The Moongate Wish: Chapter Two-The (Minor) Misunderstanding

The chapter opens with Erika explaining to us, I mean...to “the newly arrived American couple” what the legend of the Moongate is. Apparently, honeymooners should walk through the gate, make a wish and- The husband interrupts her and we never find out what she was going to say at the end. ...And prepare a ritual sacrifice? And run three laps around the Moongate backward? And never read trashy romance novels? I'm sure we'll find out later and it'll be a big deal with Erika and Glen, but I still wanna know now. The scene with the America couple also sets up that it's really hard to get a license in Bermuda. A tiny island is not a good place for a lot of cars. That's enough set-up of those plot points, let's head downstairs.

Oh, hey there Lalla. By the way, it was previously mentioned that Erika thought Lalla had some troubles in her life, but she didn't know what they were. I mention that purely because it shows that Lalla has a depressed face...no, we totally find out her troubles in this chapter. Just, in a bit, be patient. In this scene, Erika demonstrates her iron will by threatening to tear up the contract the hotel has with their maintenance company if they don't come out and fix the broken elevator within the hour. ...because nothing says “good customer” like threats to push your business a day earlier than it was supposed to be. Shortly after Erika hangs up on them, a little boy named Frankie comes to talk to Lalla. Erika can tell by the look in Frankie's eyes that he's mentally retarded and he's calling Lalla Mum, so that's got to be difficult. However, Erika has a hunch that Lalla's difficulties are deeper than that. Le gasp! Anyway, what kind of book is this? Let's stop looking at the secondary characters and get some more progress on this romance!

Yeah, Erika, I guess you can dress sexy just for Glen at cocktail hour. Go for it. She puts on a nice dress, puts on perfume, does her hair and makeup and...Glen doesn't come to cocktails or to dinner. What a jerk. You see, Erika doesn't go to dinner again, but she leaves her office door open while she's working so if Glen comes in, she'll see him. After dinner, Erika wanders outside and just so happens to go toward Glen's villa. Maybe she can go in and hear his music...Oh wait. There's no music and his villa is dark. Well then. Erika's thoughts? “Darn him...and darn herself for being such a fool.” I would have used more colorful language if I thought a guy had stood me up, he kind of promised to see her that night...just a little bit. Anyway, getting over her almost-swear words, Erika heads back into the hotel.

Hey, Glen. How's that pub treating you? Apparently it's the next day. I'm telling you this now because it took me awhile to catch on. Anyway Glen's drinking alone (yeah, with nobody else) and we get to see his dilemma. He went to Bermuda to remove himself from distractions so he could finish his latest show, Gossip, in two months. So no playing around for him! This is business time! But Erika is such a fun distraction! Glen thinks about spending time with her a lot. Hey, sometimes he thinks about snorkeling or getting to know her better and not just about sex. Although, he seems to think she has a body that's “perfect in every detail”. From a woman's perspective, let me just say, “Hah! Having a flawless body! Hah!”

Anyway, just as Glen is about to take a drink, he sees Erika across the street. Her head's turned away from him, but he recognizes her hair and that body. Also, something about magnetism. Aw. They're using the same words to describe each other. True. Love. Glen's up on a balcony, but he yells down at her and invites her up for a drink. You see, Erika was in town to take her driver's test so she could use the permanent manager's car. Remember how it's difficult to get a license in Bermuda? I guess that doesn't matter if you don't add another car to the island.

Oh, and by the way, Lalla's husband and father were killed in a storm, when Frankie was a few months old, and she's got an arthritic, bed-ridden mother to take care of. Lalla didn't get married again, because men stay away from trouble like that. There ya go, Lalla's backstory. After telling Erika all of this, Glen is a bit surprised at how much she cares. It's so hot. Um, anyway. Erika, you were totally shopping! What'd ya get? (Glen's really bad at not distracting himself with her by the way.) After talking about what Erika got, only vaguely, Glen asks if anyone is missing her in England. What an indirect way to ask if she's either available, or very available. Erika affirms that she's very independent and doesn't have anyone back home....for a given definition of independent. The reader learns/is told that Erika keeps people at a distance because her mother's heartbreak made her a bitter, bitter person. To keep Glen from learning this, Erika questions him on his whereabouts at dinner time the previous day.

Glen says that his plans changed, then wanted to know if his absence made Erika sad. Well, being the strong, independent woman that she is, Erika's going to hide behind bluster. Nope, it didn't make her sat at all! Which, surprisingly, leads to an awkward silence. During this silence, Glen meditates on how she totally wants him and he wants her. She's holding back, which annoys him. If she were a different sort of woman, they could just have sex and be done with it, but Erika is different than anyone else he's ever met. She's not just sexy, but she speaks to something deep inside him... I need some crackers with that cheese. Glen shakes his head to remove the dairy product from his brain and thinks about how Erika's messing with his deadline, but he kind of likes it.

Erika, brooding as well, interprets his head shake as something like, “Wow. I was cool with inviting this girl up here for a drink, but I want her to stop pursuing me. Despite that kiss, which rocked both of our worlds, I just don't want to spend time with her anymore.” This is why people have problems making and maintaining relationships. Acting on what she misread (this chapter's minor misunderstanding), Erika gets up and says she's heading back to the hotel in that car she's now licensed to drive. Glen gets a ride back and this intimacy confuses Erika and makes her driving bad. I know you're thinking of a “woman driver” joke, but this is a romance novel, we all know it's not realistic.

On the drive, Glen tries to find out if Erika's available in the evenings and, when she says she works all the time forever, he tries to convince her that the two of them could spend some time together in the evening anyway. Yup, he's totally not interested, Erika. There's also some talk about Glen's responsibility to his backers, audience, etc and how he's trying to avoid distractions. Oh, also how his life isn't as full of distractions as the press makes it seem.

Once they get back to the hotel, Erika drives up to Glen's villa. He convinces her to come inside to hear how the song's changing. She wants to say no, but this strong, independent woman weakly agrees. Sorry, I'll try not to riff on that again until the next chapter at least. Apparently, by “hear how the song's changing”, he meant, “lay out the music and start making a move”. You see, he lays out the sheet music on the lid of the piano and Erika stands in the curve of the grand piano to read the music. Then Glen stands right behind her and starts stroking the skin at the nape of her neck and puts a hand on her shoulder. Erika tries to talk about the music, and stands rigidly, then Glen slides his hand down her arm and onto her hand that's on the piano. Here's the part that ruined the illusion for me: his hands have “the breadth that could span octaves with the greatest of ease.” I'm not sure how familiar you are with pianos, but reaching one octave is difficult, and some people can't quite manage it. In order for one hand to reach two octaves, it would have to be absolutely huge! The author had to have meant that his two hands can span two octaves, but that's weird wording.

Anyway, back to the player wanting to settle down, Glen stands so close to Erika that they're touching and he nuzzles her hair, murmuring her name. Erika says she's got to leave and turns around. Well, now that they're face-to-face this close, Glen starts massaging the tender spots behind her jawbone (by her chin, or her ears? 'cause either way is kinda weird) and moves in for the kiss. Erika totally wants it, but she spins away from him. Glen asks what's wrong and doesn't touch her when she puts up a hand to stop him. Oh, hey, you can read body language. Erika says that she's got to go run the hotel and Glen reminds her that Lalla was totally competent a minute ago. Ignoring that point, Erika tells Glen she's got a barbeque to go to tonight and she totally can't take any more time off today. So there. Then she drives away, threatening the gears in the car and some poor, defenseless hibiscus bush.

All right, this line of trashy romance novel isn't quite as trashy as I thought. It'll talk about sensual things, but I don't think they'll have sex until the end. Also, we're going to need a larger misunderstanding than this one to drive them apart for the main conflict. Well, that and this is only the second chapter. In the next chapter, I predict that Erika will host that barbeque by the pool and Glen will show up and stand behind a bush that's too short to hide him. He'll watch Erika and refuse to talk to anyone until he stage-whispers to get her to come talk to him. After talking for a few paragraphs, she'll throw punch in his face and Glen will go back to his villa to change.