Saturday, March 03, 2007
Magic
Still feeling a kiss days after it happens. The mind hearing a voice say words that days ago entered an ear and went straight to the heart. Eyes closed, seeing a smile that caused another face to break into a grin. Still feeling a touch on the hand hours later. Hearing a song that transports a moment from the past to the here and now. Dreaming a dream that seems ready to come come true. Feeling the vibration caused by a connection that resembles something electrical. Imagining how much better anything could be given the chance.
This isn't "Harry Potter" type magic...not "Charmed" type magic. It's not even "Bewitched" magic.
It's even better.
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Still feeling a kiss days after it happens. The mind hearing a voice say words that days ago entered an ear and went straight to the heart. Eyes closed, seeing a smile that caused another face to break into a grin. Still feeling a touch on the hand hours later. Hearing a song that transports a moment from the past to the here and now. Dreaming a dream that seems ready to come come true. Feeling the vibration caused by a connection that resembles something electrical. Imagining how much better anything could be given the chance.
This isn't "Harry Potter" type magic...not "Charmed" type magic. It's not even "Bewitched" magic.
It's even better.
Monday, January 22, 2007
She smiled her "really happy to see you" smile as I approached and she said "Hello". I opened my mouth to greet her with a cheery "Hello, beautiful!", but closed my mouth against something else that was going to come out instead.
That was the only that stopped me from opening my mouth and completely letting everything out. How it felt as if I was dying inside because I wanted to hold her so frikkin' much. How her smile makes the blood pound in my chest. How her laugh chases the clouds from my thoughts that had been there for almost a week. How I see her face in my mind's eyes just before I fall into the darkness of sleep. How her face was there again just before I open my eyes to the light of the next day knowing I will face it seeing her but not being with her. How the thought of her makes me smile even though the same thought brings a feeling of painful longing. I stepped closer as she bend forward to get something from her bag. Her hair was pulled up, giving me a glimpse of that mole on the back of her neck that I can barely restrain myself from kissing everytime I see it. A step closer and I could smell the fragrance that pulls at me as if it were a hook that had buried itself in my chest and she was reeling in the line attached. I stopped right in front of her as she looked up. Her face inches from mine, I wanted to make that small, but infinite distance disappear and press my lips to hers. I searched her eyes for the shadow of a dream I could make come true for her. I imagined for a moment how much more beautiful her eyes would be if they held tears of happiness that I had caused. I looked down, seeing her hands that I wanted to enfold in mine while bringing them to my lips to kiss the fingertips. Looking back up at her face, I opened my mouth to say "I want to make your life better than you have ever dreamed it could be. I can't promise you the world, but I can promise to bring you one of the loveliest pieces of it that I can find everyday. I want to be completely yours no matter what obstacles I'll face. I want to make it so any obstacles you face for me are more than worth it. I want to temper any pain you may ever have with even greater joy. I want you to be the center of my life and part of everything that radiates out from it. I want to love you like I know that I can. I want to laugh and talk for hours about nothing as we can and have, feeling as always that we've just discussed the most important subject in the world. I want to make your body feel the most pleasure that you've ever known and then make you feel even more. I want forever with you".
I looked into her eyes and said "Hi, beautiful! How was your weekend?"
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That was the only that stopped me from opening my mouth and completely letting everything out. How it felt as if I was dying inside because I wanted to hold her so frikkin' much. How her smile makes the blood pound in my chest. How her laugh chases the clouds from my thoughts that had been there for almost a week. How I see her face in my mind's eyes just before I fall into the darkness of sleep. How her face was there again just before I open my eyes to the light of the next day knowing I will face it seeing her but not being with her. How the thought of her makes me smile even though the same thought brings a feeling of painful longing. I stepped closer as she bend forward to get something from her bag. Her hair was pulled up, giving me a glimpse of that mole on the back of her neck that I can barely restrain myself from kissing everytime I see it. A step closer and I could smell the fragrance that pulls at me as if it were a hook that had buried itself in my chest and she was reeling in the line attached. I stopped right in front of her as she looked up. Her face inches from mine, I wanted to make that small, but infinite distance disappear and press my lips to hers. I searched her eyes for the shadow of a dream I could make come true for her. I imagined for a moment how much more beautiful her eyes would be if they held tears of happiness that I had caused. I looked down, seeing her hands that I wanted to enfold in mine while bringing them to my lips to kiss the fingertips. Looking back up at her face, I opened my mouth to say "I want to make your life better than you have ever dreamed it could be. I can't promise you the world, but I can promise to bring you one of the loveliest pieces of it that I can find everyday. I want to be completely yours no matter what obstacles I'll face. I want to make it so any obstacles you face for me are more than worth it. I want to temper any pain you may ever have with even greater joy. I want you to be the center of my life and part of everything that radiates out from it. I want to love you like I know that I can. I want to laugh and talk for hours about nothing as we can and have, feeling as always that we've just discussed the most important subject in the world. I want to make your body feel the most pleasure that you've ever known and then make you feel even more. I want forever with you".
I looked into her eyes and said "Hi, beautiful! How was your weekend?"
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Do The Same continued...
Jake walked into the bedroom after toweling himself off in the bathroom. He threw the wet towel on top of the clothes overflowing from the hamper. He grabbed a pair of cutoff jean shorts and a black Harley t-shirt from the pile of clothes that he had folded, but left on the top of his dresser instead of placing them in the drawers. After pulling the shirt over his head, he turned with the thought in his head to put the clothes away. He grabbed a few pairs of socks from the top of the pile, opened the top dresser drawer and stuffed them down in the mound of socks threatening to spill out onto the floor. He shoved that drawer in, pulled it back a small amount and then holding the multicolored hill of socks down, got the drawer to fully close. He continued putting the rest of the laundry away mindlessly.
After finishing, he walked out to the kitchen and poured himself more cola into his plastic cup from earlier. He turned automatically, grabbing the bottle of Jim Beam from the counter, twisted the top off and tilted the bottle over the cup. Just as the brown tinted liquid was about to cascade over the lip of the bottle and into the waiting cola, he stopped himself. How about taking a break from stuff today, Jake? He thought that taking a break was likely a very good idea, so he put the bottle down on the counter and screwed the cap back into place. He opened the freezer, broke off a piece of the built up frost and dropped it in his cup with a plunk.
He took his drink to the living room, turning on the television as he passed and made himself comfortable by laying down on the sofa. Grabbing the remote, he started surfing through the 60 some channels that the local cable company offered. As he scrolled through the channels, a familiar scene crossed the screen. He released the pressure that his right thumb had on the remote button, re-applied it to the button directly below the first button and then stopped when the t.v. went back two channels. "Stand by Me" was playing on one of the movie channels. As he was watching Vern and Gordie run for their lives on the train trestle, his eye grew heavy. He opened them wide for a second, trying to focus on the movie, but less than a minute later, his breathing had slowed to a soft snore.
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As Jake looked into the mirrored wall around the tan leather upholstered booth where he was seated, he saw that the smoky haze that was filling the night club distorted his reflection into an otherworldly image. The smoke formed a wispy mesh that reflected the lights that were pulsing red, yellow, white and blue in time with the loud, crashing music. He saw his face awash in colors, but his features were blurred and muddled. He grabbed a glass with his outstretched hand and brought it to his lips to drink. Just before his lips touched the rim, he looked at the glass in wonder. In his hand, the heft of the glass was considerable, but to the eyes, it was an impossibly thin crystal, with a cunningly etched design of knives, spears and swords that connected and wrapped around each other. He turned the glass in his hands, his eyes following the line of serpent-like weapons as they wound their way completely around the glass. After spinning the glass around in his hand numerous times, he brought it closer to his face, trying to closely examine some of the details of the carvings. Passing the glass under his nose, he caught the scent of the scarlet liquid that filled the glass, but seemed to barely move, even with the twisting and turning of the chalice that it was in. It's smell reminded Jake perfume of the sweet pears laying on the ground after they fell from the tree in the summer sundrenched backyard of his family home. The smell was very sweet, but a person could also vaguely detect the very slight taste of the rot that was already breaking down the grainy flesh of the pears. Feeling his mouth start to moisten with saliva, he brought the glass to his lips. Opening his lips and tilting his head back, glare an overhead light caused his eyes to narrow as he felt the drink wash over his teeth. As it toughed his tongue, a heat began to spread through his mouth and down his throat. The taste began so sweet that it made his teeth begin to ache, but it quickly turned as bitter as gall. His throat contracted and jerking his head down, was barely able to keep from spewing the foul mouthful across the table where he was seated. He tilted his head down and parting his lips, allowed the fluid to drain back into the glass. As he was spitting the last bit of drool from his mouth, he spied a icon on the glass that he didn't notice before. Not believing that he could have missed it during his close inspection of the designs in the glass, he stared in wonder at the skull and crossbones that appeared in the midst of the snaking line just below the rim. Giving up all appearances of politness, he filled his mouth with saliva and spit forcefully onto the blue-grey carpet next to his seat. Looking to his left and front, he glanced about to see if anyone was paying him any interest. The club seemed nearly empty, with only a few people sitting at the bar which had every surface covered entirely with small broken bits of mirrored glass. It also had a brass pipe that ran along the entire edge. Sliding out of his seat, he walked to the closest corner of the bar. Leaning on the brass rail, he saw a women behind the bar at the far end. Raising his hand, he called to her over the music. "Excuse me, miss...please, down here!" She turned and began walking the length of the bar towards the end where Jake stood. As she approached, Jake could see that the lights and smoke haze were having the same effect on her face. He could make out the shapes of her lips, nose and eyes, but they were blurred as is he was looking at her through a veil of water. She stepped in front of Jake, but to Jake's amazement, he still couldn't see the details of her face, even with her being only a couple of feet from him. Jake rubbed his eyes and looked again. Her visage was no clearer. Nervously licking his lips and pointing back towards the booth he had just left, Jake asked the women (girl?) if she had made his drink. Saying nothing, she turned her head in the direction indicated by Jake's hand, turned slowly back towards him and then suddenly bent down to reach under the bar. After a few moments during which Jake could hear objects falling to the floor behind the bar where she stood, she stood back up just as quickly and handed Jake a scarlet filled glass that looked exactly like the one he had left at his table. Jake looked down at the glass in his hand and this time could readily make out the skull and crossbones symbol etched into it. Dropping the glass as if it burned his hand, it fell, hitting the brass rail before it struck the floor and shattered with a loud explosion. Sidestepping quickly to avoid getting the splashed contents on his legs and feet, Jake nearly fell over a high backed, black leather stool that was next to him against the bar. As he caught his balance, he looked back to the bartender. Again in her hand was another glass, again filled with the scarlet liquid. Jake backed away and turned, looking for an Doorter spinning in a complete revolution, he saw the dim red letters that spelled exit at the oppsite end of the bar. Walking rapidly, trying not to break into a sprint, he headed towards the promised point of escape. As he walked past the back of the people seated at the bar, they one by one turned towards him. Feeling a shiver, he gasped as he saw that they too had not distinct facial features. Forgetting any idea of a calm journey to the door, he began to run. Before he had taken any more than 2 of his long legged running bounds, the music stopped so abruptly that it seemed to slam through his ears and into his brain with the resulting silence. Every light in the place appeared to turn and focus on him. Rounding the corner of the bar at a dead run, Jake flung himself at the door. Though it looked to be made of solid oak, the door splintered as Jake's shoulder struck it. As his feet touched the concrete just on the other side of the opening, Jake felt a sickening lurch in his gut as he saw that the ground broke away less than 2 yards from where his foot touched down. Falling sideways in an attempt to keep from going over the edge, Jake felt his right elbow crunch onto the hard surface which was followed by a brilliant flash of pain traveling through his arm, up through his shoulder and into his brain. Bright lights traveled across Jakes closed eyelids as he gathered his right arm to his torso. Squeezing them tighter, the light slowed it's motion on his eyelids.
Jake opened his eyes to find that the blinding light was still there. He lifted his head slightly and was able to get his face out of the beam of light. After a few seconds, he was able to see the television on the other side of his living room. As he sat up he saw that the ray of light was the from late afternoon sun shining in through the window behind the sofa, covering the throw pillow where his head had just been resting in bright, hot light. Shaking off the quickly fading images of his dream, Jake wiped his sweating brow. As he reached out to the catch-all basket on the coffee table, he felt a sharp pain in his right elbow. Drawing his arm back quickly to his side, the pain disappeared. Gingerly touching the elbow with his left hand, he searched for the point form where the pain emminated. Feeling not even a small amount of tenderness, he worked the joint in his elbow. Although he could still feel a ghost of pain when he first did that, it had become no more than a memeory by the third time he moved his hand up and down. Reaching back to the basket on the table, he extracted a month old pack of Marlboros from under the 2 dozen pens , 10 or so lighters and a large stack of mail that the basket held. He lit one, coughing slightly as he exhaled, then drew a deeper drag, letting the acrid smoke burn in his throat and lungs. Exhaling, he felt the last little scraps of the dream drift away on the breeze of his conscious thoughts.
To be continued....
© 2006 RMG All rights reserved
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Jake walked into the bedroom after toweling himself off in the bathroom. He threw the wet towel on top of the clothes overflowing from the hamper. He grabbed a pair of cutoff jean shorts and a black Harley t-shirt from the pile of clothes that he had folded, but left on the top of his dresser instead of placing them in the drawers. After pulling the shirt over his head, he turned with the thought in his head to put the clothes away. He grabbed a few pairs of socks from the top of the pile, opened the top dresser drawer and stuffed them down in the mound of socks threatening to spill out onto the floor. He shoved that drawer in, pulled it back a small amount and then holding the multicolored hill of socks down, got the drawer to fully close. He continued putting the rest of the laundry away mindlessly.
After finishing, he walked out to the kitchen and poured himself more cola into his plastic cup from earlier. He turned automatically, grabbing the bottle of Jim Beam from the counter, twisted the top off and tilted the bottle over the cup. Just as the brown tinted liquid was about to cascade over the lip of the bottle and into the waiting cola, he stopped himself. How about taking a break from stuff today, Jake? He thought that taking a break was likely a very good idea, so he put the bottle down on the counter and screwed the cap back into place. He opened the freezer, broke off a piece of the built up frost and dropped it in his cup with a plunk.
He took his drink to the living room, turning on the television as he passed and made himself comfortable by laying down on the sofa. Grabbing the remote, he started surfing through the 60 some channels that the local cable company offered. As he scrolled through the channels, a familiar scene crossed the screen. He released the pressure that his right thumb had on the remote button, re-applied it to the button directly below the first button and then stopped when the t.v. went back two channels. "Stand by Me" was playing on one of the movie channels. As he was watching Vern and Gordie run for their lives on the train trestle, his eye grew heavy. He opened them wide for a second, trying to focus on the movie, but less than a minute later, his breathing had slowed to a soft snore.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As Jake looked into the mirrored wall around the tan leather upholstered booth where he was seated, he saw that the smoky haze that was filling the night club distorted his reflection into an otherworldly image. The smoke formed a wispy mesh that reflected the lights that were pulsing red, yellow, white and blue in time with the loud, crashing music. He saw his face awash in colors, but his features were blurred and muddled. He grabbed a glass with his outstretched hand and brought it to his lips to drink. Just before his lips touched the rim, he looked at the glass in wonder. In his hand, the heft of the glass was considerable, but to the eyes, it was an impossibly thin crystal, with a cunningly etched design of knives, spears and swords that connected and wrapped around each other. He turned the glass in his hands, his eyes following the line of serpent-like weapons as they wound their way completely around the glass. After spinning the glass around in his hand numerous times, he brought it closer to his face, trying to closely examine some of the details of the carvings. Passing the glass under his nose, he caught the scent of the scarlet liquid that filled the glass, but seemed to barely move, even with the twisting and turning of the chalice that it was in. It's smell reminded Jake perfume of the sweet pears laying on the ground after they fell from the tree in the summer sundrenched backyard of his family home. The smell was very sweet, but a person could also vaguely detect the very slight taste of the rot that was already breaking down the grainy flesh of the pears. Feeling his mouth start to moisten with saliva, he brought the glass to his lips. Opening his lips and tilting his head back, glare an overhead light caused his eyes to narrow as he felt the drink wash over his teeth. As it toughed his tongue, a heat began to spread through his mouth and down his throat. The taste began so sweet that it made his teeth begin to ache, but it quickly turned as bitter as gall. His throat contracted and jerking his head down, was barely able to keep from spewing the foul mouthful across the table where he was seated. He tilted his head down and parting his lips, allowed the fluid to drain back into the glass. As he was spitting the last bit of drool from his mouth, he spied a icon on the glass that he didn't notice before. Not believing that he could have missed it during his close inspection of the designs in the glass, he stared in wonder at the skull and crossbones that appeared in the midst of the snaking line just below the rim. Giving up all appearances of politness, he filled his mouth with saliva and spit forcefully onto the blue-grey carpet next to his seat. Looking to his left and front, he glanced about to see if anyone was paying him any interest. The club seemed nearly empty, with only a few people sitting at the bar which had every surface covered entirely with small broken bits of mirrored glass. It also had a brass pipe that ran along the entire edge. Sliding out of his seat, he walked to the closest corner of the bar. Leaning on the brass rail, he saw a women behind the bar at the far end. Raising his hand, he called to her over the music. "Excuse me, miss...please, down here!" She turned and began walking the length of the bar towards the end where Jake stood. As she approached, Jake could see that the lights and smoke haze were having the same effect on her face. He could make out the shapes of her lips, nose and eyes, but they were blurred as is he was looking at her through a veil of water. She stepped in front of Jake, but to Jake's amazement, he still couldn't see the details of her face, even with her being only a couple of feet from him. Jake rubbed his eyes and looked again. Her visage was no clearer. Nervously licking his lips and pointing back towards the booth he had just left, Jake asked the women (girl?) if she had made his drink. Saying nothing, she turned her head in the direction indicated by Jake's hand, turned slowly back towards him and then suddenly bent down to reach under the bar. After a few moments during which Jake could hear objects falling to the floor behind the bar where she stood, she stood back up just as quickly and handed Jake a scarlet filled glass that looked exactly like the one he had left at his table. Jake looked down at the glass in his hand and this time could readily make out the skull and crossbones symbol etched into it. Dropping the glass as if it burned his hand, it fell, hitting the brass rail before it struck the floor and shattered with a loud explosion. Sidestepping quickly to avoid getting the splashed contents on his legs and feet, Jake nearly fell over a high backed, black leather stool that was next to him against the bar. As he caught his balance, he looked back to the bartender. Again in her hand was another glass, again filled with the scarlet liquid. Jake backed away and turned, looking for an Doorter spinning in a complete revolution, he saw the dim red letters that spelled exit at the oppsite end of the bar. Walking rapidly, trying not to break into a sprint, he headed towards the promised point of escape. As he walked past the back of the people seated at the bar, they one by one turned towards him. Feeling a shiver, he gasped as he saw that they too had not distinct facial features. Forgetting any idea of a calm journey to the door, he began to run. Before he had taken any more than 2 of his long legged running bounds, the music stopped so abruptly that it seemed to slam through his ears and into his brain with the resulting silence. Every light in the place appeared to turn and focus on him. Rounding the corner of the bar at a dead run, Jake flung himself at the door. Though it looked to be made of solid oak, the door splintered as Jake's shoulder struck it. As his feet touched the concrete just on the other side of the opening, Jake felt a sickening lurch in his gut as he saw that the ground broke away less than 2 yards from where his foot touched down. Falling sideways in an attempt to keep from going over the edge, Jake felt his right elbow crunch onto the hard surface which was followed by a brilliant flash of pain traveling through his arm, up through his shoulder and into his brain. Bright lights traveled across Jakes closed eyelids as he gathered his right arm to his torso. Squeezing them tighter, the light slowed it's motion on his eyelids.
Jake opened his eyes to find that the blinding light was still there. He lifted his head slightly and was able to get his face out of the beam of light. After a few seconds, he was able to see the television on the other side of his living room. As he sat up he saw that the ray of light was the from late afternoon sun shining in through the window behind the sofa, covering the throw pillow where his head had just been resting in bright, hot light. Shaking off the quickly fading images of his dream, Jake wiped his sweating brow. As he reached out to the catch-all basket on the coffee table, he felt a sharp pain in his right elbow. Drawing his arm back quickly to his side, the pain disappeared. Gingerly touching the elbow with his left hand, he searched for the point form where the pain emminated. Feeling not even a small amount of tenderness, he worked the joint in his elbow. Although he could still feel a ghost of pain when he first did that, it had become no more than a memeory by the third time he moved his hand up and down. Reaching back to the basket on the table, he extracted a month old pack of Marlboros from under the 2 dozen pens , 10 or so lighters and a large stack of mail that the basket held. He lit one, coughing slightly as he exhaled, then drew a deeper drag, letting the acrid smoke burn in his throat and lungs. Exhaling, he felt the last little scraps of the dream drift away on the breeze of his conscious thoughts.
To be continued....
© 2006 RMG All rights reserved
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Do The Same continued.....
The water felt like burning hot needles piercing his neck and shoulders as he stood under the shower head with his eyes closed. He was making a concerted effort to relax his body which, in itself, was defeating the purpose. When the water finally started to get cold, even with him turning the faucet all the way to the hot side, he stopped leaning against the shower wall and turned the water off. Opening the shower curtain and grabbing a towel, he began to dry himself. As he stepped over the side of the tub, he bent over to dry his feet to avoid getting the bath mat wet. He lifted his right foot, ran the towel over it and his big toe found the small tear at the edge of the towel. Nearly falling into the vanity across from the tub/shower, he caught himself on the corner of the sink. "Battin' a thousand here today, ain't we, Silver?", he muttered with exasperation as he looked at his reflection in the steam-misted mirror over the sink. He contemplated the person looking back at him for a moment. He saw the brown eyes that could turn green if he was feeling mischievious and the scaar under his left eye from a long ago, unfortunate meeting with a baseball bat. He thought for a moment about the nose he considered too large, then averted his glance, wiping his face with the towel. The good mood he had when he pulled into his driveway seemed at that time to have not been with him that day at all. His mind replayed bits of that morning's conversation with Katie.
Yes, it had solved the dilemma that he would have had to face soon, but he would have preferred to have been able to have made the choice himself. It wasn't that he felt that he would have picked her over Shelly when it came down to it, nor did he know if he would have chosen Shelly. At times, he even thought that he really didn't feel that either women was The One. And thinking that, he also felt somewhat selfish.
Shelly was also from the area, but had more of a small town air about her. Unlike Katie, she had no children. Of course, she was just out of childhood herself at 19 years old. And she did have a tendency to act that way at times. She was definitely more demanding of Jake's time and when she got it in her head that Jake was not spending enough time with her, she would begin hinting for him to correct this situation. If Jake took too long to get the clue, she would begin acting like a petulant child until Jake pulled all the stops and lavished her with the attention that she wanted. Usually after a couple days of nonstop togetherness, she would be appeased and return to the normal routine of seeing Jake for few hours a couple days a week and spending time with her girlfriends the balance of the time. She lived with a high school friend who was a party girl and on a night out would make a circuit of the local clubs. Their favorite activity when clubbing was to keep score of the number of guys that they could get to buy them drinks in an evening, winner paying the cab fare home at the end of the night. Shelly's roommate, Chris, was engaged to a Marine that was in Iwakuni, Japan at the time and even though she flirted heavily during her and Shelly's nights out, Jake knew of no time that she had been unfaithful to her fiance.
A month and a half before, Jake had spent a week as Squadron Duty NCO. While on duty, Jake couldn't leave the base for very long as there was a four hour on- four hour off duty rotation. So, when the Friday came that ended his rotation, he had been somewhat disappointed that Katie had plans to be out of town with her mother on a visit to family in the western part of the state. Feeling somewhat out of sorts with this, Jake went out for the night, but avoided his usual haunts. He drove his brown, '72 Nova to avoid parking his bike in front of bars where he wasn't known and there may be a risk of it being damaged. After bar hopping for a couple hours, he found himself on the north side of town in a dance club called the Shangrila. He made straight for the U-shaped bar on the opposite side of the doors, sat down on the lone empty barstool near the corner of the U and ordered a bourbon and cola when one of the three barmaids finally made her way to his end.
As he sat, looking at the scenery (dozens of women in their tightest little black, red, blue or green dresses) and drinking his mixed drink, he figured that he wouldn't be there very much longer than the 2 drink minimum. He had just ordered his second when a girl with long brunette hair with frosted highlights wearing a skin tight yellow and black striped dress walked by on her way to the restrooms just behind Jake. As she passed, she glanced at Jake momentarily, turned away, then turned back catching Jake's eye. She gave Jake what he sometimes called the "play your cards right" look which consisted of prolonged eye to eye contact and a smile. As long as the girl held the eye contact for more than 3 seconds, Jake knew he had a chance to at least get a phone number from her. This girl held eye contact with Jake for the entire 15 feet she had to walk to get past the corner and to the ramp heading to the ladies room.
Jake began to see that there could be a change of plans as far as him leaving after the drink he had was finished. When she walked back out of the restroom, the girl gave a sideways smiling glance at Jake and moved back into the crowd. Jake watched her as she made her way to a raised table on the edge of the dance floor where there was a blonde girl in an equally tight white dress. On the table in front of each of them was at least 3 drinks apiece. As she sat, the girl in the yellow and black leaned over to her friend and said something in her ear. As she stayed leaning over with there heads next to each others, the blonde looked over the brunette's shoulder searching the end of the bar where Jake was seated. As her eyes swept the end of the bar, Jake could see her lips mouthing the words "which one" and as she her eyes caught Jake's, they stopped for a moment and then she quickly looked away. He then watched the girl in yellow and black sit down with her back towards Jake.
Jake occasionally glanced towards that table for the next 20 minutes without being obvious about it. He noticed a few different guys coming up to the table, talking for a moment and then returning with a couple drinks in their hands. They would each sit there for a few minutes and then leave always followed by giggles and eye rolling from the two women. Jake also saw the blonde looking his way a few times, but he didn't make extended eye contact with her.
Soon, the blonde stood up and made her way towards Jake's side of the club and looking directly at him, walked by into the ladies room. Jake considered going to the brunette to speak with her while she was alone; divide and conquer, that sort of thing. But before he could pick up his drink and make his way over, he felt a tap on his shoulder.
"I think you should buy a drink for my friend and I", she said loudly over the music, "She's been waiting for you to come over there and talk to her. You do want to talk to her, right?"
"Sure, I'd like to talk to her, but it looks to me like you ladies have yourselves set up well in the drink department. So really, I see no need for me to buy you drinks that you'll probably won't drink before closing", Jake replied with a grin. "How about if she brings one of those five drinks she has in front of her and come here to talk to me herself?"
"Fine then, your lose. There's plenty of guys in here that are waiting to buy us drinks!", she shot back haughtily and turning away in a huff, walked back to the table where her friend was waiting.
Jake took a long drink from his glass, figuring that after that exchange there was no point in sticking around any longer when he saw the brunette pick up one of the full glasses in front of her and start to rise from her seat. The blonde grabbed her arm with an angry look on her face and began to say something to the brunette. From where Jake was sitting, he could see the brunette cut the blonde short and pulled her arm away, turning to walk towards Jake.
Jake measured her progress towards him and as she came around the corner of the bar, Jake turned in his seat to face her.
She approached Jake and leaned in to say in his ear, "Hi, my name is Shelly. I was hoping you'd come to our table and talk to me. But, my friend Chris thinks you have an attitude."
Jake took Shelly's hand saying, "I'm Jake. Yes, I do want to talk to you and No, I don't have an attitude."
"Why don't you want to buy us...or me a drink then if you want to talk to me?"
Leaning back to look into Shelly's hazel eyes, Jake replied, "You both seem like you have more than enough drinks and it seems to me that buying the two of you a drink is a one way ticket to a brush off."
"It's not like that! You make it sound like we're using those guys! We're not... it's just that everyone of them either uses a really lame line on us or says something really crude about threesomes. It's their own fault that they get a "brush off!"
Jake gave her an appraising look for a long moment and then said, "I tell you what...if you are still here talking to me when that drink you have now is finished, I'll buy your next one."
"Deal!"
For the next hour and a half, they made small talk but without the normal searching for words. Within 5 minutes, Jake had stood up and offered Shelly his seat and although she demurred for a second, she sat down at Jake's insistence. Shortly after, Jake finished his drink and asked Shelly what she preferred. She began to tell the barmaid her order and then stopped suddenly. "Hold on for a second..stay here."
She walked to the table where her friend was now sitting with a guy and after whispering in the Chris' ear for a moment, picked up one of the drinks from the table and came back to Jake.
Sitting back down, she winked at Jake and said," You still owe me a drink, but there's no sense in wasting these ones."
"This smoke is starting to burn my eyes", said Shelly later while waving her hand in an attempt to clear the cigarette haze that was hanging heavily throughout the bar. "How about we step out side for some cleaner air?"
Jake plunked some bills on the bar for a tip and began to lead the way through the throng of people milling between the doors and the bar. After the first couple of steps, Shelly grabbed his hand and allowed him to clear a path towards the exit.
When outside, after stopping once for one of Shelly's beverage benefactors to try talking her up, they strolled over to Jake's car and leaned on the hood. They continued their chat for awhile longer.
The door to the Shangrila swung open with a bang allowing the music to blast out into the parking lot. Jake and Shelly both looked up to see Chris walking towards the opposite end of the lot with the tall, dark, unintelligent looking guy that had been at the table with her following. Jake could hear him saying, "Aww, come on! I'll pay for the room!" as the Lenny-looking guy staggered sideways and almost fell over a parking curb. Chris stopped, pushed at the 'Lenny's' chest and shouted, "No! I said, No!"
Jake stopped Shelly as she started to stand and turning, strode over to where 'Lenny' was trying to kiss Chris. As Jake got to within a few feet of them, he hollered, " Hey!". 'Lenny' turned towards Jake quickly and off balance and tried to focus on the interruption. Chris took advantage of 'Lenny's' distraction to shove him forcefully away. Stepping backwards in an attempt to regain his balance, his right foot caught the edge of the parking curb sending him, arms flailing, to the asphalt. He landed on his back with a "Ommph" as the air was knocked from his lungs.
"Let's get you out of here before gets his second wind", Jake said with a toss of his head in the direction of 'Lenny'.
"Yes, please", said Chris, giving a frightened look at 'Lenny' as he was rolling to his stomach, trying to push himself up with his hands. He was gasping, trying to catch his wind and trying to talk. But the only thing Jake could hear coming out of his mouth was something like, "Hugna, hugna".
When they made it back to the car, Jake let both women in through the passenger side door. Shelly slide to the middle of the front seat while Chris clambered in, closing the door behind her. Jake jumped in behind the wheel, started the car and pulled out of the spot turning to head for the opening leading to the boulevard. Just before he turned onto the street, he looked into the rearview mirror and he caught sight of 'Lenny' being helped to his feet by two guys while a third shook his fist at the Nova.
Accelerating into the surprisingly heavy late night traffic, Jake turned to Shelly and Chris, smiled and asked, "Who's up for some greasy food at The Waffle House?"
Shelly and Chris looked at each other, then Shelly looked back at Jake and said, "Sounds great!"
To be continued...
© 2006 RMG All rights reserved
|
The water felt like burning hot needles piercing his neck and shoulders as he stood under the shower head with his eyes closed. He was making a concerted effort to relax his body which, in itself, was defeating the purpose. When the water finally started to get cold, even with him turning the faucet all the way to the hot side, he stopped leaning against the shower wall and turned the water off. Opening the shower curtain and grabbing a towel, he began to dry himself. As he stepped over the side of the tub, he bent over to dry his feet to avoid getting the bath mat wet. He lifted his right foot, ran the towel over it and his big toe found the small tear at the edge of the towel. Nearly falling into the vanity across from the tub/shower, he caught himself on the corner of the sink. "Battin' a thousand here today, ain't we, Silver?", he muttered with exasperation as he looked at his reflection in the steam-misted mirror over the sink. He contemplated the person looking back at him for a moment. He saw the brown eyes that could turn green if he was feeling mischievious and the scaar under his left eye from a long ago, unfortunate meeting with a baseball bat. He thought for a moment about the nose he considered too large, then averted his glance, wiping his face with the towel. The good mood he had when he pulled into his driveway seemed at that time to have not been with him that day at all. His mind replayed bits of that morning's conversation with Katie.
Yes, it had solved the dilemma that he would have had to face soon, but he would have preferred to have been able to have made the choice himself. It wasn't that he felt that he would have picked her over Shelly when it came down to it, nor did he know if he would have chosen Shelly. At times, he even thought that he really didn't feel that either women was The One. And thinking that, he also felt somewhat selfish.
Shelly was also from the area, but had more of a small town air about her. Unlike Katie, she had no children. Of course, she was just out of childhood herself at 19 years old. And she did have a tendency to act that way at times. She was definitely more demanding of Jake's time and when she got it in her head that Jake was not spending enough time with her, she would begin hinting for him to correct this situation. If Jake took too long to get the clue, she would begin acting like a petulant child until Jake pulled all the stops and lavished her with the attention that she wanted. Usually after a couple days of nonstop togetherness, she would be appeased and return to the normal routine of seeing Jake for few hours a couple days a week and spending time with her girlfriends the balance of the time. She lived with a high school friend who was a party girl and on a night out would make a circuit of the local clubs. Their favorite activity when clubbing was to keep score of the number of guys that they could get to buy them drinks in an evening, winner paying the cab fare home at the end of the night. Shelly's roommate, Chris, was engaged to a Marine that was in Iwakuni, Japan at the time and even though she flirted heavily during her and Shelly's nights out, Jake knew of no time that she had been unfaithful to her fiance.
A month and a half before, Jake had spent a week as Squadron Duty NCO. While on duty, Jake couldn't leave the base for very long as there was a four hour on- four hour off duty rotation. So, when the Friday came that ended his rotation, he had been somewhat disappointed that Katie had plans to be out of town with her mother on a visit to family in the western part of the state. Feeling somewhat out of sorts with this, Jake went out for the night, but avoided his usual haunts. He drove his brown, '72 Nova to avoid parking his bike in front of bars where he wasn't known and there may be a risk of it being damaged. After bar hopping for a couple hours, he found himself on the north side of town in a dance club called the Shangrila. He made straight for the U-shaped bar on the opposite side of the doors, sat down on the lone empty barstool near the corner of the U and ordered a bourbon and cola when one of the three barmaids finally made her way to his end.
As he sat, looking at the scenery (dozens of women in their tightest little black, red, blue or green dresses) and drinking his mixed drink, he figured that he wouldn't be there very much longer than the 2 drink minimum. He had just ordered his second when a girl with long brunette hair with frosted highlights wearing a skin tight yellow and black striped dress walked by on her way to the restrooms just behind Jake. As she passed, she glanced at Jake momentarily, turned away, then turned back catching Jake's eye. She gave Jake what he sometimes called the "play your cards right" look which consisted of prolonged eye to eye contact and a smile. As long as the girl held the eye contact for more than 3 seconds, Jake knew he had a chance to at least get a phone number from her. This girl held eye contact with Jake for the entire 15 feet she had to walk to get past the corner and to the ramp heading to the ladies room.
Jake began to see that there could be a change of plans as far as him leaving after the drink he had was finished. When she walked back out of the restroom, the girl gave a sideways smiling glance at Jake and moved back into the crowd. Jake watched her as she made her way to a raised table on the edge of the dance floor where there was a blonde girl in an equally tight white dress. On the table in front of each of them was at least 3 drinks apiece. As she sat, the girl in the yellow and black leaned over to her friend and said something in her ear. As she stayed leaning over with there heads next to each others, the blonde looked over the brunette's shoulder searching the end of the bar where Jake was seated. As her eyes swept the end of the bar, Jake could see her lips mouthing the words "which one" and as she her eyes caught Jake's, they stopped for a moment and then she quickly looked away. He then watched the girl in yellow and black sit down with her back towards Jake.
Jake occasionally glanced towards that table for the next 20 minutes without being obvious about it. He noticed a few different guys coming up to the table, talking for a moment and then returning with a couple drinks in their hands. They would each sit there for a few minutes and then leave always followed by giggles and eye rolling from the two women. Jake also saw the blonde looking his way a few times, but he didn't make extended eye contact with her.
Soon, the blonde stood up and made her way towards Jake's side of the club and looking directly at him, walked by into the ladies room. Jake considered going to the brunette to speak with her while she was alone; divide and conquer, that sort of thing. But before he could pick up his drink and make his way over, he felt a tap on his shoulder.
"I think you should buy a drink for my friend and I", she said loudly over the music, "She's been waiting for you to come over there and talk to her. You do want to talk to her, right?"
"Sure, I'd like to talk to her, but it looks to me like you ladies have yourselves set up well in the drink department. So really, I see no need for me to buy you drinks that you'll probably won't drink before closing", Jake replied with a grin. "How about if she brings one of those five drinks she has in front of her and come here to talk to me herself?"
"Fine then, your lose. There's plenty of guys in here that are waiting to buy us drinks!", she shot back haughtily and turning away in a huff, walked back to the table where her friend was waiting.
Jake took a long drink from his glass, figuring that after that exchange there was no point in sticking around any longer when he saw the brunette pick up one of the full glasses in front of her and start to rise from her seat. The blonde grabbed her arm with an angry look on her face and began to say something to the brunette. From where Jake was sitting, he could see the brunette cut the blonde short and pulled her arm away, turning to walk towards Jake.
Jake measured her progress towards him and as she came around the corner of the bar, Jake turned in his seat to face her.
She approached Jake and leaned in to say in his ear, "Hi, my name is Shelly. I was hoping you'd come to our table and talk to me. But, my friend Chris thinks you have an attitude."
Jake took Shelly's hand saying, "I'm Jake. Yes, I do want to talk to you and No, I don't have an attitude."
"Why don't you want to buy us...or me a drink then if you want to talk to me?"
Leaning back to look into Shelly's hazel eyes, Jake replied, "You both seem like you have more than enough drinks and it seems to me that buying the two of you a drink is a one way ticket to a brush off."
"It's not like that! You make it sound like we're using those guys! We're not... it's just that everyone of them either uses a really lame line on us or says something really crude about threesomes. It's their own fault that they get a "brush off!"
Jake gave her an appraising look for a long moment and then said, "I tell you what...if you are still here talking to me when that drink you have now is finished, I'll buy your next one."
"Deal!"
For the next hour and a half, they made small talk but without the normal searching for words. Within 5 minutes, Jake had stood up and offered Shelly his seat and although she demurred for a second, she sat down at Jake's insistence. Shortly after, Jake finished his drink and asked Shelly what she preferred. She began to tell the barmaid her order and then stopped suddenly. "Hold on for a second..stay here."
She walked to the table where her friend was now sitting with a guy and after whispering in the Chris' ear for a moment, picked up one of the drinks from the table and came back to Jake.
Sitting back down, she winked at Jake and said," You still owe me a drink, but there's no sense in wasting these ones."
"This smoke is starting to burn my eyes", said Shelly later while waving her hand in an attempt to clear the cigarette haze that was hanging heavily throughout the bar. "How about we step out side for some cleaner air?"
Jake plunked some bills on the bar for a tip and began to lead the way through the throng of people milling between the doors and the bar. After the first couple of steps, Shelly grabbed his hand and allowed him to clear a path towards the exit.
When outside, after stopping once for one of Shelly's beverage benefactors to try talking her up, they strolled over to Jake's car and leaned on the hood. They continued their chat for awhile longer.
The door to the Shangrila swung open with a bang allowing the music to blast out into the parking lot. Jake and Shelly both looked up to see Chris walking towards the opposite end of the lot with the tall, dark, unintelligent looking guy that had been at the table with her following. Jake could hear him saying, "Aww, come on! I'll pay for the room!" as the Lenny-looking guy staggered sideways and almost fell over a parking curb. Chris stopped, pushed at the 'Lenny's' chest and shouted, "No! I said, No!"
Jake stopped Shelly as she started to stand and turning, strode over to where 'Lenny' was trying to kiss Chris. As Jake got to within a few feet of them, he hollered, " Hey!". 'Lenny' turned towards Jake quickly and off balance and tried to focus on the interruption. Chris took advantage of 'Lenny's' distraction to shove him forcefully away. Stepping backwards in an attempt to regain his balance, his right foot caught the edge of the parking curb sending him, arms flailing, to the asphalt. He landed on his back with a "Ommph" as the air was knocked from his lungs.
"Let's get you out of here before gets his second wind", Jake said with a toss of his head in the direction of 'Lenny'.
"Yes, please", said Chris, giving a frightened look at 'Lenny' as he was rolling to his stomach, trying to push himself up with his hands. He was gasping, trying to catch his wind and trying to talk. But the only thing Jake could hear coming out of his mouth was something like, "Hugna, hugna".
When they made it back to the car, Jake let both women in through the passenger side door. Shelly slide to the middle of the front seat while Chris clambered in, closing the door behind her. Jake jumped in behind the wheel, started the car and pulled out of the spot turning to head for the opening leading to the boulevard. Just before he turned onto the street, he looked into the rearview mirror and he caught sight of 'Lenny' being helped to his feet by two guys while a third shook his fist at the Nova.
Accelerating into the surprisingly heavy late night traffic, Jake turned to Shelly and Chris, smiled and asked, "Who's up for some greasy food at The Waffle House?"
Shelly and Chris looked at each other, then Shelly looked back at Jake and said, "Sounds great!"
To be continued...
© 2006 RMG All rights reserved
Friday, September 15, 2006
Do The Same continued....
Kathy was standing nervously next to the couch when Jake turned back around from closing the door. She was chewing on a lock of her shoulder length, curly, auburn hair. Glancing at her as he walked past towards the kitchen, Jake remembered meeting her one night a few months back. They both had been sitting with friends at a local country bar called the Opryhouse. She had caught his attention because of her hair and the open manner she seemed to have with the entire room. After a couple of helpings of liquid courage, Jake decided he wanted to meet her. He had turned from the table where he was seated with his friends, stood up, turned and found himself face to face with her.
Surprised, Jake stuttered for a moment trying to recover before she cut him off by saying, "I saw you looking over at me and smiling for the last 15 minutes, so I'm taking that as meaning that you really want to dance with me."
"Well, that wasn't quite what I had in mind, but, sure, I'd like to dance with you" he grinned, "I have to warn you though, I've been told I look like I'm having a seizure when I'm dancing! So if you embarrass easily, we may just want to sit this out until they play a belly rubbin' song. I'm not too bad at those."
She laughed and said, "Well, Mister Man, I DON'T embarrass easily! And if you're as bad a dancer as you're saying you are, but still have the guts to get out on the floor, then I must say that I'm more impressed with that than if you were a regular Twinkle Toes."
"If we're gonna dance, then how about you not say anything like "Twinkle Toes" when referring to me ever again, please" Jake growled in a feigned mad tone of voice.
"I'll make no promises!" Katie called back over her shoulder as she made a beeline for the dance floor.
Jake and Katie danced with each other for the rest of the evening.....including the slow songs that Jake had hoped would be played. He was attracted by her forwardness, her quick retorts to his teasing comments and, not least of all, her piercing blue eyes.
They had been dating since that night. One of the things that Jake liked about the relationship was that Katie never made any demands for his time when they weren't together. More than anything else, this was due to her busy life. Katie was "Mama" to a blue eyed, blond haired, 2 year old little girl named Melissa. A night or two a week, Katie was able to get her sister who lived with her or her mother to watch the little one. All other nights, Katie was at home being mommy.
Early on, when they first began to date, Jake had asked Katie to attend a Friday night show featuring a few local bands. Katie declined to go because her sister and mother both had other plans for the evening. Jake had offered to pay for a babysitter for Melissa so that Katie could go out anyways, but when he said as much, Katie looked at him as if he had just handed her a dog turd.
"Nobody watches Melissa except my family", she said, enunciating each word as if she thought that Jake was not right in the head. "I do not leave my child with strangers."
So unless Jake came to her house when she had no sitter for Melissa, there were many nights that Jake was left to his own devices. And that usually involved his buddies, beer and bars in some form or fashion.
Grabbing a plastic cup from the cupboard, Jake called towards the living room, "Do you want a soda, coffee or anything?"
"No thanks."
After pouring cola into the cup from the 2 liter bottle left on the counter from the night before, Jake added a splash of bourbon that was left in one of the bottles that was also left on the counter.
"Might as well get it over with..." muttered Jake as he headed back to the living room. He was beginning to imagine that Katie had found out about Shelly or one of the others and was here to tear his head off. Or even worse, she was pregnant. But Jake immediately dismissed that last thought as they had used birth control everytime they slept together...and even when they didn't really "sleep".
When he stepped into the room, Katie looked him in the eye for a moment and then turned away quickly. She walked to the couch and sat down. Jake walked over and sat next to her and Katie jumped back up as if she had been bitten by a snake.
"Don't make this harder than what it already is, please" she said as she stepped over to the chair and turned. "I don't know any other way to say this so I'm gonna just say it. I'm moving to Maryland to be with Merrill. He'll be here tonight to help me pack" she said quickly, then sighed and sat in the chair.
Jake had heard of Merrill, but didn't know him. Merrill was Melissa's father. Jake knew that the breakup between Katie and Merrill had hurt her deeply, but she had never told him much about it, except that Merrill had moved home to work in his family's business.
"I really care about you, but he's Melissa's daddy and I still love him. I'm sorry, I really am" she said in a pleading tone.
Jake sat quietly for a long moment before speaking. "I'm sorry too" he said, not looking at her."How did this all come about?" he asked.
Mistaking his tone for something else, she came over to him and grabbed his hand. "Please don't be angry. I didn't want to hurt you, please, you have to believe me." Jake looked at her and saw tears filling her eyes with one lone tear tracing a line down her left cheek. "I'm not angry, I'm not. Don't worry." He wiped the tear, leaned in and softly kissed her cheek.
When he did that, she sobbed and threw her arms around him. She squeezed him tightly, holding on for a few seconds. She then jumped up from the couch and ran to the door. She swung the door open and stumbling slightly, she went down the steps crying, leaving the door open.
Jake heard her car engine rev to life as he stood and tried to follow. He got to the door just in time to see the sun twinkle off of her car's rear window as she drove away.
He wasn't lying when he said he wasn't angry......in fact, he wasn't quite sure what he felt. A twinge of hurt and a little bit of jealousy, but what was muddling up his emotions was that he was surprised to feel a small bit of relief.
To be continued.....
© 2006 RMG All rights reserved
|
Kathy was standing nervously next to the couch when Jake turned back around from closing the door. She was chewing on a lock of her shoulder length, curly, auburn hair. Glancing at her as he walked past towards the kitchen, Jake remembered meeting her one night a few months back. They both had been sitting with friends at a local country bar called the Opryhouse. She had caught his attention because of her hair and the open manner she seemed to have with the entire room. After a couple of helpings of liquid courage, Jake decided he wanted to meet her. He had turned from the table where he was seated with his friends, stood up, turned and found himself face to face with her.
Surprised, Jake stuttered for a moment trying to recover before she cut him off by saying, "I saw you looking over at me and smiling for the last 15 minutes, so I'm taking that as meaning that you really want to dance with me."
"Well, that wasn't quite what I had in mind, but, sure, I'd like to dance with you" he grinned, "I have to warn you though, I've been told I look like I'm having a seizure when I'm dancing! So if you embarrass easily, we may just want to sit this out until they play a belly rubbin' song. I'm not too bad at those."
She laughed and said, "Well, Mister Man, I DON'T embarrass easily! And if you're as bad a dancer as you're saying you are, but still have the guts to get out on the floor, then I must say that I'm more impressed with that than if you were a regular Twinkle Toes."
"If we're gonna dance, then how about you not say anything like "Twinkle Toes" when referring to me ever again, please" Jake growled in a feigned mad tone of voice.
"I'll make no promises!" Katie called back over her shoulder as she made a beeline for the dance floor.
Jake and Katie danced with each other for the rest of the evening.....including the slow songs that Jake had hoped would be played. He was attracted by her forwardness, her quick retorts to his teasing comments and, not least of all, her piercing blue eyes.
They had been dating since that night. One of the things that Jake liked about the relationship was that Katie never made any demands for his time when they weren't together. More than anything else, this was due to her busy life. Katie was "Mama" to a blue eyed, blond haired, 2 year old little girl named Melissa. A night or two a week, Katie was able to get her sister who lived with her or her mother to watch the little one. All other nights, Katie was at home being mommy.
Early on, when they first began to date, Jake had asked Katie to attend a Friday night show featuring a few local bands. Katie declined to go because her sister and mother both had other plans for the evening. Jake had offered to pay for a babysitter for Melissa so that Katie could go out anyways, but when he said as much, Katie looked at him as if he had just handed her a dog turd.
"Nobody watches Melissa except my family", she said, enunciating each word as if she thought that Jake was not right in the head. "I do not leave my child with strangers."
So unless Jake came to her house when she had no sitter for Melissa, there were many nights that Jake was left to his own devices. And that usually involved his buddies, beer and bars in some form or fashion.
Grabbing a plastic cup from the cupboard, Jake called towards the living room, "Do you want a soda, coffee or anything?"
"No thanks."
After pouring cola into the cup from the 2 liter bottle left on the counter from the night before, Jake added a splash of bourbon that was left in one of the bottles that was also left on the counter.
"Might as well get it over with..." muttered Jake as he headed back to the living room. He was beginning to imagine that Katie had found out about Shelly or one of the others and was here to tear his head off. Or even worse, she was pregnant. But Jake immediately dismissed that last thought as they had used birth control everytime they slept together...and even when they didn't really "sleep".
When he stepped into the room, Katie looked him in the eye for a moment and then turned away quickly. She walked to the couch and sat down. Jake walked over and sat next to her and Katie jumped back up as if she had been bitten by a snake.
"Don't make this harder than what it already is, please" she said as she stepped over to the chair and turned. "I don't know any other way to say this so I'm gonna just say it. I'm moving to Maryland to be with Merrill. He'll be here tonight to help me pack" she said quickly, then sighed and sat in the chair.
Jake had heard of Merrill, but didn't know him. Merrill was Melissa's father. Jake knew that the breakup between Katie and Merrill had hurt her deeply, but she had never told him much about it, except that Merrill had moved home to work in his family's business.
"I really care about you, but he's Melissa's daddy and I still love him. I'm sorry, I really am" she said in a pleading tone.
Jake sat quietly for a long moment before speaking. "I'm sorry too" he said, not looking at her."How did this all come about?" he asked.
Mistaking his tone for something else, she came over to him and grabbed his hand. "Please don't be angry. I didn't want to hurt you, please, you have to believe me." Jake looked at her and saw tears filling her eyes with one lone tear tracing a line down her left cheek. "I'm not angry, I'm not. Don't worry." He wiped the tear, leaned in and softly kissed her cheek.
When he did that, she sobbed and threw her arms around him. She squeezed him tightly, holding on for a few seconds. She then jumped up from the couch and ran to the door. She swung the door open and stumbling slightly, she went down the steps crying, leaving the door open.
Jake heard her car engine rev to life as he stood and tried to follow. He got to the door just in time to see the sun twinkle off of her car's rear window as she drove away.
He wasn't lying when he said he wasn't angry......in fact, he wasn't quite sure what he felt. A twinge of hurt and a little bit of jealousy, but what was muddling up his emotions was that he was surprised to feel a small bit of relief.
To be continued.....
© 2006 RMG All rights reserved
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Do The Same continued.....
Much later that morning Jake was on two lane blacktop heading towards his house on the other side of town. The sunlight made bright patches spread out on the old grey road between the cooler, tree shaped shadows. The air smelled of pine. Except for the occasional swarming cloud of gnats that hit Jake's sunglasses and face, the ride was like gliding along with the warm wind. But Jake wasn't paying attention to the sensation like he normally would have done. He was thinking of that morning and the night before with Joy.
It wasn't that she had caused him to start falling for her, or to make him want to be with her investing his emotions even though she had been a very attentive lover to him, especially that morning. After Jake had poured himself a cup of coffee, he sat back down at the table. She had come back out to the kitchen from the bedroom a few minutes later, still smelling of soap and warm skin. She was also still undressed and not at all too shy to sit on Jake's lap facing him.
"The movers are supposed to be here by 1 o'clock and I have just a little bit more packing to get done, but I think we have time for a nice goodbye, don't you?" she said pressing herself to Jake's chest as she moved to bite his ear. From there, they eventually both ended up in the shower, exploring each others bodies until the water that was steaming when they started was nearly ice cold. Afterwards when they were in her bedroom dressing, Jake asked her why she had approached him. "Your bike was prettier than the others" Joy said with a sideways smile.
Laughing, Jake asked again, "No, really, why did you pick me?"
"Well, I do like your bike, but you were also the only guy that wasn't staring at me as you and your friends pulled up" she explained. "And when you did look at me, your eyes seemed....I don't know.....kind."
"Is that how you pick out the guys you that you're gonna mess around with.....nice bikes and kind eyes?" Jake said jokingly.
Joy turned back towards the stack clothes on the top of the chest of drawers from which she was selecting an outfit and said in a voice so low that Jake just barely heard, "I've never done this kind of thing before. Ever."
Turning back towards Jake, she continued with eyes that seemed pleading, "I love my husband, I really do. He's good to me and he works hard to make a living for us. He's stable. But just for one night, I wanted to see what it was like with someone not so stable...someone...I don't know, dangerous I guess is the best way to put it. I had planned to meet someone in the bar just for that reason last night and after seeing how those guys in the bar acted like I was a piece of meat, I had talked myself out of doing anything like that. I was leaving for home when you pulled up. But then you looked at me. And it seemed as if you were seeing me as a person. I wanted someone who looked like bad boy, but I didn't want someone who would just treat me like a piece of dirt. And you didn't do that."
Walking over to Jake, she took his face in her hands and kissed him lightly on the lips. "Thank you for last night and this morning."
"You're welcome. And I have to say, thank you right back" Jake said as he hugged her.
As he left Joy's house with her waving to him from her garage, he started his ride home in a good mood. But within a few minutes, what Joy had said to Jake started him thinking of her husband, away in California, unaware that his wife had spent the night living out some kind of bad boy fantasy. That's what you get for being boring, dude. Women say they want a nice, regular guy, but when they get one, they end up screwing around on him when they get bored, Jake thought to himself. He vowed then and there to never be that boring guy that women cheat on when they need some excitement in their lives.
As he drove along though, Jake still couldn't get Joy's husband out of his mind. He realized that he felt sorry for the guy and started feeling some guilt about the entire thing. As much as he reasoned with himself in that he had nothing to feel guilty about, he couldn't quite shake the feeling.
"Well, I hope the guy never finds out...for his own sake", muttered Jake under his breath.
He rounded a curve in the road and twisted the throttle as he pointed the bike down a long, straight stretch with nothing but trees on both sides. Gathering speed, he chased the thoughts out of his head with the deafening roar of the exhaust pipes, the wind rushing past his ears and making his eyes water behind his sunglasses.
By the time he pulled into his street, his mood had brightened considerably. A few houses down from his, he could see a car in his driveway. He recognized it right away and knew exactly who owned it. Katie had come for a visit. As he turned into his driveway and around her car, he could see her sitting on the front porch steps. She turned her head towards the sound of the motorcycle as he rode into the yard. Turning off the engine, Jake smiled, waved and said, "Hey there, how long have you been waiting?"
Katie without returning the smile or the wave answered, "An hour or so. Well, maybe two or three hours."
Leaving the helmet on the bike after removing it from his head, Jake walked up the steps towards the front door, bending down to kiss Katie's cheek. Standing back up straight next to Katie, he unlocked the door, turned slightly towards her and put his arm down offering her a hand. Taking his hand, Katie stood and turned to face Jake.
"We need to talk. I have something I need to say to you", she said looking him directly in the eyes.
Knowing right away that it likely wasn't going to be a good talk, Jake nodded and motioned for Katie to enter the house. As he turned to pull the screen door closed, he shook his head and swore sofly.
To be continued....
© 2006 RMG All rights reserved
|
Much later that morning Jake was on two lane blacktop heading towards his house on the other side of town. The sunlight made bright patches spread out on the old grey road between the cooler, tree shaped shadows. The air smelled of pine. Except for the occasional swarming cloud of gnats that hit Jake's sunglasses and face, the ride was like gliding along with the warm wind. But Jake wasn't paying attention to the sensation like he normally would have done. He was thinking of that morning and the night before with Joy.
It wasn't that she had caused him to start falling for her, or to make him want to be with her investing his emotions even though she had been a very attentive lover to him, especially that morning. After Jake had poured himself a cup of coffee, he sat back down at the table. She had come back out to the kitchen from the bedroom a few minutes later, still smelling of soap and warm skin. She was also still undressed and not at all too shy to sit on Jake's lap facing him.
"The movers are supposed to be here by 1 o'clock and I have just a little bit more packing to get done, but I think we have time for a nice goodbye, don't you?" she said pressing herself to Jake's chest as she moved to bite his ear. From there, they eventually both ended up in the shower, exploring each others bodies until the water that was steaming when they started was nearly ice cold. Afterwards when they were in her bedroom dressing, Jake asked her why she had approached him. "Your bike was prettier than the others" Joy said with a sideways smile.
Laughing, Jake asked again, "No, really, why did you pick me?"
"Well, I do like your bike, but you were also the only guy that wasn't staring at me as you and your friends pulled up" she explained. "And when you did look at me, your eyes seemed....I don't know.....kind."
"Is that how you pick out the guys you that you're gonna mess around with.....nice bikes and kind eyes?" Jake said jokingly.
Joy turned back towards the stack clothes on the top of the chest of drawers from which she was selecting an outfit and said in a voice so low that Jake just barely heard, "I've never done this kind of thing before. Ever."
Turning back towards Jake, she continued with eyes that seemed pleading, "I love my husband, I really do. He's good to me and he works hard to make a living for us. He's stable. But just for one night, I wanted to see what it was like with someone not so stable...someone...I don't know, dangerous I guess is the best way to put it. I had planned to meet someone in the bar just for that reason last night and after seeing how those guys in the bar acted like I was a piece of meat, I had talked myself out of doing anything like that. I was leaving for home when you pulled up. But then you looked at me. And it seemed as if you were seeing me as a person. I wanted someone who looked like bad boy, but I didn't want someone who would just treat me like a piece of dirt. And you didn't do that."
Walking over to Jake, she took his face in her hands and kissed him lightly on the lips. "Thank you for last night and this morning."
"You're welcome. And I have to say, thank you right back" Jake said as he hugged her.
As he left Joy's house with her waving to him from her garage, he started his ride home in a good mood. But within a few minutes, what Joy had said to Jake started him thinking of her husband, away in California, unaware that his wife had spent the night living out some kind of bad boy fantasy. That's what you get for being boring, dude. Women say they want a nice, regular guy, but when they get one, they end up screwing around on him when they get bored, Jake thought to himself. He vowed then and there to never be that boring guy that women cheat on when they need some excitement in their lives.
As he drove along though, Jake still couldn't get Joy's husband out of his mind. He realized that he felt sorry for the guy and started feeling some guilt about the entire thing. As much as he reasoned with himself in that he had nothing to feel guilty about, he couldn't quite shake the feeling.
"Well, I hope the guy never finds out...for his own sake", muttered Jake under his breath.
He rounded a curve in the road and twisted the throttle as he pointed the bike down a long, straight stretch with nothing but trees on both sides. Gathering speed, he chased the thoughts out of his head with the deafening roar of the exhaust pipes, the wind rushing past his ears and making his eyes water behind his sunglasses.
By the time he pulled into his street, his mood had brightened considerably. A few houses down from his, he could see a car in his driveway. He recognized it right away and knew exactly who owned it. Katie had come for a visit. As he turned into his driveway and around her car, he could see her sitting on the front porch steps. She turned her head towards the sound of the motorcycle as he rode into the yard. Turning off the engine, Jake smiled, waved and said, "Hey there, how long have you been waiting?"
Katie without returning the smile or the wave answered, "An hour or so. Well, maybe two or three hours."
Leaving the helmet on the bike after removing it from his head, Jake walked up the steps towards the front door, bending down to kiss Katie's cheek. Standing back up straight next to Katie, he unlocked the door, turned slightly towards her and put his arm down offering her a hand. Taking his hand, Katie stood and turned to face Jake.
"We need to talk. I have something I need to say to you", she said looking him directly in the eyes.
Knowing right away that it likely wasn't going to be a good talk, Jake nodded and motioned for Katie to enter the house. As he turned to pull the screen door closed, he shook his head and swore sofly.
To be continued....
© 2006 RMG All rights reserved
Saturday, September 02, 2006
Do The Same continued...
See earlier posts for beginning
Tink-tink-tink-tink-tink......
Jake was trying to figure out what that sound was when he opened his eyes. He couldn't see anything, but he knew his face was under a pillow as he lay there in bed. He could smell the flowery scent of fabric softener which made him wonder who had used that on his laundry. Hell, he couldn't remember the last time a bottle fabric softener or those dryer sheets had even been in his house. Right about then, a little glimmer of a thought started pushing the last, dark tatters of sleep from his mind.
He rolled from his stomach to his back, dragging the pillow from his face as he went. Looking at the ceiling fan making the tinking noise it confirmed what he had already figured out. He wasn't in his own bed. Glancing to his left, he saw the space on the bed next to him had the covers pulled back and there was still an indentation in the pink paisley covered pillow on that side. He stretched, kicking his feet out from under the blanket and in one quick movement brought himself to a sitting position with his legs hanging off the side of the bed. He spied his jeans laying in a ball on top of his black Harley t-shirt. Poking his feet through the openings of his boxers and his jeans, he pulled them up over his waist as he stood. The t-shirt then went over his head and he walked around the foot of the bed. He leaned his head to the left at the doorway, peeking out into a small living room.
Seeing no one, he softly padded out. He moved the sheer curtain to the side and looked through the side glass of the front door, searching for his motorcycle. He then remembered squeezing it into a moving box filled garage last night. He walked across the sparsely furnished living room towards the kitchen. As he stepped on the linoleum, he began to hear the sound of water running in a shower coming from the short dark hall that jutted off from the back of the kitchen. He quietly pulled a chair out from the white farmer's style table in the little dining area just at the edge of the linoleum.
He could smell coffee, but didn't want to get caught "rummaging" through someone's cupboards to find a cup. Yeah, he had just slept with her, but going through her stuff seemed.....too forward. He placed his elbows on the table top and rubbed his face and eyes with both hands.
Mike had volunteered to make the beer run last night, but remembering how long it had taken him the last, oh, forty times he had went by himself, Jake had washed his hands, changed his clothes and climbed into Mike's little red Ford Fiesta for a run to the little corner store/ gas station on the next street over. They picked up a case of beer and as they were pulling out of the parking lot, 3 motorcycles went by the corner heading towards Jake's street. They followed the bikes into Jake's driveway. As they pulled in behind them, Mike said "I know Pete and Tank, but who's the other guy?" Jake squinted through the dirty windshield and after a second said "Flippin' cool! That's Big Doug. I ain't seen him in a couple few months."
"Gentlemen, good timing! We just went for beer, but if I'd known you were comin', I'd picked up two more cases" Jake called over the roof of the car.
"Who the fuck you callin' gentlemen, asshole?" hollered Big Doug from underneath the scarred, black half-helmet he was pulling off his head.
"Shit, sorry....my mistake, ya bunch of rif-raf!" returned Jake.
"Now that's more like it!' crowed Big Doug dropping his helmet as he walked towards Jake. He grabbed Jake, beer and all, locking him in bearhug. "How ya been, lil' bro?" asked Doug.
"I'd be doin' a lot better if ya'd let me go, ya' big sumbitch! Damn it, you're gonna shake up the beer if ya don't quit!"
Pete and Tank walked over and relieved Jake of the cardboard box of beer that he was holding just before Big Doug let him go. After handshakes all around, they clumped up the steps into Jake's house.
An hour later, with the case of beer gone, Jake, Pete, Tank and Doug got the splendid idea that going to the bar would be a good thing to do. With Mike following them in his car, they headed into town, stopping at the first bar on the way in. After a couple of beers there, they left that bar, revving their engines on the way out of the parking lot. Four bars later, they pulled up in front of Dirty Larry's. Dirty Larry's was a punch palace type of strip club. Dark and dirty, even the video games in the place showed scars of past drunken battles. As they pulled up, turning and backing their bikes up, still sitting in the saddle, so that they would face out, a blonde approached Jake before he could turn off the ignition.
"What would you say to a sexual experience that could conceivably change your political views?" she asked Jake.
Jake laughed and said two words, "Get on."
That's how Jake ended up where he was that morning. He remembered the girls name was Joyce? No, Joy. That sounded right in his head. She had told him before they fell asleep lying on each other that she was moving to California at the beginning of the next week to be with her husband who had received orders to a Camp Pendleton a couple months ago. She had stayed behind to tie up the loose ends as they intended to make it a permanent move. His four year hitch was up in a year and they were both born and raised in San Diego, so it was really them just going home.
He heard the bathroom door scrape on the jam as it opened. He could smell the sweet smell of lavander soap carried on the steam as it rushed out of the door and into the hallway.
She walked into the hallway wearing a thick yellow towel around her chest and she had a sea green one wrapped like a turban on her head. She was adjusting the yellow towel as she walked into the sun-lit kitchen.
"Oh, you're up! Do you want some breakfast? I can make some eggs and toast", she asked.
"Nope, thanks though. But I would kill for some coffee." Jake said as he glanced towards the floor, trying not to look her up and down.
"Coffee's already made, you coulda got some."
"I didn't know where to find a cup. Besides, I just sat down out here a minute ago. I hadn't really even thought that far."
She stepped over to him and kissed his lips, running her warm, moist hand along the left side of his neck. "Over the sink on the right side. Milk's in the fridge and there's sugar right in front of you. Spoons are in the drawer right in front of the microwave." With that she turned towards the bedroom and pulled the end loose from the towel around her body, giving Jake a look at her smooth rear end as she walked through the door, closing it as she went through. Jake stood, walked to the sink, opened the left cupboard, closed it, opened the cupboard on the right side and grabbed a cup.
To be continued.......
© 2006 RMG All rights reserved
|
See earlier posts for beginning
Tink-tink-tink-tink-tink......
Jake was trying to figure out what that sound was when he opened his eyes. He couldn't see anything, but he knew his face was under a pillow as he lay there in bed. He could smell the flowery scent of fabric softener which made him wonder who had used that on his laundry. Hell, he couldn't remember the last time a bottle fabric softener or those dryer sheets had even been in his house. Right about then, a little glimmer of a thought started pushing the last, dark tatters of sleep from his mind.
He rolled from his stomach to his back, dragging the pillow from his face as he went. Looking at the ceiling fan making the tinking noise it confirmed what he had already figured out. He wasn't in his own bed. Glancing to his left, he saw the space on the bed next to him had the covers pulled back and there was still an indentation in the pink paisley covered pillow on that side. He stretched, kicking his feet out from under the blanket and in one quick movement brought himself to a sitting position with his legs hanging off the side of the bed. He spied his jeans laying in a ball on top of his black Harley t-shirt. Poking his feet through the openings of his boxers and his jeans, he pulled them up over his waist as he stood. The t-shirt then went over his head and he walked around the foot of the bed. He leaned his head to the left at the doorway, peeking out into a small living room.
Seeing no one, he softly padded out. He moved the sheer curtain to the side and looked through the side glass of the front door, searching for his motorcycle. He then remembered squeezing it into a moving box filled garage last night. He walked across the sparsely furnished living room towards the kitchen. As he stepped on the linoleum, he began to hear the sound of water running in a shower coming from the short dark hall that jutted off from the back of the kitchen. He quietly pulled a chair out from the white farmer's style table in the little dining area just at the edge of the linoleum.
He could smell coffee, but didn't want to get caught "rummaging" through someone's cupboards to find a cup. Yeah, he had just slept with her, but going through her stuff seemed.....too forward. He placed his elbows on the table top and rubbed his face and eyes with both hands.
Mike had volunteered to make the beer run last night, but remembering how long it had taken him the last, oh, forty times he had went by himself, Jake had washed his hands, changed his clothes and climbed into Mike's little red Ford Fiesta for a run to the little corner store/ gas station on the next street over. They picked up a case of beer and as they were pulling out of the parking lot, 3 motorcycles went by the corner heading towards Jake's street. They followed the bikes into Jake's driveway. As they pulled in behind them, Mike said "I know Pete and Tank, but who's the other guy?" Jake squinted through the dirty windshield and after a second said "Flippin' cool! That's Big Doug. I ain't seen him in a couple few months."
"Gentlemen, good timing! We just went for beer, but if I'd known you were comin', I'd picked up two more cases" Jake called over the roof of the car.
"Who the fuck you callin' gentlemen, asshole?" hollered Big Doug from underneath the scarred, black half-helmet he was pulling off his head.
"Shit, sorry....my mistake, ya bunch of rif-raf!" returned Jake.
"Now that's more like it!' crowed Big Doug dropping his helmet as he walked towards Jake. He grabbed Jake, beer and all, locking him in bearhug. "How ya been, lil' bro?" asked Doug.
"I'd be doin' a lot better if ya'd let me go, ya' big sumbitch! Damn it, you're gonna shake up the beer if ya don't quit!"
Pete and Tank walked over and relieved Jake of the cardboard box of beer that he was holding just before Big Doug let him go. After handshakes all around, they clumped up the steps into Jake's house.
An hour later, with the case of beer gone, Jake, Pete, Tank and Doug got the splendid idea that going to the bar would be a good thing to do. With Mike following them in his car, they headed into town, stopping at the first bar on the way in. After a couple of beers there, they left that bar, revving their engines on the way out of the parking lot. Four bars later, they pulled up in front of Dirty Larry's. Dirty Larry's was a punch palace type of strip club. Dark and dirty, even the video games in the place showed scars of past drunken battles. As they pulled up, turning and backing their bikes up, still sitting in the saddle, so that they would face out, a blonde approached Jake before he could turn off the ignition.
"What would you say to a sexual experience that could conceivably change your political views?" she asked Jake.
Jake laughed and said two words, "Get on."
That's how Jake ended up where he was that morning. He remembered the girls name was Joyce? No, Joy. That sounded right in his head. She had told him before they fell asleep lying on each other that she was moving to California at the beginning of the next week to be with her husband who had received orders to a Camp Pendleton a couple months ago. She had stayed behind to tie up the loose ends as they intended to make it a permanent move. His four year hitch was up in a year and they were both born and raised in San Diego, so it was really them just going home.
He heard the bathroom door scrape on the jam as it opened. He could smell the sweet smell of lavander soap carried on the steam as it rushed out of the door and into the hallway.
She walked into the hallway wearing a thick yellow towel around her chest and she had a sea green one wrapped like a turban on her head. She was adjusting the yellow towel as she walked into the sun-lit kitchen.
"Oh, you're up! Do you want some breakfast? I can make some eggs and toast", she asked.
"Nope, thanks though. But I would kill for some coffee." Jake said as he glanced towards the floor, trying not to look her up and down.
"Coffee's already made, you coulda got some."
"I didn't know where to find a cup. Besides, I just sat down out here a minute ago. I hadn't really even thought that far."
She stepped over to him and kissed his lips, running her warm, moist hand along the left side of his neck. "Over the sink on the right side. Milk's in the fridge and there's sugar right in front of you. Spoons are in the drawer right in front of the microwave." With that she turned towards the bedroom and pulled the end loose from the towel around her body, giving Jake a look at her smooth rear end as she walked through the door, closing it as she went through. Jake stood, walked to the sink, opened the left cupboard, closed it, opened the cupboard on the right side and grabbed a cup.
To be continued.......
© 2006 RMG All rights reserved
----------------------------------------------------------------