Her Love and Regrets (Book I)

by Chevelle Allen

  “Can I get you anything?” she asked.

  “Just you.” He said motioning for her to join him on the couch. She sat next to him as he placed his arm around her shoulder. She leaned into his chest as he kissed her lightly on the forehead and let out a deep exhale.

  “That rough today, huh?” she asked.

  “No. Not at all.”

  “So what’s got you so pensive?”

  “You’re heading to Charlotte for the holidays. I’m going to miss you.”

  “Funny you should mention that,” she started, “I’m not sure I’m going after all.”

  “Oh, really? Why?”

  “My mom has decided to take a cruise with some folks from her church. Without her there to cook, I’m not sure if anyone else is going to go or who’ll host dinner. I have to call down there and find out for sure. Then I’ll decide.”

  Michael was quiet for a moment and then said, “So if no one hosts, you’re going to stay here?”

  “Probably.”

  “Alone?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You won’t be alone for Christmas,” he said emphatically.

  “I’ll be fine. It’ll be a little tough, but I’ll go find a little tree and decorate it. Maybe even hang some lights in the window.” She said with a bit of sadness.

  “You will not be alone for Christmas, Janine. I’ll stay with you.”

  “I appreciate that, I really do, but you planned to be with your parents this Christmas. Don’t disappoint them. You said yourself it’s been a while since you went home for a visit.”

  “Then, come with me.”

  Pleasantly surprised by his offer, she didn’t want to impose. “That’s really sweet, but ‘Meet the Parents?’ Are we really ready for that?”

  She watched him carefully because for her, this was a big deal. She’d grown up hearing hilarious as well as horrible stories from her relatives about such events. She took them seriously.

  “I’m ready if you are,” he replied, watching her just as closely as she had him.

  “Maybe you should talk to them first. Christmas is different from other times to bring a girlfriend home.”

  “True.”

  “Just ask them and make sure it’s okay and then we can figure out the rest.”

  “Okay, I’ll call them later tonight and let you know.”

  They ended up having a light dinner and he decided to head back to his place. Unlike her, he had one more exam the next morning and he wanted to study. She was always disappointed when he didn’t stay the night. But she rarely told him knowing if he opted not to stay, it was usually because he had other things to do.

  The next morning she got up early and headed out to find a little tree. Since he hadn’t called back the night before as expected, she wasn’t sure if his invitation could be honored. Either way, she thought it was a good idea to get the tree. She’d decorate it and have it around to brighten the place a bit. She managed to find a little “Charlie Brown” tree that had clearly been on the lot a bit too long. She liked it because it was small enough for her to manage on her own and it wouldn’t require a ton of decorations to make it pretty. She did worry about how long it would take before more needles fell off, but she was happy with her choice.

  After getting the tree, she headed to the Dollar Store to pick up some decorations. She found a tree stand, a lovely assortment of glass bulbs, a few ornaments and icicle-style lights. She was quite pleased with herself having spent less than twenty dollars. When she arrived home, she noticed Michael’s car in the parking lot and she was delighted he’d be there to greet her. She gathered the bags of decorations from the back seat and headed up the stairs. Michael was standing at the top landing as she made her way up.

  “Hey!” she said.

  “Hey. Do you want me to take those up or do you have something else in the car?”

  “Just the Christmas tree.”

  “How’d you get a tree in your car?”

  She giggled, “It’s small, so it fit with the back seat down.”

  “Oh, okay. Give me your keys and I’ll bring it in for you.”

  “The car is still unlocked.” She gave him a peck on the cheek and continued up the next flight of stairs with her bags.

  When she got inside, she put the bags down and stood for a moment trying to figure out exactly where she’d place the tree. She thought the corner near the TV might work if she moved some things around a bit. She got busy rearranging and then spread some newspaper to mark the spot. Michael came in with the tree, closing the door behind him.

  “So, where do you want this?”

  “I’m thinking over here will work. What do you think?” A part of her couldn’t believe they were talking about a tree—actually setting up a Christmas tree together.

  “That might work. But there’s a heating vent over head.”

  “Yeah, so?”

  “Well, your little tree desperately needs water as it is. It’s already dropping needles. I don’t think it can take much heat around it.”

  Janine hadn’t considered that when she hastily chose the spot. “Okay, what about over in that corner?”

  “Better,“ he said adding, “but I’m definitely coming with you the next time you get a tree. This thing is pathetic.”

  She knew he was right but she still liked the tree. Smiling she said, “It needed a good home. Besides, it’ll only have to last a week.”

  As he moved it to the other side, she got the newspaper and spread it on the floor. Next she opened one of the bags and pulled out a small tree stand and placed it on top of the newspaper. Directing him to bring the tree and put it in the stand, she got on the floor to tighten the base of the tree in place with the rubber tipped screws. After it was secure, they both stepped back to look at it.

  “See? Not so bad after all!” she mused. “And once I put the decorations on it, it will be just fine.” She reached for the other bags and started pulling out the lights and bulbs and other things she bought for it. “You wanna help me put these on?”

  Together they began taking things out of their packaging. Janine took the lead of wrapping the lights around the tree as Michael went to get water to fill the stand. After he poured the water, he returned the pitcher to the counter in the kitchen. He stood in the little archway, watching her as she carefully wrapped the lights. It didn’t take her long to finish that task before she was on to the bulbs.

  “So, do you still want to join me for Christmas at my parents’ house?”

  She stopped what she was doing, looked at him and asked, “Is it okay with them?”

  “Yes. Needless to say, they’re very intrigued that I’m bringing a woman home to meet them. Let alone the fact it’s Christmas.”

  “See! I told you!” she said as she returned to her decorating.

  “Yeah, you told me. We do need to decide how long to stay.”

  “Oh. I had just presumed it would only be a day or two since they only live an hour or so away. Had you planned to stay during the entire break?”

  “Hell no!” he quickly replied. “But originally I said I’d stay through the weekend. We don’t have to do that if you’re uncomfortable with it.”

  “I haven’t even met the people, so why would I be uncomfortable with it? What did you tell them?”

  “I told them we would come up Christmas Eve and maybe stay until the twenty-sixth. Not necessarily the entire weekend.”

  “I’m fine with that, if you are.”

  “There is one other thing.”

  “What?”

  “We’ll have separate rooms.”

  She burst into laughter saying, “Is that why you told them we’d only stay for two days?”

  “No, smartass!” He was amused as well. “It’s just that my brother and sister are flying in Christmas Day with their families. It will be a lot of people running around. It could be a bit overwhelming for you.”

  She smiled at him and said, “I’ll be fine and I’ll stay as long as
you want me to…even though there will be no nooky on this little trip.”

  He hung the last little bulb on the tree saying, “I only said we’d have separate rooms.”

  “Right…no nooky!”

  Michael came over to her, grabbed her butt and pulled her close. “Oh, I intend to have plenty of ‘nooky.’ Separate bedrooms just means we’ll have more interesting places to make love and fuck our brains out.”

  “Oh, no!” she said playfully, “I won’t have your mom or dad looking at me funny because we get caught doing it.”

  “Do you really think I don’t know where, when or how to fuck at my parent’s house? I’ve been doing that since I was sixteen.”

  When he put it that way— it seemed like a real possibility. But still…

  “Yeah, but they aren’t going to be the only ones there. I would completely freak out if one of those kids caught us,” she giggled.

  Taking her face in his hands and kissing her softly once more he said, “Love finds a way.”

  CHAPTER 11

  The weather had turned cold and crisp as Janine and Michael put their gifts in the car and prepared for their trip to The Plains, Virginia. Michael was always vague whenever she asked about his family or where he grew up. She wouldn’t call it embarrassment, but he clearly was a bit uneasy talking about the place he called home. The little she knew about his family had come out in small bits. But she learned it was a fairly small rural community. The truth was it was horse country, old money and new.

  His mother had been a French professor and retired when she turned fifty-five spending the past few years serving on the boards of a few nonprofits in the DC area. His father was a groundbreaking neurosurgeon with several medical patents for devices he engineered. While he wasn’t practicing as much as he did when Michael and his siblings were growing up, Dr. Josey still had privileges at a few hospitals and lectured extensively around the world.

  Michael was the youngest of three with an older brother and sister. His brother Rick followed the family tradition by becoming a third-generation surgeon. He and his family lived in Seattle. He had a successful plastic surgery practice managed by his wife. They had three teens all very close in age. His sister Mya lived in Denver, owning a dance studio and her husband was an engineer. She had three younger children. That was about all she knew about Michael’s family. She was genuinely excited to finally meet them.

  Even though he told her not to do it, she decided to purchase a gift for his parents. She found a lovely crystal sculpture that caught her eye at a shop in Alexandria not far from Lucille’s. She also picked up a nice bottle of wine for Michael’s brother and his wife along with action figures and dolls for Mya’s kids. Michael thought it was too much, but she insisted. She wanted to make a good impression—but not overdo it.

  Before putting the car in gear, he reached into the glove compartment and pulled out a small gift-wrapped box. In the instant, Janine thought her heart would jump out of her chest.

  “What’s that?” she asked with a slight tremble in her voice.

  “A little something I wanted you to have before we get there.”

  “Michael? What is this?”

  “Open it,” he toyed.

  She took the little box from him assuming it was too large to be a ring box. She took a deep sigh of relief and slowly opened it. With a perplexed look on her face, she said, “Ummmm…What is this?”

  “What does it look like?”

  She honestly had no clue what this little plastic thing was. It was pink and was smaller than the palm of her hand. It had two protrusions—one slightly longer than the other. It was fairly soft as well.

  “I have no idea! What is it?”

  “Let’s just say it’s a little something to keep you company and amused since you are so adamant about not having sex with me at my parents’ house.”

  “Is this a…”

  “A very special sex toy. Remote controlled,” he said with a grin so wide one would swear he was the Cheshire Cat.

  “You have got to be kidding me!” She burst out laughing. “You are nuts if you think for one minute I’m going to use this thing!”

  “It’ll be fun!”

  “You just can’t help yourself, can you?” she chuckled.

  “No, I can’t.”

  “Where’s the remote? I don’t see it,” she continued.

  “That’s because I have it.” He smirked and leaned as close to her as he could, “and I intend to use it.”

  “Really, now.”

  “Really.”

  “We’ll see,” she said as she tucked the little box into her purse.

  “Trust me, you’ll like it…especially since you’ll have no idea when I decide to turn it on.”

  “You expect me to wear this thing when?”

  “Well, we could do it over dinner…”

  “What? You have got to be kidding!”

  “Definitely at bed time and I’m sure I can think of other times.”

  “You really are trying to make sure your parents never let me in their house again, aren’t you?” she said half jokingly.

  “Okay, then you decide when to put it on. I’m sure you’ll let me know.”

  She gave him a little look letting him know she was seriously considering his last option. Instead of acknowledging it verbally she simply said, “Let’s go, we don’t want to be late.”

  He repositioned himself into his seat, put on his seat belt and put the car in gear. The drive was a little over an hour as they made their way off the interstate and down single lane roads. Through the rolling hills of the area, Janine couldn’t get over how lovely it was. Sometimes it was difficult to imagine that such a picturesque place was relatively close to the city. She really hadn’t paid much attention to how many turns Michael made.

  Before she knew it, he had turned down a lovely evergreen-lined lane as they headed towards a massive brick house several hundred yards away. The closer they got to the house she assumed it was easily over ten thousand square feet in size. To the left of the house’s main entry, she saw a detached garage with an overhang towards the house. The garage looked as large as other people’s homes and above it was clearly an area large enough for an office or apartment.

  “Wow!” she said, as he pulled the car towards the garage.

  He took a deep breath and replied, “Well, we’re here.”

  “This is where you grew up?” she asked with a bit of awe.

  “Yes. C’mon, let’s get inside. I’ll give you the tour of the house and grounds later.”

  “Did you say grounds? How much of this do they own?”

  “A little over thirty acres. Let’s get inside.”

  “Sure…right. Of course.” She couldn’t get over all she saw.

  “Janine…it’s just a house.”

  “Baby, this isn’t ‘just a house.’ I’ve never seen anything quite like this in real life.”

  He got out of the car without responding, walking to the passenger side to let her out. Together they gathered the gifts and walked towards the main entry. He rang the doorbell and then unlocked the beautifully ornate wooden door.

  He called out to his parents as they walked into a massive foyer that seemed to go all the way to the roof. There was a large staircase in front of them with several rooms off to either side of it.

  His parents appeared from one of the lit rooms to the rear of the foyer approaching them. Janine stepped back a little positioning herself slightly behind Michael.

  “Michael!” His mother extended her hands to him. He took them drawing his mother towards him and kissing her on the cheek before releasing her hands.

  “Son, good to have you home.” His father extended his hand for the two to shake. Janine thought it a bit odd that they didn’t hug each other. She thought perhaps they are just being more reserved since she was there. Michael stepped back to her and put his hand in the small of her back drawing her forward.

  “Mom…Dad…this is Janine P
owell.”

  Calling forth her most confident yet deferential posture, Janine extended her hand first to Michael’s mother.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Josey,” she said before turning to his father, “and you Dr. Josey.” Janine knew she was being scrutinized and inspected by them both—especially his mother.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Janine.”

  Mrs. Josey was lovely, elegant and intimidating as hell. Janine could see where Michael got his deep-set, penetrating eyes and light honey complexion. His skin tone had warm undertones while hers were much cooler.

  “Janine.” That was all Dr. Josey said to her as he extended his hand to her with a pleasant smile. From him, Janine could see where Michael got his strong build and broad, beautiful smile.

  “Sir, it’s a pleasure,” she said.

  With his hand still on her back, she felt Michael press into it. She dared not divert her attention from his parents to figure out why he did it.

  “Michael, take the young lady’s coat and then join us in the family room,” Mrs. Josey said as she and the doctor turned to exit.

  “We’ll be right there, Mom,” Michael said before taking Janine’s coat.

  “Okay, you know I’m sweating right now?” she whispered to him.

  “Just relax. Everything’s fine.”

  “You know they’re talking first impressions right now, right?”

  “Maybe, but don’t worry about it,” he assured her.

  Taking a deep breath, she said, “Okay. Let’s do this.”

  “Oh, one other thing,” he started as he held her firmly by the waist. He whispered to her, “Don’t call him ‘Sir’ again.”

  “Why? He doesn’t like it?” she asked, genuinely puzzled.

  “I don’t like it,” he replied with a devilish yet searing look upon his face.

  She understood, leaned in close enough to brush her lips against his cheek and replied, “Yes, Sir. It will never happen again.”

  He smiled taking her hand and leading her down the hall to join his parents in the family room.

  CHAPTER 12

  When they entered the family room, Dr. and Mrs. Josey were seated in large chairs facing the couch. There was a round table between them where wine and cocktail glasses sat. The arrangement of the room suggested this was a space designed more for conversation, even though a large flat screen television sat in the middle of a voluminous bookcase. Near the fireplace, there was a pair of matching upholstered chairs and between them was a small table with a chessboard ready for its next players. On the other side of the massive room was another set of chairs flanking an end table. On the walls were a variety of awards and certificates of various types lauding the accomplishments of each family member.