by Vicki Keener
Angelica glanced up and met Cray's eyes. “Jeremy, how observant of you.”
Anthony, one of her brighter students said, “Love! It's a hoax perpetrated on a gullible public by the media moguls on Madison Avenue to sell us their client's products. Use XYZ deodorant and find the love of your life, brush your teeth with EFG and she won't be able to resist your dazzling smile, wash your clothes in ABC, shampoo your hair with STU on and on promising the idiots who rush out to buy the product happily ever after. It's bullshit brainwashing.”
“Anthony,” a girl named Judith said, “Did MaryAnne dump you? You've been going with her since kindergarten.”
Anthony snarled at her, “Yeah, so what? Are you volunteering to take her place.”
“We're getting off track here,” Angelica said. “Any other thoughts? Stanley?”
“Hey, if a girl is putting out and I think she wants me to tell her I love her, I do. Sometimes I even mean it in the moment.”
“That's not love, you creep,” Shirley said, “that's manipulation of the worst kind for your own immediate gratification. Love can't be explained if it's real.”
“And how do we recognize what's real?” Angelica asked.
“Miss Andersson,” Shirley said, “if love can't be explained how can I answer the question?”
“Fair point, but I want any of you to try.”
“I believe that love sneaks up on you.”
“Yeah, but you got to be open to it or you let it pass right by.”
“Love is an emotion.”
“What? Like agonizing pain, sadness, despair?” Anthony said.
“I thought more along the lines of happiness, joy, fulfillment.”
The class snickered as a whole.
“See, that's the trouble, girls are looking for love, while guys just want to get laid,” Stanley said.
“Stanley, you give love and lust a bad name,” Shirley said.
“Can't love and lust be one and the same sometimes?” Angelica asked.
“Beats me,” Stanley said, “I'm happy with lust.”
“Oh, God,” Shirley said, her tone emphasizing her disgust.
“All right class,” Angelica said, “Each of you take one of these papers as they come to you. It's a list of thirty philosophical expressions about love, some cynical, some romantic. Your task is to study the list and pick a total of ten examples, five positive and five cynical. Expound and expand on each one you choose, explaining what the author of the quotation meant and why you believe he or she said what they did at that particular time. You have two weeks to complete the assignment. Twelve pages.” The crowd groaned. “Double spaced. Make it good. This will count for thirty percent of your grade for the semester.”
The students filed out and Cray began to make his way down the stairs to the front. Anthony hung back and said to Angelica. “Miss Andersson, you may have gathered that this assignment is coming at a really bad time for me. I'm having a hard time getting through a day and the thought of writing about love might kill me. I'm trying to put it behind me, not think about it and write it.”
Cray stood back and let Anthony talk to Angelica. She said, “I agree the timing is poor, but it might be cathartic for you. I'm sorry, I can't excuse you from the assignment.”
Anthony slumped away and out the door.
Cray smiled at her, taking her hands and brushed his lips across hers. “Hi.”
“Hi,” she said, “this is a nice surprise.”
“I wanted to see my bride-to-be in her element and I enjoyed the topic.”
“They're so young, freshmen and sophomores.”
“Yes, the boys hormones are raging,” he said.
“And the girls are in love with the idea of love.”
“That one kid is suffering.”
“He's a sophomore. I had him in class last semester. He's bright. He and his girl will reconcile or he'll move on to someone else. It's a learning experience we go through so we're ready to recognize and accept the real thing.”
“Is that what happened to us?”
“Yes. We've experienced our ups and downs with the opposite sex, we're not novices at life. In an instant we recognized our mate and didn't run away. We embraced our meeting. Cray, we were both so ready when we met, but willing to wait for the right one at the right time. That's us together. It's in here and in here,” she said, placing her hand over her heart and touching her head.
“I adore you. When's your next class?”
She checked her wristwatch. “Another hour. Do you have time for a cup of coffee? Or a quickie?” She grinned at him.
“Yes. Can you find us a secure, private place where we can forgo the coffee?”
“No.”
“Oh, well, it's the thought that counts. Lead me to the coffee.”
They sat at a coffee shop near the campus where she taught and sipped the hot brew. “Cray, are you going to object if I continue to teach after we're married?”
He looked at her in surprise. “No, honey, why would I object?”
“I realize I don't need to work for financial reasons, but I do enjoy it.”
“Honey, you have your doctorate and are good at it. I wouldn't dream of asking you to stop doing what you love.”
“You keep mentioning traveling together.”
“Yes, and I want to do that with you. You're free from mid May until late August. I'll arrange my schedule around yours. We have three months each year to roam the world if that's what we want to do.”
“Can you be away for long stretches?”
“Mona is more than capable of making decisions and there's a good management team assembled. I worked because there was nothing better to do. Now there is. I love being with you and I won't be a slave to the job and sacrifice you for work. I want us to live life to the fullest. We're lucky enough to be able to afford it.”
Cray didn't consider the date of their meeting the most important, he concentrated on the day, a Friday. On the fourth Friday when they met, he arrived home with a gold bangle bracelet inscribe: I love you and Fridays. It became a ritual and every Friday brought another trinket, some expensive and some not, but all romantic and sentimental. He gave her a Lucite paperweight that said, “Every day is Friday when I'm with you”. Another time he handed her a daisy with the petals removed except for one and said to her, “I started with she loves me and ended with she loves me not. Guess what's left.”
She had the daisy preserved and encased in a rectangle of glass. He presented her with a four-leaf clover, a horseshoe and a rabbit's foot, telling he she was his lucky charm. A shiny penny minted the year they met joined her growing collection. When they were apart during the day, they sent short silly texts back and forth when time permitted. Their reunion at the end of a day apart resulted in warm embraces, conversations about the day's events and each night before they slept their bodies joined in joyous consummation of their love.
Mona gave Cray and Angelica the barest information regarding the engagement party she planned as it neared. She told them the date, the time, the place and the dress code and that's the extent of the information she imparted. Cray and Angel spent a couple of weekends in White Plains, staying with his parents, but they kept mum. They met with the pastor for counseling on those weekends and cemented the dates and plans for the wedding in May.
Gwen and Angelica met with a wedding planner and poured over menus and possible color combinations complete with flower choices for the wedding ceremony. The elder Phillips, along with Angelica and Cray compiled a guest list, comprising no more than one hundred guests and ordered the engraved invitations from the printer. Cray looked to Angel for her approval and she consented. They decided an early evening ceremony suited them in the house and afterward the guests would proceed to the grounds behind the house where a huge te
nt could accommodate everyone for a sit-down dinner in the event of inclement weather. Otherwise, the flagstone terraces would serve as the setting for the reception.
On the evening of the engagement party Angelica dressed in a bright red, lace, knee-length gown with a scoop neck and full skirt. She wore red satin sling-back, open-toed high heels and carried a matching bag. Cray dressed in a new midnight blue Armani suit with a white shirt, a red tie and a matching red square in his breast pocket. Before they left the bedroom, Cray handed her a blue velvet box from Tiffany's. She opened it and found an exquisite diamond bracelet that matched her diamond drop earrings.
Mona and Freddie arrived in a stretch limo and escorted the couple of honor to the Plaza Hotel where the partition of two ballrooms were open to accommodate the more than six hundred guests there to celebrate Cray and Angelica's engagement.
Angel gasped in awe as she entered the double ballroom. Red floor-length tablecloths graced the round tables that seated ten and white porcelain cupids adorned the center of each table surrounded by red and white roses and a multitude of lit candles. Luxurious fabric festooned the walls and ceiling to create a warm ambiance for such a large crowd. Large mirrors, placed at angles hung from strategic places, reflecting the candle glow, the sparkling diamonds worn by the women and the crystal prisms from the multitude of small chandeliers that hung over each table.
Angelica embraced Mona and with a catch in her voice said, “It's like a kaleidoscope. Mona, I've never seen anything so gorgeous, so fantastic, so marvelous. Words cannot express my gratitude.”
Cray hugged Mona and said, “I love you so much and I'm so glad you're my sister and partner in business.” Gwen approached them and Cray embraced her, Mona and Angelica. “I'm a lucky man to have three such magnificent women in my life. Thank you for making my life so much better than I deserve.”
Mona led Angelica and Cray to the front of the room. She took the microphone from the orchestra leader in one hand and a glass of champagne in the other and said, “Ladies and gentlemen before the festivities begin I want to propose a toast to two of my favorite people in the world. Cray, you've been more than a brother to me. You've been my boss, a bully and an all around pain in the ass at times,” Laughter echoed throughout the room, “ until you fell in love with Angie who has changed you to a pussy cat and I intend to take full advantage of the metamorphosis. Angie, you are the sister I always longed for and we are kindred spirits because you have a penchant for dirty jokes, the raunchier the better.”
Angelica threw her head back and her husky, bawdy, lyrical laugh rolled out of her throat and caused the guests to join her. When at last it quieted, Mona raised her glass and said, “Best wishes for a long, happy, healthy and loving life together.”
Everyone raised their glass and drank the toast. Mona said, “There's one more item of business.” She turned to face Cray and Angie, still speaking into the microphone. “Since the invitations went out to your guests, I've fielded hundreds of calls asking me about gifts. We purposely put a notation of no gifts on the invitations, but as the calls came in and the protests got louder I remembered your dream and related it to the callers.”
She reached in her clutch purse and retrieved a check. “This is a check for twenty-five thousand dollars as seed money for the Angel Foundation to begin helping children and young people in need to be used in any way you see fit.”
Angelica's hands flew to her mouth and she burst into tears. Cray embraced her with one arm as she buried her face in his shoulder and he took the microphone from Mona. His voice husky and his words hesitant, he said, “Thank you. We're overwhelmed with your kindness and generosity.”
Mona turned to the bandleader, gave a downbeat and said, “Let's party.”
The Phillips family gathered around Cray and Angelica. Angel said, “I need to repair my makeup.”
“We came prepared,” Gwen said as she and Mona accompanied Angel to the restroom. “Mona predicted you might cry. We left the necessary makeup in the restroom.”
The rest of the evening they spent dining on sumptuous food, circulating among the guests, dancing and most of all laughing as the guests, both men and women, became bolder telling Angelica dirty jokes. Angel laughed until her sides hurt. The Norwegian contingent mingled with Cray's friends and associates and the party lasted until almost dawn.
Cray and Angel didn't wake until noon the next day and after making love, showering and dressing they called Mona to invite her to their place for an early supper. She arrived and they showered her with praise for throwing the party of the century.
Chapter 14
Mona and Angel spent Saturday afternoons searching for the perfect wedding gown and bridesmaids dresses. On the third foray, Angel found the dress she fell in love with and together they found dresses in varying shades of coral for Mona and Angel's sisters. Angel called her sisters and told them to send her their bust, waist and hip measurements. She asked her sisters to also send her mother's measurements so she could buy a dress for her.
After the successful engagement party, Cray and Angelica were inundated with invitations to attend cocktail parties and dinner parties from the guests at their party. They sent their regrets to the conflicting invitations and accepted others. Cray commented that it must be her love of dirty jokes because he never received that many invitations.
“No, darling,” she said as they watched TV in their robes, “It's a couple-oriented world and since we're a couple we're being invited. I'm sure in the past when the hostess needed an extra man she invited you.”
“Otherwise I wasn't wanted. I see.” He laughed and said, “There were times I got stuck with a boring single woman. Thank God you came along.”
“Happy to oblige, sweetheart. I'm glad to be useful for something.”
He leered at her and said, “Oh, you have your uses. Allow me to show you your best use.” He lunged for her.
She laughed and backed away from him. “I make it much too easy for you. There's no mystery left. We should limit our nights of sex to two or three a week at the most. I need to play hard to get to keep you interested.”
“Did you notice me losing interest?”
“No, darling, but you could start at any time.”
He grabbed her and pulled her prone across his lap, his hand busy unfastening her robe at the waist. She laughed and tried to stop him. His hand slipped under her nightgown and stroked her mound. She arched against his hand. “Angel, you want me.” Fingers slipped between her folds.
“Yes. Here. Now.” They shrugged out of their clothes and she straddled him, impaled herself on his erection as he cupped her breasts and lifted them to his warm mouth.
They shattered in mere minutes and as she rested her head on his shoulder, she said, “We don't deny each other, Cray, we never will.”
“This is just the first time tonight. I want to worship your body with mine.”
“Yes. Let's go to bed.” In the bedroom, she flung the comforter and top sheet to the floor at the bottom of the bed. He cocked an eyebrow at her and she said, “It's your job to keep me warm.”
“It's my job to keep you hot.” They dove for each other and with their lips, tongues and hands used the entire massive king-size bed to arouse the other for more than forty minutes. Both reaching a point beyond retreat, he placed her on her elbows and knees and entered her from the back, sending her spiraling out of control. He used utmost restraint, placed her sated on the mattress gently on her back, grabbed two plump pillows, lifted her buttocks and arranged the pillows under her.
His hands started at her feet, traveled up her legs, over her mound and belly, caressed her breasts and let his body follow his hands as he took her arms, raised them above her head, bent his lips to hers and kissed her as his erection slid in her. She kept her arms above her head, her hands clasped as he devoured her mouth, pumping in and out of h
er, increasing the pace until she tore her mouth from his, cried his name and unraveled. He gave into his need and filled her with his seed, continuing to pump, his erection not subsiding.
His arm grasped her buttocks, pulling her to the side, raising her top leg over his hip, so he kept access to her core. His motion slowed to gentle strokes, her hand traced his nipple, her thumb stroking over it. He moaned, pulling her closer while her hand tangled through his hair, urging his mouth closer to hers. Their kiss escalated, he hardened in her and swung himself between her legs.
She moaned against his mouth and her hands sought his buttocks, tugging and running her fingernails over the smooth skin. He moaned and pounded harder, his chest sliding against her sensitive breasts. They didn't seek orgasm; they sought the deepest expression of love with their bodies joined. At last he rose to his elbows, gazed in her eyes and said, “I love you. I'm in love with you. I'll always love you. I'll always be in love with you. Please love me as much as I love you.”
“I do. I will. Forever.” She rose from the bed, pulled the covers up and climbed in beside him. He slept. She kissed his cheek, slipped out of bed, pulled her robe around her and went to the den to correct papers that needed to be handed back the following day.
Past midnight, Cray wandered to the den in his robe and said, “I reached for you and you weren't there. You'll be tired tomorrow. Why didn't you tell me you needed to correct papers?”
“To deny you my time is to deny me, honey. I can't do that. I won't do that.”
“How long will you be? I'm sorry I fell asleep so fast.”
She patted the seat beside her. “Hold me while I correct these last two essays.”
She cuddled in his arms, her back against his chest with her knees propped up and the essay resting on her knees. He looked over her shoulder and said, “So many red marks. Is it that bad?”
She grinned and said, “The content is okay. It's the grammar, spelling and punctuation that's so bad. These are freshmen papers, but there's no excuse for these mistakes because they're using word processing software that catches spelling mistakes and if they'd take the time they could use other software, while not perfect, catches a lot of the mistakes. I often wonder how these kids got through high school, let alone be accepted to college. I listen to them speak in class and their grammar is fine. Then they turn in papers like this and I wonder if it's laziness, lack of understanding or they just don't give a damn.”