Two Feet Off The Ground Page 7

  “I guess I’m the one who has to work on my betting strategy,” I said.

  She cleared her throat and stood up. “Well done, though, miss track star.”

  “I’m ready to face my punishment. One marketing class it is.” I matched her noble stance. “What’s your reward going to be?”

  She circled around me like a ring leader. “Hmm. My reward?”

  “Be easy on me. I ate a lot of dust back there.”

  “Be easy, you say?” She closed in on me, peering into my eyes with mocking vengeance.

  “My reward. Your punishment. Should I have you dress up in football gear and have you run around the track with my team watching?”

  “You wouldn’t.”

  She thrashed an imaginary whip at me. “Or perhaps I should have you stand in front of my team and yodel?” She narrowed her eyes at me and laughed in a wicked shrill. She lifted her knee up to her waist with each exaggerated step she took closer to me. She placed her hand on my shoulder and pushed me backwards towards the tree line. “No one has to get hurt, here,” I said backing up without a fight, eager, on one hand to be cast into the darkness with her, guilty on the other because hooking up with Owen’s coach was wrong on so many levels.

  “Are you afraid?” she asked.

  “Should I be?”

  The tree stopped us and forced her closer. At that point I could only see her silhouette in front of me.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll take it easy on you,” she whispered into my ear. “Now, close your eyes.”

  I closed them on command, unwilling to fight the vibes brewing. “Be easy,” I said.

  “Good girl,” her voice lowered.

  I heard a crinkling next to my ear. “What are you doing?”

  “Now open your mouth.”

  I parted my lips slightly.

  Her finger touched my lower lip and nudged it downwards even more. “I have something for you.”

  “I love surprises,” I said breathless, unable to feel my feet on the ground anymore.

  “Keep your eyes closed.” She placed her finger on my lips again.

  Suddenly, I smelled chocolate and felt its smooth and creamy texture tickle my lips. I opened them and welcomed the sweetness into my mouth. It melted and coated my tongue in bliss. I nibbled a little and circled my tongue around its delicate, sinful beauty. When she drew away, I blinked my eyes open like in one of those old Hollywood love stories. “That was the most delicious kiss I’ve ever tasted.”

  “I thought you’d like it.”

  “Hershey kisses are my favorite” I told her, dropping the hint for future purposes. “Do you have any more?” I asked.

  She reached into her pocket. “Maybe one or two more.”

  She pulled out another shiny, silver Hershey’s kiss and unwrapped it with her teeth.

  I watched it disappear in her mouth. I couldn’t help myself. I dove in after it. My lips landed like a feather on hers and I sought out the irresistible kiss with great hunger and desire.

  Even once the chocolate melted, I continued on my adventure. This time I led her back towards the tree. I leaned against her and devoured her sweet breath right there under the leaves of the maple tree. Hungry, I sought out her tongue and led the dance this time. Smooth, velvety, and moist, her mouth softened on mine, welcoming me into its warm embrace. I all but melted at her feet.

  Finally coming up for air, I looked deep into her eyes. “I’ve wanted to do the first day I saw you.”

  She sought my mouth out for more. “Don’t stop then.”

  Her mouth fit perfectly against mine. I could spend a lifetime kissing them and always find myself breathless. They felt so right against mine. Everything about Paula felt so right. Well, everything except the fact that she was Owen’s coach, and the fact that she had no clue underneath this sultry act of mine, I was nothing more than an anxious mess, afraid of thrill, adventure and anything she would most likely consider fun and necessary.

  * *

  At midnight, I unwrapped from Paula’s arm and sat up straight under the maple tree. “I should get going. Aziza’s probably pacing in front of my window.”

  “So, she’s your boss, best friend and babysitter? Quite a trio for you.”

  “She owes me.”

  We rose together, then she wrapped her arms around my waist, pulling me in close for another long, romantic kiss. When she pulled away, she stared deep into my eyes as if searching for an answer to a perplexing question. “Why are you coming into my life now?”

  Her words snapped me out of my fabulous dreamy state. “Hmm?”

  “Why couldn’t you’ve showed up sooner than this?”

  I rolled my eyes, playing along to her rhetorical question. Only, she didn’t react with a smile. Her remorseful eyes tugged at me, then nudged me away like a dog surrendering her bone in exchange for a good long pat on the head.

  “You okay,” I asked her.

  She remained quiet for a few seconds longer than I would’ve wanted. She reached out and laced her fingers through my hair before smiling again. “I told myself, don’t get attached. Just go out. Have fun. Make a new friend. Go home. But how can I do that with you? It’s like your lips were perfectly sculpted to fit mine.” She kissed me again, then pulled away.

  I yanked her back and pressed on, inhaling her breath as my own, refusing to let go of what would go down in my history books as the most romantic night of my life.

  “Lauren,” she mumbled, freeing herself. “There’s something I have to tell you.”

  In those few quiet seconds that she took to compose her next set of words, I promised myself that if she wasn’t married, or a criminal on the run, or a long lost sister that I didn’t know about, then nothing she could tell me would stop me from pinning her against the tree and giving her the ride of a lifetime right there in the shadows of her Alma Mater.

  “I’d love to just take you away with me,” she whispered. “Just book us both on a flight and see where this adventure takes us.”

  Flight. Adventure. No two words used in that context could’ve extinguished my fire faster. “What do you mean by take me away with you, exactly?”

  Paula placed her finger on her lips. “I don’t want to ruin this night.”

  “How could you ruin it?”

  “It’s complicated,” she said. “I just want enjoy being with you while I can.”

  Why was she talking like she was going off to war? I panicked. “I don’t understand.”

  She once again leaned in to kiss me, but I backed away to avoid her lips this time. “What’s complicated?” I asked, surprised how strong my voice projected itself despite the dread that lurked behind it.

  She stared at me the way someone did when they were about to tell you something really devastating. “I told myself I wouldn’t get involved with you, but then I couldn’t resist. I had to see you again. So, I got my haircut. Then, I told myself that would be it. Then you shampooed my hair and I couldn’t resist again. So, here we are. And now it’s too late. I’m—”

  “Too late for what?” I didn’t blink, didn’t breath, didn’t swallow.

  “Too late to pretend I don’t have feelings for you.”

  “Why is that a bad thing?” I asked.

  “Because,” she said, pausing for a few seconds longer than natural. “I’m interviewing right now for a new job.”

  “Okay, so why is that a problem? Are you becoming a spy for the CIA?”

  A smile crept on her face. “Nothing as exciting as the CIA. Well, at least not to people who don’t live, breath and sleep sports. I’m interviewing for a position as an athletic director of a high school in need of some innovative leadership. It’s a very challenging position, and one that I’ve dreamt of pretty much since high school.”

  “Why is this complicated?”

  “The position is in California.”

  Her words hit me square in the gut and knocked the wind right out of me. I saw my chance with her float away like a feather
in the wind. It swayed in front of me for a few seconds before being swept off in a gust, getting farther away from me until I could no longer reach out and pull it back to me. My voice, barely a whisper echoed against the empty quad, “California?”

  “It’s an incredible offer. Once in a lifetime.”

  Well this sucked big time. This hurt far worse than when Aziza accidentally ran my foot over with her brand new Cavalier the first day she drove it off the lot. In fact, it hurt even more than when my appendix burst.

  Don’t act like a fool, I pleaded with myself.

  “Once in a lifetime, huh?” I punched her arm and plastered the most believable smile I could muster on my face. “We’ll have to celebrate when you get that offer.”

  She hugged me close and kissed me again. “I might just have to stow you away if I get this.”

  I chuckled and pretended to be happy, meanwhile my heart caved into a hollow abscess. I could’ve earned an academy award, I performed so good. All the way back to our cars I bubbled over with joy as she went on and on about the possibilities. Year-long summers, endless trails to hike, new coastlines to explore, snorkeling and diving every weekend. Life just couldn’t get any better. For Paula.

  Someone like Paula would never get someone like me. She’d stare at me with that same puzzled look most people did when they realized how pathetically irrational I was. Paula would have better luck jumping out of a plane without a parachute and surviving without a scratch than ever getting me on an airplane. A fact is a fact no matter how outlandish it was.

  Not until I turned right and she turned left on Hope Street, did I burst into tears. I sobbed like a blubbering baby all the way home.

  Life just wasn’t fair.

  * *

  When I got home, Aziza ran right up to me and hugged me. “Oh, sweetie. What happened? Your eyes look like you just got beat up.”

  I melted into her arms and sobbed. Without saying anything, I let go finally and headed for the bathroom.

  I turned on the water and splashed my now black face, no thanks to the cheap mascara I used that morning. Aziza stood behind me, staring into the mirror at me with her sympathetic, brownie eyes.

  “She’s moving to California,” I told her.

  “Huh? What’s in California?”

  “Certainly not me,” I said softly before dunking my head back into my wet hands.

  “Wow, baby doll, that sucks,” she said. “But, it’s not like you two were a couple or anything. I mean at least you didn’t get attached.”

  I shut the water off and dropped my head in the white, fluffy towel by the sink. I clung to it hoping she would just walk away and leave me to feel sorry for myself. But she never walked away from drama.

  She wrapped the soft towel around my shoulders like a child’s blanket. “Baby, I think this is a blessing in disguise. From the sound of it, you two were opposite anyway. You never would’ve been able to deal with an adventure-seeker. This is definitely, definitely for the best.”

  “I suppose you’re right, Azi. You’re always right about these things.”

  Chapter Six

  On Saturday mornings, I usually woke up at eight o’clock, jumped in the shower, ate breakfast, sent Owen off to our neighbors’ to hang in their pool and then sailed to Bella’s to face a grueling nine-hour day on my feet. This particular Saturday morning, I slept through the alarm and woke at eight thirty-two. I had exactly eight minutes to get my shit together. MyH coffee wouldn’t even have time to brew.

  “Owen, get up!” I yelled at him from the bathroom door. “We’re running late. Can you throw a bagel in the toaster for me, please? Oh, and spread some of that almond butter on it that Auntie Azi brought over the other night.”

  He giggled from his room and then whispered something inaudible.

  “Owen!” I called out louder, standing in the hall now wrapped in a towel. “Did you hear me?”

  “Yeah, Mom.” He rushed out of his room with the receiver pressed to his ear. “It’s Coach. She invited us over to go swimming today. Can we go, please?”

  “I can’t,” I whispered.

  He stretched his face, pleading, mouthing please to me.

  I could easily drop him off on my way to the salon. And, if I was lucky, I’d get to see her, even if for just a second. Big deal, so I’d be twenty minutes late for work. My first client would understand. She had maybe one hundred strands of hair anyway. I could cut and style her in ten minutes and still have time to spare before my next appointment.

  I grabbed the phone from him. “Hey, there,” I said to Paula. “So another one of your big pool parties?”

  “Hey,” her voice cooed out to me. “No big party. I was hoping for just a quiet time with you and Owen. It’s going to be ninety degrees, no clouds. It couldn’t get any more perfect for a day by the pool. I even have a little surprise for you both. Can you swing by around eleven?”

  I loved surprises more than I loved Jimmy Choo shoes. I stared down at my freshly painted coral toenails, volleying thoughts around my head. What a shame if Paula couldn’t see how adorable my feet looked all decked out with baby rhinestones on each big toe. It wasn’t like I called out sick all the time. I could easily reschedule everyone for Tuesday. She had a surprise for me for Christ’s sake. How would I ever be able to concentrate on hair? In fact, I’d be doing my clients a major disservice if I worked on them that day. I’d jeopardize their hair, endangering it from falling out mid-shaft, burning at the end of my flat iron, or being chopped up in weed-whacker fashion. I owed it to my clients to stay far away from them with scissors, bleach and anything that could oxidize and cause irreparable damage.

  Paula could possibly be moving across the country.

  I was fragile, a menace, a force that needed to be stopped in my tracks by something powerful and almighty—like the sun and a kidney-shaped body of water.

  “Eleven you say?”

  “Is that good?” she asked. “Oh wait, isn’t Saturday your busiest day?”

  I was already committed. I already planned my outfit and hairstyle – orange bikini and a twist. “I happened to have this huge cancellation to my day. I had a whole bridal party cancel on me. My day just disappeared into one big empty column.” A little white lie couldn’t hurt any. Screw the salon for one day. “What can we bring?”

  “Bring your suits.”

  Ah. A day of basking in the sun watching Owen toss himself in and out of the pool like a dolphin and staring at Paula sport around in a swimsuit. “Are you sure I can’t bring anything else?”

  “Honestly,” her voice lowered, “I just can’t wait to see you again.”

  I now stood waist deep in a pool of joy. Definitely screw the dry land for the day.

  * *

  When Owen and I arrived at Paula’s, Chuck greeted us at the front door in bare feet, wearing nothing but a bathing suit. A person could learn a lot about someone’s character by looking at his feet. Aside from one pointed edge on his big toe, Chuck seemed to live up to his well-groomed look.

  “Come on back,” he said waving us in. “Paula should be firing up the grill by now.”

  As we walked through her living room, I stole a quick glance around. A plush, textured, upholstered sofa with matching eyelet-covered burnt orange and cream pillows sat in front of the bay window. All I could imagine was Paula chilling out in front of a fire on it, sipping Merlot. The room had an air of poise and sophistication to it. A painting of a sunset at the beach hung above an antique desk. A coffee table with books stacked five high tied the cozy scene together. A built-in bookshelf housed artful vases, picture frames, and classic books bound in leather. She had even arranged a vase full of pansies on the table by the window. The small bouquet of smiling flowers lit up the room. What couldn’t this woman do?

  We continued on through the archway into the kitchen, but not before I tossed a curious glance down the side hall where her bedroom must have been. A massive, colorful, folded paper fan hung on the hallway wall, but Chu
ck ushered us by too fast for me to get a full view of it. Later.

  When he walked us through the kitchen and onto the patio, I had to pick up my jaw when I saw Paula floating on an inner tube in the middle of the pool. She looked like a bronzed statue, all sleek and shiny.

  “Hey, sis, they’re here.”

  She flew up from the tube and dove towards the pool’s ladder. When she surfaced, tiny beads of water formed all over her tanned skin. She looked absolutely delicious.

  “Jump in. The water’s eighty-degrees.”

  Owen wasted no time. He slid his feet out of his sandals, tore his t-shirt off and flung himself high above the pool, splashing water all over my beach bag.

  “Come on in,” she said to me again. “You’re not chicken are you?”

  Jump in with my lace-trimmed tank on? “Can I use your bathroom to change?” I asked.

  “Sure, it’s right through the kitchen, down the hall, and on the right.” She wasted no time to turn and splash Chuck when he mounted the diving board.

  So off I went to trample unsupervised through Paula’s personal space. First, I helped myself to a hearty eyeful of her kitchen. No grime. No smears. Just gleaming granite, shiny enough to see my freckles in. The room smelled like a garden of sliced cucumbers. A plate of chocolate chip cookies called out to me. I snuck my finger under the Saran wrap and pulled one out, then wiped the counter clean of crumbs.

  I walked towards the hallway chewing on my cookie when I noticed a miniature totem pole hanging on the wall near a key rack. Colorful ceremonial type masks sat on top of each other, staring at me as if asking me, why are you being so nosy?

  I brushed on by and rounded the corner to the hall. A skylight ushered in the warm, natural light, drenching the hallway and offering me a clear view of the decorative fan perched on the wall. In its folds was an old man smoking a pipe with streams of smoke billowing up and into the small, straw cabana behind him. Tiny red flowers surrounded the scene. In the bottom corner, the artist brushed in calligraphy style strokes, Live the Dream in California.

  I touched the fan. Its chalky texture gave me the chills. I slid my fingers down to the bamboo base and lifted it slightly to see if it was hollow. Just then, I heard a rip and before I could react, the fan dropped to my feet and the thumbtack that leveraged it against the wall landed right smack in the crook of my big toe. One of the red flowers now had a big slit running through it.