by Nanea Knott
“The guy who helped me at the beach was nice.”
“I bet he was.” Sarcasm never failed to make Anna angry.
“If you’re going to be an asshole, I’m not going to talk to you, but for your information, he was so nice I told him I would buy him dinner.”
“And you conveniently forgot to tell him you have a boyfriend, right?” She stood up and hobbled into the kitchen while he was still talking. He followed her in there.
“Did you hear what I said?”
“No, and I don’t want to if it’s another dumbass remark. I’m not in the mood for your crap right now. I’m tired, my foot hurts, and I’m hungry. If all you want to do is pick a fight, go away. I would leave, but I’m not moving very well right now.”
“I asked if you got his number, it would be nice to take him to dinner for helping you.”
“Yes I do.” Anna sighed.
“Give it to me, I’ll call him tomorrow and find out when we can get together.” Christopher offered.
“It’s in my purse.” Anna waved over her shoulder while peering in the refrigerator.
Christopher felt like an ass. Anna was a great girl. He loved her and he knew she loved him, but they were having a rough time. He wasn’t even sure why. Anna was amazing. He could never see himself with any other woman. Why he was constantly picking at her, he couldn’t say. If he allowed himself to admit it, it was because he couldn’t stop thinking of someone else.
He dug through Anna’s purse and pulled out a piece of paper near the top of her stuff. He went into the kitchen and watched her make an omelet for dinner.
“Have you eaten?” She asked.
“Yes, when do you want to go to dinner?”
“Pick a date, I don’t care.” She was tempted to stick it to him again and remind him which one of them spent most of their time away from home. She squashed the remark. It would only make things worse. “I can go whenever the two of you are free. It has to be this week though. Next week I volunteered to help Dana decorate the hall for the Christmas Program. We have a lot to do.”
“Ok, I’ll call this guy, what’s his name, John,” he said glancing at the paper, “and we’ll see if we can get together this week. If not I’ll find out where he works and send the guy a fruit basket or something.”
“Ok.” Anna sat down at the dining room table and ate her dinner. Christopher left her in peace and felt guilty again for being such as asshole.
4
Keoni was sitting in front of his computer at home looking at the latest report his team submitted for their research. They were focusing on the local dolphin population and he was checking out the comments of the local sailors on where the dolphin pods were hanging out at this time of year. Hopefully by the end of the year they would have a better understanding of the pods and a little mystery would be revealed.
Keoni loved the ocean. He had practically grown up on the beach. He was fascinated by the sea and had been since the first time his mother took him into the water. He studied marine life at the University of Hawaii and was later hired as a research assistant while he was still a graduate student. He was now in charge of his own team of research assistants and he was thrilled. There was only one thing missing from his life, love.
He had dated a lot of women, but there was no one special. Part of the reason for that was because he was still hung up on the man he fell in love with while in college. Keoni had always chased after women until he met him. His lover left him five years ago and Keoni did his best to forget. Rescuing the woman this afternoon made the memories of the time spent with his lover come rushing back.
What triggered it was her referring to her boyfriend, Christopher. That was his name. Keoni remembered being with his Christopher. In college, they were best friends. The days they spent going places together and checking out the girls were some of the best days of his life. They prided themselves on how many girls they each managed to sleep with. Then one night, they got rip-roaring drunk and kissed each other. At first they blew it off because it was two horny, drunk guys being stupid.
The problem was neither of them could get the kiss out of their minds. They talked and decided to kiss while they were sober. Christopher was hesitant. Keoni convinced him by saying, “If nothing else, don’t you want to know what it’s like?” They kissed and it was better than Keoni thought it would be. While he was kissing him, he wanted to possess Christopher and the way Christopher was holding onto him, he obviously wanted the same. They kissed one another as if there was no air in the world except for the breath of the other man and they were desperate to have it. A few weeks later they broke up with the girls they were dating to be with each other.
Keoni was comfortable with the idea of being bi-sexual. He was raised to believe pleasure was possible with both sexes and there was no reason to be ashamed of any of it. As long as he was good to his partners and they were good to him, whatever gender they happened to be didn’t matter. Of course, he knew some people didn’t have the same beliefs he and his family did. He didn’t care. It was more important to be happy. He believed the one who filled his heart should fill his bed.
Christopher fought with his upbringing. He should want a woman not a man, but for Keoni he made an exception. They laughed, they loved, and Keoni’s heart was full. It shattered when Christopher said he had to go back to the mainland. Since then, Keoni worked and dated and waited for the person who would make him feel the way Christopher once had.
5
After Anna was done eating, she cleaned up and then sat on the couch to watch TV. She was tired but didn’t feel like going to bed yet. Her mind was racing with thoughts of John. He was so kind to her this afternoon. He was sweet and did his best to make sure she was comfortable. John was very much like Christopher used to be. She missed that. Christopher used to be attentive, charming, and smoking hot. Now he was touchy, and always grumbling.
The last time they had sex was two months ago. She missed him, but she was so angry at him. The thought of him touching her irritated her. She was so frustrated she was flustered. She finally gave up sitting there and went to bed. Luckily, Christopher was asleep. All she had to do was slip into bed and hopefully when she woke up in the morning, he would be gone.
The next morning, Christopher left before Anna got up. She was glad. Her foot had been aching all night and she woke up cranky. As he was always spoiling for a fight, it would have been a bad combination. She made a couple of pieces of toast and a banana for breakfast and then stared out the open kitchen window. She was watching the breeze move through the leaves on the trees. Normally whatever was on the counter light enough for the breeze to take to the floor was history. She saw something blow off and fall to the floor. She bent over to pick it up, it was John’s number.
“How did he expect to call him without the number?” Anna grumbled. “I’ll just call him myself.” She put the paper back in her purse reminding herself to call him today and set a date. If Christopher could make it, fine, if not, too bad, she was going to meet up with John anyway.
She took a shower and called the doctor's office and was lucky enough to get an appointment for this morning. She pulled her long dark hair back into a ponytail and swiped on some mascara. She got dressed in shorts and a top and drove herself to the doctor.
When she arrived for her appointment, she stopped being cranky. The decorations and the artificial tree lit up in the corner of the room made her feel the holiday spirit. It was Christmas. It was still weird to be wearing shorts in December, but Anna was enjoying it. She smiled at the receptionist who was a petite woman with tan skin. Her long dark hair was piled up on her head with a flower tucked over her left ear. The woman got her checked in and invited her to sit. While she waited, Anna admired all the shiny gold garland and red ribbon draped across the office. Anna thought the person who did the decorating must love Christmas, it made her smile.
The doctor’s visit went well, Anna didn’t need stitches. A
ll she needed was a topical antibiotic for a few days. He said it might scar, but since it was on the bottom of her foot, she didn’t care. She waited in the lobby for her prescription. The receptionist smiled and waved at her to come up to the desk when it was ready.
“Here you go Ms. Simon. I hope you feel better, Mele Kalikimaka.”
“Thank you and Mele…”
“Me-le Ka-li-ki-ma-ka, it means Merry Christmas in Hawaiian.”
“Me-le Ka-li-ki-ma-ka, got it.” She smiled back at the happy receptionist and left the office. She heard the Hawaiian phrase last year, but she never really paid attention to it. She liked the way it sounded. She drove back to the house, got something cold to drink, propped her foot up on the coffee table and called John’s number.
“Hello?” A woman answered.
“May I speak to John, please? Anna was surprised to hear a woman’s voice. John said he didn’t have a girlfriend.
“Sure, hold on, he was here a minute ago,” Anna heard the woman call into the background, “Keoni, there’s a call for you.”
“I’ll take it in my office.” A male answered. Anna wasn’t sure the woman had heard her correctly, Anna asked for John, not Keoni. Anna briefly heard music then John’s voice came on the line.
“Hi, is this John?” Anna confirmed.
“This is he, how can I help you?”
“I’m sorry I’m confused. Is this the same John who pulled the glass out of my foot yesterday?”
“Yes, hi Anna, how are you?”
“Doctor says I'll be fine, you did a good job, thanks again.”
“No problem.” Keoni knew they were making small talk, but he didn’t care. Her voice was a soft caress to his senses and he wanted it to last as long as possible.
“When I called, I asked for John, but the woman called you by another name. I don’t understand.” Keoni explained why he had given her his translated name instead of his real one.
“Which would you prefer I call you?”
“My name is Keoni.”
“Keoni it is. I’m calling because I promised you dinner.” He liked the way she said his name. He wished he could hear it while she was underneath him. He shook his head to clear the thought.
“You really don’t need to do that.” He said trying to put her off. He had been making himself crazy hoping she would call and hoping she wouldn’t.
“I know, but I want to thank you for helping me. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do when you swooped in and saved me. I want to show my appreciation.”
“Fair enough, when do you guys want to get together?” It was obvious she wasn’t going to let it go.
“Are you available this week? We’re having a Christmas program at the school and all my nights next week are booked.”
“We could do it tonight if you want. Why don’t you check with your boyfriend and let me know?”
“No need, if you can make it tonight, we’ll do it tonight. Do you have any suggestions for a good restaurant?” Keoni was surprised at Anna’s quick dismissal of her boyfriend, but he wanted to see her again.
“I’m in Waimanalo, which is down the road from where we met at Makapuu.”
“I live in Kaimuki, but I can drive anywhere.”
“There are a couple of good ones in Hawaii Kai. Do you know where that is?”
“Yes, I do. Tell me where you want to go and I’ll make a reservation.” Keoni picked a restaurant he knew was good, but not too expensive, and agreed to meet her there at 7:30. He was going to ask after her boyfriend again, but didn’t. Maybe things weren’t going as well with them as he first thought. He was going to pry tonight and find out what he could.
Anna straightened the house after she got off the phone with him. She stopped cleaning because she didn’t want to look tired later on. She finished up then took a nap. She woke up still excited to see him. She was getting ready to meet Keoni when Christopher sent a text message saying he would not be home until late. Anna thought it was just as well because she didn’t want to fight with him today. She didn’t bother to text him back to tell him she was having dinner with Keoni. She thought she should feel guilt over going without him, but she didn’t.
When she got to the restaurant, she waited at the front door for Keoni. She couldn’t remember if she told him her last name and she didn’t want to sit at the table then risk missing him. The restaurant wasn’t hard to find with her GPS. She relied on it a lot. She still wasn’t familiar with most of the island. She and Christopher starting working almost from the moment they landed. They did a lot of things on the weekend in the beginning. Nowadays, she spent the weekend alone at the beach or at the mall, window shopping. What Christopher did with his time, she had no idea.
6
While Anna was standing in the restaurant waiting for Keoni, Christopher was in his car driving around near Sandy Beach. He was headed for Waimanalo. Since Anna told him she cut her foot at Makapuu, the area had been on his mind. He loved the Windward side of the island. He lived there after he graduated and taught as a sub in some of the schools near there. He visited some of the teachers he knew from those schools when he got back, but he avoided Makapuu. He avoided it because it held too many memories for him. What was she doing out there anyway? He knew Anna normally went to Ala Moana to go to the beach. She wouldn’t drive all the way out to Makapuu to swim.
Anna was probably wondering what the hell he was doing with himself when he wasn’t home. What he was doing was torturing himself. Memories of his old lover were haunting him. He went to all the places he used to go with him. He spent a lot of afternoons at Makapuu with Keoni.
Christopher was doing ok until a few months ago when he ran into Zachary Roberts. Roberts was a prick in school and nothing much had changed. After Christopher had introduced him to Anna, Zachary started talking about a party where he walked into a room and found Christopher and Keoni kissing. Christopher cut him off and sent Anna to do something.
He never told Anna he had been in a relationship with a man. He didn’t know how she would react. She was very accepting of other people’s sexual orientation, but to find out your boyfriend of three years isn’t 100% hetero might be a different story. He didn’t tell her because he didn't see the point. There would never be another man. He also didn’t want to risk losing her. He shook his head, if he kept fighting with her, he was going to lose her anyway.
He loved her, but he wasn’t over Keoni, maybe he would never be. It wouldn't be fair to her. He knew Anna was probably getting ready to leave him. He couldn’t blame her. He needed to apologize to her and tell her everything. If she left him, it was nothing less than he deserved.
Christopher kept driving past Makapuu and into Waimanalo. It was after sunset, but it was still light enough to see. He was going to drive past Keoni’s home to try to catch a glimpse of him, but he felt stupid. What if he doesn’t live there anymore? He would drive by anyway. If he only saw one of Keoni’s relatives, it would be worth it. His whole family accepted the relationship. They all knew he and Keoni were more than just friends. They welcomed him into their family without reservation.
He turned onto the street and slowed down. He wasn’t surprised he remembered where it was. He had driven here hundreds of times. He told himself he was going to drive straight past the house once then go home.
He remembered some of the times he picked Keoni up at the house. When they began dating, their relationship developed slowly. Keoni used to tease him saying dating him was like romancing his very first girlfriend. Just like her, he had to convince Christopher to kiss him often. Then they moved on to touching then finally oral sex. Once Christopher allowed Keoni to take down his zipper and pleasure him, all bets were off.
He was nervous when it came time to reciprocate, but once he saw Keoni's face while his lips were wrapped around Keoni's cock, Christopher was hooked. They engaged in oral sex, frequently after that. Just the thought of Keoni touching his penis could make him rock
hard. Once they were willing to go down on each other, the fun really began. There were times after Christopher picked Keoni up to go somewhere at night, Keoni would remove the shoulder strap of his seat belt and do things to Christopher that would make him crazy with lust.
The first time he saw Keoni wriggle out of the shoulder strap, he was concerned for his safety and told him to put it back on.
“What if we get into an accident?”
“I hope not because I will have your dick in my mouth when we do. Unless you want to risk getting bitten, you will keep your eyes on the road.” Then Keoni rubbed the front of Christopher’s pants making him harder with each stroke.
“You want to do this now?” Christopher’s voice held a hint of panic. He also remembered being excited, thrilled, and embarrassed all at the same time. Keoni could make him feel so many things at once. Keoni made him feel alive.
“Right now, I want to suck your cock while you’re driving. If you don’t think you can keep control of the car, pull over.” Keoni pulled down Christopher’s zipper and reached in. Christopher’s eager cock bounced out of his boxers. Keoni slowly ran his tongue over the thick head. His warm wet mouth immersed Christopher in a haze of pleasure with his slow and tortuous movements. Keoni leisurely sucked on him then slowly engulfed more of Christopher’s cock at a steady pace. He slid down then back up and down again taking more and more inside him each time. Keoni’s hand gripped firmly at the base of Christopher’s cock, while the other worked his balls. Keoni’s mouth, tongue, and teeth had Christopher gasping for breath.
Christopher thought he was going to explode. Keoni’s mouth made him desperate to come. He moaned and Keoni only sucked him harder. Finally, Christopher pulled over. It was too much.
Keoni sucked even harder then, taking as much of Christopher’s cock in his mouth as he could while stroking what he couldn’t swallow with his other hand. Christopher came screaming and Keoni swallowed. Seconds passed and Christopher kept coming and Keoni took every drop. When Christopher could breathe again, Keoni gave his cock one last lick and then tucked Christopher back into his pants smiling with satisfaction.