking around at the room once more, there could be little doubt as to his intention. The room was set for romance, plain and simple. Romance and seduction.
As the shock slowly wore off, it was soon replaced with something else……outrage. Turning back to him once more, she noticed one thing that she’d been blinded to earlier - he’s taken his wedding ring off. The anger that simmered within her came to a full-blown boil.
“How dare you,” she hissed at him. She saw how she had taken him off guard, and it spurred her on. “What kind of woman do you take me for, Mr. Donovan??”
For a moment or two, Frank fumbled for the right words to say. Just seconds ago, she had seemed enchanted by the room and he could have sworn that he’d even seen something in her eyes that signaled that she might be more than receptive to his advances. But this…… “I……I don’t understand,” was all he was able to mumble.
Her eyes widened noticeably at his audacity. “You don’t understand!?” The gall of the man was unfathomable. “Well, let me spell it out for you then. I don’t know what kind of sick and twisted game you are playing, but know this….I want no part of it! I don’t know who you think you are! Set a romantic mood and maybe the lady will fall for you? Was that the plan? Maybe she’ll overlook the fact that you’re married?!?”
Sudden understanding flooded his mind. Through all of the planning, he’d failed to notice the obvious. His tortured features relaxed somewhat, and he thought through how best to explain it all. Settling on the simple approach, he stated, “I’m not married.”
She didn’t think it was possible, but her anger actually doubled with that one statement. “How stupid do you think I am? I’ve seen you wearing a wedding band. In fact, until this night, I’ve never seen you without it!” Turning her back on him, she took a few steps toward the door before pivoting once again to continue. “I know your type, Mr. Donovan. You think that just by taking off the ring, it means that you’re not cheating. And furthermore, you know nothing at all about me if you think that I would ever…….”
“I swear to you, I’m not married,” he continued simply, his tone calm and reassuring as he interrupted her.
The simple declaration momentarily caught her off guard, and allowed her a moment of clarity. For someone supposedly caught in such an obvious lie, he was certainly composed and relaxed. She opened her mouth to respond, but for the life of her, she couldn’t find the words to say next.
Taking advantage of her inability to speak, Frank continued. “I’m sorry…..truly sorry if I’ve upset you. Please believe me, that wasn’t my intention.” Momentarily tongue-tied himself, Frank absently rubbed the place on his finger where his ring had been. For a second or two, he closed his eyes as he gathered his thoughts. What he said to this woman in the next few moments might mean all the difference in the world. This was his one shot.
As he opened his eyes, he saw her staring at him with great concern, but he also saw that the anger that had been there just moments ago was starting to die. The roaring blaze had been doused, but still the embers kindled.
“You’re right, this is the first time that you’ve seen me without the ring on. I can’t blame you at all for reacting the way that you did. In your place, I’m sure that I would’ve done the same.” He paused long enough to gauge her reaction to what he was saying.
“If what you’re saying is true, then I think you owe me an explanation,” she informed him quietly, her eyes still flickering with some light from within.
Frank nodded his head. “You’re absolutely right. About a great many things, I would imagine. Yes, I wanted this evening to be something special between the two of us. And yes, I was married.”
Her eyebrows knit with concern. “Was?”
Nodding almost imperceptibly, Frank said, “Yes……I was. Tonight is the first time I’ve taken off my wedding band in eight years. Even when I was operated on 2 years ago, I wouldn’t let the emergency people take the ring off of me as they wheeled me into surgery. They had to put tape around it in order to make sure it stayed put.” Again he paused, checking to see if she was still listening to him. Convinced that she was, he continued.
“My wife died 2 years ago. We were coming home one night after seeing a movie when our car was struck by a drunk driver. We were both badly hurt. All I can remember is her calling my name while we waited for the squad to reach us. After that, I don’t recall anything until I woke up in the hospital and they told me that I needed to have surgery. I woke up almost 36 hours later, and that’s when they told me that she’d died. They’d done everything that they could, but it wasn’t enough, they said. After that……..after that I just became numb. People would come and go, but none of it registered. She died and it felt like I went with her.”
He paused yet again, and saw that what he was telling her was getting through. He’d never meant for this story to be told tonight. It was a lot to take in, a lot to relive. He looked into her eyes, and noticed the tears that rimmed her eyes reflected the flickering glow of the candles. Having come this far, he knew that he had to continue. For so long, there were so many things that he wanted to tell her, so many things that he hadn’t dared to say or even let himself feel. Steeling his courage once more, he continued.
“For so many months, I felt like I just existed. I walked through my life like I didn’t belong there. Nothing felt right. Nothing looked right. In my line of work, I see the scum of the earth still living and breathing, and I couldn’t fathom how God could take my innocent wife and leave these monsters untouched. After the numbness wore off, then I was just angry, at anything and everything. It didn’t matter what it was. But gradually, after a few months, the anger subsided and finally went away entirely. What I was left with was an overwhelming sense of there being no rhyme or reason to the world. God doesn’t choose who lives or dies. It‘s all a game of chance. Or at least that’s what I used to believe.”
Stopping for a second or two, he took a hesitant step closer to the woman standing before him. Staring down into her crystal blue eyes, he hoped that she saw in his own eyes what he would now try desperately to describe to her in words.
“Elizabeth……..” he breathed, saying her first name out loud for the first time since the two had met. “How can I possibly describe what you‘ve done to me?” He saw the confusion in her eyes as he asked the question, and continued, attempting to help her understand. “For what seemed like a very long time, I felt dead inside. I did my job. I fulfilled my responsibilities, but I never really felt anything. And then…..one day……I look into the clearest blue eyes that I’ve ever seen and I……” He stopped as he struggled to find the right words. Words that he knew would seem so inadequate in their attempt to convey what he felt. Closing his eyes yet again, the turmoil within him continued. As he fought for the composure that he would need to continue, he felt her hand softly grasp his and pull it toward her.
Opening his eyes once more, he was almost breathless when he saw the look of support and caring that he saw reflected in hers. The look was exactly what he needed, as he continued on. “Something happened that night. I can’t explain it. I felt like I had been standing in a dark room and suddenly someone turned the light on. Something in the way you looked at me…..the warmth I felt from your smile…..for a few moments, everything didn’t seem as bad as it had before.”
“Over the past year and a half, little by little, the world has come back to me. Or at least, I’ve come back to it, and all because of these eyes…….these beautiful blue eyes.” The last words were barely above a whisper as he lifted his hand and skimmed his fingertips along her cheek, all the while staring intently and lovingly into the depths of her soul.
“Elizabeth…….you make me feel something I haven’t felt in a very, very long time,” he told her as he softly caressed her cheek.
Leaning into his touch, her eyes closing partially at the sensation, she was scarcely able to ask, “What’s that?”
Leaning in, his lips a hair’s breadth away from hers, he finally answered in a whisper, “Alive….. you make me feel alive.”
Their lips met in a soft, passionate kiss as their bodies melded together. And as Frank gathered Elizabeth to him and wrapped her tightly in his arms, he knew that his heart had finally healed. The hurt, the pain, the longing and the anguish all melted away and was replaced by an overwhelming feeling of hope. Tonight he’d stepped through a new doorway in his life. As he ended the kiss and pulled away slightly from her embrace, he knew that the woman before him was the one who had held the key. And as he once more let himself drown in the depths of her clear blue eyes, he silently sent a prayer heavenward, thanking God for second chances.
~~The End~~