She cursed herself again, trying to focus on the day ahead but could only picture his eyes, hear his voice, and feel his touch. She dragged her hands over her belly, mimicking the way he'd done before and let her fingers slip down between her legs. She cursed herself again, quickly followed by a moan as she pressed. She hissed sharply as her body shuddered in response to the gentle stroke of her clit, luckily the shower drowned out the subsequent moans that followed. She climaxed just as the water warmed, her head lowered, gasping into the spray. Her husband, perfect timing as ever, walked in, "Babe...want cereal? I'm gonna skip since I have to catch my flight. I'll drop the kids though." He walked out without ever giving her a second glance. She leaned against the shower wall, biting her lip, trying to control the emotion she felt rising in her chest, then finally let loose. She sobbed quietly then finished her shower.
++++
She leaned over him as he sat at the table frowning into his Blackberry. Just as her lips were about to connect with his, he turned his head. Sighing she kissed his cheek and stood erect, offering him the piping hot cup of coffee. He tossed her an empty glance, switching his cell phone to his other ear. She turned away making her way across the large kitchen scooping up the abandoned bowls of oatmeal left behind by her son and daughter. "I'm on my way...of course." She heard James, her husband of 12 years exhale in frustration. She glanced back seeing him slip the strap of his bag onto his shoulder. He pushed a button and slipped the phone into his pocket and grabbed the handle of this suitcase. He was off on another "business trip" or so he'd like her to think. She reached behind her adjusting her slipping ponytail and turned to face, him, hand resting on one hip. "Ok well...I'm gone. See you guys in two weeks or so." He paused, obviously studying her expression to see if she believed this lie.
They stood that way, staring at each other before he nodded and turned heading out the door. "Bye." She called out, heading back to the waiting dishes. She'd learned it was useless to try to confront him about where he was really going. She had proof that he was cheating and hand confronted him with the text messages and emails and hotel/motel receipts, bank statements etc, and they'd spent thousands on therapists. James would usually become the model husband only to slip back into his old ways. She'd grown tired of the fighting and insults. He had made mention that his lack of attraction to her was due to her weight gain after the children, though she was only 15 pounds heavier than when they'd met. They had been madly in love even 5 years into their marriage and you could never have convinced her that he would even look at another woman years ago. But here they were...She stared out into her backyard, drying the last of the morning dishes, as her mind began its usual litany. I could go, take the kids and be gone when he got back, except she'd exhausted her savings to pay for the beautiful home they now shared.
She'd done the stupid thing that a lot of women do. She got comfortable when she knew she shouldn't have. When she'd gotten pregnant she put of finishing her degree in marketing and focused on the children. Her only source of income was helping her mother in law by doing some creative marketing for her catering business. She sighed in defeat, as she'd done so many times and dried her hands. She reached up to pull the scrunchie that held her hair in place, and then shrugged, wondering why she should bother. She was dead in the eyes of the world, no point it taking down her hair or even changing her clothes. She turned scooping her car keys up, and dragged her purse from its' resting place in one of the chairs and marched unceremoniously to the front door. Time to run the daily errands. Stepping out into the crisp morning air and slamming the key home into the lock she thought of the first day she'd met him...
(Then)
She glanced down at her left hand, frowning in complete frustration. The bags were slipping and there wasn't a whole lot she could do about it. The idea to carry them all, instead of using the shopping cart, had been a stupid one. It was her smallish attempt at getting some exercise and just her bad luck that they were slipping free of her hands. She stopped and quickly lowered them to the ground, hearing a glassy protest from within. She frowned again and imagined the bottle of wine she'd talked herself into buying cracking and watching red rivulets running from the bottom of the bag. She released the plastic handle, her frown deepening as cans AND her bottle of wine all rolled free of the bag in different directions. "Great, Lydia...just great..." she murmured to herself as she quickly tried to wrangle her fleeing groceries. She grabbed all she could and glanced after a few that were still rolling and cursed again under her breath as her cell phone rang. She quickly righted the wine bottle and shoved the cans into the bag and grabbed her cell phone. "Hello?!" She heard the voice of her sons' teacher shrill and annoying. A can of beets, cradled by long artistic fingers, suddenly filled her field of vision. She flushed with embarrassment suddenly wondering why she'd even bought beets. She hated them. She grabbed the can and reached for her bag, only to have the phantom hand beat her to it. She murmured a thank you and finally looked up to see her knight in shining armor. His eyes were the first thing she noticed. The most piercing blue she'd ever seen. For a moment the world around her grayed in comparison and everything seemed to move in slow motion. The tall man smiled at her and dropped the rest of the groceries he'd rescued into the bag, "Which way is your car?" he said simply.
She pointed and began walking quickly, brushing the too long bangs out of her eyes, as she went. She heard his footsteps fall in line behind her own and had a moment to think how stupid it was that she was letting a stranger trail her to her car. If he decided to kidnap her, it would be no more than she deserved. She shifted the cell phone and glanced at him, as she pressed the button turning off the car alarm and popping the hatch on her truck. She stepped back and raised her hand, making the universal motion for someone talking too much on the other end of the phone and rolled her eyes mockingly.
"...so be sure you sign the papers or he can't compete...just wanted to give you a heads up!" she barely caught the last of what the teacher was saying.
"Alright, I'll be sure to do that! I have to go now, hand full of groceries here, "she offered a curt laugh, attempting to sound cheerful and hung up before the woman could begin speaking again. She turned to look at her hero, exhaling dramatically and smiled at him. She was suddenly aware of what a mess she must look and moved to brush her hair from her eyes. He reached up quickly, his hand slowing as he neared her face and did this for her, a strange little smile on his face. She looked at him, nearly completely mesmerized. "...um...thank you...," she waited for his name.
"Matt...And you are?"
"Lydia." She caught herself staring at those vibrant blue eyes for a moment longer than she intended and blinked, "I'm...sorry. Your eyes are ...very blue."
He chuckled and shoved his hands into his pockets, a gesture she would become familiar with, but never quite understand. "I get that a lot. I'm a freak of nature I suppose."
She laughed a little catching the heavy pronunciation of his Rs. "And you're...Irish?"
"Aye." He smirked at her, his eyes becoming slightly hooded, casting a slight shadow over the brilliantly blue orbs. He indeed knew how handsome he was and wielded his charm like the deadliest weapon.
She extended her hand, "Well thank you so much. All the way from Ireland, just to help this poor woman with her groceries. Is this a bad habit or do you rescue groceries professionally?"
He laughed again and she blushed a deep dark red that only women of color can blush. She had a charm of her own, charm that she'd forgotten she possessed. "Well I'm sort of professional. I'm semi-retired and only rescue on a case by case basis. You know...in case the woman in question is absolutely beautiful."
She blinked several times in rapid succession and smiled again. What is WRONG with you?! She yelled at herself in her head. "Well, thank you once again. I appreciate the help." She turned yanking down the hatch to her truck and slamming it shut. She moved around the truck careful not to touch him, and tossed a smile back over her shoulder. In retrospect this attempt at parting flirtation was a terrible idea. She went sprawling onto the pavement, just barely managing to keep her face from any damage.
He moved quick as a flash, easily helping her to her feet and once again brushed the hair from her eyes. He lingered a moment, his fingers trailing along her cheek as he stared at her, his eyes frosted a day dreamy blue. He blinked suddenly and smiled again and stepped back from her, shoving his hands deep into his pockets. "You know, you keep this up and I'm going to start thinking you want me." He grinned at her. She could smell his cologne faintly. Paloma Piccaso for men. So he had kind of expensive tastes...or his wife did.
