"Another Chance" Cafe...chapter 14

The next morning I awoke to the cool breeze of my fan that I turned on mid-way through the night. Our romp in the sack left us sweating even in our sleep. I awoke sometime during the night with her hair sticking to my face and chest. So I gently slid her over and turned on the fan that I kept beside my bed. Now the sun was gently shining through the dark curtains that covered my bedroom window. The light peaked around a crack between the two panels and fell upon our feet at the bottom of the bed. I woke up facing the back of Shea’s head, the scent of her hair in my nose. My arm was around her, holding her close to me with our legs intertwined within each other under the comforter.

I glanced at the clock, suddenly realizing that I wasn’t able to set my alarm the night before. It was only 7:30, I didn’t have to be at work until 9 but I had no idea what time she had to get to her job. I leaned over her trying to see her face, she was still asleep. She looked so peaceful and lovely in her sleep, I was reminded of my metaphor for her when I first lay eyes on her that day in the café; a painting, a masterpiece painting, probably of a scenic view of the horizon during a sunset or a green meadow with a small stream flowing through it where animals would come to drink from. Pretty darn cheesy indeed, I know, but I just wanted to stay there and stare at her. Her eyes closed with her hair falling just around her face with a couple of strands still sticking to it. Her breaths were steady and rhythmic as she inhaled and exhaled slowly. No snoring, no drooling, no unattractive tendencies that would me turn me off from her. I wondered for a moment if she really was this perfect. It was very much like a dream, nothing like real life at all. Yet there we were, snuggled up together in my bed with her still showing no signs of being normal.

Checking the clock again, it was now 7:35. I had to wake her up. I might even gain extra points for being concerned about her reaching work on time. I gently nudged her little softly calling her name. She simply shuffled a little and scooted closer to me. Her body pressing itself up against mine was creating a “morning situation” for me. Trying hard, very hard, to ignore it, I nudged her again.

“Shea, what time do you have to be at work?” I asked softly.

This time she began to stir a little more and rolled over facing me. She smiled slightly and curled herself up closer into my chest.

“Hey baby, what time is it?” She asked me.

“About a quarter to eight,” I replied. “What time do you have to be at work?”

“Hmm, today would be around 9:30,” she answered.

“Oh ok, well you have time then. I, on the other hand, have to get up. I gotta be at work by 9,” I explained. “Would you like to stay in bed a little longer while I jump in the shower?”

She looked up at me and smiled yet again. But this smile had sort of a devilish grin to it. Then she looked back down, giggled, and looked back up giving me a puppy dog expression.

“Well, I brought my clothes for work with me. They’re in my bag, I kinda expected to be spending the night. But right about now I rather spend a lot more time in bed instead of a little…and I rather you spend that time along with me,” she said.

She smiled devilishly again.

“You mean play hooky together…”

“Uh, yes”

It took me all but one and a half seconds to decide that her idea instead of going to work was a way better one. I smiled back down at her and laid my head back on the pillow. She let out a “Yay!” response and gave me kiss. She didn’t even have morning breath! She really is perfect. I got out of bed to begin the search for my phone. Who knew where it might be within the rubble that was made out of our clothes, underwear and bed sheets.

“Nooo, where are you going?” she asked.

“I got to find my phone, got to call my job and tell them I’m not coming in,” I replied.

“Oh yeah, good thinking. I completely forgot about doing that. You’re so responsible,” she said.

“Someone has to be,” I responded.

“What does that mean?” she asked.

“Nothing, nothing at all. I think you’re very responsible. A little mischievous but responsible,” I answered.

“Mischievous? Me?” she asked sarcastically.

“A little. You did orchestrate an evening of sex and already planned to stay the night before you got here,” I said as I motioned toward her overnight duffel bag that she had brought with her.

“Well, are you disappointed that I did that?” she asked.

I pretended to think about it for a second to see if I would get a reaction from her. I indeed did as I could see her mouth open in an “O” out of sarcastic shock.

“Uhhh, I mean your performance last night was a little sub-par at best. I don’t know what those other guys saw in you. Must have been your personality or something,” I joked.

“Oh my gosh, you are so mean,” she responded.

I found my phone lying under my pants and snatched it up. I jumped back into bed playfully landing on top of her.

“I’m just messing with you. You are amazing…in every possible way. I mean that,” I said.

I looked rather deep into her eyes as I said that. I could feel the emotion I felt for her emerge with every word. I think she felt it too because she didn’t even smile, she just stared back at me and then put her hand on my face. We slowly brought our faces together for a kiss. When we pulled away, she finally yielded a small smile.

“Why thank you Patrick,” she said. “That really means a lot”

Remembering that I had my phone in my hand, I reminded her that we had to call our jobs and inform them that we planned to ditch our positions today in order to spend time with each other. First I called my job and then I allowed her to call hers. While she was on the phone with her employer, I snuck away to the bathroom after realizing I hadn’t had my morning relief just yet. After I was done, I opened the bathroom door and she was standing there in all of her naked goodness. If perfection had a face, she would be the cover model. She smiled and asked me what was wrong.

“Nothing,” I replied. I didn’t want to fill her in anymore than I already had on my infatuation of her beauty. She already knew how I felt about her in more important ways, for far more important reasons. She shooed me out of the bathroom so she could use it. I hopped back into bed and got under the covers waiting for her return. Shortly thereafter she came strutting into the bedroom. She sensually strolled across the room and crawled onto the bed making sure I saw every line contained in her body. She came right up to my face and licked my lips. She pulled away and then leaned in to give them another lick. By now I could figure out that she was teasing me and doing a rather good job at it.

My smaller version was at full attention by now, I wondered if she could tell. She climbed under the covers and as if she knew that my “state of being” had just changed she reached down there and grabbed me.

“Feels like someone wants some attention,” she said with a smile. “Better give it to him”

She kissed me full on this time and I responded by grabbing her and pulling her close to me. As good as any time for round two was the morning after. We enjoyed each other’s bodies once again and then one more time before finally collapsing beside one another in a heap spent from our sessions of sexual cardio. We cuddled up again, this time not quite as sweaty probably due to the constant breeze provided by the fan. She kissed my bare chest before laying her head down on it this time.

“Hey, remember when you told me that I was amazing?” she asked.

“Yeah”

“Well, so are you and so was that…and last night too. All amazing, I loved it,” she said.

“Really?”

“Yes really,” she answered. “You know, you sound like you are doubting yourself. You really shouldn’t. You are a wonderful man, no question but you don’t need reassurance from me or anyone else for that matter,”

“I see, I see what you mean, I guess I just can’t help but allow certain fears to creep into my head. I try to keep them to myself but apparently they leak out in one way or the other,” I explained.

“Why do you think they are there in the first place? Where did those insecurities come from?” she asked.

I knew the answer to her question. I knew them all too well but the last thing I expected to be discussing lying naked in my bed with a gorgeous girl would be about my insecurities. I tried to think of a way to change the subject but I knew she probably wouldn’t let it drop. So I decided to be honest.

“Well, mostly from my last relationship…but I don’t really want to get into it,” I said.

“Oh, well ok. That’s fine,” she replied.

“I’m not trying to blow you off or anything, I just want to enjoy this unexpected time with you. I promise that I will eventually get into that sooner or later,” I explained.

“No, it’s fine baby. No pressure, whenever you are ready. I’m glad to be spending this time with you too,” she responded.

After she said that, she gave me a kiss and we stood cuddling for a little while longer. Before I knew it, we fell back asleep. I had a dreamless sleep, probably due to exhaustion. Exhaustion due to all the sex that I was having. When we awoke the second time around, it was closer to noon. I felt very well rested and rejuvenated. Like a new person. We emerged from the bed and actually put on some clothes this time. I asked Shea if she wanted some breakfast or more like lunch I suppose. She said yes and I went into the kitchen to throw something together. I figured scrambled eggs with cheese, bacon and toast are great no matter what time of the day. As I put that meal together, I let her sit in the living room and watch whatever she felt on television. This didn’t last too long as she entered the kitchen while I was frying our eggs and put her arms around me from behind. She just stood there holding me with her head resting against my back.

“Smells good,” she said.

“Not as good as you,” I replied as I mixed in some seasoning with the eggs.

She giggled.

“Do I really smell that good to you?” she asked.

“You know you shouldn’t doubt yourself,” I answered.

“Oh, look who got jokes again. Ok funny man,” she said sarcastically. “You’re so hilarious,”

“I know,” I responded.

She continued to hold me as I finished up our eggs and bacon. She clenched onto me as I walked over to the refrigerator to grab the bread. I took out four slices to make toast with and returned it to the bottom shelf before taking out the orange juice. I poured two glasses all the while with Shea clinging to my back like a little kid. I enjoyed it. She obviously seemed to really be into me and I never really experienced that before with a girl. Not to this level, I actually met a females expectations and she liked me for me.

“Ok, piggy-backer, breakfast/lunch is ready,” I announced.

“You mean brunch?”

“Whatever smarty. Let’s go eat,” I retorted.

“Ok”

We took our plates and glasses over to the couch and watched television as we ate. We flipped back and forth between daytime talk shows and music videos. Not really one for talk shows myself, Shea loved them. I admit some of the topics were interesting and if they weren’t, we made fun of the shows’ guests together. It made it fun, a lot of fun. We laughed a lot together and our interaction was very natural. We didn’t have to force anything, never became bored of each other and during the times of in-between chatter, you know those times when it gets quiet because there’s nothing to talk about at that very moment, it never felt awkward. It didn’t feel like we were growing tired of one another. I usually felt like that around many other females, like I had to consistently find something interesting to say or talk about in order to keep their attention. I wanted to avoid them becoming bored with me so I always found myself overcompensating for something. Desperately trying to find something to talk about, any topic of conversation, something clever that would kill a lot of time. But that was never the case being around Shea. I could actually be myself and not feel like I had to force the issue between us.

It felt weird being part of a “normal” boy/girl situation where everything just flowed so easily. I could feel my feelings growing for her every minute we spent together. Before we knew it, we were cuddled up again. This time on the couch watching a movie. Having her body next to mine just always felt so good. I wonder if it felt the same way for her. I once again felt like I never wanted to let her go. I wanted to hold on to her forever and ever. I felt like I was protecting her by holding her close to me and I officially didn’t want any harm to come her way. She was a special one, a special one that I intended on trying my best to keep. Listening to the voice in my head say all of this, I felt inclined to give her a kiss. I gave her a soft one on her cheek and I could feel her smile. She gave my hand a kiss and began to rub it.

After a couple of minutes, it all began to feel surreal. The dream state I felt like I was in earlier suddenly returned and I couldn’t believe that I was lying on my couch with her. I went from not thinking I had a chance with her after seeing her in the café to an entire day of snuggling. The silence with the exception of the movie that surrounded us was broken by one of our cell phones. My cell phone. The guitar solo was playing.

“You wanna get that?” she asked. “It’s disturbing my movie experience”

“Oh ok your highness, sorry for the interruption,” I joked.

I located my phone which was still in my room and took a look at the screen. It was Jenalee. At this point, I wasn’t surprised because she seemed to call whenever something good was happening to me. I am surprised that she didn’t wind up calling last night. What I didn’t understand was that she knew my work schedule so why would she call me during the day? She had to know that I was at work. Brushing it off, I ignored the call and returned to my comfortable place on the couch laying spooning behind Shea.

“Who was that?” she asked.

“Nobody special”

“Uh, ok”

I could hear the slight uneasiness in her voice. She wanted to know who it was. It wasn’t the first time I ignored a phone call around her. I knew it was probably a little rude, but I didn’t want to open that chapter with her just yet. I might be forced to as the guitar solo started again. Ok, I’m going to have to change that ring tone. But, sadly that won’t stop her from calling me. I got up to check the phone again and sure enough, it was Jenalee once again. Ignoring it again, this time I brought my phone back with me to the couch just in case she decided to call a third time. Wouldn’t put it past her.

“Same nobody special?” Shea asked.

“Yup”

“So, are you ever going to tell me who it is that you keep ignoring?”

“Um, maybe. I suppose eventually,” I hesitantly replied.

“When will eventually come?” she asked.

“I…don’t know,” I answered.

“Maybe eventually should come today,” she suggested. “I’m just saying”

“Oh, you’re only just saying are you?” I asked.

“Yeah, only just saying,” she replied.

“I mean I would like to but it’s kind of complicated. It has to do with my past, a past that I’m not very happy about,” I explained.

“Well all of us have things in our past that we aren’t happy about,” she said. “I’ve already told you about part of my unhappy past and yes, there is more. More that I am willing to share with you. But I’m not going to push you if you don’t want to talk about it”

I hesitated for a moment, deliberating whether or not I should dive into my unpleasant past with her. The day was going great and I just wanted to continue to share it with her. Talking about my last relationship took me back to a place that I didn’t like to be. A dark and unforgiving place. A place that no matter how much I try to digress and push away, it always resurfaces somehow. But it never shows its ugly face when I’m with her. Sure, little things about life and being around females in general remind me of “her” but that’s normal. When I’m with Shea, those memories and feelings don’t stick around for very long.

I figured I owed it to her. This wasn’t the first time I had to ignore a phone call from Jenalee and it unfortunately probably wouldn’t be the last. I didn’t think it would be fair to keep Shea in the dark. If I were in her position, I would feel the same exact way. Actually, I would feel a lot worse. I would feel as if she was talking to someone else besides me and my hopes of a relationship with her would be dashed. But she wasn’t reacting like that. No jealousy, no accusations, no unnecessary drama. She was very cool about it and she had shared part of her past with me. She came straight to me with the news about that kiss and explained in detail what was going on. She did deserve to know what the deal was.

“Ok, you’re right. I need to fill you in on at least some history about myself,” I said.

“Yay, cute and smart. You are the total package,” she laughed.

“Yeah right. Anyways, the person that I keep ignoring is---,” I began.

I was cut short by a sudden knock on the door. With a puzzled look on my face, I turned towards it.

“Expecting anyone?” I asked her.

“Oh sure, that’s my other lover. I invited him over with hopes that maybe you’d be up for a hot, steamy threesome,” she giggled.

“Very funny. Oh, and nooo, not ever…unless you’re lover is another hot female,” I responded.

“Sorry, I’m the only hot female that I know,” she joked.

I smiled sarcastically at her and headed toward the door quite curious to see who it was. Just before I reached it, there was another knock. I looked through the peep hole and my heart dropped. Dropped instantly, somewhere down around my knees. I could feel it immediately begin to beat like it was going to blow my knee caps off. On the other side of the door was Jenalee.

To be continued…