Journey (11 page)

Journey

The drive to Jack’s goes quickly, and before I know it, his Range Rover is pulling into the multi-car garage of his parents’ estate.  Parked in the garage is an older Porsche Boxster, a Lexus sedan, and an ugly, beaten-up Chevy pickup truck, which looks very much out of place.  My father had an affinity for automobiles as well, so I’m accustomed to seeing a garage full of them.

              “I take it that you like cars,” I remark passively as I walk through the garage and into the house.

              “Ummm…a little.  Aside from the Rover, the other vehicles here belonged to my parents.”

              “Oh, I see.  My dad would drool over that Porsche.”

              “He likes classic cars?”

              “Loves them.”

              “He should come take it for a drive some time.  I’m probably going to sell most of them.  I don’t really give them the attention they deserve.  My dad has some other classic cars in storage.”

              “Which ones would you keep?”

              “The pickup.”

              “Really?”

              “Yeah.  Like you with your Barbies, I’m a little attached to it.  Plus, it carries the snow plow.”

              “That makes sense.”

              It does.  It’s congruent with his character to not hire someone to plow the driveway or think to replace a perfectly functional truck with a newer, fancier one.

              Light and radiant heat greets us as we enter the house, just as it had the last time I was here.  There’s also a very noticeable and strange electrical charge in the air.  Or perhaps between the two of us.  I don't really know.  What I do know is that my insides feel stirred around, and I have a strong urge to jump on Jack, wrap my legs around him, and shove my tongue down his throat.  It's not as though this would be the first time we’ve wound up in such a situation.  Today, I am not drunk, but I do feel sad thanks to my Barbie fiasco.  

              I look up to Jack, clothes sticking to his torso and highlighting some fantastic looking ripped muscles, and lick my lips.  His golden brown eyes bore into mine with equal intensity, and suddenly I am toast.  I ram my body into his, pulling his face down to mine.  He responds by placing one hand behind my head, weaving his fingers into my hair, and placing the other hand in the small of my back.  Our lips meet, and instantly the wild, uninhibited person inside of me that hasn’t surfaced in a while arrives just in time to part Jack's lips with my tongue and make large, vigorous connections with his.  Each time our tongues meet and roll against one another, the tactile sensation from it makes me more aggressive and desperate.  Our hands frantically move about each other's bodies and our mouths explore deeper.

              I feel Jack's erection through his jeans, pressing against my stomach.  I move my hand down and massage his growing length from the exterior of the denim, resulting in a small growl escaping Jack's throat, into mine.  His hand leaves the small of my back and reaches up my shirt, moving toward my already pebbled nipples.  He rubs them over my bra with the palm of his hand in circles, causing me to want him even more.  I pull my mouth back from his, moaning in pleasure.  Our breathing is rapid and our bodies are moving heavily with each breath.  The mere contact from him through the outside of my clothing is enough to cause me to want to pleasure Jack even further.

              I unhook his belt, unbutton and unzip his jeans, and see his large erection spring forth.  I admire the impressive size for a moment before wrapping my hand around his girth and move it toward the base.  Jack breathes out deeply, and I respond by licking my lips and placing them on his tip.

              “Journey,” Jack sighs.

              “Jack…”

              “Stop.”

              I continue to attempt to ravish his manhood with my mouth.  “Journey, you should stop.”

              I freeze.  Not,
“Journey, not now,” or “Journey, this isn’t right.”  
No, he said,
“Journey, YOU should stop.”

             
The flush of pure humiliation rushes up my neck to my cheeks, leaving a path of embarrassment that manifests itself in pink all over my face.

              Making up for his poor turn of phrase, he corrects himself.  “
We
should stop.  We shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves.”

It’s too late.  I’m already thoroughly mortified.  Unable to look him in the eyes, I mutter, “I’m just going to freshen up.  I’m cold.”

With the blanket wrapped around me, I attempt to scurry away from Jack’s presence.  Jack’s firm hold wraps around me.  He leans his head down to mine and kisses me passionately.  These kisses are the kisses I remember.  They’re the reason I looked forward to that one week a year, every year.  They’re the reason I become putty in Jack’s arms and realize what I’ve been missing all of these years- what I gave up so many years ago due to my own fears and misgivings.

After floating on air with no one else but Jack and his embrace, we come back down to Earth.  

Jack’s eyes gleam as he speaks, “I didn’t mean to upset you.  I loved what you were doing, probably a little too much, but I don’t want to rush this.  I feel like-”

“You don’t have to say anything, Jack.  I get it.”

A short silence ensues that Jack breaks along with our embrace.  “You ready for that shower?”

My eyes blink rapidly, bringing me back to the here and now.  Jack exits out of my sight as I stand, vexed by his spell.

Jack returns from the master bedroom promptly and asks, “T-shirt and jersey shorts okay?”

“Perfect.”  

Jack flashes me a coy smile, causing my heart to palpitate.  If I don’t hurry, I will have to make this shower a cold one, so I awkwardly take the clothes from Jack’s hands and begin walking up the stairs toward where I think a guest bathroom should be.  I probably should have paid better attention on the tour he gave me.  

Jack disrupts my concentration when he says, “I hope you don’t mind, I already turned on the master shower to warm up and put clean towels out.”

“Right,” I respond as I slowly walk in a confused circle.  “Down there, I suppose.”  I point to the first floor with my index finger.  There’s a peculiar silence of which I am aware.

“Yeah,” Jack chuckles.

I feel silly, but feel as if I need to say something to help ease my nerves.  “I thought so.  I was just testing you.”

Red in the cheeks, I descend the grand staircase, walk through the master bedroom, and into the large master bath.  I remember it from last time I was here, but not in such detail.  The decor is stately and clean.  The tall ceilings make the white marble tile throughout the room seem more luxurious.  There’s a separate shower with about twenty-five different nozzles that shoot water at you that sits beside the large, two-person bathtub.  

I sit on the frigid tile floor of the shower, allowing the warm water to wash over me and soothe my aching soul.  What am I going to do with myself after this weekend is over?  I’m so ashamed of my actions earlier, I just want to bolt out into the rain, but that would be stupid.  I’ve messed around with many men before, then we acted as though it was business as usual afterward.  I was never mortified afterward like I am now.  Ugh…  I have one horrid track record of making bad decisions.

I peel myself off of the shower floor and prepare for one of the most uncomfortable and embarrassing nights of my life.

Jack

I wanted so badly to continue with Journey and fall into a state of pleasure we could both enjoy, but I didn’t want to be selfish and put us in a place that is pushing too far, too fast.  After all of these years, I finally have her back in my life.  I never once forgot about her, and wondered if she thought about me in the same fashion.  I would love to take her into my bed and ravish her all weekend, but we are different people now.   I’ve missed her like mad, but I want to do this the right way.  She’s the most precious thing to me, and I aim to let her know.

              Journey walks out of my bedroom with wet hair, causing it to have a darker red hue than usual, and her soft skin has a new sheen.  Her face looks refreshed, yet her body language tells me she’s anything but.  I half expect her to say something to break the ice, but she remains silent and chooses a chair by the end of the couch opposite of me.

              Instrumental music quietly plays from the sound system in the room while Journey looks at her fingers in her lap, nervously.

              “I made up a guest room for you while you were in the shower,” I say in an effort to cut through the silence.”

              Journey’s eyes look up beyond her upper lids and without raising her head, she replies, “Thank you.”

              I heave a sigh and move to the other end of the couch, next to her chair.  She raises her head, looking to me questioningly.

              “Hey, you don’t have to feel uncomfortable now.  It was not my intent.”

              “I’m still a little ashamed, that’s all.”

              “Ashamed of what, exactly?  Ashamed because I turned down your offer to pleasure me?  Ashamed because you could’ve given me an orgasm in about thirty seconds flat?”

              “Ashamed that I went from zero to sex in the blink of an eye when it would seem as though your brain was not going down the same path.”

              “You think that when I was kissing you, I wasn’t undressing you in my mind?  Not even close.  At that moment, I wanted to feel you and taste you.  I wanted to feel your body tremor with my mouth on you.  I still want to.  Why would you think otherwise?”

              “Because you rejected me.  It’s been so long, and I have so much to tell you, but maybe I was simply hoping to return things back to the way they were when we first met.  When you told me to stop, for a minute I felt guilty and unwanted.  I guess I kind of thought I deserved to feel that way because of all of the things I’ve done.”

              “You made a few mistakes in your past.  You’re not the first and you’re certainly not the last.  Plus, look at everything you’ve done to change the stereotype.  You’re an independent woman who is a doctor.  I shouldn’t even have to say anything else.  How many people in this country become medical doctors?”

              Her head continues to hang.  “A small percentage.”

              “Exactly.”  Journey looks to me, eyes filled with sadness, and my heart crushes.  “Journey, you deserve much better.  You need to know you’re special and a princess, and I’m going to teach you.  Have you ever truly dated someone?”

              “Sure, Jack.  I had a fiancé before I left for Maine.”

              My chest feels crushed as if someone sprayed me with a fire hose of shock.  She promised her heart to someone else?  It is only logical that many men would be taken in by her.  She’s a catch in every sense of the word, but hearing it confirmed leaves me feeling...confused.  Stunned.  Hurt.

              “You- You were engaged?”

              She shrugs with her eyes cast downward.   “I was, but it wasn’t that big of a deal.  It was for all the wrong reasons.  I was pretty much his arm candy.

              “But, you wanted to spend your life with him?”

              “No.  I mean, maybe at the time I saw it that way, but I quickly realized it wasn’t for me.  We weren’t engaged but for a few months, and it truly was out of convenience.  We weren’t really compatible and it was based more on...oh how do I describe it...physical looks?”

              “How long were you together total?”

              “Does it really matter?  It’s old news that I really don’t care to talk about.  He was a doctor at the hospital I worked in, we met for drinks regularly, and helped one another de-stress, if you catch my drift.”

              So, she had moved on and she did have another relationship.  A serious one.  If I’m going to prove to her that we are more than those young adults we were on spring break, then it’s time to start acting the part.

              “Did he actually date you?  Court you?”

              “Court me?  Seeing as how we’re not in the eighteen hundreds, no, no one has courted me.”

              “I’m going to do more than wine and dine you, Journey.  You’re going to see what true romance is and how you are indeed a treasure.”

              “Oh, my sweet, sexy Jack…”  

              Did Journey just call me
hers
?  

              Her cheeks flare in embarrassment as the realization of what just slipped out of her mouth comes to her.  

              My chest tightens in excitement, but I
play it down for her sake.  “Just Jack will suffice.”

              “Fine, Jack, what do you propose we do the rest of the evening?  The rain doesn’t seem to be letting up.”

              “I don’t know.  Ideas?”

              “You tell me.  You’re the one who is courting me.  What do reunited couples do together when their past quality time consisted of partying and sexing?”

              “Honestly?  I have no clue, but I’m looking forward to finding out.”  I grin like a smitten fool.  “I think a good starting place could be you sitting next to me?”  What started as a confident statement, ends as a question.

              “A very good place, indeed.”

              Journey leaves her seat, making her way over to the couch next to me.  As she travels, she picks up the soft throw I had draped across the back of her chair.  She settles beside me, placing her head against my arm and the blanket over the two of us.

              “Cold?”

              “I’m getting warmer,” she grins.

              We fall into conversation with ease, just as we always have.  Journey relays to me some of her experiences in medical school and more about her attachment to her Barbie dolls.  After a few hours, it’s as though we haven’t been without one another for more than a few weeks.  Everything that felt natural before, has returned, only this time it feels more than natural- It feels right.  Being here with Journey in the flesh, rekindling our once lost connection, is exactly my kind of wonderful.

A peculiar sensation wakes me and my eyes open to see a smiling Journey directly in front of my face, nose-to-nose.

              “Psst…  You wanna move to a bed?”

              I wipe sleep from my eyes, realizing that I am still on the couch in the last position I remember being conscious.

              She continues, “We fell asleep on the couch.  It can’t be super comfortable to you, so come on, I’ll tuck you in.”

              A sleepy smile spreads on my face as I slowly rise from the couch.  
Journey’s still here.  We fell asleep with one another.  All is right with the world.  

             
Journey leads me by the hand to my bedroom, pulling back the blankets of the bed for me to get in.

              “Aren’t you going to sleep too?”

              “Yeah, I thought you said you made up a guest room for me.”

              “About that...  I didn’t really.  It’s not as though you can’t sleep in there, but I kind of fibbed.  I was secretly hoping you would wind up in my bed.”

              “Is that so?  Are my intentions that transparent?”

              “No, but my hopes were that high.”

              “Good.  I didn’t really want to go into the guest room.”

              I grab Journey by the waist and pull her into the bed next to me.  She squeaks in surprise, but quickly stills, wrapped in my arms.  Together, our breathing slows, our bodies relax, and we fall back into a peaceful slumber together.