by Arianna Hart
“Oh my God, Macayla, I am so sorry.”
“You didn’t know, it was my own fault for not checking out the other sauce before hand. Now please, just go.” Macayla was getting ready for another prayer to the porcelain god and wanted to be alone.
Jared left the room, but as soon as she started heaving he was back. He held her stomach while she heaved, and then mopped her face with a wet washcloth. She didn’t have the energy to argue with him when he helped her up off the bathroom floor and walked her into the spare bedroom. He pulled off her jeans and her bra and briskly washed her sweat soaked body with a clean washcloth. He toweled her off and put one of his much larger tee shirts over her small frame.
As Jared ministered to Macayla, he tried to ignore the fact that she wore skimpy, black, lacy panties under her jeans, and her breasts strained the fabric of the tee shirt, even though it reached almost to her knees. He laid her down gently on the side of the bed closest to the bathroom, and then went in search of some ginger ale. The minute he shut the door he heard Macayla run into the bathroom again.
It was going to be a long night.
All through the night Jared mopped her brow, fed her ice chips, and encouraged her to sip the flattened soda. He caught snatches of sleep when Macayla rested between trips to the bathroom, but was always up to help her back to the bed when she finished yet another bout of vomiting.
By five the next morning, it seemed like the worst was over.
“I think that’s the end of it,” Macayla groaned as she came back from the bathroom and crawled under the covers of the bed to fall into an exhausted slumber.
Jared was still in the clothes from the night before, he wanted to get a little sleep while he could, but didn’t want to leave Macayla alone. He kicked off his jeans and pulled off his shirt before climbing in on the other side of the bed. He believed Macayla when she said she was through vomiting, but he wasn’t going to leave her alone until he was sure. He was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
Macayla awoke slowly. She was warm, but not overly hot, and her stomach ached fiercely, but she didn’t feel like she was going to lose its contents again. She knew from past experience that she’d be out of sorts for most of the day, but would recover by dinnertime.
She desperately wanted to brush her teeth and take a shower, but wasn’t looking forward to crossing the cold floor to get to the bathroom. It was only when she tried to throw off the covers that she realized she wasn’t alone in the bed. Jared was sleeping deeply right next to her. She couldn’t believe she could spend the night in bed with him and not even know it. Of course, she wasn’t exactly in any position to get aroused so she could have been sleeping with Mr. Universe and not been bothered by it.
She carefully made her way to the bathroom and brushed her teeth. She immediately felt better, and decided she would try to take a shower on her own. She was a little hunched over, her stomach muscles were sore from the strain she put on them through the night, but she was able to take off Jared’s tee shirt and take her hair out of the sweaty ponytail it was in.
She really needed a shower. She was covered in dried sweat, and her hair was waxy and lank. She stood in the shower and just let the water pour over her. It had been years since she had eaten a mushroom, she hoped it would be much longer before she ate another one.
“What are you doing out of bed?” Jared asked, barging into the bathroom without knocking.
“Taking a shower, I feel disgusting,” Macayla said without moving from under the spray. She felt too exhausted to get upset about his lack of manners. Besides, after last night modesty seemed pointless; he had seen her pretty much naked and at her worst, what did it matter if he looked at her through the shower door.
“Are you crazy? You spent the night throwing up; you are too weak to be in there by yourself. Why didn’t you wake me up, I would have helped you get clean.”
“It never occurred to me to wake you up. I’m perfectly capable of washing myself. Now if you would excuse me, I’ll wash my hair then get out of the shower. Don’t worry Jared, I know my limitations, I’ll get right back into bed when I’m done.”
“You bet your sweet bottom you will. Now wash your hair, I’ll give you five minutes before I come in there and do it for you. You could collapse and get knocked unconscious, and drown in there!”
Macayla thought he was being a little ridiculous, but she hustled through the rest of her shower anyway. She was wrapped in a towel when Jared returned to the bathroom.
“I’ve lit a fire in the fireplace in the master bedroom, I figured you’d be more comfortable there. I made some tea and toast, and I brought some of your magazines in as well.”
“Well didn’t you think of everything? Thank you Jared, it’s been a long time since anyone has taken care of me,” Macayla said softly. She was feeling all mushy inside and it worried her just a little.
Jared waited in the room until Macayla was bundled in her nightgown, then he wrapped her in a blanket and carried her into the master bedroom.
“Put me down! You just got your staples out, you’ll hurt yourself!” Macayla said quickly. She was unused to being picked up like a sleepy three-year-old.
“You don’t weigh enough to put a strain on my arms, never mind the rest of me. Besides, didn’t you say the staples were just for the skin? I’m fine, you’re the one I’m worried about. I don’t want you getting too tired. Sit here in front of the fire and I’ll comb out your hair, then into bed with you.”
“Really Jared, this is nice, but I can do it myself.”
“Just try to relax for a change. I’m sure you think you’re better, but you need a day of pampering to get back into shape.”
“Is that your professional opinion?” Macayla asked wryly.
“Yes. Now be quiet and let me comb out this mess.”
Macayla was still mulling over the novelty of having a man make tea and toast for her when Jared started to comb out her curls. He was much gentler than she expected. Her hair tended to snarl at the least provocation, but Jared patiently worked the comb through her hair until the curls fell loosely about her shoulders.
“There, now it’s dry enough not to wet the pillow, into bed with you. I’ll make some new toast, that plate is probably soggy by now, but the tea should still be hot.”
Macayla climbed into bed and drank some of the tea. It was weak and luke warm, but soothing all the same. She ate the dry toast Jared brought in and read some of her magazines. Jared bustled about the room, stoking the fire, fluffing the pillows, bringing more fluids, and basically driving Macayla crazy.
“Jared, would you just sit down and relax? If you put another log on that fire I’m going to fry, it’s June for heaven’s sake! I don’t need my pillows fluffed, another blanket, or more tea. What is going on? Are you feeling guilty or is this payback for when you were injured?”
“I was just trying to help. You were really sick last night,” Jared said a little defensively.
“I had an allergic reaction. I’ll be recovered completely in a few more hours. I don’t need to be coddled like an invalid. I’ll be fine. Why don’t you sit down and talk to me, I’m getting pretty sick of these magazines.”
“What do you want to talk about?” Jared asked, sprawling like a lazy cat at the foot of the bed.
“Tell me something about yourself. You’ve heard my life’s story; it’s your turn to spill your guts. No pun intended.”
“Ha Ha. What do you want to know? I told you about my family, going in the army, there isn’t much else to tell.”
“Tell me about your first love,” Macayla said. She didn’t know what impasse they had crossed, but she was no longer uncomfortable around him. They had moved from weary strangers to cautious friends, and she wasn’t even sure when it happened.
“My first love huh? My first love, or my first lover? They are not always the same.”
“Maybe, maybe not. You tell me.”
“Well, since my first love was all three of
Charlie’s Angels, I guess that doesn’t count.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
“You really want to hear about this?”
“You betcha,” Macayla said, leaning back comfortably into the pillows.
“My first lover, and incidentally my first real love, was Patti McClain. She and I were in Basic Training together. I used to go to Mass on Sundays just so I could see her. There are pretty strict rules about fraternizing during Basic. I was still pretty scrawny; I told you I was a computer geek in high school, all arms and legs and skinny as a scarecrow. I bulked up a little in Basic, and then I started weight lifting in AIT, but I was still a beanpole. I was really shy, I didn’t know how to even talk to a female, forget flirt with one. I had made it through high school totally ignored by the female of the species, and didn’t know what to do to change that.”
“I have a really hard time believing that.” Macayla couldn’t imagine someone not seeing his beautiful eyes or his sculpted cheekbones, even if he didn’t have the gorgeous butt back then.
“Believe it. Anyway, I was assigned to the same job as Patti and she kind of drew me out of my geekdom. She was the kind of person who made everyone feel special. She could get even a shy dweeb like me to talk and relax around her. She was the life of the party wherever we went. She was the type of girl who made everyone laugh, and managed to do it without hurting anyone’s feelings. She had hair like yours, curly, but it was brown, not red. She was a little more experienced than I was, but never made me feel awkward about my inexperience. She taught me that it was what was inside me that mattered, not the size of my muscles or the size of my-“
“I get the point. So what happened?” Macayla asked. She didn’t feel jealous of his past, which surprised her. Joe would taunt her with his past exploits, and she would end up in a fever of jealousy, just as he wanted her too.
“She was transferred to Germany, and I was tapped for Special Ops. We agreed that we couldn’t carry on a trans-Atlantic affair and parted as friends. I still get Christmas cards with pictures of her three kids every year.”
“She sounds like quite the paragon. Did you ever try to look her up after you got out of the service?”
“No, she was married by then, but it wasn’t only that. We kept in touch when we could, and really became great friends. I enjoyed making love to her when we first were together, but I valued her friendship much more than her body. I didn’t want to risk losing the one to get the other.”
“That is amazingly enlightened of you. You really do surprise me sometimes. I expected you to give me a tale of losing your virginity in the back of a car when you were still in high school. You always struck me as pretty experienced in the war of the sexes.”
“I wasn’t exactly a threat to procreation in high school. After Patti and I went our separate ways I had much more selfconfidence and managed to cut a swath through the female population, but that got old fast. I think being brought up by a single mother gave me a little more respect for women.”
“I would imagine it did. You really do surprise me sometimes Jared,” Macayla said softly.
She crawled over to where he was sitting and kissed him gently on the lips. It was a tender kiss of thanks, and Jared was strangely moved by it.
“What was that for? You never make the first move,” Jared said, running his fingers through her curls.
“Maybe because you took care of me even when I didn’t want you too, or maybe it was because you aren’t the womanizing bastard I thought you were. Or maybe it’s just because I might actually be getting to like you.”
“You must be sicker than you thought.”
Jared felt something in the region of his heart turn over with a thump. It was the first time Macayla had responded to him without his dragging it out of her, and it was the first time she had initiated any contact with him that wasn’t medical. His plan for seduction had gone way off track, but he had gotten closer to her anyway. Maybe some things were just better left to fate.
“If you’re okay in here, I’m going to take a walk in the woods. It’s a beautiful day outside, and my doctor told me I should get some exercise.”
“That was a low blow Romero. I’m stuck in here with sore stomach muscles, and you get to enjoy the day.”
“Turn about is fair play. Why don’t you take a nap, you didn’t get much sleep last night.”
“I don’t need much sleep. I used to work twenty hour shifts during my residency.”
“Well, you weren’t throwing up during those twenty hours, so why don’t you just relax anyway, I won’t be gone long. If you’re good, I’ll make you some broth for supper tonight, no mushrooms.”
“You are really enjoying this, aren’t you?” Macayla asked, pouting.
“As a matter of fact, yes I am. It’s not often that the indomitable Macayla Sullivan is down on her luck. I have to take advantage of it when I can.”
“Laugh it up buddy, I’ll be better by dinner tonight, and you’ll be sore and tired from overdoing it today. Then we’ll see who’s laughing.”
“Who says I’m going to overdo it? I didn’t overdo it yesterday.” This was a side of Macayla he had never seen; it was kind of cute in the short term.
“Which is exactly why you will overdo it today. You’re feeling cocky about it now. Jared, you’re a man. You can’t help yourself. You will overdo it because you won’t believe that you can’t do anything you feel like. You won’t listen to me because I’m a woman and I obviously don’t understand the strength of a man, therefore I don’t know how much you can do. Trust me, you’ll overdo it.”
“Want to bet on it?”
“Not again! Just go on your walk. Maybe you’ll get lucky and you can see Miss Buxom Bleach Blonde trying her wiles out on some other sleeze ball.”
“Well, if you put it that way, how can I resist?” Jared laughed out the door.
When Jared went to check back in on Macayla before he left, she was sound asleep. So much for not needing a nap.
Jared took the path that lead to the trailer park, not to run into any blonde, but to go to the general store and check out his options. Now that he was feeling better he wanted to show Macayla how well he could cook. He was quite certain he wouldn’t astound her with his stuffed mushrooms, but he did make a mean chicken picata.
He also wanted to get a lay of the land. There was only so much one could learn from maps; he wanted to get a hands on look at his surroundings. His expertise may be computers, but his training with Special Operations taught him a great deal about survival.
One of the first things he learned was to always have an escape route, or three, available. The signs of approaching summer were finally visible, he could see more green in the woods, flowers were abundant in the clearings, and SUVs with bike racks were everywhere. With the number of tourists pouring into the park he would go fairly unnoticed. Just the way he liked it. A few more weeks and he would be in the clear, until then he didn’t want to raise the least bit of suspicion.
Jared followed the path to the trailer park, wondering behind which tree Macayla had hidden when she got her unexpected peep show. He wasn’t sure if he was relieved or disappointed not to run into any buxom blonde on his way through the park. Seeing the general store he casually wandered inside. His manner seemed relaxed, but the close observer would have noticed his hands stayed out of his pockets, and his eyes were alert. His bearing marked him as someone who had spent time in the service, but only someone with military experience would know that. To the casual observer he appeared tall, confident, and if that observer was a woman, very, very attractive.
As soon as he walked into the store every female set of eyes clapped onto him with varying degrees of appreciation. One set of eyes was even distracted enough from her present conquest to almost miss his leave-taking.
“I’m glad you understand Laura, I just can’t lose my wife and family. My kids are more important to me than any woman. If Sue Ellen leaves me, she’ll take the kids with her, an
d I just can’t risk that.”
Her attention was immediately brought back to the lanky man backing away from her. “So you think you can just leave me, just like that? Screw me in the woods and walk off?” Her voice rose another ten decibels.
“Keep it down! Do you want everyone in the park to know what happened?”
“I don’t care who knows! Why don’t I just tell your precious Sue Ellen what happened. Do you think she’ll still want you after that? You can just kiss your precious kids good-bye then.”
“She already knows, I can’t keep anything from her. She was mad, but she is willing to give me another chance. That’s why I can’t risk seeing you again. Don’t you see, it was a mistake. I realized I still love Sue Ellen; I can’t risk losing her and the kids. I’m sorry if that hurts you, but I won’t be seeing you ever again. We’re going to move the camper to another park today, I thought I should tell you before we just up and leave. Good-bye.”
“You think you can just leave like that? Do you really think you can just walk out of here Scot-free? Well I have news for you Jake, no one walks away from Laura T. Hill without paying a price! No one!” She was screaming now.
“I think I already paid my price. I’m leaving.” Jake said a little fearfully. She had a wild look in her eye, and he was glad his wife and kids were waiting for him at the office. He didn’t want to give her any chance to hurt his family. She had done enough damage as it was. He couldn’t believe he ever saw anything in her. He was thanking God that Sue Ellen had given him another chance when he backed into Jared at the front of the store.
Jared had witnessed the entire episode, as had the rest of the store. He was probably the only one who knew the whole story though. Curiosity made him strike up a conversation with the hapless Jake.
“Wow, I’ve heard of sore losers, but she takes the cake.”
“You’re telling me.”
“Why don’t I walk you to wherever you’re going. She strikes me as the type to stab a guy in the back.”
“No kidding.” Jake took one look at the huge man beside him and decided that he might be enough protection to keep him safe from the crazy woman in the store. “Thanks, I’d be much obliged.”
