This is the continuation of the story of Aisha and Ewan.
Later that morning Aisha walked into the kitchen to find the three friends sitting on bar stools at the counter eating pizza. Brian and Marnie looked up as she entered and Brian offered her a slice of pizza. After declining his offer, she looked over at Ewan and frowned when she noticed that he still hadn't looked up or spoken. Grabbing a bottled water from the fridge, she moved into the living room, grabbed her car keys and headed out the door.
Aisha ran errands most of the day; picking up paint and varnish for the kitchen cabinets, getting a manicure and pedicure, shopping for clothes and picking up new glasses. She returned home to an empty house and a note from Brian indicating that they had gone to a graduate school party and wouldn't be back until late.
Aisha popped the new Keith Urban CD into the player and walked into the kitchen. She'd stopped at a Thai restaurant and picked up Massaman curry and Thai crazy noodles. To the strains of "Making Memories of Us" she glided from the microwave to the place that she'd set for herself at the table. Turning around to grab a wineglass for the wine she'd opened, she almost screamed as saw Ewan standing in the doorway of the kitchen. She abruptly turned back towards the table and started fussing with the food.
"Aish, turn around and look at me."
Aisha ignored his command and stiffened as she felt him come up behind her. He placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her towards him, enclosing her in his arms. He tilted her chin up with his thumb, staring into her eyes before leaning forward to place a kiss on her forehead before brushing his lips across hers.
He removed his arms from around her and took a seat at the table and waited for her to sit down. She walked to the cupboard and took down a second plate and grabbed a set of chopsticks from the cutlery drawer. She sat at the table and without speaking, portioned out food for each of them. The only sounds as they ate dinner were the music in the background and the sounds of their chopsticks striking the side of the plate. After dinner they remained without speaking as she cleared the table and loaded the dishwasher.
He took her hand and lead out onto the porch and in the darkness they danced in each other's arms, to the sounds of crickets and nightfall. Burying his hands in her thick hair, he pressed her close to his chest. She could hear and feel his heartbeat. They sat in the dark for some time before Marnie and Brian pulled into the driveway.
Marnie took a look at the two of them and simply asked Ewan if he he had packed for the trip back to Memphis the next day.
Ewan laced the fingers of his left hand through Aisha's right hand before responding "Yes."
Marnie sucked on her bottom lip before nodding her head and walking into the house.
Brian leaned against the porch railing in front of them and asked, "So what's next?"
Aisha looked calmly at Brian and said, "This, is what's next. This is where it started and ends for us."
Brian looked at Ewan, "you thinking of moving out here with me?"
"Nope, I'd be too close to temptation, always wanting what wasn't mine to have and relationships don't work well with residency."
Brian looked at Aisha for a moment before shaking his head and walking into the house.
The next morning Aisha was in the kitchen staining the cabinets when the group began loading Brian's car with luggage.
Ewan hung back for a moment as Marnie and Brian got in the car. He looked at Aisha and for a moment considered waving Marnie and Brian away, taking Aisha into the bedroom and loving her until she purred.
"Take care Aish."
She smiled at him, "You too."
Later that day, cleaning up from her housework, she came across a package, exquisitely wrapped, on her bed. Sitting down, she played with the brown suede ribbon before opening it. Inside was a short note "Come to me when your residency ends in 6 months. The airline ticket is open ended." Sure enough, he'd included an open-ended airline ticket for her, along with a pair of lace panties with leather laces that criss-crossed the back of the panties."
On the long ride to the airport, Ewan kept quiet, listening to the relentless chatter of Marnie and wondered if she'd found his gift yet.
Reaching into his carry-on bag for a book, he came across a gift-wrapped package. He smiled before tearing into the wrapping paper. It was a new Ipod. There were no instructions and no card or letter. He slipped on the headphones and played the only song it had "Please Come to Boston" by Dave Loggins. He didn't need to get to the end of the song to know what it meant, and he couldn't wait for the next six months to go by.
1 year later...
Aisha was on a plane headed for Memphis, but not into Ewan's arms. Six months prior he'd called to say that he and his ex-fiance were getting back together. This despite six months of talking on the phone, emailing and webcamming each other. She'd flown out to Memphis one month after he left, for a quick visit and that had gone very well. They'd spent most of their time in his townhouse, wrapped in each others arms.
She was on her way to Brian's wedding. He and Marnie had decided to tie the knot, due in large part to Marnie being pregnant. At least Brian had finished grad school. He'd taken a position as a business analyst with a company in Seattle. After the wedding, he'd come back to Phoenix to pack up his things and have them shipped to the home they were going to rent in Seattle.
Aisha made her way to the hotel that wedding guests were staying at and quickly unpacked. She wanted to grab something to eat before heading to the pre-wedding festivities. The happy couple had planned activities for the entire weekend; golf, pottery lessons, dinner cruises and strolls down Beale Street, the birthplace of the blues.
She threw on a pair of bootcut jeans, a brown blazer and camisole and a pair of brown mock lizard skin high-heeled boots. Her hair had grown in the past year, but given its curly nature, it grew out and not down. She put a leather scarf around her hair to create a headband. She checked her makeup and her breath and giving the room one last glance, headed out the door.
Aisha stepped off the elevator and looked around the busy hotel lobby. She didn't see anyone she knew and after gathering information from the concierge, she went outside to wait for a taxi to take her to the sushi bar that was recommended.
As Aisha was pulling away from the hotel in her taxi, Ewan and a strikingly beautiful woman stepped out of a car and headed into the lobby of the hotel to wait or the rest of the wedding party. They were going out for drinks before breaking into separate groups to escort wedding guests to various attractions for the night.
Aisha made her way back to the hotel at 7:30 p.m., in time to catch the groups forming up for excursions. Since she had no interest in pottery, and she had already eaten dinner, she opted to go with the group heading to Beale Street. As the group started forming up and deciding who would ride with whom, she heard his voice, trying to get everyone's attention.
"The van will hold 12 people and since we have 14, two people will need to ride with the groom."
Aisha looked around and found Brian standing at the rear of the group. He caught her eye and winked at her. Turning back around, she found Ewan staring at her. She returned his gaze, before walking back to Brian and giving him a hug. She spotted Marnie across the room and walked over to say hello. In the past year, they'd become friendlier, once Marnie realized that Aisha had no interest in Brian.
The group gathered to leave and Brian grabbed Aisha's shoulder and steered her towards his rental car. His older brother and Ewan were relegated to riding with the rest of the guests in the van. A woman joined them as they stood next to the car watching the van passengers load up.
