Sex Happens

by Carol Soloway

  “Um, that’s not the performance I’m attending.” Alex knew how much Seth loved classical music and wanted to see Carl St. Clair, the renowned conductor of the Orange County Pacific Symphony Orchestra.

  “Then who are you seeing?” he asked.

  “Kirk Franklin.”

  “Never heard of him.”

  “He’s a gospel singer.”

  “Oh, that. What else from that Luke guy?” Seth slammed his empty coffee cup on the counter and strode away.

  Shocked at his uncharacteristic display of anger, Alex followed him down the hallway, almost colliding with Rebecca.

  “I’m putting Mr. Tully in your office,” Rebecca said.

  Seth stopped, turned back to Alex, and asked, “Don’t you realize?”

  Before she could answer, Rebecca stood between them and said, “Dr. Rose, the patient’s chart is on your desk.”

  Neither Alex nor Seth moved.

  “I’m sorry.” Seth patted her shoulder. “I’ll cover for you on Friday morning.”

  “Thanks,” she said.

  She entered her office, walked to her desk, and introduced herself to Robert Tully, the first patient of the day. Before she could review his chart, there was a knock on her office door.

  “There’s a call for you,” Rebecca said.

  Since Rebecca had been instructed never to disturb her unless there was a call from the boys or her attorney, Alex tensed. “What’s wrong?”

  “It’s Barbara from some flying group,” Rebecca said. “She said it was extremely urgent.”

  Alex apologized to the patient and picked up the phone. The woman explained that the chiropractor who was scheduled to go to Clinica Jesus Maria with the Flying Samaritans that weekend had had an emergency, and the patients needed chiropractic services.

  “Count on me,” Alex said. Gabe had told her he was taking the boys on a trip this weekend; therefore, she’d be able to go. It was so important to her to devote time to the indigent villagers. She wished she could do even more.

  “Dr. Rose, thanks so much,” the woman said. “I’ll e-mail the pilot and get back to you with the particulars.”

  “Sure,” Alex agreed. She hung up the phone and turned to her patient. “Now, Mr. Tully, tell me about your back pain.” And, for the rest of the workday, she only thought about her patients and their pain.

  At four o’clock, Mr. Jamison, an attorney who referred patients to the practice, called the office requesting appointments for five clients who’d been involved in an auto accident. He wanted to send the patients over within an hour.

  Like hands on a clock crossing over each other without interfering, Alex and Seth worked in complete harmony. They consulted, examined, and x-rayed all five patients. Fitting into the perfectly choreographed triage, Alex reviewed the intake forms with each patient and performed the examinations. Seth took the x-rays and explained the results to each patient. Rebecca put the patients on the therapy beds. After the patients had therapy, Alex adjusted two of the patients and Seth adjusted the other three. Then Alex went over the home-care instructions with each patient.

  At 7:30 p.m., Alex collapsed in the waiting room chair. “Seth, you’re such a great partner,” she said appreciatively.

  “This is just like tennis because you have to depend on your partner.” He looked at her and paused, as though preparing to deliver a deep sentiment. Then he looked away. “You know, your game is as good as your partner.”

  “That’s why I play with Luke so much.”

  Suddenly, Seth appeared upset. “What do you know about this guy who just showed up at your tennis club?”

  “He’s a great tennis partner,” she said, but she could tell this was not about tennis. When she and Seth had decided to work together years ago, they’d promised they wouldn’t allow anything to interfere with their business relationship. But she’d been married then, and he’d had a girlfriend.

  “Sorry,” he said. “It’s none of my business.”

  “Seth, speaking of the business, this is the first time we’ve ever had five new patients at the same time.”

  “Let me take you out for a celebratory dinner,” he said.

  “I’m a mess after working all day.”

  “You’ve no idea how attractive you are,” he said, voice quiet.

  She smiled at him, appreciative of his compliment but certain he wasn’t professing his attraction to her. Their agreement about keeping their relationship professional and not personal was paramount. And, as honorable as Seth was in everything he did, she knew he’d never renege on a promise.

  “Let’s get out of here, but just for a quick dinner, since it’s so late,” she said.

  They put away the patients’ charts and went to El Pollo Loco. After dinner, Alex was reluctant to leave the warmth she always felt with Seth.

  CHAPTER 25

  On the day of the Kirk Franklin concert, Seth seemed unusually distracted and distant. When she reminded him about covering the practice the next morning, he snapped at her. Alex refused to allow his behavior to dampen her excitement. She finished treating her patients, thanked Seth again for covering, and left the office to prepare for the evening.

  Recalling the Bruce Springsteen concert she and Gabe had gone to last year, she grabbed her jeans and a white shirt. Then she threw her raspberry cashmere sweater over her shoulders and waited for Luke.

  A few minutes later, Luke arrived, gorgeous in a tan suit and black silk T-shirt. He kissed her and then pulled back and looked at her jeans. “My people really get decked out for these concerts.”

  “I’ll go up and change.”

  “Want me to come up with you?”

  “Wait right here or else we’ll never get to the concert.” She turned and went upstairs. She selected a floral-print dress then slipped her feet into her black high heels.

  Allowing him to take in her long sleeveless dress with tiny red roses on a black background, she slowly walked down the stairs.

  “You look perfect.” He pulled her close and embraced her.

  She moved into him, thigh against thigh, longing to feel skin on skin. “Let me get a jacket,” she said, pulling away.

  After locking the door, they walked to his truck. During the hour-long drive to Los Angeles, he told her about the last Kirk Franklin concert he’d attended and how Franklin had electrified the audience.

  “This weekend I’ll bring over some of his CDs,” he said.

  “Wait until I see if I like his music,” she said.

  “You will.” He grabbed a CD from a pile in the console. “Oh, speaking of the weekend, wanna go fishing?”

  “I’m going to Mexico on Saturday and Sunday with the Flying Samaritans.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Physicians fly to a remote Mexican village, Jesus Maria, and work on people who can’t afford medical, dental, or chiropractic care.”

  “Why go to the middle of Mexico to do that?”

  “It’s near Baja, not in the middle,” she said. “We leave here at five in the morning and get there by ten to start the clinic.”

  “Sounds like a big trip for nothing.”

  “It’s important to help the villagers,” Alex said, explaining her desire to make a difference in the world. When she’d been married to Gabe, he’d argue with her every time she’d wanted to go. He’d say it was important for hospitals to take care of the poor, but only so that doctors could practice on them before treating the real patients—the ones who paid. She hated that about Gabe and decided now she could volunteer more, especially on the weekends when she didn’t get to see the boys.

  Considering what Luke had told her about his upbringing—albeit extremely limited information and only when she asked—she’d been certain he would understand her desire to help those who were less fortunate. “Aren’t you into helping others?
” she asked.

  “Oh, I help people plenty.” He patted her hand. “You’d be amazed how thankful they are when I show them the clogs I collected from their toilets or drains.”

  “You do understand,” she said sarcastically.

  He shook his head. “Aren’t there enough poor people to help here?”

  She had to agree, but traveling to Mexico was the least she could do to contribute. She now knew he didn’t share her values. Sexually, they had synergy, but otherwise, they were worlds apart.

  “You’re going to be flat-out amazed by this concert.” He let go of her hand and turned the wheel.

  As Luke pulled into a parking spot, she stared at the continuous line of people walking toward the Gibson Amphitheatre at Universal City Walk.

  Luke laughed. “Bet you never saw so many black people in your life.”

  “No,” Alex agreed. Recalling her experience in the bathroom at Sweets, she gripped Luke’s hand, climbed out of the truck, and walked to the amphitheater.

  Exploding with a carnival’s vivacity, the amphitheater was filled to capacity. The women wore vibrant, ruffled dresses in lipstick-red, neon-blue, or sun-yellow, many adorned with rhinestones. The men strutted in suits with large shoulder pads. Little girls wore organdy dresses with bows and sashes, and little boys sported suits and ties.

  Alex and Luke squeezed through the throngs of people to their seats. She was enjoying this escape into Luke’s world, traveling far away from her own. Then she heard the first few bars of “Jesus Took Me to the River” and marveled at the distance from her Jewish roots.

  Energized, everyone jumped up, linked arms, and swayed to the music. As the lights scanned the audience, the cacophony of colors and ribbons of rhinestones glistened.

  Luke sang along softly, familiar with the words. He wrapped his arm around her. She followed his lead, moving with the music.

  Too quickly, “Hallelujah” reverberated through the amphitheater, signaling the end of the concert. Then, as though a veil had fallen over the audience, everyone became somber, reluctant to leave this foray into faith.

  On the drive back to Orange County, Luke seemed different, nostalgic. He told her, “Momma was a preacher.”

  “A woman preacher?”

  “Yep. I was the eldest of five, so I had to be at church every Sunday.”

  “Were her sermons good?” she asked, pleased he was sharing his past.

  “Guess so. Got some to go slithering down the aisles, yelling out, ‘I seen Him.’ Some kinda craziness.”

  “What’d you do?”

  “I was in the choir.” He smiled and tapped the right side of his forehead, a habit she’d come to expect on the rare occasions when he’d reveal something from his past. “Never missed a Sunday.”

  “Was your dad a preacher too?”

  Luke laughed. “He never went to her church. They’d never accept him there ’cause he was white. Besides, he was a drinker.”

  “An alcoholic? That must have been hard for you.” She wondered whether Luke could also be an alcoholic, but he seemed so removed from his roots. Or was he?

  Luke nodded. “My daddy’d hide his booze in his tool chest. He’d be drunk by early evening.”

  “I think it’s amazing any one of us survives our childhood,” Alex said, more to herself than him. He’d never asked about her childhood, and she wondered whether it was his lack of interest or respect for her privacy.

  He turned up the CD and hummed along until they arrived at her house. Helping her out of the truck, he asked, “Alex, you too tired for me to come in?”

  “No. I want you to.”

  He walked her to the front door and waited for her to hand him the key. After he opened the door, they stood at the entryway. His hand entwined with hers, he pressed his lips to her forehead. She looked up at his amber eyes and smiled. Then she got up on tiptoes and kissed his neck, sure she could taste his need. Excited by his clean, masculine scent, she pressed close and felt his heartbeat against her own.

  His fingers traced her chin, then her face, and he kissed her hungrily.

  She turned to make her way upstairs.

  He followed, caressing her buttocks. “I love the way you move in that dress.”

  She lit the vanilla candle on the dresser, softening the bedroom. Then she turned the CD to “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” a background for their dialogue without words. As he unbuttoned the front of her dress and cupped her breast, she felt herself moisten.

  He nudged her dress straps off her shoulders, and her dress fell to the floor in a soft heap near the white lounge chair. Sitting down on the lounge chair, he beckoned her onto his lap. As he embraced her, her breath quickened.

  He unfastened her bra, took her nipple between his fingertips, and whispered, “I want you.”

  “So good,” she moaned, longing for his warmth, his strength, his lust.

  “I love touching you.” His fingers lingered on her breast and then down her belly.

  “C’mon. Let’s see what I can do to you when you’re naked,” she said, easing up from his lap. She took his hand and walked across the room to the bed, her toes sinking into the plush beige carpet. As she got into bed, she thought of how she was going to make him hunger for her now, later tonight, and again in the morning. On other nights, his impending departure would give their lovemaking a sad urgency, but now they had all night.

  Slowly, he undressed, throwing his clothes on the floor. He got into bed beside her. “Touch me,” he whispered, his voice raw with desire.

  She moved her hand along his firm abdomen, and he arched his back, thrusting his erect penis at her. Her hand moved up and down his silky shaft, his erection becoming tauter with each stroke. When she fingered the head of his penis, he moaned with delight.

  His tongue teased her nipples, and he slipped his hand between her thighs and touched her with feather-soft strokes until she begged, “I need to feel you in me.”

  He mounted her, and she lifted her pelvis to him. They almost came together, but he stopped, rolled off her, and looked into her eyes. “I want to kiss every part of you,” he said and caressed her with his tongue.

  She touched his hair, his skin, and whispered his name.

  He eased away. Looking deeply into her eyes, he asked, “Would you do me a favor?”

  “If I can.” She held her breath, her gaze locked on his.

  “Alex, I’d like you to walk across the room so I can see your body.”

  She slid out of bed, stopping at the foot. She stood in front of him and trailed her fingers across her breast and then down her belly, giving him a seductive smile.

  “You’re beautiful.”

  Gabe was the only other person who’d ever called her beautiful, and she no longer trusted him. Now she trusted Luke’s lust but not his love. Illusions gone, she decided lust would do.

  “I want to keep your body fixed in my mind like I keep your smell when I’m not with you,” he said.

  “My smell?”

  “Alex, it’s on my clothes when I leave: sweet, flowery.” He smiled. “Now I want to fix a picture of you in my mind.” He stretched out his hand to her. “Come back to bed. I want you.”

  He entered her. “Give it to me,” he whispered, his breath heavy, raspy.

  Engulfed by him—his scent, his strength, his touch—she came.

  “I’d love to take you again,” he said a few minutes later.

  “Sounds like a plan,” she said, savoring the feel of him.

  He chuckled. “I’m not that young.”

  “Sleep,” she said, preparing to drift off wrapped in his arms.

  He sighed and sat up. “I’d best be going.”

  “I thought you’d spend the night.”

  “I’d love to, but my work truck’s parked at home.” He kissed her forehead.

&
nbsp; “So?” she said, pulling away. “You could get it in the morning.”

  “I’ve got to be at the office by six thirty—company rules—and I wouldn’t want to wake you.”

  “If you own the franchise, then why do the rules apply to you?”

  “A franchise owner has to keep with the rules of the parent company. If we don’t, then they won’t insure us.” He tousled her hair. “I’ve got to be on the road at six, no matter what.”

  While he retrieved his clothes from the floor, she slipped into her robe and followed him to the door. After a quick kiss, he left and she returned to her bed. Fatigue pulling at her, she thought about her Mexico trip on Saturday. Then she’d have time to think and decide whether or not Luke belonged in her life.

  CHAPTER 26

  In the semidarkness of early Saturday morning, Alex opened the front door and walked a few steps to retrieve the newspaper. She stumbled to a halt when she spotted Luke. “What’re you doing here?” she asked, wondering if he was checking up on her.

  “You said you were leaving at five.” Luke bent down to get the newspaper for her. “I’ll give you a ride.”

  “Actually, I’m fine driving,” she said.

  “Suit yourself.” He turned to walk back to his truck.

  “Wait,” she called. It would be easier if he dropped her off, and he’d already driven over. “Sure, I’ll take a ride.”

  He took her backpack, threw it in the truck, and helped her get in. “Alex, how much do you get paid for this Mexico thing?”

  “Actually, we all pay for our own hotel rooms, and the pilots donate their planes.” She didn’t think it was any of his business how she spent her money, and she definitely had some thinking to do about their relationship.

  “I just don’t get it,” he pressed.

  “I told you, ‘This is my way of giving back, doing as much as I can to help those in need.’”

  Apparently realizing this was important to her, he said, “It’s great you’re doing this.”

  She hoped he meant it. Their relationship seemed to make sense only when she projected her values, ideas, and hopes onto him. And, she had to admit, maybe it didn’t even make sense then.