Page 16 of Heart Strings

The amount of food in the boxes grew lower and lower. Al generously offered me the last piece of orange chicken. I took it, impaling it on my fork and nibbling small bites from it. I was full, but comfortably full - not bloated, why-did-I-eat-that-last-piece full - and I could definitely handle this piece of chicken.

But…it was the last piece. Actually, the sweet and saucy piece of chicken on my fork was the last bit of food in all the boxes. Every little bit that I nibbled away brought me closer to questions I had been avoiding all evening.

Did Al intend to stay the night here? Surreptitious glances around the condo hadn’t revealed any other doors that could lead to bedrooms, and he didn’t seem like the kind of man who would sleep on the couch in his own house.

I found a better question to ask myself just as I got halfway through the piece of chicken. Did I want Al to spend the night here? I mean, he had a girlfriend…Sort of,I reminded myself.He broke up with her. She just didn’t listen.It hadn’t escaped my notice that Al had avoided giving her a label. Instead of “my girlfriend” or “my ex”, he had actually told me her name and used that - like he didn’t know what to call her anymore. Like he hadn’t decided what she was to him.

Did I even know what Al was to me? I guess I could call him a friend, even though it was crazy to think of Vaporized’s lead singer as my friend. But we had shared that kiss. Friends didn’t do that. Unless they were drunk, maybe…

A whole condo to myself. No sorority sisters or roommates chilling in the living room or doing homework at their desks - just me. No twin-sized extra long bed, either. A massive queen-sized bed, also all to myself.

“Hey, Al.” I placed the last of the silverware in the sink as he made a stack of the boxes and deposited them in the trash.

“Mhm? Al skillfully tossed a fork I had missed into the sink. I winced at the loud clang.

“Are you- what are you-” All my questions felt too blunt and abrupt to ask just like that. I should have led into them over dinner… That would have been the smooth thing to do. Maggie would be making some joke about socially awkward music students if she were here right now.It’s just been a while,I told my mental Maggie.

He shook his head uncomprehendingly. I wouldn’t put it past Al to play dumb just to drag something out of me, but I doubted anyone would have gotten anything from my confused half sentences. “I mean…what are you going to do?” I tried again.

“I was going to put this silverware in the dishwasher, but I don’t think that’s what you mean.”

“After you do that.”

The silverware clanged into the holders in the dishwasher as Al turned his back to me. Since I couldn’t see his face, I eyed his muscular shoulders in the hopes that they would give me some kind of hint. “I could go home.”

That would certainly be the gentlemanly, proper thing for him to do. We could finish cleaning. Then he’d be off - maybe he’d even give me a nice goodbye kiss.

“You could.” My voice twisted the words into “No, next option”.

“I could stay here.”

“You could.” This time, the words meant “Better…and if you did?”.

“I could. But if I did…I might want something.”

I had been teetering on the edge of indecision. This situation, the short time I’d known Al, and his “girlfriend”... I was a good girl. I worked hard, studied hard, and never shirked my job or classes for anything - or anyone. Al was an unknown that infiltrated my life of careful planning, and since I was that good girl, I should take things slow. But with the low, suggestive tone of Al’s voice telling me how far he wanted to take this…

Why was I here in Miami? Because it was spring break. This was the only week Tulane University students had off during the spring semester, and even when you added the few days over Mardi Gras and MLK Day, we had less than two weeks off in four months of classes. Unless you were a student who worked for their education, like me. Then, you never had any time off at all. I was here because I deserved time off, it was spring break, and I wanted to have fun.

Intimacy was fun, and it had been way, way too long since I’d let myself enjoy it.

I did something neither Al or I had ever done. I stepped across the kitchen tiles that separated us and put my arms around him. The tips of my fingers tingled with nervousness and anticipation as they touched the fabric of his shirt, slipping over contours that teased me with the idea of what lay beneath. “I want something too.” I let him feel the words through the press of my hips against the front of his body.

“Are you sure?” Warm breath tickled my hair as Al leaned close, his lips just brushing me…but waiting, holding back.

The strong plane of his jaw filled my vision, and his beard scratched at my face when he smiled at my perfect reply. “Sí.”

“Bueno.”

I squeaked as the kitchen spun 90 degrees and my feet left the ground. I quit struggling immediately when I realized that a tornado had not picked up the condo building and I was draped safely in Al’s arms. The bright kitchen light clung to me as Al navigated the doorway into the dark bedroom.

The soft bedding reached out to receive me as he laid me down. My hands on his chest followed his movements, feeling him climb onto the bed after me and lower slowly to find my lips.

They were ready for him and kissed him back. His lips were so familiar, strong and comforting, an exact replica of our very first kiss on that magical night spent in the limo. But this time, I didn’t have to feel the sadness of knowing the night was over and leaving it behind.

This time, we could take things as far as we wanted…and I knew exactly how far that would be.

My eyes fluttered shut succumbing to the darkness and losing the distraction of sight. Every kiss urged me to go back for another and every touch of Al’s hands raised patterns of goosebumps. I was feeling so much at once, but before I could focus on anything, Al’s hands moved or his strong, demanding kisses snatched away my concentration.

---