Ballad Ares

by Lulu M. Sylvian

  I tried not to take the comment like a bolt to my soul, but insecurity travels faster than the speed of thought.

  I took a ragged breath. “You don’t?”

  He stopped my words with a kiss. “I want nothing more than to get naked with you right now. Don’t think otherwise. I’m not looking forward to playing with Rosie tonight, but I will be.”

  I blushed so hard my face hurt. Ares pulled me into an embrace. “You have to maintain propriety with them. Be the example right?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, I try not to be the do as I say and not do as I do parent.”

  “That, and I won’t give Dick the dick anything he can use against you.” He wrapped his arms around me tighter.

  “When can we see each other again?” I searched his face.

  He pulled out his phone and stared at it. I watched him poke at it and realized he kept his datebook in it. I was impressed. He kept a datebook.

  “What’s your number?” I gave him the house number and he called it, testing. Then I gave him my cell and he called that. I answered the call and programmed his number in.

  “We meet with Al, go over what we are thinking about.” I realized he was talking to himself and not me . Which is good since it barely made any sense. “Depending if they actually put us in the studio tomorrow or Tuesday, probably not until Wednesday or Thursday.”

  I just looked at him. I found that hard to accept. Three days at the earliest.

  “Once we are in the studio, we tend to break for sleep if we remember. The guys want to get this done. We’ll probably power through a few tracks, see how it’s going, a day or two to see if things are mixing right. See if Al likes the direction, then we go back in record some more, clean tracks up as needed. We will be in and out like that for another week at least.”

  “Okay so what does that mean for us?” I just found him, and now I wasn’t going to see him because of what he does. It seemed odd calling it “work.”

  “It means I will spend too much time away from you.” He kissed my eyebrows. It was soft and gentle, and a touch sexier than just sweet.

  “I will call whenever I can, and maybe you can come downtown?” He cocked his head slightly to the side.

  I sighed, “I can’t just pop downtown whenever. I do have a job. And I do have to take care of these two.”

  “You’re right, you’re right. I wasn’t thinking about your schedule—”

  “Did you just say I’m right?” I cut him off. I honestly did not think men in general could admit that a woman could be right. I know Richard never did.

  “Yes, I am well trained. I have two older sisters.” he chuckled. It was a lovely rumble in his chest. “We will work this out. I will get a rental car if I have to.” He smoothed his hair back from his brow with both hands. We just stared into each other’s eyes, lost in our own thoughts, lost in each other.

  I sighed again.

  “Okay, let’s get you back. These two need to go to bed soon or they will be miserable tomorrow.”

  He nodded in agreement.

  The girls thought it was a big adventure to ride downtown so late. I had them put their pajamas on so I could get them into bed as soon as we got home. I actually expected Bree to fall asleep on the drive.

  It wasn’t that long of a drive to get downtown. A quick jump on the freeway and twenty minutes later I pulled into the drop-off area for his hotel. It felt like five minutes. Bree was almost asleep, so Ares just kissed her on the cheek. Cassidy insisted on getting unbuckled for a hug. I was thrilled they took to him so fast. He had been charming and very attentive. I didn’t want to think about how many women he had gotten with those tactics. I also unbuckled for a proper goodbye hug and kiss. He knows how to hug. I felt as if he folded my essence into him. It was a full body press, with just a hint of groping. He kissed me long and slow. It was toe curling without involving tongues— tongues would have made leaving him hard. He watched as I pulled away.

  My phone rang less than a block away.

  “For the record, this sucks,” he said.

  “I have to agree. I miss you already.”

  “I don’t have anything that smells like you. Remind me to steal your panties next time.”

  My cheeks flared with heat, and my core throbbed with want. “Sounds like a good plan to me,” I managed to gulp.

  That was the longest loneliest drive home I ever had from downtown.

  I wanted nothing more than to call Ares when I first woke up. But I had no idea what his schedule was. I really did not need to worry. There was a text waiting for me on my phone. He sent it about thirty minutes before I woke up. He asked me to call him when I got up.

  I felt stupid-happy. I sent him a quick text letting him know I would call as soon as the girls were delivered to their respective schools.

  Hearing his voice after being separated for fourteen hours was a balm. I hadn’t appreciated how sharp my longing for him truly was until he answered his phone. Amazingly enough, he voiced the same concern, that waiting to see each other even a few days when another twelve hours was going to be taxing. It was going to be hell.

  I felt like a giddy teenager. We had nothing to actually say, but we wanted, needed that connection. We just wanted to be together even if it meant listening to each other breathe over the phone.

  As it was, it took four more days and a really bad storm to get him away from the studio. Thursday afternoon, a storm cell that produced at least two tornadoes, swept through town. Unfortunately, it caused major damage in a few spots, and it took out the power downtown.

  When the strange SUV pulled into my drive I was thrilled. I had given “Studio Guy” Doug, directions and he said it would be no problem with his GPS. I watched from the front door as a man with a long wavy blonde ponytail, a full beard, and full arm tattoos got out of the car. I didn’t recognize him, but realized he was one of the guys from AudioVox. I confess I really am not a good fan. I didn’t even know what any of the guys looked like until I met Ares. Even with looking them up online, I only had eyes for Ares, so I didn’t recognize him.

  Ares got out of the other side of the car. He beamed when he saw me. My heartbeat faster and I caught my breath. The SUV pulled away as soon as they were out of the car.

  He engulfed me in his arms, and I lost myself in his kiss.

  “This is Lizzie,” he sounded almost proud introducing me. Was I that important?

  “Gunter.” He held out his hand and we shook.

  I led them into the house. I had invited all of the band to the house. We had power while downtown was out. The other two guys were off to find a party. After all they were staying next to a major university, there was bound to be at least one black-out party going on.

  Gunter, it turns out was really a homebody, and missed his wife and kids. So, the thought of just hanging out with mine was appealing. I also think the storm shook him up. If you aren’t used to fast violent storms, they can be intimidating, especially when they can all too easily become deadly as this one had.

  The girls came clamoring for Ares’s attention, they wanted to show him more toys, and movies they liked. They hung back a little when they saw Gunter. Ares laughed as he introduced them. “This is my friend Gunter, he’s got little girls at home too.”

  “Not so little,” Gunter said. “Eleven and fifteen now. But I remember they used to love playing with Tiny Pets. Do you have Tiny Pets?” he pointedly asked the girls.

  The girls gushed. Gunter was officially now their new best friend. We have entirely too many Tiny Pets, which means according to the girls we do not have enough. Their collection includes over one hundred of the small plastic, big-eyed animals plus special travel cases, and Tiny Pets playhouses. And Gunter knew all about them.

  He let them drag him away to play Tiny Pets. He turned and gave me a huge wink as they dragged him down the hall. I must have blushed to my toes. Was I so obvious? I wanted nothing more than to be alone with Ares, but not if I had to neglect my girls and ignore my gu
est.

  Ares whispered in my ear, “He’s got us covered, let’s go.”

  “Where?” I whispered back.

  “I don’t care sweetheart, the closet, any place we can lock the door.”

  “Bathroom.” I grabbed him and ran.

  My bathroom is huge. It has a jacuzzi tub, a walk in shower, a separate room for the potty, and a walk in closet. That’s where I took him.

  “Is this what we are?” I asked as he pulled his pants off. “Just hormones and sex like kids?” I ripped at my own clothes to get them off. I wasn’t passing on this opportunity, but I still wondered.

  “Right now, yes.” He wrapped around me, his skin was smooth and warm. “But this isn’t all we are.”

  His kiss was home. How could I doubt when my body felt like this very thing was everything right in the world. Our coupling was swift and intense. Everything was intense with Ares, he was an intense man. All hail the quickie! He dressed faster than I did, kissed me on the forehead and left.

  “I’m gonna go find out what they have gotten into.”

  There is a special breed of man. They are modern, self-assured, and they know how to play with dolls. Both Ares and Gunter proved to be such men. Maybe it’s a long haired thing, maybe it’s the manipulative power of my little girls. There they were, two grown men dressed in black, long hair, assorted leather, and chains, playing with fairy and mermaid dolls.

  Gunter made some comment about how come the dolls were always naked. Apparently, they were at his house too.

  “Not exactly the naked plastic girl dolls of the rock’n’roll lifestyle huh?” I asked.

  “Nope,” he agreed.

  The girls were in heaven. I don’t know how they did it, but they convinced the men to play beauty parlor. The girls could brush and braid their hair as much as they wanted, as long as the guys were allowed to pick the movies. They watched old-fashioned adventure movies of Tarzan and the Labors of Hercules. Of course, since they were from our movie collection the movies were cartoons and did manage to have princesses in them. Gunter had me snap a picture with his phone to send to his wife. His blond hair had many sloppy braids, each ending in a bow, and Bree had started painting his fingernails.

  I did have black nail-polish, so both men could maintain their hardened rocker images once they left. Ares made sure to clearly state under no circumstances to let Steve or Kris know anything about this.

  “Yeah,” Gunter continued the thought, “they will declare our man-cards revoked.”

  I just had to laugh. I thought there was more sex appeal and manliness in my TV room at that moment than I could handle. “Trust me Gunter, as a woman, and I’m sure your wife will agree, your man-card was just extended indefinitely for this.” I gave Ares a once over and did not suppress my giggles. “I know his certainly has.”

  “Are you saying this makes me hot?” He flipped his braids and batted his eyes at me. Cassidy had given him double sets of pig tails.

  “Oh yeah,” I smirked, “for a mom this is better than p-o-r-n.”

  “What’s pa-pa-po, what’s that spell mommy?” Cassidy tried to put the letters into a word. I was so glad I could still spell around her. The guys couldn’t contain themselves and both started to guffaw, loudly.

  “Popcorn, baby, popcorn” I explained, “I need to go make some right now.” My composure held until I made it to the kitchen. I could barely breathe from the laughter.

  We fixed the girls’ beds, so the guys had places to sleep, and put the girls to bed in my room. Gunter grabbed a book and said goodnight early. He was off to talk to his wife and kids.

  On the couch I snuggled up against Ares, tucked in under his arm. I felt safe and, dare I say it, loved. That love feeling was probably just caused by hormonal surges. My logical brain just needed to be quiet, and let me enjoy the feeling.

  We sat together and watched TV. I wanted to watch a movie, but Ares insisted on watching the news first.

  “You watch the news?” I furrowed my brow, not expecting this of him.

  “Yeah, I try to once a week or so. I like to know what’s going on in the world.” He explained.

  The local coverage was almost exclusively about the tornado. Ares sat quietly and focused as footage of the damage was shown. Ares harrumphed and made other noises in response to the world news and political stories. I liked the insight I got into his brain.

  Eight

  Power was still out in parts of town the next morning, so schools were closed. Even so, the girls were up early. I kept them quiet as our guests slept. They clearly had a much different schedule than we kept, that or they were just taking advantage and sleeping in. Either way we let them.

  When Doug “Studio Guy,” came to pick them up later he informed us the power was still out in the part of town with the studio. But a few miles away at the hotel, they had power. This was going to throw off the schedule, and unfortunately, it meant getting back and staying in the studio as soon as power came on. They didn’t know how much would need to be redone since they were down for quite a while before the tornado actually hit. Gunter decided to catch a ride back with him, and hang out at the hotel. Ares choose to stay with me and the girls. Doug was adamant that Ares had forty-five minutes maximum to be in the studio once he got notification the power was restored.

  I agreed to have him there within forty-five minutes.

  “This means I’ll probably have to work straight through all weekend now. I was hoping to be able to hang out with you on Sunday, and discuss stuff.” He petted my arm as we watched the black SUV pull out.

  “I guess this means we discuss stuff now.” My heart sank, my stomach twisted into a pretzel. Stuff? What did Ares mean by stuff? Stuff could be a very bad word.

  “Well, you know it’s Easter in two weeks, right?” He followed me back into the house.

  “Yeah,” okay, Easter, that wasn’t bad stuff, that was chocolate and bunnies’ stuff, maybe I was overreacting.

  “Well, I don’t know what your plans are, but.” He sighed and wiped his hair back from his brow with both hands. “We should be done sometime next week. I’m not sure how far off the storm knocked our schedule. But we will be the ones to have to make up the lost time. The studio isn’t going to bump back everyone for the year, they schedule that tightly. The guys are gonna want to head home as soon as we’re done here. I mean we should be done next week. Ahhh.” He flopped down on the couch in the living room. “What I’m saying is I’m supposed to go back to Seattle, and I don’t want to. I want to stay and spend Easter with you. I was thinking about getting a rental car and staying an extra week, maybe ten days.” He didn’t finish the thought.

  I was in his lap and kissing him. He wanted to stay! This was good stuff.

  “So that’s a yes?” he asked between kisses, a laugh in his voice.

  “That’s most definitely a yes. This is Richard’s year for Easter, but we could have breakfast with the girls before he picks them up. You would have to be here early.”

  “I can do that. Also, can I give the girls a gift?” He was asking permission to give my children presents. What kind of man does this? The kind I wanted to keep.

  “They are going to get huge Easter baskets from Miss Angie, and a large quantity of stuffed animals and chocolate from the Easter Bunny, what did you have in mind?” I was still on his lap. This was a comfortable place to have conversations from. I knew the girls would come to find me soon, their TV babysitting show would end sooner or later, so I planned to stay here as long as I could.

  “Something small, something special.” He grinned. “Also,” he paused again “I want you to come to church with me on Easter.” I nodded. Church on Easter Sunday, that I could do.

  We could hear the thunderous roar of little footsteps approaching down the hall. I jumped out of Ares’s lap, but he still held on to my hand.

  Bree was delighted he stayed. “Ares, you stayed!” She jumped onto the couch next to him. Cassidy was hungry, and announced that she wante
d Mexican food for lunch. Ares agreed, and volunteered to treat us.

  He got the call informing him that the power was back on as we were checking out after having eaten. We drove directly from the restaurant to the studio. Ares kissed me before getting out of the van to head in for work. It felt so domestic, it felt so right.

  I lost Ares to his work, and didn’t have another opportunity to see him for more than a few minutes several days later. He thought he was going to get a dinner break, and it turned out they were going to have to work straight through. He came out to the car to say hi and to break the news to us. It was bittersweet. I got to smell him and kiss him, but that was it. He told me he would get a rental car in the next few days, so as soon as he could, he would drive out to the house.

  Nine

  “Okay, what gives?” Trish squeezed lemon into her tea, and gave Lydia a knowing glance. “You look like a combination of a sad-sack puppy, and the cat that got the canary.”

  “What? That made no sense at all.”

  “You know there is a certain smugness about you, but you are acting kind of like a kicked puppy.” Trish examined me with her eyelids half closed.

  Lydia chuckled wickedly into her drink.

  It was the one day a week when both girls were in school that I didn’t go into the preschool and do filing. Trish had called, she “needed friendly faces.” So, Lydia and I drove downtown for lunch. Friendly faces usually meant Trish had broken up with the latest man. This was supposed to be the Trish support club, not the grill Lizzie brigade. Lydia clearly knew what had been going on with me, and it was making Trish nuts.

  “Let’s just say it wasn’t a canary I caught, but an anaconda.” I did my best to raise a single eyebrow.

  Trish leaned in with excitement. “You got laid? Oh Lizzie, tell me everything. Was it that guy you met?” She glared at Lydia, “You knew?”

  “Hey, I helped her buy the slut wear for the seduction,” Lydia smirked.

  “Deets.” Trish sat back and watched me expectantly.