Missed Connection

by K Larsen

  “Can I help you?” I ask standing.

  “Titan Jennings. Where is he?” The man demands, rather than asks. His personality puts me on edge.

  “You’ve got him. What can I do for you, Mister?” I let my greeting hang in the air between us. He’s stopped his approach and is sizing me up.

  “Van Buren. John Van Buren,” he states. A chill runs through me. This is Jess’s husband? He couldn’t be more wrong for her, if he tried.

  “I see.”

  “Do you now?” he snaps. “Have a seat, Mr. Jennings, we have a lot to discuss.”

  Anger boils in my gut. “I don’t think we do. I think you should leave.”

  John charges forward and I widen my stance. “Listen to me, you little prick, you do not get to make the rules here. I call the shots. It’s my fucked up wife you’re fucking and my image you’re ruining.”

  “Jess is not fucked up,” I say as calmly as possible.

  John laughs long and hard. “You have no idea. You haven’t lived with her for over twenty years. She’s a train wreck mentally and should probably be institutionalized, but you know, that doesn’t look good and the sympathy vote only carries you so far.”

  My hands clench into fists at my sides. “Why, exactly, are you here?” I grit out.

  “To make you understand. This situation is extremely delicate. I can’t have reports of my wife traipsing around with some, mixed scum from upstate. Do you know who I am?” He looks incredulously at me.

  “Quite frankly, John, I don’t give a shit who you are. Jess is out. Done with you. It seems to me, if you don’t want the press to catch wind of all this, you should be hasty with the divorce proceedings.”

  “Listen, ‘Titan,’ I haven’t had the desire to fuck my wife for a long time, the divorce doesn’t bother me, her image and how it reflects on me—does. If you can’t shape up, I will take measures to keep you in line.”

  I take three steps backward to my desk, slide open the drawer and pick up my revolver. I slide the safety back. “I think you misunderstand the situation, ‘John.’ You have no say here. This is my life. My world. My town. Get the fuck out,” I say. “And so help me God, if you cause Jess one more tear of anguish, I will put a bullet in you.”

  John puts his hands up, like I’m actually going to do something to him and backs out of my office. My hand shakes. The gun shakes. I’ve never had to actually use the gun. I took a couple shooting and firearm safety lessons when I got my permit for it but that’s it. The gun was just a failsafe, really.

  I don’t sit until I hear John’s car kick up gravel on his way out. Adrenaline leaving my system rapidly, makes me feel weak in the knees, so I lean on the corner of my desk. I’m worked up and pissed. I give myself thirty minutes to calm down and resume work. I still need to appear at Luke’s game before I head out, too, and confirm with Rusty and Edie that they’re all set to have him for the weekend. None of that is going to happen, with me freaking out. I never thought I’d meet him or see him. I never anticipated the violent reaction I’d have to his sorry words. How did Jess ever survive that marriage and why would she put up with that kind of man? My heart breaks for her. For the last twenty years, I’ve experienced a wonderful marriage to an incredible woman. And Jess silently suffered alone.

  I finish up my work and lock up the office. When I arrive at the football game, Rusty and Edie have saved me a seat. I desperately want to tell Rusty what happened but I keep my mouth shut because Jess asked me to keep our relationship a secret. I don’t know if I should tell Jess what happened or not but I have a little more than a three hour drive ahead of me to figure it out.

  “Coming,” I yell, as the doorbell chimes. My heart thuds with my footsteps, hoping it’s Ty. I pull open the front door of our townhouse on the Upper East Side. It will be strange to have him in the residence I shared with my husband, but I have to start thinking of it as my house now. I’m starting over, it’s a new life and this new life includes the gorgeous man standing on my doorstep.

  “Hi. Did I wake you?”

  “Come in, I slept a little around ten and then I woke up again. How was the drive?”

  “Awful. I couldn’t get here soon enough. I’ve been aching for your arms.”

  We embrace in a warm hug and Ty’s hands go to my neck and head, massaging in the way only he knows how. It puts me in a trance and I whimper into his strong neck.

  “I missed you so much. I barely survived the week without you.”

  “I know how you feel. This week took ten years to get through.”

  “Sorry, I’m being rude. Let me take your bag and your coat. Would you like tea or water?”

  “Just a bed with you in it would be fine, at this point. What time is it anyhow?”

  “A little after two, last time I checked.” I take Ty’s coat and hang it up in the hall closet. I flick on the light and put his bag at the bottom of the stairs. “Do you want a tour tonight or can that wait until tomorrow?”

  “Tomorrow, I’m beat after the drive.”

  “You do look tired.” In fact, something about Ty’s expression worries me. His eyes seem more creased, his brow looks more furrowed. Not that it, in any way, robs him of his looks. He’s as dashing as ever, but he looks somehow defeated. “Come on, follow me,” I say, heading up the stairs. “I didn’t prepare a guestroom for you, I figured we’d share.”

  “That’s fine with me, Ty says, hoisting up his duffel bag. As long as it’s not the marital bedroom you shared with the senator, I’ll sleep anywhere with you.”

  “Oh, well, John and I haven’t shared a bedroom in years. When he left, I had my bed moved into the master suite. I repainted and got rid of all of the furniture that was in there. I hung some tapestries that I’d always dreamed of having in the bedroom.”

  “Was there anything good about your former marriage?”

  “Angie,” I say, without any hesitation.

  “And besides the lovely Angie?”

  “Nothing I can think of. Maybe some vacations in the very beginning. He liked my cooking and would compliment me on that.”

  “That’s all you got? Pretty sad, I’d say. But I actually met the guy this week and I don’t have anything good to report.”

  I turn around on the stairs and come face to face with him.

  “What do you mean?”

  “He came to my office. Tried to pick a fight. I had to shoo him out with my 38 Special.”

  “Are you serious? You pulled a gun on John?” I feel a twisted smile creeping onto my face and quickly lift my hand to cover it.

  “Oh, you like that, huh? When I’ve got to fight for you?” Ty says and digs his fingers into my hip. He pecks my lips once, twice and then goes in for a rougher, deeper kiss. “I’ll fight them off, Jess, if I have to. Cause you belong to me now. Excuse my French, but I could give a fuck if he’s the state senator.”

  Our kiss goes off like a firecracker, a sonic boom courses under my skin. Ty kisses me so enthusiastically, that I reach my hands out for the wall behind me. He gropes my breasts, thrusts a hand up under my shirt and flicks my nipple hard. I cry out, only to be silenced immediately by his tongue. I start losing my footing and stumble back onto the landing.

  “I didn’t peg you for a girl who would get turned on by jealousy,” he says, rapidly unbuttoning his shirt.

  “I didn’t know I was, but somehow you make everything sexy.” I’m already wet, so responsive I am to him. He tugs down my linen pants and makes as short work of my underwear.

  “I hope the politicos have cameras and spies watching us, Jess. I’m going to show them all how hard I like to fuck you.”

  I moan into his ear and thrust my tongue inside, biting his ear lobe; I wrap my legs around his back just as he tears his own pants down.

  “I hope they have the walls of this place bugged, so they can all hear how it’s my name you scream when you come.”

  “Ty,” I say, wrapping my fingers around his thick shaft and pulling him toward my ent
rance.

  “Condom,” Ty says, scraping his teeth down my neck. “Wallet,” he says as he takes my hard nipple into his mouth. I reach out with a blind hand, patting the landing; when I feel his pants, I search for the back pocket, pull out the wallet and thrust it at him.

  “Do you want to get in bed?” I ask panting. He responds without words, shoving both hands under me and lifting me up. “Careful, Titan. Don’t hurt yourself, I can walk.”

  “Nonsense, you weigh less than Luke. Which way?” he asks as we stagger through the darkness.

  “First room on the right. Light switch is on the wall, just inside the door.” I’m biting his other ear lobe and running my hands all over his pecs and biceps, feeling the muscles strain from lifting me up. He tosses me onto the bed and steps out of his boxers. He’s a dark shadow, a profile, highlighted by a bit of street light leaking in the through the window. His cock is rigid, pressed up against his belly. I watch him tear into the condom wrapper with his teeth and roll it down his stunning length.

  “On your stomach, Jenny. I’m going to fuck you from behind. Let’s see if we can get a real orgasm out of you this time.

  “A real orgasm?” Each orgasm I’ve had with Ty has been better than the last. He’s a tiger in bed and I shudder at what his appetite must have been like when he was in his prime. And Jenny. A nickname already. My stomach flips with intimacy and affection for this man.

  I do as I’m told and crawl forward on my bed, resting my head on the pillow and raising my back up to him. His hand comes under my stomach, the other goes to my hip. He guides himself inside me and I swim in the feeling of fullness, at being so connected with his body. He pulls out slowly and then slams into me with a quick pump. I gasp and push back brazenly right into his cock.

  “I like you like this,” he says with satisfaction. His hand dips into my crack and starts exploring, coming around front to massage my clit. My legs are already shaking. Ty increases his speed and his cock is hitting me on the inside in such a way, that I’m moaning into the pillows. I can feel the orgasm building in intensity and I see red when I close my eyes instead of darkness. Yet, there’s color swirling in a frenzy all throughout my body, building until the pressure threatens to unhinge me.

  “Titan!” I scream into the pillow. The orgasm rips through me violently, stealing my senses, hurling me through unknown territory, where my body fights for equilibrium and to grasp anything it recognizes. “Titan!” I scream again thinking I’d hit the peak, but the orgasm doesn’t let go, it builds until my mind and body threaten to break. I keen into the pillow and completely collapse as the tremors unwind like fiery coils, pulsing red-hot and springing right through whatever calm was left in my body.

  I distantly hear the condom snap through the blur of disorientation. Ty touches my genitals and gathers up lubrication. He rubs his cock on my ass cheeks and strokes himself. I hear the slip and can feel the passes of his hand working his erection. He tenses, almost stops. Then he groans loudly and threads of hot semen hit my ass and my back. He falls forward onto me and slides to the side, pulling me into his arms. We’re sweaty and tangled, breathing hard, and messy with the evidence of our frantic coupling marking our bodies.

  “I knew I could make you come harder,” Ty nuzzles into my ear and tousled hair. He pulls me onto his strong chest and I lie in a stunned and utterly fulfilled state, listening to his heartbeat thunder in my ears. I think he hit my G-spot. I think maybe I’m in ecstasy. Is this what I’ve been missing out on over the last twenty years?

  I roll over and sling an arm over Jess. She’s warm and still asleep. My stitches ache. I overexerted myself last night and it’s obvious I will be paying for that today. I kiss the back of Jess’s neck before sneaking out of the bed and heading to the bathroom. Jess doesn’t know it yet but I have a whole day planned out for us, starting with breakfast. I clumsily bang around her kitchen looking for coffee and filters, so we can enjoy a cup before we head out.

  “Time to wake up,” I whisper into her ear. I set a mug of coffee, sweet and light, on her nightstand, hoping the smell will draw her out of slumber.

  She sniffs the air. “Is that coffee?” she asks with her eyes still closed.

  “It is.”

  “You’re a good man, Ty.” A groggy smile spreads across her face. She rubs her eyes before slowly opening them. She looks good first thing in the morning. Softer, more pure somehow. I lean down and kiss her forehead.

  She wraps her fingers around her mug and lifts it to her lips. “Oh, no!”

  “What? Too hot?” I ask.

  “I forgot, I’m so sorry.” Her eyes are glued to my incision.

  “It’s okay. There was no way we were going to take it easy last night. I knew that.”

  “But you must be so sore.”

  “I’m fine. I promise. Now enjoy that coffee because we have a full day ahead of us, starting with breakfast.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  I shrug and sip my coffee. “I may have planned a few things for us to do.”

  “Really? Ty, you didn’t have to. You’re my guest this time.”

  “Jess, relax, I wanted to and it will be fun.”

  She relaxes and grins at me. “So where’s breakfast?”

  “Norma’s at the Le Parker Meridien Hotel,” I say.

  “Ty! That place is expensive.”

  “And romantic, I hear.” I wink at her and finish my mug of coffee. “I’m hopping in the shower.”

  It’s nine thirty by the time our food arrives and I can hear my stomach grumbling, which means Jess must be hungry, too. “Sheer decadence,” Jess groans. The shareable fruit-stuffed waffles and French toast à la foie gras are delectable and filling. I’m glad I took up the Vanderbilts on the suggestion. “Can’t be beat,” I agree.

  “This is so nice, Ty. I haven’t gone out to breakfast at a nice place in a long time.”

  “It’s just breakfast, Jess.” I reach across the table and take her hand in mine. “How are you really? I know John coming to visit me set you off.”

  She sighs and looks at her plate. “I’m so embarrassed that he did that. It makes me crazy to think that he’d behave that way, when he doesn’t even care about me.”

  “Let it go. It’s not worth harping on and it didn’t scare me off.”

  She nods. “What else have you got planned for today?”

  I scrape the last bite off the plate and motion for the check.

  We enter Central Park at 59th Street and Fifth Avenue and head north past Wollman Rink before catching a ride on the antique carousel. Jess laughs when I tell her we are, in fact, riding the carousel. I ride next to her. She throws her head back and laughs, citing a man my size looks ridiculous on a toy horse. I can’t disagree. I’m sure I look utterly absurd.

  We talk about everything. Luke, raising a teen alone, Angie, her wedding, the ups and downs of running your own business and more. It’s easy and comfortable. There’s no awkward pauses, no uncomfortable silence. It’s as if we’ve been together all our lives. We take our time and wander through the Literary Walk, a path lined with statues of Shakespeare and Sir Walter Scott, before I lead her to the Boathouse Restaurant. We’re seated in the lakeside dining room, and have a spectacular view of the gondolas on the lake and the surrounding gardens. I hope that Jess is enjoying herself. She has a faraway expression and she keeps blinking back what looks like tears.

  “Want to order something to share? I’m not super hungry yet,” I ask. She looks from the window to me and a tear falls. “Jess, what’s wrong?”

  “Nothing at all. I’m being silly. I’m happy. These are happy tears. In all my time in Manhattan, no one’s ever spent a day with me being a tourist; just, exploring and holding hands and talking. It’s as if I’m seeing everything for the first time.”

  I move my chair to her side and wrap an arm around her shoulders. “I don’t want tears, babe, I want smiles.”

  She smiles at me as I wipe her teary cheeks dry. “
Titan, you are an incredible man.”

  “Maybe you bring out the best in me,” I say.

  She wrinkles her brow. “Doubtful.”

  “Let’s agree to disagree. Our day isn’t over yet and I have more in store for us. It’s nice having so much alone time to be together and enjoy what the City has to offer.”

  “I will agree with you on that. And on sharing something, what did you have in mind?”

  We pick up a paddleboat at Loeb Boathouse near 74th Street. Jess looks at me incredulously, as I hold her hand to help her in. “It’s too cold for this!” she squawks.

  “Simmer down, woman. It’s the perfect time of year for this!” I sit in my seat and kiss her until she’s grinning. “Now come on . . . pedal.”

  We take a fifteen-minute ride on the New York Water Taxi to Brooklyn from Battery Park, and motor around the tip of Manhattan to Fulton Ferry Landing and go to the River Café. Jess orders lobster for us both, claiming it would be a complete waste to order anything else, so I let her. We share handmade chocolates under the Brooklyn Bridge for dessert.

  Jess swings our arms as we walk back to her place. “This was the best day ever.”

  “I’m glad you think so.”

  She tugs my hand, so I look down to her. “I mean it, Ty, everything about today was amazing. You’re amazing.” I walk her backwards until her back is up against a tree on the sidewalk. “I’d do this for you every damn day, Jess. All your days should feel like this.” Her breath is ragged and little puffs of fog billow out from her lips. I drop my head and nudge under her nose, she raises her head slightly and I let my lips graze hers. “I love the way your eyes light up when you’re really happy,” I whisper against her lips. I press my lips against hers and let my tongue tease her a bit. “I love the way it sounds when you laugh.” I kiss her cheek and gently bite her earlobe. “I love that when you hold my hand, I feel like the most important man on the planet,” I whisper in the shell of her ear before kissing a path from her neck back to her mouth. “And I love these lips.” She mewls when I kiss her again. Her hands paw at my back, drawing me impossibly closer to her. We’re making a spectacle of ourselves and it doesn’t bother me in the least. Someone hollers ‘get a room’ and I finally pull away and laugh. Jess is flushed, her hair mussed and she’s wearing the sexiest grin.