Coffee Sonata (32 page)

“The attraction you’ve talked about all along…goes beyond mere sex?”

“Of course it goes beyond sex! Do you really think I’d be tormenting both of us if this was just about getting laid?” Eryn sighed. “And there’s nothing ‘mere’ about sex. Or at least there shouldn’t be.”

Manon stared at Eryn, and Eryn covered her mouth with her hand. Then Manon felt her lips twitch. At the same time, Eryn’s eyes started twinkling, and they both burst out laughing. When Manon looked up and saw Eryn clutching her injured arm, she laughed again until she wiped at the tears finally streaming down her face. “Oh, good Lord.”

“Calling on deities will only get you so far,” Eryn snorted. “And since I’m involved, the good Lord must be screening his calls.”

A new bout of laughter hit, and this time Benjamin lowered the window again. “Is everything okay?”

“We’re fine, Ben,” Eryn said. “Just a bit tired, I suppose.”

“Very well, ma’am.” Benjamin sounded perfectly unfazed.

Slowly regaining some composure, Manon reached for her coffee and smiled carefully. “That felt sort of good.”

“It felt great. We needed a release, and if I couldn’t persuade you to make love to me in the back of this fine vehicle…”

Manon paused, then raised an eyebrow. “Since we’re stuck here, maybe it’s not too late.”

“Manon!”

It was worth pulling a fast one to see the expression on Eryn’s face.

“I’ll get you for that!” Eryn leaned forward and buried her fingertips just under Manon’s ribs, tickling her.

“No, no, no! Please!” Manon tried to pull away. “I hate being tickled!”

“Good,” Eryn panted, but relented. “Good to know for future reference, because I can be ruthless.” She smoothed Manon’s hair. “You look a lot better. Color back in your cheeks and the wonderful sparkle in your eyes. I love your smile.”

Manon felt as if she were swaying. “You’re beautiful, like a forest creature from a fairy tale. Ethereal. Even if you’re very strong and determined.”

“Whatever gave me away?” Eryn smiled. “Ethereal? That’s a first.”

“I like that mix of traits in you. You’re admirable in many ways. Brave, kind, annoying, persistent…the list is getting longer by the minute.”

“For you too.” Eryn scooted even closer and put an arm around Manon’s shoulders. “Stubborn, selfless, shy, frustrating—”

“What do you mean, shy?”

“You have to take a breath or two before you talk to people, don’t you? Even if you’d never let it show.”

Manon closed her eyes for a second. “Yes. You’re right.”

“Nothing wrong with that. It’s part of your complex, wonderful personality.” Eryn leaned forward. “And I’m going to kiss you now, if that’s okay. I won’t make love to you in the limo, because that’s a little too unromantic for a first time. I’ll save that for a nice warm bed.”

Manon held her breath, unable to object even if she’d wanted to. When Eryn brushed her lips along Manon’s, Manon let Eryn’s tongue in. The slow, deep kiss was sensual in a way she could never have anticipated. Eryn cupped both her cheeks and tilted Manon’s head slightly, then examined every part of her mouth and kissed her senseless.

Manon parted her lips and gave as much as she was given, took as much as she was offered. Eryn’s tongue caressed and teased Manon’s tongue, coaxed it to play with hers. Eryn tasted of strawberries, or apples, which aroused Manon and left her breathless, moisture growing between her legs.

She moved restlessly in Eryn’s arms and bit down gently on the greedy lips that kissed her. Eryn’s gasp of pleasure into Manon’s mouth only fueled her fire.

The car jerked forward. Eryn ended the kiss, and Manon let her head fall on Eryn’s shoulder. Content to just sit there, they rode in silence all the way home. For now, this was enough.

*

Mike stirred in her sleep and woke up with her heart pounding fast and hard. “No!” she called out, uncertain where she was. “Please. No.”

“
Cara
?” a sleepy voice next to her murmured, and then a naked arm pulled her back down. “Come here. Did you have a bad dream?”

“I…can’t remember.” But Mike knew exactly what the dream had been about. She’d had it before and it had been worse than ever.

“I think you can. Why not tell me?”

Mike really didn’t want to. She didn’t believe that everything you brought out into the daylight lost its power over you. Some things belonged in the shadows and should stay there.

“You said, ‘No, please, no’ and sounded like you were about to cry. You sounded, I don’t know, very young.” Vivian sounded more alert now.

“Perhaps.”

“Were you a child in the dream?”

Surrendering to the tender voice and the loving embrace, Mike sighed and nodded against Vivian’s neck. “Yes. I’m in a car and they’re driving me away. They’re taking me from my father and he’s not”—the words stuck in Mike’s throat—“he doesn’t even try to stop them.”

“Go on.”

“It stops there. Sometimes I have the dream several times in one night until I give up and go running.”

“How many times did this happen to you? Moving you from place to place?”

“I was in and out of nine foster homes, starting when I was eight. When I was fifteen I ran away.”

“At fifteen? Where did you go?”

“To Providence. A lot of people don’t want to admit we have homeless people and street kids in good old New England, but it’s true. I lived in shelters, lying about my name and my age, for years.”

“And then what happened? How did you go back to school and get a business degree?”

“I came out of a long, abusive relationship.” Mike curled up in a small knot. “I lived with Brenda for more than three years, until I was twenty-one. She was hard to live with, but I thought she loved me, so I kept trying to adapt.”

“And she used that.”

“Yes. She said jump—I asked how high. ”

A long silence became even longer as they both waited for the other one to speak. Eventually Vivian cleared her voice. “I’m sorry you’re having such difficult nights sometimes. I hope being with me, right now, doesn’t make it worse.”

“Truthfully, it may, but I’m used to these dreams. They stop bothering me as soon as I wake up.”

Vivian held on tighter to Mike and kissed the top of her head. “I’m not entirely convinced.”

Mike felt Vivian’s hand move slowly up and down her back. The touch soothed her, and her eyelids became heavy again. “You’re here to comfort me,” she murmured. “That counts for a lot.”

“I hope so, darling.” Vivian spoke with her lips against Mike’s hair. “Just close your eyes and let me hold you. I’m sorry you had such a rough childhood. It breaks my heart to think you were all alone, with nobody to speak for you. But you’re not alone now. If you have more nightmares, I’ll be here.” Vivian pressed her lips to Mike’s temple.

For how long? Until you’ve explored what I have to offer and decide you’ve had enough?
The dark thoughts frightened Mike, and she pushed them out of her head. Vivian wasn’t the calculating type. She was warmhearted and fair. Protective, even. She’d never willingly put Mike’s feelings on the line.

I do that so well myself. I went from one impossible relationship to another, with almost a decade in between.
Mike drew a deep breath and pressed her forehead into Vivian’s shoulder. She needed to say something, something that was so hard to utter, bile rose in her throat before she could swallow again. “Vivian?”

“Yes,
cara
.”

“Please, just don’t leave me without some sort of sign first?” Mike was afraid that Vivian would pretend not to understand.

“I won’t. My offer to remain a friend still stands. For now, I’m here, but we can’t be lovers much longer because it’s not fair to you. I’ll always be your friend, I promise you that.”

Unshed tears stung Mike’s eyes. “You know I can’t do that. We could have settled for friendship if we’d never started having sex.”

“It was never just about sex.” Vivian’s voice had a catch in it, and Mike realized she wasn’t as distant as she feared.

“Never,” Mike agreed, and placed a kiss on Vivian’s shoulder.
And for me, it never will be
.

Vivian placed a finger under Mike’s chin and tipped her head back. “God, Mike, you wring my heart. I’ve made my decision, and you’re making it hard to stick by it. Don’t…please?”

How she pleads with me. How she uses her beautiful voice to soothe me and be the one who calls the shots. It’s your way or the highway, isn’t it, Vivi?
Mike clenched her teeth so hard that a taste of iron permeated her mouth. “Don’t worry,” she replied in a hollow voice. “I won’t.”
And there I go again. Protecting her, from me
.

Vivian stood among her friends in Mike’s home, her eyes closed as they played their instruments, and let the shimmering tones flow through her. Eryn’s guitar hit crystal-clear notes that sliced through the air and whirled around Vivian as if coaxing her to follow them.

She let her well-trained voice tell the story of her bewildered heart. Simultaneously, Manon’s hands engaged the digital piano, thundering and vibrant, to help support Vivian. Liberated from the constraint of words, Vivian reached new heights and new depths. She shivered, amazed at her heartrending sound, almost too personal to bear.

Vivian slowly turned under the bright lights by the little podium where Mike kept her drum set. The warm light made it possible to distinguish the outline of Mike’s face. Mike kept a suggestive low beat going, allowing Eryn and Vivian to compete. Vivian turned toward the guitarist, who to her dimmed vision looked like a wild fairy with her red hair loose around her shoulders. The light was also good enough for Vivian to see the rapid movements of Eryn’s hands over the strings. Vivian operated purely by instinct, and as the music built toward a crescendo, she walked slowly over to Eryn and placed her hand on her right shoulder.

Eryn raised the neck of her guitar and leaned toward Vivian. Low notes teased, escalated, withdrew again, and then, finally, chased Vivian’s voice over the precipice. The instruments all supported her as she tumbled down, and Vivian felt as if they were cradling her voice.

Slowly the music faded. Vivian was a little out of breath and remained with her hand on Eryn’s shoulder in the complete silence, the music still ringing in her ears.

“Damn,” Eryn sighed. “So, as I suspected, it wasn’t a one-shot thing. Today was even better, don’t you agree?”

“Yes,” Manon said, as she rose and joined them. “I was afraid that we’d be really bad.” She circled Vivian’s waist and squeezed her gently. “I’m glad we weren’t.”

“Are you kidding?” Eryn laughed. “We’re really on to something. Mike, I don’t know how you beat that sound out of your drums, but it was brilliant.”

“I’ll be damned if I know. I listen to you guys and let my hands do the work. All I have to do is pay attention.”

“Sounds like you’ve trained for years.” Vivian was proud of the fact that Mike had developed a remarkable skill on the drums intended as an outlet for her turbulent feelings.

“Thank you. I just play.”

“I know,
cara
.” Vivian didn’t care if Manon and Eryn saw, but leaned forward and kissed Mike’s cheek carefully. She was really bad at judging distances now, and even if she was careful, walking Perry and Mason had become nearly impossible.

“You make a lovely couple,” Eryn said, with joy in her voice. “You suit each other. What do you think, Manon?”

After a brief silence Manon answered. “I agree. It’s pretty obvious how you feel. You complement each other well.”

“I’m glad you think so. I’m happy as long as Mike will have me.”

“Vivian.” Mike sounded friendly but cautious.

“Mike is the faithful, dedicated kind,” said Eryn. “She won’t give up on you, whatever happens.”

Vivian’s lips became rigid. It was hard to talk about their situation, but she thought it was time to enlighten their friends. “She’ll have to. I’m not in this for the long haul. I merely came to do the charity concert before I retire. You’ve guessed that my eyesight isn’t what it’s been? You’re correct. I’m going blind, and at best I can look forward to distinguishing the difference between dark and light. Perhaps the outline of a figure.”

“Vivian.” Manon sighed. “I knew it was bad, but…I’m sorry.” She put an arm around Vivian’s back. “It doesn’t have to affect your work, though. Your voice is intact and better than ever.”

“I won’t be performing after the charity event.” Vivian shivered.
Can’t they understand? No, perhaps not.
The mist around her became denser, and she pulled back from their touch.

“What you’re going through is terrible, Vivian,” Eryn said, “but there are other blind opera singers and other performers. Andrea Bocelli, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, and José Feliciano. Their audiences love them.”

“There’s a difference!” Vivian lashed out, her emotions surging. “You don’t understand.” With her quivering hands stretched out before her, she turned her back on the other three and walked toward Mike’s kitchen.

“Vivi, wait.” Mike caught up with her and took her gently by her elbow. “Make us understand. Please. We’re your friends. Tell us.”