Of course, I also couldn’t keep myself from trying to figure out Tiffany. Maybe it was because I’d gone surfing without her that one day? But I had asked her, and she had told me she was still sore from her last attempt at surfing. She had told me to go ahead, “You go ahead with Mark; I know you only get to see him one time a year.” She had told me to go, so that couldn’t be it. Unless she was insane? But there was no way that could be it; she wasn’t crazy. I mean, sure, Tiffany was crazy in her own way, but nothing bad. She was up for an adventure, and we had tried a few things the little bit of time we’d spent in Maui.
I recalled the first sunset in Maui and how she had cried about the beauty of it all. I’d held her close to my chest and had kissed the top of her head. I think I had even loved her at that moment. She was such a sweet person. I realized how different she was from Jasmine, and hell, most of the woman I’d dated in my life. Tiffany was so sweet and caring, and wild, and sexy. Not that the other women weren’t sexy too; I had dated only sexy women in my past. But the rest of them paled in comparison to Tiffany as I thought about it on the flight. Did that mean I was really in love? I thought so, and while I was still scared of the L word, I had to learn to accept it. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have a chance of convincing her I really wanted to be with her and only her. Until death do us part. No divorce, nothing like that. Just staying married and living our lives together. That was where I was at in my thinking. I closed my eyes and thought of Tiffany. I pictured her long blonde hair, hanging down around her neck as she looked up at me. I had seen her in this position several times in our short marriage. I didn’t know how many times for sure, since I didn’t remember all of our first night in Vegas. I chuckled as I remembered that night. I remembered sitting with her and her pointing out her cousin. “It’s the girl over there, the one grinding her ass on that Greek god,” she had told me.
I had died laughing and spit out a bit of my drink. She had laughed at that, and we both had laughed together for a while. I vaguely recalled her telling me later that night that I was a Greek God, too, and she was thanking her lucky stars tonight. If I remember correctly, I’d told her, “No, honey. I’m a Roman god, and you, my dear, are a goddess.” She had chuckled, and I had turned that chuckle into a moan as I’d licked her sweet-tasting pussy and made her cum. That thought made me miss her taste, as well as miss more about her. However, I would simply be happy with a kiss and being able to hold her and call her mine for the rest of lives together.
I knew she hadn’t been happy about me wanting to get a divorce and then continue to date. But she hadn’t really explained a good reason to me anyway. I had the money for a divorce, and I would happily have paid for it. Not now, though. Divorce for me was off the table, and I hoped she would agree. I felt my nerves bunch up as I doubted my ability to convince her that I loved her. I knew that words were just that – anyone could tell you they loved you. Hell, look at Jasmine. I doubted she had ever really loved another person in her life. But she had told me she loved me, and I had been foolish enough to believe her.
So if I just told Tiffany I loved her, she wouldn’t know for sure, and I knew Tiffany was smart enough to know that words didn’t mean shit in the long run. I would have to show her I loved her. How in the hell could I do that? I don’t even know if she will agree to see me when I get back. I felt the fear of loss cover me as my heart grew heavy. If I didn’t get to see her, I could send her flowers. I would send her a room full – no, a house full – of roses, with each card filled out telling her how I feel. The words might not be as worthless with all of those flowers beside them. I would rather show her somehow in person, though. That way, I would be able to watch her reaction. If it looked like she didn’t believe me, then I would have to think of another way to convince her I loved her.
I hoped a plan would come to mind before I stood in front of her, my mouth gaped open and at a loss for words. I remembered we had set up an appointment for her to talk about her breast enlargement when we got back. But I doubted she would keep it. If she’d left me, then why in the world would she show up at my office for an appointment? I’d hoped that if she wouldn’t answer my calls, I would at least see her in my office. However, as I considered that option, I was sure it was off the table. So not only did I have to figure out how to show her I loved her, I had to figure out when I could see her, or how. I didn’t know her habits, and she might be mad at me if I showed up at her school. Although, if all else had failed, I would stoop to that level to see her. I was a desperate man – a man in love who had been spurned. And not only that, but I had no idea why I had been left. It really floored me, and if I thought about it too much, I got angry. However, that anger never lasted very long. It faded as I thought about how much I missed her.
I tried to think of other habits she’d told me she had and whether or not I would be able to run into her “accidentally” one day. I recalled how she’d said she always stopped at the one coffee shop on the way to work. I could run into her there. That would be a better option than school. I felt a little bit better now that I had a couple of ways I could make her see me. However, that didn’t mean she would give me the time of day.
“HHHuhhh,” I sighed loudly. It seemed that whenever I came up with a solution, another problem popped up in my head. I was back to the question of whether I would beg for her to listen to me. I could picture myself on my knees pleading, “Please, just listen to me for a moment.” When that thought didn’t make my stomach sick, I realized that meant I wasn’t above begging with her to listen. She might agree to listen just so she wouldn’t be embarrassed as people looked at us.
“Fuck.” Now I was back to using just my words and not my actions. I wanted to pound my head into a wall, but I was still on the plane and trying to not seem like a crazy man as I talked to myself more than once. There were so many ways I wanted to tell her I loved her. I wanted to hold her in my arms forever. But now I felt like a fool. I hadn’t even known she was going to leave me in Maui by myself. I had thought we were good. I honestly didn’t know how I had lucked out and found a good woman after all of the false alarms in the past. I couldn’t get her out of my mind, and I wished I had her beside me right now. If she were here, I would kiss her and only look at her. She made me feel good about myself and didn’t put me down like Jasmine had all of the time. More than once, Jasmine had jumped in when my dad had chided me about my career choice.
“Your dad is right. A cosmetic surgeon is like light beer – nothing,” she had told me once. I still don’t know why I had put up with her demeaning attitude. I figured Beth must have been right because Jasmine would often demean me and then turn around and want sex within the next ten minutes or so if we were home. Sometimes, it would be a longer amount of time between. But all she had to do was just play with my cock or give me a blowjob, and I would forget all of the mean words she had spouted at me. It was difficult to realize that about my old self. I had been manipulated by her far too many times. I wished I had seen that long ago.
I wanted Tiffany. Oh my goodness, I wanted that woman more than anything. Even though we had both showed our wild and crazy sides by getting drunk and marrying in Vegas, since then, I had learned more about her, and I liked it all. I had been so proud of her in Maui when she had tried surfing and the shark cage diving. She was so scared of sharks that when I had taken her surfing, I could feel her shaking from a foot away. Her voice had quivered when she’d talked, and her body had physically been shaking so much I had seen it. But she had still gone into the water. We hadn’t been attacked when surfing; however, she had asked me if I would still want her if she had a missing limb. “If a shark bites off a limb of mine, will you still want me?” she had asked.
“Of course. It would be stupid of me to not want you still,” I had told her.
“Even if it was a leg, and I couldn’t be on top anymore?” It had caught me off guard when she had asked me that.
I had been a smart ass and said, “The way I look at it, tha
t gives me better access to your pussy to lick.”
She had turned a bright red and looked away from me before moving on from the subject to another. However, I had thought of licking her for a while after that, and that had made it more difficult to surf for a bit. I laughed at the memory, and then sighed. I have to get her back. I have to show her I love her.
All of a sudden, the perfect idea popped into my head. I knew what to do. I had a purchase to make when I got home and a question to ask her. “If that doesn’t show her I’m serious, then I don’t know what would.”
It was late at night in Phoenix when the plane landed. I got my car out of the long-term lot and drove home. I would do some research online and move forward with my plans. I was still trying to decide on which way I could run into her. First things first, though. I had to find the perfect ring for her. She was, after all, the one woman I wanted to hold for the rest of my life. The one woman I wanted to share my life with, and the only one I had ever truly loved. I wouldn’t have been willing to run after any of the other women in my past. Just Tiffany. She was the only one who had called to my heart and hooked it deeply. My love for her knew no bounds. I would do anything for her. I would even give her the surgery if she wanted, but I didn’t want her to change anything about her body. I loved her just the way she was.
I got home and showered. It had felt like such a long day because I’d not had much sleep lately. I pulled out the pictures of our wedding and looked at them. This woman is the one I love, I thought as I looked down at our obviously drunk asses. Our eyes were barely open, and neither of us could stand up straight to save our lives. Each pose had us in some of the oddest looking positions because someone had been behind us helping us stand up straight. I laughed as I recalled when she had come over the night before our trip. I had pulled out these same photos out and showed them to her.
“We need to frame this one.” She had pointed to the one where we were standing with the Elvis Impersonator, trying our best to do the Elvis lip, as she had called it.
I thought maybe we should do that; it was, after all, the way we had found one another. I would gladly tell my children, if we had them, about this story one day. I could hear it now: “Yep, Archer Jr., your mother and I met in Vegas. We got super drunk, and we married one another. But it was the best day of my life, even though I don’t remember it all.” That would be what I would say. I know that Tiffany would do one of two things if she heard me tell our child that. She’d either give me a thumbs up or be really embarrassed. I could picture her either way, and I smiled once more at the thought.
I wished I could see her tomorrow. However, I kind of wanted to wait. I wanted to have the ring first. But I wasn’t going to buy just any ring; it had to be special, like her. And it might take me a few weeks to find the perfect ring. That was what I’d thought as I sat looking at different rings on the computer screen. I hadn’t been able to sleep, so I had gotten up and done a search on engagement rings. I couldn’t make up my mind, and that really made me sad. I’d hoped to speed up the process a bit by doing this. Sighing, I wondered if this was a sign that this wasn’t a good idea.
I finally gave up and went to sleep. The little sleep I got between tossing and turning was just enough to make it possible to function, albeit barely, the next day. I drove to a jewelry store and looked around, but I didn’t see anything that looked deserving enough to be put on her finger. So I visited another store, and then another.
I had all but given up as I walked into the last shop I knew of in the area. I looked around, but I didn’t see anything interesting. Then the clerk asked me, “What is it you are looking for, sir?”
“I’m looking for a very special ring for the most important woman in my life,” I told him.
“Can you describe her to me?” he asked.
I thought for a moment and said, “She’s like a ray of sunshine on a dark day. She shines brightly, and she makes you smile because she’s Tiffany. Her smiles are something I long to see again. Her voice is that of an angel at times, and a sex goddess at others. She holds my heart in her hands, and I want her to have something as beautiful as her.”
“Okay. I think I’ve got the perfect ring for you.” He held up his hand. “I’ll be right back. I haven’t put this ring out yet. We got it last week, but there was something telling me to keep it in the back. Now, I think I know exactly why.”
He came back out with the most beautiful ring I’d ever seen. The diamond was big, but not too big. It had a rose tint to it, and the ring was in the shape of a heart. On the sides were two small dolphins. It was exquisite-looking and perfect. “I’ll take it.”
“Do you know her ring size?” he asked me.
“No, I don’t.”
“That’s fine. When she says yes, you can bring her back with you, and we will get it the perfect size. You don’t want her to lose it; this ring is worth a lot of money, and the cost shows it,” he said with a laugh.
I hadn’t looked at the price. Quite honestly, I knew I could afford it. Plus, she was worth whatever it cost. “I don’t care about the price; this is the perfect ring,” I told him.
“Well, just so you know I didn’t add anything to it, look. This is the price.” He flipped the ring cushion up and showed me the sticker.
“Seventy-nine thousand, nine hundred, and ninety-nine,” I read the price and pulled out my wallet. “Here. Charge it.” I handed him my Diners Club Gold card without hesitation.
He smiled broadly and ran up my purchase. “Remember, when she says yes, bring her back, and we will size her up.”
“Thanks,.” I told him and walked out.
17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Tiffany
I knocked on the door and waited for my best friend Kimberly to answer. Kim pulled open the door holding a bottle, and I burst into tears.
“Oh, Kim. I’m such an idiot,” I cried out, sobbing like a little girl.
“Oh, baby girl, what’s wrong?” Kim pulled me into her arms and let me cry for a while. “Come in, and we’ll talk.” She pulled me inside so that the neighbors wouldn’t get a glimpse of my pain and suffering.
“He….he doesn’t like me,” I cried. “I heard him say he hated me and he wanted me to just go away, so that is what I did. I left Maui and him and came back here.”
“Let me make some hot cocoa. It makes everything better. Then you can tell me all about it, okay?” she said in her calmest voice. I had heard her use this voice on her children at school. It was indeed soothing, or it may have just been the fact I was with my best friend. We had been through a lot, and I was sure there would be many more adventures for us in the future. Although when she had married David, some of our fun had ended. After the birth of her first, and then second, child, our adventures had been placed on the back burner for a while.
“I’m sorry, honey. Maybe it isn’t as bad as you think,” she offered.
“I heard him. He wanted me to just go away. He told whomever he was talking to on the phone,” I said.
“Do you know he was talking about you for sure?” Kim asked me.
“I think so. I heard my name mentioned in the conversation. I stood there for a few moments until I just couldn’t take it anymore,” I cried out.
“Just take your time and drink some of that delicious hot cocoa. It’s my grandma’s recipe, guaranteed to make you smile,” she said to me.
I took a sip. The delicious, chocolatey mixture slid down my throat. It felt like a soothing warmth that covered my whole body, and I couldn’t help but smile. “It is delicious,” I said.
“It is nice to see you smile, even if it is from my hot chocolate. Now, tell me what happened. Why are you back in town and not on the beaches in Maui?” she asked once more.
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