Fire In His Eyes

by Nightingale, MJ

  After that and because my legs were weak, he scooped me up and grabbed a towel on his way out of the bathroom after discarding the used condom into the waste paper basket. Dripping water on the floor, he made his way back to my bedroom, where he stood me up and gently wrapped the white fluffy towel around me. I leaned against the bed. He used another towel to dry himself off rubbing efficiently and quickly. He stooped beside my bed and picked up a black duffle bag, I had not noticed earlier. He must have retrieved it from the car when I was making the coffee. As he began to dress, he spoke. “Monica, I had a lot of fun last night with you and again this morning. I hope we can do this again. I have to leave, soon. I have to pick someone up from the airport, so I gotta run, and I have a family thing to do today.”

  “Okay,” I replied. Trepidation began to descend on me, but his next words warmed me.

  “But, I want you to come see me tonight. Bring an overnight bag. I will text you my address. Can you come at eleven? I know it is late, but I don’t know when this family thing will be done.” He had just finished pulling on a tight black T-shirt over his head. He looked so good in black. He had on faded blue jeans already, not fastened yet.

  “Yeah, I can come. Tampa, right?” I asked. It was Saturday and I had no plans this weekend.

  “Yeah, it is not hard to find. I have a roommate. I hope you don’t mind that. Also, she is a girl.” He looked up at me from tying his sneakers and must have seen a flicker of apprehension cross my face, and added, “She’s just someone I used to work with on base. Just a friend, purely platonic. I just moved in with her a couple of weeks ago until I can save up for my own place. I lived on base before that for the last six months”

  “Oh,” I stated lamely when he paused.

  “Yeah, she’s been a really great friend. I’ve known her forever,” he smiled looking down at me.

  I smiled back. How could I not, when he looked at me like that. “That’s nice.” Again, lame, but with him leaving soon I was beginning to feel a little lost.

  He looked at me puzzled, and then dropped a bomb. “I want to be honest with you, baby. I like you a lot and we could have a lot of fun together, but, Monica, don’t fall in love with me. I am not in a good place in my life. I’ve got some money issues, and I’m starting over. I don’t want to lead you on. You’re the first girl in six months that I have wanted to fuck more than once, but don’t set your cap for me. It’s not going to happen.” His eyes searched mine.

  A lump began to form in my throat, and I just nodded. I tried to hide the disappointment and met his gaze and smiled.

  “I want to be honest with you, babe. I don’t want to hurt you,” he whispered and gave me a peck on the lips looking at me. “Can you handle that?” He searched my face.

  Again, I nodded. The lump was still there. I couldn’t speak. Last night had been amazing, this morning too. I wanted all this man had to offer, but apparently all he could offer me was mind blowing sex. Would that be enough? It would have to be enough. “Yes, I can handle that.” I replied to trying to harden my voice.

  “I will make it easier on you.” He was all seriousness now. “I won’t do romance. No gifts, no flowers, no fancy restaurants, okay. The minute you want out, let me know.” His eyes still searching mine looked for doubt.

  “Okay,” I said and straightened my shoulders a little to show him I could handle it, and directly met his penetrating scrutiny. God, I was so disappointed. A thousand possibilities died in that moment, but maybe his feelings for me could grow.

  “So, are we still on for tonight?” he questioned and laughed softly eyebrows waggling mischievously.

  “Yeah, I’m game. Why not?” I shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly trying to appear indifferent.

  “It’ll be fun while it lasts, baby.” His eyes searched mine and I feared he may have seen my doubts, but then he shrugged too. “Bring a bathing suit, we can swim on Sunday.”

  “Okay, sounds like fun,” I said. He straightened up and grabbed my shoulders and gave me a firm kiss on the lips. I was still in a daze over his revelations that it took me a moment to respond and open for him as he plunged his tongue into my mouth. The kiss lasted pretty long and was pretty intense, but somehow this time it didn’t make my toes curl.

  He pulled back and looked at me questioningly, “You okay?” His ice blue eyes pierced my brown ones.

  “Yes, I am fine,” I responded hastily. “I am looking forward to tonight.” I smiled clutching the towel to me with one hand in the front, and used my other hand to tuck a long wet curl behind my ear.

  “Beautiful and vulnerable. What a sexy combination?” His eyes, so intense stared into mine. He shook his head to break the magnetism between us. “Okay, I really have to go,” he said glancing at my bedside clock which read nine o’clock. He gave me another quick kiss, grabbed his duffle bag off the floor and slung it over his shoulder. He lifted one of his hands and tenderly stroked my cheek with it, turned and left. I stood there until I heard the sound of the front door closing softly with a click. I was very confused, and sad.

  I spent that Saturday morning cleaning my house, and puttering as I was too distracted to grade papers. I went to Target, bought a new bikini bathing suit, and tried not to think of the things Victor had said. All day, I lied to myself saying this was another Dan. Victor was another teacher, someone who could show me the ropes. It would be fun while it lasted. Deep down I knew I was in big, big trouble.

  Victor texted me his address around five o’clock with a see you later. I had been putting it off all day, but knew I had to call my sister. She would want the details. I would give her just enough to satisfy her, but keep some things to myself. I called her at about seven when I worked up the nerve and felt calm enough to deliver the abridged version of the evening’s and morning’s events. Ana, was happy for me, maybe he’s the one she said breathily, and I laughed because it was expected of me to do so. I told her my plans and gave her Victor’s address as well. Of course, she wanted an even more detailed run down of the events of the past two days, but instead of the blow-by-blow, I gave her just the briefest of rundowns of the previous evening and morning. How many times, and in what rooms. Her reply was something of the sort, “You finally came up for air?” and, “Atta girl!”

  When I got off the phone, I still had a lot of time to kill, so I tried to grade some papers and went for an extra five mile run. At nine, I packed a bag with the new swim suit I had purchased earlier in the day, a couple of pairs of shorts and a couple of tank tops for the next day. I gathered the necessities for my make-up bag and some other essentials. At nine-thirty I realized I hadn’t eaten, and I made a small Caesar salad for myself minus the croutons I loved, I had to watch those carbs you know, and lastly washed the dishes by hand.

  At ten, precisely, I shut off the television, picked up my overnight bag, and went out into the garage. I opened the back of my white Ford Escape SUV and put the bag inside, and then got into my car while hitting the button for the garage to open. I was on my way. I had butterflies in my stomach, and uncertainties. It seemed like it had been days since I had seen Victor, but in reality it had only been thirteen hours. A very confusing thirteen hours.

  I must have driven more quickly than I thought because it was a quarter to eleven, and I was minutes away from Victor’s place. I didn’t want to get there too early, or appear overly eager. I had to stop for gas anyway because I was on driving on fumes, a bad habit of mine since I hated pumping gas and didn’t like the smell of the fumes. I was pumping the gas when I heard the tell-tale ding from my cell phone that indicated that I had a message. I finished pumping, and as I had prepaid using my ATM card, got into my car, and checked my message. It was from Victor.

  Victor: You must be close. I just got in myself. Too tired. I had a long day. See you soon.

  Hmm, that sounded cryptic. I texted him back.

  Monica: Yes, I will be there shortly, I’m just a few miles away. I had to stop for gas. We can just watch television or so
mething.

  Victor: Ok sounds good. See you in a bit.

  I was there in five minutes. I parked in the visitor parking section near building two in Victor’s apartment complex, and made my way over to the lobby. I searched for and found his apartment number and heard the tell-tale buzz. The soft click of the lock releasing moments later proved I was expected. I looked up the flight of stairs and he was there standing at the top, looking gorgeous and yes, very tired. Kind of sad, too, actually. He started to make his way down stairs meeting me halfway. He took my bag from me, and held one of my hands with his as he guided me upstairs. His apartment was just to the right of the stairs in an open breezeway, and the door was open slightly. He let go of my hand, and muttered, “Fuck, the Cat!” as he lunged two steps quickly to the door and peered in.

  “You have a cat?” I laughed. He did not strike me as a cat guy.

  “Yes, I do. Love that stupid thing, too.” He turned to me with a relieved expression on his face. “She’s on the sofa. Belonged to a friend of mine first, but he did not come back from Iraq.”

  “Oh, that was nice of you to take it in. I am sorry about your friend,” I said apologetically giving him a sympathetic smile.

  “Don’t worry about it. I have had her for years.” He paused as he placed my bag just inside what must be his bedroom. I saw the cat on the sofa, a beautiful, very fluffy, and monstrous looking long haired white Persian. He then turned back to me. “Well, accept for the six months I lived on base. Anyway, her name is Mrs. C.” He looked up at me mischievously and his eyebrow did that adorable little lift thing.

  “Strange name for a cat,” I stated confused as I turned back around from admiring the spacious apartment. The kitchen/dining room/living room area was all open and tastefully, yet simply decorated. As, I turned back towards where he stood it hit me what the C stood for, and then I wrinkled my nose and said,”Oooo, you are so bad!”

  He laughed, “Well her name was Cat with a C before I had her, and my roommate’s name is Kat with a K, well Katerina really but everybody calls her Kat for short, so it was getting to be a little confusing, so I changed Cat’s name to Mrs. C. I just made it a little more colorful. A sweet pussy, needs a sweet name,” he joked. He reached down to scratch the cat on the head, and she purred up at him melodiously pushing her head against his hand. “See that, same reaction whenever you please a pussy.” Victor had a way of making everything sound dirty, yet enticing.

  I laughed my mood lifting a little. I loved his little jokes and innuendos. He strangely reminded me of my sister. The guy had sex on the brain. Awesome, right? I thought so.

  “So, the bedrooms are here and here.” He pointed to opposite ends of the living room. “This one is mine on the right. I have my own ensuite bathroom. We got a balcony, but it overlooks Del Mabry, so we don’t use it much. But out back is an awesome Olympic sized pool and really big courtyard. We can grill over there and have parties and gatherings.”

  “It’s very nice. I wish I had a pool. I love to swim.” I envied people with pools in Florida. I was saving up to have one built.

  There was an awkward silence for a moment as he was done pointing out the various features of the apartment. He broke it.

  “So, a movie then. I’m sorry, but I am really tired tonight. I had a rough day, and not too much sleep last night, if you know what I mean, but I will make it up to you tomorrow, Monica,” his usually twinkling eyes, just faintly sparkled at the suggestion.

  “That’s fine, Victor. I’m okay with just relaxing tonight,” I told him.

  “My roommate went out with her girlfriends so we have the place to ourselves for a bit. She probably won’t be back ‘til sometime after two.”

  I sat down on the sofa in the corner as he headed towards the television and flicked it on. He gazed at the media cabinet to the right of the screen and selected a DVD from the many that lined the shelves. “Oh, I love this movie. You like Tom Cruise?” he called over his shoulder.

  “Yeah, I do, actually,” I replied. Tom Cruise was sexy as hell, and despite his occasional public displays of weirdness, I thought he was a pretty great actor, but he had nothing on Victor.

  “Have you seen The Last Samurai?” he probed as he popped open the case and removed the DVD from its casing.

  “No, I haven’t,” I indicated as I got more comfortable on the sofa popping one leg underneath me.

  He came over to the sofa and sat next to me removing the pillows and putting them on to the floor, and proceeded to lie down with his legs stretched out and his head in my lap. “Comfortable?” he inquired.

  “Yeah, I’m good,” I whispered as I gently began to scratch his back in circular motions.

  “Mmm, that feels nice. Keep doing that.” He whispered as he flicked the remote to bypass the upcoming attractions. He pressed play and the movie credits began to appear. “I really am sorry, Monica. I feel bad. I had a rough day, and know you probably hoped for me to be more entertaining. But I just can’t. I have a lot on my mind, and it is nothing I can talk about with you yet, okay?”

  “Sure, Victor,” I said. “We all have bad days. No problem.” He sounded so sad that my heart went out to him. I hoped he would feel better and maybe more comfortable around me, maybe even willing to confide in me, someday. But, he had told me this morning there would be no promises. Our days might me very limited, and that someday would probably never come. I continued to brood over that as I continued absently scratching his back.

  “Mmm, so relaxing,” he muttered again. “Just keep doing that, okay?”

  “Okay,” I muttered. He fell asleep with me scratching and running my fingers across his back within fifteen minutes. I tried to concentrate and enjoy the movie, but my mind was racing ahead of me until I was so lost I couldn’t even follow the story line. So instead of watching the movie I just lay my head back and closed my eyes. After a little bit or so, I found myself getting sleepy; and I, too, began to doze off.

  I didn’t know what time it was when I heard a click and glanced towards the door. I saw the knob turning and knew instinctively that it must be his roommate. A woman, very tall, older, maybe in her late thirties or early forties, and little bit on the husky size with short sandy brown hair came in through the door.

  “Hi,” she whispered. “I’m Kat, and you must be Monica. He’s sleeping?” she inquired indicating Victor.

  “Yes, he is,” I whispered back. “He was exhausted.”

  She came over to us and looked down at him. “Well, we better get him to bed.” She began to gently shake his shoulder. “Come on, boy, time for bed,” she whispered.

  Victor sleepily opened one eye. “Kat?” he muttered. “I had a bad day.”

  “I know, big boy, I know. Come on, Vic, Mon and I will get you to bed.” She automatically shortened my name like my sister did, and from the way she handled Victor I could tell she was very nurturing. I instinctively knew I would like her.

  “Monica?” he turned as if he were surprised to see me and began to sit up. I got up and held on to one side of him, with Kat on the other and together steered him towards his room. He unfastened his jeans, and she pulled them down until he sat on the side of his bed, and then she pulled them the rest of the way off one leg at a time.

  She began to make her way towards the exit. I laughed softly, and said, “It seems like you have done this before.”

  “A time or two,” she nodded. “And don’t worry about me, Mon. I am like the Mom around here for these lost boys,” she whispered. “Goodnight, we’ll get to know each other in the morning.”

  “Okay,” I whispered. “Good night, Kat.” She seemed pretty cool.

  The door clicked shut, softly. Victor was already lying down on his side of the mattress, and he must have taken off his t-shirt when I was talking to Kat. “Wear my shirt and come here so I can hold you. I quickly got up and stripped out of my white t-shirt and black capris. I took off my lacy blue bra, but left the matching panties on. He sleepily muttered with one ey
e open, “Nice.” I took his t-shirt and pulled it over my head and scrambled in next to him in the middle of the bed wiggling my rear into him so that we were spooning. It felt nice to by lying with him like that. Dan had never slept over, and neither had I at his place.

  “Your shirt smells good, like you.” And, it did. I clutched a handful and brought it to my nose inhaling his scent. His maleness, woodsy and spicy was intoxicating.

  “So, do you,” he whispered in my hair. “It’s nice to have someone to hold on to at night, again.” And, with that he fell back to sleep softly snoring. He had said that I had been the first woman he had wanted to be with in a long while more than once. I held onto that. I had a little glimmer of hope. Just a little.

  It took me awhile to relax, although I was very comfortable lying there in Victor’s arms, again a million thoughts raced through my mind. It took me awhile to fall asleep with Victor’s steady breathing in my ear, but eventually I did.