by Helen Cooper
Ella was the type of girl that men flocked to; she was tall and slender, with long blond hair and sparkling blue-green eyes that looked like the Pacific Ocean. She also had that confident that most rich girls had and she was irresistible to men. Sophie never stood a chance with any guys in college because they all wanted to be with Ella. But she didn’t mind as her thoughts were always with another. Sophie sighed. She was starting to feel like a bit of a loser. She’d only ever casually dated and she had never had sex. Not that she wanted to sleep with any of those silly college guys; not after she’d seen what a real man looked like.
She closed her eyes and thought back to that evening the last time she had stayed at the Van Harkel’s. Not only had she seen Maxwell making out with some girl, she had also spied him in the shower. It had been late at night and she had stumbled into the bathroom to wash her face just as he had been stepping out of the shower in all his glory. She could still picture his magnificent penis in her mind, it had looked long and thick and wonderful. And she blushed just thinking about it.
Bang. Bang. Ella barged into her room without waiting for an answer to her knocks. “Want to go out tonight?” She questioned Sophie before flopping down onto her bed. “I’m bored already.”
“Where are we going to go El?” Sophie looked away from the mirror and sighed, exasperated at her friend and propensity to easy boredom. “It’s not like we are in the big city anymore.”
“We can go back into town. There’s a small pub there.” Ella looked at Sophie eagerly. “Judging by the amount of women Max picks up down there, there should be plenty of guys.”
“Max picks up girls there?” Sophie was surprised. She figured all the girls Max got were from the city or daughters of other millionaire’s who had family homes in Winterside.
“Oh, he gets girls everywhere. Look at him.” Ella laughed and jumped up. “Tonight we are going to go out and paint the town red.”
“Uh sure.” Sophie groaned. “I didn’t even bring any party clothes.”
“I have plenty. You can wear something of mine.”
“Ella, I love you but you are size 2 and I am size 8. Not much that you own will fit me.” Sophie laughed. “Plus, I have a bust and you are as flat as a pancake.”
“Hey, no need to insult me.” Ella laughed. “Let’s go check out my wardrobe and see what I have.”
“Okay.” Sophie followed her friend out of the room and sang along with her as they walked to Ella’s room. “Tonight’s going to be a good night.”
“What are you two hooligans singing about?” Maxwell stepped out in the corridor and Sophie gasped. He was standing in a pair of basketball shorts with no shirt on. She could see that he had a thin mat of hair on his chest and she wanted to run over and rub his chest to see how smooth it is.
“Nothing dear bro. Sophie and I are going out tonight and we are checking out some outfits.”
“Oh yeah?” He looked at Sophie and winked. “Maybe I’ll come as well.”
“Won’t we be cock blockers?” Ella laughed and Maxwell groaned.
“Ella, where do you get your language from?” He rolled his eyes at her. “And no, I’d love to spend the night with my sister and her best friend. I can make sure that you guys don’t get into any trouble.”
“Oh no.” Ella groaned. “You’re going to cock block me.”
“You have a cock dear sis?” He raised his eyebrows and Sophie laughed at him.
“You’re gross, you know that.” Ella hit him in the arm. “Anyways, how should we dress? I’ve never been to the pubs in town.”
“This may be the country but people still need to look nice girls. Dress as you wish. We can grab dinner there as well. I’m going to hop in the shower now. We can leave in about 2 hours.”
“Yay.” Ella squealed with happiness and hugged her brother. “Sometimes I love you big bro.”
“And sometimes I love you two dweeb.”
“And sometimes I think you both act like you are 15 years old.” Sophie interrupted them and they all laughed.
“I know that none of the board of directors would have faith in me if they saw me and Ella’s interactions.” Max laughed. “But I guess you never grow out of teasing your little sister.”
“Who can resist me?” Ella twirled around and Sophie pushed her into the room.
“Okay, what clothes do you own that will kind of fit me?” All of a sudden Sophie was excited to go out. She had a plan forming in her mind and she didn’t want to analyze it too closely. She was hoping that Max would see her all gussied up and would be unable to resist himself. She felt her heart racing just thinking about it. Her and Max, rolling around on the ground. His strong arms around her, his lips firm on hers, his hands on her breasts. She felt giddy just thinking about it.
“So what about this?” Ella interrupted her daydreams. “Earth to Sophie.”
“Oh sorry.” Sophie grabbed the dress from Ella’s hands and looked at it carefully. “I’m not sure if this will fit me but I guess I can try. Any other dresses that I can try on?”
Ella handed her 2 more dresses and Sophie went into her bathroom to try them on. “Okay, cross your fingers that at least one of these fits and doesn’t make me look like a skank.”
“You’ll be fine Sophie.” Ella turned back to her closet to decide what she was going to wear.
“Yeah. We’ll see.” Sophie studied the dresses in her hand. The first one was sparkly silver that was more appropriate for a 70’s disco. She was not sad when the dress would not even slide over her hips. The second dress seemed more promising, it was a simple black dress and she slid it on eagerly, hoping that it would fit.
“Argh.” She groaned as she looked down at herself. The dress barely fit. It was extremely snug and short. It barely covered her ass and she felt like her boobs were popping out. It was definitely not a dress made for a girl with curves and boobs. The cut of the straps also made it so she wouldn’t be able to wear a bra. Sophie groaned again. She wanted to catch Maxwell’s eye but she didn’t want him to think she was the local hooker. She pulled the dress off and tried on the next one. It was a slinky red and she was able to slip it on easily. She looked at herself in the mirror. The dress looked awful on her, something about the cut emphasized all the wrong parts of her body. She’d never seen her ass look soo huge.
“How’s it going Soph?” Ella called out, while singing along to the music blasting out of her iPod.
“Okay.” Sophie sighed. It was going to have to be the black dress then. One way or the over she was going to have someone noticing her tonight. There was no doubt in her mind. “Are you sure you have no other dresses that may fit me?” Sophie popped her head out of the bathroom door and cringed. “These are all way too small for me.”
“Sorry Sophie.” Ella frowned. “Will none of them fit?”
Sophie sighed. “I guess I’ll wear the black one then. Argh.”
“You’ll look great. Let me do your makeup.”
“Uh ok.” Sophie was scared at what Ella was going to do to her face. She usually wore very simple makeup and didn’t think Max was going to be attracted to a scarecrow. “Just don’t make me up too much Ella, I don’t want to look like I have a black eye please.”
“That was only once Sophie. And it was your fault, you rubbed your eye and the mascara and eyeliner became a big blob.”
“I looked like a hot mess Ella!” Sophie growled at her friend. “Just make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
“Yeah, yeah. Go shower and change and come back here when you are done.”
“Yes boss.” Sophie ran out of the room laughing. She and Ella were more like sisters than best friends. She bit her lip as she walked to her room; she wasn’t sure what was going to happen when they graduated. She was scared to lose her best friend, the person closest to her in the world. She honestly didn’t know how she was going to survive without Ella there to talk to everyday.
“Hey Sophie, a penny.” The low voice behind her made her jump. �
�Hey, it’s just me.” Maxwell put an arm around her shoulder. “No need to jump.”
“Oh sorry.” Sophie smiled up at him shyly. “I was thinking.”
“Yes, you did look deep in thought. Want to talk about it?” He looked at her in concern. “You looked like you have a lot on your mind.”
“Hey, just a lot of college graduation thoughts.” She smiled at him, surprised by his concern.
“You know I meant it about the internship and job right?” He looked at her sternly. “I’m not joking Sophie, Van Harkel Enterprises would be lucky to have you.”
“I know. And thanks.” She sighed unconsciously.
“Something tells me that’s not all that’s on your mind.” He followed her into her room and sat on the bed as she went to her bag to take out her underwear. “You know you can always talk to me right.”
“Yeah.” She tried to ignore her beating heart. Maxwell Van Harkel was in her bedroom, and he was sitting on her bed. Breathe Sophie, breathe Sophie. She willed herself to calm down.
“What’s this?” He picked up her journal and it took every ounce of her being to not scream and snatch it out of his hand. Please God; do not let Max open my journal. She sent up a silent prayer. She would die if he saw any of her posts talking about how much she loved him.
“My journal.” She held out her hand and grabbed the journal from his hands.
“Ah.” He grinned. “Mopping around for your boyfriend are you?”
“I don’t have a boyfriend.” She answered quickly.
“Unrequited love?” He cocked an eyebrow at her. “He’d be a fool to turn you down.”
“Thanks.” She stared at him sitting on her bed and wondered what he was waiting for. “I don’t even think he knows I exist.”
“Then he’s an idiot.” Max patted the spot on the bed next to him. “Don’t worry about him Sophie. There will be plenty of other guys.”
“Yeah.” She went and sat next to him, careful not to sit too close. It didn’t matter. Maxwell still grabbed her hands and held them in his. “You are a beautiful girl. Any guy would be happy to date you.”
Don’t you want to date me then? She stared at him, willing him to gush of his true love for her. Isn’t that how movies always went? She stared at his lips and wondered what he would do if she just reached over and kissed him. She licked her lips and thought about just going for it.
“This reminds me of old times.” Maxwell’s words broke her mental pep talk.
“Huh?” She looked at him confused.
“When you’d come running to my room because you were scared of the creaks.” He grinned at her.
“I don’t remember that.”
“It was the first couple of times you stayed over. You were scared of the noises. I would comfort you.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.” He lay back on her bed and closed his eyes. “It seems like such a long time ago now.”
“Yeah.” She leaned back and felt her shoulders rubbing next to his. “We were just kids then.”
“Well, you’re still a kid. I’m an old man now.”
“I’m not a kid.” She answered him indignantly. “I’m 22 you know.”
He turned to face her on the bed and she turned to face him so that their eyes were gazing into each other’s. She held her breath as he stared into her eyes deeply. “22 is still a kid.”
“No, it’s not.” She pouted at him.
“If you are still pouting, you’re still a kid.” He laughed.
“I’m not a kid.” She licked her lips and moved closer to him.
“I’m too old for you Sophie.” He stared at her mouth.
“I’m not a kid.” She moved her face so close to his that she could feel his breath on her mouth. “I’m not…” Her voice trailed off as Maxwell moved in closer to her and kissed her on the lips.
She closed her eyes and sighed. His lips felt warm and sweet and perfect. She moved closer to him and pushed her tongue into his mouth hesitantly. He devoured her tongue and she felt him groan before he brought his arms around her and brought her into him. She opened her eyes and saw him staring down at her. He was now on top of her and she felt the weight of his body crushing down on her. She wriggled beneath him, delighting in the feel of his body on hers. She brought her hands up and rubbed his bare back; it felt smooth and hot to the touch. She ran her hands down his back until she came to the top of his shorts. She paused for a second before running her hand down to his ass. She heard his gasp of surprise and grinned up at him as she squeezed his butt. He reacted by pushing himself into her and she spread her legs so she could feel him closer to her sweet spot. She felt her skirt ride up a little bit and she wrapped her legs around Maxwell, willing him to push himself into her closer. He responded by slowing grinded himself into her and she could feel his hardness push up into her mound.
She sighed happily and his lips left hers to kiss down her neck. She squirmed underneath him hoping he would pull her top off so that she could feel his naked chest on her skin.
“No Sophie. I can’t.” He pulled away from her and sat up. “This is not a good idea.”
“But I want to.” She looked at him uncertainly. “I’m not a kid.”
He smirked as he stared at her. “That I know Ms. Sophie.” He licked his lips. “I shall never call you a kid again.”
She stared at him wanting to reach out touch his chest. “Kiss me.” She whispered.
“What?” He sat there still.
“Nothing.” She looked down at her lap unable to keep his gaze. His blue eyes seemed to pierce right through her.
“Okay.” He sat there next to her and they listened to the grasshoppers outside the windows.
Finally she looked up and he was watching her with a dark and bemused look. “You can leave now Maxwell.”
“I know.” He remained on the bed.
“Then go.” Her voice sounded angry. She was upset. She felt like she had been rejected and wanted to wallow in her misery. Another part of her wanted to delight in the fact that she had kissed Maxwell and that it had been as wondrous as she thought it would be.
“I’m not going to leave this room with you angry.” He frowned. “Why are you angry by the way?”
“I’m not angry. I’m fine. I need to shower and get ready for tonight.”
“Is it a guy?”
“What?”
“Don’t let a guy get you down Sophie.” He looked at her with concern. “Trust me, whatever putz has you feeling so down will regret it. Most college guys don’t have a clue.”
Sophie sighed loudly. “Most men period don’t have a clue.”
He laughed and nodded his head. “I’ll agree with you there.” He looked over at the journal she had placed on the bed. “So do you write about him in there?”
“Maybe.”
“What have you written?”
“I’m not going to tell you.” She looked at him like he was crazy.
“I was just curious as to what goes on in a 22 year Old’s head.”
“Then go and ask Ella what she’s thinking.”
“I don’t want to know about Ella.” His voice was soft and he looked at her intently.
“Oh.” She wanted to ask him what he meant. If he was saying that he cared about her as more than a sister but she was scared to ask him. “Well, I guess I can read you an entry.” She paused and looked at him carefully.
“That would be great.” He lay back on the bed and Sophie wanted to run her hands through his hair. Lying down like he was, made him seem so much younger than his age. She reached for her journal quickly and opened it to a page randomly and started reading.
“I wonder what he’s doing today. If he has thought about me at all. I’ve thought about him so much that the law of averages would dictate that he has to have thought about me at least once. Maybe if I think about him one hundred times in the next two days that will make him think of me at least once. I had a dream about him last night. We were in the ocean and
his eyes blended with the water and I asked him if he were a mermaid. And then he laughed and I laughed and I was soo happy because we were together. I’m going to go look at the stars tomorrow. I’m hoping I see a shooting star and then I can make a wish on it. I’ll wish for him to love me as I love him. Perhaps we’ll wish on the same star together.”
Sophie stopped reading at that point. She found it hard to keep reading while sitting next to the man who had inspired so much writing.