About Time

by Danielle Torella

  “Something casual. I bet you’d look hot in anything. Just do me one favor?” He enters the hallway and stands in front of my barely open door.

  “What’s that?”

  “Wear a pair of heels.”

  I smile and bite my lip, “Really?”

  “Please,” He holds up pleading hands. He is such a goof, I love that. He can go from being too hot it can give you a third degree burn to the guy you want to giggle and wrap yourself around in a massive hug.

  I close the door and pull out my only pair of heels. The pair I got and thought that Josh would love, but instead told me to never wear them again. So I have a few ballet flats and sandals, but this one and only pair of heels. I remember when I saw them in the store. The sales lady was shocked that I wanted white ones, but I just fell in love. They have a good four inch heel and are a matte white with gold metal studs down the back of them.

  Now what to pair them with? I grab a pair of my best skinny jeans and lay them out on my bed and pull out a purple tank top, now that I know that he likes me in purple. I undress from my suit and toss it into my hamper, which is starting to over flow and I need to go to the Laundromat soon. I pull out a black lace bra and a pair of black panties, quickly tossing on the outfit, including my heels and I am so giddy with excitement. I toss my hair up into a quick up do and leave the hair that frames my face down. I peek out the door and look to make sure Derrek wasn’t waiting there for me, because I want to toss on some make up first. I rush across the hall to the bathroom and snap it shut. I do my normal look but add a brighter lip.

  I finally look into the floor length mirror at myself and I for the first time really feel sexy. My jeans fit just the right way and the heels push my butt up a tad and I secretly giggle about it. The top is loosely fitted and light weight. I check to make sure you can’t see my bra and I’m good.

  I open the door and hearing the click of my heels on the hard floor makes me smile from ear to ear. “Whoa,” Derrek’s jaw drops. “I’m feeling a little under dressed now…” I hadn’t even noticed before that he still had on his shorts and now a deep red V-neck tee on. “You know what I have a pair of jeans in my car, do you mind if I go grab them and change here?”

  “No, not at all! Go ahead.”

  He heads to the door and he stops as he’s opening it and looks me up and down and I see the loose fabric of his shorts shoot right out with his erection. Oh my God. He takes his hand to it and just uses a flat palm to press on it, “You are killing me Honey Bee.” And he is out the door.

  Holy crap! I am doing cartwheels in my mind and I go back to my room and grab my brown little purse and throw my stuff in it. I’m in my room when I hear the door open and Derrek makes his way back to the hall. I step into my door way and point at the bathroom door. He smiles and goes into the small restroom to change.

  I wait for him by the door and it only takes him a minute and he is walking towards me in a pair of dark wash jeans and they are hugging his form very well. “Ready?” He asks.

  “Ready.”

  I really considered riding with Derrek, but I really didn’t need the interrogation from Maddy or Josh. I’ll take my battles as they come. Do I like lying? No, in fact I feel horrible about it. I have been lied to by so many people, been deceived by so many people, so doing it to others doesn’t feel good. Why am I doing it then? I’m still trying to figure that out.

  I’m the person who will normally evaluate every situation I am in and choose the smartest and safest route to prevent any pain to someone else, even if it means me missing out or going on the back burner. I have become so used to it.

  I follow Derrek into a small back lot to a place just outside of town, which is good, because that would mean there is a lesser chance of running into someone I know. I park next to his sleek black car and I climb out of mine and observe the stark contrast in our vehicles. Mine is old and baby blue with various amounts of wear and tear, but she is my baby. He steps out and hits the key fob to lock his Dart and nods in the directions of the back entrance into the small bar. He runs his hand through his moppy longer blonde locks on the top of his head and offers an arm out to me. I reach through and hold onto his elbow. I keep close as we walk through the dark back hallway and I can hear the music volume increase as we make our way to the open bar space.

  There is a live band who has a different sound than most of the local town bands around here. Typically they have the same soft rock with a country feel to it. I used be content with that sort of music, but I am growing bored with it. This band however is more alternative and they are covering a song that I have been hearing on the radio a lot, Counting Stars by One Republic. I can instantly feel the smile growing on my face as I absorb the vibe of the pace and how tonight is going to go. Derrek looks down to me and smiles, “Like this song?”

  “I do.”

  He then pulls my hand and leads me out to the dance floor. We just got here and I didn’t think I would be dancing at all tonight, but this song just gets my blood pumping. I’m not a dancer, but I have danced only in the comfort and seclusion of my own bedroom. I start to pull back a little and he sees that I am hesitant, “Come on, dance with me.” Then he plays hard ball and he gives me that weak in the knees smirk and his eyes, don’t even get me started on those eyes. I pull in my bottom lip and flick it and he closes in the slight gap between us and whispers in my ear, “Keep it up and we will do more than just dance and drink tonight.” Deep down I don’t want to release my lip, in fact I want to suck on it harder to show him that I really deep down want to see what happens and if he will follow through in his threats.

  I give an awkward smile and he takes me in for a spin and he starts to move. Oh my, he can definitely move that body of his. He holds my hands out at arms lengths as he starts to move his feet and hips. I am in awe of his movements and my mind drifts to how he would move those hips in bed, with no pants on. I quickly shake my head and clear those thoughts out. He pulls me in closer and his hands are on my hips now, “Move these.”

  “I don’t really know how to dance.”

  “Just feel the music and let go. I know you have it in you.” He breathes into my ear, send chills through my body. I suddenly stumble on my feet, forgetting that I am in heels. He grips into my hips tighter and tells me, “I got you.”

  I start to sway my hips with his hands leading the way, then I feel myself start to move my arms and before I know it they are above my head and I’m just going with it. I have my eyes closed and I’m alone on this floor, Derrek keeps one hand on my back and we dance together. This isn’t like dirty dancing or anything, but we are just dancing together like friends. Nothing wrong with this.

  I can feel his eyes burning into me, willing me to open my eyes and look into his. When the song starts to fade into the next I flutter my lids open and he looks like he wants to eat me. “See I knew you had it in you. Now would you like to stay for one more dance or grab a drink first?”

  I lick my lips, “Drink please.”

  He leaves his hand on my lower back as he escorts me to the bar. There above the wooden bar top are a plethora of neon drink signs for various beers. There is a mirror behind the bar that also has glass shelves holding a variety of hard liquor bottles. There a are a couple different bartenders, one is a woman with black hair who looks like she is about thirty-five and then a man about the same age, maybe a little younger who has dark brown short hair with a beard.

  “Hey Derrek, where have you been?” The guy greets him as he lays down a fifty dollar bill on the bar.

  “Oh, you know working and coaching.” He fist bumps the bartender and introduces us. “Vince, this is Margot, Margot this is Vince we have been friends since school.”

  “Yeah, neither of us got out of this place did we?” Vince jokes with Derrek.

  Derrek laughs, “Eh, this place doesn’t seem so bad lately…” He turns and glares at me. I turn my face away slightly and smile. I am not used to all this flattery. “Can we get two of w
hatever is good tonight?”

  “You got it bro,” Vince grabs two beer glasses and fills them up and sets them down on the bar in front of us. He slides the fifty back to Derrek, “This rounds on me.”

  “Thanks man!”

  “Thank you,” I smile as Derrek hand me my glass. I take a sip and it is pretty damn good.

  “What do you think?” Derrek asks me, after take a large sip out of his.

  I smile and give him a thumbs up as I take another big sip. “I like it, I haven’t had much beer in the past or anything else for that matter, but I like this.”

  I go to swig some more when he stops my hand, “Easy newbie,” He chuckles. “I don’t want you getting wasted on me here.”

  I smile, “I suppose I don’t know my limits just yet.”

  “Sounds alright with me,” He winks. “We can take our time.”

  Just as we are turning to take a look around the room, before going back out on the dance floor a few girls I recognize from the team are hugging me and high fiving Derrek.

  “Hey! So I see you got rid of the asshole that made you so upset for this guy here…” Fancy Rider winks.

  Derrek turns to me, “What happened?”

  “Oh at the bout last night when we went to get changed we found this creature in there crying.” Fancy Rider starts to explain.

  “Then we bugged her to tell us what was up and when we heard it was her boyfriend that was the cause of the tears we tried to cheer her up.” Katie-Strophic chimes in.

  “Why didn’t you tell me that’s where you ran off to after the bout?”

  I stretch up onto my toes, even though I am in heels I am still slightly shorter than he is, “Because I didn’t want to talk about it.”

  He nods and takes a sip from his glass, “Well I would like to know what happened later if you don’t mind, because honestly I am about to find this fucker and hand him his ass.”

  Just as I am about to say something, we are greeted with another one of the girls I got to meet in the restroom last night, Lobotomy Lacey. She is medium built, but she looks solid. She has long dark brown hair with bright red in the under part, it looks wicked cool. Her eyes are so bright and look so kind. I am thankful that she stepped in, so I wouldn’t need to explain anything right now. That’s the reason I am here tonight, to not have to think about it. I need tonight to let go a little and have a drink, which I take a large gulp out of.

  “Hey! Having fun?” Lacey asks me. She leans over the side of me to the bar and whistles at Vince and holds up three fingers and he winks at her and starts to fill up three beer glasses with the dark golden liquid.

  “Here you go ladies,” Vince smiles and Lacey pushes herself up onto the bar and wraps her arms around his neck and he lays a big kiss on her. I feel like I am intruding on a personal moment and I turn around. When I do I find a few of the girl’s whistling and howling at the two. Derrek takes a sip, extends his hand and I take it right away and he pulls me back out to the dance floor.

  “What was that all about?” I ask his shaking my head as I laugh.

  “Vince and Lacey are married and like to put on a little show to make sure everyone knows that they’re taken.” He explains. I keep my eyes on the smitten couple and their heavy petting, but when I turn back to Derrek his eyes are on me, as usual.

  I wonder what it must be like to have the passion that those two put out for everyone to see. To just kiss the one you are with, so everyone can see. Josh is very private with that sort of thing, he never kisses me in public, he used to kiss my cheek, but I don’t even get that anymore. He would hold my hand too and now it’s, well … cold sex for any physical part of the relationship. A wham-bam-thank you ma’am.

  Passion is a tricky word for me. Passion can go in many directions. You can be passionate about something you do in your life, like your job or a hobby. I would say baking is the closest thing I have had of feeling any passion. Then there is the passion described in my books. The hunger, the need for someone. That feeling you can have for one person that makes you go crazy if you are apart for too long or you could even be right next to each other and have to resist from the simplest touch from them. If you don’t obtain it, it feels like you are going to crawl out of your own skin. You would do anything for them and they would do anything for you. It’s a two way sort of thing. It’s not one person fawning for one as the other just takes what they can, but they give, because they want and need to. At one point I felt that way for Josh. There was a time that I would do anything for him, even if he told me to eat burning glass. But he wouldn’t do anything for me.

  How much of that is true about passion, I am unsure. But I sure as hope to hell one day I get to find out.

  Derrek and I dance to three songs back to back and he gets me another beer and with having an empty stomach at this point I’m feeling it. I’m really enjoying myself though, my cheeks hurt from smiling so much.

  When Derrek rushes off to get us another round, I stay on the floor and then I am not alone anymore. I am all of a sudden being swung around by some of the girls on the derby team. Lacey, Fancy Rider, Katie-Strophic, Dawne of the Dead and one I don’t recognize.

  “Hey! I’m Lola Punk!” The new one hugs me right off the bat and it’s a surprise, but very nice. I never get hugs from other women, not even Maddy. Lola Punk is taller than me and has a sexy curvy body. I can see tattoos on her arms and her lower legs and she has cool purple hair, she even has a lip ring. I am really admiring the confidence and courage these girls have.

  “Hi, I am Margot. I love your hair!” I had to tell her, because I love the short spunky and sexy look on her. She can totally pull it off.

  She runs her hand through her hair and thanks me, “Sorry I didn’t get to meet you like most of these girls here. I was at home with a sick minion.” I must have a questioning look on my face, because she explains further. “That’s what I call my little man.” She pulls out her phone and shows me a picture of the cutest kid I have ever seen. He is in a yellow t-shirt and has a killer black Mohawk.

  “Aw! How old is he?”

  “Three.”

  “Well he is adorable!” I gush and she hugs her phone and thanks me.

  Derrek is back and he has to fight his way through the ring of girls around me. Fancy and Lola smack him on the back as he finds an open spot to squeeze through. “So what are you doing with this shmuck?” Lola asks me.

  “I had a rough day, so he is buying me some drinks,” I answer as I take my second glass of beer from Derrek. His fingers linger on mine as he hands me the tall glass. I instantly feel heat deep in my belly, amongst other places. What does that mean? Josh have never given me that feeling and I have been getting it often with Derrek and a couple times with Justin. Just thinking about Justin makes my mood falter slightly. He is such a good guy, but he is pushing me. I like him as a friend and sure he makes my legs shake, but I just can’t leave Josh high and dry or cheat. I am not a cheater.

  Dawne wraps an arm around mine and Derrek’s shoulders looks between us, “Yeah I can see it.” She winks then she is off to dance once the band starts to play a Thirty Seconds to Mars song. She starts to shake her butt and her arms are up over her head and she grabs a good looking guy to dance with. Oh, Lord I like her style. I giggle as I watch her.

  “What’s so funny?” Derrek pokes me in the ribs.

  I motion with my glass filled hand towards Dawne and tell him, “I like her ambition. To just be herself and go for it.”

  “Wanna know a secret?” He asks me. I smile, a little tipsy nod. “You can too.” I roll my eyes as I take another sip. “Ladies will you excuse us for a moment?” The girls look back and forth at each other, winking and raising eyebrows. They scatter like stray cats meowing at night for food and someone throws an old boot or something at them to get rid of ‘em. Ok, Margot, too much to drink. Slow it down, you are making cat analogies.

  “Fuck it.”

  “What?” Derrek snaps his eyes at me.

 
I turn to go back to the bar and I make it there in a flash. I lean over just like Lacey did and I hold up two fingers and yell “Shots! Anything you got.”

  By the time Vince sets to pour me the shots Derrek is at my back and he leans over me. “What are you doing?”

  “Having a good time.” I slap down the money for the shots, Vince thanks me and I hand one shot to Derrek, who has a perplexed look across his face. “Here’s to finally having some fun!”

  He takes the glass from me and holds it up, “Well it’s about time!” He tips his back first and this being my first shot I do what he does and holy mother it burns going down. I feel like I just downed lighter fluid that was lit when being shot down my throat.

  I wince and set the empty glass down on the bar. Derrek laughs at me, “How do you feel now?” He asks.

  I cough and hold onto my throat, I horse out, “I’ll let you know when I regrow my vocal chords, which have been singed.” He gives out a deep throat laugh and it travels to my sex. I actually say sex in my head and it feels different.

  “Hey you are the one who ordered and took the shot, no one put you up to it.” He signals for me to sit on the stool next to him at the bar, but a girl jumps to it before I can.

  My eyes shoot open and I take a step back.

  “Hi there,” A leggy brunette crosses her legs towards Derrek. “I’m Bethany, buy me a drink?” She flutters her eye lashes at Derrek.

  He looks at me and he must see through my sloppy mask I am trying to put up at the moment. I don’t have any claims on him. I go to walk away so he can talk to this girl, when he grabs my hand quick and pulls me down onto his lap. “Oh, I’m sorry but since this young lady here took the seat I was offering you, I thought this might be the best option.” I can feel him nuzzling in my hair. The girl scoffs, tosses her hair over her over tanned shoulder and stomps away.

  My eyes close and I think the word sex again. Sex. I bet sex with Derrek is nice.