Andy stared at Fleur for a couple seconds and as if something dawned on him, he quickly shoved his hand back in his pocket
“Fleur, he’s not my boyfriend.” I said poking her playfully. “He’s just a friend.”
“Are Nico, Bri and Jaz here too?” She asked rubbing my shoulder.
I shook my head. “Nope, they couldn’t come this time. But I have lots of hugs and kisses to give you from them.” I said as I hugged her again.
Fleur threw her head back and laughed as I tickled her. I kissed her cheek and stood up. “Is momma here?” I asked.
Fleur nodded. “She’s in the kitchen getting dinner ready.” She reached out her arm and Bubbles immediately went underneath her palm. She stroked his fur and grabbed the leash. “Do you need help carrying stuff in?” she asked.
“Yeah.” I said. “My car’s in the driveway in its usual spot, come on, I have tons of gifts for you.” I said happily. I turned towards the car. Andy watched Fleur a little while longer and followed her as she made her way to the car.
Bubbles nudged Fleur’s leg gently to indicate for her to stop once she was right in front of the car. Fleur reached out and by memory reached for the car door.
“Backseat passenger side?” she asked for confirmation.
“Yep.” I said happily as I popped the trunk.
Fleur squealed and opened the car door. She touched the door and reached down to the seat till her hand came across a couple gift bags. “Oh I’m so excited!” Fleur said as she felt around for more bags. She put down Bubbles leash and reached for the bags. “There’s only 3 right?” she asked as she gathered them all in her hand.
“Yes ma’am.” I confirmed.
Fleur was so excited she stepped back too quickly and hit her back against the car door. “I’m okay.” She said quickly, not wanting anybody to rush to her aid. I barely acknowledged her accident when I reached for my bag.
Andy came over and took it before I could grab it and pulled it out the trunk. I turned to him and smiled. He didn’t see me as he reached in for his own bag.
“Race you to the house!” Fleur yelled as she started running towards the house.
“Hey no fair!” I yelled forgetting my bag and chasing my little sister.
*****
Andy put his stuff next to the bed as I walked around my old room reminiscing.
“You get to have my room, I’ll sleep with Fleur.” I said flinging myself on my bed and grabbing Potter, my big stuffed rabbit.
“You could’ve told me she was blind.” Andy said sitting on the edge of the bed.
“I didn’t tell you?” I asked as I laid on my back. “I’m pretty sure I told you.”
“If you’d told me I wouldn’t have made such a complete ass of myself by extending my hand.” He said nervously as he rubbed his right wrists.
I laughed. “It’s not like she saw that.” I joked.
Andy blanched. “You can’t joke about somebody being----somebody…um…”
I turned to Andy. “Andy loosen up, its fine. Her blindness isn’t a disability she’s just like every other nine year old girl…besides she wouldn’t want you to treat her like she was handicapped.” I said sitting up on the bed.
“Right.” Andy said rubbing his neck. “Sorry.”
“No need to apologize handsome.” I said reaching up to touch his hair. Was it my imagination or did he lean in to my touch? I smiled gently as I ran my fingers through his hair. I paused when I heard a soft giggle. “You can come inside the room Fleur.” I said putting my hand down.
Fleur’s little body peeped into the room. “Momma said to be down in 30 minutes so she can meet Andy and we can eat.” Fleur said shyly. She twirled slightly in her dress.
“You’re not shy, get over here.” I said. Fleur giggled and ran to my bed. She knew the exact distance from the door to my bed and exactly when to jump on. I grabbed her and hugged her again. “Are you spying?” I asked mischievously.
“No.” Fleur said shaking her head vehemently. “I just wanted to spend some time with you.” She said reaching out to grab my hand. I put my hand in her path and she grasped it.
“Or did you come here for Andy?” I teased.
Fleur giggled and shyly held on to me. “Stop it Nee-nee.”
I looked up at Andy and grinned. He was staring at Fleur intently. Feeling my gaze he lifted his eyes to meet mine.
“What does he look like?” Fleur whispered in my ear as she wrapped her arms around my neck.
I smiled. “Well he’s tall.” I started. “Really skinny, very handsome, long black hair and gorgeous blue eyes. His nose is a little big, but he has a nice pair of soft pink lips.” I finished. Andy watched me the whole time as I was giving Fleur a description of him.
Why are you so intriguing to me Andy? I have to admit, this has never happened to me. Yeah I get obsessed with a particular person and then I go all out but this time, I just knew there was something different about this kid…what was it?
“Black as in dark, mysterious, beautiful…like the night sky?” Fleur asked.
Yes, definitely mysterious, I’m starting to see the beauty more and more.
“Yep.” I nodded. I looked up at Andy and gave him a wink. He held my gaze. I wanted to look away but I couldn’t, there was just something in his eyes.
“Blue as in cool, calm, serene.” Fleur said. “Like the sound of the ocean.”
I was the first to look away, feeling a little flustered. I looked up at him again and he was still looking at me. It was like he was trying to put something together. He seemed to be figuring something out. I brushed Fleur’s hair gently. “Exactly.” I said. “His eyes are like the ocean.”
Since Fleur couldn’t see colors, growing up I would relate a color to something she could understand. Something the color would remind me of. So now, whenever somebody mentioned a color she would rattle off something it related to. She was extremely good at it, better than me in fact.
“And pink as in gentle, kind, sweet?” She asked raising her head to me for confirmation.
Andy’s looked down at the bed and gave a small smile and shook his head. He looked up at me and smirked.
I trailed my eyes down to Andy’s lips. “Yep.” I answered. I looked up to meet his eyes and gave him a questioning look. I know that I look too much into things sometimes but I swear Andy was giving off some little flirty cocky thing that men do. It was subtle and it was sexy. But I’m a big flirt and I know all the rules…Andy was flirting with his eyes like a veteran.
“He sounds handsome.” Fleur whispered and giggled.
I laughed and shrugged. “She thinks you’re handsome.” I told Andy. And oddly enough I agree.
“Thank you Fleur.” Andy said smoothly. He smiled down at Fleur. Whoa whoa…his tone was different, it was confidant…strong…it was not Andy.
“You welcome.” Fleur said. She grabbed my chin and leaned up. “He has a nice blue voice.” She whispered. I looked up at Andy and then down at Fleur.
“Yes he does.” He’s always had a nice voice…but this was better. I motioned for Andy to come closer. Who are you behind those scars huh Andy? If my curiosity wasn’t peaked before, now it was.
He hesitated a little but scooted closer to me. I took Andy’s right arm. “And guess what?” I asked Fleur as I took her hand in my other hand and placed it on Andy’s arm. “He has all these really cool drawing on his arm, with all the different colors you can think of. It’s spectacular.” I told her excitedly as I moved her arm over his tattoos.
“Wow.” Fleur said softly, her little fingers moving slowly. “What kind of drawings?”
Andy didn’t move as he stared at Fleur, seeming to be transfixed by her.
“His arm is smooth.” She commented. “I thought older guys had hair on their arms.”
“They um…shave it when they tattoo it and the hair doesn’t grow back where the ink is.” Andy said speaking up.
I laughed. “Either way he’s not really hairy.
” I said looking at his other arm. Teasingly I leaned over and tugged the collar of his shirt. I grinned and looked down his shirt. Barely anything, thin light little hairs. I looked up at him and smiled. Leaning closer I whispered naughtily. “Yep, not hairy at all…just like I like ‘em.”
“I can hear you Nee-nee.” Fleur said tapping my arm.
“Close your ears.” I teased as I sat back and covered her ears and bent her over to nibble her nose.
“Eeeewww.” She screeched as she giggled. “Be a woman.” She said sounding just like our mom.
“Be a woman, be a woman.” I imitated in a high pitch goofy voice. Fleur laughed. Her hands finding its way up my face to pat my cheeks.
I gave Andy a flirty look as I took his arm. I don’t know if he caught it because he was looking down at the carpet. Oh no here comes the shy reserved Andy again…let’s try to bury him. “Well this one.” I said bringing her index finger up to his forearm. “It’s a bird.” I said tracing it.
“A sparrow.” Andy said correcting me softly as he looked up.
I looked up and met his gaze. “A sparrow.” I repeated smiling. In memory of his dog I bet. I moved our hand over. I moved over the skull and ran our fingers over a beautiful pink flower. “And here’s a gorgeous pink flower.” I said, tracing Fleur’s finger around it.
“A pink Epiphyllum.” Andy said quietly.
I lifted my eyes to meet his gaze.
“My mom’s favorite.” He added gently.
I bit my lip and rubbed his arm slowly. These weren’t useless tattoos. They all meant something. Wow…his life written all on his arm.
“I love flowers.” Fleur said. “I think they are so soft and beautiful and smell good.” She giggled. “My name means flower in French.” She pointed out. “Just in case you were wondering.” She added, sounding a little bit like me.
“That’s really cool.” Andy said nodding. “It fits you.”
Fleur giggled again.
Right then and there I wanted to kiss him. He was being so gentle with my sister, it was overwhelming. He was smiling softly at her even though Fleur would never be able to see the smile.
“The orange car?” I asked pointing to the sports car next to the flower.
“ ’63 Corvette….my dad’s favorite car…I was supposed to get it when I graduated but uh….um…yeah…” he trailed off, his voice breaking at the end. He took a deep breath and looked away.
Fleur paused as she sensed the sadness in the room. “Don’t be sad Andy.” My little sister patted his hand. “Nee-nee will cheer you up, she always cheers me up.” She said proudly.
“Fleur.” I said blushing as I pushed her head playfully.
“I’m okay.” Andy said smiling down at Fleur. “I’ll be happy to describe the rest of my tattoos if you want.” He said.
Maybe he just needs somebody to talk to? I can listen.
“Yeah!” Fleur said excitedly. I was shocked. Andy was initiating conversation. I felt like I was pulling his teeth whenever I tried to talk to him, but here he was willing giving himself away. Andy looked up and met my gaze and shrugged.
I watched in silent awe as Andy took Fleur’s little finger and traced another tattoo. “This one is from The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstine, one of my favorite books growing up.” He said as he traced the little boy and the tree. “Have you ever read it?” he asked.
He immediately looked as though he regretted asking that. He looked at me for help.
Fleur shook her head. “No, but I’ve read Where the sidewalk ends. My teacher has a lot of books, I’ll ask her.”
“Cool.” Andy said looking relieved that he hadn’t said something dumb. “You should read it. It’s a lot like life.” He said seriously.
Fleur nodded eagerly. She moved her hand down his arms, seeing with her fingertips. “What happened?” Fleur asked as her fingers came across his cuts on his wrists. “Did you get hurt?”
Andy removed his hand from under her touch slowly. “Something like that.”
“I think our 30 minutes are up.” I said happily to add some distraction. “I’m starved, lets eat.” I gave his arm a comforting squeeze as I kissed the top of her forehead.
“Yeah!” Fleur said excitedly as she hopped off the bed forgetting what had just happened. Andy gave me a grateful look. He slowly got off the bed and I grabbed his hand.
“Pick me up.” I said teasingly as I hopped off the bed.
Andy shook his head. “No.” he said as he took a step back.
Fleur giggled as she skipped to the door. She was so used to my room that without hesitating she grabbed the door handle. Her trick was she counted. Anywhere she went whether it was running, skipping or walking, she knew exactly how many steps or seconds before she hit something and busted her face.
“Please.” I whined as I threw my hands around his neck catching him off balance. He always smelled good.
He stumbled and put his left arm around my waist. “No.”
I pouted as I pressed my body against him. “Please.” I said as I let myself become deadweight against him.
“Ornelia.” He groaned having to hold me up so I wouldn’t fall down.
I giggled against his neck.
“You’re a pain.” He mumbled as he half dragged half lifted me out the room.
“Come on Andy, put those skinny muscles to work.” I teased as I smiled up at him.
“Skinny muscles?” He repeated.
I laughed as I lowered my arms to wrap around his waist. I hugged his side and didn’t let go as we made our way downstairs.
“It’s hard to walk down when I have a big old growth on my side.” Andy said trying to push me away.
“I’m not a growth, you love me.” I said laughing.
“I don’t know you enough to love you.” Andy said to my surprise.
“It’s only a matter of time sweetheart.” I said. I laughed and joyfully tiptoed up and pecked the side of his chin. Andy stopped walking down the stairs and looked at me in surprise. “What?” I asked.
Andy stared at me. He sighed and looked away.
“What?” I asked again. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him down. “Talk or I’ll show you wrestling moves.” I threatened as I pulled his body down.
“You’re crazy.” He whispered, his hand gripping the railing to stop us from falling.
“You haven’t seen crazy yet buddy.” I said laughing. I tried to put his head in a headlock but this skinny kid was stronger than he looked. I only managed to move his head eye level to mine. I had to continuously move my own head because his hair kept getting in my way. With my other hand I pushed his hair out his face and held it against his head and grinned.
Andy took a couple shallow breaths. I froze. We were nose to nose, just a hair length away from each other’s mouth. My hands of their own free will slide through his hair. What was I doing? Why was Andy staring at me like that? Why did I want him to kiss me…actually I needed him to kiss me. If he didn’t do it, I will. Shit, why was I always so horny nowadays? Screw horny…I was going to taste those lips.
I lowered my hands to his waist and leaned my mouth towards his.
“I thought you said the young man you were bringing home wasn’t your boyfriend young lady.” I heard a way too familiar voice say. I quickly let go of Andy, practically pushing him off me and straightened up. “Because I know I didn’t lose raise a loose woman.” She continued.
Andy blushed as he straightened up too. He stuck his hands in his pockets and gave me an accusatory nudge with his elbow. I nudged him back. He looked down at the ground but secretly nudged me harder causing me to stumble forward. I turned and shot him an evil glare but he lifted his head and examined the ceiling.
“You pushed her?” Fleur whispered to Andy and giggled softly. She reached out and grabbed the end of the railing and held on to it.
“Moooommm.” I said smiling broadly, ignoring my enemies to the side.
“Uh-huh.” Gisele said crossing her
arms as she raised her eyebrow at her second daughter.
I leaped towards her and wrapped my arms around her waist and kissed her cheek. “I missed you.” I said in a little girls’ voice. She narrowed her eyes at me as she hugged me back.
“Yeah that’s why you can’t call me?” She said hugging me tighter. “C’est qui que t’amener ici?” Who did you bring here? She asked.
“C’est mon ami.” He’s my friend. “Mom, this is Andy, Andy this is my mom.” I said happily.
O.J. Page 18