In Between

by Fernández M. A.

  “Do you want to sit in a table or a booth?” Ethan asked.

  “Let’s go for a booth. They look much more comfortable than the tables.”

  “As you wish.”

  We got to the booth and sat down. Minutes later a waiter was handing us menus and after ordering, we were waiting for our food to arrive.

  “So tell me. Why did you feel like eating lunch together today?” I asked, tilting my head to the side.

  “Honestly, I missed you. I felt like I didn’t get enough of you this weekend or that I hadn’t been able to recover the lost time from my time away at the conference.”

  “We do live together.”

  “I think I’m aware of that,” he said with a smile, “but the thing is that─ first of all I want things to get better for us by the time we get married, and I feel that spending more time together will help. Secondly, you know that my job asks me to go on conferences at any moment, and if I have to go I want to leave knowing that a few days apart won’t do us any harm. In reality, I love you and every moment I pass with you is a blessing.”

  “I love you too, Ethan.”

  “Well, I am sure glad to hear that.”

  The waiter arrived with our food and the conversation stopped. The food truly did look to die for. I got some mashed potatoes with gravy, tilapia and pink lemonade, with an actual lemon on the side of my glass. Ethan got a steak with some rice; steamed broccoli and he also got lemonade, although his wasn’t pink lemonade. The food tasted just as good as it looked, and we were quickly done with it or maybe we were both really hungry.

  “Would you like a dessert?” Ethan asked, placing his hands on his face, his elbows on the table and leaning forward.

  “What do they have?”

  “Well, let’s see,” he said, opening the menu. “They have cheese cake, apple pie, pumpkin pie, blueberry pie, raspberry pie, pecan pie, cherry pie and ice cream sundaes.”

  “That all sounds so good. Honestly, I’m not sure.”

  “Well... how about this? You get a dessert and I’ll get a dessert and we can share them.”

  “Sounds perfect. Ok...so I’ll get an apple pie. What are you going to get?”

  “I’ll get the blueberry pie.”

  “Ok. Let’s see if the waiter comes back soon.”

  The waiter came to see if we wanted anything else about five minutes later and we ordered the pies. A few minutes later she came with both pies in hand. It is safe to say that they tasted amazing. They were both so good I wasn’t even able to choose which I liked best. We finished eating, Ethan paid the bill and we left. We made it back to R& R about 10 minutes before one.

  “Well, I guess I’ll see you at home,” Ethan said and gave me a kiss on the mouth.

  “See you at home.”

  I walked into the building and started heading toward my desk. That’s when I saw him leaning on my desk, a smile on his face and waiting for me. He just wasn’t going to give up and in my mind I just couldn’t help but like that.

  Chapter eight

  As soon as I reached my desk, Tom was there talking to me. “So how was lunch?” he asked with a sincere smile.

  “It was good, and the food was really good.”

  “Glad to hear that. Did you have fun?”

  “Don’t you think it’s a little weird for us to be talking about this?”

  “Maybe. But this is your reality and I have to understand that. I can handle myself. I’m a big boy. So did you have fun?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Well, if you insist on knowing, I had fun.”

  “Would you have had more fun with me?”

  “There’s really no way of knowing that.”

  “Have you had fun the two times we’ve gone out?”

  “I can’t deny I have.”

  “Was it more than with Ethan today?”

  “Yes, but . . .” I started to say as he interrupted my sentence.

  “Then it’s settled. You would have had more fun with me.”

  “You didn’t let me finish my thought.”

  “There is no need to. We both know you would have more fun with me. Anyway, that’s not the important thing here,” he said, leaning against my desk and grinning at me. “The important thing is that you and I are going to lunch together tomorrow. I doubt Ethan is coming again tomorrow. Which means tomorrow you are mine.”

  “You don’t take no for a answer, do you?”

  “No, I don’t. So you better be ready to have your world rocked.”

  “You are so conceited.”

  “I like you too,” he said before he walked away.

  I watched him leave, my nerves leaving with him. I don’t know what it was that he had, but something about him made me wonder if Ethan was the right guy for me. Something about Tom made me question all my feelings; something about Tom made me wonder if it was possible to love more than one person.

  The rest of the day went normally with no more surprises. Tom was nowhere to be found, and I was able to work without too many thoughts jumping around in my head. At four I left work and headed straight home. Ethan wasn’t there so I prepared a nice hot bath with soaps and salts and jumped into it. It had been a long time since I had taken the time to unwind and honestly it felt good to have some time to myself. I grabbed one of the books that I kept close to the tub for moments like this. I read for a while but then got tired and just sat in the tub thinking about everything. I thought about when I first met Ethan, how are relationship had grown, and the things that had gone wrong. But I mostly thought about why I had kissed Tom and what he meant to me. I couldn’t come to any logical conclusion. The only thing I could safely conclude was that this thing with Tom was not right. Ethan did not deserve this from me; he did not deserve my lack of loyalty, regardless of the things he did or those he didn’t do and that this situation had to stop. But the real question was: how was I going to stop it?

  By the time Ethan got home from work it was about eight pm. He usually had insanely long shifts, which was the main reason why I was alone most of the time and we didn’t spend much time together. At first this bothered me greatly, I felt like he didn’t give me enough time, then I just missed him and finally I got used to it. I saw the bathroom light turn on and heard the shower turn on. About 15 minutes later Ethan walked out with a towel strapped around his waist. He started getting dressed then crawled into bed.

  As soon as he landed next to me he gave me a kiss on the cheek and pulled me close. “I love you. You know that, right?” he said softly.

  “Yes, I do.”

  “Well, don’t you go forgetting that.”

  “I won’t and I love you too.”

  He then got up and turned the light off. Not too long after I felt myself drifting into sleep. Time seemed to pass so quickly, one minute I was falling asleep and next thing I knew I was awake and getting ready for work. Ethan had already left for work and I was whipping up some breakfast when I heard a knock on the door. I went to see who was at the door and when I opened it, I couldn’t believe that Tom was actually standing in front of me.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked with my mouth hanging opened and my brows furrowed.

  “I couldn’t wait for lunch, so I came for breakfast.”

  “Tom, Ethan didn’t leave so long ago.”

  “How long has it been?”

  “About thirty minutes I’d guess.”

  “Then I believe we are safe.” He pulled me in for a deep kiss.

  That’s when I heard the enraged scream. “What the hell is this?”

  I recognized the voice immediately. It was Ethan. “Are you seriously kissing another guy in my apartment? After I helped you when you most needed me? What is wrong with you, Rachel?”

  Tom stepped between Ethan and me. “It’s not her fault. If you want to blame anyone blame me,” he said. “I kept pursuing her even though I knew she was engaged and I’m sorry. I was out of line.”

  “You’re damn right you were out of line,” Ethan scream
ed.

  The next thing I knew Ethan was on Tom and punching him. Tom slipped, fell to the stairs and hit the floor. Ethan started to kick him repeatedly while Tom moaned. He was like an enraged beast; I could tell by the madness in his eyes. I kept screaming for him to stop but he wouldn’t. I was terrified if he kept hitting Tom he would kill him. I started screaming at the top of my lungs for Ethan to stop, until I woke up gasping for air. I sat up and felt myself shaking.

  Ethan turned on the lamp next to us and looked at me. “Are you ok? “

  “Yeah, I just had a really bad dream.”

  “What about?”

  “I dreamt you were trying to kill someone.”

  “Then you know that’s definitely a dream,” he said with a laugh. “I would never hurt anyone. Go back to sleep. The dream is over now.” He leaned over, gave me a kiss on the forehead and turned off the light.

  I tried to go to sleep but I just couldn’t get the dream out my head. If Ethan ever found out what had happened between Tom and me, his reaction might be just as bad as the one in the dream—or worse. Although I could only speculate what Ethan’s reaction would be, I knew having the knowledge about Tom and me would destroy him completely. For this reason I came to the conclusion that no matter what lie I had to tell, Ethan could never find out about Tom and me.

  Chapter nine

  I don’t remember when I fell asleep again, but I know that at some point I did and the best part was that I had no more nightmares. I went to the kitchen to get some breakfast and Ethan was there cooking.

  “Hey, honey. You’re awake,” he said with a smile.

  “What day is it?”

  “Well, yesterday was Monday, so today is Tuesday.”

  “What are you doing here then? Shouldn’t you be at work?”

  “I have a late shift today. I work from noon to midnight.”

  “That’s a long shift.”

  “It is. But I love my job, so that’s ok. I’m making breakfast. Do you want some?”

  “What time is it?”

  “It’s seven.”

  “Sure. Do you think you can make it while I get ready?”

  “Yeah, that’s fine.”

  “So what are you making?”

  “A cheese omelet. Do you want anything else with it?”

  “Do we have bagels?”

  “Yes, we have cinnamon raisin bagels.”

  “A cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese would be great.” I went to get ready and when I came out everything was served on the table and Ethan was sitting, waiting for me to eat.

  “I thought we could eat together,” he said as I got close to the table. I sat down and bit into the bagel.” Oh my God. I love cream cheese so much. Why don’t we eat it more often?”

  “Cause you say it makes you fat.”

  “It was a rhetorical question,” I said with a roll of my eyes. We finished our breakfast, which was extremely good, and then I got up and took the dishes to the sink. I washed them and put them in the strainer to dry. By the time I was done I was late for work. I started rushing to the door but Ethan held me by the wrist.

  “I have to go,” I said. “I’m late for work.”

  “Ok, but not before you give me a kiss goodbye.” I got close to him and gave him a tap kiss on the mouth then rushed out the door. I tried to be as on time as I could but by the time I clocked in I was five minutes late. That’s why most mornings I preferred to eat cereal; it was just a faster breakfast. I turned around to go to my desk and there was Tom behind me. “I see someone is in late,” he said with a smirk.

  “Oh come on, it was only a few minutes.”

  “Don’t worry I won’t tell anyone,” he said. “I can’t say the same for the time clock.”

  “Whatever. Why don’t you punch in as well?”

  “I clocked in about 10 minutes ago. I just came to get some coffee.”

  “Ugh, how can you drink that?”

  “I don’t normally drink coffee, but I had a rough night and I can barely stay awake.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t have the best night either.”

  “Why’s that?

  “Just bad dreams.”

  “Oh, ok. So are you excited for our lunch?”

  “Actually I was so focused on not being late that I barely thought about it.”

  “Well then, I guess you now have something to think about.”

  “Goodbye, Tom. I’m going to go do some work. You should try doing the same.”

  “Guess I’ll see you later then,” he said, touching my hand softly and walking away.

  I went to my desk and started taking the calls that came in. Most people asked for Mr. Reynolds, while others asked for different employees. I started organizing Mr. Reynolds’ schedule for the next month and the next thing I knew it was a few minutes before 12. At 12 on the dot Tom was walking toward me and stopped at my desk. “Are you ready?”

  “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

  “Let’s go then.”

  I got up, grabbed my purse and started walking behind him. “So where are we going?”

  “I live about three blocks away so I thought we could go there.”

  “Well...ok.” We walked for about 5 minutes and we arrived at a building that was mainly made of glass except for where the apartments were. We took the elevator to the fourth floor. He opened the door and I saw the most romantic setting. “How did you do all this if you were at work?”

  “I had a friend of mine in the building light them not so long ago.”

  “It’s so nice.”

  “I thought you would like it,” he said, grabbing me from behind and kissing me on the cheek. “Tom!” I practically growled at him.

  “I’m sorry,” he said sincerely. “I just got excited.”

  “It’s ok, but remember if you want to be friends you have to keep the physical contact to a minimum.”

  “I know, I know. You’re just a very big temptation for me. How about we start eating?”

  “Sure.” We sat down on a blanket he had set up on the floor. Around the blanket there were lit candles and all around the living room where he had placed the blanket. The shades were closed so the candles gave the whole place a dim romantic glow. There was a basket in the middle of the blanket and two candles on each side. There were two plates, one on each side of the blanket, a champagne bottle and a red rose in a thin vase. “So what are we eating?” I asked with slight curiosity in my voice.

  “What would you like first, the dessert or the main food?”

  “Can we have both?”

  “Sure.”

  He pulled out chocolate covered strawberries from the basket. Then he took out two small steaks and four baked potatoes. I went to grab a strawberry but he instantly pulled it back.

  “If you want strawberries you have to at least let me feed you one.”

  “Tom! Come on. I already told you how I feel about this.”

  “Oh come on...humor me a little.”

  “Fine. But just one.”

  He laughed softly, then said, “Perfect, just one.” He leaned forward and held the strawberry for me. I got close and slowly bit in, my taste buds instantly ignited. It was delicious. The chocolate tasted so good and the strawberry was a lot sweeter than strawberries I had tasted previously.

  “It’s delicious,” I said, barely swallowing the one I had in my mouth.

  “You have a little chocolate on the side of your mouth.”

  I tried cleaning it but he just started laughing at me. “It’s still there.”

  I wiped my mouth one more time but he kept insisting it was still dirty. So he leaned in and wiped the side of my mouth with his finger. “There you go,” he said. He stayed staring at me, directly into my eyes and I could feel my heart racing. My stomach turned into knots and I didn’t know what to do, so I looked away. “Don’t look away,” he said softly, turning my face toward him. “You truly are beautiful and your eyes are so sincere.”

  I looked down, feeling
embarrassed, and when I looked up he leaned in and kissed me and everything exploded in that instant. We got up from the blankets and sat in his white leather couch. We started kissing intensely and he hugged me tightly. I grabbed him by the back of his head and pulled him fiercely toward me. Everything inside me was alive. He started caressing my body and I was losing myself in his touch. We separated and he looked deeply into my eyes.

  “Rachel, you drive me crazy. I feel so alive when I’m with you. I feel like I’m in high school all over again. My feelings for you are real and I’m going to fight for you no matter what.” He leaned forward and started kissing me again, with more passion than before. The tension between us was so bad it could be cut with a knife. We wanted each other; there was no denying that.

  Chapter ten

  Even though neither us wanted to, after a while we stopped kissing. Honestly it was the hardest thing I had ever done. All I wanted to do was stay in his arms, feel his body close to mine.

  “We have to eat,” he said finally. “We have to get back to work soon.”

  We sat down and ate the food, which was extremely good.

  “Did you cook all this?” I asked.

  “Yes, I did.”

  “Wow, you cook really well. The steak was very good.”

  “I wasn’t sure how you liked it, so I cooked it well done. Better it be well cooked if you like it a little raw, than a little raw if you like it well done.”

  “Good idea, and for future reference I like it well done.”

  “That’s good to know.” He poured me some champagne and poured some for himself. “Would you like to propose a toast?” he asked.

  “Umm...I’m not really sure. How about a toast for happiness?”

  “Ok... I want to toast for trying new things, for giving a chance to love and for soul mates.”

  “Soul mates? That’s interesting. Do you believe I am your soul mate?”

  “I’m not completely sure yet. But I have a very strong feeling that you are. Time will tell.”

  “So you think I’m going to keep coming back?”

  “I think your heart is going to keep bringing you back, and right now that’s all that matters. Your mind may be against it, but I’ll take whatever part of you that you are willing to offer me.”