by T L Osborn
Did she meet me to humour me?
I doubt that was it.
Making my way into the bathroom and stripping out of my sweat soaked clothes, I turn on the shower. While the water heats up, I grab a clean towel from the rack and toss it onto the floor.
Once the water has heated up to my appropriate temperature, I climb in, allowing the water to cascade down my body. I even turn the heat up just a tad to relieve my aching muscles. The water feels great after my run.
Closing my eyes, I can still see Sasha in my mind. She just won’t leave me alone; she’s tormenting me. I know they say you never know what you had until it’s gone but having her back, dangling in front of me just out of reach is pure torture.
Grabbing my shower gel, I wash myself down, then rinse off. I dry myself, then wrap the towel around my waist.
As I step out of the bathroom, I see Jacob sitting at the island in the middle of the kitchen.
“Hey, what do we need to take to Aria and Simon’s?” he asks, looking up. “Oh good god! Put some clothes on would you. You’ll make me go blind.”
“That only tempts me to drop the towel and actually see what happens.”
“Don’t you dare!” Throwing him a grin, I enter my bedroom, dropping the towel just outside the door and flash him my backside. “Argh! My eyes!”
Chuckling to myself, I close my door behind me and dress in a shirt and some shorts, leaving my feet bare.
I walk down to the laundry and toss my towel into the hamper, then make my way back into the kitchen.
“Want a beer?” I ask Jake as I open the fridge door.
“I deserve one after having to be witness to your naked ass.”
Popping open the bottle and handing it to him, I say, “At least it wasn’t my front side.”
He grips the bottle tightly as he glares at me. “Don’t even joke about that. It wasn’t funny.”
“Come on, J. Lighten up.” I take a seat next to him and take a sip of my own beer. “You’d do that and much worse to me.” I nudge him playfully.
He grins. “True. I’d have streaked through the house too.”
“Gross.”
“You started it.” He laughs.
My phone buzzes on the dining room table. I glance down and see an unknown number upon the screen. My heart lifts.
Is it Sasha?
I’ve waited a damn week and a half for her to call.
“You gonna answer that or stare at it like an idiot?”
Thumping him hard with my elbow, I press answer. “Hello, Toby speaking.”
“Hi Toby,” her sweet voice says down the line. Silence follows where neither of us know what to say. “So I read your letters and your words made me cry.”
I almost hear the sound of her tears down the phone through the cracking in her voice.
“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to make you cry. I don’t ever want you to be sad.”
“They weren’t sad tears, they were happy ones. The letters were beautiful. I just wanted to thank you for sharing those with me.”
“You’re welcome. I wanted you to have them and see I was telling the truth. I needed you to believe me,” I say.
“I believe you. Toby I-I… Oh shit! I have to go.” A click tells me she’s gone once again without the chance to say goodbye. My chest tightens as if gripped by a vice, heart thumping hard within my ribs and my blood boils over in anger.
What else did she have to say but couldn’t?
Gripping my phone tightly in my fist, I stare at it, willing her to call back.
Yeah because she’s going to hear me through a disconnected phone line. God, I’m such a fool for this woman.
A knock on my door interrupts my thoughts and I glance up seeing Aria standing in the doorframe holding what appears to be my freshly dry cleaned work shirts.
“Hey,” I say with a small smile though I’m not really feeling any sort of joy.
“You okay?” she asks, stepping into my room and placing my shirts onto my bed.
“Not really but I will be.” When I get some damn answers from Sasha. “Thanks for dry cleaning those, you didn’t have to.”
“I know and I brought lasagne for dinner as well as chocolate self-saucing pudding.”
“Yum, but weren’t we doing dinner next week?”
She shakes her head. “Nope. I’ve got book club next week which I’m going to invite Sasha to if that’s okay with you?”
I shrug. “It’s your house, do what you want.”
“I just didn’t want it to get weird for you.”
I turn to her and place my hands upon her shoulders. “Thank you for respecting me but if you want to be friends with her and invite her to things then do it. I’m not going to tell you who you can and can’t be friends with. I’m only hoping I can keep her in my life as a friend if that’s all I can get, even though it hurts to see her with someone else knowing she was once mine.”
“Toby–” she starts to say, but we’re interrupted by Charlotte.
For the second time today, the women in my life don’t get to finish what they’re going to say to me and it’s frustrating.
Sighing, I join my brother-in-law Simon and Jake on the couch while Aria puts the lasagne in the oven to heat through. Sitting on the couch, I listen but don’t really pay attention to the conversation. I can’t stop thinking about Sasha and what she was about to say. I really hope this wasn’t the last time I spoke to her. I don’t know if I can handle losing her again.
Sasha
I’m sitting at my desk, drinking a strong, hot cup of coffee and planning next week with my students, thinking of fun things to do with the information the children had learned during our police museum outing. I want to make it fun and interesting for the kids.
Kyle is also coming home today and I really don’t know how I feel about seeing him. I haven’t heard from him since he left on Sunday. Even my birthday had come and gone without a message from him. I’ve sent text after text with no response.
Sighing, I get back to my task when suddenly my classroom door opens and sends my paperwork flying.
Damn it, now I’ve got to reorganise it all.
“Sorry, I didn’t meant to scatter all your paperwork,” Aria says as she bends down to help me.
“It’s okay I shouldn’t have my desk opposite the door. I’m thinking of changing the classroom around during the school holidays. Where is Charlotte?” I ask.
“Out hanging her bag up and chatting with her friends. Actually, I’m glad I caught you alone. I wanted to ask you something.”
“Is something wrong? Is Charlotte learning enough?” I ask concerned I’m not doing a good enough job.
“Nothing is wrong, Sasha. You’re an amazing teacher. I want to invite you to my place tomorrow night for book club. It’ll be nice to have you over and Toby will be there. The guys all usually join Simon to play poker or pool.”
Toby, will be at her house?
Can I go?
Should I?
“Yes, I’ll be there. What shall I bring?”
“Yourself and your favourite dessert.”
“Okay. What’s your address?” I ask.
She whips out a business card from her handbag. “Just text me tomorrow and I’ll reply with it. See you tomorrow about 7 pm.” She walks away to be shown the artwork that Charlotte has done during the week while the rest of my class races in to join their friends.
I greet the parent’s warmly but still get the cold shoulder from Felicity. I don’t think there’s going to be anything I can do about that.
My day flies by with wild children who don’t sit still and send paint flying everywhere—including all over me.
When I arrive home, I’m surprised to see Kyle’s car in the driveway. I didn’t think he was going to get home until later.
Eagerly, I race into the house to greet him and find him sitting at the dining room table drinking a beer.
“Hi, how was your trip?” I ask as I grab myself a gla
ss and pour some wine into it.
“Fine. How was your week?”
“Great. Long and tiring because I worked some late nights and I got invited out tomorrow night.”
He scoffs. “By who?”
“Aria invited me to her book club.” I take a sip of my wine.
“You’re not going.”
“I am. If you want to come you’re more than welcome but I’m going with or without you.”
“Like fuck you are. I already told you I don’t want you spending time with them. Perhaps you could stay home and we could spend some time together.”
I shake my head. “I wanted to spend time with you last week but you chose to go out with your friends; now I’m going out with mine.”
“You will not be going and that’s final.”
“You can’t tell me what to do Kyle,” I snap.
I turn on my heels and go to head towards the bathroom. Only, he grabs my wrist and holds it tightly. Too tightly.
“Kyle stop. You’re hurting me.”
He leans down and roughly presses his lips to mine. His hand grips my wrist tighter so I can’t move.
“You’re mine, Sasha. You do as I tell you. When you’re my wife, you’ll learn that.” He roughly lets me go and I stagger up the stairs, tears streaming down my face, and my right wrist is throbbing hard from where he held me.
Slipping away into our room, I sit down on the bed. My heart hammers in my chest and my stomach forms a pit of guilt, anger and pain. Our engagement is beginning to feel very one-sided.
He seemed so much sweeter but now, he’s not the guy I thought I knew.
I fill the bathtub and pour in some bubble bath. Changing out of my work clothes, I toss them into the full laundry hamper.
Great! Now I have all his laundry to do this weekend and he won’t help at all.
I don’t care what he says. I’ll go to Aria’s house tomorrow night. I’m hoping Toby might be there.
Toby.
He was always sweet, kind and caring, taking the time to run me bubble baths, pour wine, and he would even cook dinner even after a long day at work. He always made time for me.
Tonight I have to fill my own tub, but if that gets me away from Kyle for a bit so be it.
Slipping beneath the water of the bath and taking a sip of my wine, thoughts of how easy it was with Toby flooded my mind. And then there’s Kyle. I loved Kyle from the beginning. Now, I’m not so sure I’m in love with him anymore.
I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to end up like my mother, falling for the wrong man. But what if the right one is standing right in front of me and I just don’t know it.
Chapter Twelve
Sasha
Kyle hasn’t spoken to me since our fight last night. He’s determined that I’m not going out tonight but he’s wrong. He’s stupidly left the house today to play golf and my plan is to exit the house while he’s not home.
I’m just putting the final touches on the lemon meringue pie that I’m taking with me tonight to share with Aria and put it into the container.
Grabbing my handbag, I find my phone but not my keys.
Where on earth are they?
I usually leave them by my phone on the bench. After searching the entire house, I lean against the kitchen bench as the realisation washes over me.
Kyle has them.
I can’t believe he’d go so far as to take my keys. There’s no limit to his determination to keep me at home. He was welcome to join me tonight and meet my friends but it seems I can’t get him to do anything with me.
Picking up my phone, I fire off a text to Aria.
Me: Hey, so I’m going to be late. Seems my fiancé thought he’d be funny and take my house and car keys.
Aria: Do you need a lift? I can get Toby or Jake to come grab you.
Me: Oh, I don’t want to put anyone out. I’ll get a taxi.
Aria: Too late. Toby is coming to get you. What’s your address?
Me: 15 Tulsa Grove, Totara Park.
Aria: He’s on his way.
Ha! That’ll teach Kyle for taking my keys.
I wait maybe ten minutes when I hear the sound of a Ute pulling into our drive. Picking up the container, I’m already opening the door before Toby can knock.
“Wow. This is fast service. I just hope the fare will be reasonable.” I laugh as he grins at me.
“For this entire pie I’ll take you anywhere you want to go.” He licks his lips as he points to the container in my hands.
“You have to share with others,” I say as he opens the door to his Ute.
I hand him the container and climb into the cab. Once I’m settled, Toby hands it back.
“I’m surprised you didn’t run off with it. “
“I should’ve while I had the chance.” He closes the door and steps around to the driver’s side climbing in beside me. I inhale his scent. It makes my heart beat loud enough I can hear it in my ears. My mind wanders to the first night we made out in his car along the backroads of Whiteman’s Valley.
We’d found a deserted stretch of road and he pulled the car over. He gave me a wicked grin and slid the seat back, then beckoned me over with his finger so I was straddling him. He ran his hands onto my waist as I slid my hands onto his shoulders. My body shivered lightly since all I was wearing was a flimsy summer dress. He pressed our noses together. He slid one hand up my body, over my breast and around my neck as he gently pressed his lips to mine in a slow heated kiss. The heat from our bodies warmed me as I pressed him back against the seat and deepened our kiss. My hands held on to the seat as I ground my hips against his, telling him what I wanted. I felt so wanton and full of desire. That was the first of many nights in his car, alone in the moonlight, just us, making love.
Opening my eyes I see we’re almost out of Totara Park.
“You okay?” Toby asks as he pulls the car to a stop at a set of traffic lights.
“Yeah. Why?” my voice cracks as I try to hide my hint of desire.
“You moaned my name is all.”
Damn it. I thought it was just in my head.
“Sorry, I was–”
“Reminiscing? Me too. You’re the only one I’ve made out with in a car.”
“We didn’t just make out.”
He grins. “No, we didn’t. Those were some awesome nights.”
I feel my face redden and I’m glad he can’t see me through the darkness though I do hear him smile as if he’s won a prize.
“I can change the radio station if you’d like,” he says.
I shake my head. “No, this one is fine. So tell me, where does Aria live now?” I ask him.
“In Whiteman’s Valley, in a gorgeous two-story home,” he replies. “So how come you needed me to come pick you up tonight?”
“Let’s just say my dickhead fiancé took my keys.” He growls. “Stop it. He’s not a bad guy, he’s just–”
“Controlling, manipulative, and just an ass,” Toby says. I sigh. “Come on, Sash. I’m right. What guy takes the keys of his fiancée so she can’t spend time with her friends?”
He’s right and I know it, but I also know Kyle is a good provider and can be a great guy when he wants to be.
“Can we not talk about this please? I’m looking forward to seeing Aria and I don’t want a shadow hanging over it.”
“You’re right. I don’t want to dampen tonight and I certainly don’t want to make you upset or you might not let me have any of that pie. No one makes pie like you.”
“Not even Aria who was taught to bake by your mum?” I ask.
“Not even Aria.”
“You want to know a secret?” I ask. I hear him inhale as he hesitates slightly. “Your mum was the one who taught me how to make lemon meringue pie.”
“She did? I knew it was your favourite dessert but I never knew that.”
“Yup, and I wanted to make it because I love it.”
“I always thought it was your mum who taught you to bake.”
<
br /> “My mum didn’t teach me much. She walked out on my life, leaving for Australia and her new man.”
“Have you heard from her?”
“No, and honestly, I’m not sure I want to. I always understood her feeling trapped since she had me so young and then fell out of love with my dad, but I never got how can a mother walk out on her child and not look back.”
“I think your mum is the one who is missing out on what an awesome woman you’ve become. She’s missed all the special moments in your life and that’s her choice and her doing but she’s the one missing out, not you.”
“Thanks, Toby. You always know what to say to make me feel better.”
“Do I get the entire pie now?” he asks
Toby
I couldn’t resist getting cheeky with her as I pull the car into Aria’s drive.
The large iron gates open and we drive up to the house.
Parking the car, I get out and make my way around to her side of the vehicle. I go to take the container of pie from her so she can get out of my Ute but she’s quicker than me and exits without a fuss, then spins the meal away from me.
“This is not safe in your hands.” She giggles.
She forgets I’m taller than her and I wrap my arms around her frame gently, stepping towards her so she’s flush against me. Placing my hands over hers the reaction within my body is unexpected but not unwelcomed. My heart thumps within my chest as I lean my head down so my lips are against her earlobe. Her body shakes lightly as she inhales a sharp breath.
Am I affecting her the same way she is me? Can she feel my heart beating for her?
Inhaling, her perfume fills my nose and makes my head spin. It’s perfect, sweet and soft… like her.
We’re interrupted by the outside light turning on. Sasha steps away from me, leaving me aching to keep her in my arms—to hold her a little longer. I shouldn’t think about her like this but I can’t help it. Every time I spend a day…an hour with her only makes me want her more. It’s as if I’m falling in love with her all over again. I shouldn’t fall in love with her, yet she’s the only one that makes my heart come alive, makes me believe I can be happy.
