Part 8
“That’s going to be a pretty hard act to
follow Liam.” I purred at him feeling quite
breathless, when the kiss finally came to its grand finale. Had I had the energy after that I would have
stood and given him a standing ovation.
“Encore, encore, encore.” I giggled at him. “A command performance perhaps?” he quipped
back. One of the things I had come to
realize about us was the fact that we both resorted to humour of some sort when
things seemed to becoming very intense between us. It wasn’t that we didn’t care or feel things
deeply but rather a practiced response, a coping mechanism if you will towards
protecting ourselves emotionally. I knew
that was my reason behind it, and I sensed it was Liam’s as well. It was going to take us both some time to
open up fully to each other, but I knew that in time I would be fully able to
open up to him. Liam would be the one
person I would be able to confide in fully, tell him absolutely
everything. He would know come to know
my little eccentricities, my insecurities, my deepest desires and aspirations
as well my darkest fears, and he would love me unconditionally and stand by me
through it all, just as I would always be there for him.
I just instinctively knew he was special,
and would fulfill all the things my heart had been yearning for. We’d already crossed one of our biggest
hurdles overcoming our shyness and actually connecting. I thought back to all those times I’d
observed him on the bus, studying him, and trying not to be obvious about it. I thought of how I’d been practically
paralyzed by fear the day he’d walked into Morelli’s, but I got through it and
here I was now lying in this man’s arms and realizing how truly exceptional he
is. It made me marvel to realize the way
he was chipping away at the walls I had around my heart, as though he were an
archeologist carefully excavating some priceless artifact. Attentive and mindful of taking his time, so
as not to mar or damage what was laying beneath the surface.
Usually I only revealed the parts of my
personality that I thought people could handle or accept. To some that meant I was a total glass of
milk, homogenized and totally harmless.
Some found me to be a wild child, the bohemian that travelled half way
around the world on her own, and could be quite the party girl. Still others thought of me as an educated,
well read, book worm that could be socially awkward at times. Of course there are many more facets to my
personality than that, but no one had yet made me feel comfortable enough to
fully expose them all to one person. Liam in the short time we had been
together probably had seen more sides of me than most people did of me in a
lifetime of knowing me. He’d seen
glimpses of my anger, over that whole misunderstanding we’d had over his
relationship status. He had seen the
free spirit that danced in the moon light and dove into the lake fully
clothed. He’d seen the domestic goddess
that loved to cook, and who ran around barefoot.
He knew I had flaws, but he still seemed
to consider me a diamond, even if I was one in the rough. Most amazingly of all though was that this
man seemed to genuinely care for me and want to spend the time and effort to
know me further and really discover me. His arm drew me closer, in a manner
that seemed to say, “Your right, I’m here and I planning on staying by your
side no matter what.” It overwhelmed me
to feel loved and to have him accept my love in return, but I was going to do
everything in my power to never take that fact or him for granted. “Penny for
your thoughts” he said softly. “Just, thinking.” “Possibly, more like over
thinking things?” he inquired gently as he tilted my chin up towards him, and
looked deeply into my eyes as he stroked my cheek with his fingertip. I flushed
at his statement, as it was still unnerving to me to have someone being able to
pick up on every little nuance. “More
than likely” I said looking and feeling a bit sheepish. “So how are we going to deal with this? “No more, night classes in psychology,
complete with self diagnosis? I chirped looking hopeful. “How about we talk about it?” “Novel concept”
I responded mulling the idea over, “Are there other options on the table?” I
asked looking hopeful. “Yes, I can
extend you the same courtesies that you just gave me and give you time to
process all of what’s been going on.
Then
we can talk about what happens next. I
do genuinely care for you even now Lorelei, and I know you care for me, but we
are still both timid about expressing those feelings, even to each other. It frightens the hell of out me that I care
for you so deeply even now, but at the same time it’s the best feeling I’ve
ever known. I hope you can understand
that.” “ I do more than you know Liam.”
“Okay then, shake on it?” “Nope, I’d rather have a kiss on it.” I grinned at
him. “Consider it done.” And with that
he embraced me and drew me into one of his of his kisses that were all
encompassing. We lay there afterwards,
basking in the glow of all these wonderfully warm feelings we were experiencing. “Suppose I should get dressed and get
moving.” He said glancing at the digital alarm clock on my nightstand. “I really don’t want to though, be nice to
just stay here with you. Our first date
seemed to have gone into extra innings.” He flashed me that warm easy going
grin of his that I already knew so well. “Any regrets about that?” I asked
trying to keep the anxious note out of my voice.
“Nope,
other than the fact there won’t be any you there when I go back to my place,
and we both know it’s not right for me to stay here tonight. Besides, I really do have to do some laundry
tonight, and the romance could just fly right out the window if you see me
doing a load of my underwear, unless of course you want to toss your panties in
with them, that could be quite the thrill of a life time for my boxers.” He
grinned widely and cocked his eyebrows at me waiting for my reaction. “Honestly,
what am I going to do with you?” I said trying to look sternly at him but was
unable to succeed as I broke into a grin myself and rumbled his hair playfully.
“I’ve got things I should do as well.
This being a responsible adult thing is really highly overrated at
times.” I sighed at him and snuggled in deeply. Reluctantly we untangled
ourselves after one last lingering kiss.
I sat on the bed, hugging my knees to my chest while I watched him find
his clothes and get dressed.
She sat
there watching me as intently as was barclay, only the look on her face was one
of unabashed deep affection and love for me.
Whereas Barclays seemed to say, “You’re a nice enough guy but it’s time
for me to resume my position as the lord of the manor.” “You look pretty happy”
I observed as I finished buttoning up my shirt.
“Am I that transparent?” she responded uncurling herself and slipping
off the bed to embrace me. She
straightened, the collar on my shirt and
gave me one of those smiles of hers that I had already come to cherish, and
fortunately she was extremely generous in bestowing them on me. I kissed the
top of her head and held her close. “Did
you want me to make you some dinner before you head out? I just have visions of you snarfing down a
jar of olives or something while you hang over the sink in the kitchen.”
“I’d love
to stay but the longer I stay the less likely I am to ever leave. I`m sure I can find something to munch on at
my place, but your right I`ll probably bolt it down standing over the kitchen
sink. I’m going to miss you like crazy though until I see you again.” He
responded as he stroked my hair. “So
tomorrow morning, you’ll save me a seat?” he asked, with a plea to his voice. “You bet, it’s a date, I
wouldn’t have it any other way.” As I gave him a high five. “Cool.” He grinned back. Liam had his arm draped over my shoulder,
drawing me to him and I had my arm wrapped around his waist, as we walked to
the door. The silence between us was
almost deafening as neither of us knew quite what to say. It wasn’t as if this was good bye for us, but
it seemed so strange to be parting company with each other even though it was
only until tomorrow morning. “Do you
realize I don’t even have your phone number?” he asked. “I know it’s not like I don’t know where you
live, but it would be nice to be able to call you later and wish you sweet
dreams.”
“You’re right, and I don’t have your number
either.” I laughed as I went to retrieve a pen and pad to write it down
on. I quickly scribbled down both my
land line and my mobile, and presented it to him. He wrote his numbers down with a flourish of
the pen and handed the pad back to me.
“I’m
going to miss you like crazy, woman.” As I enveloped her in my arms and kissed
her deeply wishing that it never had to end. It struck me as I held her close
and kissed her that it would have been great to have been her first love, but
it was going to something that would be beyond perfection to be her last and
greatest love.I slid my hands over the soft curves of her body, and pressed
into her wanting to give her something to think about later when she was
alone. I could envision her having a
soft flush to her cheeks as she thought about my hands caressing her committing
the contours of her body to my memory. “I’d
better go” I mumbled as we continued to kiss and explore each other, but it was
so bloody hard to let her go, and she obviously was feeling the same about our
parting company. Finally reluctantly we somehow managed to pry ourselves off of
one another. I gave her hand a final
squeeze, and turned to leave. It was
like ripping the band aid off of a cut when I was a kid, I knew it was best to
just do it and get it over with, but I still had to try to gently peel it off.
“Go on” she said as though she sensed my distress,
and patted me on my behind to get me moving.
“It’s okay the two of us still have
a life time of tomorrows ahead of us.
I’ll miss you my darling Liam, but I’m a tough cookie I’ll survive, and
so will you.” “I like the idea of a lifetime of tomorrows with you.” And with
one final kiss I headed down the stairs.
I looked up when I reached my car only to see her standing on the widows
walk like a damsel in a castle in some sort of fairy tale waving at me. “Safe home” she called out as I pulled out
into traffic.
My thoughts were consumed by ones of Lorelei
as I cruised back to my place in the late afternoon hour. There was just something about her that made
her stand head and shoulders above other women I had known in the past. She had a certain confidence to her, that was
alluring, and I have to admit that it was a huge turn on to me as well. I adored her playful, whimsical side, and
that awesome sense of humour she possessed.
She was intelligent as well and had no trouble carrying on a conversation. Couple that with the facts she was naturally
sexy, and could whip up a dynamite meal in no time flat, and I was in heaven. I pulled into my driveway, and ambled up to
the door and unlocked it. I slipped off
my shoes and tossed my car keys on a table in the front entry. I ambled over to the fridge and grabbed a
carton of milk and took a long swing out of it.
I suppose when Lorelei was around I’d have to be more civilized and use
a glass but for now I was exercising my bachelor prerogative and saving dishes.
I looked around the kitchen and thought it
would more than likely look a lot different in here if Lorelei had a hand in
things, in fact I’d probably even have actual homemade cookies in the cookie
jar on the counter instead of having it filled with miscellaneous things that I
didn’t even have a clue any more as to what was in it. I wandered into the
living room, and hit the play button on my answering machine which was blinking
away madly indicating messages waiting.
“Liam, its Molly, how’d your first date go? I’m dying to know. Call me back when you get
this.” “Liam its Sunday morning and I still haven’t heard from you. Call me.”
“Liam this is your Mother, your sister tells me you took a young lady
out last night. Your Father and I would
love to meet her, why not bring her over to dinner sometime soon. Love you.
Bye for now.” “Dude where are you?
Not like you to miss our weekly pickup game in the park like this,
everything okay? Give me a shout or come
meet us for a couple pints at Finn Mccools.” “Liam its Sean, I’m just trying to
warn you big brother that Molly is trying to track you down like a bloodhound,
and what is this about you dating? Did I
understand her correctly? Call me back.”
“Liam I know you seem pretty smitten with this girl but where the devil are
you??? I’m almost ready to send out a
missing persons report on you in you don’t surface soon.”
I shook
my head as I polished off the carton of milk and wiped off my milk mustache,
which reminded me I really needed a shave.
Good old Molly, already tipped Mom off to my relationship with Lorelei,
not to mention Sean. At this rate my
entire extended family would be privy to my relationship status change, and for
once in my life I honestly didn’t care, I was pretty confident that this was
the girl for me and I didn’t feel the need for the cloak and dagger approach I
had reserved for dating in the past, in keeping it a secret. It was almost as though I knew on some deeper
level they weren’t the right one for me.
I was coming out of the closet about being in love and it was a whole
new world for me.
I
decided to face the music and call everyone back and put their minds at ease
that I was indeed alive and well. I
propped my feet up on the coffee table and drummed my fingers on the arm of the
sofa while I waited for Molly to pick up. “Well” she squealed at me “Tell me, I
want details!!” I loved my little sister and no matter that she was a married
woman and a mother as well, she’d always be the tag along little sister that
wanted to know every detail of my life.“How was what?” I teased her. “Oh
give me a break” and I swear I could hear her rolling her eyes at me in dismay
that I wasn’t spilling the beans to her, without her having to work for it.
“Was it a good date? Are you going to
see her again? What did you guys do for
fun and remember I have children lurking about.” “I was a total gentleman for your
information. We went down to the beach
window shopped, strolled along the boardwalk, had dinner, went for a swim, then
sat on the beach and just talked until dawn. Then I” which is when Molly
interrupted me. “Back it up a minute you
two went swimming in the lake?” she asked incredulously “Oh my God you two went skinny dipping are
you out of your minds????
I
laughed until I had tears in the corners of my eyes, “No, don’t be silly I said
I was a gentleman, we just dove in and went for an impromptu midnight swim, clothes and all.” “My brother the lunatic, I should have known
that it was your idea.” I didn’t have
the heart to correct her after all I had my reputation to protect as being the
family nut. “Then you just sat around
and talked, is that all you did?” she asked as though she were a member of the
Spanish inquisition. “My dear sister, the mark of a gentleman is that he enjoys
but does not talk about it. But seriously we talked and held hands and shared a
few kisses.” “Uh huh, just a few kisses eh? Sure you did,
and that’s all Colin and I ever did before we got married too” She laughed “End
of this topic of conversation, too much information about my baby sis.” I
replied. “Fair enough, and seriously I know you were a gentleman with her. I
suppose I should mention that I told Mum you had a date last night.” She added
sounding a bit guilty about it. “I know.” “You know” she sounded shocked.
“Yep, Mum
already rang up and left a message on the machine for me, wants me to invite
Lorelei around for dinner to meet her and Dad.” “So I’m going to phone Mum and
find out when is good for her and then I’ll phone Lor and see if she’d be
available to attend.” I said matter of factly. “Oh, that’s so unlike you Liam,
this girl really must have made an impression on you.” She said soberly, as she
mentally weighed the magnitude of my desire to introduce her to the family. “She
has Molly, she has. Lorelei is a keeper,
simple as that.” “I’m happy for you Liam, for both of you actually. It’ll be nice to have a
another sister in law.” She added
slyly to see if I’d react, and start to protest vehemently to the contrary.
“True
enough” and I left it at that for the time being. There was shocked silence on the other end of
the line, so I used it to make my escape.
“I’ve got a couple other calls to make and I need to toss in some
launary, so I’ll catch you later.” “Okay,
later.” She responded and I hung up the phone and made my next call. “Hi
Mum. It’s just me, returning your call.”
“How are you? Your sister had some
pretty big news about you the other night.
I’m dying to ask but don’t want to be a butinski, after all it is your
life. You’re a grown man after all.” “Mum,
it’s all good. She’s a really lovely
person and her names Lorelei. Molly and
the kids met her at Patrick’s game the other day.” “I know, and your Dad and I
would have been there the other day as well if we didn’t already have a prior
commitment with Jim and Helen Morrison to go to that matinee performance at the Pantages Theatre. So I thought it would be nice to invite her over for
something simple like a nice family backyard BBQ. Keep it simple and casual as I know how
overwhelming it can be meeting the family for the first time.”
“Sounds
great Mum , when were you thinking about
doing this?” “Would next Saturday be too soon dear? We really are anxious to get to meet your young lady friend and get to know her.” “I’ll check with her and get back to you in
the next day or so okay Mum?” “Sounds good dear, now I really have to dash, my
timers going off on the oven. Love you.” And with that she hung up and was
gone. Saved by the bell on that one, as I really didn’t feel like playing
twenty questions and besides Molly had probably already had a heart to heart
talk about Lorelei and I with Mum already.Next a quick call to Doug then I
could get on with the things I needed to get done. “Doug its liam. Sorry about missing the game man, but I
should be good for next Sunday and I’ll more than likely be bringing a date
along.” “It’s cool dude, and did you say a date?” he asked sounding a bit
shocked at this revelation. “Yeah I did, and I think you guys are really going
to like her, she’s a great person. Very
cool.”“I’m intrigued, Liam with a lady, I can’t wait to meet her. So you coming down to have a couple pints
with us or what?” “I’m going to pass for tonight need to get a few things done
around the house, been kind of a crazy weekend for me.” “No worries, I’ll catch
you later then. See ya.” “See ya.”
Okay now that was out of the way, time to
grab something to eat, have a shower and a shave, toss in some laundry, do some
tidying up, and then phone Lorelei. That
was going to be the best part of all. It
was amazing the way she could turn something as simple as saying my name into a
vocal caress with her voice. I found something to munch on in the fridge and
ate it standing over the sink just as Lorelei had predicted I would. I looked around the kitchen and thought more
than likely if she got her way, there would be a few changes in here as
well. I suddenly had visions of neatly
lined up little pots of fresh herbs blooming on the window sill, cutlery that
actually matched and other little things that living on my own I wasn’t
inclined to pay much attention to. I
liked the idea though of us sharing this space, preparing meals, the laughter
over little jokes, long talks over morning cups of coffee on the weekend, just
the little things would make this place become more alive.
I rinsed the crumbs out of the sink and put the
dish, in the dishwasher and decided I should add some detergent and run a load
through, since it had been a while and it was pretty full now. With that under control I ambled into my bedroom
and surveyed the scene. The bed was
still messed up from when I’d leapt out of it Saturday morning. A pair of jeans was draped over a chair, a
couple of towels lay in a pile on the floor, next to a discarded pair of
running shoes that I hadn’t even bothered to undo before I’d kicked them
off. The desk top was littered with
various paperwork of both a personal and work related nature, my i pod shuffle
lay abandoned on top of it in a tangled jumble, and half drank cups of coffee
completed the tableau there. Okay so maybe I could be a bit neater and more
organized. I mean it would be nice to know where everything was and not have to
hunt for it all time. I could envision
Lorelei’s hand in here as well. The
pictures of my family would finally have frames not just be stuck on the mirror
with scotch tape to hold them. The bag
of half eaten bag of Oreos on my nightstand would probably get replaced with
something loads better to nibble on when we watched a movie late at night in
here. I had to grin. I liked the thought
of having her next to me in bed snuggled in enjoying a favourite movie with me.
Moving right along I headed into my en suite
bathroom and turned the shower on. I’d
have to make some concessions in here as well, I figured as I waited for the
water to get to just the right temperature.
I’d lose half of my cabinet and shelf space for tubes of lipstick, pink
razors and perfume bottles but I’d be gaining so much more in the long run that
it was going to be worth it. I slid the
shower door open and slipped in. The hot water felt great as it cascaded over me,
and I began to lather up with some body wash. My mind was soon wandering to
what it would be like to have Lorelei here.
I could almost picture her standing there gently caressing me with a
soapy washcloth, massaging my back and shoulders, running it over my chest, and
down past my belly button. Shivers went
up and down my spine, as I felt the ache of my unrelenting desire for her touch
on the rigidness of my masculinity. To
feel the warmth of her delicate hand enveloping me and caressing me with just
the perfect balance of firmness and force to drive me insane.
Leaning forward to nuzzle her neck playfully and
use some of my best moves to drive her as crazy with desire as she was making
me. Running my hands over her firm
breasts, titillating her by tweaking those firm buds that bloomed on their
tips. My fingertips slid easily along
her wet soapy flesh, she had curves in all the right places, and oh how I loved
to explore them. To hear her little
moans of pleasure, was like an aphrodisiac to me, knowing that I was satisfying
her needs and more. “Holy crap” I shouted as an icy blast of water
jolted me back to the present. When
would I learn not to start the damn dishwasher before I got into the
shower? When it changed water cycles so
did the shower. I quickly rinsed off and hopped out of the shower and grabbed a
towel to dry off. I wrapped it around
my waist, while I shaved. I pondered how often that she’d nick my razor to
shave her legs with and how many little nicks off my own I’d get as a
result. At least I knew there would now
be band aids in the medicine cabinet with Lor around. I wasn’t trying to stereo type the two of us
into traditional male/female roles, but I knew she was an organized and
nurturing type of person, and she was going to take care of me, just the way I
intended to take care of her. I had a sneaking
suspicion she could hold her own doing repairs around the house, and mowing the
lawn and what not, so we were going to be equals in this relationship, which
suited me just fine.
I rinsed out the sink, and went back into my
bedroom to grab a pair of shorts to slip into while I gathered up my laundry
and dragged it downstairs to the laundry room, to get it started. When I put my mind to it I could be quite the
little domestic god. By the time I collapsed on the sofa, I had unloaded the
dishwasher and put them away, done my laundry, and had it folded and put
away. I`d also cleaned the bathrooms,
tidied up my bedroom, vacuumed and dusted and things looked quite
respectable. My mother would have been
shocked at this burst of domesticity, but it just felt right to make it nice
for when I brought Lor by to show her my humble abode.I went out to the fridge and grabbed a beer to
enjoy while I flicked on the television to catch the last couple of innings of
the Jays game. I was itching to call
Lorelei, just to hear her voice again but figured I`d better wait for a while
longer as I didn`t want to appear overly anxious to
her. Besides I had to find the right
words to ask her to accompany me over to my folks place on the weekend to meet
the family. I knew it was a major step
for me, and I knew it might be overwhelming for her to be faced with my folks,
brother and sister and their spouses and kids all at once. It was going to happen sooner or later
anyways, may as well be sooner, and I hoped she`d feel that way about it as
well.
The Tale shall be continued, just click on the "chapters" button up on the top right for more!
while you are awaiting the next installment and you've enjoyed what you've read so far,
you will also love this page of short stories of love!
No comments:
Post a Comment