The One who got Away_A Second Chance Romance

by Mia Ford

Sherry giggled. This job became more and more interesting everyday. She took the steak, looked up into Darren’s eyes then smiled. “Okay, time for me to show you how to do it.”

  Darren and Sherry went on with preparing their steaks, each using their own techniques for pre-cooking, tenderizing, and marinating. When Darren offered Sherry some vegetables to make her own creation, Sherry playfully scuffed as if she were insulted. “Grilling vegetables is for lightweights.”

  Darren laughed out loud. Once he and Sherry went on about preparing their food, the silence was too loud for either of them. Darren poured a glass of wine to accompany the warm wind rushing into the house from the opened french doors. He quickly made his way around the kitchen and dining area and opened every window – every French door. Breezes at time pulled curtains up into the air. Darren looked over at Sherry. With every passing day since her arrival, he wanted to know her story. So many times, he chose to bite his tongue rather than open up a wound. He watched Sherry take a sip of her wine then put it down.

  “Do you miss your family?” Darren asked.

  “Uhh,” Sherry said, collecting her thoughts. “At times, I do. At times.”

  “Oh, I see,” Darren said.

  “You?” Sherry asked.,

  Darren shrugged his shoulders, going on about getting his vegetable skewers prepared as he explained. “Sometimes, I do, but not often.”

  Sherry chuckled. “Wow.” She imagined his family to be the kind of people someone would want their family to be. This guy sure didn’t come from a shabby background. “Why do you say it like that? What could be wrong with your family?”

  Darren looked up at Sherry with serious eyes then smiled, breaking his mean stare. “My family….my family.” He clicked the back of his teeth with the tip of his tongue. “They’re a bunch of snobby people who only want to be friends with people because of what they can do for them. Some of it is okay, but sometimes it just seems wrong. It’s hard to explain. I was always the one out, I guess you could say. There were just certain words I didn’t want to be in.”

  Sherry nodded, translating Darren’s explanation in her mind. “Oh, okay.” Badly she wanted to ask specific questions about this guy’s background. Still, even after three weeks, Sherry noticed Darren’s word choices and how he was never too revealing. “Well, my family are...are...conservative, let’s say.”

  Darren nodded, but wasn’t surprised to hear Sherry’s response. Growing up in Chicago and going with his parents to political events and meetings over in Indiana at times, he was very aware of the cultural and social differences between Chicago and a place like rural Indiana. “Yeah, I can see that.”

  “No, it’s a little worse than you probably would imagine, actually,” Sherry said. “They’re like conservative to the max. On steroids. They’re not bad people or anything like that, but they can be kind of controlling.”

  Darren nodded. He picked up on how Sherry looked for a moment as she explained. Obviously, her relationship with her family brought about a bit of anguish to think about. Darren’s relationship with his family wasn’t so tense, per se. Now that he adopted a child without getting married, his name certainly came up more. On top of that, Darren didn’t go for being mom’s pawn in Chicago’s corrupt, political world. He rarely made an event like his other cousins or his brother John.

  “Okay, so when people say conservative, what do you really mean?” Darren asked. “Like are they super religious.”

  Sherry giggled – a giggle which disrupted the flow of the conversation by turning into an outright laugh. “That’s funny.” You can tell this guy is from a place like Chicago. “Well, that’s one thing. They do go to church every Sunday, but it’s not like they go around knocking on peoples’ doors early on a Saturday morning.” She chuckled. “It’s more like they believe you should live a certain way...by a certain formula. Daughter should be married and settled by thirty. Having baby’s out of wedlock? They will smile in your face, but just know it’s not all smiles when they’re back at the house, congregated in the living room, talking about you with a cold drink in their hand.”

  “I see,” Darren said then chuckled. “Mine is kind of the same way, but they just pay the way out of it.”

  Sherry nodded then looked down, reminiscing about some of the hard times they had growing up. “How you figure that then?” she asked, smiling.

  Sherry listened to Darren talk about his family wanting to rule the world and do anything to get to that point. His mother kissed any important ass she could; has worked for twenty years as a kick-ass attorney who Darren believed probably took kickbacks. His father was basically a slumlord, even though that “enterprise” wasn’t his only source of income. He owned more than a hundred low-income properties around Chicago and in Northern Indiana. Fixing stuff for people? The man shrugged and said, “Whatever the law says and work down the list by how much their rent is.”

  “Oh, wow,” Sherry said, getting a mental image of a top heavy guy in a trench coat with a devious look on his face. “That’s intense.”

  Sherry and Darren continued on finishing up their talk about their families. Much to the others surprise, they each were the “black sheep,” so to speak, of the family. Sherry had become virtually estranged because she didn’t want to play by her family’s rules. Darren was “in touch,” but it was certainly easy of to not keep in contact for years at a time with anyone outside of his brother, mother, and father. He missed three cousins’ wedding, an uncle’s funeral as well as an aunt’s, and several family functions and trips. When he did come around, his family often bombarded him about his “adventures” – travels, incidents in bars, as well as questionable women that sent his mother straight to the phone so she could call somebody and get a background report.

  Sherry laughed out-loud imagining a tall, stern woman on the phone waiting for information. “Your mother sounds like...like...like a real character.”

  “Yeah,” Darren said.

  Darren asked Sherry to join him out on the terrace when they put their meat on the grill. She picked up her glass then followed him outside. They sat out on the section that reached away from the back part of the roof. Every time Sherry sat out here with Gabriel, she felt like she was in a new world. This yard is so beautiful.

  And now here Sherry sat, across the table from Darren. She noticed how content this guy seemed to be with being a single father. Still, she hadn’t figured out why this guy would opt to adopt rather than get married. Shortly after a warm breeze whipped across the terrace once again, an idea was left behind in its aftermath. The trees shading this corner of the terrace rustled their leaves as Sherry turned toward Darren.

  “Your mother sounds like she probably wouldn’t be happy with any woman you brought home,” Sherry said.

  Darren chuckled and sipped his wind. “Well, she was always nice...and she always wanted to know what their parents did for a living. Everyone of them is the enemy and could potential take everything.”

  “Yeah, my dad used to run off every boyfriend I ever had,” Sherry said. “Well, not literally I should say. There were a few that stuck it out, but my dad was something that certainly came up if we were close to breaking up.”

  Darren shook his head and laughed. “Yeah, one day Darren will be dealing with that.”

  “Yeah,” Sherry said. She noticed again how Darren deflected from talking about his love history to the extent she wanted.

  Darren and Sherry looked at one another for a second too long then looked away. Neither had anything to say. Sherry glanced over at Darren. Her perception of him had really changed tonight. For some reason, she would think back to when they were dancing. At the time, Darren wasn’t even her type of guy, but when they danced, everything went in sync.

  Darren glanced over at Sherry when she would look over at one of the rose gardens on the south side of the yard. She crossed her legs as if they were delicate. Her personality seemed to genuine – the total opposite of the world he came from. This woman was j
ust trying to survive as herself and even her family had been cold to her. Darren could relate. The wine kicked in and the breeze felt perfect.

  Sherry noticed Darren clear his throat. Her head started to buzz a bit; her blinks lasted a little longer. First, she smiled then Darren did. She took another sip of her wine, savored the taste, then jumped up. She made her way over to the grill. “Let’s get a good look at the greatest steak in the world.”

  Darren laughed out loud. He then jumped up and rushed over the grill. “Yup, let’s see what mine is looking like.”

  For the next couple of minutes, Darren and Sherry could hardly contain their laughter. They insulted the others steak then complimenting their own. Sherry said he needed to tenderize his meat a bit more; Darren insisted that Sherry’s would probably wind up a bit burnt. “The grasshopper will learn,” she said.

  Darren laughed. Then, as the backyard trees above them rustled with another breeze, Darren turned and looked at Sherry. He didn’t turn around. Sherry noticed, turning away from her steak and setting the fork down. Before she knew it, Darren had gripped her chin and leaned over. He looked into her eyes for a long moment then they embraced one another in a passionate kiss. Sherry melted. The tension she had from her own hectic life, as well as finding herself working as a nanny to come out of a major slump – a nanny of a precious baby boy who was the exact same age her own baby and with the same name would be.

  Darren kissed Sherry passionately for a long moment. It had been a long time since he kissed a woman like this. He struggled to finally pull his lips apart from Sherry’s. They smiled, Sherry biting her bottom lip as she looked up into his eyes. Admittedly, she was taken aback by the kiss. However, like the warm breeze rushing across the yard every couple of minutes, she couldn’t turn it away.

  Sherry, this time, pressed her lips into Darren’s. They kissed passionately once again, getting lost in time while Darren positioned his hands on Sherry’s lower back and held her closely. Sherry eventually threw her arms up around Darren’s broad shoulders. She leaned forward a bit; Darren “caught” her, holding her in a slight suspension.

  Darren broke the kissed, looked around deviously, then grabbed Sherry’s hand. Sherry giggled as she jumped up the step to keep up. Before she knew it, she lay back on an outdoor sofa between two of the sets of french doors. Darren leaned over her, his tall body overbearing her in just the way she liked. Sherry wrapped her legs around his back.

  Sherry enjoyed the deep embrace then leaned her head back to breathe when Darren started making his way down her knees. Tickling sensations at times made her to laugh out loud. Darren laughed harder then kissing his way down to her chest. He pulled his head back and admired Sherry the same way he had back when he went to her place. He liked the size; the natural thickness of her chest. Kissing them softly was a great pleasure for Darren. And he could tell Sherry enjoyed it herself.

  For the first time in a long time, Sherry felt like her old self. She rubbed Darren’s head and looked down every so often. He now made his way down her stomach. She shuttered when he would go too far over over to the sides. Darren chuckled sometimes in return. Of the hookups he had since Sherry, something about this one was different. Rarely did he connect on a personal level with a woman. He had gotten a dose of this feeling with Sherry when he’d gotten up the next morning and headed to the airport. The more time she spent in his presence, the more he had been wondering why he didn’t keep in touch with her.

  Seeing Sherry loosen up in a way she hadn’t in a long time, Darren tugged at the waist of her pants. “You serious?” she asked.

  Spontaneously was the name of the first ten years of his adult life. He shrugged his right shoulder and smiled. “Why not?”

  Sherry smiled and giggled, remembering Darren from that night in her bed. For him to be a businessman kind of guy, he certainly was fun to hook up with. Fond memories came to mind when he thought about Darren after he went back to Chicago, but she never really saw herself as the kind of woman who would catch this kind of man’s interest.

  No more persuading was needed. Sherry lifted her body up as Darren slid off her pants. He threw them to the side then lowered his own pants. The breeze felt so relaxing to their legs. This particular area of the terrace was not only covered by the protruding roof, but also by a thick row of bushes bordering the stone siding. At the front of the terrace were large corkscrew bushes, but spaced apart. The likelihood of the neighbors seeing was pretty slim. Neither Darren or Sherry cared. Certain anxieties and frustrations they both had been carrying on their shoulders recently slid off like boulders slipping over the edges of a cliff.

  Sherry looked over at Darren as he stood up and took off his shoes then pants. “Somebody looks happy already,” Sherry said. She brazenly reached over and grabbed Darren’s bulge, much like the night at her apartment. His strong eyes turned to Sherry, then glanced down at her grabbing his bulge. Something about this chick. He looked down at her bare legs then ran his fingertips along the insides of her thighs. Watching her quiver then smile made his cock throb.

  Darren lay back over Sherry and pressed his lips into hers. This time, he put his fingers in her hair and rubbed the top of her head. When they parted lips, he could see the weariness she battled started to dissipate from her eyes. After chuckling deviously, Darren smiled then Sherry watched his head slowly disappear from her vision as she looked up at the protruding roof. Vines slithered up the posts.

  Sherry moaned from feeling Darren’s tongue slash about between her legs. It had been so long since she enjoyed this innate pleasure. She bit her bottom lip, sometimes closing her eyes for long periods of time. Every so often, pressure built up and she would feel her legs tensing up. When Darren slashed his tongue back and forth on her clit for nearly a minute straight, almost with perfect rhythm, Sherry’s jointed popped loud enough for both of them to hear then she started panting.

  Darren took a big whiff; his jaws became sore. Sherry’s scent was just how he remembered it; whatever kind of soap she used mixed with her natural fragrance in such a way that created this pheromone Darren found hypnotic. Usually, he might be a little hesitant to give oral to a woman. But this was different. It seemed so natural – no debate, no going back and forth in his mind.

  Several minutes later, Sherry’s urges overcame. This man had her back tingling in ways it hadn’t since her first love in high school. She squeezed the sides of Darren’s head with her inner thighs for a long pause then leaned down and pushed him back. Going with the flow, he sat up right on the couch with his legs spread apart. The rest of the world – the houses on either of his own as well as those across the alley – slipped away. Thick clouds rolled over Fort Wayne, but there was no place he would rather be than doing something so courageous out on his terrace...and with a woman like Sherry.

  Darren leaned back as Sherry slid down onto her knees, between Darren’s legs. He chuckled, looking down at her in this position for the first time as it wasn’t something they did when they first hooked up. She is so hot.

  Sherry maintained eye contact with Darren as she slowly lowered her head. Hidden by the protection of the bushes, vines, heavy shadows, and a privacy fence, Darren’s head fell back. His eyes rolled back into his head. “Fuck,” he said, the bass in his voice so low it nearly mimicked a faint whisper.

  Darren moaned while running his hands through Sherry’s head as she orally pleased him. She grabbed the base then ran her tongue up and down the shaft. Her looking up and into his eyes turned him on in ways he’d never be able to describe if he were asked. The passion was real – intense. The connection, albeit not necessarily under the typical conditions – felt more genuine than with any other either of them had ever experienced. Darren relived the feeling of being young with the first girl he liked, free of the stressed and expectations of his elite family. Sherry’s felt as if her chest was lifted of a major burden, like she could breathe again. She felt like her first time making out in the back of her parents’ car with her b
oyfriend when they were gone to Indianapolis. This was spontaneous – daring, maybe even a bit risky. And that’s why she loved it.

  “Damn,” Darren said. He gently pulled Sherry’s head up and looked into her eyes for a moment before pressing his lips into hers. They kissed then smiled at one another. He chuckled.

  Sherry looked into Darren’s eyes and felt as if their hearts were speaking to one another. She lifted herself up onto the couch and planted a knees into the cushion on either side of Daren. Darren, like the frat boy he’d famously been known as in his college years, pressed his face into Sherry’s chest and laughed as he slammed the sides of his face in the middle. The warmth contrasted so well with the warm breeze. When he pulled his face out of her bosom, he positioned his mouth over Sherry’s nipples then flickered his tongue. Sherry’s gasped, rubbing the back and sides of Darren’s head seductively.

  Sherry giggled from Darren’s playful ways when it came to bouncing his face around in her chest. Just when he pulled her head down to his eye level so they could kiss again, the rain tapped on the porch roof. They both looked up then out at the rest of the yard. The sky had darkened; heavy clouds gradually swelled. Lightning flickered in the distance, beyond the high-rises downtown. The breeze had intensified. Trees visibly swelled. Within a split second, the light taps on the roof turned into thumps. Rain poured from clouds; thunder roared in the skies. The three sides of the porch looked as if they were bordered with a wall of water. Darren smiled, getting Sherry’s attention by smacking her ass, then going back to kissing her neck. With the storm as their background music, they kissed passionately until Sherry pulled away and looked down. She wrapped her hand around Darren’s cock then lifted herself up.

  Curse words slipped out of Darren’s mouth as Sherry lowered herself onto his shaft. Her insides felt better than he remembered; he still smelled her scent around his nose, tasted it in his beard as well as at the corners of his lips. Ever so casually, Darren positioned his hands on Sherry’s hips. She winced a bit from feeling her insides stretch, but the slight pain felt so good.