Through the Glass

by Lisa J. Hobman

  Jim held the door open for Flick and she hesitantly walked under his arm, chewing on her lip, and into the busy refectory. The room was large with arched windows that reached almost to the beamed ceiling. The woodwork and flooring was a rich mahogany and it was evident that the room hadn’t changed much over the years. There were tables and chairs arranged around the edge of the room and a band was set up at one end on the stage.

  ~~~~~

  A delicious aroma, which smelled remarkably like lasagne wafted through the air. Flick’s stomach growled. Jim waved to his friends and walked her over to introduce her to them. Matthew, Charlie, Clara, Stubbs. Jim later informed her that no one knew why he was called Stubbs because his name was actually Levi DeWinter, which made her giggle. Polly, Melodie, and Stefan. All made Felicity feel very much at ease, all came from similar backgrounds to hers. They had much in common. Unlike Jim who hadn’t quite noticed he was, in some ways, an outsider.

  After the introductions, Flick, as she had now become known, felt a lot more at ease and thought she could maybe fit in after all. The band began to play and included a lot of covers that Felicity knew. Jim was clearly into his music and sang along to almost every song. They jigged about chatting loudly over the noise.

  She watched him as he moved in time with the music. He looked good, graceful even, for a ruggedly handsome, unsuspecting, tall, longhaired man. The band began to play a slow melodic number, announcing it to be a cover of Pearl Jam’s Black. She had never heard it before but the fact that it sent shivers down her spine told her she definitely liked it. The words were heart-breaking but beautiful. She vowed to listen to more by the band, especially seeing as Jim obviously liked them.

  She smiled as he closed his eyes and swayed, the coloured lights from the stage highlighting his almost shoulder length, dark brown hair, turning it from red to blue to green. His face was incredibly handsome and she noticed the shivers traverse her spine once again, though this time it had nothing to do with the music. His forearms were very sexy and her eyes followed the line of his tendons as they transitioned into the muscular biceps under his T-shirt sleeves. His shirt this time had the words Soundgarden and Louder Than Love on the front, and she presumed that one of these must be the name of another band she was yet to hear. Her eyes trailed down his back and rested on his tight bottom… Felicity shook her head to dislodge the thoughts.

  “You okay?” Jim lowered his head so that he spoke directly in her ear, causing her to shudder. “You looked a bit like you’ve seen a ghost.” She snapped her eyes up to his and nodded fervently.

  ~~~~~

  He smirked. He had actually caught her looking at him. He liked the fact that she’d been watching him and looking him up and down. He found her very, very attractive. Her long, wavy, blonde hair was just stunning. Her exposed shoulder and neck just begged for attention, but he wouldn’t be so bold. She had the curves of a goddess, too. In no way skinny, just as he liked. He wondered what it would feel like to have that luscious hair trailing over his face as she sat astride his torso…naked. He gulped his drink down hoping to quench the fire that had begun to blaze inside him.

  The band was taking a break and No Doubt’s Don’t Speak came over the PA system. He glanced over at Flick again, plucking up the courage he needed to ask the question on the tip of his tongue. “Oh sod it,” he muttered. “Flick…would you like to dance?” He gestured toward the space in the middle of the room that had become a makeshift dance floor.

  “Oh…okay?” She accepted almost as a question. She took his hand and he led her to the dance floor where other couples had begun to congregate. Jim slid his arms around her waist and pulled her a little closer. Her hands started out at his elbows as he gazed into her eyes. A shot of heat ran through him as she slowly moved her hands up his arms until her hands were clasped around his neck and she took the final step to align their bodies.

  ~~~~~

  Jim lowered his head and nuzzled her neck, sending electric shocks down her spine, right to her core. Overcome by shyness, she rested her forehead on his chest. Being this close to him felt so right, like she was meant to be in his arms. The closest she had come to this before was when she had kissed Adam St. John on the doorstep when his father had returned them home from the cinema. Her mother had caught them and been very upset.

  “You most certainly do not kiss a boy on your first date and especially not when you are sixteen-years-old, Felicity!” her mother had chastised. “What kind of girl are you?! Think of the reputation you will have once he goes back to boarding school and tells his friends!”

  “Oh for goodness sake, Penny, leave the poor girl alone!” Her father had done his best, as always to defend her.

  Jim sang along with the words of the song as he held Flick tight against him. She lifted her gaze to meet his. He smiled down at her. Their noses were almost touching. Her heart was pounding so much she was sure he could feel it too. As he looked directly into her eyes, he lowered his face toward her, paused as if waiting for her to pull away. When she didn’t, he gently brushed her lips with his. She inhaled sharply. His lips were soft against hers, and his stubble lightly scratched the edges of her mouth.

  Despite the fact they had only just met, she had wanted him to kiss her, but there was no way she would have made the first move. Now that he had, she gained the courage to reciprocate the kiss, and he seemed encouraged by this as his hand moved up her back until he reached her hair. Her body tingled and her heart rate increased further. He held her to him and kissed her deeper, his tongue flicking out tentatively. Her insides turned to jelly and her legs felt weak. Heat rushed to parts of her body she wouldn’t have expected from a simple kiss. But then again there was nothing simple about this kiss. She broke away from him and locked onto his gaze.

  His brow furrowed, a look of guilt washed over his gaze. “I’m sorry, Flick… I-I just got carried away.”

  She watched his expression cloud with regret. She didn’t want that at all. Keeping her hands around his neck and stroking her fingers through his hair, she shook her head. “No, Jim, please don’t be sorry…I-I think I had to just check…”

  “Check what?” He looked confused.

  “That I wasn’t dreaming.” She smiled and tiptoed to meet his lips with hers once again. She felt him smile against her and she parted her lips to invite him in. His tongue danced with hers, and he scooped her up into his arms so that her feet were dangling just over his shoes. She gave a little squeal of delight as he spun her around. Wow…literally swept off my feet, she thought gleefully as he swayed her to the music.

  At the end of the night, Felicity was aglow with the events of the evening. Jim had been by her side all night and they had kissed several more times. Jim offered to walk her back to her room and she accepted. They chatted comfortably as they walked.

  Jim tentatively took her hand and laced his fingers with hers as they made their way across campus. “So did you enjoy the craic then, Flick?” He smiled remembering her reaction to this phrase when they had first met.

  “Yes, the craic’s been great.” She smiled up at him, mimicking his accent and blushing as she did. He laughed at her attempts and squeezed her hand. They walked in silence for a few moments.

  He suddenly stopped and pulled her to him. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Yes, Jim, you can.” She felt shy again and her gaze darted around, anywhere but to meet his. He held her chin gently between his thumb and finger and smiled down at her.

  “Do I make you nervous?” he asked, frowning a little but still holding a half smile.

  “Is that the question you wanted to ask? I…thought it would be something different.” She tilted her face to one side, finally meeting his inquisitive gaze.

  He laughed. “Oh…no…no. Sorry, that wasn’t the question. That was a pre-amble.”

  Felicity liked his laugh. It seemed to come from somewhere in his boots and vibrated through his body. She pursed her lips before answering, “Well, I am a littl
e nervous but not because of anything bad. I’m just…a little bit shy.” She dared to hold his gaze and her breath caught. Even under the street lighting she could see he had the most amazing brown eyes, like melted caramel.

  “Don’t be nervous. I don’t bite… Well, not on weekdays.” He winked.

  “So what did you actually want to ask?” she whispered, hoping she knew the answer.

  “I wanted to ask if I could see you again?” He lowered his face until their noses were touching, and her heart relentlessly pounded at her ribcage.

  “I was hoping that’s what you were going to ask.” She breathed. Her mouth met his for another mind-blowing kiss. When they broke apart, he held out his hand and she weaved her fingers in his once again.

  “Shall I take that as a yes then?” He grinned.

  “You shall.” She hoped her smile said it all.

  Just like a perfect gentleman he walked her right to her door and made sure she got inside. She hesitated and took a deep breath. “Do you want to come and look my latest sketch?” The words rushed out of her body as if desperate to escape.

  “Hmmm, so you’re inviting me in to see your etchings, eh?” He sounded like Sean Connery and it made her giggle.

  “Hardly. It’s just the one sketch and it’s a bit rubbish really. I just—”

  He placed his fingers on her lips. “I was teasing, Flick. And yes, please, I would love to. Just to see the sketch and then I’ll go.” He stepped inside and walked over to her easel. “Oh yes, I see what you mean. It’s totally rubbish.” He teased again.

  She hit him playfully on the arm. “Thank you but you could have been nicer.”

  “Flick, this is beautiful. The attention to detail is…amazing. I can’t believe you did it from memory.”

  “Thank you. Like I said, it’s just what I see through the glass…nothing fancy.” She smiled, pleased with his compliment. “I’m glad you like it though.”

  He walked back to the door, pulled her into him and kissed her again. “Goodnight beautiful and talented, Flick,” he whispered placing one last kiss on her nose.

  “Goodnight…handsome and sweet, Jim.” The heat in her cheeks rose again. She closed her door after him and then collapsed on her bed with a huge sigh of contentment and a smile as wide as the Thames on her face. She had a pretty good idea what she was going to dream of that night.

  ~~~~~

  As Jim walked, he couldn’t help grinning like the Cheshire cat. Checking that no one was watching, he did a little happy dance in the middle of the road, only to be caught by a group of Fresher’s walking around the corner. He covered his eyes with his hands. Great. They whistled and cheered as they passed him.

  “Oh, fuckity shit! I’ll never live that one down.” He sniggered aloud to himself.

  ~~~~~

  Work at university was harder than she had imagined, but for the next few weeks after that initial date they spent every possible minute together. Their friendship had deepened and their relationship was secure and special but not yet intimate. They were part of a large group of friends and all socialised together (mostly when they were supposed to be studying).

  Matthew caught up with Flick and Jim as they walked back to halls. “You guys up for a club on Friday night? We’re thinking of heading into Oxford to the tastefully named Razzles!” He sniggered. Jim walked along with his arm loosely draped around Flick’s shoulders. He looked for her acquiescence and she nodded.

  “Sounds like good craic, Matty. Aye. Reckon we could make one in!” Jim kissed the top of Flick’s head.

  Flick smiled at Jim’s loving gesture. He had been the perfect gentleman since that first kiss. Never expecting too much of her. They spent a lot of time alone but things never progressed beyond kissing, albeit passionate. He had only touched her breast once, but she had recoiled at the sensation and he had apologised profusely for pushing her too quickly. He hadn’t done it since. She regretted that incident so much. She’d never been touched in that way before and it had taken her breath away, but she had liked it and mentally kicked herself for her immature reaction. She was an adult now, for goodness sake, but thanks to the beady eye of her mother she had never got past first base with a guy. And by definition even first base was a little iffy. She was ready to change all that now. She just needed to find a way to convince Jim.

  ~~~~~

  Friday night came around, and Flick and Polly were getting ready in Flick’s room. Polly was Flick’s best female friend at University, Jim being the obvious male candidate in that department. Polly was really sweet and quite shy too. Her long, fiery red curls cascaded down her back. She used them as a veil, too, hiding behind them most of the time.

  “Flick, can I tell you a secret?” Polly took a swig from the bottle of wine she had been glugging for Dutch courage. Flick pulled on a long tie-dyed skirt, camisole, and lace top as she listened to her friend.

  “Of course you can, Pol. I won’t tell.” Flick grabbed the bottle and took her own gulp of courage. She needed it for what she had planned.

  “Ahem…erm…I have a massive crush on someone.” She blushed beetroot red at the admission and slapped her hand over her mouth.

  “Really?” Flick was intrigued now and dropped to her knees before her friend. “Who? Tellmetellmetellmeeeee!” Flick patted her leg as if trying to slap the info out of her.

  “Matty,” she blurted. “He is so gorgeous. I love the way he swipes his hair back off his face and pushes his glasses up his nose with his finger… And his hands…oh what I’d like him to do with those hands.”

  “Polly!” Flick burst out laughing at her friend’s brazen wantonness. The two girls fell about in fits of almost hysterical laughter. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door and they froze. Their laughter ceased.

  “Oh shit! Do you think they heard?” Polly’s face drained of colour, and she slapped her hand over her mouth again, making Flick giggle uncontrollably. Matty and Jim had agreed to call for the girls at eight o’clock and it was now eight oh five. Dammit!

  “Oh dammit! Just act normal, Pol. Normal!” Flick grasped her friend’s shoulders trying not to snicker. Her friend stared back in horror.

  “Normal…yes… I can do normal.” Polly burst into hysterics again and collapsed on the bed. The girls calmed themselves down and answered the door.

  “Bloody hell, Flick, what took you so long?” Jim chuckled in reaction to the girls who were trying their best not to laugh. “What’s so funny?”

  “Oh…just a bit of girl talk.” The girls exchanged knowing looks and stifled any further giggles as best they could under the circumstances, i.e., the alcohol-induced giddiness. Matty, as Matthew had now become known, went a delightful shade of crimson at seeing Polly. His famous nervous stutter came out with a vengeance.

  “H-hi, P-Polly. You l-look l-lovely.” He gazed at the buxom red head, who just melted into his eyes.

  “So do you, Matty…just lovely.” Her giggles were gone and she turned to give Flick and Jim an enormous grin when Matty took her hand in his.

  The atmosphere at the club was buzzing when they arrived. It seemed that ninety per cent of Oxford Uni was out for the craic. The DJ played decent music, despite the club’s somewhat corny name. Jim and Flick spent most of the time on the dance floor wrapped around each other, even when the songs were fast paced.

  The end of the night came around too soon. At one in the morning, the gang of friends walked back to their dorms. Some of the group had been a little too eager with the beer and were singing rather loudly, tempting the wrath of the hierarchy without seeming to care. Stubbs and Clara were the two worst culprits. They had all the musical intonation of a pack of howling banshees.

  “Some of this lot won’t be seeing the light of day tomorrow.” Jim chuckled as he walked along with his arm around Flick. Matty and Polly had stopped and were locked in a smouldering embrace.

  “Oh, bless them. They finally got together,” Flick said, looking over her shoulder as Jim turned to see what s
he meant.

  “Aye, thank goodness for that. Maybe he’ll stop rambling on about her hair and her eyes and her lips.” Jim mimicked Matty’s posh accent and swooned, as Matty had apparently been doing.

  “Really? Oh, that’s so sweet.” Flick smiled in their direction.

  They arrived at her door and Jim kissed her deeply, exploring her mouth with his delicious tongue. “See you tomorrow then, sweetheart?” he breathed as he rested his forehead on hers.

  “Would you like to…erm…come in? For…coffee?” she stumbled over her words. Her heart rate had increased and her palms were sweating.

  “Oh…I’d love to. Could do with a cup really. Clear my head a bit. Oh and to see how you’re doing with your painting.” Jim smiled enthusiastically and followed her in. Dammit, is he dense or just plain oblivious?

  As soon as they were inside, she grasped at him, crashing her mouth into his and thrusting her tongue into his mouth.

  He pulled away from her. “Whoa, hey! Flick, what are you doing?” He gasped, grasping her shoulders, and stepped back. She stepped away too, feeling stupid and more than a little embarrassed, but somehow she summoned up a little of the courage she had felt earlier.

  “I…oh sod this…courage Felicity… Jim, I want you…naked.” She lifted her arms up in the air, not knowing why. “There I said it. If you don’t feel the same, then we have a serious problem.” Her chest heaved as adrenalin coursed through her veins and her heart tried to escape through her chest.