Chapter 12

P A S T

D A Y 6

THEA

“The sun, it burns,” I joked, hiding behind his back when we got outside.

“I know, just push through it, persevere,” he chuckled.

Holding hands, we walked down my street and into the town. I enjoyed the sight of all the leaves falling from the trees above us. The reds, golds, and oranges, they all made the world so much more beautiful in my eyes.

“What are you smiling about?” he asked.

I pinched my cheeks, not realizing the face I was making. “I love fall. It’s my favorite season. You have to give it to Mother Nature, even when she’s technically dying, she’s doing it like a true lady and going out with style.”

“I would have pegged you as more of a spring girl.”

“You’ve pegged me? Have you been thinking about me, Mr. Black?” I teased him with a laugh.

He rolled his eyes, and placed his arm around my shoulder, pulling me closer to him— “Don’t ask questions you already know the answer to. How can I not be thinking of you?”

I wanted to kiss him.

“Why spring?” I asked, curious as to his assumption.

The truth of the matter was that I needed to stay focused, or else we’d end up right back at my house, or worse yet, doing it somewhere in public. That thought alone caused a momentary throbbing sensation in all the right places.

Why did that excite me? What is he doing to me?

“Because it’s the season that’s full of life. It’s bright and preppy.”

“Preppy? And you were doing so well!”

Preppy?

“What’s your favorite season?” I asked, as I decided to let the preppy comment slide.

“Winter,” he said, “I love the snow, and the way it just blankets everything. It’s beautiful, especially at the crack of dawn, when the world is still asleep, and the sun starts to come up.”

It did sound beautiful.

“Sadly, it’s only a temporary state. Before you know it, we silly humans go and muck it all up.”

“Yes, all that blasted shoveling. Or would you rather everyone just stay inside all winter?”

“That would be glorious,” he said with a smile. “Spend the fall stocking up on food, and just hibernate for the winter,” he half-joked. “Imagine how much fun we could have!”

“As genius as your plan is, imagine how many people would snap if they were locked away with their families for four mouths.”

“Even better! I would make a killin’ in the spring.”

I laughed. “You’re a horrible person.”

“Yeah, yeah. But I can still dream. Can’t I?”

There was something about Levi I just liked. It was so easy to be around him. We didn’t say much after that, until we got into town and I saw the long line coming out of the Young Thailand restaurant. It snaked around the freaking corner of the block! Apparently, their dinner was worth waiting for.

“Yeah why don’t we just—” I began, but he ignored me and led me to the front of the line.

“Reservation for Black,” he said as we got inside.

“Good evening,” the hostess bowed at us.

She picked up two menus from the stack nearby, and beckoned us to follow her. She led us to a table at the storefront window.

“Reservation?” I asked, as she seated us and left. “Did you just trick me into going on a date with you?”

“How else am I ever going to ever get you to stop eating Frosted Flakes?”

“What’s wrong with Frosty?” I pouted.

“It’s sugar and fake corn, need I say more?”

“You’re no better, with your granola bars!” I accused him.

“Not the same,” he retorted, as he slid the basket of unleavened bread towards me.

“I’d eat more, but someone never gives me a break long enough to sit down and eat a full meal,” I shot back, as I broke off a piece of the bread and nibbled on the end.

“Oh, that’s a two way street baby, and you know it.”

I knew that he was right, I just couldn’t bring myself to admit it. Instead, I picked up my menu and pretended to be completely captivated by a list of food that I had never seen, had, or heard of, in my life.

He remained silent, letting the issue go, and the next time I glanced up, I saw that he was staring out the window, watching as the autumn leaves fluttered in the wind. As I looked at him, I realize just how attracted to him I was, and not just in a sexual way either. Sex had started our time together, but lately, it felt more personal than that.

Lost in my thoughts, I almost didn’t notice that he had turned his attention back to me. I looked away, blushing because I knew that I hadn’t been quick enough, and he had caught me ogling him. Knowing him, he probably assumed that I was having erotic fantasies about him.

Luckily, before he could say anything, a server came to take our order.

“What would you like to have?” Levi asked.

Crap. I hadn’t really read the menu.

“Ah… the Larb Leuat Neua?” I said, picking the first thing that caught my eye.

His eye went wide, and he chuckled before he placed his own order.

“Are you sure?” he asked me.

I wasn’t, but I nodded anyway. I had already committed, it was too late to back down without looking like a complete idiot. With a smile, he nodded at the server who collected the menus and left.

“Seriously?” he asked again, this time with a slight frown.

“What?”

“You hate raw food, right?” he asked, knowing full well that I did, after he’d unsuccessfully tried to get me to eat sushi.

“Yeah…”

“Larb Leuat Neua is basically a raw meat salad with mint leaves.”

I opened my mouth, but no words came out.

People could sell that?

“If that’s not what you really wanted, I can call the—”

“Nope, I’m good,” I interrupted.

Note to self: when on dates, read the damn menu.

“Can we just pretend that that didn’t just happen?” I begged, shifting in my seat.

I was always embarrassed when it came to him. It was as though my brain just went on hibernate, and I was left to fend for myself.

“What’s your favorite color?” he asked.

“What?”

“I’m pretending that didn’t just happen. What’s your favorite color?”

“Teal.”

“Teal?”

“I’ve always had trouble picking between blue and green; then one day I saw teal, and all was right with the world,” I laughed.

Teal was my happy color.

He nodded, then looked at me as though he was waiting for something. Finally he gave up.

“This is the part where you ask me what my favorite color is, Thea,” he said, rolling his eyes.

“Is it? This is a slippery slope we’re on, you know. First it’s colors, and the next I’m telling you my deepest, darkest secrets.”

“Are you scared, Ms. Cunning?”

“I’m not, but you’re just not ready for it yet, Mr. Black.”

“Anything you bring to the table, I can take. But hey, if you’re scared of—”

“What’s your favorite color Levi?” I asked finally giving in.

He smirked, “I don’t have one.”

“Then what was…” I stopped, he did this all the time. “You really just like rattling me, don’t you?”

“In every sense of the word,” he said, behind the glass of water, and I shifted under his gaze.

He reached across the table, took my hand and rubbed the inside of my palm with his thumb. Though it was a small action, I felt myself melting into him. After six days, just doing this was enough.

We leaned back into our seats and relaxed, enjoying each other’s company. When the server brought our food to the table, he didn’t let go of my left hand. I tried to ignore him, but it bothered me how at ease he was. My pulse was racing, and he didn’t seem to be bothered by it in the least.

Slipping out of my flats, I pressed my right foot between his legs, smiling innocently when he jumped.

“Thea,” he said, as his back straightened, and his jaw tightened in an effort to control himself.

“Yes?” I asked, taking a bite of the rice he had ordered for me.

Meanwhile, under the table, my foot rubbed against him slowly.

“You’re pushing me,” he said.

“You’re enjoying it,” I leaned forward. “As a matter of fact, I can feel how much you’re enjoying it, Mr. Black.”

Covering his mouth with his hand, he sat there, trying not to give into what I knew he was feeling. Pressing harder into him, he tightened his grip on my hand.

“This isn’t fair,” he glared at me. “You’re too far away.”

“Sounds like your problem.”

“Eat,” was all he said as he picked up his fork.

Taking it as a personal challenge, and curious about how far I could take things, I increased the pressure a little as I continued sliding my foot against his hard-on. And just like that, his fork fell out of his hand.

“God damn it, Thea.” He was smoldering now.

“You should really try this, it’s good,” I told him, as I pointed down to my food.

Finally, he reached down and restrained my renegade leg.

“You’re gonna have to hold it for as long as we’re sitting here,” I told him, “and people might start to wonder what your hand is doing down there.”

“You’re evil.”

“And yet still, you like me.”

He let go of my foot, and sat there, not saying single word as I started again. The look on his face was priceless. It was a pleasure to watch him battle with himself to maintain control, and to remain cool and collected. And from the feel of things, I knew he wanted to get up and leave right now. But the moment he did, he knew that it would have meant that he was admitting his defeat, and he’d have to acknowledge the fact that he really had no self-control.

I knew him better than that. He’d always let me win the smaller battles. But this, this was something that I knew he would pay me back tenfold for, and each second I drew this out, would be a second more that he would seek out in revenge later on. And truthfully, I looked forward to every moment of it.

Even watching him eat slowly bothered me. I didn’t want him to be able to eat. I wanted him to get us out of here. I want him to concede his defeat… he just needed a little push.

Lifting my other foot, I brought it up against him. That was it. He bowed his head, and clenched his fist, until finally, he got up, dropped a hundred on the table, and pulled me up.

“I wasn’t done,” I said to him, smiling to myself as I slipped my flats back on.

“I’ll make us dinner,” he said, dragging me out of the restaurant.

He looked down the length of the street, back to my house, and instead of going in that direction, he took my hand and led me to the nearby park.

“Levi…”

“You reap what you sow,” he stated.

We bypassed everyone, all but running headlong into the woods. It was only when we couldn’t hear anything but birds chirping, that he pushed me up against a tree, lifted my skirt up and grabbed on to one of my thighs.

“This right here, is to get me off, until I can thoroughly pay you back for your little stunt back there,” he whispered.

“Levi, someone can come through here at any second.”

“Then I’ll just have to keep you quiet,” he said kissing me as he thrust forward.

“Ah—”

I gripped on to his shoulders and hair. He held me up, slamming inside me with no reservations whatsoever. He left kisses up and down my neck, my face, my lips. He was everywhere, his grasp on my thighs tightened, as my back pressed hard into the tree. With each thrust, the leaves rained down around us, and my breathing became short gasps.

When his kisses stopped, and he looked at me, and all I could do was grin… maybe I was delirious, or just plain giddy, but I couldn’t take my eyes off him. I wanted him more. I wanted to feel more of him, over and over again.

“Oh no you don’t,” he said as he sped up, and my head bent back in joy, “I’m getting off, not you.”

All too soon he came, leaving me only half way there.

“Damn you,” I hissed.

“Oh, I’m just getting started.”

DAY 7

LEVI “I might have gone a little overboard,” I said, looking around at the broken objects in her room.

“You think?” she asked, as she picked up the broken lamp.

“In my defense, the distance from your front door, to your bed, is far too long.”

“In the week you’ve been here, the distance hasn’t changed!”

“And how many times did we actually make it to your bed?” I asked, and she just rolled her eyes.

Exactly.

I grabbed the broom and helped her clean up the mess we—I— had made. The damage, equaling both her bedside lamps, a picture frame, an alarm clock, the wall paper over her bed which was torn, and one of her bed legs, now wobbly.

“You aren’t going to let me pay for any of this, are you?”

“You’re going to try and find a way to pay for it, aren’t you?” she countered already knowing where my mind was going.

I was already thinking of ordering the things and having it shipped to her. “As long as we’re on the same page.”

“You order it, and I’ll return it.”

“You return it, and I’ll order it again.”

“Why are you so damn stubborn?”

“Said the queen of stubbornness,” he grinned.

She sighed, “Fine. I will pick out the things, and you can order them for me.”

“You can’t pick out the cheapest things,” I told her, knowing full well she would probably go to the thrift store.

“Levi, you aren’t you supposed to meet me halfway here? This is a compromise. I’m letting you replace the things, and I get to choose what they will be.”

“It’s a great compromise, with the exception of what you’re choosing. For it to be a true compromise, you have to let me buy you something of equal or better value, than what I broke.”

She shook her hands at me like she was trying to reach for my neck. “This is why people hate lawyers!” she screamed in frustration.

“I know, right?”

“I need to get myself some breakfast, before you drive me insane,” she muttered, taking my hand as she led me out of the room.

Today was the last day, and instead of heading over to my place, we decided late last night—or rather early this morning— to finish off the day here.

Watching her make breakfast for the last time, I felt the urge to ask for more time… but I didn’t want to be that guy.

We’d made a deal, and she didn’t look like she was backing out of it, and neither should I...

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Just thinking about how much that lamp cost,” I lied.

“You’re ridiculous,” she laughed, handing me a plate.

“Thank you. Do you have coffee?” I asked, as I scanned the countertop for the coffee machine.

“Sorry, I don’t drink coffee.”

“What?” I asked, as I searched for the coffee maker. Sure enough, there was none. “How’d I not notice this before?”

“You’re a coffee person?”

“I was a coffee addict, but now that I think of it, I don’t remember having a cup all week.”

What the hell? I had had a cup of coffee at least once a day since I was in high school.

“Surprise! This was really just a one-week rehab for you Levi Black. Your family was worried about your addiction, and called me in to help,” she joked, handing me a glass of orange juice.

“If my family’s turned me in, who’s going to help them? Because I know the addiction’s hereditary,” I chuckled, as I accepted the glass.

“The family package is extra,” she said, and I coughed up my drink trying not laugh.

“Ah… stop.”

She laughed along with me, and I was at peace with her once again. Grabbing our plates, we moved into the living room, taking our place on the couch, which usually consisted of her sitting in-between my legs.

I’m not sure why, but neither of us spoke after that. We kissed every so often, but it never got too heavy. She rested against me and read to me, I in turn, played the guitar for her, and then we ended up in each other’s arms again… without clothes on. We just held each other for hours, talking when we had to, and kissing when there just weren’t any words.

And just like that, the day was over. The spell was broken, and reality came creeping back into our lives. As if to prove it, my phone never stopped vibrating, as Betty’s preprogrammed messages started to invade my inbox.

“You're popular,” she said, standing up, and I wanted to pull her back down on top of me.

“I officially start work again today,” I told her looking up at the clock; it was one minute past midnight.

“Then I guess you should be going.”

“Yeah.” I stood, grabbing my bag.

We said nothing as we headed over to the door, and part of me hoped that she wouldn’t open it, but she did.

“It was great meeting you, Thea.”

Great didn’t even begin to cover it.

“Likewise. This week was amazing,” she nodded. “Bye.”

“Bye.”

I kissed her one last time before turning around.

Just keep walking Levi. Just keep walking.

But I didn’t listen to myself. Instead I turned back just as she closed the door…

It was over.

I would most likely never see her again. This week was nothing like I had thought it would be. I never meant to share anything about myself, or even get to know her. It was just supposed to be sex. So why didn’t it feel like that?

Just keep walking Levi.

THEA

When he left, I slid to the ground and drew my knees to my chest. I wanted to ask him to stay. I didn’t want to open the damn door. But if did, then I would be that girl who couldn’t let go, and I rather let him go than risk him thinking that I was that girl.

“I’m pitiful, aren’t I, Shadow?” I whispered to my cat, as she came to lay on my lap.

This must have been how Cinderella felt after the clock struck midnight and all the magic went away. This had been the best week of my life, and now, it was over.