by Gabi Moore
I smiled and told Becky she could take a break and that I’d watch the ovens for a while, and spent the next few moments daydreaming as I served the odd customer. We had fucked here, on this very table, after hours when she had been super stressed, covered in flour and looking for a fight. But I knew what to do when she got like that. It never took me longer than ten or twenty minutes to have her in a sweaty, whimpering pile, thanking me and kissing me, cooing in my arms, flushed and giggling at how mad she had been about nothing.
We often fucked in the shower. I’d spread her legs wide to stop her from slipping all over, and she’d fall back onto my cock and bounce there, the sound of the falling water muffling her voice. We’d fuck on the floor sometimes, when carrying her to the bed seemed like wasting too much time. I liked to put her on her hands and knees. Sometimes, we’d just watch old movies together, and under the blanket, I would lay her hand on my stiff cock and she would understand, shifting her weight onto me without pulling her eyes from the screen.
And when she got back from this exam of hers, we’d do a celebratory fuck for sure. Just the thought of it had me distracted enough to spill a customer’s frothed milk all down my front.
“Whoops! Oh man, did you learn that trick from Emily?”
I turned to see Becky walk in and smile, rag ready in hand to mop up my accident. I laughed and shrugged.
“Yup, learned from the best, what can I say?” I said.
“When is she back?”
“She said the exam was only two hours, so she should be back here any minute now,” I said, and started making another cup. She sighed and stared off into the distance.
“I can’t believe she’s almost done already. Where did the last few years even go, Felix?”
“Beats me. After all this time I’m still learning how to make a proper cup of coffee, so what do I know?”
“Well, she must have put your sorry ass in charge for some reason, right?” she said, giving me a silly smile.
“Well, obviously she put me in charge because I’m dead cute,” I said, posed a little on my chair and then jumped out the way as she aimed at me with the tail of her dishcloth.
“By the way, this came this morning,” she said and pulled out a small envelope from her apron pocket. I instantly recognized what it was: a letter from the university. Em had been receiving her results piecemeal throughout her part time studies, and had always given me permission to open them if she was away so I could call her with the results as soon as possible. I took the envelope and opened it, fully expecting the usual distinction result and congratulations.
But this was something different. I unfolded the letter and skimmed it through. It was an offer. The university had partnered with a research facility on Mars and they wanted her to join them. She had made such headway with her new hybrids and the techniques she was using with her fermentation tanks that they wanted her to oversee a new grow project there, as soon as she was finished with her degree. Then my eyes stuck on one phrase, like a thorn in the words. It was the name of a Mars mission. My old Mars mission. I tossed the paper aside and tried to think.
“What is it…?” said Becky and took the page herself. “Oh my god…”
I looked at Becky and she looked at me.
“I always knew Em was destined to go and do awesome things,” she said a little sadly.
I snatched the paper back and tried to hunt out the important details. It was a strange letter – full of praise and commendation, not unlike the letters I had received once, a lifetime ago. It was so different in tone from the usual college correspondence. It was plain as day. The university wanted her. The mission wanted her. I read those words again and again. There was no other way to cut it: what I held in my hands was what people usually call an opportunity of a lifetime.
Emily had spoken often about this new project, about how she admired the staff there, about the amazing work they did. It turns out, the admiration went both ways. Word of the things we were doing in this humble little café had reached our local news stations, but I never imagined this. I felt numb. I was overjoyed that Emily was finally getting all the good things in life that she deserved… but petrified that everything was about to change for us. With a lump in my throat I folded the letter and quietly put it back in its envelope. And just like that the whole day was different.
Becky looked miserable, but I forced a smile at her and squeezed her arm.
“Hey, don’t be like that, we must be happy for Em, this is like, her dream,” I said, mostly convincing myself.
“Do you think she’ll accept the position? Do you think she’ll just go to Mars now?” Becky said.
I sighed. “Well, she should. I hope she does.”
“But what about us? What about the bakery? What about you?”
I thought back to that night I had broken up with Emily. The night I had told her that I had a dream life to pursue, and that she didn’t have a place in it. I remembered the pain in her eyes, the way she had begged me to stay, the way she had eventually agreed that if I wanted to go she wouldn’t want to keep me anyway. Dreams and once-in-a-lifetime opportunities are rare, it’s true. You need to grab them with both hands when one comes along. But I had also learnt that real love is also rare, maybe even more so. I was lucky. I had found my second chance with her. And now, there was nothing that would take priority over her place in my life ever again.
“I don’t know what will happen,” I said simply. It was the truth. “But if she wants to go, I won’t stop her. We can sell the bakery. Maybe I can find another post up there. We’ll make something work” I said. Becky frowned and walked off, and was sullen for a while. I sat with my thoughts as well, occasionally glancing at the letter again, just in case I had missed something important the first time around.
Then she came in. Emily flew into the bakery and plonked her bag behind the counter.
“Ta da! Done and dusted, ladies and gentlemen, you are looking at a lady who’s basically almost technically kind of done with her degree! All of it!” she said, then did a triumphant little twirl and bounded over to Becky and I. She paused.
“Oh my god, guys, who died?” she said, big smile on her face as she found a seat.
I went over to her, gave her a big hug and handed her the letter.
“You big showoff, just take a look at this” I said and pecked her cheek. She tore the letter out of the envelope and read it quickly, mouth hanging open. Becky and I stared at her for a few moments, waiting for it all to sink in.
When she was done, she dropped the folded sheet to her knees, looked at us in shock and then all at once started squealing and laughing. She bounced off her chair and threw her hands to her mouth, then skipped around hysterically like a kid on Christmas morning. She ran into me and I grabbed her and laughed with her, kissing her hair and releasing her for another victory lap. Some customers looked up from their coffee to see what the commotion was about, but she barely even noticed them.
Then she started to cry. I held her again, then she hugged Becky, then me again. It was beautiful, seeing her so happy. It felt strange. It hurt, but in a good way. Emily had put her dreams on hold for so long already. It was her time now. And I felt a weird, possessive sense of pride as I watched her excitement. The letter, now crumpled and stained with tears, was set down on the table and she began to talk, suddenly serious.
“I’m sorry, I got carried away there, obviously I …ugh there’s just no way, it’s on Mars,” she said with a sniff.
“Hey, what are you saying sorry for? It’s on Mars…so you go to Mars!” I said and smiled at her.
“Felix! There’s no way in hell I’m going!” she said immediately. It broke my heart. Not to see how ready she was to think of me, but because I knew I hadn’t been able to do the same for her when it mattered. I grabbed her shoulders and gave her a serious look.
“Em, listen to me, this is a very serious opportunity you have here, you need to think very carefully about what they’re offering.
”
“I can’t go,” she said plainly. She was quick to wipe away her tears with the back of her hand. The look on Becky’s face was priceless. I didn’t know what to say.
“How could I leave you guys? Look, I’m really flattered that they’ve made the offer. In fact, it makes me really hopeful about how far we can take what we’ve learnt here in the bakery. If they want it on Mars, just think of how many people would be interested in it down here.”
I shook my head.
“Em, don’t be ridiculous. You should go. We’ll be OK without you. We’ll look out for the bakery, and when you come back…”
Becky burst into tears. I couldn’t finish. We all knew what the chances of that were.
I took a deep breath and tried to focus. This wasn’t about me. Or about the damn bakery.
“Ok, just think carefully about this, Em. You deserve this. You’ve earned it. It’s your time now, you should--”
“I’m not going anywhere,” she said again and stood, letter still on the table. She looked down at me and gave me a loaded look, then smiled at the people in the bakery. I know life doesn’t always pan out the way you expect it to, and I’m OK with that. Mars is a great idea for some, but there’s enough work down on Earth here for me.”
Becky stood, hugged Em again and left, sensing that I wanted to speak to her alone. But once she had gone I found myself struggling to say anything at all. Of course I didn’t want her to go anywhere. I wanted her to stay here with me, forever… I had so much more I wanted to do with her. Being posted on Mars was like a death sentence – a happy, lucky death sentence, sure, but one that would take her away from me all the same. I knew that. I knew that if she left now I would never be the same again.
But I had no right to ask her to stay. Not after the choice I made, all those years ago.
We had built a life together, but I had nearly thrown that all away once before. It wasn’t for me, now, to stand in her way if she needed to go and find something better. She looked down at me and frowned.
“Hey! Are you going to make a big deal out of this?” she said in lighthearted voice. I couldn’t believe she wasn’t taking any of this more seriously. She reached out her hand and pulled me up, then led me out the back of the shop and into the courtyard, completely renovated except for the old wooden storeroom we never used anymore.
“What… where are we going?” I asked.
She dragged me along and into the storeroom, locking the door behind her. It was dark and cool inside, and I could make out tiny dust motes drifting to the floor as she looked at me and started whispering.
“Do you remember what we did in here once?” she said, naughty glint in her eye.
I laughed and looked at my feet. It was one of my fondest memories.
“I know we had a rough start, Felix. Maybe we both needed to have that time away from each other, to grow up a bit, I don’t know. I blamed you for a long time, for everything that happened. But I can also blame you for everything that’s happened since. It’s your fault that I still even have this bakery. It’s your fault that I went back to school, and I blame you for pushing me to pursue all my nutty professor experiments and forcing you and Becky to pick up the slack at the shop…”
She had both her hands propped lightly on my chest, stroking the way you would stroke a large beast if you wanted it to calm down. She was still so, so beautiful. Like her hair had a few secret filaments of gold woven into it that you could only pick out in certain lights.
“Long story short, I’ve been meaning to tell you for a long time now how thankful I am that you came back, that you stuck around.”
“Eventually,” I said, a little sheepish.
She laughed, quietly. This was our secret place.
“If you’re sure you don’t want to go, I’ll support whatever decision you make, I swear that I won’t live with myself if you turn it down and--”
Her she kissed me to stop me from speaking.
“I belong here, with you, in this ramshackle old storage room on boring old earth,” she said between kisses.
“You should really let me tear this thing down and build you something new,” I said, leaning in to kiss back.
“Of course, but do it later… for now, you have other work to do…”
- THE END -
Bare Hands
Blurb
She was pretty, I’ll give her that.
Damsel-in-distress was a good look on her.
And like all the other missionaries, she came out to this remote part of the world with an agenda.
And I can’t wait to see that agenda fall to pieces as she realizes what she’s really out here to find.
And when she does, I’ll be right here, waiting - ready to give it to her…
Chapter 1 - Viktor
I’ve never done anything like this before”, she giggled.
They always say that.
It’s like there’s some universal slut handbook out there, and the first chapter begins with “twirl your hair and swear you’ve never, ever done anything even remotely like what you’re clearly about to do”.
Because they always do it.
And they love it.
And that’s why all the play-acting and flirting and ridiculousness beforehand is just fine by me. I smile and go along with their protests; acting like just for today, we’ll both make a little exception. She’s not like the other girls. And even though I know they’re usually sweet and well-behaved, and they never look for trouble, just for today, we’ll pretend that I’m the bad influence.
“I feel like I’m little red riding hood in the forest or something,” she said, and walked clumsily ahead of me, picking through the bushes. It wasn’t yet dark. But it would be by the time I was done with her.
“Are you trying to tell me I’m a big bad wolf?” I teased, and caught her by the waist, pulling her towards me. She squealed and laughed. We were far from the village now. I held her close and looked down into her face. Her eyes widened and she parted her lips, but I released her and pushed her ahead of me, giving her a little slap on the ass as she stumbled forward.
“Go on,” I said, “it’s getting dark. And we’ll never get to where we’re going if you keep trying to seduce me like this.”
Girls fucking love it when you say shit like that. She laughed, pulled her tongue out at me and carried on walking ahead on the path, pretending like she wasn’t making the most deliberate effort to wiggle her hips for my benefit.
The next time you go outside and walk past any plain looking, ordinary white girl under the age of 30, take a really close look at her. Look at her figure. Look into her eyes. I’m not talking about the very confident, polished ones. The ones who talk loudly and know they’re pretty. I’m talking about the most commonplace, average girl you can think of. Are you imagining her?
Well, I’m here to tell you that the more unassuming she looks, the easier it is for men like me to take her. The plainer she seems, I can guarantee you, the dirtier she is underneath. Girls like this flock to me. Like little lambs. They can’t help it.
Sure, they pretend it’s me that did it. It was me who was a bad influence. It was me who encouraged them, me who lured them in. The nastier ones even like to imagine I force it out of them. But it’s all them. Believe me when I say that: it’s all them.
We reached the clearing and she looked around, like a little kid looking for trouble. Like most of the girls who end up in this part of the world, and more specifically here in the forest, with me, she was American, young, and utterly stupid. I’d like to remind you though: I never preyed on these girls. In fact, like I said, it was always them that made the first move. Always them that went after me.
She slinked up to me and smiled with a kind of drunk look on her face. I guess she thought she was sexy. She stroked the tips of her fingers idly against my forearm, playing cute.
“You have such big arms,” she said, drawing out the words.
I laughed.
&nbs
p; “All the better to catch you with, my dear!”
She laughed as well.
They’re always surprised when the noble savage acts a little witty, too. She leaned in closer and dragged her fingertips higher up my arm; close enough to kiss her, if I wanted to. But I stood firm. I wanted her to come to me.
“Hmm …now let’s see …what big eyes you have…” she said, taking the bait and playing the game.
“All the better to see you with my dear” I said, so softly it was a growl.
She giggled and lifted her lips to my cheek, lingered them there a little.
“And what lovely big lips you have” she whispered up close.
“All the better to kiss you with.” I closed gentle lips on hers. She stood up on her tip toes to meet my kiss, and soon threw her arms around my neck.
The forest air was fresh and primal, the big trees sighing overhead as we caressed in their shade. She would tell all her friends about this when she got home. She’d still be fantasizing about me long after she went home and paired up with some fool and had his babies. And the thing I’d do to her next? Well, she’d think of that for the rest of her life.
I grabbed the hair at the base of her skull and pulled her hard towards me. She gasped and I flung an arm around her waist, pulling her excited little body onto mine, and pressing my rock hard cock into her.
She started giggling again.
“Oh, Vik, what a big …what a big…”
She couldn’t finish the sentence. She knew the game but didn’t have the guts to play her turn.
“All the better to fuck you with, my dear,” I said, and with one movement yanked at her trousers, and the buttons went flying as I pulling them off her squirming body. I felt the weight of her as she collapsed into my arms.