by Jesse Reiss
Chapter 28
After helping her mom into bed, Angelina returned upstairs to find Lee had gone to his room, leaving Neil alone in front of the TV. Her heart sped up a little and she felt her cheeks flush. He had seen her come back up the stairs so there was no turning around, which was her first instinct. She went over to the couch and sat down next to him, nervously taking another sip from her wine.
“You went to games with your dad, eh?” Neil was clearly impressed by this.
“Yeah. We’d go to Lakers, Dodgers and USC football.”
He cringed. “USC? Why not UCLA?”
“I’m not a USC fan, please. My Dad happened to do his med school with USC and had connections to get cheap tickets. I think inside he was a UCLA fan.”
“Good! That’s more like it.”
“Whatever! You only say that because you’re going to UCLA.”
“Well, you’re going to college next year aren’t you?”
“Yeah, kind of nervous about it. Probably major in anthropology, but I’m worried I’ll get bored with it and want to do something else like fashion design or marketing.”
A roar from the crowd on TV caused them to turn their attention to it to see several Cardinals in red running around the bases and leaping into their teammates’ exuberant arms at home plate. “Predicable end to a Dodger game,” Neil lamented and hit the mute button. “Have you decided where you’re going to go?”
“Not fully,” she said, not wanting to tell him she planned to go to Stanford.
Slow motion highlights replayed on the screen, holding their attention for a moment.
“Why don’t you come to UCLA?”
She felt a tingling sensation over her body. What did he mean by that? “I don’t know anyone there. I’d feel so lost. It’s such a huge place.”
“I think I know someone who could show you around,” he said seriously, looking directly at her.
She nodded and pretended like she was thinking about it, her stomach doing back flips. “Would this person be willing to go the extra mile to make sure I was getting through my classes and not falling on my head and all that?”
“I think so. He’s very dependable.”
Her heart was pounding. She squeezed her hands between her legs to hide the fact that they were shaking. “And this person wouldn’t have someone else who he was showing around and helping? Like some other girl?”
He looked deeper into her green eyes, like he could see every thought she was having. “No, he wouldn’t. I think he’s been looking for someone like you for some time.”
“He has?”
He leaned forward and Angelina closed her eyes. Their lips locked in a gentle kiss that lasted for a second.
When he opened his eyes and looked at her, a tear was running down her cheek.
“What’s wrong?” he asked quietly, surprised.
“I’m happy, that’s all,” she said, wiping the tear away and smiling. “It has been a really crazy week and you being in it I feel has been the only reason I’m able to keep my head above water.”
“If you need some time to settle down further, that’s — ”
“No. I need to stop crying for once.” She leaned forward and kissed him long and hard. He ran his hands over her back and behind her neck. Their tongues touched and a blissful sensation went down her spine, making her body quiver. She pulled back and smiled, entwining his warm fingers between hers.
Neil took in how stunningly beautiful she was. Gone was the perpetual scowl and fear that she had been carrying around. They were replaced with a radiant smile and clear green eyes that drew him in and made him want to never turn away. “Tell me more about yourself,” he said.
She giggled and wiped her cheeks again. “I guess we hardly know each other. I mean it feels like we do, but in reality we don’t. Well, let’s see, Skittles make me thirsty; I can wiggle my ears; I’m right handed, but kick with my left foot; I don’t like fruit in my yogurt and romance books are the only times where I don’t read the last chapter first. Umm…what else? I hate the taste of popcorn and Oreo cookies are so gross they should be banned as a food substance.”
Neil laughed and kissed her lightly. “That’s good. What else?”
“Uh, okay, I hate horror movies, but enjoy thrillers and mysteries only if I have someone to cling onto. I had a permit, but lost it when my last boyfriend made me drive him home after he broke his foot playing football. I think I look ugly in every photo taken of me. Somehow I suffered through a photo shoot for Delia’s catalog last year to make some extra money to go snowboarding with a friend. I’ve never traveled outside California, but could tell you a thousand things about Italy, which is where I’m going on my honeymoon and I hate boys who act like they are God’s gift to women.”
“Wow!”
“And you?”
“Uh…gee…where would I start?” Neil pondered. “There is so much I could say and I feel like telling you everything, but I’m afraid I’d bore you.” He scrunched his eyebrow, trying to figure out where to begin. “You see, this the big difference between guys and girls. You have your emotions, feelings, likes and dislikes so analyzed, cataloged and discussed it comes natural to you to talk about them. We guys have to figure it all out on the fly.”
She laughed. “I’ll help you. Start by telling me your birthday and I’ll tell you mine.”
So it went for an hour, Angelina prompting him with questions and in between kisses Neil would go off on a tangent explaining his early childhood, his adoption, his love of sports and physics, his addiction to alternative rock and why it was the meds and not the depression which caused him to break up with his last girlfriend.
When her wine glass was empty, Angelina heeded her mother’s word to not drink too much. When she went to place the glass on the kitchen counter, Neil changed the channel on the TV and returned the volume.
A news show host was interviewing a supposed avian expert who was going on about the unlikelihood of an owl coming to the defense of anything except its nest.
He changed the channel.
A psychologist was discussing the trauma that sets in for kidnapping victims and their families and the mental reasons behind why attackers seek to come after their victims and their families even after the crime has been committed.
He changed the channel.
David Letterman had an attractive girl dressed as a park ranger before him with a Long-Eared Owl perched on a leather gauntlet over her arm. Letterman flirted with the girl, pretending to be fascinated with the bird. The camera zoomed in on the talons as the woman described how they hunt their prey.
“Oh…my God…,” Angelina exclaimed quietly, sinking back into his arms. “This isn’t what I expected.”
Neil turned the TV off. “I guess does that mean I am officially dating a celebrity?”
She laughed and kissed him again, feeling secure in his embrace. Their lips locked as the two slowly leaned over on the couch to where she was lying on top of him. She giggled and opened her eyes, looking at him, but he was looking down her shirt. She felt some other eyes on her and looked over to see a perplexed Tammy staring at them from behind the coffee table with her ears half cocked. She stood up slowly, straightened her clothes and sighed deeply. “I think it’s best we all get to sleep. I’m exhausted and starting to feel like I’m going into overwhelm.”
Holding her hand, he walked her down the stairs and outside the guest room he gave her a long kiss goodnight, feeling her breasts pushed up against his chest again. He longed for more, but knew it was best to take things slowly with her.
Angelina crept into the room and grabbed her toothbrush and towel. She went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash off her make-up. When she returned she quietly undressed and donned her nightgown. She slipped into bed without making a sound and lay there quietly hoping she hadn’t awoken her mother.
Paula didn’t open her eyes, but she spoke. “Who won the game?”
“Cardinals.”
&nb
sp; “I though the Dodgers were winning?”
“Yeah, but they pitched to Freese in the bottom of the ninth.”
“Oh, I see.” There was a long pause. “Did you kiss him?”
There was an even longer pause from Angelina and a giggle, “Yeah.”
“I see. He’s a great guy. You’ll want to hang onto this one.”
“I know,” she replied wistfully.
“Does he know my rules?”
“Mom!” she hissed.
“Well — does he know them?”
“You mean that stupid cliché, ‘overrun second base and you’ll get in a legal case’?”
“That’s the one.”
“No! I’m not going to tell him your rules on the first day.”
“Okay, I’ll tell him tomorrow for you.”
Angelina shot up. “No, you will not! Mom! That is so embarrassing!”
“Okay, I’ll tell Lee and he can tell him.”
She lay back down. “Fine.”
Angelina lay there in the dark with her eyes open, unable to fall asleep though she had been up since four am. Images of the day swirled through her head. She tried to think about all that was going on in her life from the media, the coins, the tree, the fire and each trail of thought wound back to Neil. She couldn’t get him out of her mind and it didn’t bother her in the slightest. She began to list in her head the positive things about him from his good looks, to his athleticism, to his cool dad, to his smarts and to the fact that she felt safe and at ease around him.
“Is he a good kisser?” Paula asked, seeming to pick up on Angelina’s thoughts.
Angelina sighed and dreamily answered, “Yeah.”
Paula giggled to herself. “Goodnight, honey.”
“Goodnight, Mom.”