Love by Mistake

"I kinda liked it, too," he told her.

She got as close to him as she could and said, "It was very nice, Brent. In fact, that might just be the most romantic thing anyone has ever done for me."

"I knew it!" he exclaimed. "You are a hopeless romantic."

Vikki sighed and said, "Yes, I am. Always have been and always will be."

"I'd like to see you again, Vikki," Brent told her.

"Brent, please. You're really nice. You're great even. In...many different ways." She smiled in a way that let him know exactly what she meant then said, "I'm just so much older than you and I really don't know anything about you."

"That's why we need to see each other again. And go on an actual date."

She kissed him and said, "Listen. If this universe of yours does somehow bring us together again, then...we'll see. But as much as I like you and as wonderful and romantic as tonight was..."

"I get it," he said resigning himself to the fate he knew she was deciding for both of them. "It was pretty wonderful though, wasn't it," he said as a statement rather than a question.

"Yes, it was. It was really amazing."

She headed toward the door still holding her pants with one hand as she carried her wet clothes in the plastic bag. He walked her outside and got her in the car. "Brent? Thank you, again. I can't think of anyone or...anyplace...else I'd rather have jumped back into the um...intimacy arena with than you and in the shower at the stadium."

She looked absurd in the stocking hat with her wet hair and hugely oversized sweats, but she mostly just looked beautiful to him.

"Well, you know where I live now if you change your mind," he said.

"I've never done anything like this before," she confessed. "Not even in college. I'd say I never hook up with a guy, but well, I can't say that anymore, but I'm really not that kind of girl."

"No need to explain, Vikki. People hook up all the time. I'm done my share of it. I'm just tired of the whole hook-up thing, though. I'd love to meet someone really great to settle down with." He paused and added, "Someone a lot like you."

"I never even got to ask you what you're still going to school for. Maybe next time you'll tell me?" He kissed her goodbye and she thanked him one more time for a really enjoyable, unforgettable evening then started the car and drove off.

Vikki flew out the next day for a five-day trip to New York City and back and although she never forgot about that evening with Brent, she understood they'd never see one another again. As much as she'd enjoyed their time together, she knew the deck was stacked against them. So since then, she'd dated here and there even hooking up with one of the pilots she thought was really nice only to learn he was married and a first-class pig.

It was mid-June and Vikki was thrilled about a rare opportunity to fly to San Diego, one of her favorite cities in the country. She didn't have enough seniority to pick and choose her flights, so she tended to go where no one else wanted to go and that was fine for the most part.

If she had a spare million—or two—just laying around, she'd have loved to to Southern California and buy a home. As it was, she could barely afford her two-bedroom apartment in Kent. The weather down there was superb all-year around—at least to her way of thinking—and June was spectacular with highs in the mid-70s with comfortable, low humidity.

The flight crew was getting together and going out for dinner that evening and although Vikki wasn't thrilled about hanging out with this particular group of people, she dreaded eating alone or just hanging out in her room even more so she'd reluctantly agreed. She always brought a dress or at least one nice outfit—just in case—even for an overnighter. She chose a dark-red, sleeveless knit top and a black skirt with three-inch black heels to bring with her this time and was glad she did. Dresses were harder to keep wrinkle free while knit tops were a breeze yet dressy enough to wear someplace nice.

"Not bad," she said as she looked at herself in the mirror. She still wore her blonde hair long although David had assured her he'd be fine if she wanted to cut it. She almost had just before he'd been killed, but now that she was single again, she was secretly glad she hadn't.

Unlike most people who claimed to have green eyes that were really hazel, Vikki's were a true green; green to the point that she'd been asked several times if she wore contact lenses to make them that color. And thanks to the braces she'd worn during 8th and 9th grade, she had a perfect smile to go along with them. As she gave her herself a quick once-over, she was pleased to see that in spite of a year of crying most of the time, she still had no visible lines in her forehead and only the tiniest of hints of them around the corners of her eyes. Just a touch of mascara and she was ready to go.

At ten minutes 'til six, she couldn't sit still anymore. She grabbed her purse and a sweater she draped over her arm then took the elevator downstairs. She saw the lead flight attendant chatting up the co-pilot in the waiting area as she got off the elevator. She headed toward them when she heard someone call her name.

"Vikki?"

She turned to see where the voice was coming from and when their eyes met, her jaw dropped.

"Brent?" she said struggling to process the enormity of the coincidence.

They hugged one another and Vikki said, "This is crazy! What are you doing in San Diego?"

"I'm starting my new job tomorrow," he told her. That smile of his hit her hard and she felt weak in the knees. "I was supposed to be meeting one of the other guys I'm starting with but he literally just canceled on me as you were walking out of the elevator. Ten seconds more and I've been gone." He looked at her and said, "You look great."

"Thank you. You don't look so bad yourself." Brent was wearing a very nice shirt underneath a very expensive-looking jacket and a pair of jeans—one of Vikki's favorite looks. "You've gotta tell me about this job of yours. I'm guessing it's not the same one you had at the stadium back home."

"Your guess is right. How about I tell over dinner?" he asked. "I believe the universe has done it's part and if I remember correctly, you owe me a date. A real date."

"That's right! Oh, my God! I completely forgot about the John Cusack-Kate Beckinsale thing. Wow. What are the odds?" she said still having a hard time believing this was really happening.

"I'd say a hundred percent," Brent quipped. "I mean, here we both are at the same time and the same place. So what do you say?"

Vikki looked over at the crew and the lead waved her over. "I'm supposed to be going out with the flight crew," she explained.

"Tell them you're being diverted," he said showing off those dimples again.

"Give me a minute, okay?" she said.

Brent saw her taking to the older woman sitting with a decent-looking guy and smiled when the other woman looked over at him. He saw her raise her eyebrows and mouth, "Oh, really?" to Vikki followed by a, "Have fun" and a brief wave to Brent. Warner waved back as Vikki returned to him.

"All set," she said. "I'm all yours."

"Don't get my hopes up like that," he said as he led her outside.

She saw his Mustang in the parking lot and asked, "You drove this all the way down here?"

"It's not all that far," he told her. "And it's a really great drive this time of year."

As she got in she asked, "So how long have you been here?"

He looked at his watch and said, "Let's see. About...ten minutes? At the hotel anyway. I've been in San Diego for a few days now."

As he started the car Vikki said, "You know, I'm beginning to think you might be on to something with this whole universe thing of yours."

"Told you," was all he said as he smiled that smile at her again.

"So where are you taking me this time?" she asked on the way out to his rental car.

"Somewhere dry. And warm," he assured her. "How about The Island Prime?" he suggested.

"Wow! You have very good taste," she said as they drove off.

"Obviously," he said. "I'm going out with you, aren't I?"

That won him a laugh and another great smile. "And you must have a very good job. That place is really expensive. Or so I hear. And I really do want to hear all about this new job of yours."

The Prime was out on a narrow spit of land and offered an amazing view of the San Diego Harbor as well as the airport and had some of the best food in town.

They were seated at a table with a superb view and Brent ordered champagne for them both. "No plastic cups this time?" she teased.

"Not tonight," he said.

As their server brought their drinks and took their dinner orders, Vikki said, "Okay, so tell me about the job! I'm dying to find out what brought you here."

"First, a toast." He raised his glass and said, "To the universe?"

Vikki laughed and said, "I think we owe the universe at least that much." She touched her glass to his and said, "To the universe."

They each took a sip then Brent said, "Well, you mentioned how I didn't get a chance to explain why I was still in school after graduating from the UW. Had I had even one more minute before the sprinklers turned on I'd have told you I was in my last semester of medical school."

Vikki's eyes opened wide in disbelief. "Seriously? So you're a doctor now?"

"Technically, yes. But since I'm starting my residency in three days, I'm really just a glorified trainee. I'm the doctor who gets coffee for all the real doctors."

Vikki ignored his self-deprecating humor and said, "Wow! That's very impressive, Brent! Sorry...Dr. Warner," she said with great deference. "And I know you won't be fetching coffee."

"No, but I will be either working a lot of hours or on call trying to learn the ropes."

"So what's your chosen speciality?" she asked taking another small sip.

"Radiology." He saw her mildly puzzled look and explained. "I love medicine, but I don't want to have to deal with children. I love children, I'm just not cut out for delivering bad news to them. Speaking of delivering, I don't want to deliver babies or be delivering a diagnosis of terminal cancer to anyone, either. I don't faint at the sight of blood, but surgery also isn't my thing so...by process of elimination, I chose radiology. Besides, I really am looking to settle down and after my residency, I want to be able to go home at night and not get frantic calls at 3 or 4 in the morning. Very few x-rays have to read right then and there by a radiologist who's at home."

"That's incredible, Brent! Where will you be doing your residency?" she asked with genuine interest.

"Right here at the UC San Diego Medical Center," he told her. "I had quite a few different places to choose from, but I love San Diego. Why move to Minnesota where it's below freezing several months out of the year or stay up in Seattle where it's dark and rainy for nine months at a time? I really love the weather down here. I'll take 75 and sunny over 45 and cloudy all day long/all year long."

Vikki somehow managed not to laugh out loud when he mentioned how much he loved the weather there. "Sheer coincidence or the universe doing its thing?" she wondered to herself. And that's when it really hit her. What if there was some kind of unseen force that brought people together? She rejected all forms of mysticism to include nonsense like astrology and taro cards, but looking back, could all of this just be purely coincidental?

"I love San Diego, too," she finally said. "It's one of my favorite places in the entire country." After a short pause she asked him, "Where are you living now?"

"I was down here last month after my residency request was approved and found a decent two-bedroom apartment not too far from the Medical Center. I flew back home then drove down a few days ago and moved in. I'm making reasonably decent money now but definitely not enough to buy a home in a place like this."

"True, but once you finish your residency, you'll be fine."

"I won't argue with you, but I will still have a ton of student loans to pay back. But hey, if that's my biggest complaint in life, I don't much to gripe about, right?"

Vikki couldn't help but be impressed. He'd not only made it through medical school, he had this very positive, very mature outlook on life. And she had to admit it, he might just be the cutest guy she'd ever met. He was far and away the best-looking man she'd ever made love with and that included the love of her life. She sat there just staring him while trying her best not to actually stare.

"Brent? Do you believe in soul mates? You know, does the universe just bring two random people together or does it bring the right two people together?"

"Look who's waxing philosophical," he said teasing her politely.

"I can't help it. I majored in philosophy and that's just the way my brain works, for better or for worse."

He smiled at her and said, "Here's my take on soul mates. I believe there's a group of people with whom we could be very happy, a larger group with whom we could be reasonably happy, and an even bigger group with whom we could be satisfied. I don't think there's any one person with our name written on their forehead, so to speak. It seems to me we need to do our best to find someone in the 'makes me very happy' category and then do our best to write our name on their heart. Or maybe it would be better to say get them to write our name on their heart. So if that qualifies as a 'soul mate' then yeah, I guess maybe I can accept the idea." He smiled at her and said, "I have no evidence to support it, but it really is my opinion that sometimes the universe does find a way to bring us together and everyone needs a little help every now and then, right?"

"That's true," she replied. "And what you just said about soul mates may be the most romantic thing I've ever heard," she told him when she realized how true that was.

"Don't forget that my taking you to the Mariner's stadium was the most romantic thing anyone's ever done for you," he said once again showing off that smile of his and those damn dimples!

"Oh, I haven't forgotten that, Brent," she said sweetly. "I'll never forget that evening as long as I live. It really was incredibly romantic."

"And...wet," he said laughing about getting drenched by the sprinklers.

"Yes!" she agreed. "Very wet. And...very...steamy, as I recall."

"You recall correctly," he assured her.

"So...is there anyone in your life these days, doctor?" she asked out of more than a sense of idle curiosity.

"As a matter of fact, there is," he said somberly.

Vikki felt like she'd just had the wind knocked out of her even though she had no claim on this handsome, new young doctor. "Oh, I see," was all she could say. She couldn't even look up at him. "Well, she's a very lucky girl. Is it serious?"

"I'm not sure," he told her. "I really like her—a lot. I just haven't gotten around to telling her how I feel yet."

"You don't strike me as a procrastinator, Brent. What's keeping you from telling her? I'm sure she'd want to know how you feel because if she's feeling the same way, telling her may be all she's waiting on to say the same things to you."

"Older and wiser," he said pretending it wasn't meant to be humorous. She narrowed her eyes and gave him a look before he said, "That's actually really good advice. Can you excuse me for a moment?"

Vikki was stunned and hurt when he pulled out his cell phone and started dialing. "I don't want to wait another minute to let her know."

Vikki reached for her purse and said, "I think I should go so you and your special someone can have some privacy. Thank you for..."

She heard a phone ringing close by as she stood up but couldn't locate the sound as she was so hurt she couldn't think straight. As she picked her purse up, the ringing got louder and Brent was smiling brightly at her.

Very slowly, she set her purse down and reached for her phone. She swiped 'Accept" and said very tentatively while staring at Brent, "Hello?"

"Hi," he told her. "I have very strong feelings for you, Vikki, and now that the universe has brought us back together, I'm not missing another opportunity to tell you that."

Her hand was trembling as she lowered the phone and hit 'End Call' before dropping her phone back in her purse.

"Are you going to sit back down so I can finish telling you how much you mean to me?" he asked still smiling at her.

If she'd been stunned before she now in a near-catatonic state. Vikki sat right on top of her purse for a second without realizing it. She pushed it off the chair with her bottom without ever taking her eyes off his. "What are you saying, Brent?" she asked her voice shaky with emotion.

"I'm saying that I've already written your name on my heart and that nothing would make me happier than for you to do the same—if you feel the same way about me."

"Oh, my God," she said so quietly he could barely hear her.

"I haven't stopped thinking about you since the moment you knocked on my door, Vikki. Yes, I was busy the last few months but not too busy to go out or even hook up. But someone had already stolen my heart and all I could do was hope that somehow fate or...the universe...or something would bring us together again. And then when I saw you in the hotel lobby, I realized how I felt about you."

Her face was almost expressionless. Her eyes were the only things moving on her body and Warner could tell they were looking to see if he meant what he was saying.

"How...do you feel...about me?" she asked weakly.

He moved his chair around the table and sat next to her. He took her hand in his and said, "I realized that...I love you, Vikki. That's how I feel about you. And maybe with time, you'll someday feel that way about..."

Tears filled her eyes as she leaned over and kissed him before he could finish his sentence. Streaks of mascara ran down her face as she told him after the kiss, "I love you too, Brent. I do. I truly do. I tried so hard to forget about you and that night and the universe but...but I couldn't."

"So is my name written on your heart?" he asked as he put one hand on her pretty face.

"Yes," she whispered. "In great big capital letters."

He kissed her this time and she melted into him right there in front of God and everyone. "Is there any chance I could see your apartment tonight?" she asked sweetly.

"I'd say the odds are 100%," he told her as he asked for the check.

There were still boxes stacked up around the modest apartment even though Brent didn't own a lot of stuff. All he had to do was clear a few things off of his full-sized bed before they made love on it. They took their time, slowly pleasuring one another orally before he entered her and took her hard. Vikki came a third time as Brent came inside her again dropping his entire load deep inside her womb.

"So now what?" she asked after laying in his arms for a very long time without speaking as he stroked her hair.

"I don't think the universe went to all this trouble for another one-night stand," he told her. "We both love the weather and the town, right?"

"True," she said running her hand along his hard, muscled chest.

"And we both love each other, right?"

"True again," she told him.

"San Diego has an airport nearby so you might even be able to fly out of here as your home base, couldn't you?"

"That's definitely possible. It might take a while to swing that, but if the universe is really on our side..."

Warner sat up and Vikki did the same. He again took her hand in his and said, "I would like nothing more than for you to come live here with me."

"As your girlfriend?" she asked. She wasn't hinting at more, she just needed clarification.

"At first anyway," he told her. He turned toward her as best he could and said, "Like you, I'm a hopeless romantic and were I to ask you to be more than my girlfriend, I wouldn't do it here in bed with you—although this is rather romantic." Vikki smiled and said she agreed. "But there's a very good chance I would be asking you to be more than that in the very near future."