Coming Back to You

by Devon Youngblood

  Chapter Thirteen

  Waking up in Pierson’s bed is surreal. The curtains are swaying from the early morning breeze, allowing the sun to peak through. I smile, remembering when we picked them out just days before. Swinging my legs over the side of the bed, I attempt to stand up but the feel of Pierson's arms around my waist, making me wish it was Sunday rather than Saturday.

  "Where do you think you're going? Did you think I wouldn't notice you slipping out?" He asks, pulling me towards him.

  "I have to get to work." I laugh, playfully struggling to break free of his arms. It's no use.

  "You slept here all night and I didn't have any nightmares," he tells me.

  "You didn't?"

  "No it was the best sleep I've had in years." Releasing me, I squeal with laughter and make a run for the bathroom but Pierson is quick. In an instant he is up, chasing me through the house. With the bed sheet wrapped around me it makes it difficult to run around.

  "I'm going to get you," he playfully exclaims while chasing me down the hall. I reach the living room and panic for a brief second as I attempt to determine my next move, but it’s too late.

  "See I told you." He tackles me and we both fall on the couch. Enjoying the comfort of one another's arms, we lie on the couch for a few minutes to catch our breath.

  "Now I’ve worked up an appetite. Let me make you breakfast before you head out," he suggests, releasing me.

  "Sounds good. What can I do to help?" Filled with contentment, I watch him work his way around the kitchen.

  "Just sit your pretty ass down," he orders, pointing the spatula to the chair. Wearing a sheet and a smile, I sit and continue to admire him as he puts his inner chef to work making eggs, bacon and toast. I find it sexy that he knows his way around a kitchen, but I still struggle internally over the possibility of our future. Is it possible to be completely happy when you live in a relationship day by day? Can I be happy just being in the moment? I guess I can take Ruby's advice and try.

  "Thanks for breakfast. Now I have to go," I tell him while sliding on my jean shorts and one of his tee shirts. He gives me a passionate kiss before I leave.

  Fifteen minutes later I arrive home. Since it's still early, I try to sneak in.

  "Doing the walk of shame are ya?" Ruby asks from the couch. She has obviously been up for a while and has a cup of coffee in one hand and a book in the other.

  "Jesus! You scared the shit out of me," I yell.

  "I take it you two made up?"

  "Yes, we did. It was more than that even." The grin on my face says it all.

  “I’m sure it was,” she says with a smile.

  After a quick shower I make my way to the office. Arriving before Sam and Sara, I take inventory of my stock and make the necessary orders for the following catering bookings. I check my email and notice one from Bethany, the Town's Event Coordinator. She and I work together on a lot of the same events.

  Date 06/15/13 Time: 7:03pm

  Maura,

  We are having an Auction at the Allenbury Springs Community Center. I was wondering if you would like to offer your services, perhaps a cooking lesson, cater a luncheon or dinner or offer a dessert bar to the highest bidder? We will have several vendors offering their services and would love for you to participate. All the proceeds will go to help the local animal shelter so they can provide food, shelter, vaccine shots etc.

  Date of Event: 6/30/13

  Time: 7pm

  Venue: Allenbury Springs Community Center

  RSVP

  Thank You

  Bethany Porter, Event Coordinator

  I ponder the email. The dessert bar sounds like a fabulous idea and would help me branch out. The event is about two weeks away, so it gives me plenty of time to plan accordingly.

  6/16/13 Time 7:45a.m

  Bethany,

  Please add me to the list of participating vendors. I would love to offer the Dessert Bar option to the highest bidder.

  Thank You for considering me. If you need anything else let me know.

  Maura Land

  Green Room Catering

  This is just the thing I need to take my mind off Pierson. It will be a good distraction.

  Sam and Sara come in just as I send the email off. They are excited about the news I share.

  The morning is slow and I only have one consult with a potential client about a sweet sixteen birthday cake. Meanwhile Sam and Sara handle another catering gig for the Red Hat Society. Those ladies will eat Sam up.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The end of the day approaches and Sam and Sara leave while I stay behind and finish up some paperwork and file it away in the back room. When I come back in the front, I grin from ear to ear at the vision before me “Pierson, what a nice surprise,” he is sitting at my consulting desk.

  “I thought I would come by to see you before heading home.”

  “Want a tour of the place?” I ask.

  Without giving him a chance to answer, I take him to the back and show off the stainless steel equipment I have. He is still in his work uniform. The smell of grease on his skin is intoxicating, and once again I find myself completely turned on.

  I turn and sit on the chest freezer and pull him in front of me. Facing me, I pull on his uniform collar and kiss him like there’s no tomorrow.

  “I’m dirty,” he says pulling away.

  “So am I,” I coyly admit, not meaning it in the same context.

  “Well in that case.” A smirk plays across his face as he leans in and wraps his arms around me. He cups my breasts while kissing me. Unable to get enough, I pull him closer. His smell is intoxicating and I feel as if I could actually get high from it. I inhale deeply to test the theory. His scent fills my lungs, wraps around my heart, and causes a pool of lust to form between my thighs. I need him… bad. He must have read my mind because he tugs my pants down.

  “You are a dirty girl,” He groans as he slips inside me and thrusts hard. I moan with ecstasy as my head falls back. I brace my hands on the freezer. The coolness of the freezer combined with the heated friction of our bodies uniting, is so erotic that it doesn’t take long before I find myself careening over the edge of pleasure and landing forcefully in a field of sated desire. As I slowly return from the depths of satisfaction, he flips me over, bending me over the freezer and pushes his length in and out from behind.

  “Fuck,” is all I can say. I surrender to ecstasy a second time. Only this time I'm not alone in my surrender.

  “Shit!” he says as he pushes in one last time and fills me with his love.

  Oh my god that was hot! Standing up, I straighten my hair out then pull my pants on.

  “You have a nice office, he says. I laugh because what do you say after sex like that? I make a mental note to wipe the freezer down first thing tomorrow morning.

  As we walk out, I close the shop door only to realize that is was never locked and anyone could have walked in and witnessed our display of sensually aggressive affection. Finding the thought of amusing, we laugh about it.

  “Want to go to my place? You can shower there and I can make you dinner,” he suggests.

  “That sounds wonderful, though it doesn’t seem fair. You seem to be the one doing all the cooking. Either you or Ruby is always making me something to eat. I mean I am the caterer,” I say as we walk along the road. I'm so wrapped up in him, that I don’t even notice the cars passing by. For the time being, my world has become smaller. And in this new universe, there is Pierson and there is me. “I don’t know how Ruby feels, but I think you do enough cooking and serving as it is. You deserve to let someone else do it for you.”

  His thoughtfulness and kind words make my heart swell with joy. I really hope you stick around. Walking side by side, he slips his fingers around mine. His grip is firm but not confining and I begin to feel the pain of my past shed yet another layer. It feels as if there is no one else on earth but us. It’s just the two of us. Right here. Right now. In this one moment. I thi
nk I'm falling....hard.

  “Want a beer?” He offers as we arrive at his place.

  “You read my mind.” Out on his deck, the cold beer is refreshing in the hot air. Pierson grabs burger patties from the fridge and throws them on the grill. I insist on at least making a side. He insists I plant my ass on the lawn chair. Needless to say, I don’t argue as I watch him become the master of his grill.

  After eating, we shower and make love once more. Being so late, Pierson insists that I stay over again. Tomorrow is Sunday and I won't have anywhere to be anyway so I happily agree.

  After only a few hours of sleep, I wake to the feel of being choked. I’m being pressed into the mattress by a heavy body on top of me. With my eyes still squeezed shut, I try to break the grip with my own hands but the perpetrator is too strong and overpowering. I force my eyes open. I want to see the person who wants to end my life. To my horror, I look into the face of the man I wanted to love again. Though the face belongs to the man I know, there is something different about him and I realize that he's in a trance of some kind. I start bucking my body furiously. Finally, the pressure around my neck eases. I am free, but the look on Pierson's face is pure horror. I quickly scramble out of bed, grab my clothes and dress in a hurry.

  “Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” he says tearfully. Kneeling on the bed, he covers his face with his hands. He is in shock just as I am.

  "I had a nightmare," his voice chokes. “Sometimes my nightmares are hard to differentiate from being real or not. I’m so sorry,” he says through his tears.

  "Is this what your fucking nightmares are like?" I ask, unable to keep the anger from penetrating my voice. In actuality I’m really scared, not only for myself but for him as well.

  I know he saw some crazy shit in the war. Stuff he can’t escape. But fuck!

  He keeps repeating that he is sorry. "Please don't leave, I’m sorry. I didn't do it intentionally. I would never hurt you, and I don’t want to lose you." he pleads.

  "You wouldn't hurt me? Really? I find that hard to believe because you just fucking tried to kill me!" I scream.

  Chapter Fifteen

  What the hell just happened? Tears stream down my face as I walk home. My body is shaking with disbelief and shock. I'm glad Pierson didn't follow me outside. I rub my neck and feel the marks he left behind. My neck hurts like hell but my heart and my pride hurt more.

  The house is quiet. I read a note Ruby left saying she'd be gone until tomorrow. I remember she mentioned meeting Trevor's parents this weekend.

  In my room as I change my clothes, I look in the mirror and I'm shocked at the image reflecting back at me. My neck is turning a few different colors and starting to bruise. Remembering the attack brings tears down my cheeks once more. The thought of calling the police crosses my mind, but I don't. The man who choked me was not my Pierson. I know he didn't do it intentionally, but damn if it didn't scare the living hell out of me. Matter of fact, I am scared shitless.

  While lying in bed I receive a voice mail from Pierson.

  "Maura please call me back. A million apologies would never express how bad I feel right now. Please, at least let me know that you’re okay. Please!!" he pleads into the phone.

  I am not okay. This is not okay. I cry until the morning sun shine breaks through the cracks of my curtains. Getting out of bed, I yank them back together to shield my miserable self from the brightness of the outdoors. The sun might be bright and shiny, but my world just turned dark. I’m thankful today is Sunday and that the office is closed. I think I will just stay within the darkness of my misery for the entire day.

  Hoping to calm myself down, I jump in the shower. The water stings my body. I was an emotional wreck last night. Today I'm just pissed. Pissed I let my guard down and pissed that he hurt me again. This time the pain is more than just emotional, it's physical. I slide down the shower wall and give myself one last succumb to more tears.

  Once the tears are finally spent, I decide my next course of action and step out of the shower. I ruffle through Ruby's assortment of silk scarves. Being the fashionista that she is, she owns a wide variety of colors but I settle on the dark colored ones. No need for bright and cheery ones.

  Sitting down on the sofa in the living room, I try to read a book but it's no use. I can't stop thinking about what happened. I know Pierson would never intentionally hurt me. I know that.

  After barely eating lunch Ruby comes in.

  “Hey,” I say, trying to sound cheerful.

  “Hey hey,” she says bouncing through the house with her bag.

  She settles on the couch next to me and immediately knows something is amiss. I quickly ask how her weekend went.

  “Oh, my gosh I was so nervous meeting his parents, but they are super nice. You should see their house. It is amazing.”

  “That’s cool," The somber tone of my voice wasn't intentional.

  “So what’s new with you? I want to hear about your weekend,” she says eagerly.

  “Well I told you about the auction, so I have to get ready for that, and last night Pierson tried to kill me,” I tell her in one fail swoop of the tongue.

  “Wait, what was that? Surely I did not hear you correctly. Is that my scarf you’re wearing?” She asks.

  “You heard me. Yes it is.” I untie the scarf to reveal last night's damage. She is shocked to see the coloration on my neck.

  “What the hell? I will kill that fucker right now.” She moves to stand but I pull her hand down. She really would kill him if I let her. She is a feisty one and does not take shit from anyone, let alone anyone who hurts her friends.

  “First off, he didn’t intentionally try to kill me.”

  “Strangling is intentional!” She is livid.

  “Let me finish. There's a lot I haven't told you. He didn't leave the Marine Corp by choice. He was medically discharged. He told me that he has PTSD, and frequently has nightmares about the war. He even got help for the PTSD and depression before he came home. I mean I stayed over one other night and he said that it was the first time in ages that he didn’t have nightmares.”

  “Ok, get to the Pierson tried to kill you part,” she says twirling her hands in a fast motion.

  “Well yesterday we spent a majority of the day together and everything was great. He insisted I stay overnight again so I agreed since it was late anyways. I woke up in the middle of the night with him straddling me and choking me to death. I think he was in some sort of trance or something.”

  “I’m going to kill him,” she says as a matter of fact. “That mother fucker!” She yells “I swear to god he better hope I don’t run into him.” I hope they don’t run into each other either.

  “He didn’t mean it. Like I said, he didn’t know what he was doing until I finally bucked him off of me. You should have seen the look on his face.”

  “He should see your neck,” she points out. “You’re okay though, right? Where is he?”

  “I guess I’m okay. I assume he is at home. He left a few voice messages on my phone but I have not responded to him. I just need some space,” I tell her.

  Even though he scared the shit of me and I know he didn’t mean it, I just can’t face him after what happened. I need time to think, time to process what happened, and maybe time to forget about him altogether. But could I live with myself losing it the way I did, or worst of all losing him for good?

  Chapter Sixteen

  Hoping to take my mind off Pierson, Ruby and I make it a girls' night. She does my nails and toenails and I braid her hair. Then we cram our bodies with junk food and popcorn as we watch movies for the rest of the night. Even though I can’t help thinking about what happened, we try to make the best of it. My stomach is in knots and I don’t know what to do.

  It’s nine PM when we hear a knock at the door. She tells me to stay put as she looks through the peephole.

  “It’s Pierson,” she turns whispering to me.

  “Don’t answer it,” I whisper back.


  Cracking the door open just enough to see him, she peeks out. “She doesn’t want to see you right now.”

  “Please let me see her. I need to apologize again. Ruby, please. Please!” I can hear the pain in his voice but I cannot face him now. It is just too painful.

  “You’re lucky you’re still standing. I suggest you go before I call the police,” she threatens angrily.

  “Okay fine. Please tell her I stopped by.”

  Closing the door, she leans against it “The nerve of that guy.” She shakes her head, locks the door and joins me on the couch.

  She puts one arm around my shoulders. “If you need help covering that tomorrow, just let me know.”

  “That’s even if I decide to go out at all tomorrow.” I swallow the tears back.

  “I’m sorry that happened to you. I still might kill him though.”

  I toss her a stern look.

  “Okay, okay.” She holds her hands up and rolls her eyes. We continue our movie night and junk food buffet where we left off. This girl would not make it without the junk food, but more importantly, I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have Ruby in my life. She has been my number one and only BFF and she always has my back, no matter what. I love this chick. She is practically a sister to me.

  I wake early the next morning and feel the weight of Ruby's head on my shoulder. We fell asleep on the couch. She rubs her eyes and stretches. I turn on the coffee pot, and go change my clothes. A brief glance in the mirror snaps me back into reality. Upon inspection of my neck, I decide it doesn't look too bad but I will still need to wear a scarf.