by Devyn Cole
“Thanks, Fi!” Olivia yells at her as Fiona and Jesse walk around us.
We finally manage to locate the Viking Ship ride. Then, the four of us get in a line that wraps around it twice.
We all take our turns sighing in annoyance. This festival has gotten way too popular in recent years. No way this will be worth the wait. But what the hell else are we going to do?
“You’re going to need tickets,” a large woman with a sash that says “volunteer” barks at us.
“Tickets?” I ask. “There’s never been tickets at this thing before.”
“Tough. There is now. Ten dollars per ride per person. You going to buy or what?” She asks, frowning.
“Hey, don’t worry, I’ve got this,” Jesse says.
He pulls out a wad of cash from his pocket.
“Thanks. But I can pay for our tickets,” I tell Jesse.
I really can’t. Between paying off the ring I bought to propose to Olivia and scraping together enough to pay back my gambling debt, I’m worse off than dead broke. But, I’m not going to let Olivia know that. That’s for damn sure.
The ticket woman nods and hands Jesse and me two tickets each.
I turn around and see that Olivia and Fiona aren’t next to us anymore. They’ve moved up considerably in line.
And, when I look down the lane of people, I see the unthinkable. Those two guys who’ve been threatening me are now talking to the girls and clearly scaring the hell out of them.
“Shit!” I yell, darting forward towards Olivia and Fiona.
“Brett, what’s up?” I hear Jesse yell after me.
“Please, we don’t have any money on us,” Fiona says in her soft, patient voice.
It’s obvious how petrified she is right now. She has good reason to be. I never would have expected this. How the hell do these guys have the balls to be threatening them with about a thousand witnesses around?
“Oh, but you’re worth a lot of money, Sweetheart,” one of the guys' barks at her. “You’re Brett’s girl, right?” He asks.
“I am,” Olivia says, defiantly. “Leave her the hell alone.”
“Nah, I think we’ll take both of you. Your boyfriend has caused us enough trouble to warrant it,” the shorter one says.
“You need to let them go,” I growl at the two guys. “I can go with you wherever you want. But the girls stay here.”
“Nah, I’m tired of getting jerked around by you. Like I said, I know you made quite the luxury purchase not too long ago,” the man says, jamming his stubby finger at me. “You treat us like trash? We’ll do the same in exchange.”
I’m seeing red now. The moment this guy touches Olivia, I’m liable to do just about anything to end him.
Olivia grabs my wrist and tries to pull me away from the two men.
“Brett, let me go get the authorities,” she pleads. “Brett, are you listening to me? Please, you’re making a mistake—”
“You don’t think I can handle them, Olivia?” I ask her. “I can handle them.”
“Fuck you, Brett. You’re not handling shit. You still don’t get how not in control of this situation you really are. Do you?” The shorter thug asks me. “I warned you not to make me do something I don’t want to do. Don’t push me, Brett.”
“You want to hit me, you little asshole? Come at me,” I bark at him.
The little man shakes his head. Then, he pulls out a gun and aims it right at Olivia.
Suddenly, all I hear are screams. Adrenaline carries my feet forward, while my mind still processes what is going on right now. And, I jump in front of Olivia moments before the man pulls the trigger, and slowly after hearing the gunshot's blaring sound, the world turns black.
CHAPTER TEN
Olivia
“Brett!” I scream. “Brett, wake up! It’s okay, Brett. It was just a simulation. It’s okay! You’re okay. Please. You’ve got to realize you’re okay!”
Brett opens his eyes and makes the most horrifying expression of pain I’ve ever seen a human face make. He believes he’s just been shot, and his mind is still processing that he hasn’t. It isn’t wholly a sure thing that his body will be able to. The shock he’s experiencing right now is so severe that he’s not pumping oxygenated blood to his organs. If Brett doesn’t snap out of it, he will die.
“Brett, please. Please, listen to me! You’re okay. You’re here with me in the attic of my house. You’ve been here the entire time. You haven’t been shot, Brett!”
I see the color leave Brett’s face and dive into his arms. If this is the end for him, I’m going to hold him through it. I’m not going to let him think I didn’t love him with my full heart.
“I’m sor—sorry,” Brett says, fighting for breath. “I’m sorry I failed. We were right there, and I lost our chance to be together again.”
“Brett…” I say, at a loss for words.
I’m experiencing so many emotions at once. It’s impossible to make sense of any of them.
“I want you to know that no matter how many times I have to go back into my memories. I don’t care if it takes years or even my entire lifetime. I’ll never give up on you.”
I know I should let him recover. But I can’t help it. I have to give myself to him right now.
I take my skirt down. My panties come off me even faster. Brett’s eyes stare at my moist cunny. And, I gaze obsessively at his hardened cock, tenting his jeans as he lies back on the recliner in the center of the room.
I’m trembling with hot lust as I release his throbbing manhood from its denim prison. Then, I climb on top of him and sink down on it. The severe pressure tearing at my walls as I force myself all the way down his enormous size makes me scream out.
I thought he was rock hard the last time we had sex. And, I thought I was soaking wet. But, neither were anything like we are now.
I lean down and lock lips with him. He keeps our mouth sanctioned together while he pounds my tight opening. I let my hips swivel back and forth faster and faster, while he holds onto my ass cheeks.
I take my top off and unhook my bra. Then fling it to the floor. Then, I lean back, letting my breasts flail up and down, mesmerizing Brett. It isn’t long until he’s gotten them in his mitts, squeezing them and pinching my buds between his index fingers and thumbs.
“Faster, faster, Olivia!” Brett roars at me.
I gyrate my hips as rapidly as I can back and forth on his manhood.
I’m putting my cunt through a hell of a workout for it to only be my second time. But I don’t care. Let it be sore after this. Let it be broken. Fast isn’t fast enough to keep up with how much my body craves Brent’s.
Brett starts hammering his cock in and out of me like a sledgehammer. My slickness allows me to endure it without passing out.
I clench tightly around his thickness. Trying to hold onto it every time until I’m spasming around it.
I kneel down and kiss him again while I bounce on it. He digs his hands into my fleshy hips and takes over control. He’s leading us both towards an explosive orgasm.
We smile at one another just before the moment, knowing it’s about to happen for both of us at the same time.
Then, we both spurt onto one another. Our intermixing milk coats both of our privates. And he pumps into me slowly until we’ve both finished our devastating ripples of ecstasy.
“Let me go back in…” Brett says before we even have time to cuddle.
I see the cold determination in his eyes. He’s willing to risk everything for us.
“I don’t care anymore about this device, Brent,” I plead with him.
I can feel myself on the verge of tears. I don’t want Brett to go back in there ever again after what just happened.
“Screw Autumnview. I don’t care if we end up breaking up a thousand times throughout our relationship. I have you now. And that’s enough for me,” I say, caressing his hard cheek.
“No, Olivia, we’re close. When I was in there, I could feel it. We’re close to k
nowing where we went wrong once and for all,” Brett tells me. “I’ll come back to you. I promise…”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Brett
A red moon hangs in the sky.
Looking up, I can see a few leaves against the stars: twisted, dry, and ready to fall. They look like tiny lights scattering down to the ground, making the carnival path seem somehow lonelier.
I’m supposed to remember something. I know I’m supposed to remember something.
What was it…Something about a gun? A gun...like the squirt guns you use to win stuffed animals?
No. That can’t be it. It was much more severe than that. I remember that much. I just can’t remember what…
Shit. It’s gone.
“Come on, baby!” Olivia says, pulling my arm as Jesse and Fiona are walking behind us out of the parking lot.
“I guess we should decide what to ride first, huh?” Jesse asks the group. “Hey, you all right, man?”
“Yeah, you seem kind of out of it, Brett. Are you feeling okay?” Fiona asks me.
“Yes, I just…was trying to remember something,” I tell them both. “I think it’s gone. I’ve forgotten it.”
“Well, you know what they say. If you forget it. Then it probably wasn’t all that important,” Jesse says.
“Yeah,” I say.
“Honey, let’s go on the Viking Ship first! That’s my favorite!” Olivia says to me while jumping in place.
“That one’s scary…” Fiona says, sheepishly.
“Omigod, Fiona! You are such a pussy!” Olivia scolds her. Way too harshly. But, she’s serious about her rides.
“Oh, whatever! You guys go on it. I’ll wait by the dippin’ dots,” Fiona says. “Do they even have dippin’ dots anymore?”
“No, bitch. You’re going to woman up and come with us to the damn Viking Ship!” Olivia says as she grabs Fiona’s arm.
“Fine! Stop womanhandling me!” Fiona says as she slides her wrist out of Olivia’s death grip.
“Well, now that you two alley cats have scrapped it out. Shall we get going?” Jesse asks.
“You did not seriously just say that?” Olivia asks back as she stares at Jesse like he’s a complete moron.
“Let’s get on the ride! We all know Olivia gets way too intense about these things. Let’s just get through it,” I tell Jesse and Fiona.
We all laugh—except Olivia, who knows it’s true.
The four of us get in a line that wraps around the Viking Ship ride twice. And I start to get a powerful sense of Deja Vu. We all take our turns sighing in annoyance. This festival has gotten way too popular in recent years. No way this will be worth it, but what the hell else are we going to do?
“You’re going to need tickets,” a large woman barks at us as she walks beside the people waiting for their turn.
“Tickets?” I ask. “There’s never been tickets at this thing before.”
“Tough. There is now. Ten dollars per ride per person. You going to buy or what?” She asks, frowning.
“Hey, don’t worry, I’ve got this,” Jesse says.
He pulls out a wad of cash.
“Thanks. But, I can pay for Olivia and my ticket,” I tell him.
I really can’t. Between paying off the ring I bought to propose to Olivia and scraping together enough to pay back my gambling debt, I’m worse off than dead broke.
But, I’m not going to let Olivia know that. That’s for damn sure. Plus, I’ve still distracted by this weighing guilt that I’m forgetting something really damn important.
The ticket woman nods and hands Jesse and me two tickets each.
I turn around and see that Olivia and Fiona aren’t next to us anymore. They’ve moved up considerably in line.
And, when I look down the lane of people, I see the unthinkable. Those two guys who’ve been threatening me are now talking to the girls and are scaring the hell out of them.
“Shit!” I yell, darting forward towards Olivia and Fiona.
“Brett, what’s up?” I hear Jesse yell after me.
“Please, we don’t have any money on us,” Fiona says in her soft, patient voice.
It’s obvious how petrified she is right now. She has good reason to be. How the hell could these guys be threatening them with about a thousand witnesses around?
“Oh, but you’re worth a lot of money, Sweetheart,” one of the guys says. “You’re Brett’s girl, right?”
“I am,” Olivia says, defiantly. “Leave her the hell alone.”
“Nah, I think we’ll take both of you. Your boyfriend has caused us enough trouble to warrant it,” the shorter one says.
“You need to let them go,” I growl at the two guys. “I’ll go with you wherever you want. But the girls stay here.”
“Nah, I’m tired of getting jerked around by you. Like I said, I know you made quite the luxury purchase not too long ago,” the man barks at me. “You treat us like trash? We’ll do the same in exchange,”
I’m seeing red now. The moment this guy touches Olivia, I’m liable to do just about anything to end him.
“Brett, let me go get the authorities,” Olivia pleads. “Brett, are you listening to me? Please, you’re making a mistake—”
Something snaps. Suddenly, I remember everything: getting shot, coming out of the Autumnview, the sex that followed, the warning, and the promise I made to Olivia that I would come back to her. Nothing is more important to me than keeping that promise. I won’t let my pride cause me to let her down again.
“You’re right,” I tell her. “Look, guys, if I give you…that thing you saw me buy along with the promise that I won’t tell the cops about it. Will you let this go?”
“‘That thing’ costs a lot more than what you owe us. You sure you’re willing to make that trade?” The short man asks.
“I am,” I answer.
“Well, alright, then!” He says—bellowing with arrogant laughter. “Fuckin’ pussy.”
With the heaviest reluctance I’ve ever experienced, I unzip my jacket pocket and pull out a little black box.
Then, I hand it to the man. And unfortunately, he opens it in front of Olivia.
I didn’t want him to do that. I didn’t want her to see the ring this way—with me giving it up like a coward.
A thousand thoughts cross my mind, such as how I could have possibly gotten the jump on this guy and disarmed him in time.
But then it hits me. This was it. This is what Autumnview was trying to tell me this entire time. Each time things have been perfect between Olivia and me, I’ve let my pride get in the way. Without even realizing it, I’ve allowed what I thought of myself to push away someone who matters so much more than that.
I look over at Olivia. She has a stunned expression on her face, and her eyes are glassy. But, not with tears of shame. There’s an overwhelming passion in her expression like nothing I’ve seen.
I’m thrust out of Autumnview and back into the real world. Everything is different, but Olivia is looking at me in precisely the same way. Her eyes are sparkling with tears. Her eyelashes are fluttering over them.
She jumps in my arms and bites my lower lip. The passion in her mouth is a wildfire of emotion that I can hardly believe is really meant for me.
It takes me a second, but I soon respond with the same energy. Because I feel it too. I love this woman more than words can express. More than my pride. More than myself.
“I love you, Olivia,” I tell her. “I’ve been in love with you since the day we met.”
“I love you too, Brett,” she whispers to me in between kisses. “You’re the only man I ever want to be with. I never needed Autumnview to know that.”
EPILOGUE I
ONE YEAR LATER
The first and only compromise I’ve made in life was to have my wedding in Autumn.
I always dreamt of getting married in Spring. As any little girl with a proper sense of vision does. Even a winter wedding would have been acceptable if you could guarantee snowfa
ll. And, of course, there’s the year-round option of an indoor wedding. But like…No. That’s too “normal” for me.
Leaves are falling off the long, thick branches which sweep over the street where Brett and I first met like a wooden bridge. It almost looks like they’re forming a house. I can’t help but feel warm and safe underneath them. The yellow sunlight of this afternoon shines through their aging texture like little angelic misses. Their red and gold colors spread like slivers of sunset.
I named the device Autumnview for two reasons. The first is that I’m obviously obsessed with seasons. But, the second is that I looked at the device’s potential as a piece of technology that could help us all out with the most tragic part of young love. The part that causes it to die far too many times when it deserves to be alive. The part that’s defined by painful regrets swept under the table when you realize what a life shared with your true love could have been.
I know I’m truly fortunate to have been born with the intellect capable of building something that could have brought us to this moment. My gratitude doesn’t come from being a humble person. It comes from such deep gratitude for what I have with him that I’ll never take it for granted again. He’s my whole heart. Yet, I somehow almost lost him forever.
We hold one another’s hand and wait to say our vows. I’ve re-written and rehearsed mine over a hundred times. It still doesn’t feel perfect. I’m sure nothing is adequate enough to describe how I feel when I’m with him. I still feel like that little teenage girl who turned red when she realized the hot older guy who smoked too many cigarettes was staring at her from across the street.
