A Cry For Hope (22 page)

My father looked into Jamie’s eyes as if he were assessing whether he was fit material to be dating his daughter. “You can call me Charlie. And Hope tells me you’re a Yankees fan. If that’s your only flaw, I’ll allow you to date my daughter,” my dad said seriously, then smiled.

I sighed in relief. Jamie was a keeper in my dad’s book.

My mother and Patty came down the steps, smiling. “Hi, Jamie, honey. It’s nice to see you again,” my mother said.

“Hi! I’m Patty, Hope’s sister-in-law,” she said before I even had a chance to introduce her. “Look how cute you two look together,” she said, stretching her words out like she was singing a song. “Let me go get my camera from my purse. I gotta show your brother what a cute couple you guys make!” She said as she ran off.

“Please, just ignore her. She tends to get overly excited about things,” I said.

My father and Jamie began to talk about everything under the sun…baseball, football, and Jamie’s job…before Patty finally came back with her camera.

“Okay, put your arm around her!” Patty shouted as she cracked her gum.

Oh, my god, seriously, this isn’t the prom, Patty!
I rolled my eyes, waiting for her to take the picture.

“Wait, one more!” She snapped one last picture before I took Jamie’s hand and started leading him out the door.

We said our goodbyes and got into Jamie’s car. “I’m sorry about that. They could be a
little
overbearing at times.”

Jamie laughed. “That’s okay.” He leaned over and grazed my lips. “They just think you’re beautiful and so do I.”

“Thanks,” I whispered.

After the long ride, we finally made it to the restaurant. Jamie never left my side the entire night and I didn’t feel uncomfortable when being introduced to his co-workers. It was well after midnight when the party was over. I wasn’t sure if Jamie had planned on driving me home or not. We hadn’t discussed this part of the evening. I
had
told my mother that I may not be home, just in case. I ignored her when she raised her eyebrows and reminded her that I was no longer a child.

“Did you want me to drive you home, or did you want to come back to my apartment.”

My stomach dropped. “Umm….we can go back to your place,” I said, rather meekly.

“Are you sure? Because I don’t mind driving you home,” he said.

“No, really, that’s fine. Unless you don’t want me to come over.”

His smile made me want to rip his clothes off him right there. “Of course I want you to come over.”

“Okay, good.”

We entered his apartment, he turned on the lights, and I looked around. It was a typical guy’s place…nothing on the plain white walls, and just the bare essentials, with the exception of the huge television in the living room. He threw his keys on the counter and I could feel myself starting to get nervous.

“Have a seat,” he said, pointing to the large leather couch.  “Do you want something to drink?” he asked.

I shook my head. “No, I’m good.”

He grabbed a bottle of water for himself, took off his tie and sat down next to me, turning on the TV to drown out the silence. “Thank you for coming with me tonight.”

“Thank you for asking me. It was fun.”

He moved closer and kissed me softly on the lips, moving my hair away from my face and gently caressing my cheek with the back of his hand. He rested his forehead on mine and stared into my eyes. “I’m not going to lie to you. I want you so bad right now, but if it’s not what you want or if you’re not ready for this, tell me now because if I kiss you again, I won’t be able to stop.”

“I wouldn’t be here right now if I wanted you to stop,” I whispered as I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him once again.

He smiled, taking my hand and leading me into his bedroom. The streetlight outside his window dimly lit the room. He kissed me again, starting off soft and gentle and gradually building in intensity. My hands began to wander and my want for him deepened.  He lifted my dress over my head and I could feel my heart pounding through my chest. I unbuttoned his shirt and removed it at the same time that he removed my bra. His bare chest was pressed up against mine and I could feel our hearts beating in unison. He pushed my hair from my neck and began to trail tiny little kisses from my earlobe to my shoulder, making my whole body yearn for him. He led me over to his bed and gently laid me down as his hands moved downwards, removing my underwear. My breathing became heavier when he began to tease my breast with his tongue and he placed his fingers inside of me. I could feel my insides becoming moist, longing for him more and more with each passing minute as he moved his fingers in and out of me. His tongue trailed down my body, stopping at my hip, where he began planting tiny kisses. My body jolted with excitement as he moved to my inner thigh, coming so close to the spot that needed him so badly. I gasped once he finally reached the target. I was overcome with excitement as his lips and tongue began to work pure magic on my body. My mind was on overdrive as I tried to comprehend this new found pleasure that I had never experienced before.

I couldn’t hold back anymore. My entire body began to quiver as I called out his name. He looked up at me and smiled. I stared at him and whispered, “I want to know what it feels like to have you inside of me.” I felt myself blushing over my words. I was usually never this forward, but I felt such an intense need for him that I couldn’t stop myself. 

He removed his pants and boxers, and reached into his nightstand drawer for a condom. I couldn’t help but focus my eyes on him standing naked in front of me. He really was perfect in every single way. He placed the condom on and slowly eased himself into me. My body instantly awakened to the feel of him. I felt him breathing heavier as he began his steady pace.  The two other guys that I had been with paled in comparison to Jamie, and I was finally understanding why people thought sex was so wonderful.

I ran my hands up and down his back as his moans grew louder. “You are so perfect, you know that?” he whispered in my ear. “You feel so fuckin’ good. I want to stay inside of you forever.” My stomach felt like it had jumbo jets flying around inside. The sound of his voice, the look of pleasure on his face, and just sharing something so special with him made it all too much for me to take. My body tightened up around him and I tried to catch my breath. I pulled him closer, lightly grazing his shoulder with my teeth. I closed my eyes and screamed out his name at the same time that he screamed mine.  He lay on top of me while we both tried to catch our breath. I hugged him tightly. I felt tears begin to form, but it wasn’t because I was sad or hurt. It was because I had never experienced anything as wonderful as I just did with him.

“Good morning, Penny!” I tried to disguise my worry with a smile. I hadn't seen Penny in the bakery since Mother's Day and I was hoping that didn't mean bad news.

She looked distracted, then finally managed a smile. “Oh, hi, Hope.”

I was unsure if I should ask the question or not. I bit my lip and managed to get the words out. “How's Marty?” I waited in angst for her response, trying to read her facial expression.

Her smile became wider and I knew I was in the clear. “Oh, he's doing much better. He came home three days ago and is back to his ornery old self.”

“Oh, Penny, that is wonderful news!”

“Yes, well, he's not too happy. He's on a special diet and we have to postpone our cruise.”

I placed my hand on her arm. “Well, he's home and he's okay. That's all that matters.”

She patted my hand with hers. “It sure is, honey.”

“Well, is a jelly donut part of his special diet?” I asked.

“I think I will allow it for him as a special treat,” she smiled.

I reached into the case and grabbed the biggest jelly donut on the tray and placed it in the bag. “Tell him that Hope put extra hugs and kisses in that one for him,” I teased.

“Oh boy! Do you want to send him back into the hospital with another heart attack?” She asked as we both began to laugh.

I was cleaning out the coffee pots and getting ready to call it a day when I heard my phone beeping with a text message. I grabbed it from my purse.  

Nick:
Plans tonight?

Me:
Not that I know of. What did you have in mind?

Nick:
It's a surprise. Meet me at Bay beach at 6:00.

Me:
K. See ya’ later.

I put my phone in my pocket and jumped when my mother came up behind me. “What are you smiling about?” she asked with a smile herself.

“Oh, nothing,” I said, playing if off.  We finished up the day and I went back my mom’s to finish up the scrapbook.  Nick's father was having a “goodbye barbeque” for him tomorrow and I wanted it ready by then. My heart hurt just thinking about him leaving. It was the same feeling that I had gotten twenty years ago when he told me that he was moving away. I pasted the very last picture on the page and giggled, hoping that Nick thought it was as funny as I did. I was so wrapped up in my project that I was surprised to see it was already 5:50.

I threw on my flip flops and grabbed my camera, hoping to get some pictures of the sunset. I took the short walk to the beach and looked around at the few people still taking in the last remnants of the beautiful day, finally spotting Nick sitting on a blanket close to the water.  The sun was still shining, but in a few hours, it would be putting on a show, lighting up the sky in beautiful shades of pink and peach before slowly making its descent into the water. As I got closer to the blanket, I couldn’t contain my smile. Nick had an entire dinner set up just like when we were younger. It included a bucket of fried chicken from Mable's, our favorite restaurant growing up, a bottle of wine, and a dozen yellow roses.  The happy memories of all of the times that Nick and I would put our allowance money together and buy a bucket of chicken and a bottle of orange soda came racing to my mind. We would ride our bikes up to this same spot, spread a blanket, and have the perfect dinner. I was ecstatic knowing that tonight, we would be reliving that perfect memory.  

“Nick, this is awesome!” I said, looking down at the blanket

He picked up the roses and stood up with a jumbo-sized grin on his face. He looked absolutely adorable, just like the little boy I knew from so long ago. He was dressed casually in shorts and a form-fitting USMC t-shirt that showed off his more than perfect chest and arms.

“Happy early birthday, Hope.”

I took the roses from his hand and hugged him. “Thank you so much, Nick. This is just…” I couldn’t even find the right words to describe how much this meant to me.

“Well, since I’m leaving on your birthday and won’t be around, I had to do something.” We both sat on the blanket. “I decided to change it up a bit, though.” He turned around and poured me a glass of wine.  “Instead of orange soda, I thought we'd be a little more elegant and have some wine with a twist off lid out of paper cups.” He handed me the paper cup and we both began to laugh.

I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face the whole time that we were eating.  I listened to him as he told me all about the Marines, and I found that a topic I would normally find boring wasn’t so boring when he talked about it. He was leaving in two days to head back to his base in North Carolina, where he would be doing extensive training for a month before being sent to an unknown place.

“Do you ever get scared?” I asked

“Nah. You can't be scared. And, sometimes, you actually wish for the worst because at least it will take you out of the hell on earth that you’re in.”

I hated hearing him talk like that. I hated knowing that he felt that way and wished that there was something I could do to make him see things differently.  “Nick, please don’t talk like that. I don’t like to hear you say those things. Your life is very important.”