It's love

by K. C. Harper

  “Well, I guess I’m going with the cantaloupe,” she said, dropping it in her cart. “Would you like to come over sometime and have some of my cantaloupe?”

  I almost dropped the peppers I was holding when she said that. “What a skank!” I said to myself. “Sure TJ, why not have some of her cantaloupe? This girl is no better than a hooker,” I thought.

  “As tempting as cantaloupe is, I am pretty sure I’m busy this week and I don’t know where I’ll be next week,” he said, as she shifted closer almost pressing herself on his chest.

  “Oh that’s a shame, but maybe when you’re free.”

  He didn’t look down he just kept staring ahead clearly looking uncomfortable now. As he walked away, a small part of me felt a relief when he didn’t turn back to get a glance at her.I tried to look like I hadn’t noticed them. Pretending like I was too busy picking out fruit, but ended up knocking down a basket of Kiwi in front of me. “Dammit! Of all the days to be clumsy!” I thought, as Kiwi rolled in all directions.

  “You know, Danielle, if you are going to listen to other people’s conversations you should really look at your surroundings so you don’t get caught by running into Kiwi baskets.”

  He must have seen me watching them because he wasn’t buying my act of trying to pick out fruit.

  “I…I was not listening to your conversation with Barbie over there. I just happened to run into this stupid basket, which by the way, is in the middle of the aisle.”

  He raised an eyebrow as he looked over at the basket on the floor and back at me. “Oh I see, so you’re clumsy then?”

  “What? No, I am not clumsy. You know what? You are frustrating.” I had to get away from him. I left him standing in the middle of the grocery store with Kiwi fruit all around him.

  “Hey, are you just going to leave these here?”

  I turned around looked at him with the same smirk he was giving me. “Why don’t you get Barbie to come pick them up for you? That way you can enjoy the view of her other overpriced body parts.”

  He stood there with both hands on his hips shaking his head before he bent down to pick up the Kiwi and put it all back.

  Three

  I sat in my office at school, looking at my desk, trying not to think of the last time I saw TJ. I had to keep myself busy, so I met with the principle, some of the teachers, and a few students that were having trouble adjusting to their first week of high school. It was five o’clock before I knew it, and it had been a long day. I was ready to get home, put on my comfy pajamas, have something to eat and sit in front of the TV to watch American Idol. I was too tired to cook, so I had some fruit and today’s lunch leftovers. I looked around my apartment as I sat on the couch, finally relaxing. When my phone rang I hesitated to pick it up but did anyway.

  “Hello, Danni, its mom. How was work?” I could tell she was upset about something.

  “Good mom, everything is good. Are you alright?” She hesitated for a second.

  “Danni, I was wondering, if it’s not too late, could you run over here real quick and help me with something?”

  My night of relaxing was over, I knew it. “Mom, it’s already eight. I just sat down to watch American Idol. Can’t this wait until tomorrow?” I threw myself back on the sofa. What I had really wanted was to sit in front of the TV until I passed out.

  “Honey, you know I wouldn’t ask you to help me if it wasn’t important. It’s just that Mrs. Lowery just lost her job and her husband needs some new suits. I thought some of your father’s old suits might fit him. I just didn’t want to have to go through them alone. That’s all.”

  I stayed quiet for a second and felt like the worst daughter ever for making her have to do this alone. “Alright, mom, give me a few minutes and I’ll be right there. I hung up and sat for a few more moments on the couch; then I got up, grabbed my keys and purse. It took me ten minutes to get to her house. I walked in and found her waiting for me in the living room. “Mom, are you sure you are ready for this? Are you ready to get rid of dad’s clothes?”

  She hesitated for a second, letting out a deep breath. “I think it’s time, honey, he isn’t coming back. It’s time for me to let him go and move on, but I wanted you here with me. It makes it a little easier having you here.”

  I knew she missed my dad, I could see it on her face. I missed him too, every day.

  “Ok mom, let’s do this, but we are turning the TV on and watching American Idol while we do it. ” We both laughed and made our way upstairs to get the task out of the way. It took us about two hours with all the tears, and American Idol, to go through all of my dad’s clothes. My mom picked out most of the suits to give to Mrs. Lowery, the rest she was going to donate to Goodwill for someone who could use them. It was almost ten thirty when I looked at the clock. I was really ready to get home and go to bed.

  “Drive safe, Danni. Call me when you get home so I know you made it ok.”

  I locked the door behind me as I said goodbye to her. I was walking toward the car when I heard a laugh coming from the bushes. I looked over, TJ was unloading something from his car and he looked at me.

  “You know Danielle, I have to say I really like the pajama look on you. Especially those bunny slippers.” He had the same smirk on his face, like the day in the grocery store.

  I stopped in my tracks, mortified. I had forgotten I was even wearing these damn slippers. I was glad it was dark outside because I was sure I was beet red from embarrassment. “Thanks, TJ. You are always so sweet.” I kept walking to my car just to get out of there when he came walking over toward me. “Oh shit”, I thought to myself. Of all days, I had to be wearing bunny slippers, a tank top, and grey boxer shorts. I even think that the boxers belonged to my old boyfriend from college.

  “So, how did it go with the ice cream?” He said in a husky voice.

  “What? Oh, yeah. It was fine. I haven’t had any yet. I’ve been busy.”

  He just looked at me nodding his head. He looked at me from head to toe, a trace of a smile sliding across his face. “You know I think this is the best I’ve seen you look since–– well, ever.” His eyes moved down my body again. “This look suits you Danielle. Have you been working on… what is it that you called it the other night something?”

  I slapped him in the arm and thought, “I’d like to show him just how to do that something right.”

  “You are such a pig, you know that? And, no, I have not. I have been busy. And besides, I don’t just sleep with anyone. I am not seeing anyone right now.”

  His smile faded quickly as he reached for my arm.

  “I’m sorry, Danielle. I wasn’t implying that you sleep around, I didn’t mean it that way. I really am sorry. That was a jerk thing of me to say.” He was no longer grinning, he looked truly sorry for the words he said.

  “Don’t worry about it, TJ.” I was ready to get out of there before he made another comment about my choice of sleepwear.

  “Danielle, I really am sorry. I don’t know why I said that. It’s just hard to think around you, and stuff just comes out before I have time to think about it.”

  He didn’t seem like he had trouble thinking about my sex life since he brought it up all the time. “Why is it hard for you to think when you’re around me?” I asked.

  He stared at me for a second, putting his hands into his pockets. “I don’t know. You just… Just sometimes you…you make me nervous. That’s all, it’s no big deal. Forget it…forget I said anything.”

  We stood around for a few more seconds in awkward silence until I finally decided it was late and I had to go. “I guess I should go. It was nice talking to you again TJ, Goodnight.”

  He turned to walk away. I went to open my car door, and heard him walk up behind me. He grabbed my wrist, spun me around, pushed my back against the car door, and kissed me. It wasn’t just a kiss, it was the best kiss I had ever had. With his body, he pinned me to the door, he had one hand on my wrist, the other holding the back of my neck, fingers in my ha
ir. He kissed me as if it was something he had been waiting to do his whole life. We went on like that for what seemed to be forever until we finally broke apart. He looked at me, breathing heavily, his lips wet. Then he placed both hands on either side of me on the car.

  “So, am I still frustrating you?” He said in a lower raspy whisper.

  I moved from frustrated to full blown desire. All I could do was smile. He leaned in and kissed me again. This time pulling me in closer, his hands going down my back as my arms went around his neck. Just then my cell phone started ringing. I could tell it was my mom by the ring tone, so I grabbed the phone to answer it thinking,

  “What perfect timing.”

  “Yes, mom.” It was hard to talk to my mom with him so close. He didn’t move back or let go of me. He was driving me crazy with his lips. Kissing my neck and nibbling the skin behind my ear as his hands ran down my arm. I leaned my head back giving him better access and felt my knees start to wobble as he gently nipped my ear. I held back a moan as he sucked the lobe into his mouth.

  “Sweetheart, are you ok? It’s been a while since you said you were leaving and you haven’t called yet.” She was concerned and starting to worry.

  I had completely forgotten that I told her I would call her when I got home. And right now the only thing I could think of was TJ’s lips moving down my neck, to my throat, kissing me. “I know, mom. I’m sorry everything is… fine…I’m fine.”

  “Did you make it home alright?”

  I wasn’t sure how to explain this to her. I couldn’t tell her TJ was busy kissing my neck and feeling his way down my body. “No I’m not home yet, I’m still here. I stopped to talk to TJ for a while, but I was just leaving.” He stepped in closer to me , putting his hand on my ass and squeezing it, pulling me closer to him, making me gasp.

  “Oh! Well, that’s great, Danni. Just call me when you get home.”

  TJ was looking at me with a sexy grin on his face. I could tell by the grin he was enjoying seeing me have to explain to my mom why I wasn’t home yet.

  “So, you’re supposed to be home huh? Is it past your curfew?”

  This man could be so frustrating and so sexy at the same time. It was hard to even be annoyed with him.

  “Shut up, TJ! She just worries.” My knees were still weak from his kisses.

  He pushed a strand of hair away from my eyes, letting his fingers linger on my skin. “I’m just joking, Danielle. It’s good that she cares. It means she loves you.”

  I couldn’t help but looking at his eyes with him being this close. They were the most beautiful hazel color. I could get lost in his eyes alone. “It’s late, I really should be going home.”

  He pushed himself off the car and backed up giving me room to open the door. I got in the car , closed the door and watched him walk back to his house. He was half way there as I was pulling out of the driveway. Suddenly he turned back around, walking back to my car. I stopped and rolled down the window. He leaned down, grabbed my face and kissed me again. I was glad I was sitting down because after a kiss like that , I knew my knees wouldn’t have held me up. “Danielle, go out with me tomorrow, for dinner?”

  I looked at him still feeling the effects from his kiss. “Like a date?”

  He nodded as he waited for my answer.

  “Ok. I would like that.”

  “You would?” He looked surprised, as if he expected me to say no.

  “Yes, you can pick me up at six. That gives me some time to get home and change. I’m sure my mom told you where I live, right?” My mom had probably told TJ just about everything about me, even that I hadn’t had a serious relationship since Mike.

  He nodded and I couldn’t help but look at his lips. They were perfect kissable lips.

  “Ok, I’ll see you tomorrow then, at six.”

  As I drove home, I kept thinking about TJ and his kiss. He just about kissed the panties off of me, with the way his lips moved down my neck. I couldn’t believe this was the same boy that lived next door. I hadn’t expected to be this affected by him.

  Four

  No one had ever kissed me like that. No one ever made me feel the way he did when he kissed me. I thought about TJ all day at work and just about every minute up until our date.

  ***

  It was five already. I decided on wearing a pink floral sundress that I bought at The Gap. It was short with thin straps, but it was not short enough to make me look like Barbie from the supermarket. I left my hair down and curled the ends a little, put on some earrings and applied very little makeup; just eye shadow and lip gloss with a light brown eye liner. It was perfect for going out at night somewhere casual. I looked through my closet for a pair of shoes, finally deciding on wedge sandals. There was a knock on the door and I could feel the butterflies in my stomach fluttering, as I made my way to answer it.

  “Wow, Danielle! You look…” He stood there with his mouth open staring at me with a smile on his face.

  “Thank you. You look nice yourself,” I said, as I checked him out.

  He was wearing dark blue jeans, which were faded in some spots, a black long sleeve shirt and black boots. He looked like he had just stepped out of a magazine modeling men’s clothing. “I’ll just grab my things and we can go.” I could feel his eyes on me while I got my purse and jacket. “So, where are we going?” I asked, as we walked to his car.

  “It’s a surprise. You will see when we get there,” he said, as he opened my car door.

  I smiled and sat back in the seat as we drove off wondering what he had planned. “Seriously, where are we going? I hate not knowing.”

  “I knew you would be curious, just not this much.”

  “You are not taking me somewhere to kill me are you?” I was grinning, knowing he would never hurt me.

  He looked over at me with a smirk on his face. “Of course not. I wouldn’t have put on my best clothes to kill someone, but don’t worry I have no intentions of hurting you.”

  “You’re real funny, TJ.”

  We finally made it to the restaurant. There weren’t a lot of people, making it quiet. We had the place pretty much to ourselves. I slid into the booth as he sat down across from me.

  “Danielle,” he said while taking my hand. “Killing you is the last thing I would ever do to you. You are the one killing me, with the way you look in that dress.”

  I looked away to hide the embarrassment on my face. I could feel my cheeks turning red. It only took a few minutes for the waiter to come around to take our order.

  “So, how long are you going to be in town? When are you going back to LA.?” I was secretly hoping it wasn’t any time soon.

  He looked at me as if he had to think about that question. “I’m not sure yet. I still have to decide what to do with the house; if I should keep it or sell it.”

  I didn’t want to think about him leaving just yet. “Well, I’m sure you’re ready to get back to your regular life. Being back here must be a change for you. It’s so quiet and slow paced; nothing like LA.”

  He looked at me again before he told me about his plans on going back home. “I moved back to North Carolina after my mom passed away. I was eighteen.”

  My mouth almost fell open at the thought of him being back in North Carolina all this time without my knowledge. “Oh I…uh…didn’t know you had moved back here. Why did you come back? Why didn’t you ever come around?” I couldn’t believe he moved back and never came around. I knew we didn’t speak much in high school, but a little part of me still missed having him around.

  “I don’t know, I didn’t think my dad would care if I came back and… there wasn’t really anything calling me back to Mooresville.” His tone was no longer playful. I felt a twinge of disappointment when he said that. I tried to ignore the ache in my chest.

  “So where have you been living? What part of North Carolina have you been living in?”

  His eyes met mine for a second before he looked away. “In Charlotte, I have loft apartment upsta
irs above my office.”

  That made me think of him when he was younger sitting on the porch always building things with the metal scraps. “Do you still build those metal robot things?”

  He looked up at me with a frown on his face. “No, I don’t build those anymore. I build robots for hospitals that work in the operating room and assist doctors with surgeries.”

  “Wow, TJ, that’s amazing!”

  “Yeah I guess,” he shrugged. “I like building things, I always have, so I figured out how to make it a business. I went to engineering school and learned to take what you called those metal robot things and turn them into something useful for medicine.”

  I could tell by the tone of his voice he remembered the things people would tell him in school about his metal robots. “I’m sorry, TJ. I really didn’t mean that your robots were insignificant or stupid. We were young. I’m sorry.” I wished at that moment I would have said something when Jackson was being rude or when Casey was being a jerk.

  “It’s alright, Danielle. Enough about boring me, what have you been up to since I moved away? I see you and Jackson didn’t end up married with kids,” he said, his voice sounding relieved at knowing I didn’t end up with Jackson.

  “No, that ended pretty much the next day after High school graduation. I was actually glad.” I never liked the way Jackson treated TJ and I think it ruined our relationship. TJ was looking at me from across the table, trying to figure out what I saw in Jackson.

  “Yeah, he was kind of a douche bag, Danielle.”

  I let out a long breath because I knew TJ was right about him. ”Yeah, I’m sorry about what he did in high school. It was rude of him. I had nothing to do with his actions, I swear.” I wished I could take everything Jackson ever said to him and erase it.

  “Danielle, don’t apologize. It was high school. I’m not that kid anymore, so don’t feel like you have to apologize for Jackson. Besides, last I heard of him, he had an injury playing football, it ended his career and he works at a Home Depot now.”