by Alice Cooper
As he walked into the house he smelled what he guessed was meatloaf. Entering the kitchen he saw a feast on the table. His mouth watered, his stomach growled loudly in appreciation of the smells and waiting for the food to hit it.
He sat down and looked at the meal. “You did a great job, it smells wonderful.”
“Thank you.” She smiled. It felt good for a man to say nice things to her.
Though Derrick wanted to shovel the food into his mouth quickly, he took his time and savored each and every bit. Mac listened to him eat; the noises he made were clearly because he was enjoying the meal. She smiled as she heard the little sighs and moans.
“This is one of the best meatloaf’s I’ve ever had.” Derrick said as he took another huge piece of it.
“It’s my grandmother’s recipe. I always loved it when I was growing up.” Mac smiled.
“My compliments to the chef, your guy was dumb to let you go.” Derrick said as he put another bite into his mouth.
Mac turned red, not sure how to respond to the comment. Mike had never complimented her on anything she had cooked. Not once in the months they had been together had he even made a sound of pleasure when he put some food she had slaved over into his mouth. But Derrick was loud, and complimented her several times; she continued to hear sighs and moans of pleasure as he ate more and more.
Finally, Derrick pushed himself away from the table. “I have to stop eating; I’m going to bust open if I don’t!”
Mac laughed. Derrick started to laugh too.
“Thank you very much, you didn’t have to cook that all, but I’m sure happy that you did.” Derrick said patting his stomach.
“It’s the least I could do. Really you have helped me out so much.” Mac admitted.
“But you said you had very little money. Please don’t spend it all on me.”
Mac smiled at him. He was so different from anyone in her past, and especially from Mike. They were polar opposites. Derrick was clearly a very caring man, and one who liked to show how much he appreciated other people’s efforts.
“Would you like me to start a fire again?” Derrick asked.
“Oh that sounds nice, it was really nice falling asleep and hearing the fire crackling.” Mac stated.
Derrick went outside to grab some more of the firewood that he had cut that afternoon as he waited for her to show up. As he did that Mac was in the kitchen cleaning up after the meal. She smiled as she worked, and her mind floated into a fantasy of what it would be like to be Derrick’s wife.
Mac stopped for a second, and knew that all of her talking to herself today about getting attached to him had been worthless. Here she was imagining that she was his wife, and she didn’t even know his last name.
After she finished the dishes and composing herself she went to the living room to see the fire roaring. She went to sit over on the rug in front of the fire, trying to sit far enough away from him that she wouldn’t be tempted to touch him.
They sat quietly, both of them stealing looks at the other one. Derrick completely petrified to ever get involved again. Mac afraid she was simply letting herself slip into love much too quickly once again.
“I’m sorry if I scared you today, I really hadn’t realized how long I had been gone.” Mac finally said.
“I didn’t know if you had gotten lost or hurt.” Derrick looked at her; Mac could see the truthfulness of the worry in his eyes.
“Next time I’ll let you know I’m going, or you can go with me. I think you’ll really like this waterfall.” Mac stated.
“Sure we can go tomorrow.” Derrick answered.
“I marked the path though; I grew up in the woods. Not these woods, but we always knew how to make sure we would make it home.” Mac told him and explained a bit more about how her brothers had shown her at an early age how to mark her path.
“That was very smart of them.” Derrick said.
Derrick listened intently to her stories of growing up near the woods in Maryland, and some of the funniest stories he had ever heard. Soon his eyes were watering he was laughing so hard, his stomach hurt and Mac was also crying tears of laughter.
“Though I would love to stay up later I think I’ll go to bed. After all we do have a hike to go on tomorrow.” Derrick stood up and headed into the bedroom.
Mac watched him walk away. This had been the first time in years she had told stories of her childhood. Mike had never been interested to hear them; in fact none of the men she had dated in the past had ever even asked her about growing up. Mac shook her head in wonderment as to how she could ever have let so many men value her so little.
Falling asleep she listened to the fire and enjoyed the fact that Derrick had seemed so much different from the men of her past, again she wished she could be his wife. But knew it was much too quick to think this way. Again she didn’t even know his last name. It reminded her of the Carrie Underwood song, “Last Name”, that had been so popular at one time, and she swore if a man would go for it that song would be her life.
The next morning he was up first, and she walked into the kitchen to see him making them both breakfast. Something Mike would never have considered. He was below doing that type of thing.
Mac walked in from the back of him, and stood watching Derrick. It shocked her quite a bit. This big guy moving around the kitchen like he owned it, he was comfortable, and she could tell he knew what he was doing. She saw chocolate chip pancakes being flipped with a precision she had only seen from seasoned chefs. Mac had to wonder if that was what this man did for a living. She smiled picturing him with the white outfit of chefs, or maybe just an apron with nothing underneath.
As if he could feel her eyes on him Derrick turned around to see Mac; she was just staring at him, honestly it made him happy, but embarrassed as well.
“Hey I figured I was up first so I would whip up a little bit of breakfast.” Derrick smiled.
Mac look at the plate full of pancakes that was already cooked, it was enough to feed a football team of high school boys. “It smells delicious, but I don’t think I’ll be able to eat that much!”
Derrick laughed, “I didn’t pay enough attention to the measurements I was using.”
Mac sat down and gladly took the plate that was loaded with enough pancakes to feed her for a week! She dug in and was welcomed with the warm chocolate melting in her mouth, mixing with the pancake mix and syrup. “This is delicious, it’s not like any other chocolate chip pancake I’ve ever had.” She said honestly, licking her lips and putting another bit into her mouth.
Derrick smiled as he watched her eat. “It’s an old family recipe, but my grandma used to make it for about 10 of us at a time. Thus the reason we have so many of them! “
He sat down with a plate that had a ton of food on it as well. He had poured them both coffees; it was some of his favorite coffee. “I hope you like the coffee, I order this online and this is my last bit until I find a new location to stay for a bit.”
She took a sip of the hot warm liquid and was surprised at the complexity of flavors she tasted. “Oh my, it goes with the pancakes perfectly. I love the slight hint of chocolate to it.”
“I know it is Peet’s coffee, the best in the states!” Derrick answered.
Mac kept eating until she knew that no more food could fit into her body. She looked at her plate shocked to see she had actually finished almost all of it. “I can’t eat like that every day I’ll weigh 300 pounds!” She laughed.
Derrick looked at her, and smiled. “But you wouldn’t look bad with some extra weight on you either, you are pretty skinny.”
Mac turned red, and looked down at the floor. Really he had complimented her so many times in the little amount of time they knew each other; she wasn’t sure what to say. Thank you was all she could finally come up with.
“So after I do the dishes, we’ll go for that hike, okay?” Derrick asked.
“I can do the dishes if you want.” Mac offered.
“You
can help me if you want. We’ll get it done quicker if both of us do them.”
“Sure.” Mac agreed.
They went to cleaning the kitchen up in a peaceful silence. Not a silence that either of them felt was awkward, but it was normal. To both of them it felt as if they had known each other for years. This seemed so natural to be with the other person, the kitchen was done before they realized and they went to get ready for their hike.
“Do you remember how long it was? I’ll get some water to take along with us.” Derrick asked.
“Maybe a couple of miles, really not too far, I just happened to sit around and enjoy the scenery for most of the day!” Mac stated.
Derrick did a few things, packed a backpack and told Mac he was ready. She hadn’t seemed him pack the bag, so she didn’t know why he needed it. She would have carried water it was no big deal!
They headed out to the trial and Mac led the way, using the markers she had left the day before. It was about 2 and a half miles and Derrick saw one of the most beautiful sites in the world he had ever seen. The waterfall was amazing, but seeing Mac next to the site was even more wonderful. He saw a huge smile on her face, and could see the peace in her eyes as she viewed this site.
Derrick had always loved the outdoors too, and had wanted for the longest time to live in a cabin away from the world. If he could he would find a location where he could just block himself off from the world. But he looked at Mac and wondered if she would go with him. Really she lit up the area. Even when she had been quiet when he first picked her up on the side of the road Derrick felt better with her by him. She hadn’t held on tightly but enough that he felt the touch of another person. He liked her touch, and had to wonder what a more intimate touch from her would feel like.
Was it the beauty of the area? The loneliness that covered his life, or maybe it was just Mac, there was something about her. He looked at her and knew that she was special. It had been forever since he had any of the thoughts he had when he was around her. He felt like there might actually be some kind of future for him in this world, if Mac was with him. He didn’t even know her well, but he could tell she was unique.
“This is really beautiful isn’t it?” Mac turned to Derrick and asked.
“Yes you are, and so is the waterfall.” Derrick stated.
Mac looked at him, wondering if he was just messing with her, was she just hearing what she wished to hear, or had he actually said that? Mac looked back at the water, and had an idea. “Hey you want to go to the bottom, maybe there is a nice little spot where we can sit and enjoy the day.”
“Let’s go.” Derrick said pointing to the trial and letting her lead the way. “Let me know if you want some water by the way.”
“Sure let me get a little sip really quick.” Mac said, as she waited for him to hand her the drink.
Taking a sip, she felt the wetness of the water, it tasted great. She hadn’t realized she had been quite so thirsty, or maybe it was nerves.
Derrick watched her as she led the way once they started down the trail again. She was fantastic. A bit of a tomboy, now that he saw her outside, but when they were in the cabin, and when he first met her, he would never guess her to be like this. Hell he would never had guessed she grew up in the woods. He smiled; she was the type of girl he had always fantasized about. One who wasn’t afraid to get down and dirty, but cleaned up like a model.
The trail to the bottom twisted and turned quite a bit, and there were a few spots where the trail was dangerously narrow. But Mac kept leading the way, sometimes she would stop to check out the different ways they could go, and see which looked safer.
Finally, they got to the bottom and the pool the waterfall landed in was amazingly blue. It was clear and they could see the bottom of the pool. Before he knew what was going on she had snuck up beside him and pushed him into the water.
“What the?” Was all he got out before he was in the water. He laughed hard, and told her. “You have a choice, you can come in the easy way or we can do it the hard way!”
Mac looked at his face, and laughed. “You would have to catch me first, and I’m out here, not in the water where I might move slower!” She stuck her tongue out as to say come and get me.
Before she realized it he was on top of her. “What? How did you move so quickly?”
He held her above him, she didn’t struggle, and she knew it wasn’t worth it. He was a monster compared to her. The fact that he had caught her before she could even move had shocked her. But in his arms she felt no fear, only security, she knew that Derrick would not hurt her. She laid back into his arms a bit more.
Derrick looked down into her face and eyes. He saw the peace that he felt over her body and his as well. It seemed natural to him to have her in his arms. She was light , so light in his arms. He looked at her lips, he wanted nothing more to kiss them.
Mac could see the telltale look in his eyes, or so she hoped. Because her next move would all depend on if she had read them right or not. She leaned up and kissed him lightly on his lips. It was just a small little kiss, but she hoped it let him know everything he needed to know.
Derrick felt her lips lightly touch his and felt the kiss, it was over before he wanted it to end. He lowered his mouth to hers, and took her over. He thrust his tongue into her mouth, not invading it but exploring it lightly. He didn’t try to overpower her at all, but he wanted her to feel his passion.
Mac could feel it, there was a connection between them, not just her imagination. The kiss he gave her left no doubt. It was a sweet probing of her mouth on his part, and she did the same, pushing her tongue to meet his. Their tongues danced for a few minutes, and they both pulled back.
Derrick looked down at her, afraid but excited. He really was burned by his ex, and she popped up quickly in his mind to torture him. “Really you think she would ever want you? I didn’t and you threw yourself at me for a while. You thought I wanted you, maybe you are just thinking she wants you right now.” Her voice sounded off in his mind.
Mac could see the conflict of emotions going over his face. She touched the side of her face with her fingertips. It worked she grabbed his attention. Instead of saying anything though, she put her mouth on his again, and kissed him intensely. She didn’t want sex, no she just wanted to let him know that he was something special to her. As she pulled her mouth from his, she could see the fire in his eyes.
“I don’t know what I can offer you, I’m broken, and I don’t know how long it will take to fix myself.” Derrick said looking down at her, he had walked into the water, but was still holding her close. He didn’t want to lose the contact of her skin on his, it felt so nice, so odd after so long without a person.
“Everyone is broken in all honesty, in one way or another. Maybe not by someone else, but there could be a part of their past that haunts them through the years, and makes them feel they are unlovable even. But you have to realize that there may be someone who will help you feel better as you fix those broken parts of you.” Mac said.
“You are so beautiful, and such a good person. What if I’m not a nice guy when you get to know me? I don’t want to be hurt again, I can’t take it.”
“Love is always a gamble, you will never find it if you don’t give yourself to another person. You either throw the dice, or you hold them close and never find someone. Me? Well I’m willing to take a chance to find another person who will love me like I love them. If it’s you, this would be great. I think there is a good chance, and you know what? I’m very willing to take that chance. The ball is in your court though, I can’t force you into this. I learned my lesson if you love someone you can’t make them love you no matter what, if they don’t at the start.” Mac said, the whole time thinking of the past mistakes she had made, but willing to try it with Derrick.
Derrick looked at her. “You know I’ve not stayed in a place more than a month for the past 3 years. I don’t want to drag you around and never give you a home. A place where if we want
we can grow a family, have memories that will last a lifetime, even have our grandchildren visit there one day.”
“So why can’t we find this? We just have to find a place where we feel is home. I can work, you can get a job. We start together, we help and support each other . That is after all what love is all about.” Mac said.
“Why not, why shouldn’t we try it. Like you said, it may work, but if we really want it we can make it last. We can have it all, everything and we can build it together.” Derrick stated. “Maybe we can even get married, I think I would like that a lot.”
Mac stopped and smiled. “Are you asking me to marry you right now?”
Derrick shrugged his shoulders as if to say why not?
Mac smiled and laughed. “Well one thing is I don’t even know your last name. I mean it can’t be anything to messed up that will make me sound funny. You know if there is a guy out there who has a last name like Roni, well could you imagine that , my name would be Mac Roni.” All I need is the middle initial A and it would be perfect.” Mel laughed hard, so did Derrick.
“You really are something else. I swear you have made me feel so alive, and I barely know you. My last name is Jonas.”
“Oh are you related to the band members?” Mac joked.
“No sorry to say.”
“Okay so Mac Jonas, not bad at all. I could get used to that.” She pulled herself up on his shoulders and kissed him.
“So it’s acceptable to you?” Derrick laughed.
Mac gave him another kiss to show him how acceptable it was to her.
Derrick hugged her closely. “So let’s go find a place to get married. I’ll get you a ring in one of the towns around here, find the justice of the peace office and then it will be done!”
“Seriously, you want to do it now?” Mac asked, shocked, she had thought it was part joking on his side.
“No I’m serious I don’t want to let this go. You really do make me feel great. There is something about you that I want to keep around. We can wait until tomorrow, but I want to tell you I want to wait to make love to you until we are married. I want us to be husband and wife first, then we can do more.”