Chapter 8

My hands were shaking, but I managed to answer, ‘I’m coming.’

She left her cell phone and hurried to change her clothes and wear shoes. She heard her cell phone receiving a message. It was from him. I read it: ‘I’m waiting for you.’

When I got ready, I took my cell phone, the keys, and left.  I got in the car and made my road to the supermarket.

I saw him. He was leaning against a car. His car, I assumed.

He saw my car coming and started to walk to me. Meantime, I had got out of my car and started walking to meet him. I stood in front of him. We were two steps apart.

He gave me that gaze. With the meaning that he likes what he is looking at. A lot! His eyes were glowing, and finally, he smiled at me.

“Hello, what are you doing?” I asked, emphasizing the words, ‘what are you doing?’ and he laughed softly. I liked the sound of his laughter, and I smiled at its sound.

He stepped forward to me, reducing the distance between us. He looked at me seriously and told me: “Let’s start from that. Rebecca is not my girlfriend.”

“What else could I think since she addressed you as ‘her love’?” I replied, protesting.

“You have right on that.  Look, she can say whatever she wants. I made it clear that I can’t see her in the way she wants, but she doesn’t want to understand. She is the one who insists.”

He looked at me in the eyes and continued:

“You are looking at me as if you don’t believe me. Do you believe me? If I had a girlfriend, I wouldn’t try to approach you. I am not that kind of man.”

“Are you trying to approach me?” my voice whispered. I gazed at him in anticipation.

“First, I want you to answer me if you believe me.”

His voice in the same whisper as mine. The same intense gaze.

“Yes, I do believe you.” I finally answered.

“And yes, I’m trying to get close to you” he put his hand on my neck and caressed my cheek with his thumb. A sweet shiver ran through all over my body. He approached his face to mine. I also drew near to him. He put his hand around my waist, pulled me gently, and glued me to his body while, at the same time, joined our lips.

In the beginning, he kissed me gently, tenderly. The tension between us increased, and our tongues became more aggressive, sending waves of pleasure to my entire body. I sighed, and this gave him the impetus to become even more demanding. More possessive. As our kiss got deeper, I felt melting in his arms and lose the earth under my feet. 

After a while, he relaxed his grip, but I protested. “No, don’t leave me. Hold me because I will fall.” I spoke to him with my lips still on his. He laughed softly, making this lovely sound from his throat.

“And who will hold me?” he whispered in my ear.

“I will hold you,” I whispered and hugged him from the waist even tighter while I was stroking his back.

He moved slightly away from my lips. “Put your hands inside my shirt.” He said hoarsely, and I did it, and I heard him sighed softly. The skin on his back was smooth and soft. His flesh was tight. Oh my God, he was so wonderful! I felt a slight dizziness, and my mind blurred from this delightful feeling. I was living in a dream.

We stayed there long enough to hug and kiss and enjoy each other.

“At my house or your home?” He asked me at one point when he stopped kissing me and looked me in the eyes.

I looked at him in astonishment. “What do you mean?”

He looked at me questioningly. “But to finish what we started here. What else? I suggest we go to your place, where you have your things and your clothes so that you can get ready for work tomorrow.”

I kept looking at him puzzled until I exactly understood what he meant. I became furious. I took out my hands off his shirt, pulled his hands from my waist, looked at him wildly, and slapped him. So hard that it sounded very loudly in the quiet of the night. I turned my back to him and ran to my car.

“Marianne, wait.” I heard him calling at me and ran after me. I opened my car door to enter, but Eric closed it back with force before I could enter.

“What the hell did happen to you?” Eric asked her, breathless.

Marianne tried again to open the door, but Eric pushed it back to close it one more time.

“Let me go,” I growled.

He looked at me angrily. “No. First, I want you to explain to me what the hell went wrong. Why did you slap me? “

Our eyes met for a few moments. His stare was so intense, so riveting.

“What do you think I am? A prostitute?”

I answered, and he looked at me in astonishment, “I don’t understand. I thought that…”

“This is the bad thing with men. They think they don’t know.” I spoke intensely. I lost my breath from the effort.

He took a deep breath. He seemed mentally exhausted.

“Really. Marianne, I don’t understand. And honestly, I tell you, if you were any other woman, I would give up on you. I would not fight it anymore.”

And now I have to take that as a compliment?? I got so offended that I felt myself boiling by anger. I pushed him away so forcefully that he almost fell.

“Well, then leave,” I screamed. I opened the door of my car, but this time Eric didn’t close it back. I hurried to get inside, sat in the driver’s seat, and closed the door without looking at him. My eyes clouded with tears, and I found it difficult to put the key in the starter. He had the time to stop her if he wanted to. But he didn’t…

Finally, I managed and started the car. I grabbed the steering wheel, and my hands were shaking.  I was driving and wiping my tears with my hands.

So, that was it? Did it end before it even started?

{•••}

Eric was watching her leaving and could not believe this was happening. His cheek was still stinging from the slap.

She screamed at him to leave, and he did it. He got back in his car and got inside.

“But how did this happen now? What happened? A few minutes ago, we were kissing.” All these thoughts were surrounding his mind.

He ran back over the beautiful feeling he had when her hands caressed his back under the shirt. Oh, my God! He tilted his head back in the seat. He saw the lights of her car turn on, and he had made up his decision! He started his car and followed her.

He parked and left his car a little behind hers. He got out and started approaching her. She had already gotten out of her car and started heading towards the entrance of the apartment building. He ran to catch up with her. He called her name: “Marianne.” She turned sharp round her head and looked at him in surprise. She was not expecting him. He approached her. He tried to snatch her hand, but she pulled it away from him and turned to get in the building. Then, he grabbed her by the waist and forced her to turn towards him. She struggled to escape, telling him to let her go, but he tightened his grip. He put his hand back on her neck and kissed her, crushing her lips. She put her hands on his chest in an attempt to push him away, but he was stronger than her.

He grabbed a tuft of her hair and immobilized her so that she could not move.

He was kissing her intensely, wildly, until he felt her resistance disappear and began to respond to his kiss. The pressure from his mouth decreased, and his kiss became tenderer but passionate. He put her hands on his waist to hug him, and she followed his lead.

When they stopped kissing, they looked at each other. Her eyes were reddish, and he realized that she must have been crying and felt his heart-melting.

“Explain to me, Marianne. What do you want? What do you need?” He was looking deep into her eyes.

She looked at him too. “A date.” She answered, and he raised his eyebrows wonderingly. “I want to go out with you on a first date,” she explained to him better, and everything became brighter.

“You want a first date?”

“Yes. I do.”

“That’s all?” He asked her and smiled.

“What do you find so funny?” She asked him.

“I do not find it funny. I find it cute and beautiful.”

He caressed the side of her neck and felt her shiver.

“Very well.” He coughed slightly. “Marianne, do you want to come out with me tomorrow night?”

She smiled. “Yes, it would be my pleasure.”

“Be ready tomorrow at 8:30. I will come to pick you up.”

Her face lit up with joy transmitting her joy to him.

He kissed her gently on her lips and the tip of her nose and then looked at her.

“I will see you tomorrow night then.”

“Yes, tomorrow.” She told him with a smile.

He left her reluctantly from his arms. “Goodnight then.”

“Good night.” She told him.

He waited for her to enter the apartment building safely, and then he left.

He returned home and poured whiskey into a glass.

He took a sip and sat on the couch, thinking about her and their discussion. Her wish for a first date. He smiled. It was the first time something like this had happened to him.

After that, his love for her had grown!