Part 9
I stood
waving to Liam, even after he’d become obscured from my vision by
distance. It was with a heavy heart that
I finally turned and walked back inside. As crazy as it may have been, I already missed
him and he had been gone only mere minutes but it seemed like an eternity. Barclay started to rub against my legs and
purr at me as if to remind me that he was still here for me. I leaned down and scooped him up in my
arms. I nuzzled his furry little head
and gave him a kiss. “I love you to bits
and pieces Barclay and I always will, you’re my fur baby, but I’m realizing
there’s more than enough room in my heart for Liam as well.” I gave him another
kiss and set him down gently on the sofa. “Well buddy, I guess I’d better
figure out what I need to do around here and then get on with it.” I mentally went over the things I needed to
get accomplished. The list included everything
from cleaning out Barclay's litter box to the last and best thing of all talking
to Liam.
I hit play on the answering machine and
stood listening to the calls I’d missed. “Lorelei dear it’s your Mother. Still want to know when you’re going to be
able to come home for a couple of days, Jeffery’s been asking about you
dear. Let me know sweetheart, Daddy
sends his love, bye for now.” Man oh man
was the news about Liam going to come as a shock to good old Mom and Dad, not
to mention Mrs. Cummings and good old Jeffery. “Hey Cupcake, its Matt, just
thought I’d check in and see how things are going with you and Mr.
Wonderful. Did you take my advice and at
least talk to him? Give me a shout when you get a minute. Later, Cupcake.” I had to grin, okay maybe Matt had been right
about this one. “This is your captain
calling you’ve just won a fabulous all expense cruise to….” Oh how I loathed those telemarketing
calls. I quickly deleted that one.
I went into the kitchen and poured myself
a glass of iced tea out of the fridge and pinched off a couple of fresh springs
off of my potted chocolate mint plant on the window sill and popped them into
my glass. Then I meandered back into the
living room and made myself comfortable, before I returned calls. I dialed my parent’s number thinking this
might be painful to say the least. Mom
meant well but she’d been pushing the whole you’re a nice girl, why don’t you
find a nice young man and settle down thing for years now. “Hello” “Hi Mom, it’s me. I’ve got some news for you.” “Darling so good to hear from you, does this
mean you’ll be gracing us with your presence soon and I should tell Jeffery
you’d love to have dinner with him?”
“Yes, I’ll be coming home soon Mom I’ll have to check my schedule at
work but it should be sometime soon for sure.
As for Jeffery, sure dinner would be great as long as he doesn't mind me
bringing a date along.” “That sounds
great dear, I’ll let your Dad and Jeff…… pardon me, what was that you said about
bringing a date?????”
I could hear the shocked excitement in
her voice, over my news. “I've met this
really amazing guy and I want to bring him home to meet the family Mom. I need to talk to him about when’s a good
time for him with his schedule, but it should be sometime in the next month at
the very most. Then you and Dad, and the
whole family can get a chance to know him and he can get to know you.” Normally
I’d rather stick a fork in my eye than take someone home to meet my family,
because as I liked to say “My family puts the “fun” in dysfunctional.” “Oh darling that’s wonderful news, I can’t
wait to tell your Dad. He’s out right
now or I’d put you on speaker phone and you could tell him yourself. So tell me a bit about him sweetheart.” “Well his names Liam, he’s intelligent, has a
wicked sense of humour, he’s sweet, thoughtful, incredibly handsome and a true
gentleman.” I couldn't believe I was
actually gushing like this, and it was just so unlike me and my Mom seemed to
pick up on that fact. “Honey that’s
wonderful, I’m really happy for you. We’ll
be pleased to meet him whenever you two kids can make it down for a visit. I’ll look forward to hearing from you soon
dear. I hate to cut this short but I
have to run over to Edna Andersons’ and drop off the crock pot I’m loaning her. I’m tickled pink about you finally having a
boyfriend at long last dear!” “Okay, talk
to you soon Mom.” And with that she was off and running to Edna’s place I
presumed.
It was amazing how my Mom managed to make
me feel like I had passed my expiration date on the whole having a serious
relationship front. It wasn’t that I
hadn’t wanted one, it was just a case of I wasn't going to settle for the first
guy that asked me, if it didn’t feel right to me in my heart of hearts. I rang
Matt next and he picked up on the second ring.
“Hi Cupcake, what’s up?” he boomed at me. “Hey, Matt.
Just thought I’d call you back and bring you up to speed on things.” I
swear he knew I was grinning like a fool in love when I greeted him. “Okay Cuppers, tell Matt all about it and no
holding back on anything.” “Well long story short I ran into him yesterday at
Joey Morellis’ soccer game. Turns out
his nephew Patrick is one of Joeys’ team mates.
He asked me out and we had the most incredible date any girl could have
ever dreamed of. It was perfect Matt,
sunsets and strolls, moonlight madness, dancing and talking until dawn.
Then we came back here I made breakfast
for us then we cuddled and had a nap together.
Neither of us wanted it to end.” I sighed with a mixture of contentment
over the thrill of it all and the ache of missing Liam now. ``We`re going to talk later tonight and we`ve
got a date to meet on the way in to work tomorrow. Matt I think this guy is THE one for
real.” I added. “Wow, does this mean I get to be the flower
girl?” he deadpanned. “Only if you’re
planning on wearing a dress with patent leather shoes and a wreath of flowers
in your hair my friend.” I shot back at him and we both burst into gales of
laughter, over the thought of that.
“Seriously though sounds like you two really connected, and are planning
on making a go of things.” He said with all sincerity. “I think we are too” I said soberly. “We don’t want to rush things but we definitely
want to see where this relationship can take us, even after only one date.” I
added reflectively. “Well I do wish you
all the best with this, and also keep in mind that, you’re special to me too,
and if he hurts you in any way shape or form, I’ll hunt him down like a dog in
the street and make his life a living hell.” He promised like the protective friend he
was. “I seriously doubt that will be
necessary, but it’s good to know you've got my back buddy. What can I say
you’re my wing-man.” “So when do I get to meet this guy, check him out, make
sure he measures up?” “Not sure about
that, but we’ll figure something out soon.
Anyways I really should get going, as I've got some things to do, and should get on them.” “No worries,
Cupcake, we’ll touch base again soon.
Take care.” “Later Matt.” And we
both disconnected.
I then busied myself by doing laundry,
watering my houseplants, dusting, and all those other little mundane chores
that needed to be done and I’d neglected this weekend. Today I did them with a light heart as my
mind drifted to thoughts of Liam and all the endless things I looked forward to
doing with him and for him. I checked
the time and debated whether or not I should ring Liam up, and fought the urge
to do so as I didn't want to seem over anxious or clingy even though I was dying to hear his voice and spend time with him. The solution of course was to find something
else to occupy my time until, he phoned me, or at least I hope he was going to
phone. “Think Lorelei, think” I kept
telling myself, and then it came to me. “I know I’ll make something to surprise
Liam for his lunch tomorrow.” I turned
on the oven to preheat and started to get out the ingredients I’d need to make
him a batch of my killer chocolate brownies with chocolate butter-cream icing on them. I whipped up the batter and had
them ready to go in the oven just as the temperature indicator on the oven
beeped that it was ready to go. Next I
perused the fridge and figured out what to make for his main course, something
simple but yummy. I spied the chicken
breasts I’d had marinating to make for dinner on Saturday night, and decided to
grill them, since my plans had changed so drastically on Saturday.
I’d
make him a nice sandwich in the morning out of the chicken breasts. Then I decided to make some of my tri
coloured rotini pasta salad to go with it.
I put the water on to boil for the noodles and went about, cleaning the
cherry tomatoes, pitting my black olives, slicing red onion, crumbling feta
cheese, dicing up red, green, and yellow peppers and making a light Greek
dressing to marinate it all in. It was a
perfect salad to serve chilled, and I hoped he’d like it. The water was ready and I dumped in the
noodles and removed the brownies from the oven to cool when the timer went
off. I started on making the butter-cream so I could ice the brownies when they were cool enough. I grinned as I worked thinking how my
Grandmother had always told me that the way to a man’s heart was through his
stomach, well I intended to lay claim to both Liam’s heart and his
stomach. A stomach, which I knew was
both toned and incredibly sexy. having been privileged enough to have both
viewed it and run my hands over it again and again. The mere thought of that sent surges of power
running through my body which seemed to electrify my sacred vessel which I longed
for him to fill. I shuddered with the
thought of sweet surrender to him. Soon enough everything was ready, and I put
things in the fridge, and tidied up the kitchen so it was neat and orderly once
more. I flicked off the lights, and went
into bedroom to update my journal and do some reading while I waited for his
call.
The game ended on a high note as the Jays beat the
twins, 7 to 3, so I was feeling rather chipper as I flicked of the television
set. I checked my watch, to see if it was a good time to phone her.
It was just a few minutes after nine which I figured was a perfect time, not to
soon after I’d last seen her, but not so late that I’d be waking her up.
I couldn't wait to hear her voice again. It took me back to the first time
I’d ever phoned a girl I had a crush on, my heart was racing my palms were
sweaty, and back then I also sounded like Minnie Mouse at times as my voice was
breaking. Now I was feeling much more confident about it all and making
the call. I was pretty sure she’d say “Yes” when I asked her out. I
grinned and dialed her number.
“Hello” her soft lyrical voice answered on the second
ring. “Hi Lorelei, its Liam.” And I would have sworn that I could sense that
her face lit up and she became more animated just from hearing my voice.
It was torture for me to hear her voice and not be able to take her in my arms
and hold her close. “So did you get all your laundry taken care of and is this
the part where I talk dirty to you?” She giggled at me. “Pardon
me??” I asked not the least bit sure where she was going with this.
“Sure” she said “You know, Dirty Laundry.” She said in a very sultry voice then
giggled hugely at her own joke.” I had to laugh, it was contagious. “Yes
I got it all done and several other things as well. I’m quite the
domesticated fellow when I put my mind to it.” I added quite proudly.
“Then I watched the last few innings of the Jays game. How about
you? What have you been up to since we parted company?”
“Pretty much the same thing, I
transformed into a domestic goddess and whipped my apartment into shape.
Do I lead an exciting life or what?” she said. “An alter ego as a goddess, I’d
say that makes me a pretty lucky guy indeed. I’m the only guy that has a
girlfriend that’s a goddess.” He chuckled. “Oh and I talked to my Mum
today as well. Seems Molly told her about meeting you and also that we
had a date this weekend.” I added not quite how she would take that bit of
information, but I figured I might as well bite the bullet on this one and cut
to the chase, so I plowed on. “She and my Dad would like to meet you, and
Mum wants to have a family get together so you can meet the rest of the
tribe. Nothing formal, just a casual back yard bbq sort of a thing.
How’s that sound to you?” I asked. As I physically crossed my fingers in an
effort to increase my luck and ensure she’d be okay with it.
“Well” she ventured and my
heart sank thinking it was way too much to ask of her this soon into my budding
courtship of her. “Please don’t let her be thinking of ways to turn me
down on this request.” I silently prayed. “I’ll do it on one condition.” And I
thought I detected a playful tone in her voice and I perked up
immediately. “Okay, go on, I’m listening.” I told her. “I’m willing to.
Provided you’ll do the same for me and come with me to meet the nuts that make
up my family tree. Do we have a deal?” “Hmmmmmmmmmmm, That depends, you
know some nuts really aren't classified as nuts, I mean take the peanut, it’s
technically considered a legume despite its name, are your family seriously
nuts or just technically nuts?” I couldn't help but crack up at my own
wit. She joined along in my laughter “Great I get stuck with a wise guy
that’s up on his botany, keep it up and your Christmas gift this year will be a
membership to the Royal Horticultural Society.” She Laughed and added “I love
my family dearly Liam but to answer your question I’m going to go with actual
nuts.”
“Sweetheart if you think my family
are the poster people for sanity then you are sadly mistaken. They are a bunch
of characters in their own ways but I think you’ll grow to care about them as
much as I do, or at least I hope you will.” “I’m sure that I will just as
you’ll come to accept and fit in with my loony family.”
“Good now that that’s been settled will you come with me? My Mum was
thinking next weekend. I told her it would depend on your schedule at work, and
that I had to check with you first.” “Sure, next weekend will work for me I've got weekends off most of the time unless it’s a peak season like Christmas or
Easter and then I’m there six or seven days a week. Ask your Mother what I can
bring with me to contribute.” How typical of her I thought didn't know my
family from Adam but wanted to pitch in and do her part, I had to respect her
for that. “I’ll check with my Mum and get back to you on that
okay?” “Sure sounds good to me.” I was pretty relieved that this was
going as well as it was, I knew how nerve racking meeting parents and family
for the first time could be.
Given the choice I think most
people would have ranked it somewhere between having a root canal and filing
your income tax on the fun metre of life. “Oh yeah, and on Sundays I usually
play baseball with a group of guys. Nothing organized just a bunch of us
getting together, getting a bit of exercise and having some laughs. Then we go
have a couple of pints at either a pub or one of the guys’ places
afterwards. Would you like to tag along and watch the game” “Sounds
like fun, shall I bring my pompoms with me?” “Nope a foam finger would be
more appropriate for these guys, but I wouldn't mind seeing you in the cheerleader outfit sometime, bet you look like a total knockout in it.”
For some
reason I could picture an impish grin on his handsome face as he delivered
those words and I had to smile myself.
“Why I do believe your flirting with me sir.” I teased him. “You can’t blame me for trying can you?” he
inquired. “No, I can’t as long as I can flirt back.” “I wouldn’t have it any other way Lor, and
you are the only one I have any desire to flirt with.” “You know something?” he
said changing the tone of the conversation to something deeper and more
telling. “I can’t think of ever having a
better time with someone in my life than I did with you. It wasn’t anything grand and planned but it
was just perfect, and I’m glad I got to experience it with you, Lor.” He
said. “I feel the same way.” I answered
him softly. He continued, “It’s kind of
freaking me out at times how well things are going and how strongly I feel
about you. I just feel like we were
connected even before we met.” He laughed and added, “Yes, I’m completely
sober, I had one drink while I watched the game and I swear that was all. I probably sound like a total goofball to
you, but for the first time in my life I feel like I’ve met the one person I
can say anything to, and we can talk about it.
Am I making any sense at all to you?” he added with a slight note of
anxiety to his voice.
“Actually
believe it or not, I do get what you mean, and I feel exactly the same
way. It’s never been easy for me to
fully open up to anyone, but I know in my heart that I’ve found the one person
I can be totally genuine with. You won’t
judge me for the mistakes I’ve made in my past, and you’ll be there for me in
the future.” Suddenly it struck me as
how very unlike me it was to be this open and candid with a man that I cared
for so much. “In a great many ways I’m
an incredibly private person, and over the years I’ve put up a multitude of
walls around me to protect me from getting hurt. But with you I taking a leap of faith and
letting my guard down, and its scaring me half to death. You know something else? I’m not sure, but having a serious talk with
you like this over the phone is easier, than it would be face to face.” My
voice trailed off.
“It’s okay. I understand more than you may think I do. You and I are cut from the same cloth it
would seem. We are both the type to feel
deeply, but aren’t always able to express it the way we want to. This is a whole new world for me as well, and
I’m still nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs, that I’m going to get
hurt in one way or another. For once in
my life though I’m more afraid not to open up and let you in, I don’t want to
lose you, because of my inability to be able to tell you everything that’s in
my heart of hearts.” There was a moment
of silence then a very audible gulp. “I
so can’t believe I just had the guts to say that to you.” He blurted out and
then laughed a small almost hysterical hiccup of a laugh, and added. “If I’d tried saying that to you face to face
I’d probably have turned fifty shades of red on you.” “Not Fifty Shades of Grey”
I snorted at my own goofy little joke in an attempt to break the gravity of the
conversation.
“I’m sorry did you just snort at me?” his
voice tinged with humour inquired. As he
did I could envision his face lighting up and his eyes crinkling up in that
endearing way they did right before a smile enveloped his lips. “I believe that you did in fact hear me snort
at you.” I giggled. “Sometimes I do that
when I’m extremely nervous. Liam, I am
touched that you are willing to push yourself out of your comfort zone and
share things with me that are obviously difficult for you. But there is still a part of me that is
living in abject terror that I’ll wake up tomorrow and all of this with you
will all just be a dream. I don’t want
to mess this up, with by going too fast. I just need to slow it down a wee bit. I just hope that makes sense to you.” I added
in a still, small but very determined voice.
“It’s all
good” he responded in that easy good natured way of his. “So how about those Blue Jays?” he
asked. I loved the way he understood me
so well, and I adored him for it. We
fell back into an easy rhythm of banter once more, and I began to relax
again. We jibber jabbered away like a
pair of magpies until a small yawn escaped. “You’re tired, I should let you
go.” He said, obviously having picked up on my yawn. “No, no, I’m fine really I am.” I
protested. “I don’t want to go either if
that’s any consolation to you.” He said.
“Why, are you afraid of sleeping all by yourself big guy?” I teased him playfully. “Nope, but I will
admit it won’t be nearly as much fun. I
like having your body curled up next to mine.
You fit so perfectly into my arms, and it doesn’t hurt either having
those smooth, silken legs of yours entwined in mine either. Not to mention how certain contours of your
anatomy seem to fit so snuggly against my own.” His voice sounded almost
wistful at the thought of not having me next to him” and he ?let out a sigh.
“Somehow, I
don’t think wrapping my arms around my pillow and fantasizing that it’s you in
my arms, is going to cut it for me tonight as well. It would only be a hollow imitation, now that
I’ve had the real thing.” Instantly I felt my cheeks flooding with colour, at
my revelation, I wanted to bite my tongue.
“Silly girl I chastised myself, he’ll think you've had some school girl
crush on him for ages now. Well you
have.” I argued back silently with myself. “That’s how you've been falling
asleep?” he inquired softly, almost stunned in one sense, but you could tell he
was chuffed about it as well. “Yes” I
mumbled “Before we actually met and started dating it was one of the few ways
that I could manage to drift off to sleep.
My head would be so filled with thoughts of you when I lay down at
night. It wouldn't matter how crazy my
day had been, how tired I was or anything else, my last thoughts of the day
always involved you.” I waited to hear him break into amused laughter at my
revelation. “I bet you think that’s one of the dumbest things you've ever heard
in your life.”
“I think that is one of the sweetest things any one has
ever said to me Lorelei. To think that I would be the last person that
you thought of at the end of your day, speaks volumes to me, about how you feel
about me. It’s humbling to know that I have such a special place in your
heart. I sincerely hope that I’ll always have it.” I intoned in a deep
caressing voice. “While we are confessing things, I’ll own up to my thoughts
straying to you, and I’ll get this warm, fuzzy feel good feeling deep inside
and it’s like, you’re thinking about me at the same time, sending me your
energy. I never had that before but it’s a total rush when it happens.
Now I bet that sounds dumb to you.”
I had to grin broadly at that news. “No Liam, I feel the same way when I think about
you during the day, which I do a lot. It
amazes me that I can actually get anything at all accomplished at times.” I
said to him and felt that delicious fluttering in the depths of my tummy that
gave me that warm, feel good feeling all over.
It was like an electrical surge that radiated good vibes throughout my
entire body and made me tingle. To me it
felt like Liam and I were members of a very exclusive mutual admiration society
that had a membership which included just the two of us, which to me was just
perfect.
This time it was Liam that let out a
yawn. “Am I boring you? I teased him gently. “Nope but if you want
to come and tuck me in, I wouldn’t say no to you. Hey I wouldn’t even say
no to you if you wanted to tuck yourself in next to me. I think we could
have an awesome sleep over. I’ve even got a spare toothbrush you can use. Am I a good host or
what?” he chuckled “You goof.” I chuckled back at him. “It is an
awfully tempting offer though. The toothbrush is a nice touch but what
about jammies, would I have to bring my own?” I probed him.
“Good question, I have a/c in the house but
am willing to make the sacrifice of holding your very close to keep you
warm, I don’t want you getting a chill especially if you don’t want to
wear pajamas which would for the record totally work for
me if you don’t want to wear them. To answer the question about do I have
jammies here you could wear, well I think I may have a pair still in the box my
Mum gave to me for Christmas a few years back in one of my bureau
drawers. I’m not much on wearing them myself, more often than not I’ll
wear a pair or track pants, boxers or if you’ll pardon the expression just let
it all hang out and go au natural. But if you’ve got something you wanted
to bring with you that’s lacy, silky or see through, I mean I don’t want you to
feel that you couldn’t dress as you’d like.” He added with a very sexy
undertone to his voice.
“Naughty boy, does
this mean you were not impressed with my Wallabies shirt earlier today?”
I laughed as I thought of the tomboyish appearance I must have presented to him.
“Quite the contrary my dear lady, I thought you looked incredibly desirable and
sexy in it. You really got my heart racing when you were dancing in it
and the hemline would sneak up on you. You’ve got some amazing
legs for the record.” I found
myself blushing as I had never been well to take compliments well especially
with regards to my appearance. “Thank you” was all I could manage to
counter. “So my offer still stands, want to come tuck me in?” he asked
hopefully, but with the resigned air of one that already knew the answer. “Can
I take a rain check on that?” I inquired. “Anytime and as often as you
want” he affirmed. “Now I know that it’s getting late and we both need to
be up early tomorrow as we’ve got a date to meet before work. I’m looking
forward to it already and can hardly wait. I feel like a kid waiting for
Christmas to arrive.”
“I can’t wait either, and I’ve got a
surprise for you too that I can’t wait to give you. Opps, I wasn’t going
to tell you that. Forget I said anything.” I giggled. “I don’t
think I’ll ever be able to keep secrets from you Liam. It would appear
I’m hopeless about that, because I want to share everything with you.” “Lorelei
I don’t want us keeping secrets from each other, not now or ever. Okay
maybe little ones about fun little surprises we’ve got for the other, but I
want to be the one person you can come to about anything and everything got
it?” he added in all sincerity. “Got it. The same goes for you as well
Liam. We share everything.” “As much as I hate to do it, it’s time to wish you good night
and put the phone down. I love you, you know.” He intoned and the way he
said it, was like the sweetest caress in the world only a verbal one. “I
love you too, my darling.” As the words clung to the air, we disconnected and
each vowed to ourselves to try to get some sleep. A seemingly daunting
quest to find sleep as we were both so wound up in our thoughts of one another
and longing for the breaking of dawn and a new day where we could connect again
once more.
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