by Grace Rawson
The plan lands and everyone gets off the plane in single files.
“Well, I have to catch the last leg of my flight here,” Tiffany says. She turns around to give me a big hug.
“You have my number and my email. Call or email any time,” she says.
“Of course I will. I’m glad to have you on this trip,” I tell her.
As I go down the escalator towards the baggage claim, I see two familiar faces waiting for me.
“Mom? Dad?” A big smile appears on my face.
“Surprise!” My mom yells.
“What a big surprise!” I exclaim. My mom gives me a big hug.
“I’m glad you’re home safe,” my father says as he gives me a small hug.
“I’m glad you’re here Dad,” I tell him.
“Well, let’s go get your luggage and you can tell us all about your trip,” my mom interrupts us.
The three of us walk towards the baggage claim area. My mom continues to ask questions about the trip as my father stays silent.
The ride back to my place wasn’t that much different. Mom continues to ask prying questions. I answer. Dad stays silent. What is he thinking?
“Well, here’s your apartment honey,” my mom says. “Are you sure you don’t want us to help you in?”
“No Mom. I’m find thank you.”
“Ok, we’ll we’re having dinner at our house tonight in celebration of your return. Don’t forget!” Mom says sternly. I nod.
Dad gets out to help me pull my luggage out of the trunk. He gives me a hug good bye and hands me an enclosed envelope.
“Some light reading,” he says. “I love you honey.” With that, he gets into the car and drives off as Mom waves good bye.
Maybe he didn’t crumple up my letter like I initially thought.
I open the door to my apartment. I take in the smell of home sweet home. Tossing the baggage aside in my room, I jump on the bed and stretch out.
“I missed you bed,” I say loudly.
I walk into the bathroom. “I missssssed yoooou bathroooom,” I sing. I’m in a very good mood. My father is talking to me again. Those were the most words we have exchanged in a long time.
I take a nice long hot bath. I miss taking baths. I didn’t know how good I had it until I was in Somalia. The absence of a simple bathroom made me realize that I have nothing to complain about. If people like Ash and Max can survive, I should to.
I plop onto my bed to read Dad’s letter. It’s long, but he pretty much apologizes for his actions. He tells me he loves me and that he did what he did because he wants the best for me. He tells me that he’s proud of how I’ve grown.
I start crying. I know I have it good. At least, I have it better than the majority of the world. I can’t complain. The only thing missing is Ty.
*****
A year has passed, and no Ty. I’m starting to think I’ll never see him again. His promises were empty.
I applied for a position at the local hospital where I completed my residency. The hospital is within my hometown. My relationship with my father improved tremendously.
It’s late in the middle of the night as a call comes into the ER.
Ever since that fateful day in Somalia, I found my true calling. I enjoy caring for those who come into the ER for injuries.
I rush to the ER to find a patient bleeding. He’s clutching his lower abdomen from pain.
“Patient is male. Caucasian. 6 feet 2 inches,” the nurse continues to brief me as I assess the man lying on the bed.
“How are you, Sir?” I ask.
“We’ll Angie, what a surprise! Are we going to continue to meet like this?” Ty grins at me.
“Ty? What in the world happened to you?” I ask him as I deal with his injury. This isn’t the first time I’ve had to patch him up from a gunshot wound.
“Long story short, I’m home on leave and got into a brawl with some knucklehead trying to steal from a little old lady.”
I gave him a very disappointed look. Home on leave? And he hasn’t tried to get in touch with me!? Without saying I word, I turn around and enter a few entries into the computer. It’s not a serious wound so the nurse can take care of him from here.
“Well, you take care of yourself, Captain Kirk,” I say. I turn around and walk off. I’m mad. He promised to stay in touch and he didn’t even send an email or try to get a hold of me. To make it worse, he’s been home!
“Angie, wait,” he starts. But, I storm off.
For over a year, I’ve been thinking of this guy and he’s just like all the other jerks I’ve dated. I can’t believe I’ve been so stupid and so blinded.
Maybe my father was right about him after all.
I work the reminder of my shift, clearly agitated and disappointed. Agitated at him. Disappointed in myself for waiting for him.
*****
I swing open my apartment door and head straight into the bathroom to shower. I immediately head to the kitchen to open a bottle of wine. I need to get all this anger out somehow.
Just as I settle down on the couch to enjoy some TV and wine, the doorbell rings. I get up and look through the peep hole.
It’s Ty with a bouquet of roses and a bottle of wine. Surely he came to apologize for the jerk move he pulled over the last year. I’m going to pretend like I’m not home. He needs to just go away. I want some alone time.
He rings the doorbell again.
“Angie, I know you’re in there. I can hear the TV,” he yells through the door.
I sigh. “What do you want Ty?” I yell back.
“I want to talk. I brought peace offerings,” he says.
“This isn’t someone kind of war. Just go away,” I tell him.
“It feels like a war right now,” he replies.
I open the door only to shut it in his face. Quiet. A few seconds go by and I open the door again.
I roll my eyes and cross my arms.
“I hate you so much right now,” I snort angrily.
He hands me the roses and wine and walks right past me.
“Ok, just come on inside,” I yell after him.
He surveys the room like he’s back in the battlefield and walks around to see past the corners. His arm hugs his abdominal wound from the gunshot earlier.
“You should still be at the hospital or be taking some pain killers,” I tell him as I close the door and walk towards the kitchen sink. I pull an empty vase from the shelf and start to fill it with water for the roses.
“Don’t need any of that,” he says. “I survived out in the battlefield without it.”
I turn to look at him and roll my eyes again.
“You need to stop being so hardheaded and let someone try to take care of you for once,” I inform him. I turn back around to put the flowers in the vase.
“I’m sorry,” he apologizes. He comes up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist. He rests his head on my shoulder. Ty takes a deep breath.
“I missed you so much Angie.”
I’m angry again. He thinks he can just walk right back into my life and expect me to forget about everything! This was how it happened the first time. He apologizes, makes me feel sorry for him, tells me how much he misses me, and leaves never to return again!
I’m not falling for this trick he’s playing. I push him off me angrily.
“How dare you!” I scream. “You leave me, promising to keep in touch. But you don’t! You’re home on leave and you haven’t even tried to get a hold of me? No phone call? No email? If you hadn’t showed up at the hospital I may never even have known that you were home.”
I walk past him to grab a napkin to wipe the tears off my face. I’ve been so lonely. I’ve missed him so much. I’ve waited. And waited.
Then he speaks, and I hate myself for hanging onto his every word.
“Angie,” he starts and walks over to hug me. I push him away and grab my glass of wine. I plop on the couch and ignore him.
“I, I’m not home on leave.
I’ve been home for a month or so. My contract is done.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” I ask.
“No, but it’s the truth,” he pauses. “I want to start over and tell you the truth.” He clears his throat.
“I thought about you. I found out where you lived the first day I got back. But, I didn’t know how to approach you. I wasn’t sure. I was afraid,” he confesses.
Part of me wants to forgive him after this confession, but the other part of me is telling me to stand my ground. He tricked me once before.
“I thought about all the ways I could approach you. I just wasn’t sure.” He walks closer, but refuses to sit. He looks nervous and looks away.
“I wasn’t sure how—what you would think of me.” He runs his fingers through his hair, still cradling his wound with his other hand all the while.
My heart beings to melt. I can’t help it. Ty is strong, always so sure. He says exactly what’s on his mind with no hesitation. But, here he is nervous and unsure of himself.
I sit my glass on the table and motion for him to sit down. He waits for a bit and adheres to my command.
I look into his eyes trying to peer into his soul. I see his eyes move to my lips and stops short of my breasts. I realize that I’m not wearing a bra. My nipples are poking through my tank top. He looks away nervously. I grin. For once he’s nervous and I’m in command.
I get up and straddle him, gently because of his injury.
“Angie,” he says surprisingly. But, before he can finish I lean in and gently bite his bottom lip, teasing him. I roll my tongue in his mouth and kiss him.
He grabs my butt and squeezes. He pulls me harder. From between my legs, I feel him get harder. I grind my hips against him as I hold onto him.
He reaches up, pulls my tank top over my head and eagerly sucks and caresses my breasts. I love the attention he gives them.
I get up, unbuckle his belt, and take off his pants. His member springs into view, standing at attention. Making sure I don’t disturb his injury, I tenderly climb right back on top of him and slip him inside me.
“Ahhh,” he sighs. “You feel so good.”
Ty relaxes and leans back on the couch as I slide up and down on him, slowly. He reaches up to squeeze my breasts. He pulls my chest towards him as he puts his face in between my girls.
Our bodies move in sync as I gently ride him. Ty kisses me again with one hand on my breast and the other on my butt. He feels so good.
Ty puts a finger in my mouth. Still riding slowly on top of him, I suck on his finger as if I had his hard member in my mouth. He reaches around, spreads my butt cheeks and penetrates me from behind with this finger.
“Oh my god Ty,” I moan as my eyes roll into the back on my head. Pleasure after pleasure sweeps through my body.
“Oh, Ty!” I yell and climax. Sensing my orgasm, Ty immediately comes too.
I collapse on top of him, not wanting to get off for fear he’ll disappear again.
“I love you Angie,” Ty finally says. His face is happy, but slightly pained, and I realize I’m leaning on his injury. I gently slide off of him and onto the floor, between his legs.
“What I wanted to say earlier was,” he stops for a second, and turns back to me. “I went to meet with you Dad a few days ago. I told him that I love you and that I want to marry you.”
He pulls out a small black box, gets down on his knee beside me, and says, “He gave me his blessing. So, will you make me the happiest man on Earth and marry me?”
I look at him in disbelief. My mouth wide open.
“Yes! Yes! Yes!” I scream. There’s no doubt in my mind that Ty is the one I want to spend the rest of my life with. He slips the ring on my finger.
I get up to hug him and realize that Ty just proposed to me naked. We both collapse on the couch laughing in each other’s arms.
THE END
Your surprise bonus story is on the next page.
Bonus Story 5 of 6
Loved by the SEAL
“Ma’am, the schoolhouse called and said Gunner has been waiting for over an hour.”
“Over an hour!” I yell at my secretary, as I stuff my laptop into my bag. “Michael was supposed to pick him up today! That good for nothing jerk!” I swing my bag over my shoulder and run out of the office as fast as I can.
I hate the fact that my son has to wait. Worse, I hate that he’s constantly being let down by his dad. They were supposed to go to a baseball game and then get ice cream. I should’ve known that he would never show up. It’s not the first time and I know it wouldn’t be the last.
It’s half past three as I pull up to the private school. Gunner’s sitting on the stairs, patiently waiting. I park on the street and help him into the car. I can see the look of despair on his face as he realizes, yet again, that his dad has forgotten about him.
“How’s school today honey?” I ask, hoping to lighten up the mood.
“He forgot, didn’t he Mom?”
“Well, honey, your Dad called and said he’s stuck at work.” I can’t believe I’m lying for this guy! “He says he’ll…”
“You don’t have to cover for him Mom.” I can hear the shakiness in his voice as he tries to hold back tears. “I know he forgot.”
Gunner is only ten, but he’s so mature for his age. I couldn’t ask for a smarter or braver child.
“Well honey, I can’t take you to the baseball game, but why don’t we catch a movie and I’ll take you out for ice cream afterwards?” I hope this will change his mood.
“I just want to go home Mom. I have homework.” I quietly nod, and head for home.
Michael has been like this since we’ve been married—extremely flaky and inconsiderate, just plain rude and a temper not to be messed with. I don’t know what I ever saw in him. Not only was he a terrible husband, but he’s also a lousy father.
I can’t believe that we’ve been divorced for five years and Michael is still making my life a living hell. I have to pretend to be cordial with him for my son’s sake. There’s no getting rid of him. Michael’s exact words when we signed the divorce papers were, “If I can’t have you, no one can.”
At first I thought it was a joke, but he wasn’t bluffing. Every guy I’d ever dated never came back after the first few dates. They’d always make excuses. But Michael w0uld rub it in my face that it was him who drove them away.
Life was supposed to be better.
I know Gunner needs a father figure in his life. He needs a good role model and a hero. Try as I may, I can’t fulfil that role. My job as the CEO of an up-and-coming financial institution keeps me extremely busy.
Just then, my phone rings and snaps me out of my pity session.
“Hello, Ms. Concordia speaking,” I answer.
“Ma’am, its Nancy. I’m sorry to disturb you, but Mr. Henderson called and asked if you could bump his meeting up to 9 a.m. tomorrow morning. He says the board…” I let Nancy trail on while I go back to daydreaming.
Truth be told, I’m so tired of my job. I’m overworked and underpaid. I need to go on a vacation. I haven’t been on one since Michael and I got married. That was over ten years ago! Now we’re divorced.
“Nancy,” I interrupt. “Clear my schedule for the next two weeks. Move all the important meetings out and cancel the meaningless ones.”
“Ma’am?” says a puzzled Nancy.
“You heard me right Nancy. I’m going on a vacation. My son and I both need some time away.”
From the back of the car I sense Gunner perk up. I can feel his aura change.
“Uh, yes Ma’am. About tomorrow’s meeting…”
“Move that meeting two weeks out until I return. The COO should be able to handle everything else while I’m away.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“And Nancy, no phone calls or emails while I’m on vacation. Understood?”
“Yes, Ma’am.” And with that I hang up. Wow, I’ve never done anything so spontaneous befor
e. Aside from Gunner, my job is everything. Now I’m finally putting it on the back burner while I enjoy some time away.
“Mom, are we really going to go on a vacation?” Gunner asks.
“Of course honey! Why not?”
“Well, for one, I have school.” School…I forgot about Gunner’s school.
“I’ll figure that out honey. Don’t worry.”
I pull up to the driveway and into the garage. My dream house. My home. Finally, a home. I worked so hard for everything I got, despite all the obstacles in my way. This is definitely something to be proud of.
Inside, I pull out my laptop and plop it on the dining room table while Gunner runs up to his room.
“Honey, do your homework before anything else,” I yell out behind Gunner as I began my email.
To: [email protected]
CC: [email protected]
SUBJECT: Gunner Concordia
Ms. Tyler,
Please excuse Gunner from class for the next two weeks.
I pause. Well, I can’t say that Gunner will be going on a vacation. It wouldn’t be acceptable. What else should I say?
Due to my heavy workload, I’ve decided to take a vacation and Gunner is coming with me.
I decided against lying. I’m a horrible liar anyways.
I understand that its last minute, but I believe this will help Gunner. He will be refreshed upon his return, thus improving his schoolwork.
It’s not like Gunner needs a break from school to refresh. He’s a smart kid and is way ahead of his class.
If there is a cause for concern, please feel free to contact me.
Respectfully,
Ms. Lexi Concordia
I press ‘send’ and immediately start searching for vacation destinations. I have no clue as where to go. I don’t want to go to a place that is too touristy.
I start with the Bahamas. I’ve always wanted to go there. Growing up in a poor family meant vacations and travels were up to how far my imagination would take me. Plus, the Bahamas was our originally going to be our honeymoon destination until Michael opted for a motel 50 miles away instead. Romantic isn’t it?
