Thursday, June 12, 2008

Chapter 9

Keira didn’t feel much like talking on the ride home, so she was more than happy to let Molly go on and on about her encounter with Richie. “He’s even better looking in person, and he’s so funny,” she was saying. “Oh, I really hope he calls me. He said he was going to. Do you think he will? And I got to talk to Tico a lot too. He has the sexiest voice and the deepest brown eyes. He’s so soft-spoken, but you just get the feeling that he’s a really sweet guy. I didn’t get to meet Dave or Hugh, though. Hopefully I’ll get to meet them later, when Richie takes me out on a date. He’ll call me, don’t you think? I think he will. I’m a fun girl, he’d be crazy not to call me! He seemed interested. He actually gave me his number too, but I can’t call him – that would look desperate. And I’m not desperate, I’m just…excited. Did you see the way he played that guitar?” she sighed and fell back against the seat, finally going silent as she lost herself in her thoughts.

Before long, the limo pulled up in front of Keira’s apartment building. Slipping her key into the lock, she opened the door to her apartment and stopped short when she smelled flowers. Flipping the light on, she gasped. In the center of her dining room table was a beautiful cut-crystal vase filled with two dozen long-stemmed red roses. She dropped her purse on a chair and walked over to read the note that was propped up beside the vase.

"Babe – I’m sorry for giving you a hard time earlier. I’m just missing you these days. Hope you had fun at the concert. I love you – Rob"

Keira smiled and placed the note back onto the table, then bent down to breathe in the scent of the roses. She didn’t blame Rob for being upset with her. She knew she’d been distant toward him lately, but it was only because she was having so much trouble finishing her book, and she just didn’t have a lot of time to spend with him. They’d been together for two years, and lately their relationship had fallen into what she could only describe as a “comfortable rut”. The love was still there, but the passion and excitement was on the back burner. She assumed that it was just a normal part of being in a long-term relationship, so she wasn’t concerned about it. What did bother her, though, was how Rob suddenly seemed to need constant reassurance that she was still in love with him, and that she still desired him. His neediness was starting to get to her.

Feeling suddenly exhausted, Keira closed her eyes and sat down hard on one of her dining room chairs. She knew that she should probably walk upstairs to Rob’s apartment and let herself in with the key he’d given her at the very beginning of their relationship. She should crawl into his bed and awaken him with kisses, then make love with him to thank him for the flowers and to show him that she did love and miss him. Unfortunately, the very thought of that made her heart sink. She didn’t have the energy or the desire tonight.

Before she knew what she was doing, she jumped up and walked over to the drawer beside her refrigerator, where she kept her spare keys. She chose one of them, but it wasn’t the key to Rob’s apartment. She strode to the elevator and took it to the attic, where she used the key to unlock her storage unit. Tossing stuff aside, she found what she was looking for: a small plastic bin filled with old pictures and notes. Triumphantly, she grabbed it and headed back down to her apartment.

She quickly brushed her teeth, washed her face, and put on her favorite soft cotton Victoria’s Secret nightshirt. Climbing into bed, she opened the lid of the plastic bin and began to sift through the memorabilia. When she found the picture that she was looking for, it brought a smile to her face and tears to her eyes. It was a photo of her and Jon when they were about 16 or 17 years old. They had spent the day at the beach with a group of their friends, and after drinking many beers under the hot summer sun, someone had started a game of football. She was on the opposing team from Jon’s, and the photograph was snapped a few seconds after she’d tackled him to the ground. In it, he lay bare-chested on his back in the sand, and she was straddling him, with her head thrown back in the wild, drunken, carefree laughter of youth. He was laughing too, watching her as she laughed. What the picture didn’t show was how he’d reached for her a second later, bringing her face down to his for a hot, hungry kiss. He’d flipped her onto her back and climbed on top of her to continue the kiss, the forgotten football lying on the ground a few feet away. Eventually one of their friends – was it Dave? – had broken up their little tryst by dumping a pail of freezing cold seawater and mud onto them.

It had been their first kiss. She’d never had another kiss quite like it.

Keira placed the picture back into the bin and closed the lid. Sliding it under her bed, she climbed under her covers and closed her eyes, knowing without a shadow of a doubt that he’d be in her dreams tonight.

3 comments:

Super_Kiwi said...

Aww man. Her remembering and looking at all the pictures was a really sweet scene, well bittersweet. I know Jon's not going to let her just go that easily surely.

And I suspect that if her and Jon start a friendship at the very least Mr Needy may get a little annoying lol.

NOW MORE!! lol.

Sunstreaked said...

What a great memory and you described it so well it played as a mini movie in my head!

Whew! You've got it, girl, you are a writer!

Opester said...

Aaaahhh, the first kiss! Who could forget their first kiss with that man!