Chapter 34 Rule Six Emmett - Dress for the weather
Rule Six Emmett - Dress for the weather
My heart pounded and a lump formed in my throat as Vera’s soft hands moved over my body. She was warm as she trailed her fingers down my torso and dipped under my pajamas. I studied her face, watching for signs of panic or disgust.
Catherine had been confused.
“It’s so soft,” she’d said.
Vera’s hand circled my hard length, and I steeled myself, waiting for an unintentionally hurtful comment. “It’s... big,” she said, causing me to laugh.
“That works in my favor if you’re impressed by that,” I teased.
“And it’s very soft,” she said, pulling me back to Catherine. I started to frown, but she added, “Do you lotion it?”
“Not really, just the soap I use to shower.”
Vera began to stroke me up and down. Her movements were jerky and slightly clumsy. I winced a few times, as she accidentally pinched me, and slowly, I started to lose my erection. Deflating like a sad balloon.
I blushed and sat up.
“It’s not you… it’s me.”
“Of course it’s not her. She’s stunning. How could you not want that?” Catherine scolded me, in my mind.
You’re not helping.
“Wasn’t trying to.”
With a sharp cry of anguish, I got up, holding my temples. “I think I’m getting a headache.” I went around the bed, grabbing my winter jacket and putting on my shoes. “I’m going to see if the creepy bell-hophas some aspirin, and maybe get some cold air.”
I rushed out before Vera could stop me. Guilt flooded me, knowing she probably was feeling bad herself.
“Aw, you hurt her feelings. You’re going to give her a complex,” Catherine mocked.
“You’re giving me a complex,” I shot back as I zipped my coat and rushed down the stairs.
“It’s late,” the man called as I ran past the front desk, but I ignored him, throwing my hood on and yanking the front door open. It was snowing really bad, but I had to settle this once and for all. I needed to stop being a coward and finally get my peace.
Catherine deserved rest.
Despite the lighting being very dim, I knew where to go. Catherine and I had gone in the daylight around the property.
“You remember it well.”
“How could I not?” My teeth rattled and I could see my breath as I spoke aloud.
“It was the last moments I ever had with you.” I passed through the parking lot and started down a trail that would eventually lead to a small pond with a gazebo.
My feet slid on the hard, frozen dirt, but I was determined. I had to go to her.
“What will this accomplish?” Catherine asked. “I’m still dead.”
“Yes, but I never said I was sorry. Or goodbye. I just…left.” Struggling with the cold had caused me to stop talking aloud and focused on keeping warm.
The path was more of a hill, and I struggled to stay upright.
I clung to branches to keep me upright, until finally, the trees began to clear, and I stopped short.
My chest constricted when I saw the gazebo. Isolated from everything else, it almost looked magical. Snow covered the roof and all around it, but not a single flake seemed to have made its way inside.
“Do you remember, sitting there with me, making promises of our future?”
Cautiously, I went over to the wooden structure and went in. I sat in the very spot I sat with Catherine and looked at the frozen pond.
“I do. I’d meant them. Every one.” I spoke aloud again. The words were choked as I blinked back the tears. I hated being here, and yet, it felt very right. I was meant to have done this, even if I didn’t want to. Cold numbed my ass as the thin pants did little to keep me warm, but still, I sat.
“Catherine, I don’t know how else to do this, but I’ve found love again.”
Silence.
The wind blew lightly in my face, but I heard no voice. I cleared my throat and continued.
“I am sorry. It wasn’t something I looked for.
I’d been mourning you, hell, I’m still mourning you.
When Vera fell into my workplace, I was going to help her and send her on her way, but then she smiled, and.
..” I swallowed deeply. “She reminded me of you. Maybe it was her smile, I don’t know.
But for the first time since you passed, I smiled. ”
It was like a weight off my shoulders, talking to her spirit. I could feel her energy here. Maybe it was my delusions, brought on by the cold, or maybe it was just my guilt, but it felt good to say these things out loud.
“We didn’t want to rush into marriage. I have a hundred dollars in my bank account.
We shouldn’t have done this, if we really think about it.
But they were going to send her away,” I confessed and dropped my head down to my chest. “When she came into the gas station, she’d just run away from a religious mental institution.
Her family are bigots, and she’s gay. They’d convinced people to kidnap her, and despite trying to get the law involved, it only got worse for her.
Then, slowly, we started seeing each other, and I saw a way out.
If we got married, in their eyes, she’d be cured, and we could get away.
” I laughed at the ridiculousness of it all.
Vera was a grown woman, twenty-one years old, and she was still terrified of her family. They’d kept her in and out of facilities since she was a teen, and the only way out was to legally marry a man.
“I-I think she loves me. Like you did. I wish we could have had more time together. We would have had a wonderful life, you and I. I’m sorry things didn’t happen the way we’d wanted them to.
But I have to keep living, and I want to do that with someone else, who is also alive.
Someone who needs me like I need her. So, I came here to find closure, I guess. This... is it.”
I sat there, shivering, as snow fell. The wind finally seemed to relax, and I was able to enjoy the peaceful scenery in the dark.
The lake was frozen now, but it hadn’t been when we’d been here.
Back then, my life was a little better. I could afford a phone, so Catherine and I came down here, I put on music through it, and we danced.
My family was religious too and didn’t approve of music at the wedding, so we had to have our first dance in private.
“Whenever I hear that song, I think of you,” I admitted.
“‘Someone to love me for me’ by Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam.”
I nodded. “It’s not a popular one, but sometimes I’ll play it, just to remember.”
My fingers and lips were turning blue, thinking of my late wife and how things should have been different. I stayed, despite the weather, until the sun started to rise, and then, I stood, my bones aching, and left the gazebo.
“Thank you for giving me the time you did, Catherine. But now, I have to go give Vera the time I can.”
And with that, I started up the hill, back to the hotel.
Would this be it? Had I finally found peace? It felt like it. As I ascended, fighting the incline with every step, I realized that I did find my peace. She was there with me tonight, I felt it. I knew it.
And now, she was gone.
I could live with that.
Reaching the parking lot, I looked up at the large estate. I told Catherine about Vera, so now, it was time to tell Vera about Catherine.