by Sara Hazel
One week in, and I’m pretty sure I’ve found her.
Olivia
*
“You have a hardcore staring problem,” I say as I turn back to him. “And if you think I’m beautiful, then I think you are nuts.”
“Ok, I must be nuts then. That’s fine by me, beautiful,” he says.
“My story is really kinda boring. I want to hear yours. You really didn’t know that you can call a car with an app from your phone?”
“I don’t have a phone. I just came down from a mountain that I spent eight very lonely years on. I hardly ever saw anyone, and for most of it that was how I wanted it. Before the mountain, I was in Afghanistan, and I never bothered to have a phone. Didn’t have anyone to talk to.”
“No family or friends?” I ask. He shakes his head.
“Wow.” I dig into my pancakes when they arrive. As I chew, I ask him if he wants any, and he just shakes his head “no”. He takes another sip of his coffee and continues to stare me down.
I haven’t even asked him his name yet. Part of me wonders if I even want to know. This guy saved my life tonight, and then he seems to have decided that he likes me. That seems like too much good fortune for me in one night. A guy like this has never been interested in me before. I only get thugs who are trying to get my father’s approval.
But this man is tall and seems carved out of stone. His short-sleeved t-shirt shows off his humongous muscles. These are the largest muscles I’ve ever seen on a man. And despite being the image of macho perfection, he has a handsome and kind face. He looks like a strong midwestern farmer who acts tough, but secretly kisses all his animals at night. I bet this guy likes animals.
“You like animals, don’t you?” I decide to ask.
He laughs. “That was pretty random, sweetie. But yeah, of course. I don’t trust anyone who doesn’t.”
“Yeah, I just had a feeling about you. Thank you for confirming it.”
I feel like such a weirdo, but anything I do that might be weird is not half as strange as the man before me. He seems like he’s stepped right out of another time — like the 1950s or something.
“I’m glad that you guessed I would like animals.”
“I’m an excellent judge of character. You’re a good guy.”
“And you’re a good girl,” he says with a smile.
I throw my head back and laugh. “Hardly! I mean, in one respect, I guess I am. But in other ways, not at all. I’m a virgin who stays up all night doing favors for her mafia boss daddy.”
“We’ll find a way to fix both of those problems for you.”
My jaw drops.
“What did you just say? Was that a pickup line? That sounded like a pickup line, mister.”
“It was,” he replies. His unwavering gaze makes me nervous, and I have to look down and focus on my pancakes again. I’m feeling a surge of warmth and wetness between my legs, and it’s all this mystery man’s fault. But I can’t let myself get too excited about this guy. He’ll be gone soon, and I won’t ever see him again. That’s how it has to be too. I wasn’t made for love.
“What’s your name?” I ask, even though I want to bang my head against the table for asking. I shouldn’t know…I shouldn’t know…
“It’s Rebel,” he replies. “Rebel Jackson.”
“Where you from originally, Rebel?”
“Oh, I’m from Idaho. Born and raised. I raised myself mostly. I lived with my aunt and uncle, and they couldn’t really be bothered much with me. So, I stayed out of their way and focused on building my muscles.”
“I asked where you were from. I didn’t ask for your whole life story!” I laugh and then catch myself looking up and leaning forward to get a little closer to him.
“I’m sorry,” he says. “I just figured you seemed interested.”
“I’m just teasing you. I’m totally interested. Don’t take me so seriously, Rebel.”
“Sweetheart, I don’t think there’s any other way to take you.”
It feels like my heart just stopped. Swoon. Oh my God. Swoon.
“Ok, point for you, Rebel. Just one though.”
“Oh, so this is a game?”
“That’s what interactions between two people always are, right? A game,” I reply.
He chuckles. “Well, where are you going after this? Do you have your own apartment in uptown or are you going back to your Dad’s place? Because if it’s the latter, I can’t let you go back there. I don’t want you in danger ever again.”
“Well, aren’t you my knight in shining denim,” I reply. “Yes, I’m going back to my dad’s place. He won’t let me live on my own, because he thinks it will make me an easier target. He’s concerned about me that much, but not enough that he’ll stop having me do favors for him.”
“Then it’s settled. You’re coming home with me. My bed just arrived, and you can have that. I also got a couch. No television though. I hope you won’t mind.”
I set my fork down and shake my head. “No, sir. I’m not coming home with you, but mostly for your own good. Maybe for mine too, since I don’t really know you. But trust me — it’s better for you if we don’t see each other after tonight. I’d like to know that you’re still alive out there somewhere in Chicago, living like a mountain man even though you’re now a city dweller. Pro tip: Get a cellphone and download Uber.”
“That’s cute. You think I’m worried about your dad.”
Rebel lays his hand on top of mine. A shiver wracks my body just from his touch.
“You’d better be worried about my dad, big boy.”
Rebel grins and entwines our fingers together. I just stretch mine open for him with no resistance at all. It feels so nice to have someone who seems this good want to touch me like this.
Our feet brush against each other. He’s so damn cute — playing footsie with me.
“Ok, suppose I do come home with you tonight. I guess I’ll take the bed, and you the couch. Since you’re such a gentleman. But you have to respect my boundaries. No more touching. I’ll leave in the morning and say goodbye to you in a letter before you even wake up. How does that sound?”
“You’re a very funny girl, Olivia. But yes, I respect all your boundaries. Until then though, I’m not taking my hand off yours.”
“Oh, I don’t want you to,” I reply.
It’s the whole damn truth right there. I don’t ever want him to take his hand off mine. Not ever again. Not for one second.
He leans in now, and whispers: “Finish your pancakes and call us a car with your fancy cell phone. I can walk just fine from here to Rogers Park, but I’m betting that you’re not up for a long late-night walk.”
He pulls back and we both erupt in laughter.
“Yeah, I’ll call us a car.”
“I’ll pay for it,” he says.
When I’m finished with my pancakes, the check arrives and I’m too slow to grab it. He pays it before I even know what’s happening.
“You’re such a gentleman for a guy who’s been on a mountain for so long. Thank you for dinner.”
“It’s my pleasure, beautiful,” he says.
I could get lost in his brown eyes forever, and I would never get tired of hearing him call me beautiful…
Rebel
*
“I’m surprised you’re not more shaken up by what happened to you tonight,” I say to Olivia on our ride over to my place. “You’re even going home with a stranger.”
“I’m shaken up on the inside, Rebel, trust me. But this is just how life goes for someone like me. I’ve been pretty lucky all things considered.”
“I’ll protect you from now on. I got all this military training, and I might as well use it for something good these days.”
“You’re so chivalrous,” she says. She lets out a soft giggle. And it’s a sound that makes me stiffen in an instant. All my instincts say to take this girl upstairs to my bed and claim her as soon as possible. Thick curvy girls have always got me going. They�
��ve always been my personal preference. But Olivia’s curves excite me even more than normal. So much about this girl fascinates me, and I worry that I can’t control myself around her. I know that I can, but it’s just going to be very difficult.
Olivia keeps her distance from me. I haven’t fully won her trust yet.
Our car drops us off at my building, and we go upstairs. I have hardly any furnishings yet in my studio apartment. Just my couch and my bed, like I told her. But still—her eyes are wide, and her jaw drops as she looks around the place.
“Wow, Rebel. Wow. You need to decorate.”
“I just moved in a week ago.”
“That’s no excuse. But hey, at least your couch and your bed look nice. It’s so cute how you’ve made the bed. All tucked in nice and tight.”
She walks over to the bed and presses her hand into the mattress.
“Oh my gosh, that is the perfect mixture of soft and firm.”
Olivia lays down on the bed without even taking her shoes off. She crosses her legs and sighs contentedly.
“You’re not even going to take your shoes off on my expensive bed, huh?”
“You care about that? You? You lived on a mountain for crying out loud!”
“I’m used to discipline and keeping things a certain way.”
“Oh yeah, military boy,” she says. “How could I forget?”
Her phone goes off. The ringer is some pop song I’ve never heard, obviously since I’m over a full decade behind on music.
“You gonna get that?” I ask her as I sit down on the couch. I’d join her on the bed, but she did tell me to keep my distance, and I am trying hard to be good…but I have to grit my teeth as I look at her. She’s so damn gorgeous, and my body feels like I’m on fire with lust. I’m shaking on the inside, but on the outside, I’m remaining as calm as can be…It seems that Olivia and I have that in common. We’re very in control of ourselves.
But at some point, tonight, one of us is going to lose control…
Olivia’s phone continues putting on a pop concert, and I just shake my head.
“That’s a terrible song,” I say. “I think maybe you should answer your phone.”
“It’s my dad,” she says softly as she takes her phone out and clicks it off. “He’s gonna want my full report. But I don’t want to give it to him. For one night, Rebel, I just want to be free of my life.”
“I’m here tonight to help you see that your life can be different,” I reply.
“Ok, I know I said we had to keep our distance, but you don’t mind if I come join you on the couch, do you?”
“Of course not, beautiful. I would love for you to join me.”
Olivia gets up slowly and crosses over to the couch. She sits on the opposite end of it from me.
“No television. I have no idea what we’re going to do. What did you do on the mountain for eight years?”
“I hunted, fished, slept under the stars whenever I felt like it, and read every one of the major religions holy books at least five times. The Bible though, I must have read about twenty. Those are some of the longest and most entertaining books I could think of. I learned a lot from all of them.”
“Wow, you’re not only handsome, and made of pure muscle, but you’re also a scholar of religion.”
I shake my head. “I’m no scholar of anything, sweetheart, but I am well read in at least that one area of human knowledge. If I had never joined the military though, I might have become a Baptist minister. I was raised Southern Baptist, and I’d still say that’s what I am. Growing up in Idaho though, I was surrounded by Mormons. And I attended my share of their services as well.”
“So, you believe in God then?”
“I don’t know how I could have read all those religious books and not believe in God. It’s impossible. There’s too much beauty in the world, Olivia, and I’ve seen my share of it. I’ve seen the worst of humanity too, but the beauty seems to me to be the most unstoppable of the two opposing forces.”
“Interesting. You could still become a minister, ya know.”
I laugh. “Oh no, that opportunity has passed me by. I’m not going to school. I’m pretty sure God has a different plan in mind for me, anyway.”
“You are the strangest man I have ever met,” she says as she scoots in closer to me.
“You don’t believe in God then?”
“I’m a good Catholic girl, Rebel. Of course, I believe in God. I just think he hates me sometimes, or he’d start answering my prayers, and bring my father’s reign of terror over my life to an end. I spend all my free time begging God to set me free.”
I put my arm around her, and she rests her head on my shoulder.
“I think things are gonna be getting better for you very soon.”
“I’m a broken girl, Rebel. Are you sure you wanna hang out with me?”
“There’s no one I would rather hang out with.”
She laughs and moves even closer to me. “That’s because I’m your only friend, aren’t I?”
“You got me there, sweetie. You are my only friend, but you’re also my favorite friend already. Didn’t take you very long to reach that point.”
“Be careful, sir. Being friends with me could get you killed.”
“I’ll take my chances, sweetheart.”
Olivia
*
I lie against his shoulder for a long time. It’s super late, but I don’t care. I don’t think I can sleep tonight.
“So, I’m guessing you don’t have any board games, huh?” I ask to break the silence.
“You’d be right about that.”
“So, truth or dare it is then?”
“If that’s what you want to do, sweetheart.”
“Ok. Truth or dare?”
“Truth,” he says.
“Well, why don’t you tell me why you ran away to live on a mountain? No lying.”
“Seemed like the only thing to do after I left the war behind. I had to get my head clear. Living up there cleared it.”
“Yeah, you do seem put together. Is there anything wrong with you at all?”
“Hey! I thought you only got one question and then it was my turn?”
“Oh yeah, you and your rules and regulations.”
“Discipline is good for the soul, Olivia. Now why don’t you tell me why you’re still single? A girl as beautiful as you — it just seems impossible for me to wrap my head around.”
“Maybe I’m planning to become a nun. Or maybe I just like being single. Did you ever think of that?”
I pull back just a bit and look up at him. He grins, and I shove him. But he’s immovable.
“Hmmph. You’re like a tree or something.”
“You’re not becoming a nun. And I suppose I hadn’t thought that you might just enjoy the single life. I enjoyed it all those years on my mountain. I just knew that when I finally came down, I’d be in the perfect mental and spiritual space to find my wife.”
“Well, I don’t enjoy it, ok? Happy now? And I’m not dating the mafia guys I’m surrounded with. I don’t have many opportunities. And on top of all that, I am saving my virginity for the man of my dreams. I guess I’ll know when I meet him, right?”
I am not sure why I feel the need to tell him everything about my life. I’m just opening to him, and I think it’s going to be very dangerous for me. But on the other hand, maybe I’m wrong and he could be the best thing to happen to me ever.
“You will know when you meet him. I knew the moment I saw her.”
I shove him again, and he remains unmoved. I can’t help but have the strange feeling that he’s talking about me when he says that he “knew the moment I saw her.”
I shove him a third time, just for dramatic effect. “I thought I was stronger than this,” I say.
“You are very strong. But you’ll still never move me away from you. You wanna take a walk with me for a moment? I want to show you something on the roof.”
*
A
gainst my better judgement, I follow Rebel up to the roof. I just know my fear of heights is gonna be triggered.
But we get up there and I breathe a sigh of relief as I see that the roof has a nice big fence on all sides. Rebel shines his flashlight on some rusty chairs.
“Wanna sit down?” He asks.
“Not in those,” I reply.
“Coming up here reminds me of my former mountain home.”
“Um, what?”
“Well, I know, the view of the trees and mountains I had back home have been replaced by buildings here, but it’s still a beautiful view.”
Having grown up in Chicago, I have long since abandoned my belief that the view is a beautiful one. I can’t recall ever having such a belief, to be honest. But here is this gentle and very uncomplicated mountain man trying to show me the wonder all around me. And when he does it, I feel like it just might work. Rebel’s whole view of the world seems based on appreciation. The fact that the world seems to suck a lot just has skipped right over him, at least to some degree.
Rebel stands by the fence and looks out at the view. The city lights twinkle, and I can’t help but feel that this is all a bit magical as I take my place beside him. Normally, I wouldn’t get right up to the edge even if there is a fence. I’d stand in the center of the roof and pray that I didn’t get blown away. But Rebel makes me feel safe, especially now when he takes my small hand in his big warm one…
“Look up at the sky too, sweetheart,” he says. “There are a few stars up there. Not quite like I used to have on my mountain top, but they’ll do.”
“You’re making stuff up. You can’t see stars in Chicago.”
He points up, and my eye follows as he directs me to the stars. Sure enough, one star. Ok, two. Alright, there is a third one if I crane my neck back far enough.
Rebel lets go of my hand, but then soon places his on the small of my back.
“There are more stars where those came from. They’re just hiding, but they are there.”
I should remove his hand from me or something. I should take a step to the side. I should, but I don’t want to.
Still, as my phone goes off again, it hits me that I have to separate myself from Rebel.