The morning’s light penetrated my eyelids slowly luring me out of
slumber. I stretched, enjoying the feel of the cool sheets against my
naked skin. Wait. How did I get naked? And how did I make it to the
bed? The last thing I remembered was being in Rene’s arms on the
chaise.
How did I end up in the bed alone?
My nose answered the question for me. I followed the scorching smell
to the kitchen only to find Rene fanning smoke away from the smoke
alarm. I laughed at the site of her, standing in her boxers, sports
bra and my apron. Her face was apologetic.
“I wanted to fix you breakfast in bed, but I couldn’t find your
cookbooks. Where are they?” She asked the question, didn’t wait for an
answer. “I tried to improvise…” She shrugged.
“Leave the cooking to the professionals!” I teased. I reached for my
apron. She took it off, but instead of handing it to me, she held it
over her head.
“I kinda like what you’re wearing now.” I raised my eyebrow at her.
She reminded me of my nakedness. I wasn’t ashamed to stand before her,
naked from head to toe. Thirty has never looked this good. I put my
hand on my hip.
“You still hungry?” I asked.
“No. Not for food.” Her eyes traveled over my body, burning every spot
it took in.
Then her stomach growled.
“Liar!” I laughed as I reached for the apron, reluctantly she handed
it over. The apron slipped out of my hands at the sight of her defined
abs. Washboard. I wanted to rub myself against the ripples and see if
I got clean. Probably not. I was already feeling quite dirty. I had
made plans for us, but all I could think of was touching her. I wonder
if I could lure her back to the bed…
Then her stomach growled again. We both started laughing. I started
pulling items from the fridge. Satisfy one need at a time, besides she
was going to need some energy for what I had planned. Rene was busy at
the kitchen sink, washing the dishes from the night before. When I
had bacon sizzling in one skillet, I started preparing french toast. I
reached around her to turn on the coffee maker, and her arm grazed my
breast. I felt a jolt of electricity spread through my body.
I left the kitchen in search of my robe, when I came back, Rene had
set the table, complete with glasses of juice and empty coffee mugs. I
flipped the french toast and started mixing eggs for scrambling. She
walked over to my ipod and hit play filling the room with something up
tempo.
Minutes later, platters of bacon, eggs and french toast covered my
table along with jars of jelly, bottles of creamer and syrup… We
discussed recent news stories, new music, art shows, plans for the
upcoming week. Our conversation flowed between bites of food. I was
happy to see Rene pile more food onto her plate.
This scene felt comfortable. We were like a seasoned couple. The
outside world would have never guessed we had just spent our first
night together. I enjoyed looking into her face even though her gaze
often caught me off guard. It was intense.
We cleaned the kitchen together. We moved around each other easily, as
if we had preplanned the moves. There was no bumping, no need for
excuse me’s. She fit into my world perfectly. I could definitely get
used to having her around.
She was feeling comfortable too. I could tell when she pulled out her
laptop and set it up at my dining room table. Curious, I stood behind
her as various images covered the oversized screen. I leaned over her
shoulder, pointing towards images I liked as she explained her vision
to me.
Feeling inspired, I pulled out my sketchpad and sat in an easy chair
in the corner of the room. I started sketching Rene. She was so
involved in her work, she didn’t notice how frequently I glanced at
her.
Time slipped away from me as I worked to capture the beauty of Rene’s
face. One eyebrow was raised in concentration. Her lips were slightly
parted. Her cheekbones looked prominent, her eyes were focused. This
is not how I had planned the day, but I knew what it meant if an
artist felt comfortable enough to work in the presence of another
person. It was rare and I felt honored.
When Rene finally pushed her chair away from the table, hours had
passed. She strolled over to me and leaned over me. I wanted to hide
my face. How pathetic was I?
She didn’t say anything about the sketch. She brought her lips to
mine. The kiss was a soft carress. A soft fluttering of lips that left
me with butterflies. I was breathless when she pulled her head away.
She stared deeply into my eyes. What was she trying to tell me?
It took a few seconds for me to get my thoughts together. The boi had
my head all cloudy and confused. I ran my hands through the curls of
my ‘hawk.
“There was something going on at the museum, but its too late for that
now, so I was thinking…a movie? We can take a picnic to the drive
in.” I was hopeful. We had been together a few hours shy of twenty
four and I was hoping she wasn’t tired of me yet.
“Yeah…” She smiled the crooked grin I had grown to love. Wait. Love?
Who said anything about love? Calm down, girl. Just because you love
her smile doesn’t mean you love her. Right?
“We have to take my truck though. More room in the back,” she teased and winked.
