AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My orgasm started the second I heard him, that fever pitch having built unbearably until I gripped the side of the tub and followed him, gasping with pleasure.
We listened to each other’s breathing as our heart rates slowed in the silence.
When Gabriel finally spoke, I heard the regret in his voice. “I have to go, sweetheart. Good night.”
I took a shaky breath and smiled. “Be good.”
Several days passed before he called again while I was at The Coffee Spot having breakfast.
“Where are you?” he asked.
“A very public place,” I laughed into the phone. “And I’m out of cherry bath bombs.”
“Damn. I might have to buy you a gift.”
We chatted for a few minutes. He asked about my latest projects; I asked how his business was going.
“Busy. I thought I might get a chance to visit you this weekend, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.”
“Maybe next week then.”
“Maybe,” he answered.
And that was how most of our conversations ended over the next few weeks. Business had exploded, he said. He had to personally oversee some projects. I hadn’t asked him for anything, and I kept true to my word - I tried not to put any extra pressure on him, but I couldn’t lie or deny what I was feeling.
For the first few weeks, he called every other day or so. Usually at different times and different hours. Early morning, late at night. It seemed as though he rarely slept. We talked for hours when he called, about everything from the weather to favorite books and movies. He spoke fondly of his family, and we exchanged stories about our childhoods. There was one night when he asked me what I was watching on tv, and he turned on the same thing so we could watch together though we were miles apart.
One day, he sounded distant and tired, but he called three times. The last time he called that night was right before I went to bed. I thought perhaps we’d have a repeat of the bathtub experience, but I was dissuaded before I could garner the nerve to make the suggestion.
“I can’t talk long, Suzanne,” he paused. “I - I just wanted to hear your voice.”
The conversation was short, but sweet. I went to bed dreaming about him, wishing our lives didn’t have us living in different cities and that his business wasn’t so demanding. But would he have been as interesting if he led the predictable Monday through Friday, eight-to-five life?
When the months changed along with the weather, he missed calling one week. The leaves, what few there were on my block, had changed and fallen. The autumn weather became unsettled, with the occasional snowfall interspersed between sunny fall days.
Another week went by, and the silence was all I could hear. I debated for days. Should I call him? Text him? I said I wouldn’t pressure him, but what if he were sick or injured? How would it seem if I acted like I didn’t care? One message wouldn’t hurt, would it? I mean, if I didn’t reach out, he’d think I wasn’t interested in him, wouldn’t he?
Besides, I missed him. I had no problem admitting it if he had no issue with hearing it.
“Hey, you,” I began when his phone went straight to voicemail. “It’s Suzanne. We haven’t talked in a while. I hope everything’s all right and...that you’re well. Okay. Give me a call when you can. I miss you.”
And I waited. For days.
And another week after that.
I had to assume we were done, and that he had some reason that made sense to him, some reason why he couldn’t call me and tell me that we were through.
At first, I tried not to let it bother me. We hadn’t known each other very long, but that was where I was stumped. How could we have had such a connection in so short a time and then...nothing? Apparently, the feelings were more one-sided than I thought, and he gave a damn good impression of being as enchanted with me as I was with him.
“Elizabeth said I should call. Something about a new guy, the prick hasn’t called...”
I dropped my bag of groceries on the counter and watched the canned soups spill onto the floor. Would I ever learn not to answer the phone when my hands were full? But Thanksgiving was only a few days away, and I knew why Sebastian was calling. I shouldn’t have answered it, but a girl needs her big brother when life just doesn’t quite work out. He was comforting in a way that Elizabeth just...wasn’t, but she had been the one I called first when Gabriel pulled his disappearing act. Her pragmatic attitude was what I needed first. Sebastian was too encouraging, and I wanted to harden my heart.
“It’s my fault,” I said. “I let my emotions get involved too soon.”
“What does that mean? No one wants to date a robot.” Sebastian always had a way of making everything sound like it was perfectly natural. Having your heart broken was an experience everyone faced at some point, but it didn’t make me feel any better to acknowledge it.
“It was...intense...from the moment we met. I don’t want to go into details, Sebastian, but...I thought we had something, you know? From our conversations and the way we... we just connected on so many levels.” Tears started to dampen my eyes. “I thought he felt it, too. I think I’m more shocked than anything that he hasn’t called. I really thought we had something different, you know. That it was the beginning of something special.”
