Him and I

by Melody Eve

  The only time I didn’t was when he wouldn’t give me what I wanted. That says a lot. Sex with David was a chore, something required of me as his soon-to-be wife. I would go for days, weeks and not even think about it until he brought it up. There was zero chemistry with David. I’m so glad he cheated on me. I just wish he could have done it with someone other than my best friend. Come to think of it, he probably did.

  But now I’m left without a best friend, and I miss having someone to talk to. I have other friends at home, but Lynn was my oldest and closest companion. Now she’s my oldest backstabbing enemy instead.

  I slide under the water to wet my hair, wash it, condition it, and drain the water from the tub. Thirty minutes later, I’m dressed in one of my trademark long, flowing skirts and a fitted cap-sleeved white cotton shirt. My hair is dry and hanging loose around my shoulders in soft waves, and I have applied moisturizer with sunscreen to my face. A swipe of mascara and lip gloss, and I’m as ready as I can be.

  Roman has trimmed his scruffy facial hair into a close-cut beard of sorts. He was clean shaven when we met, but he’s been growing a bit of stubble off and on for over a week now. I like it. He looks rugged in a metrosexual kind of way.

  He’s dressed in jeans and a pale lavender short-sleeved button-up dress shirt that makes his golden skin look amazing. “You look handsome,” I say straightening the collar of his shirt unnecessarily.

  “Thank you. You look good enough to eat… again.” I swat at his chest and step away. “Raincheck, remember?”

  “I will be collecting that as soon as possible, believe me.” The twinkle in his eyes says he has a plan, and that makes my belly flip and then flop with anticipation.

  He takes my hand and leads me to the windows where the curtains are still closed except for the one. He opens them one by one letting the sun in to play with the crystals overhead. “Look at that view, not a better one in all of London, from this height anyway,” he says stepping aside for me to see. “You can see the River Thames and the London Eye.”

  It’s breathtaking, a sight I never imagined I would see in person in my lifetime. I’m overwhelmed with emotion, so much that I suddenly feel like crying. My eyes sting with unshed tears, and I bite my lip to distract my mind from making a fool of myself crying.

  It’s pointless, he notices and frowns taking my hand. “Hey, what’s wrong? I thought you would love this.”

  I hiccup in an attempt to contain my emotions, but they come spilling out anyway. Two giant tears tumble down my cheeks. “Thank you.”

  “For what, making you cry?”

  “For giving me this, for bringing me here, for taking care of me, all of it.” I break down and cry, and he pulls me into his chest.

  “Well, for shit’s sake, if I’d known it was going to upset you like this, I would have taken you home to Chicago.”

  I sniffle and push away. “Happy tears, you big oaf,” I say and snort again this time much more unladylike.

  “Happy tears?”

  “Yes, you know the kind you shed when something is too good to be true?”

  He stops, and his face turns very serious when he gazes at me. “Yes. I know exactly what you mean. I shed happy tears when I found you in Cancun.”

  When he found me. Not when he met me, when he found me. That choice of words strikes me as strange, but I don’t want to ruin this moment, so I keep it to myself.

  We turn to watch the beauty of London go by for a few minutes before he looks at his watch. “Shit, we need to get going. They’re going to start to worry.”

  “They? I thought we were going to see your mother.” His expression says it all. There is more to this day than I’d expected, and I am about to learn why.

  Chapter 14

  We pull off the main road and onto a long drive that leads to a house that I can only describe as a mini-mansion. It’s stone with sprawling green lawns and flower gardens for as far as the eye can see. I feel like we’re on the set of Pride and Prejudice and any moment Elizabeth Bennet will open the front door of the house and come down the drive to greet us.

  “It’s gorgeous, but I thought you said her house was small?”

  “This is small for my mother.”

  “Wow, remind me to never invite her to my apartment. I love it here, every place feels like I’m stepping into a history book.”

  He takes my hand and parks the rental car right in front of the door. “Mom loves to garden. It’s her passion.”

  “I can tell.” Around the house is a rainbow of artfully placed flower gardens with a path weaving its way through them. It’s very romantic, the perfect place for a wedding. I inwardly groan. I don’t like thinking about weddings but being with Roman has eased that discomfort significantly.

  He exits the car and opens my door for me. I step out feeling better than I have in weeks. The fresh air, beautiful surroundings, and Roman have everything to do with my mood. “You’re happy,” he says noticing my positive energy. It’s not a question but an observation.

  “I am.” I smile and take his arm.

  “I want you to look exactly like you do right now forever.”

  It’s an unrealistic notion but one I ponder anyway. Do people go through life happy and content like this? Surely, no one is happy all of the time. My life has been mostly mundane and dull until Roman came along and painted it with the colors of promise. I never knew it could be this way. I don’t think most people do, and that’s sad.

  He opens the heavy wooden front door without knocking, and we step into a spacious foyer with a giant stained-glass skylight overhead. The colors from the glass make a kaleidoscope pattern on the floor. Everywhere he takes me is more beautiful than the place before.

  “Mom,” he calls out.

  “In here, love,” she calls back from the rear of the house. “We’re back here.”

  We. I have asked him repeatedly who else will be here, but he refused to say.

  He leads me through the living room on our left to a hall that opens into a light, airy kitchen. Along the way, I counted five vases of freshly-cut flowers from her garden placed on every surface available.

  Sitting at a round table next to a bump-out window are two women, one close to my age and the other Roman’s mother. She’s stunning but looks nothing like her son. He must have gotten his looks from his father. Mrs. Forrest has blonde hair swept up in a French twist at the back of her head, skin that looks much younger than her age, and a perfect figure. She resembles an older model, and she dresses like one too.

  I don’t know a lot about fashion, but her clothes are obviously expensive, and tailor-made as are the other woman’s whose pale pink twin set and fitted designer jeans say inconspicuous upper class.

  Both women smile, and Roman hugs his mother tightly kissing her on each cheek while reaching out a hand for the other woman who I am now guessing is his sister. She looks just like him, bronze skin, dark hair, sultry gray eyes, and stunning.

  “Mom, sis, this is Aria.” He steps aside, and both women stand to embrace me one by one kissing my cheeks. I’m not used to the close-quartered greeting, and it feels awkward. Another thing that feels off is the way they stare at me as if they’ve seen me before.

  The two women exchange looks before inviting me to sit with them.

  “It’s so good to meet you, my dear. We’ve been dying to set eyes on you ever since our Roman said he had met someone,” his mother says, waving her hand at a chair for me to sit in. Her words reverberate in my mind, ever since Roman said he had met someone. It sounds so serious as if we have been dating for years, and he is only just now finally bringing me home to his native land to meet his mother.

  “Thank you for inviting me to your home. Your gardens are gorgeous.”

  “Oh, thank you, they are my pride and joy.”

  “I’m Leeza, Roman’s little sister,” Leeza says giving Roman a playful, dirty look.

  “Sorry, yes, this is Leeza, your surprise,” Roman says kissing the top of her h
ead before sitting on my other side.

  “Ooo, I’m a surprise?” she asks.

  “Yes, I thought you two would have a lot in common. Leeza loves books, too. She used to work in a bookstore. She also lives in Chicago.”

  “I like to read., and I’m from Chicago so he thought we would like each other,” Leeza says rolling her eyes. “You know that’s code for, I like this woman, and I want you to be her friend, so she won’t run for the hills when she finds out how intolerably controlling and bossy I am, right?”

  I cover my mouth and laugh. I don’t even care that she’s probably right, I like Leeza a lot already.

  She points at me and opens her eyes wide in mock surprise. “See! She already knows! You haven’t fooled her, that means she’s smart. I like you, Aria. We shall be good friends.” She leans toward me and gives me a side hug.

  Roman doesn’t laugh, he just shakes his head and turns to his mother. “So, Mom, how are you? And more importantly, when are you coming home?”

  “Oh, my poor boy, are you struggling without your mother nearby?” She pats his hand and turns to me. “He always was a mama’s boy. When we lived in New York, he would call me in the middle of the night and ask me to make him grilled cheese and soup when he was sick.”

  “Mother, that happened once, and I was delirious with fever.”

  “Maybe so, but you know you like me nearby to cater to your every whim and fancy.”

  “I like you nearby because I love you, and I worry about you. I don’t like having the Atlantic Ocean between us. Is that so hard to understand?”

  Roman’s tone is borderline whining, and I have to bite my lip to keep from laughing again. I look at Leeza, and she’s doing the same and reads my mind. We burst into giggles, and Roman throws up his hands.

  “I can see I’ve made a mistake putting you two together. And my mother doesn’t seem to be interested in my visit, so I’ll be going now. If you want to come with, Aria, I would love to take you shopping and sightseeing. If you want to stay here with these two traitors, feel free. I’ll send a car later.”

  “Roman Alexander Liam Forrest, sit down and stop acting like a child,” his mother says in that stern I just used your full name, you’d better listen or else tone.

  He sits down, and his mother stands. “Mrs. Forrest, could I trouble you for a glass of water?” I ask. I need to bring some normalcy back to this conversation, and I actually am dying of thirst.

  “Of course, dear. Please call me Julia, though. No one has called me Mrs. Forrest in years.”

  I smile. She stands scraping her chair across the tiles on the kitchen floor and clicks across the tiles to the refrigerator. She’s wearing a cornflower blue, knee-length wrap-dress and low, silver Louboutins, the only shoe brand I can identify on sight because of the red soul. She’s stunning and graceful, the perfect high-class mother.

  “How long are you two lovebirds here in London?” Leeza asks accentuating the word ‘lovebirds.’ I can feel a deep red blush creep up my neck, and for the first time since I got my sunburn, I’m grateful for it.

  “Leeza, lay off the high school references. We’re here for a week. Aria needs to get home to run her bookstore, and I’ve been gone from the bank too long as well.”

  Leeza’s bottom lip pops out in a pout. “One week? That’s not time enough for anything. I’ll hardly have time to show you around.”

  “Do you live here?” I ask.

  “Yes, Leeza, tell us, do you live here now? Because you haven’t been home to Chicago for months, and I’m still paying for your apartment.”

  She waves a dismissive hand at him looking at me. “He’s just jealous I have Mom to myself. I was planning on coming next month, and Mom’s coming with me.”

  “You are?” Roman says as Julia sets my water on the table in front of me.

  “Yes, I need a change of view for a while. I want to come back here in the fall, but I’ll stay in Chicago with you for a few months.”

  He didn’t need to fly me all the way to London to meet his family after all. They’re coming to spend the summer, but he said he didn’t bring me here for this specifically. A little story of his I’m calling bullshit on.

  “You should help Aria out at her bookstore. I hired some temporary help for her while we’re gone, but I’m sure she could use an extra pair of hands, couldn’t you, love?”

  I frown and fidget in my seat. It’s not that I don’t like the idea of Leeza working with me. It’s that he is finagling his way into my business. I told him I couldn’t afford an employee, and it’s my business. If anyone decides to hire someone, it’ll be me.

  Leeza sighs. “Don’t mind him, he has no manners, and he thinks everyone works for him. You don’t have to hire me, of course.”

  “It’s not that. I’m just not doing well enough financially right now to add someone to the payroll.” I turn my eyes on Roman. “Something only the owner of a business would know,” I say through gritted teeth.

  But he just smiles.

  “Oh, I wouldn’t think of asking for a paycheck. I’d love to help you out on a voluntary basis if you really need help. I know he can be intrusive, so don’t worry about telling me no if you don’t need the help.” She pats my hand on the table. They sure are a touchy, feely group.

  “For free?”

  “Yes. I don’t work anymore. I used to teach high school. That’s what I went to college for, but public schools are so messed up anymore. I was tired of spending my days breaking up fights and taking cell phones away from students who couldn’t care less about learning. So, I quit,” she says that like everybody has the option to up and quit a job because it’s not what they expected. She’s got the money to do it, though, so more power to her.

  “I bet you were a great teacher. Their loss is my gain, though. I’d love to have you help out when you can.”

  She makes an excited squeak and claps her hands. “What’s the name of your bookstore?”

  “Savage Books, it’s downtown on the corner…”

  “You don’t have to tell me, that’s my absolute favorite bookstore. I go in there all the time when I’m home. You have that magnificent loft upstairs for people to curl up and read in bean-bag chairs.”

  “You’ve been there? I’m the only one who works there. I can’t believe I don’t remember you.” She’s not a person easily forgotten.

  “I’ve been there many times. You were always busy working the desk, and I didn’t buy anything. I just came to read in the loft.”

  A lot of people just stopped by to hang out and read in my bookstore. It’s liken to a library, and it doesn’t bother me to have people loitering. It makes the place look full, like there is more business than there really is.

  “A lot of people do that. I like it. Some places don’t, but the more, the merrier at my bookstore.”

  “See, exactly, that’s what I think. I’m so excited. Mom, can we go back sooner? Like, when they do in a week?”

  “I don’t think I can have everything closed up here in a week, maybe two, though.”

  “It’s set! We will be back in America in two weeks, and I’ll start working with my future sister-in-law!”

  My mouth pops open, and I feel every inch of my skin break out in a cold sweat. What is with the Forrests and pushing marriage? First Roman did it repeatedly and now Leeza.

  “I think you’re getting a little ahead of yourself there, sis.”

  Thank God Roman has some sense. “I have to ask her first, and then there’s the part about the ring and asking her father for her hand…” He trails off, and I punch him in his rock-hard bicep.

  “Maybe a little time to get over my first near miss would be nice?”

  “Oh, yes, but with me, it won’t be a near miss like it was with that baseball player. It’ll be a grand slam home run that lasts beyond this lifetime. You’re going to love me into the next realm and beyond, guaranteed.”

  Love? He’s lost his mind. We haven’t spoken of love yet, we only agree
d to see one another longer than a week in the last twelve hours. I do like his idea of love, though, forever and beyond, like a Disney movie only more romantic.

  “You two leave the poor girl alone. I’m sorry, Aria. They can be a handful at times, especially when they’re together,” Julia apologizes for her children.

  “It’s fine. I’m sure Leeza had no idea I just broke it off with my fiancé. As for you, though, you know better,” I say pointing at Roman. He takes my finger in his hand and kisses the tip of it.

  “Don’t point that at me, love. We’re going to spend our lives together, you may as well get used to the idea. I’m not letting you go, no matter how much you fight. You know this is good, you know it’s right. The sooner you accept it, the happier you’ll be.”

  Everyone at the table is stone still as Roman stares at me with his smug expression waiting for me to fire back. The thing is, I don’t want to disagree anymore. I don’t want to fight it. I’ve started wanting to see if this happiness thing is as real as Roman makes it seem.

  When the silence is unbearable, Roman stands and takes my hand. “Mom, I’d stay longer, but I believe you have some packing to do and arrangements to make. Leeza, help Mom get things squared away. I’m taking Aria shopping and sightseeing. We should have dinner the four of us tomorrow night.”

  “Okay,” they both say in stunned unison. Roman’s lip twitches ever so slightly. I think I’m the only one who noticed. He’s pleased as punch that he’s just shocked the shit out of his family. I can’t decide to think of him as a bully or a romantic fool. A little bit of both, I suppose.

  “It was so nice to meet you both. I’m excited you’ll be in the states soon.”