by Angel Marks
“I didn’t get the call.” She understood from the look on his face that he really didn’t know what she was talking about.
“I know. Jessica answered.”
“What?”
“She knew who I was, and she told me to leave the two of you alone.”
Will wrapped his arms tightly around Noelle, giving her a gentle squeeze. “You just saw Jessica at the bar tonight. She’d like to be with me, but I’ve told her all about you, probably more than I should have, apparently. She’s a little persistent. She’s been coming in every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday now for weeks. She’s borrowed my phone a few times while sitting there. That has to be when you called.”
Noelle sighed. “I suppose this is my fault. I can’t put you away for later and expect you to be there just as I left you. Even if you were a toy, that wouldn’t happen.”
“That’s an interesting analogy.”
“Let’s walk,” she said. She folded her arms up under her chest and focused on her thoughts, what needed to be said, what didn’t. She wasn’t the same girl who had left this place six months ago. New York had changed her in an amazing way. She was stronger, much stronger, both mentally and physically now with her yoga, and what if Will wasn’t able to adjust to her? Maybe she was right to move on, except she hadn’t.
Lost in her thoughts, she hadn’t noticed she was speed walking. She would really like to be running, perhaps a full on sprint would calm her down, but no, she needed to face Will. It was time. She eased up on her gait, and then altogether stopped and looked him in the eyes.
“Will, during this entire time, I haven’t seen anyone else. I didn’t and I don’t want to, because when I think about being with someone, it’s always you, but I’m not the same person you fell in love with. I’m not her anymore, so I don’t know where this is going to lead.”
“Noelle, you’re still the girl I fell in love with.”
“No, that’s just it. I’m not, Will, I’ve changed. I’m different. I’m the moon, the friggin’ ugly green ass moon.”
“What?”
“Oh, sorry, just a bitchy jealous Shakespeare comparison.”
Will was amused, “Well that makes sense, since the moon has a cycle, and that is about how you are. Every week, you’re a different girl.”
“Thanks. I deserved that. It was a stupid analogy. What I mean is I’ve achieved my goals. I finally feel really good about where I am with my finances. I’m losing my bag lady syndrome. I don’t lie awake at night fretting about my lack of money. I feel confident about making money, spending it right, investing it, and saving it, and my career is on track.” Noelle looked up at the sky, and then dropped her gaze back to Will’s eyes. “I wanted to tell you all this. I called and you weren’t there.” Noelle paused, took a breath, and finished. “That’s when I realized that in the process of gaining my independence, I lost the man who gave me the courage to find it.”
“Yeah, but you did it, babe. I’m proud of you.”
Noelle beamed up at him. “I’ve wanted to tell you all week. There hasn’t been a day in these past six months that I didn’t think about and miss you.”
“Good, but I’m glad you went. You look great. You sound great. You are different, and I like it.”
“So I haven’t lost you?”
“Never. I’ve been waiting for you this whole time.”
“Apparently, more than I realized!”
Noelle wrapped her arms up around Will’s neck and pulled him down to her. They came together in a gentle kiss. “Will, I’ve been faithful.”
“I know, babe. I have, too.”
She smiled at him and asked, “How do you know? Don’t tell me that Mrs. Dillinger gave you the report!”
“No. She just let me know that she saw you. If she didn’t catch you in the hallway or the lobby she would make a point of visiting you for some random reason, just so I could know that you were alive. Fortunately, you told her you were going to Long Island last week otherwise I would have called your landlady worried about your safety.”
“You are creeping me out with your stalker mentality, Will Martin.”
“A man always needs to know that his girl is safe, dear.”
Noelle blushed. She may have been away, but there was no denying that Will Martin was her lover. She loved him and gave him more respect and power over her than any man had ever lorded on her in her entire life. He was her savior in many ways and she wasn’t ashamed to admit it even though it went against her New York career woman mentality to allow a man to control her every minute.
“I’ve missed you, but again, I have changed. I’m no longer so dependent, Mr. Martin, and I’m not in a hurry to give up my independence. Can you handle that?”
“I think so.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want to not have you in my life, Noelle. No one has ever affected me like you do, and I like to think it’s the same for you.”
He swept her up in his arms and she kicked her feet playfully in the air. “But how are we going to do it? I love New York. I’ve made a life there.”
“Let me take you home. We’ll work it out when we get there, all right?” He strapped his helmet back on her head and revved the bike. They cruised down a dark country road that followed the highway, passing farms and fields instead of being passed by racing tractor trailers, which he could tell had frightened her by the way she had gripped him on their way up north. The road took them all the way back into downtown Brighton.
Will parked his bike in the garage of his father’s Victorian building and helped her off her seat. The vibration from the ride and the ridiculous carnal lust she had for him were too much for her. In the garage she pulled off her top and unhooked her bra. When he looked up from getting her bags from his saddle bags, her nipples landed in his mouth. There in the garage he sucked on her breasts, molding them in his hands and dragging his hands down her sides, cupping her bottom. Noelle slipped out of her shoes and shimmied out of her jeans. Standing before him in her panties, she delicately leaned over his lap as he was still squatted, and blatantly placed her bottom in his face.
“I’ve been so bad. I didn’t call you. I let you worry about me. I didn’t make sure you came regularly.” She felt Will’s growing erection through his jeans and then felt the crushing blow of his hand on her bottom. He spanked her with an open hand until her bottom was red and the crotch of her underwear was soaked. He pulled off her panties and then sat her naked on his bike, legs spread. He straddled his bike and unbuckled his jeans, dropping his pants to let himself out. He then lifted her legs, one on each of his shoulders, and proceeded to fuck her hard on his Indian until she cried out as she came, causing him to finish, too, this time deep inside her.
Will was like a drug. She felt delirious with happiness to be back in his care. She pulled on her jeans and tank top, slipped on her shoes, and held her bra and panties. Will scooped her up in his arms and carried her like a child out the door of the garage.
“Let’s go upstairs, and we’ll talk about us. I think we can work something out,” he said.
Will nuzzled her neck and Noelle let out a squeal of contentment. “Oh, Mr. Martin I’ve missed you!” She hopped out of his arms and ran back to the Victorian house, letting him chase her up the stairs.
Unlocking the door, he then scooped her up and carried her across the threshold, clicking on the light.
Noelle looked about, stunned. The apartment they had shared had changed dramatically. Everything was packed. The kitchen was all boxed up. The living room furniture was gone and boxes stood where the couch had been. She turned to Will. “What’s happened? Where are you going?”
“Away for a while, dear.”
“Oh, my gosh, don’t say that. It makes it sound like you’re going to prison or something. Where are you going, Will Martin?”
“Away.” Noelle frowned at him and he replied by grinning. “I’m not going to prison, Noelle.”
“Well, good, becau
se you know, when I think of you, that’s the first thing that pops into my mind.” They were both smiling now. Will took Noelle’s hands in his. “Sweetheart, I’m glad you came back tonight. I’ve been waiting for you, every night. It’s been hard, but we’re getting there.”
“But… where? Where are we getting to?” Noelle wasn’t so much confused as she was trying to block out the obvious. In her heart she knew exactly what Will was doing. He was following his dream and if she tried to stop him, it wouldn’t be fair. He had not only supported her dream to live and work in NYC, he had pushed her to go after it. If he hadn’t, she’s sure she would have stayed in Brighton, and never would have tried.
Without breaking their gaze, she asked, “How long?”
“I’m not sure. I haven’t scheduled a time, but I’d like it if you’d wait.”
“Like it?”
“Yeah, I’d like it.”
“So, then it’s optional?”
“Waiting?”
“I can’t make you wait for me, Noelle.”
“But I will. Only, let’s have a plan, please.”
Will looked amused. “All right, what would you like, dear?”
“Well, for starters, let’s stay in touch now, by phone.”
“Agreed.”
“Every night, because I don’t have a way to keep tabs on you otherwise… I imagine you won’t have any little old lady neighbors waiting to spy on you.”
“No, I can’t say I will. We’ll talk every night.”
“And let’s have a meet up time. Like in that movie, what’s it called?”
“It’s a Wonderful Life,” replied Will.
“No, that’s not it, but, remember we were going to watch that together. We’ve never seen it before, and it’s a Christmas movie. I don’t want to spend Christmas without you, Will.”
“Then don’t.” Will leaned in and kissed her.
“Okay, but I can’t keep you from your trip. If I do, then someday you may regret it.”
“I didn’t say I wasn’t going, just that we’ll be together for Christmas, and we’ll watch It’s a Wonderful Life, all right, Noelle?”
“All right.”
“But now I remember the name of the movie, the one where they fall in love and plan to meet on the top floor of the Empire State Building, but she can’t make it because she’s had an accident, and he thinks she doesn’t love him anymore and it’s really stressful. Let’s not do that. Okay, Will?”
“Definitely not.”
“Good. Because I promise you, I’m waiting, and if I have to wait longer to get to the top of that skyscraper I’d rather not. Let’s meet somewhere else, should it be my place or yours?”
“I’ll meet you in New York, Noelle, a week before Christmas, and we can spend the holiday together. Okay?”
“Yes, and you’ll call me?”
“Yes, dear, and you’ll answer?”
“Hmmm… maybe, just kidding!”
They tumbled onto the bed together and spent the night making up for their six month drought.
In the morning, Noelle called her parents and invited them at Will’s insistence to the brunch Will’s parents had planned as a sendoff for him at the Lakeshore Inn. They showed up, looking surprised and happy to see their middle child for the first time since she moved to New York.
“Oh, Noelle, you look wonderful!” fawned her mother, and her father watched saying little, but smiling. The parents met and found some common ground in talking about gardening and plants and the recent gas drilling plans that were dividing the countryside.
Joe toasted his son with champagne. “Will, I’ve never had to worry about you man, but be safe. May you find the adventure that you seek, but return to the treasure that you have.” And he raised his glass to Will and then tipped it to Noelle, who sat by his side, smiling, holding his hand. Everyone raised and clinked glasses.
“Thanks, Dad,” Will responded, looking over at his mother who was trying hard not to show how upset she was with his decision to travel around the country by motorcycle. “I’ll be back before you know it.” Looking at his mother, he said, “I’ll be back before the New Year, Mom, and I’ll check in with Noelle every night.”
“Four months?”
“Yeah, maybe sooner. We’ll see how long I can stay away.”
“What’s your plan?” Noelle’s father asked.
“I’m traveling across the northern U. S., and I should be in Seattle in about three weeks after visiting the Badlands, Custer, and Yellowstone. Then I’m shooting down the coast of California, to Yosemite, and plan to see the Grand Canyon before heading back East through Texas and then up the east coast through the Shenandoah Mountains, back to New York.”
Noelle smiled at him. “It sounds amazing. I can’t imagine touring the National Parks by motorcycle.”
“It’d be even better if I wasn’t doing it alone.”
“What do you mean?” Noelle watched him carefully. She had made a point of not asking to go with him for too many reasons to count. First being she didn’t have the time off from her work, second being that she would get really tired of riding on a motorcycle for that long, and third being that well, what was the third? Oh, yeah, it was his dream and not hers, and she wasn’t about to be a dream crasher. Still, the thought of him alone touring the Grand Canyon was somehow sad.
“Experiences like these should be shared, Will.” Oh, she had just spoken aloud. Whoops. Will held her hand a little tighter. His mother looked at her almost hopefully as she continued to a now captivated audience of their parents and brothers.
“I know you promised to be back safe a week before Christmas, so from my recollection, you’re really cutting your trip short, maybe on account of me? But you’re pursuing it and now I get to worry about you every day, all day long out there in the middle of nowhere on your motorcycle, with or without cell service. Maybe this is karma, if you believe in that sort of thing, but since I know you won’t allow me to drive a car behind you the entire way, at least let me fly out and meet you at the Grand Canyon, maybe even ride the rest of the way home with you, camp in the Shenandoah Mountains. I think I could get a couple weeks to do it.”
“Yeah, man, Noelle has a point. I’d love to see some of the places you’re seeing, and at this rate I’ll be dead before I go. You’d give me an excuse to take a vacation, if you know what I mean. What do you say I meet you in the Badlands and we see Yellowstone together?” Will’s face didn’t register what he was thinking, leaving Noelle wondering if she had opened up Pandora’s Box, but she also knew how much he loved his family.
Will looked across the table at his father squarely replying, “You’d wanna do that?”
“Hell yeah!” was his father’s reply, to which his mother chimed in, “I’ll meet you in Seattle!”
Will’s brother then dinged in that he’d cover Vegas. “Not that Vegas is on the agenda, but it should be,” Will’s brother said.
“Yeah, bro, why don’t you come with Dad?” Will’s hand then wrapped securely around Noelle’s. “I’ll meet you in Vegas, Noelle, and we can drive to the Grand Canyon together.”
By noon, an entirely new plan for Will’s journey had been hatched and Noelle was overwhelmed by the suddenness as she tearfully kissed him good-bye at the bus station. In two months they would be reunited in the desert, but for now she would have to wait for that journey to come.
“Be safe, please. Don’t ride in the rain, and stay away from all the other traffic on the road.” Noelle knew he could take care of himself, but there was so much risk involved. The one thing she wanted to say, Don’t go! I can’t bear the thought of losing you! She didn’t say. The hug was forever and then she had to board her bus, return to her life of a successful New York City career woman, while the love of her life rode away.
Chapter Twenty-Five
The autumn in New York was beautiful that year. It was an Indian summer, warm days, but no summer humidity, and slowly the trees in Central Park changed colors an
d quickly the women of New York changed wardrobes. Tall leather boots, ballet flats, tweed jackets, stripes and chevron prints, mini-skirts and tights replaced summer’s must-haves.
Noelle never felt so clear headed as when she returned from that weekend in Brighton City. Will had driven west as soon as her bus rolled east and the further away he went, the closer they became. Noelle started a countdown to November when she would fly out to Vegas for their Grand Canyon reunion.
Each night on the phone, Will would ask her about her day and tell her about his. She wanted to know everything about his day, if he was safe, had a safe place to stay that night, and what he had seen. It was the nights he chose to camp in a mini pop-tent he had packed on the back of his bike that she worried the most. They would stay on the phone until late in the night, talking about every hope and dream they had, discussing religion and philosophy, history and politics, books, and movies, ending of course with old-fashioned phone sex.
By Halloween, Will headed toward the Grand Canyon after Noelle convinced him to meet her there rather than pick her up in Vegas. She would take a rental car to the lodge she had made reservations with right after he left for his adventure.
Noelle threw up on the plane, but otherwise the flight was smooth. She drove the four hours from the Vegas airport to the lodge using her phone’s GPS. Upon arrival at the Grand Canyon Lodge, she checked in and went up to their room to wait for him.
After such a long trip she found the suite with whirlpool tub and separate shower to be just what she needed. She took a long, warm shower and wrapped herself up in a spa towel when her phone went off. Will was here. Noelle quickly combed out her long, wet hair and slathered on some lotion, anticipating his knock on the door.
It had been ten weeks since they had seen each other last and it had felt like a year. Noelle could not stop chiding herself for the six months that she had put Will through worry and pain while she pursued her own dream. At least he was more than halfway done with his trip.
There was a knock on the door, but before Noelle could peep out the hole Will slipped in with his own key card. He looked amazing, radiating masculinity and hard with need. Dirty, tan, lean, sexy, and sweaty, he definitely needed a shower. He carried his helmet in one hand, his bag in the other. As soon as he shut the door, he set down his things and Noelle embraced him, her mouth landing on his and being greeted with a hungry urgency. Her towel easily slipped away and she was all soft, naked woman embraced by his strong arms through his leather jacket and his bulging manhood pressing from his jeans.
