36. Brendan
Chapter Thirty-Six
brENDAN
S o tired. But it’s a good tired. When: Three Years ago.
A persistent stream of sunlight heats up my face, trying to wake me out of a dream. But I resist it. I’m having that reoccurring dream again where I’m walking through a field in Italy. No one is there, but I keep searching, compelled. It’s beautiful and peaceful and I don’t want to leave. The wind rises and something brushes my bottom lip. I touch it, thinking it was just the wind, and find a hand there. Soft fingers…
“Hey you. You have a coffee maker?” A feminine arm slides around my waist in the real world. Reluctantly I awaken, feeling a naked body sliding up close against my back, spooning me. My shoulder gets kissed twice. “I was thinking of getting up and making some, but I don’t know my way around your kitchen.”
I stare forward out my window, thinking I want to move soon. This place is getting to be too small. I need to rise up in the company fast, if I’m going to afford it. Plus I’m still thinking about the dream. I want to go back to sleep, but that’s not an option. “Yeah, I have one.” I roll around to face Rebecca, see her looking beautiful with no makeup or need for it. “Morning.”
A slow sexy smile spreads across her lips. She accepts a kiss from me and murmurs into my hair, as she presses herself against me, “What a surprise to see you again.”
I laugh. “Oh, you saw me alright.”
“Yes, I did, didn’t I?”
“That you did. Since this is your first time here, I’ll make the coffee. But after that, if we ever do this again, it’s all you.” I kiss her again, and climb out of bed, my cock bouncing with my walk as I rub my eyes and rake a hand through my hair.
Rebecca watches me, but I don’t know it. I’m thinking of one thing and one thing only. Coffee. Make the coffee and separate from the dream world, so I can shake this feeling of emptiness that dream always leaves me with.
Within a couple minutes, Rebecca joins me, wearing her shirt and panties and nothing else, her long dark hair still tousled. She takes a seat at the small dining room table, picks up the donkey shaped saltshaker and plays with it. “So, how’ve you been?”
I pour beans into the grinder. “Since Mendocino? I’ve been good. Moved in here with my buddy Mark right after I met you. Got a job at the Ad agency I’m working at, but I’ve got my eye on another job higher up.”
“Yeah?” She smiles, curious and interested. I know she’s gotta be almost forty, but she sure wears it well. “Where?”
I hit the grind button and pause for the four seconds it takes to finish. “Location Times Three.” Pouring the grounds into the French Press, I add, “I’ve been taking some risks where I am now, coming up with new ideas they didn’t see coming. Word is spreading, that’s what I hear. I think now’s my shot. I’m aiming for Creative Director.”
She leans back, puts the donkey back on the table. “That’s a big leap, isn’t it?”
I glance at her. “Yeah. So?”
She shrugs, looks away. “Well, you’re pretty young.”
Staring at the water pouring from the faucet, I say again, “So?”
“Don’t get upset.” She rises and comes up behind me to hold me and rest her head on my back. “I forget you’re so amazing you can do anything.”
I chuckle and cover her hand with mine, put the teapot on the stove and turn it on for boiling. I should have done this first. But I’m not used to having someone here with me in the morning.
We ran into each other at a fundraiser last night where Rebecca had flown in from Arizona to participate. I’d seen her first, gone up and surprised her. Wearing a very graceful suit that reminded me of Katherine Hepburn, she looked around the party holding a glass of champagne in her hand. It was obvious she didn’t know anyone. I sidled up behind her, leaned in and whispered in her ear, “Kiss behind any trees recently?” She’d started, then her body relaxed. She slowly turned and smiled at me.
“Well, I never thought I’d see you again.” Her gaze sketched quickly down my suit and rose again. “Decided to get rid of the jeans and no shirt ensemble?”
I laughed. “I’ll be wearing that later.”
Her eyebrows went up and her eyes lit up with sensual fire. “You don’t say.”
“You want to have proof? Unless you’re still married, that is.” I leaned against the wall, and waited for an answer.
She paused. “Divorce went through a year ago. Finally free.” Her eyes clouded over. “Is that why you left without saying goodbye?”
“Looks like you’re out of champagne. Let’s get you some more.”
She took the hint and didn’t push it. We came back to my place well before the party ended and fucked until about four hours ago. I need more sleep, but I’ll manage.
“I never got that champagne by the way,” she teases me, jumping up to sit on the counter as the water comes to a boil.
I pull out two coffee cups with very large handles. “I gave you something else instead so stop complaining.”
She laughs. “Yes sir. Sorry sir. My mistake, sir.”
I smirk and pour water over the grounds, pressing the knob down to let them soak. “Oh, this is gonna be good coffee.”
Her legs swing. “I love that we’re both naked. Where’s your roommate?”
“With a woman.”
“How do you know?”
I throw her a look.
“Oh. That predictable huh? So… what do you want to do today?”
I freeze, tensing immediately. “Rebecca.”
“Uh oh.” Her legs stop swinging.
I rest my hand on the counter, put my weight on it. “I’m not looking for anything serious.”
She regards me, not sure at first how she feels about this, but then she shakes it off with a smile. “I live in Arizona, Brendan. And I’m a free woman. Do you think I want to shackle myself to some twenty five year old?”
“I’m twenty-seven.”
“Well, then let’s get married!” She laughs, obviously joking. “Please. Give me more credit.”
“I’m giving me more credit. I’m pretty sure you’re going to get attached and I’m warning you not to.” There is no smile on my face. I want to be very clear about this.
She gives me a look like I’m being ridiculous, but I can see it hit her, and she’s covering a little shock. She’s a beautiful woman. I’m sure men are probably falling at her feet now that she’s dropped the ball and chain. I don’t want to turn her away. I just don’t want to get that close. There’s a difference.
“Do you want me to leave,” she asks, from behind a forced smile.
“No. I don’t. I just want you to know where I stand so you can live in reality. I like you, that’s why I’m telling you this. I didn’t have to let you spend the night.”
She whoops loudly, shocked and amazed. “Let me spend the night? Let me? Oh man. You have an ego on you! Were you like this two years ago?”
I pour the coffee for us, holding the lid on the press and pouring carefully. “No. I was a na?ve kid who’d just broken up with his longtime girlfriend. It took me awhile to become a dick. But I’m there now.” I throw her a wink.
She shakes her head, unable to resist me. Taking the extended cup from my hands, she blows on it, looking at me over it. “Well, I’ve been warned. Now what do you want to do today?”
“What’s your last name, by the way?”
“Wells. Why?”
“I’ve got a thing about knowing names of the women I sleep with.” I take a drink of the coffee, lick my lips. It’s good stuff. “Let’s go to Fisherman’s Warf. I’ll introduce you to a sourdough bread bowl of clam chowder you’ve never dreamed possible.”
She swings her legs a little again, smiling and looking very sexy as she pulls her hair up into a bun. “Deal.”
A voice filters in from far away. Feminine, soft and caring. “Hey you. You have a coffee maker?”
I open my eyes halfway; see a hospital room coming into focus. It’s all I can manage. “Rebecca,” I whisper, my voice hoarse.
“I’m here. You’re okay. It’s going to be okay.”
I strain to understand what’s happening, where I am, why I hurt so badly. Images start flashing before my eyes. Annie’s face. Her eyes closing. My body collapsing into one of the best orgasms I’ve ever felt. Holding her. Then the gunman. The yelling. The grabbing of our clothes. How he pointed the gun at her while she went to register. How furious I was that I didn’t know how to open it so I could get it myself and keep her safe. How I saw his arm tighten, about to pull the trigger. I remember jumping in front of the bullet. Nothing after that.
Too tired to move my head, I scan around me to find my body under a plain white blanket, cords leading out to an I.V. drip and a heart monitor. I focus back on Rebecca, the only soft thing in the room.
She smiles and touches my hand, picking it up and holding it in both of hers. “The hospital called me last night when you came in. I drove here immediately.”
“You drove all the way from Arizona?”
“There were no flights until morning. I couldn’t wait. See, I told you it was a good idea to add me as an emergency contact. How are you feeling?”
“Like shit.” I close my eyes. “Thank you for coming.”
“What are friends for?” She rubs my hand, knowing we’re more than friends.
These drugs they’ve given me are hardcore. Where are my clothes? Where do they put your clothes when they put you in these gowns? Am I paralyzed? I wiggle my toes, relaxing with relief when I feel them move.
“I feel someone ran over me,” I whisper, frowning at Rebecca and wincing from the pain in my ribs.
“You were in surgery for over five hours. The bullet scraped your lung but they were able to save it. It’s going to be some time before you’re well again.
“That’s not possible. I have work…”
She applies gentle pressure to my hand. “Shhh. Stay calm. You need to rest. Think about all that later.”
I close my eyes. I feel so strange and foggy. An image drifts in from far away of Annie kissing me and holding my head. Sirens. I remember sirens, too. I must be remembering something from after I got shot. Cracking my eyes open again with effort, I ask, “Where’s Annie?”