Perfect Kisses

by Maine, Miley

  “So, I just saw Travis getting on the school bus. He must be happy.”

  “Yes.” She nods sharply but doesn’t look at me. “He is. Thank you.”

  “Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to say that so you would thank me. I was just saying it because I’m happy for him. I’m glad that he’s back in school and happy again.”

  “Yes, well he is. I’m sure you’ll see how happy he is when he gets off the school bus.”

  When she turns around to hand me the mug of burning hot coffee, her shoulders are up around her ears. She is so tense it actually makes me feel terrible for being here… but at the same time, I know that the longer I leave it, the worse it will get.

  “So, how are you?” I want to turn the subject back to us quickly before she thinks I’m just here to have her bending down and bowing at my God damn feet because that isn’t why I am here. “Are you looking forward to having a bit of freedom to get back to work?”

  “Oh sure.” As she sighs heavily, I can see a massive distaste for her job as well. I seriously have to bite down on my tongue before I offer to give her rent money or offer her a job. I’m not trying to save every aspect of her life because she will always resent me if I do.

  “Well, work can be a nightmare,” I reply blandly instead. “I have bad days too.”

  Urgh, it’s really hard to connect with her on this level because we are on completely different wave lengths and she knows that as well as I do. So, anything that I say will just sound like I am being smug and patronizing. I hate this. I much prefer the happy, easy going atmosphere between us that we eventually found last night.

  “Anyway, I’m not here to ask you out on a date again…” I say with a smile, hoping to bring her out of this funk. Much to my relief, she does cock a knowing eyebrow at me. As our eyes meet, I feel that sizzle shoot through me all over again. “But I will always take your coffee.”

  “I don’t understand why you would want to drink that muck. I’m sure you have something more expensive and nicer at home…”

  “I don’t have any company at home.” I grin. “I like your company here.”

  Oh, thank God, she is smiling back. The room is warming up all over again. Keeping things light and airy is clearly the best way so as not to put pressure on Aisha.

  “Well, I suppose your company isn’t too bad either.” She shrugs one shoulder. “If I have to put up with it. You do make the coffee taste better.”

  We tease one another back and forth a little while longer, finding a surprising niche that suits us both, and somehow this manages to heat up the air between us even more. Aisha even moves that little bit closer to me, the sizzling intensifying between both of us.

  But I’m not expecting her to lean across and kiss me. I’m not expecting things to take that turn, especially not when things started so frosty, but she does. She hooks her hand around the back of my neck and holds me tightly while her lips explore mine. It’s intense, surprisingly powerful, and she soon hooks her leg over mine and straddles me in the chair where I’m sitting.

  It really is a roller coaster between the pair of us. I don’t know if I am ever going to know where I stand with her, but I don’t mind being in this ride with Aisha.

  “Oh God,” she moans as my lips slide off of hers and move over her cheek, her throat, her collar bone. That sound is so delicious, I absolutely love it. “Oh, fuck, Marc.”

  I slide my hands down her body, cupping her breasts, tweaking her nipples through the material of her T-shirt. I can tell that she doesn’t have a bra on underneath her top which is so sexy that it hurts me. I’m hard as a rock underneath my trousers and desperate to explore her already.

  “Get your trousers off,” she commands, taking complete control of me. I like this side of her, I love who I unleash when we both are getting hot and heavy, it’s such a different side of her than what she shows the rest of the world, which makes it almost like a secret version of her for me. Of course, I’m going to do whatever the hell she wants of me.

  Aisha lifts her ass up to allow me to slip my trousers down which I do rapidly. My heart is hammering painfully against my rib cage, slamming against my chest, leaving me a little breathless, but somehow through all of that, I just about manage to slip a condom down over my length to prepare myself for her. I didn’t come here thinking that we would end up having sex again, but I’m definitely going to have to make sure that I am prepared every single time I even see her. On this roller coaster, I never know what is going to happen…

  “Oh wow.” Aisha tugs her panties to one side yet again, showing me that she definitely isn’t ready for me to see her naked just yet, and she slips down on to me, leaning back slightly to ensure that I hit ever right angle. I’m totally fine with her hungrily searching for her own pleasure because just being inside of her is enough to tip me over the edge.

  “Oh shit.” Her walls are gripping on to me tightly, coaxing the orgasm from me already. I don’t know if I am ready for it yet, this is all happening much too quickly, but it sounds to me like the pleasure is cascading violently through Aisha as well. We are well and truly in this together. “Oh God, Aisha, you drive me crazy, fucking hell…”

  Thankfully, since I am seemingly incapable of holding myself together, we both lose our shit at the same time. She grabs my cheeks and kisses me hard, so we are both swallowing up one another’s screams, and I have to admit this feels really good. It bonds us and connects us deeper, causing me to fall for Aisha just that little bit more. My heart flip flops with excitement and my stomach twists and turns with how deeply I already feel for her.

  She might not see it yet, but I am certain… we are meant to be together.

  10

  Aisha

  December 24th

  I didn’t mean to start dating Marc, that was never my intention, yet somehow that’s kind of what has happened anyway. We haven’t exactly discussed it, but there’s no other way we can describe what is happening between us. Over the last couple of evenings, we haven’t just been meeting for sex, but for dinner and family time as well. He’s been around in the evenings, spending time with Travis and me, and it’s been strangely really nice. Almost like we are real family, even though we definitely can’t be. I mean, we can’t, can we?

  I know I’m not supposed to be doing this, I keep telling myself that I’m being stupid, that I’m letting him in too deep and it can only end in heart break. That it’s crazy for me to even consider it in the depths of my mind, but that doesn’t seem to stop me from going along with the flow anyway.

  “Mommy!” Travis yells at me in the excitable tone of voice he’s been using constantly ever since he’s gone back to school, a decision that I have to be eternally grateful to Marc for because I never would have been able to make it happen on my own. “Marc is here! He has brought some dinner with him. Can I set up the dinner table?”

  I can’t stop myself from smiling at the thought of Marc finally being here. Much as I keep trying to stop myself from waiting for him, I can’t seem to help it. Throughout the day I find myself getting excited a bit like a wife waiting for her husband to finally come home... God, I really am tragic, aren’t I?

  “Yes, Travis, you do that,” I reply well trying to keep my excitement inside. “I will be there in just a moment. I’m just finishing up here a second.”

  I just need a moment to gather myself up and while that’s happening, I hear Marc and Travis talking in the other room and it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. I no longer try to separate them, worried about what might being said, because it seems that Marc understands me and the situation that I am in and he doesn’t judge me anywhere near as much as I judge myself. Instead of panicking now, it just makes me happy to hear them talking. I never really considered what Travis might be missing out on by not having a father figure in his life. Mostly because I’ve always been moving forwards and focusing on keeping us afloat one way or another. Again, this isn’t something I should be focusing on, I can’t help it. I can’t
stop myself from seeing this as a much bigger thing than it is. As scary as that is for me, it’s kind of thrilling as well. A bit like a naughty little secret just for me.

  Anyway, I love the bond that Travis has with Marc. It’s really sweet.

  “Okay boys, what’s for dinner?” I ask with a big smile on my face as I find them together setting up the dining table. They don’t look alike in a way that they could really be father and son, but in this moment as they smile and laugh together, I see a real connection there that Ronnie will never understand, that he has missed out on just through his own selfishness. Not that I can ever imagine him being this way with Travis, even if he was here now. He isn’t half the man that Marc is, and I’m sure that hasn’t changed over the years.

  “Fries!” Travis tells me completely thrilled by this. “And chicken.”

  “Sounds delicious. The perfect Christmas Eve meal.”

  I say this as a bit of a joke, but there’s a truth to it because if it wasn’t for Marc, I would be worrying about what we are eating, probably there wouldn’t be any particular meal on the table, instead, I would be trying to find us somewhere affordable to live. But nowhere is affordable when you have nothing.

  “That’s exactly what I thought.” Marc smiles brightly at me. I can see a sparkle of something in his eyes, something that I find totally electrifying in every single way. It’s not just the desire for me, but feelings as well. “Sit down, dig in. We don’t want it to get cold.”

  I don’t get much time to talk with Marc during dinner because Travis chats the whole time. He’s so excited to tell us about his day doing homework after the school semester ended yesterday, that we don’t get a word in edge ways. Not that either of us mind. I love listening to my son being so excited, and judging by the look on Marc’s face, he feels the same way. He really cares about Travis without being directly related to him. How can that be possible, when his own grandparents and father don’t care? It’s absolutely insane but somehow real.

  I like him. I know I like him; I like him far more than I should. I’ve been trying not to like him for so long, trying to ignore my feelings for that man, but now I can’t deny it to myself anymore. I could easily fall for this man without really even trying. And if he fell for me as well... well there’s no telling where that will lead...

  “Can I stay up all night tonight, Mommy?” Travis demands, shaking me from my thoughts. “I don’t want to go to sleep and miss out on Santa Claus.”

  I part my lips, to tell Travis that of course he can’t stay up all night, but much to my surprise Marc gets in there first.

  “I stayed up all night one year,” he tells a captivated Travis. “And because of that, Santa Claus didn’t come to visit me. My mother told me he wouldn’t, but I didn’t believe her. I was very upset when I got out of bed on Christmas day with no gifts under the tree. It wasn’t even worth staying up, because of course I didn’t get to meet Santa because he never came...”

  Travis looks a little bit pale and panicked. “I better go to bed in a minute then. Don’t want to miss out on Santa. Mommy, can you put me to bed now?”

  “Of course, I will,” I giggle. “Once you have finished eating, go and get your pajamas on. Then I will come to read you a bedtime story. You go and pick-up what book you want.”

  Travis finishes the rest of his food as quickly as he can, and he rushes to get ready for sleep. I don’t normally have a lot of trouble with him going to bed, but I was expecting it on Christmas Eve. Somehow, Marc has completely managed to negate that this year.

  “Are you better at childcare than me?” I ask with a laugh. “Because that would have taken me ages to achieve. I would have ended up arguing with him all night long.”

  “Ah, I don’t know about better, I think I just know all the tricks that my father used on me to get me to sleep.”

  “Well, I will be back soon. I will just get Travis off to sleep and I’ll be back down.”

  As I walk upstairs, my excitement gets the better of me. I can’t wait to get back down to see Marc once more, to see where this Christmas Eve is going to lead us. It promises to be very fun...

  * * *

  I rub my weary eyes as I wander back down the stairs. Travis wanted a lot of stories and because it’s Christmas Eve I don’t want to deny him anything, especially considering I don’t think he’s going to get anywhere near as many gifts as he deserves under the tree tomorrow morning. I would love to buy him a world, but I just can’t make that happen. Not at the moment anyway. Maybe one day, if I keep working hard enough...

  “What are you doing?” I find Marc sitting on the couch with a box beside him, a bottle of wine opened, and two glasses poured on the table and a luxurious looking box of chocolates beside them. “What is all of this?”

  He turns around and smiles at me making my heart flutter at a million miles an hour. He really does affect every inch of my body.

  “Well, since Christmas Day tomorrow is going to be more about Travis, I thought it would be nice to for me to give my gift to you tonight”

  “Oh my God.” I feel all of the color drain out of my face. “I didn’t get you anything. I didn’t even think about it, I’m so sorry. I’ve been so focused on trying to make Travis have a nice day...”

  “I don’t expect anything from you,” he laughs as if this is obvious. “We certainly haven’t been that close for long enough for me to expect a gift from you. Plus, I would like you to focus on Travis, that makes me very happy. But I just wanted to get you something nice anyway. I was on my lunch break at work when I spotted this, and I thought it would be perfect for you.”

  Oh God, I don’t know how to take this at all. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to feel. I’m half over the moon, and half utterly terrified as I tip toe tentatively towards him. There’s a little part of me that wants to reject the gift before I even open it because it signifies how serious we have gotten in the last few days, but the bigger part of me is curious and wants to know exactly what Marc thinks is perfect for me.

  I take a seat beside him and a swig of the wine before I even look at the gift, but I can’t put it off forever, especially when the curiosity is eating me up alive, so when Marc hands me the box, I tear it open quickly, my heart pounding, the adrenaline pumping, my whole body is trembling...

  “What the...?” Of all the things I was expecting to see inside the box, not that I really had any expectations, but it certainly wasn’t this. “A diamond necklace?” I can’t even look at him, he must understand how much this is. Maybe it isn’t anything to him, but it’s completely out of any price range I could even begin to imagine. “Why? Why did you do this, Marc? I can’t accept this. I can never do anything like this for you, and I don’t want anything so expensive. It’s... it’s...”

  “I really don’t want you to worry,” he tries to reassure me. “I don’t expect anything from you, I don’t want anything from you, I just saw this and thought you would like it. As soon as I spotted it in the shop window, I could just imagine how good it would look right on your neck. Can I try it on you?”

  I feel all cold and numb, I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to push Marc away again because I much prefer having him around, but I don’t know if this is me, I don’t know how he thought this would be the best gift for me.

  “Please, Aisha?” he begs. “Let me give this to you, let me try it on you, let me see how it looks. You never know, you might even like it.”

  I can’t argue because I don’t want to ruin Christmas, I don’t want to sound ungrateful when he’s done something nice for me, but it makes me feel all weird as the necklace hangs around my neck. It doesn’t belong to me because it’s far too good for someone like me.

  Is that a metaphor for Marc? Is that a sign where things are going? Do I need to be freaking out right now? I certainly should be feeling something...

  11

  Marc

  December 25th

  “Merry Christmas!” I call out as soon as I step back
into Aisha’s home. Much as I would love to spend all night with her, I do agree that we need to take things slow when it comes to Travis. I don’t want to over complicate things for him... even if I’m pretty sure he would be really happy about us being together properly. “How is everyone?”

  “Good.” Aisha narrows her eyes and runs her gaze questioningly up and down me. “What have you been doing?”

  “Cooking.” I beam from ear to ear. “I don’t know if you have dinner plans today, we didn’t talk about it yesterday, but I’ve cooked plenty so I’m hoping you guys will come over to eat.”

  Aisha looks unsurprisingly shocked, but thankfully she nods and agrees. “Okay, sure. I haven’t actually sorted anything out. That would be awesome.”

  I’m glad because I have some gifts for Travis as well and I want him to be pleasantly surprised when he sees them. I didn’t just pick up the diamond necklace when I went out shopping on my lunch break, I got all kind of toys that I’m sure a six-year-old boy would like, and I can’t wait for him to see them.

  I know that Aisha always give him more than she can, so this is my way of doing that for her. Of helping her out without her even asking. I know that hasn’t worked out well in the past, but this is Christmas Day. I’m sure she will like it...

  Although to be fair, I was also pretty sure she was going to like the diamond necklace as well, and that didn’t quite go down as I thought it would. She seemed a bit strained, a bit shocked like she didn’t quite know how to take it. She did let me put it on her and took the compliments as I told her how amazing it looks on her, and she still has it on this morning which I’m going to take as a good sign. She probably fells it is just a bit extravagant for her, that’s all. I need to remember that she doesn’t want me flashing the cash all the time. It doesn’t impress her as much as it has other women in the past. But that shouldn’t really surprise me as she isn’t like any other woman. In my eyes, she is so much better.