The Eternity that Follows

by Diane Marie

  “You’re lying.”

  “I am not.”

  “Well I’ll just have to see it tonight on you, and see for myself.” Joey said, unable to keep himself from getting an erection. “And then I can dance and parade around the bar for you all night, and tease you like I did last night.” Gabriella said, joking. “Oh I’d love that.”

  “Have you spoken to Tie?”

  “No, not yet.”

  “Well call him now, and see if he wants to come out with us tonight.” Gabriella instructed, as she then left the room to go downstairs to make them something to eat.

  When Gabriella came upstairs with breakfast, Joey informed Gabriella of his phone conversation with Tie. “Tie said he would love a chance with Josephine again. He said he favored Josephine over Sara the night at the club. Something about how he felt confused as Sara talked him into leaving the club and Josephine sat by and let it happened. He didn’t think Josephine wasn’t interested in him. I told him how Josephine was upset he had left the club and I told him, I’m almost positive, she would want to hang out with him tonight.”

  “Well, I should call her and make sure, wouldn’t want Tie to get his hopes up.” Gabriella said, picking up her phone right away.

  Gabriella was happy to report to Josephine, how Tie had felt before he left the club. Josephine admitted to forgetting what Tie even looked liked, but was okay with them being set up for the night. ‘If I don’t like him, I’ll just start dancing with some other guy like Sara did.’ Josephine said, after Gabriella informed her how the night at the club ended for Tie. Josephine was mad inside, Sara had whisked him away from her, only to leave him later on in the night.

  Joey and Gabriella picked Josephine up at nine-thirty. It was Joey’s job to pick where they were going for the night, since they rarely ventured outside of Mandala. Joey decided he would bring the girls to a lounge a few towns over, being he wasn’t much in the mood for going, out and was only doing so to please Gabriella. When Joey picked up Tie after Josephine, Gabriella hopped out of the passenger’s seat in her hot pink dress, to give Tie the front so he and Josephine wouldn’t feel uncomfortable in the back together.

  When they arrived at the lounge, Joey instructed Gabriella and Josephine to ‘go sit down at that table together’, while he pointed where. As Gabriella watched Joey up at the bar with Tie, getting their drinks, she couldn’t believe how cute Joey was looking. Joey was wearing a pair of black Dockers, and a black short sleeved shirt that had thick white stripes with his black timberland boots. Gabriella thought he looked adorable as she watched him come over from the bar.

  Joey and Tie gave the girls their drinks and then sat down. The conversation started with the night they all went to the club. Josephine crossed her fingers, Joey and Gabriella wouldn’t mention she left that night with Vinny. Josephine was out of luck when Joey opened his mouth.

  “Jemma gets arrested, and Sara ditches you and this one leaves with that scumbag.” Joey said, pointing to Josephine.

  Joey wasn’t trying to put Josephine down, he in fact actually thought Josephine was a nice girl, but he couldn’t help but call Vinny a scumbag.

  “Yeah he did turn out to be a scumbag.” Josephine said, in lieu of the situation with Jemma.

  “Who?” Tie asked, brushing off that Josephine had went home with someone the night at the club.

  Joey began to tell Tie the whole story about Vinny. He left out the part where Vinny had potentially gotten Gabriella pregnant, but he did make a reference to how Gabriella had hooked up with him last summer. As it was information needed to explain how Jemma had left with him the next night. Josephine and Gabriella took over the story, explaining the night at Starfall, and how Jemma thought Josephine should play by the girl code. Tie too, thought Jemma was ridiculous for thinking so, after what she did to Gabriella. The conversation got down to the grits of it as Joey took back the story, ending at the end the night Jemma went home with Vinny. At the end of the story, Tie felt compassion for Josephine, whom he had heard cried at the bar over a male user of women. Tie then suggested, he and Josephine go over to an empty couch together so they could get to know each other better. Tie wanted to show Josephine what a gentleman was like.

  Joey and Gabriella were pleased, Tie and Josephine seemed to be getting along well. Joey though was most grateful for the time alone with Gabriella.

  “I liked last weekend better.” Joey admitted.

  “Oh how come?”

  “Because it was just the two of us.”

  “As long as where together now.” Gabriella said, then kissing Joey on the lips.

  Joey took Gabriella’s kiss as an open invitation to explore her tongue. Joey and Gabriella were getting heavy at the table, until Gabriella pushed him away.

  “You still want me after all this time?” Gabriella questioned. “I’ll want you till the end of time.”

  “Aww Joey. You mean it?” Gabriella said, crossing her heart with her arms.

  Joey looked into Gabriella’s eyes, and gave a warm loving smile.

  “Yes I mean it. Forever?”

  “Forever.” Gabriella replied, kissing Joey another vow of eternity. “And the eternity that follows too?” Joey pleaded, after their kissed ended.

  “For the eternity that follows.” Gabriella said, grabbing Joey’s hand into her own, and placing it in her lap.

  “I can’t wait to go home.”

  “What time is it?” Gabriella asked, taking Joey’s right wrist into her left hand, and looking at his watch. “It’s only one.” “Where are those two anyway?”

  “They’re still over there.” Gabriella said, pointing over to the couch Joesphine and Tie had ventured to.

  “Aww wow.”

  Josephine and Tie were on the couch kissing.

  “This song is rather romantic” Gabriella hinted.

  “Then may I have this dance?” Joey asked, standing up and putting his hand out for Gabriella’s.

  “Certainly.” Gabriella replied, taking Joey’s hand and letting him steer her away.

  Joey led Gabriella to an open spot on the floor of the lounge, and gently placed his arms around her waist. Gabriella put her arms around Joey’s neck, gently pushing him close to her. Joey and Gabriella danced with their eyes closed as Gabriella leaned her head down from the high shoes she was wearing, to place the side of her face onto Joey’s chest. Joey stood there swaying Gabriella to the music as he held close. The two of them were then lost to their surroundings.

  When the song ended, Joey gave Gabriella a slight bow, to thank her for the dance. Gabriella giggled at Joey’s gesture, awing inside her heart. Joey caught Gabriella’s eye as he lifted her chin up, and left his hand there.

  “Forever right?” Joey asked, wanting to make sure Gabriella was as lost in their dance as he was.

  “Forever.” Gabriella said, and then Joey kissed her lightly on the lips.

  Joey and Gabriella then joined Tie and Josephine on the couch, when the reality of their surroundings had come back to them. Joey made a comment about leaving soon, and Tie said they were ready to go. Tie and Josephine had made plans to get dropped off at Tie’s house, so Tie could bring her to a special spot he knew to watch the sunrise together. Tie and Josephine alleged they had a lot of getting to know each other left to do, and wanted to spend hours talking. Joey and Gabriella knew better, and guessed they wanted to be left alone to do something more together.

  When Joey and Gabriella got back to Gabriella’s parents house, they sat in the driveway for a brief moment.

  “Do you want to go somewhere to watch the sunrise ourselves?” Joey asked, still in the mood for more romance after their dance. “Let’s go watch it in the backyard.”

  “All right.”

  Gabriella told Joey, she would meet him in the backyard, so she could go inside and get a blanket. Gabriella took a bottle of red wine out of her parents liquor cabinet, along with the blanket and meet Joey outside. When Gabriella got outside, Joey was carving their names in
to a tree in the backyard.

  “That was my favorite tree to climb growing up.” Gabriella said, when she noticed what Joey was doing.

  “Well, now it’s my favorite tree because our names are carved in it.” Joey said, while placing his Swiss army tool on his key chain back into his pocket.

  “Forever.” Gabriella said, in regards to their names being carved in the tree.

  “Eternity will last a lot longer then this tree.”

  “I hope so.” Gabriella said, handing Joey the bottle of wine, and wrapping her arms around his waist from behind.

  Joey pressed himself back into Gabriella, as he pushed her closer, giving a warm hug from in front of her.

  Joey and Gabriella made there way to laying on their backs while they gazed at the stars. They tried counting them, both sure, they were looking at the same star, at the same time. When the sun started to raise, Joey held Gabriella close, assuring her, she was more beautiful then the sunrise.

  When they made love that night, Joey told Gabriella all of the parts of her that were beautiful to him. Joey paid special attention to Gabriella’s breast, sharing with her for the first time, just how beautifully he thought them to be. Joey made Gabriella feel so beautiful, she used her beauty to make slow love to Joey. Joey laid on his back and watched as Gabriella eccentrically displayed how beautiful Joey had made her feel. Gabriella let her hair flow down on one side, then gently swaying her head, for her hair to fall behind her again. Joey was lost in how beautiful Gabriella looked as she made love to him. Gabriella’s hair had all fallen in front of her face again, and Joey gently brushed it behind her.

  “You’re so beautiful Gabriella. I’ll never find the words to display how beautiful you are.” Joey said.

  Gabriella couldn’t distinguish what Joey said, to be able to articulate how Joey’s words made her feel, so she let him turn her onto her back, and express with love making, how beautifully he thought her to be. Gabriella felt so beautiful, she couldn’t help but feel, something grand should come from their love making.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  The next couple of weeks went fast for Joey and Gabriella. They spent their Sunday in, sleeping late from staying awake until the sun rose. When they woke up, they remained in bed all day, cuddling and staring into each other’s eyes. When night time rose, Joey and Gabriella made pancakes for dinner together. Gabriella thought the act would be intimate. She taught Joey, when it was the right time to flip the pancake over, and brown the other side. She held Joey’s hand on the spatula, helping him until he was comfortable flipping, but when the pancakes were ready, Joey suggested Gabriella should stick to the cooking from now on.

  Joey and Gabriella then laid in bed to watch a love story together. Joey confessed to watching the same movie for the first time, the week he was waiting to meet Gabriella at the party. Gabriella fussed over which day it was, so Joey boggled his mind to remember. Gabriella felt fate take a hold of their love, as she exclaimed to Joey, she was watching then too.

  When Joey and Gabriella made love to each other that night, they repeated back and forth, they would never leave the other. Joey stared into Gabriella’s eyes, while swearing he were looking down to her soul, and finding complete trust in Gabriella's words. Gabriella stared back, feeling the same, but unable to convey how strong her trust had grown.

  On Monday, the RSVP’s from the wedding began to roll in. Gabriella was over joyed when she retrieved the mail Monday afternoon, calling Joey up right away to tell him. Joey was ecstatic too, sharing in Gabriella's excitement. After dinner that night, Joey and Gabriella checked their registries online. They saw, a lot of items were already bought, both growing enthralled for their big day.

  As Joey and Gabriella made love that night, Joey imagined they were in their new home together. Joey envisioned having Gabriella in every room of the house, while they were waiting for the arrival of their first born. Joey climaxed when his vision led them into the master bedroom. Joey shared later on with Gabriella what he had been dreaming during their love making. Gabriella fell asleep that night, imagining what their house looked like.

  On Tuesday, Gabriella meet Joey for lunch at the diner in Candlewood, being Joey was reluctant to leave her in the morning. During lunch, Gabriella made a comment about not being able to bring Joey lunch at the job site, to make up for it, Joey spent his lunch hour talking to Gabriella about what was left to do to complete the house. Joey left out all details that would give away what the house looked like, also keeping what colors he had chosen for what rooms from her. Joey still wanted to keep the house a super, secret surprise.

  When Joey got home from work on Tuesday, after dinner, he brought a can of black paint into the bedroom. Joey then moved and covered the furniture on the desk wall. Gabriella was busy in the kitchen, with no clue what Joey was doing upstairs. After Gabriella was through with the dishes, she went into the bedroom to meet Joey out of his shower, and found him painting the wall black. When she asked what he was doing, he said he needed another color besides hot pink in the room. He didn’t care if their house was going to be completed soon, admitting he couldn’t bear to look at the hot pink wall from the bed anymore.

  That night in bed, Gabriella laid staring at the black wall. She wasn’t mad Joey had painted the wall black without asking her first, she wanted him to be happy, but she was upset Joey hadn’t told her sooner, the color of the room was bothering him.

  Over the wind from the windows, which neither used considering the home was cooled with central air, and the fumes of the paint smell, Joey and Gabriella made a new kind of love. Joey brought Gabriella down to the floor and sat her up as she sat in the position she did when they were outside of Gavin’s party. Joey found great intimacy in the view he got of Gabriella’s private area, watching himself move in and out of Gabriella. Joey wished he was making a baby as the thought alone set him off.

  On Wednesday, Joey let Gabriella sleep in late again. He left her another note this time a little more romantic.

  ‘You are my everything and forever we will be. I love you. I’ll be thinking about you all day!’

  When Gabriella woke up late, and noticed Joey wasn’t there, she immediately found the note. Gabriella read the note and smiled with a sheer, romantic, fuzzy feeling. After dinner, Joey took Gabriella into his arms, vowing to always live up to everything Gabriella expected him to be. To prove himself, Joey brought Gabriella into the shower with him and made love, telling her all the ways he vowed to protect her from the world. He promised to love her for eternity, no matter the cause. He promised if she grew sick; he’d stay at her side, if she couldn’t bear children; he’d still be there. He promised to love her when she was old and gray. He also promised to kiss all the sadness that would ever come her way, away.

  Thursday morning, Joey and Gabriella had their first real fight. The fight erupted over Gabriella’s announcement of going out with Sara for the night. Joey left the house in a huff, saying she had ‘no business going out during the week when he had to work the next day.’

  Though Joey was made at her, as planned, Gabriella made her spinach lasagna for dinner, unaware Joey had been craving her to prepare it again. Joey took one bite of Gabriella’s cooking, and his anger was let go. He realized he was lucky to be sharing his life with Gabriella, and apologized for getting angry, admitting how strong his trust was for her.

  Joey and Gabriella then had their first ever make up sex before Gabriella was due to go out. Joey apologized for storming off this morning, while he made love with complete trust in mind. Gabriella returned her trust for Joey, apologizing for not realizing it would bother Joey if she went out on a week night. Joey corrected her, saying that wasn’t what bothered him, what bothered him was that she would be going out without him. Gabriella eased Joey’s mind, by rekindling every feeling of intimacy that was ever felt between them through a deep, passionate kiss. She then turned him on his backside, kissing his body all over, going down to his erection.

  Joe
y was more then satisfied when Gabriella left, and fell asleep peacefully, trusting Gabriella. Joey woke up with worry over Gabriella in the middle of the night, over a nightmare he had been having. When he realized Gabriella was cuddled up behind him on her side, he placed his hand over hers and held it tight to his stomach, waking up Gabriella. When he strengthened his hold, she gave him a kiss on the shoulder to announce she was awake. When Joey asked ‘did you cheat,’ Gabriella immediately laid Joey on his back, showed him through love making, just how faithful she had been.

  When they woke up Friday morning, Joey wanted the reassurance, Gabriella was faithful to him. He slipped in her, slowly and cautiously as his eyes went to meet hers. Joey found complete trust again as he moved in and out of her, gently. Joey became passionate, speeding up his speed, leaving Gabriella walking on clouds for the rest of the day.

  When Joey got home from work, he took Gabriella out for a pleasant dinner. After dinner, they took a row boat out on the property Joey owned, on Lake Romantica. Gabriella couldn’t see any of the few houses in the night time that were settled on Lake Romantica. The houses were set far back from the lake and Lake Romantica was simply too dark. Joey noticed through the lamp he had brought along with them, Gabriella was watching the woods awaiting a glimpse of the house. Joey then warned her, as though she was a kid walking into the store looking to get a toy out of the deal, not to expect anything.

  Gabriella refused to make love to Joey that night, wanting desperately to see the house. She was annoyed Joey had picked every detail of the house, the tiles, the floors, the paints on the walls. That had eventually eaten away at Gabriella, and she felt refusing sex was the only way to make her point known to Joey. To make up for it, Joey drove over the house to retrieve all the samples he had. When he returned back to Gabriella, he showed her every detail of the house. Gabriella was taken back by Joey’s good taste, and felt at ease in living in a home where she wasn’t the main decorator.

  Gabriella let Joey make love to her that night, choosing to be more passive in bed. Gabriella was off thinking, how wonderful it was going to be to have a home their own for she and Joey to live in. Gabriella loved the fact, her new dishes matched nicely with the samples Joey had shown her. As Gabriella was lost in thought, Joey realized she wasn’t responding much. Joey looked into her eyes and asked ‘forever?’ as he was truly questioning if forever still stood in Gabriella’s heart. Gabriella had a wave of sexual pleasure from Joey’s words, and replied, ‘forever’ as she turned up her desire for him.