New Beginnings

by Megan Keith

  “How are you feeling?”

  “I’m okay. It’s kind of hard to keep mourning someone I didn’t know. It saddens me that I never knew her, or why she did the things she did, but I can’t continue to dwell on that, can I? I’ll be fine.”

  Seth nods. “Have thought any more about going to the cemetery?”

  “I have. I don’t think it’s something I really want to do. Not any time soon anyway.” I pour myself a glass of juice and get a bowl of cereal. “I’m going to go watch some crappy day time TV, I’ll let you get back to work.”

  Seth

  An hour after B disappeared into the lounge room, I’m all caught up on work. I take my laptop to her, ready to show her what I’ve discovered online, when I find her absently staring out of the lounge room window instead of at the TV, that’s currently on behind her. Deciding I need to do something to put a smile on her face I’m struck with a different idea. After placing the computer on the coffee table, I open iTunes then turn the TV off.

  ‘Toxic’ begins to play from the laptop speaker and Bianca’s eyebrows lift as she turns to me. I try to dance sexily to the song, running my hands up and down my torso and swivelling my hips, but I’m no Magic Mike. The laughter that leaves Bianca’s lips is what I’m aiming for anyway.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Seducing you?” I ask, unable to contain my chuckle. “I figure I owe you at least one embarrassing dance right?”

  “Well, yeah,” she smiles, “but shouldn’t you be singing, too? I mean, that’s how you caught me.”

  “Twice if I recall.”

  “Singing and cleaning if I recall.”

  “Your house is spotless … but singing I can do.” Then I begin to pelt out the lyrics alongside Britney.

  “No.” Bianca laughs, shaking her head and leaping forward to pinch my lips together. “Singing you can’t do.”

  I continue to mumble against her fingers as I grind my body against hers and she giggles uncontrollably. She squeezes my arse with her free hand and I back away.

  “Uh-uh, no touching the merchandise,” I scold her, holding her arms away from our bodies. It comes out sounding less masculine than I intend and it only makes her laugh harder. Taking a step away, I turn my back to her and start ‘popping it like it’s hot’ and then begin to shimmy my pants down. When she stops laughing I turn to face her and the heat in her eyes makes the tone of the whole room shift.

  Bianca

  Seth drags his pants back up, only allowing me a quick sneak peek, then he tugs on my hand and pushes me towards the couch. I sit and he starts to dance like a stripper. And boy oh boy, is it sexy! He crooks his finger at me, beckoning me to him. He slowly swaggers his way forward, putting a leg on either side of mine as he gyrates his way onto my lap. Putting his hand on the back of the couch he pretends to ride me like he’s in the rodeo. Even though we’re both trying not to laugh, I cannot help but be aroused. My eyes focus on the muscles in his abdomen as he grooves. He really couldn’t have picked a more appropriate song, either. He stands and pulls me up too, our bodies align and his hands make their way to my arse.

  “Well, that’s one way to cheer a girl up,” I say when he gives my cheeks a squeeze.

  Seth doesn’t answer but instead starts to dance to the music while nuzzling my neck. As we dirty dance in my lounge room I let out a deep contented sigh, thinking how lucky I am to have a guy like Seth in my life; how he so easily knows what to do to make me happy.

  Pulling me further from my slump, he slowly trails kisses from my neck to my ear then down to my mouth. When his tongue pushes between my lips all cohesive thoughts disappear. Our kisses become more urgent as our bodies grind against one another.

  Seth

  Within seconds we end up a mass of limbs, my back to the floor while Bianca is straddling me and removing her t-shirt and bra. Her heavy breasts hit my face as she leans forward to get her shorts off. I take advantage of that by sucking a nipple into my mouth. She moans and begins grinding against me, her slickness against my hardness, over and over, while I caress her breasts with my hands and lavish them with my tongue. Until I can’t take it anymore, I need to be inside her.

  “Condom,” I mumble against her nipple.

  “I … pill …” she continues to grind and pant, “I’m on the-”

  She doesn’t finish that sentence before I’m sliding into her, I get the gist and can’t wait a second longer.

  “Seth!” she calls out in surprise.

  “Sorry, did I hurt you?” I ask, stilling.

  “No. God no.” She begins to move against me. “So good.”

  My hips lift from the floor as I pound into her and she meets me thrust for thrust. Eventually she sits up with her head back, eyes to the ceiling, and she moans. I stare at her in awe, hold onto her hips to help her lift, while my eyes take in the more than ample breasts bouncing in front of me.

  “Yes! Harder!” she whisper-shouts. I push in as deep as I can and she explodes around me, shaking and squeezing and gasping for breath. She tilts her head in my direction and I gaze into her perfect blue eyes as they swim in orgasmic bliss.

  “You’re so beautiful,” I murmur, then move one more time and climax. She gives me a lazy smile and my heart does this funny little jump. I want this every day. I pump into her with a couple more strokes and then she collapses on top of me.

  I’m caressing her hair as we both catch our breath when she starts giggling.

  “What?”

  “I can’t believe you did that!” She sits up and gives me a gentle slap on the chest, her eyes alight with mischief. “Just wait until I tell Johnno and the boys how you danced for me!”

  “Don’t you dare!”

  She shakes her head, unable to stop her lips from curving. “What were you thinking? Dancing around like that?”

  “I was thinking … I would do just about anything to get that incredible smile back on your face. And now I’m feeling awesome because it worked, didn’t it?” I run my fingers through her hair. “What are you feeling?”

  “Incredibly sated. Happy. Lucky. Wondering how I found someone as sweet as you.”

  “Ditto.” We stare at each other, both of us sporting goofy grins. I give her thigh a squeeze. “Come on, let’s have a shower, we need to pack for Melbourne.”

  “We have plenty of time, we’re not leaving until tomorrow.”

  “Nope. Change of plans. I’m taking you away today.”

  Bianca

  “You are?” I ask, a little shocked. “Since when?”

  “Since I decided last night.”

  “What makes you think you can just decide for me?” I’m only teasing but Seth’s suddenly unsure look lets me know he hasn’t figured that out yet. “You think you can dictate to me now that your dick takes me?” I have a hard time keeping a straight face and the instant relief on Seth’s makes me giggle. He flips me over so that my back is to the floor and he’s hovering above me.

  “You had me for a second there.” He presses a hot kiss to my mouth, full tongue sweep and all, before standing and holding a hand out for me.

  We shower quickly and pack our things, stopping at a Maccas on the outskirts of the city for a bite to eat before we hit the highway. I haven’t been on many road trips in my life time and it feels so, so good to be travelling with Seth. I cannot even begin to feel nervous about the fact that I’ll be meeting his parents because I’m so happy to be by his side. I relax in my seat, feeling sleepy.

  “Hmm… Toxic…” I murmur as I close my eyes.

  “B? I have a confession to make,” Seth says, causing my eyes to pop open. I turn towards him, his expression looks serious and it makes my heart skip a beat.

  “Should I be worried?” I ask light-heartedly, although my heart suddenly feels anything but light. And I am certainly no longer sleepy.

  “Maybe,” he says hesitantly. When he remains silent I begin to panic. If it’s that hard for him to tell me, it must be bad.

  �
��What-is-it?” I hurriedly ask. I inhale sharply and wait.

  “I actually like that song,” he whispers and I let out a sigh of relief. And then, of its own accord, my hand slaps him on the chest, hard. “Ow!”

  “You shit!” I yell at him.

  “What was that for?” He frowns as he rubs his chest.

  “You had me worried!”

  “Oh babe, I’m sorry.” He tugs on my hand, pulling it into his lap.

  “Don’t do it again.” I huff, though relief rolls through me.

  “Sorry.” He smirks though, looking anything but sorry.

  “I still can’t believe you gave me a lap dance!” I squeeze his hand and giggle. “You know that song will forever make me think of you now, don’t you?”

  “Well I am pretty toxic,” he jokes.

  “Yes, you are,” I say seriously, looking into his eyes. “And I’m addicted to you,” I lean over the centre console and give him a gentle kiss, “and the taste of your lips.” I straighten in my seat.

  “I’m glad.” He gives me a bright smile before looking back out the windscreen. His fingers twist and entwine with mine and he pulls my hand briefly to his mouth.

  ***

  Less than two hours down the road Seth leaves the highway. I don’t think much of it considering I’ve never done much driving or travelling anywhere in this country of ours. Maybe it’s a different way to Melbourne – the scenic route or something? I don’t know. It seems we’re still going in the general direction until, about forty minutes down the road, when I get a glimpse of blue water.

  “Are we headed for the ocean?” I ask with a scrunch of my brow. I may not have done much travelling but I do know there are no oceans between Sydney and Melbourne.

  “Nope.” He smirks at me but remains tight-lipped. And as I can no longer see the water I don’t suppose I can argue or push for answers.

  A couple of minutes later I spot the blue again.

  “Is it a lake?”

  “You’ll see.”

  He’s acting all mysterious and it’s quite thrilling. People rarely surprise me or go out of their way to do something nice for me.

  Then I spot a sign for “Cordeaux Dam” and I state the obvious. “We’re going to Cordeaux Dam.”

  “Yep.”

  “Okay.” I’ve never been to it before or even heard of it, so I’m a little bit excited. When Seth parks the car I hurriedly jump out. A rush of heat from the summer sun engulfs me immediately. I start to walk towards this huge monstrosity of a concrete structure that’s in front of us. Seth watches me a moment with a curious look on his face, then he takes my hand and starts hauling me in the opposite direction.

  “Um, Seth? The big hole filled with water is this way,” I tease with a giggle.

  “I want to show you something.”

  “Oh, I bet you do.”

  He tugs me into the scrub and drops my hand before taking a few steps forward into a clearing. He keeps turning around and looking back at the big square concrete arch as if he’s searching for something. Back and forth he walks, kind of in a zig zag motion until he’s satisfied. “Right. Here,” he says, holding his hand out to me. When I get to him he turns me by the shoulders to look back toward the dam. There are trees hindering my view and from this angle I can’t really see much of the water, but I can still see part of the concrete arch. “Do you remember coming here before?” he asks.

  “No. Why would I…?” I trail off, not understanding why he would be asking me that. What makes him think that I’ve been here?

  “You don’t recognise it at all?”

  “Nuh-uh.” I shake my head.

  “How ‘bout now?” His arm comes around me and he holds out the photograph of Dad, Nan and me.

  I gasp. “Oh my god!” The picture was taken from the exact same spot we are currently standing. “How did you…?” I take the photo from his outstretched hand. I can’t stop looking back and forth from the image to the reality in front of us. The bushes are taller now but the concrete arch in the photo is the same. “Wow! Seth, this is exactly where we stood!” I hadn’t paid any attention to the background of the photo before, I was too busy looking at the family I never knew. “I can’t believe it! How did you know?”

  “When you showed me the photo last night it struck me as familiar. I knew it was somewhere I’d been before. It took a bit of searching through old memories, and Googling, but I remembered my family stopping here when we were on a family holiday, years and years ago.”

  I spin around and throw my arms around him. “Thank you, Seth. This is amazing!” Tears of joy spring to my eyes. I can’t believe I have any tears left! They don’t last long though, I’m too happy. I kiss Seth on the side of his neck and turn in his arms. With my back to his chest he holds me snugly while we both take in our surroundings.

  “Give me your phone,” he says, after a while, breaking us apart. “I’ll take a photo of you.”

  “Okay.” I get into position and I’m unable to wipe the huge smile from my face so I know it will be a good shot. “Now one with the both of us.”

  We snap a couple of photos together before Seth takes my hand and we walk out of the bush and across the carpark. We stop for another happy snap near the arch, I hold the phone low to get us on an angle so the whole arch shows above us. It’s something I’d seen people do with the Eiffel Tower, and though it’s not quite as glamorous as that, it still feels so incredibly special. It’s a monument and a memory I won’t ever forget.

  Seth

  After about twenty minutes walking along the top of the dam and looking out at the blue water of the lake and its surroundings we get back in the car.

  “How long until we get to Melbourne?” Bianca asks.

  “We’re not going there today. I’ve organised something else.”

  She doesn’t speak, only grins at me in response, her eyes lit up as she claps her hands together. I love that. I love that she’s happy to let me whisk her away and surprise her without pushing for details. She trusts me. I’m also relieved that the trip to the lake went so well, I was worried that it might upset her. I was hoping that it might jog her memory, trigger something hidden deep down. I’m sad for her that it didn’t work but I’m glad we went.

  As I head back toward the highway, Bianca cranks up the stereo and sings. I love hearing her, it’s proof that she’s lost her inhibitions around me. She’s off-key and gets the words wrong but it doesn’t matter. Bianca singing equals happiness to me.

  The little bed and breakfast I’ve booked in Sutton Forrest is nearly an hour away. A nice easy drive. It’s not until I pull up in the driveway of the house that Bianca starts asking questions.

  “We’re staying here? For the night? Do you know these people or something?” She obviously didn’t see the sign as we drove up. “Friends of yours? Seth? What is this place? It’s … it’s gorgeous.”

  “No, I don’t know the owners.” I chuckle. “It’s a bed and breakfast, B.”

  “It is?” She climbs from the car and stares up at the white two story weatherboard in front of us, her mouth gaping. “Are there people inside?” she asks, making me laugh as I get out of the car. “Don’t laugh at me. I just meant, like, is it shared accommodation?”

  “No. It’s all ours.”

  “Really? Just us? Wow! This place is huge!”

  I take in the gardens around us - they’re perfectly landscaped - little hedges and neat lawns, bursts of colour in every direction. It’s even prettier than the pictures I saw on the web. I walk to the front door and find the little wooden box where the owner said the key would be. When I unlock the door a fresh breeze greets me. The house is scented with flowers and I can see the back windows are open, sunlight bathing the large space in front of us. Bianca glides past me and spins around in the centre of the room. It’s a living room with a short hall leading to another living area and a kitchen off to the left. The back windows face a patio and more gardens as far as the eyes can see. I watch Bianca wa
lk to the sliding door and I follow to stand behind her. Water features, potted plants and a huge table decorate the area directly off the back of the house.

  “Seth,” Bianca whispers. When our eyes meet hers are wet, making me feel emotional, too. “You make me feel so special. Thank you.”

  “I’ll get our bags from the car. You wanna find us a bedroom?” She nods and bites her lip, her thoughts going exactly where mine are. “To put our stuff in B. I want to explore this place with you.”

  “Oh, okay.” I can’t help but chuckle at the disappointment on her face.

  “We can explore each other later. Plenty of time for that. Gee, you’re insatiable!” I tease while backing away.

  “Shut up!” She laughs and punches me in the arm.

  Minutes later, I’m wandering through the large house, bags in hand, when Bianca calls out, “In here!”

  Walking down the hallway I follow her voice into a bright, sunlit room where B is seductively lounging and sinking into the white bed linen, looking absolutely edible. She smirks at me when I drop our bags and step towards her. Instead of jumping her bones, like my body is willing me to, I grab her hand and pull her from the bed.

  “Let’s look around.” I open the double doors that lead onto a small balcony and step out. Past the garden, green lawns go on for miles and I can see a small lake, too. Then there’s a forest at the edge of the property.

  “Wow! This place is amazing!” Bianca exclaims.

  “Isn’t it? I can see why people get married here.” She looks at me curiously. “The website.” I clear my throat. “There were wedding photos on it,” I explain.