Third Time's A Charmer

by St. John, Jodi

  I looked across to find her not alongside the man that looked like Andres. She wasn’t visible. She was somewhere over there among her guests and texting me. My heart flipped a little. I was obviously on her mind. I had to reply but didn't want to seem too eager. Oh, fuck it. I texted back immediately.

  I’m sorry it took me this long to find you. My skills are not as great as you give me credit for.

  I hope it made her smile. I needed to go now, before she found out I was over here watching her every move. It was becoming increasingly difficult to not to run over there and wrap her up in my arms.

  I woke up early. Ok, who did I think I was kidding, I didn't sleep. My mind and heart were racing.

  I grabbed my phone.

  Have dinner with me.

  She responded right away.

  When?

  Now!

  It's 6 AM!

  OK, then tonight?

  Yes. I'll meet you at the place we were yesterday. 8:00

  I'll be waiting.

  I arrived at the restaurant early. I wanted to be waiting for her. It seemed like a gallant move. The same gentleman from yesterday was working. He recognized me and introduced himself.

  "I'm Tony." He said smiling.

  "Hi Tony, nice to meet you, I'm Harris." we shook hands.

  "I have your table ready but you know she's always late, right?" he asked with a warm smile.

  We laughed as I nodded.

  He patted me on the back and showed me to the same table we were at yesterday. I had called the restaurant earlier to ensure we could have this table. I wanted everything to be perfect.

  I watched her as she walked across the street. God, she was beautiful. Even more so than I remembered. I stood as she neared the table. I pulled out the chair for her, eliciting a sweet smile from her lips.

  We each ordered wine and the conversation started to flow easily, like it always did with us. She asked me about my music and my tour. She asked about my mum and my sister and the boys of course. I asked her about her business and projects. I was excited when she told me she had done the restaurant. It was amazing. I should have known. It was hard to notice anything but her right now though. She told me all about Tony and the others in the neighborhood that she was close with. She even spoke of Andres and how they have remained close, that he was married now with 2 children.

  Whew

  The hours flew by. Being here with her was right. I felt complete again. I won’t let her go this time, no matter what.

  The sun had long set and we were the only ones left at the restaurant. I held her hand across the table. "May I walk you home, Olivia?" I said trying to stop my body from trembling from her touch. She nodded and I noticed something in her eyes. It seemed like fear and that clenched my heart immediately.

  "Livy, if this is too much for you, please tell me. I'll do whatever it takes to make this work this time." I said softly across the table while still gripping her hand.

  "It's not too much for me, there's just something you need to know." And there was that fear again. "Why don't you walk me home and we can talk some more."

  My heart was in my throat. I wanted to kiss her. Needed her lips on mine, but I could sense her hesitation. I followed her through the restaurant still holding on to her hand. She smiled and kissed Tony goodnight. I shook his hand and bid him a goodnight as well. I wrapped my coat around her shoulders and held her close as we walked across the street together. She unlocked the door and let us in. This was her studio and it was stunning and quiet and I wanted to stop in this moment. We stood face to face. I went to pull her close and she responded. Our lips mere inches apart when I heard someone thundering down the stairs. I pulled back as did she and we both turned to face our intruder.

  "Vlad! Jesus, you scared us!" She snapped at him.

  "Well I heard the door but then nothing, so I needed to check. Had I not, you would have yelled at me then too!" he shrieked at her. Then he turned to me, "Hi, I'm Vladimir." He shook my hand while glaring at Olivia. I immediately saw they were close. Very close. "Well, come on you two, we have dessert waiting," he said over his shoulder as he headed back up the stairs.

  Olivia looked at me apologizing with her eyes. "I'll get them to leave soon. Come in?" she pleaded.

  I smiled at her, kissed her hand and replied, "Of course."

  We all sat around in the kitchen and talked over dessert. I met Tyler and liked both of them immediately. Livy had a knack of surrounding herself with incredible people. I learned from her and after she left I restructured my entire life to be more like hers.

  The boys finally bid us goodnight. They kissed Olivia and shook my hand. Approval nods and smiles being thrown my way the whole time. I was happy for that. These two were her family. I knew that now and I was happy she had them.

  It was quiet again. Just the two of us. I moved close to her again but she backed away slightly.

  "I need to show you something." She said, her voice quivering.

  "What's wrong, Livy?" I asked, anxiously following her out of the kitchen.

  She pushed open a door and went inside the dimly lit room.

  We stood together in the room.

  "This is Harriet." She whispered as tears fell from her cheeks. “Our daughter.”

  The ground shook. I sat on the bed and stared at her. My heart stopped. She was beautiful. A perfect little child. Our perfect little child.

  "I'm sorry, Harris. I’m so sorry I never told you. Please don't hate me. I'm so, so, sorry." She was sobbing now.

  I stood up and held her shoulders while tears streamed down her face.

  "Marry me." I said.

  "What?" She asked.

  "Marry me, Livy" I repeated.

  "Stop, Harris. You don’t know what you’re saying" She replied.

  "Yes, I do, Olivia! I wanted to marry you the day I met you. You are all I've ever wanted. I love you, and I want you to marry me!" I said as I held her closer searching her eyes for an answer.

  "I really need you to kiss me." she said through her tears.

  "Say you'll marry me and I will." I said. She was quiet. Our eyes searching each other's for I'm not sure what. She closed her eyes and whispered, "Ok".

  That's all she was able to say before my lips were on hers. I couldn't believe the emotions I was feeling. The love I had for her, for a child I don't even know, for our future together.

  I scooped her up. "Where's our room?" I spoke into our kiss.

  Chapter 71

  Olivia

  I would have said anything just then to have him kiss me. Even to agree to marry him just to feel his lips on mine. To taste him and feel his warmth again. I have never loved anyone like I loved him. And here, now, in our daughter’s room, the love was overwhelming.

  He carried me to our room and set me down. He traced my lips with his finger, studying me.

  "Will you ever forgive me?" I whispered.

  "I already have. I get it, Livy. You wanted to protect her, like I wanted to protect you. Except, I failed." He said softly. "I promise to make it up to you, to both of you."

  I reached for him now. I needed him. His kisses so deep and slow. He unzipped my dress while whispering against my lips. "You are more beautiful than ever. I love you so much."

  I slowly unbuttoned his shirt and traced the lines of his muscles, his mouth on mine.

  We continued to undress each other, lips never parting. We weren't frantic. It was gentle and slow, and beautiful how our bodies remembered each other's touch.

  He pulled back the covers and placed me in the bed. He slid in next to me and continued to caress and kiss me, our bodies wrapped around each other. I never thought we would ever be together again. It felt so right having him with me, like no one had ever felt in my life.

  He entered me slowly and filled me completely. I swear my heart exploded and was sending heat to every part of my body. We were moving together like we had never been apart. His raspy voice telling me over and over again how much he l
oved me. I never wanted it to end and he felt the same as he moved in and out of me so slowly I could feel every bit of him. It was when I started to let go that he quickened and drove me to my release, his name escaped my lips and pushed him over the edge.

  I have never been so sure of something ever in my life. We were meant to be together, and this time we would do it right, for Hettie's sake.

  We laid wrapped around each other the rest of the night…talking about Hettie and our future and fell asleep together as the sun rose over the ocean.

  Acknowledgement

  I was having a conversation over coffee with my friend Carol one morning and I proceeded to tell her about the crazy dreams I was having. She looked up over her latte, raised her eyebrows and said, “You should really write those down, I’d read that shit!”

  And so I did.

  Thank you, Carol for putting the idea in my brain. The idea to string my warped subconscious into a story and to put it out there for others. Thank you for being my forever traveling companion, my best friend, my editor and my sanity. I couldn’t have done this without you and your encouragement.

  So, for those of you out there with dreams of doing something, don’t wait any longer. Do it. No matter how it all ends up, you’ll have fulfilled something within.