Frozen Barriers (32 page)

Completely sated and exhausted, Jeremy glances around the bed to look for something. “Tissues?” Shit. “In the bathroom.” He pulls out slowly before running to the bathroom, coming back with a wet washcloth to wipe away the remnants of our late night pleasure fest. Sitting up, I go to grab my pajamas, but Jeremy stops me to kiss me like he never has before. “I love you, Emily.”

I know you do.

“Stay with me?” I ask as I feel the warmth spread through my body again. Giving me one more kiss on the lips, he silently nods yes before making his way over to his pants to grab his phone. After typing out a text, I can only assume to his sister, he comes back to bed with me. “I had to tell Courtney I’m home, but won’t be at the house until later. She’ll figure it out.”

Feeling him curl behind me and wrapping his arms around my stomach, he places a lingering kiss on my bare shoulder as I lay a hand on his. “I love you,” I whisper as I turn my head just slightly before flicking off the bedside lamp. The only light in the room now is the moonlight casting shadows about.

“Babe, I almost forgot to tell you. Congrats on the gold medals. I was so proud of you when I watched. We all were.”

Happy tears slip onto my pillow. Where has he been all my life? A family I just met has helped me in leaps and bounds over the past two months more than anyone in my twenty-two years. I have friends that are supportive and caring and a boyfriend who has shown me how much love is truly worth fighting for. Having all that means more than the two gold medals currently glistening on my kitchen table in the moonlight. I finally fall into a peaceful sleep that I haven’t had in so long, looking forward to what I’ll wake up to in the morning.

The morning sun has just started to peek its way through Emily’s French doors. The night’s early frost is melting against the sun’s rays, as it didn’t hold a chance against the blaze, therefore, allowing more sunlight to enter the room. Emily is snuggled tightly into my side, trying to keep warm. Staring around the room and afraid to move since she is still asleep, my eyes train toward the glare from her kitchen table. Her two gold medals sit glistening.

Slowly moving out of the bed, I make sure I don’t wake Sleeping Beauty next to me. When I know I’m safe, I quietly head to her bathroom to take a piss after throwing on my boxer briefs. Having morning wood and post-sex pee is never an easy task, just ask any guy. After tossing some water onto my face to freshen up and brushing my teeth, I know I’m in need of coffee, soon. As quietly as I can, I walk toward the kitchen, stopping to check out the medals on the way.

As I hold one of them up to get a closer look, some papers on her table catch my eye. Some appear to be documents from the United States Figure Skating Association, but sticking out from underneath her other medal, is one of the checks from her winnings. Are you fuckin’ shitting me?! She took home eighteen thousand dollars for one event. I skate for eight months out of a year, and I make just more than double that. I’m in the wrong friggin’ business.

Placing her medal back onto the table so she won’t notice I’ve been looking, I head to the fridge to grab something to drink. Opening the door, I peer inside. Seriously? Water and condiments? Okay, water it is. My stomach is growling; I know I need to find something to eat. It’s either that, or I’ll get moody as all hell. Twisting off the cap of the water bottle, I take a long pull from the bottle while I quietly start opening cabinets looking for anything to eat.

Searching cabinet after cabinet, the only thing I find that’s edible is peanut butter puffs cereal and shake-n-pour pancake mix. Noticing the one-cup coffee machine on the counter, I turn it on and wait for it to warm up. So much for being quiet. Turning toward Emily, I notice her stirring and her hair falling over her face, but she doesn’t wake up. After a couple of minutes, I find the mugs and coffee pods. I manage to get the cup of coffee brewed and already begin to feel alert after a couple of sips.

It’s always when you’re trying to be quiet, that you’re the loudest. When I start pulling the frying pan from her lower cabinet that is buried under about a million other pans, all the pans on top begin tumbling on each other. Shit! She’ll be awake now. That’s when I hear soft laughter from behind me.

“Do you think you can be any louder? Some of us are trying to sleep over here,” she says, clearing her throat.

“Listen, woman. You have nothing to eat here other than coffee and pancakes, so I’m slightly limited on choices.”

Stretching her arms above her head, Emily slowly throws her legs over the bed and makes her way to me. She walks toward the door and pushes a button on what appears to be an intercom on the wall. A few seconds later, an older woman’s voice comes over the speaker. “Good morning, Emily. Welcome home.”

She pushes another button to speak back. “Good morning, Louisa. It appears I don’t have any food supplies here. Would you mind making some breakfast and bringing it over?” She has a maid? As if knowing what I’m thinking, she turns to me. “She’s my mother’s maid, not mine.” Well, that’s about right. Louisa buzzes back inquiring as to what Emily wants for breakfast. Looking at me for an answer, I’m acting dumfounded before Emily says, “Today, Jeremy. I’m not getting any younger here.” Staring at her, unsure of what I can even ask for, she tells me, “Whatever you want.” Seriously, it’s weird. I won’t even ask my own mother to make me breakfast.

“I don’t know. Eggs, bacon, toast and
real
creamer.”

“You and that damn creamer! Are you sure you don’t want pancakes, too? I mean, it would be a shame not to have to lick all that maple syrup off of you afterwards, but it’s totally up to you.” She playfully winks back at me before pressing the
Talk
button.

“Pancakes it is. Make sure she sends over extra syrup,” I demand, rubbing my hands together in excitement. Emily places our order, and we have about twenty minutes to wait.

Making her way over to grab a coffee mug of her own, she notices her USFSA documents on the table. Seizing them forcefully, she shoves them into the kitchen drawer and slams it shut. Looking at me before pushing the button for her coffee to brew, she says, “Just a bunch of crap Daddy wants me to do every year for tours that will allow him a chance to advertise his company. Right now, I couldn’t care less if I speak to either him or my mother.”

“Something happen while you were away?” I question her even though I have an idea from talking to Mom something went down.

“I know we are supposed to be working on communicating more, but for now, I just want to enjoy being back here with you. Once I’m ready, I’ll tell you. I Promise.”

All I can do is take her word. I want to push her to open up to me and trust that I will be able to help, or at least try to help. If she doesn’t tell me, the only thing I can do is assume, and I don’t like where my mind wanders when I do that. A knock at the door removes me from my thoughts. Emily walks over to open it, while I go to put on my pants that are still on the floor from last night.

Once I’m slightly more clothed, Emily lets in an older, attractive woman carrying a tray with two plates covered with a silver topper. While she catches up with, Louisa, I think her name is, I take it upon myself to grab my phone and call my parent’ house. Just out of earshot, I think I hear Emily tell Louisa that there was a falling out between her and her mother in Vancouver. After the photo in the tabloid, she needed to get home early. Why couldn’t she have just told me that? I’m about to listen more when I hear the phone pick up on the other end. Josh answers and says he saw the note from Courtney on the table when he woke up this morning. He stayed over Sunday to help Dad get the house ready for this weekend’s Halloween-Birthday party.

As much as I hate the annual party, it is still a fun time. Extended family and friends all come over and Dad usually has a party tent set up in the yard with tables and chairs. Courtney makes the desserts, and Mom spends all day throwing every item of food she can think of into crockpots and onto serving trays. Josh handles the beer selection and typically finds the craft beer of my choice for the keg. My dad says we still celebrate it every year because it reminds him of all the people we have in our lives that make us happy.

Josh hangs up, saying he has things to do, that we all can’t skip out helping to play hockey and get laid. He seriously needs to find a girlfriend. I sit here, remembering some of the parties we used to have as kids and some of the costumes we’ve had over the years. I must have been lost in thought for a while, because when I look up, Louisa is gone and Emily is fussing around the kitchen looking for something.

“Anything I can help you with?” I question as I make my way over behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist as she leans into the fridge.

Jumping back in surprise until she realizes it’s me, she answers, “Don’t do that! You scared the shit out of me.” She places her hand over her heart before turning back to the fridge. “What are you looking for?” I rub the scruff on my chin as I stare from behind her.

“I need blueberries. I can’t have pancakes without them.” Jumping up and down, clapping her hands, she shouts, “Ah ha! See. I knew they were in here.” She pulls out the bag to show me.

“That’s a six-pound bag of blueberries. How many pancakes do you plan on eating?”

“These don’t just go on pancakes, silly. I put this shit on everything!” She rolls her eyes at me and laughs as she grabs a spoon to sprinkle them over her plate. I’m pretty sure I’ve lost sight of the pancakes that used to be on the plate seconds before.

“Babe, that’s a bit much. Don’t you think?”

“I’ll have you know, there’s never such a thing as too many blueberries. Now, do you want some or not?” She places her hands on her hips, and a cocky grin spreads across her face. Waving my hand toward the plate, I gesture for her to start piling that healthy shit onto my breakfast. I want butter and lots of it, none of this antioxidant, good for you shit. Fuck that! I’m going out of this world eating all the things that are not good for me.

Emily had already made plans with Sue and Courtney to go shopping for their Halloween costumes. I’m a last-minute costume selection kind of guy. In other words, if I can’t find it in my house, I’m not wearing it. I think I was a hockey player for four Halloween parties in a row.

Emily is in a rush to get me out of her place since we’ve finished eating, and I’m a little curious as to why. I know the girls won’t be upset if she is a little late, but as we are both driving our cars out of the driveway, I spot the black sedan pulling in with her mother in the backseat. Well, that explains it. I’m pretty sure after what I overhead Emily telling Louisa about what happened, she would be avoiding her parents for a while. She still hasn’t gone into detail about the severity of what actually went down, but in time, she’ll open up to me.

I really do have plans to meet the girls for costume shopping. Jeremy keeps fishing for more information about what transpired between my mother and me. I want to tell him, I really do, but I can’t, not while I know she’ll be pulling into the driveway any minute. I need to rush him out of here, and he knows I’m doing just that.