Cherry Blossoms

by KT Morrison

  Geoff was crazy if he thought they were going to buy an island. She'd entertain him, this was fun, but seriously... Late afternoon now and they'd spent the day looking at three other cottages. They were nice, in their price range, but they all had their difficulties. Rotten docks, neighbour proximity, old furnaces. This was a nice fantasy way to end the day. End on a high note.

  “Two acres, trees, white pines and maples, one of a kind, Geoff, private, private, private,” Colin said. Real estate agent they’d picked, he stood behind Geoff, motioning over his shoulder at the island as they got closer, waving with a folder stuffed with sheets of details on the properties they looked at today. Big guy, older, with a short sleeve button up and white hair, slicked back, thin up the centre. “No neighbours, Nia,” he said, leaning back to catch her eye, maybe yet another glimpse of her ass, “you'd be the only family here.”

  Odie looked up at her and her breathless expression said everything. Way to go, G-force. Try telling her now we're not going to buy an island.

  They docked, Colin throwing a rope onto the planks from the boat, jumping off and tying it down. Geoff carried Odie over the gap, jumping from boat to dock, turned and held his hand out to help her. She wasn't in heels today and she was enjoying the comfort.

  The cottage wasn't visible from where they stood, and Colin lead them to the left at the end of the dock in the shadow of a thick line of pines, and they crossed a dense bed of lifeless needles. It was a slight grade up and then they were at a flat grassy clearing dotted with pale clumps of granite. At the far edge of the clearing was the cottage nestled in amongst the trees. It was a raised bungalow, broken into blocks of different heights, stacked with sloped roofs. It was small dark and very private. She instantly loved it. There was a wide wraparound deck, a fire pit out in the rocky expanse that looked out over the lake behind them. Pointing west so they could watch the sunsets.

  “Look at your face,” Geoff laughed. He had Odie on his hip, looking good in his slim jeans and desert boots, turning to watch her follow.

  “What?” she laughed.

  “I told you,” he said, smiling knowingly.

  She turned and looked out at the water. The island was small, a swim from shore really, the view from here going west across the widest part of the lake. The far shore was hundreds of metres distant, a jagged tree line, a pale rocky cliff. The view was incredible. Geoff set Odie down and she was still speechless, stumbling along in her sneakers around her dad trying to get a good spot to stand to look out at the lake with them. Geoff stood next to her and slipped an arm around her waist, hugged her to him.

  “We can't afford this,” she said.

  “We might. We could.”

  “Geoff, what if Choo is a flop? What if Laetitia Lily has a stroke on stage in Paris next month shaking that little butt. Or she has some racist tirade, says the ’N’ word. Then what?”

  “Doom and gloom, Nia.”

  “What happened to getting a cabin by the lake?”

  “This is, Nia.”

  “I guess. But all this frontage. It’s not by a lake, it’s in a lake. The property tax is, like, a fifth of my pre-tax salary.”

  “I’m going to have a good year, Nia.”

  “Maybe, but you're going to get hit with taxes hard, baby.”

  “You’ll protect me.”

  She laughed at that, “I mean, I’ll try...”

  Colin called down to them from the porch, “Don't you folks want to see the inside?” He waved them up, smiling, thinking he had a bite.

  It was a stretch. Geoff was right though, it wasn’t impossible. It wasn’t that expensive. Nowhere near what Rocco’s place would be. But Rocco was in a good spot with the business. People always needed pools and landscaping and aggregates and haulage. How long would people need Geoff’s cute drawings?

  They walked the scrubby grass weaving through the jutting shards of Canadian Shield, made their way to catch up with Colin. They each took one of Odie’s hands and they walked her up the two short steps between them.

  Colin said, “Fourteen-hundred square feet, three season, propane heater, wood stove, it has a generator for backup if it's stormy—the kitchen is a little dated, but Nia, I imagine you’d work magic in there anyway...”

  Nia looked to Geoff and he laughed.

  Colin opened the door and let them walk in ahead of him. It was clean and bright and open. Polished maple floors, peaked ceilings that were panelled with the same wood, criss-crossed with thick timber. It wasn’t very big. It was kind of perfect.

  “Oh, Geoff,” she said, looking around, her palms on her cheeks. This was trouble.

  Colin said, “Hot water on demand, ecoflo septic, it’s entirely solar, you’ve got sixteen batteries...”

  He went on, extolling the cottage’s virtues. Pointing out the amenities, telling Geoff he could land a plane on the water, Geoff nodding like it might have some relevance to their lives. Colin told him they could use it four seasons if they got a good fire going and they could drive a snowmobile out to it. Odie went crazy thinking about riding on a snowmobile. She ran off then, jumped and gasped and fell in love with the cottage they wouldn't buy no matter how much they liked it. She picked her bedroom, claimed it for herself, told her dad how she wanted her bed and said she wanted her oceanographer drawings in there. Geoff came to her while Colin was outside and Odie was in her new bedroom.

  He said, “There's another room there too if, you know, we want to fill it.” He hugged her then, pressed his belly to hers.

  “We could do it. Do it with your salary. Maybe even without.” He rested his cheek against hers and slow danced with her in the reflected sunshine on the polished floor.

  She swayed with him, rubbing his shoulders. “For how long? We’ve got the cars, the other mortgage...what about Odie’s school? You want her to go somewhere good, don’t you?”

  “I could home school her right here. Hang a flag up...a globe...”

  “Geoff...”

  “Nia, I’m joking.”

  “You want to live up here, don’t you? This isn’t a cottage.”

  “No, Nia, no. Keep your job. This is a cottage. I can't live up here. All the work’s in the city. Maybe someday far in the future though...”

  GEOFF

  They stopped for gas at a quaint, creamy yellow wood-sided general store in the middle of the woods. Geoff pumped gas into the convertible, one boot up on the concrete step, hair tousled by a breeze, feeling quite rakish. Nia went in with Odie to get a bottle of water. Odie had to pee.

  That cottage was a dream. Left it to the end because it was such a vagary. It wasn’t impossible. They could do it if they were willing to take a risk. He wanted to. Things looked good. They should wait, wait for Choo, wait for one book for Sparrow House, wait for Laetitia Lily...but what if it was gone by then?

  He got back into the car, drove it to the side of the cleared lot, nosed it so it pointed into the bushes. He looked to the side and waited for his girls to come out. There was his Nia, bottle in hand, sauntering to him, cut off jeans, tan legs, black flats, black t-shirt and a silky light shawl that draped over her shoulders, its dangling tassels dancing as she went. She got in the car and plopped down next to him.

  “Where’s O?”

  “Tiny bathroom,” she said. “Room for one, she wanted privacy,” she held up two fingers indicating she thought their daughter was doing a number two.

  “You’re not watching her?”

  “Door’s right there, Geoff,” she said, nodding with her chin through the front window of the old gambrel roof building, a door visible to them with male/female silhouettes. “Just a nice old lady in there.”

  He eyed her suspiciously, mock appraisal, said, “All right...” with flourished trepidation.

  “She’s fine, she’s fine,” she laughed out loud for him.

  “So, what do you think?”

  “The cottage? Geoff...”

  “I love it.”

  “Geoff, I absolutely lov
e it too. I don’t want to but I think we should wait.”

  “It’s not that much more.”

  Their eyes held a moment, her big blacks flicking left and right on his, her face held in a slight smile. “You're crazy,” she said.

  “What?”

  “Crazy,” she said, smiling wider and putting her sunglasses on.

  “My dream is I make enough you can leave your job and come back home with us,” he said to the windshield.

  “Geoff...”

  “I know, it's just my dream...”

  “Geoff, I like my independence, baby. I really do.”

  He sighed, his body felt heavy. “You could...you could still have sex with them.”

  “It’s not about that, Geoff.”

  Her phone buzzed in her pocket. He gripped the steering wheel and watched the store to see for their daughter.

  “Huh, speak of the devil,” she said.

  She had her phone out, flipping through a screen. “Oh wow,” she laughed, covered her mouth, let her hand fall to her chest and play with her necklace while she read her message.

  “What?” he said.

  She held her phone out to him and he leaned in to see. It was a photo. Dino, standing in a public bathroom, perhaps his gym, taken in a mirror, electric hand dryers dotting the tiled wall behind him, charcoal grey counter at his thighs, stainless steel sinks. He was naked. He’d been working out. His muscles were engorged, he was sweaty or maybe wet from the shower, his veins stood out, thick ropes writhing down his forearms. He was naked. His cock hung, thick and arrogant, red brown, a slack shapeless uncircumcised atrocity. He held his phone at chest height, eyes looking in the lens, showing Nia how incredible he was.

  “That’s some cock,” he said.

  Nia huffed, looking at it closely again. “He’s so fucking hot,” she said, smiling. She snickered lightly as her thumbs tapped her screen, texting him back.

  And just like that she’s right back in Dino’s world. Geoff could have this wonderful time with his wife and daughter, two hours north of the city, but Dino could interject himself so easily. Reach out and slip into their life, into his wife's life—now his daughter’s. Take Nia’s attention away from him. He wished this was less messy. More controlled. Or over. Maybe they should plan rules.

  Nia said, “He wants to come over tonight. What do you think?”

  He sighed, getting heavier and heavier. “Not tonight, Nia. We had such a good day today. Odie’s home...”

  “Oh mopey Geoff,” she said, sidling up to him in his seat, moving herself into his space, phone clutched at her shoulder, her right hand moving up his thigh. “What’s wrong?” she said. “Don't you want to watch me get off.” Her hand came up and she spread her fingers and clutched his denim bulge.

  “Not tonight, please, Nia.”

  She twisted her mouth up, her eyes hidden behind black lenses. “Can I go meet him?”

  “What? No, Nia. Come on. Please...just you and me tonight.”

  “Okay, okay. It’s fine, Geoff. It’s fine, baby, I don't have to.” She moved back to her seat, thumbs tapping to Dino.

  “Thank you,” he said.

  “There,” she said, finishing typing. “Another time, Geoff. I can spend tonight with my best friend.” She kissed his cheek, moving in again. She clutched his bulge.

  “Mm, Nia,” he said, turning to peek at the store to see if they were being watched. She did his zipper down.

  “Nia!” he laughed.

  She was smiling, looking to see as well if they were alone. Her hands went into his fly and she fished his flaccid penis out, stretched it long and thin, then let it snap back and wriggle then sag. Her fingers picked it up and stroked it. It was nothing compared to her lover. It was so small next to Dino’s. She had just seen that picture, gasped at how hot he was, now she had her husband’s little dick in her fingers. Was she just polite? Was she just humouring him?

  Nia said, “He’s so sleepy, Geoff,” watching his penis in her fingers. “Look, his little eye is closed, awww.” She kissed his neck, looked around the car, peeked over her sunglasses to peer into the gas station. He looked around too. Nia’s head went into his lap and he held his breath, his chest constricted. She sucked his flaccid cock into her mouth. He watched the window. Saw the silent door, his daughter behind it doing a number two, a lone woman at the counter, her silver permed hair above a newspaper she was reading.

  Her tongue twirled around his penis, she sucked and tugged, her fingers pinched his base, trying to plump him up. He was frozen. Thoughts of her attraction to Dino’s body, to Dino’s big swinging cock, the threat of his daughter bursting from that door and bounding to the car before he could zip up...all kept him shrunken. Nia tried but she came up to his shoulder again, her fingertips slipping over his wet penis. “I think he’s mad at me,” she whispered.

  “Maybe,” he said, looking down and seeing his small size glistening between her fingers.

  “Should I tell him I’m sorry?”

  “Sorry for what?”

  “That I wanted to go see Dino. I feel bad I said that.”

  “Do you?”

  She nodded and looked in his eyes, her chin digging into his shoulder.

  “He’ll get over it.”

  “I’ll make it up to him,” she said and she poked his slippery thing back into his fly. Odie was coming. Nia got herself back to her side and he zipped himself up.

  Odie got herself into the backseat from her mother’s side and Geoff started the car. Nia turned to the back, said, “Odie, did you wash your hands?”

  Geoff turned and saw the face his daughter made when she would consider lying.

  Nia said, “Back in there, little lady...”

  29

  Rainstorm

  Monday, August 21st

  NIA

  “You couldn’t get a more perfect day to go to the Science Centre, Odie,” she said, standing by the booth in the kitchen looking out the window. Geoff’s studio was barely visible through a torrential downpour. It was hazy grey, and the rain was loud and intense. Heavy drops pattered at a slower pace from the eaves above the window.

  “Whoa,” Odie said, sleepy and in her PJs still, coming from the hallway into the kitchen.

  Nia was dressed and ready for work, zipping up her rain jacket, a stomach full of Geoff’s wonderful breakfast. Her purse was on the table next to her cleared plate. Today would be a light day, she could feel it. Rocco would call most of the appointments off and she might be home a little after lunch.

  “There’s my girl,” Geoff said, behind the island and he went to her and picked Odie up and she clung to him. He walked her to stand next to her mom.

  “Hey, baby,” she said and she leaned and gave O a kiss near her cheek, not mussing up her lipstick. Odie had a scheduled playdate today. Geoff had arranged with Sara’s and Katie’s moms for Odie to tag along. There were about five little girls going today and Odie was excited to go do something. Nia was glad for her, she was losing that summer camp tan spending all her time hanging out inside with Winslow and Geoff. She wasn’t going to get much sun today though by the look of it.

  “It’s coming down,” Odie said, wide eyes watching the water, light streaming in shadowed running lines across the curve of her soft cheeks.

  “I’ll probably be home early,” she told Geoff, pulling up her collar and grabbing her purse. She moved to him and kissed near him, pressed her cheek to his.

  “Love you,” she said.

  “Love you.”

  She ran out the door, put her purse over her head, wished she had a light jacket with a hood, and she trotted down the stairs and made her way to the car. She threw herself in and slammed the door. “Holy shit,” she sighed, brushed the wet on the sill with her elbow but just smeared it.

  Traffic was heavy, everybody going a few clicks slower and somehow it brought everything to a standstill eventually. She made it to the yard before seven.

  Rocco’s truck was running, headlights off
but the orange cargo lights were on, exhaust plumed from the lifted tail pipe. She pulled her car into her parking spot by the door to the offices and prepared herself for the deluge. Rocco could be such an inconsiderate asshole at times. Leaving his truck so far, knowing she’d run to it in the rain. Not thinking to pull up near where she parked. She covered herself with her purse again and crossed the yard as quickly as she could in her heels. Rocco’s eyes were on her, she could feel them. She made it to his truck, climbed the step and yanked his door open and hauled herself in.

  “Holy, you believe that rain?” she said as she slammed the door. “Wow,” she said, grabbing handfuls of her hair and pulling it away from her face. She laughed then, laughed how wet she was, said, “How’s it going?”

  He grunted, mouth turned down, nodded his head. Another great mood today. Trouble with Maria, trouble with Peter? She was afraid to ask.

  His big bruised hand pulled the tree, put the truck in gear, turned his headlights on and he crept forward. The guys were out in their rain gear, maintenance crew packing a van up to head to do some of their calls despite the weather. They worked as long as there wasn’t lightning. They lit up in his headlights as he turned a tight circle before them. He headed deeper into the yard instead of out towards the road.

  “Where are we going?” she asked him.

  He didn’t answer, just headed between two charcoal grey towering piles of gravel. The truck slipped slowly between them, curled a gentle grade to the right and they were hidden now from the store and the road, the truck alone, surrounded by mountains of grey stone barely visible through the rain. The wipers squeaked across the windshield. He put the truck in park. She stared into the space where the stereo had been.

  “You fucked Dino.”

  She froze. Her skin bristled with impending conflict. Her mouth worked creakily as her brain struggled with what to say. “He...he tell you that?”

  “He came by last night.”