by J. J. McAvoy
“The first thing that came up on you was that a Victoria’s Secret model confessed to being in love with you.”
This was why I shouldn’t have texted him in the first place. I was way out of my league here. When I tried to click on the article, a 404 error message came up. Going back to the home page, the article was gone and I wondered if I had imagined the whole thing.
“What the hell?” I yawned to myself.
BUZZ
“We all have a past, Coraline. Get to know me before first before you decide who I am.”
“I will. Good night…again.” I held the phone to my chest as I drifted off to sleep…thinking of him.
***
It was Sunday morning and Aunty Trisha, who was still in her robe with curlers in her hair, and Uncle Adam, who was nursing a hangover with some soup, were already self-medicating.
“What is this?” I held up the bill in my hand.
“Coraline, go yell somewhere else this morning,” my aunt mumbled, as she handed a cup of coffee to my uncle before she sat down.
“You spent almost forty grand in the last three weeks! On what? I just gave you money!”
“Coraline!” my uncle snapped at me. “Not now.”
Now was never the right time for them.
I put the bills back onto the table.
“I’m going to mass. We’ll talk about this later,” I said on my way out, and, like always, they spoke just loud enough for me to hear.
“What’s wrong with that girl?”
“Honey—” my aunt began.
“Money. Money. Money. She didn’t say anything when she flew herself to California! Don’t you forget that Wilson is my last name too! If her father wasn’t so damn greedy, I would’ve had my share!”
Ignoring him, I walked into the garage, and flicked on the lights. Grabbing the keys to my grey Infiniti, I pulled out as quickly as possible. I hadn’t even been home for a week and I was already tired of dealing with them. It was so much easier when I was far away. I could pretend to not get their messages or calls for a little while and it would force them to live off of what they already had.
Why did I move back? I’d asked myself this question at least hundred times in the last five days. But I knew that the answer was that they were the only family I had left. No grandparents, no parents, no siblings, just them. I could take their abuse, but I couldn’t take the loneliness.
That was why I came back to Chicago. Besides, when you grew up here, it was kind of hard to leave. The city had its way of growing on you…the city of the wind. Sometimes if you stood still long enough, it felt as though those winds could pick you up and take you anywhere.
I was ten minutes early, but the parking lot for St. Peter’s Cathedral was already nearly full. A row of black luxury cars was parked in front; one Rolls-Royce, one Bentley, an Audi and an Aston Martin. It said something when the most discrete car in the lot was an Audi. Shaking my head, I grabbed my things, and turned my phone off as I walked inside.
I stopped at the church’s wall of donors, which stood right outside the second double doors that led inside. Smiling to myself, I ran my hand over the gold plate that had my parents’ names on it.
“Hi Mom and Dad,” I whispered before I headed inside.
I wasn’t religious, but I came because I knew they would’ve have wanted me to. I entered the packed church and took a seat in the back between an old woman and little boy.
“Hello,” I said to the cutie as I grinned. He smiled and hid his face in his father’s chest. Smiling at him, I, along with everyone else, stood as the priest came forward. I usually zoned out after this part, as I went through the motions of it all, however, my mouth dropped open as none other than Declan Callahan, dress in a fitted navy suit and silver tie, headed up towards the podium do the first reading.
“Sit,” the little boy next to me said as he pulled on my dress.
Realizing that I was the only one still standing, I sat down quickly and hoped that no one else had noticed. Unfortunately, the one person I wish hadn’t, did. Declan looked me straight in the eye and cocked an eyebrow. All I could do was grab the book in front of me and pretend to read.
“Proverbs 21:19-26. It is better to live in a desert land than with a quarrelsome and fretful woman.” As he read, he stretched out words certain words, and if I didn’t know better, I would’ve thought that he’d chosen this passage just to poke fun at me. He couldn’t even wipe the grin from his face.
I loved the sound of his voice.
The moment the thought hit me, I tried to block him out. Luckily, he had finished his reading and was already walking away from the altar, and back down to the first row.
Of all the churches in the city, why did he have to come to this one? And why didn’t I just sit down?
I tried not to think about him or anything else for that matter. That only lasted for a good thirty minutes or so. Before we all stood for the Eucharist, he came into view again. He stood off to the side with a golden tray in his hand. To my dismay, the lines divided and I soon found myself heading towards him like the Titanic towards an iceberg. There were too many people behind me to change lines, and when his green eyes focused on mine, I felt as though he was pulling me to him…it was the same feeling I’d had when I’d sat across from him at the diner.
“The body of Christ,” he said with a smile, as he held the host up.
“Amen,” I whispered as I stretched out my hands.
But he didn’t place it inside and I glared at him, waiting. His eyes shot to the older woman in other line, who opened her mouth for the priest.
He must be joking.
But he clearly wasn’t. Dropping my hands, I opened my mouth for him.
He placed the Sacramental bread on my tongue, but not before his finger grazed my lips causing me to shiver. He spared me one glance, but he didn’t say anything. Finally, he picked up another one and looked to whoever was behind me.
Walking away, I touched my lips slowly as I looked back to him.
Not again. There was no way I could be attracted to him this much. This wasn’t normal, right? It’d been a long time, but a man’s touch shouldn’t have confused me this much. Taking a seat, I crossed my arms and legs as I waited for the mass to come to end.
I should just walk away. He’s just playing around.
“Bye-bye,” the little boy said as he waved to me.
“Sorry he was such a bother,” his mother said as she picked him up.
“No, it was fine.” In fact I hadn’t really noticed him. Nodding to me, her son kept waving as they headed to out. “Bye-bye!”
“Friends of yours?”
Startled, I turned to find that Declan was no more than an inch away from me.
“I waited all day yesterday for you to call,” he said, and I watched as his eyes drifted from my eyes to my lips to my neck and then to my chest. “I’ve never waited for a woman to call, or have a woman reject mine.”
“I was busy,” I lied.
He frowned and looked me over as though he could see through my lie.
“Do you have a boyfriend, Coraline?” he asked me as we walked towards the exit.
“What?”
“Do. You. Have. A. Boyfriend?” he repeated.
We were outside and Father Thomas was already making the rounds and greeting everyone.
“Why?”
“Just wondering if that was the reason you didn’t call. And if it is, how hard am I going to have work?” he asked as he stuck his hands into his pocket.
He was by far the most direct man I had ever met in my life.
“What are you trying to work for, Mr. Callahan?”
He smirked. “Our date, of course.”
“And if I have a boyfriend?” I whispered still unsure if this was a dream or reality. Men like him weren’t real, or at least for me, they weren’t.
“I would steal you away in front of him,” he said, as he closed the gap between us.
He blocke
d the sun as he stood before me; all I could see was him. But I didn’t want to give into him.
“And what if I have a fiancé?”
“I would steal you away right under his nose. After all, it would be his fault for not giving you a ring.”
I hid my hands behind my back.
“And if I have a husband?”
“Then you’ve made a terrible mistake. And once we’ve rectified the situation, I’d have you,” he whispered as he brushed my hair behind my ear. “Are we done with this game now, Ms. Wilson?”
“I have to give it to you, Mr. Callahan, you are smooth.” I smiled brightly as I took a step back.
“But you still aren’t convicted about me,” he stated and under his breath. And I could have sworn he added, “You have some instincts.” But I wasn’t sure, maybe it was my own subconscious talking to me.
I looked away. “Like I said, I’ve met men like you before.”
“And like I said—no you haven’t.”
I glanced back at him to find that his eyes were still on me. “Thank you for being interested me in, Declan. Seriously, it’s the best I’ve felt about myself in a while. But I—I’m not the dating type.”
“Okay. Walk away. But don’t look back or else I won’t give up on you,” he said.
“Okay.” I nodded as I walked around him.
Don’t look back.
Don’t look back.
Coraline, don’t look back! I begged myself as I grabbed on to the door handle of my car.
“Coraline!”
I turned back and he grinned only a few feet away from me.
“That’s cheating!”
“According to who? The rule was don’t look back, I never said I wouldn’t call out to you. Do people really give up so easily in your world?”
Yes. And I couldn’t deny the part of me that was happy that he’d called out to me.
“Are people always this stubborn in your world?”
“Sweetheart, I’m Irish. They don’t come any more stubborn than that.” He pushed my car door closed, preventing me from getting in. “And since you looked back, let’s go somewhere.”
“I’m busy.”
“That was your excuse for not calling yesterday. Besides it’s Sunday, you shouldn’t be working. You just came back to Chicago, I should show you everything you’ve missed out on.”
“Chicago hasn’t changed that much.”
“That’s where you are wrong. Chicago changes every night.”
I bit my lip hard, unsure of what I should do…or at least my mind was unsure, my body however, turned towards him.
“It’s not a date,” I clarified.
He nodded. “Sure. It’s not a date.”
“Then I’ll drive myself—”
“Waste of gas. Come on.” He took me by the hand and dragged me towards his dark gray Aston Martin. I held on to his hand just as tightly as he held on to mine. When he opened the door for me, I slid into the passenger seat and dropped my bag next to my feet. He spoke to someone next to the Audi for a brief moment before he stepped inside.
“Is everything okay?” I glanced back at the young man with messy dark brown hair and green eyes who stood staring at the car.
“Don’t worry. My brother, Liam, just wanted to go out,” he replied as he reversed out of the parking lot.
“You shouldn’t ditch him—”
“He wants to go a fashion show and pick up models. Why would I do that when you’re sitting right next to me?”
I didn’t answer as I looked out the window. What was I doing in his car?
“Who was he?” he asked.
“What?”
He didn’t look at me, but focused on the road ahead.
“The guy who hurt you? Who was he?”
“No one.”
There was silence for a moment before he spoke. “Just so you know, you are horrible at lying.”
I know.
He pulled to a stop at Millennium Park.
“If there’s anything in Chicago that hasn’t changed, it’s Millennium Park.” It was the biggest tourist attraction in Chicago.
“Trust me,” he stated as he stepped out and around to my side, but I opened the door for myself much to his disappointment. He took of his tie and suit jacket, and threw them into the car. After he’d rolled up his sleeves, he held my hand like it was the most natural thing in the world; like he had done it a thousand times before and would do it a thousand times again. He led us into the park, and surprisingly, it wasn’t as crowded as I thought it would be.
He kept going until we were standing at Cloud Gate, or the Bean as everyone called the steel bean-shaped sculpture in the park. When we got there, a small crowd had gathered around a band.
“Three, two, one!” they yelled as they started to clap along with the crowd. The best way to describe it would have be ‘80s or ‘90s funk, and soon, everyone started dancing.
“Are we in flash mob?!” I gasped, looking to him.
He bobbed his head, dancing as well, then he pulled us closer to the front.
“I don’t know what I’m doing!” I laughed.
“Then do anything!” he yelled back.
Not dancing would have only made me stick out more. Giving in, I jumped around him. He didn’t let go of me, as he spun me around.
“I can’t hear you!” the lead singer yelled.
I screamed as loud as I could until I was afraid my voice would crack. Then, with a broad smile, I threw my hands up and swayed to the beat of the music.
“You look even more beautiful when you smile,” he said to me, and I froze in the midst of the crowd. “No. Keep dancing, keep smiling or screaming, whichever suits you best. Be this happy all the time, Coraline.”
I didn’t believe in magic, or in happily ever after. Life to me didn’t work that way, and yet as I watched him dance around me, I couldn’t help but believe in it just a little. It was like time had slowed down for me so that I could just enjoy this one moment. I had spent my entire life wishing for something like this, wishing to be whisked away, and to simply live life as I felt it should be lived. So why then did I feel the compulsion to run away from what I always wanted? Why was I fighting my own happiness?
“Declan?”
“Yeah—?”
I kissed him. Hoping to kiss him just like he’d kissed me. He stilled for a moment before he wrapped his arms around me and deepened the kiss while the music continued blaring in the background. I leaned into it enjoying the moment…enjoying him. I was still unsure if he was merely a figment of my imagination. If he was it didn’t matter. I would believe in magic…if only for today.
DECLAN
In one minute—
Roughly 1,800 stars explode.
Lightning strikes the earth 360 times.
Two hundred and fifty people are born.
One hundred and seventy people die.
And then I realized, without knowing anything else besides the fact that she was beautiful, that she had a breathtaking smile, and that her kisses felt like fresh rain in the desert, I knew that Coraline Wilson would be in my life for a long time.
It was insane. But I just knew that that was how it had to be.
“Declan?” she whispered when she broke away from me. I hadn’t realized that I was staring at her, but I could see my reflection in her eyes.
“Sorry. I was lost in thought.”
“About what?”
Luckily, I didn’t have to answer since the police suddenly rushed into the park and began grabbing people as they tried to run away.
“Until next time, guys!” The band laughed as they rushed to grab their things and make a run for it.
I held on to her, making sure she didn’t get pushed around as the crowd broke up as well.
“Why are they breaking them up?” She frowned. “I really liked them.”
“Musicians can’t play here, it’s against the law. Don’t worry though, they’ll be back,” I reassured her.
> She turned to see that they were all still running and she screamed, “Free the music! Keep going!”
She laughed as she brushed her hair behind her ear. Then her beautiful eyes drifted back to me. Neither of us spoke. We simply stood there holding on to each other as everyone else went back to their own reality. I was worried that the spell, or whatever it was that was happening between us, would stop. Every one of my senses were aware of her. She smelled like lavender, looked more beautiful than the beginning of spring at the end of harsh a winter…she made me think of a dozen other cheesy things all within those few moments.
I spun her around to face me, and I leaned forward and kissed her once again and never wanted to stop.
CORALINE
We made it to his car, and the second we got in, I jumped onto his lap. His seat reclined until we were laying down, and his hands found their way under my skirt. My skin was on fire and all I could think was, ‘screw it.’ If he dumped me after he’d gotten what he wanted, then I’d rather it happen sooner instead of later, because the truth of the matter was that I was already beginning to fall for him.
If it was meant to be just sex, I could handle that now.
“Ah, Declan,” I moaned his name.
He squeezed my ass and bit, licked, and kissed my neck, while my hands fought with the buttons of his shirt…an action that was more patient than what he did with mine. Grabbing the front of my button-down shirt, he ripped it open and sent the buttons flying everywhere.
I stared down at him and gasped as he pulled my bra down and took my nipple into his mouth.
“Oh,” I gasped as I shifted on top of him.
Though his pants were still on, I could feel his hard cock through my sheer underwear as I grinded myself against him.
I wanted to feel him.
My hands pulled at his belt and I undid his pants and freed his erection. He throbbed in my hand and twitched with excitement when my thumb rubbed his tip.
“Fuck, Cora,” he hissed as he licked his lips.
I bit his bottom lips softly then kissed him once more. My hands slowly ran along the length of him, and he bucked his hips upward, thrusting into my hand. His eyes never left mine as his hand drifted between my thighs, slid into my underwear, and rubbed against me just as slowly.