“Wow,” she said. It went quiet, blissfully quiet. “Crystal Bella, I love it.”
~~~~
A little later Elisabeth knocked on the door and came in.
“Hey Ethan, hi Kali I’m just going out for the day so might see you for dinner if you’re home then.”
“Okay, mom, cool, thanks for the dinner last night.”
“It’s okay, sweet heart.”
Then she looked at Kali.
“Lovely to meet you.” She gave her the biggest smile and then looked at Ethan, “doesn’t she look gorgeous in the morning?”
“I know.”
Then Elisabeth was off to do her thing.
Kali said she was jumping into the shower and Ethan said he would meditate. So Kali got up and went to the bathroom.
Ethan sat there meditating and decided he needed his crystal that he often held when he did it. It was the same crystal he was holding when he had his epiphany. He had left it outside on the balcony upstairs so he popped out and grabbed it from the table on the balcony and then returned inside. As he came back he saw Kali just outside the bathroom wearing a shirt. Ethan went up to her to give her a hug and she had a really shy, nervous look on her face.
She was not expecting Ethan to come by and he had caught her going from the bathroom to the cupboard in the hall to grab a facecloth.
“Ethan,” she said with an almost concerning look on her face, “I’ve got no pants on.”
It was slightly unusual as they were on the cusp of being totally intimate, or the moment prior, so the boundaries were fluid like. It made Kali shy but it was also Ethan holding her. That mix with him, her, this home, their love, and the spontaneous nakedness of it all just flowed as the soul does, and the spirit of them both just opened up to what was meant to be.
As Ethan hugged her he could feel her naked body under her shirt. He still had the crystal in his right hand and they moved together. He kissed her and then his hand went between her legs and he touched her for the first time. It just flowed, like it was meant to be. She was up against the wall as Ethan touched her and she was at one with the rhythm. She was making her noise again, again it was raw. It felt so good for them both to have this spontaneous sexual connection. She was wet and just as she came she grabbed Ethan’s hand and placed it perfectly where she needed it to be as she orgasmed.
“God!” she said.
The crystal was still in Ethan’s right hand. He went back to his room to mediate, wow, this crystal really does have special powers, he lightly said to himself. Kali jumped into the shower thinking what a perfect start to the day.
As Ethan meditated he thought about Kali. It felt beautiful to touch her, somehow it felt innocent too. It was like he had never touched a girl before. When he touched Kali, it just felt like it was for the first time.
~~~~
It was five minutes to midnight and tomorrow would be Monday and Kali would be leaving for a week. Kali had been busy doing a few things getting ready for her trip. Ethan was going to take her to the airport. Kali came around to see him, to quickly spend some time together.
Ethan was already in bed when she arrived. Kali had a bag with her, just in case she decided to stay the night. As soon as she saw Ethan she knew she had to stay. The previous night, she didn’t really care that she was unprepared but tonight she had her nightie with her and she decided to put it on and jumped into bed with Ethan.
They could faintly hear the waves and they curled up into each other going into the deepest sleep.
In the morning they drove behind one another to Kali’s place. They dropped her car off and she jumped in with Ethan and he took her to the airport. They played the music loudly and they were happy listening to the tunes and chatting away. The closer they got to the airport the more anxious Kali started to feel. Ethan was more in the moment, right now he was with her and that was all that mattered to him, for now.
They arrived at the airport and Ethan took her suitcase out of his car and they walked together hand in hand into the airport. They checked in and grabbed a coffee at the airport cafe and sat down.
“One week, angel Ethan.”
“I know and 10 minutes now. It feels different now, déjà vu like again. It’s like I have been here before and seen this moment long ago. Your departure, your insanely gorgeous beauty is opening up everything. I will miss you the moment you’re not here.”
“One second or an hour or so before you miss me?”
“It will be 24 hours that forms a different time and enters into a millisecond full of love that pines for you immediately.”
“Is that less than a second?”
“It is. It’s a very special millisecond that has a portal.”
They looked at one another and their eyes watered.
“I thought I’d be cool, but this is so hard. I will miss and pine for you immediately,” he said.
They held each other, touching just feeling the warmth of who they were against each other, never wanting to let go.
“You were going to show me how to meditate,” she said.
“Oh yeah...”
Ethan started talking about meditation and Kali listened, but really she was only thinking, I have to leave Ethan in five minutes. She was pretending to listen, but her mind was thinking about Ethan and being away from him. Ethan kept talking and was pretty happy. He was in the moment, free of how he would feel a little later when she had to go.
The clock hit 3.33 and a sharp intake of breath from them both. It was time for her to go. They got up, arm in arm and walked towards the gate. They were almost one now, inseparable as they held each other walking. Ethan was still in the moment and was feeling happy just to be with her, but he would feel different very soon.
They kissed at the gate and every time Kali was about to walk through, she returned and kissed him one more time. They couldn’t say good bye, it was so hard. Ethan didn’t want to leave her, even for just one week. It seemed too long.
“I nearly forgot I need to take a photo of us,” Ethan said.
Ethan pulled a camera out of his pocket. Kali didn’t like having her photo taken too much even though she was photogenic. They put their arms around each other and Ethan put his arm out with the camera, so the camera was facing them.
“I’m not that photogenic,” she said.
Ethan could sense how she was feeling and wanted to do something to distract her from her self consciousness.
“Okay, it’s cool, I’ll take a shot now, but I want you to remember that time yesterday when I bumped into you outside the bathroom and I had the crystal in my hand and you had no pants on.”
And with that she remembered and broke out into a smile and Ethan clicked the camera.
They kissed and then Kali had to go, but then she would return for one more kiss, one more time. Some old ladies from the side laughed and watched as she kept returning to kiss Ethan. It was hard for them to depart. She went back and forth about four times with their final kiss.
Kali had to go this time, so they kissed one more time and then she left through the gate and Ethan watched from his side. He wanted to run through but he couldn’t. He just had to watch. He had this pull within him but all he could do was watch as she left. The pull was immense, it took everything within him not to go running through and be with her. It surprised Ethan how intense he felt.
“I’ll be back before you know it, Ethan. I love you!” she shouted from the other side.
Ethan waved at her and gave her a, ‘I love you.’ Lip-synched with signs from his hands. He was then suddenly hit with sadness as he realized Kali was gone.
~ CHAPTER THIRTEEN ~
THE HUSBAND
Kali sat on the plane, she missed Ethan already and now she was going to see her husband. She was ready to break up with him, but she had to handle this right and as much as she didn’t want to do this, she placed the wedding ring back on her finger. It made her feel perplexed and guilty and she quietly said to herself as she put the
ring on.
“Sorry Ethan, so sorry, I just need to do this, just this once.”
The passenger next to her heard her words.
“Were you talking to me?”
“No just talking to myself.”
“Sure I thought so. Oh she’s chatting to me, what are the chances!?”
His name was Brandon and he couldn’t believe his luck that he got to sit next to this beautiful woman.
Kali didn’t say anything. She was too preoccupied with Ethan and her situation. Brandon went to say something but nothing really came out. He was a little awkward and geeky. After finding no flow to continue any conversation, he grabbed the magazine in front of him to ease the situation.
“This should be a good read!” and he planted his face in it. He pretended to read but all he was doing was trying to take another glance at Kali.
The plane came to its landing and all the passengers got up. Brandon watched Kali get off. He was too shy to say anything to her, so admiring her from afar was the next best thing he could do. Kali got up knowing her husband would be waiting for her. The last time they had spoken he sounded so excited to hear from her. He wasn’t really listening to anything she was saying, so she couldn’t really say much. All he knew was that she was coming back. That was all he wanted to hear.
She came through the doors and there was Jason, her husband of two years and partner of six. He looked happy but so conservative to her now. Him and Ethan were as opposite as you could get. He had flowers in his hand and he looked so happy. She walked up and he gave her a big hug and kissed her. He tried to kiss her on the mouth and she went slightly to the left, so she missed his lips. He gave her the flowers.
“Thank you, they’re lovely,” she said.
Jason stopped and moved Kali to the side, away from everyone and looked intensely at her.
“I’ve missed you,” he said.
Kali looked back, stuck with what to say, she wanting to make it easy and say I miss you too. She would have done so in the past and quite easily have said a white lie to him, but not now, she couldn’t do it to herself, or to Ethan. She said nothing.
“You look wonderful,” he said.
“Thank you.”
They stared for a brief moment. Kali decided to look back at him and look into his eyes. All she could see was the past, a path that she was so disconnected to now. There was no spark then and not now. She had to look though, to find her truth and to see how she felt. She had to surrender and face him and register what she was feeling. She had to do it. She wanted to observe him and her own feelings in that brief moment. Jason saw it differently he just saw the beautiful Kali staring back at him with those gorgeous eyes. Then Kali could feel the moment building up so she took the lead.
“Okay, let’s do it,” she said.
They started walking towards the baggage area. She kept the conversation in line with trivial matters, like her baggage, how long it would take, where to locate it, to avoid any intimacy on any level. Sure enough it was like they had skipped the intro and got right back to where it used to be, chatting about trivia, though usually he led the way. She had always wanted more depth, more fun, but he never did, so it felt good for her to lead the way and make boring conversation because today was different, today it made sense.
They waited for about three minutes with standard conversation, then her bags arrived, right next to each other and so fast. She was the first one to get her baggage. It felt like a sign for her. This baggage is coming and going fast. She started walking and Jason grabbed one of her bags and they walked and had polite conversation. Then it was like Jason was okay with the bland words that were spoken. He didn’t seem to mind anymore. Had he slipped back into his old patterns, this quickly?
They came to their car and they jumped in and Jason placed all the bags in the perfect position, so extremely neat and tidy with order. It seemed to bug Kali, just with how he was so organized. Ethan would have thrown them in, grabbed her bum and then told her he loved her. Ethan was full of surprises and it was always love. He was a rebel but he was so gentle, he was outrageous but a saint to her and that was all she wanted. Jason in this short time was acting like a prude, perfect in his structure but so messy in the finer things, like a heart and a beating pulse.
Kali sat in the car just staring ahead as Jason drove. She was thinking about the subject she was going to have to bring up. She remained polite towards Jason filling in the gaps when she had too. Jason was becoming quite chatty. He still looked happy and Kali felt split between who she was and where she was. They were like two different time zones. With Ethan she felt different time zones but it was magical, deep and new and hard to fathom or explain with the multi levels of it all. This was different, this was somber and plain. The more she thought about all this, the more she had the feeling to say something. Something was rebelling in her. The more time spent with Jason, the more awful her feelings were. It had gone from guilt to trepidation, to frustration, then to the current moment, and the feeling she had now did not feel good at all. Her feelings were coming up and they felt heavy and awful.
They pulled up at their house and they got out of the car. Kali went to grab her suitcase out of the boot, though Jason ever attentive now jumped before her.
“I’ll grab that for you, sweetheart.”
He grabbed all her bags and walked a few steps and then he stopped and placed the bags down.
“I have to pause at what’s in front of me for a sec. I’ve missed you. I know in the past you’ve asked me to me to be more open. This time away just makes you reassess things, put priorities right.”
Kali knew it was not the place for a deep and meaningful, mid shifting the baggage. She stood there looking at him. She just looked at Jason, and she wondered, can you read my thoughts? No.
“Anyway let’s head inside,” she said.
They headed to the door.
“Take a good last look, Kali because we’re moving upwards.”
Shut up Jason!
He was referring to their new home and it bugged her. Jason worked at the bank and status meant a lot to him. Getting up higher, moving upwards, growth, words she loathed now.
They opened the door and walked inside. Kali walked in looking around her old home.
“This place, the memories…” she said.
“Don’t worry even better memories coming.”
“Excuse me, back in a moment.”
Kali went to the bathroom. She put her hands on her face, she felt stressed. It was all different to how she thought it would be. Jason was miles away from her emotionally. Everything seemed to frustrate her. She was so scared to tell him before, but now she seemed to be rebelling, not on the outside but from within. She suddenly wanted to cry, everything was making her confused. To be in love with Ethan, to be here with Jason, to feel pissed off towards him and then she was going to have to break his heart. Was she a bitch? In the end she decided no. I just want him to understand and hear me for once. And that was what was really annoying her, he wasn’t listening to her at all. He was in his head, in his own world. Ethan could understand anything, she didn’t even have to tell him, he just knew, he was easy and he knew her blueprint. She also realized she had never fully expressed herself truthfully to Jason. She had always been so diplomatic and that was part of the current problem, she was annoyed at Jason but also at herself. He never listened and she didn’t say enough. She didn’t listen to herself and she had compromised.
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