Tinder Ella: A Modern Day Single Dad Fairy-Tale

by Eddie Cleveland

  I softly place my hand on her shoulder, “Holly, it’s going to be ok. Let me help you, please.” I slide my hand down to hers and she releases the crumpled paper into my hand.

  I pull it open and read the typewritten note, if you can call it that.

  I told you I would find you.

  I’m going to kill you.

  A chill runs through me. Knox. He tracked her down.

  “Come here, it’s going to be ok,” I pull Holly against my chest and wrap my arms around her tightly. Her rigid muscles begin to slacken and she falls against me, sobbing. Her tears are wetting my shirt, spreading over my chest like a dark stain. Just like the dark stain from Holly’s past haunting her now.

  “Shhh, it’s going to be ok. I promise you. Don’t cry,” I run my hand over her silky hair and try to figure out how this piece of shit found her.

  “It w-won’t be,” she sniffles and throws her arms around me tight, pressing her face into me. “He f-found me here. Here! In Canada,” she sobs. “He’s gonna kill me, he’s killed other people who fucked him over, I’m dead.”

  “Hey, he won’t come up here. There’s no way he can cross the border, he’s just trying to scare you.”

  “N-no, you don’t understand. He wants revenge. He’ll find a way. How did he find out I was here?” She wails and I pull her in tight.

  “Look, I don’t know how he tracked you down here, but he has no reason to try to get revenge. For what? You leaving?” I try to reason with her.

  “It’s more than that.” She pulls her face from my chest and looks at me with her red-rimmed eyes.

  “What do you mean?” I hold her loosely in my arms and watch as she seems to debate telling me something, her face twists up like it’s painful to think about.

  “I shot him,” she whispers, dropping her head.

  “Wait, what?” Maybe Holly isn’t the innocent girl who was stuck in a bad life, like I thought. “Did you say you shot him?”

  “I did. In the knee. And I stole his car. And ten grand of his money.” She mumbles.

  Woah, who the fuck is this chick? Not the woman I’ve been getting to know in here for the last month.

  “Why?” I try to put the puzzle pieces together.

  “It’s not like I just woke up one day and did it,” she looks back up at me and her lip quivers violently. “He was beating me, with a belt…again. Here,” she pulls away from me and takes a step back. “See?” she leans over, pulling up her pant leg and prying her sock over her heel. Wrapped around her ankle is the faded yellowing stain of an old, thick bruise. Etched into the side of her ankle is a vague imprint of where that sack of shit hit her with the buckle. My muscles tense as my emotions surge through me. If that fucker shows his face around here, I’m going to fucking end him.

  Holly fixes her clothes and stands back up, facing me. “He told me, when he was finished whipping me, he was going to fuck me with his gun,” she shivers as she recalls the horror.

  “Hey, come here,” I reach out and grab her, pulling her back against my chest. “I’m sorry you ever went through that. Any of that. It’s over now. You don’t need to be afraid.”

  “Yes, I do!” Her pitch hurts my ears. “He found me! He’s going to kill me. He’s gonna… “

  “No, he won’t. Listen, he can’t cross the border,” I try to explain.

  “He has people who can,” she protests.

  “Ok, even if he does. Even if they try to come here, you’re safe here. No one is allowed in this building without a code. You’re in a building with twenty-four hour security, in another country, on a property with a fence surrounding it, and you have a secret weapon.”

  “What?” She scrunches her nose up in confusion.

  “Me.”

  Finally, a smile touches her lips and I can’t help but smile back. I want her to feel better. To make her safe. And I’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen.

  I watch as a cloud rolls in over her bright blue eyes, “What about after I get out? He’ll just find me again. At my parents’ house!” The revelation strikes her like lightening.

  “No. He won’t.” I assure her firmly.

  “How do you know?”

  “Does he know where you’re from? Where your parents live?” I prod.

  “No,” she bites her lip and her eyebrows twitch together. “When I left my parents’ house, I didn’t look back. I never told anyone where I was from, I hoped that if I kept it inside, maybe I would forget too,” she looks down at the floor, her chin trembling.

  “Ok, and he won’t find you there.”

  “What do you mean? If he found me here, he can find me anywhere.”

  “He won’t find you there, because after this you’re going to come live with me. I’ll protect you. And if he tries anything when you’re living at my house, I’ll kill that coward with my bare hands.” I pull Holly in close and kiss her forehead.

  “Why would you do that for me?” She whispers like she’s not sure she wants to know.

  “Because,” I take a deep breath and look straight into her eyes, “yeah, so um… I’m kind of falling in love with you.”

  20|Jake

  I can’t sleep. I’m tired enough. Bored enough. Yet, every time I close my eyes, nothing. Just more seconds turning into minutes, dragging into hours. I feel like a damned kid waiting up to hear Santa on the roof. In less than ten hours, Holly and I will be walking out of this place. We’ll be graduates of the program, free to go back to our lives. Lives we left behind, like shattered tile on the ground. Lives that we’ll forge together, as a couple, and create a new picture of our future with the mosaic we build back up.

  I twist in the ridiculously small, single bed that I’ll never miss sleeping in. Flipping my pillow, I lie my head on the cool side and try, yet again, to let sleep wash over me. My eyes gently shut and I listen to the soft rain pattering on my window pane.

  Nothing.

  Wide awake. Ok, enough is enough. I’m getting up. I know better than to go prowling into the night in search of Holly’s room. We made a promise to each other to hold off from anymore of that until after graduation. I glance at the clock on my nightstand. In nine and a half hours. I groan as I imagine feeling her soft flesh under mine as I fill every inch of her pussy with my hard cock.

  Nine hours and twenty-eight minutes.

  This is going to be the longest day of my life.

  I toss on a t-shirt and jeans then slip into my shoes before heading out. I can’t just lie here and miserably wait for time to pass. Besides, there’s only so many times a guy can jerk off in one night before he needs to find a different distraction.

  My stomach growls at me, directing my feet to the cafeteria. I know the kitchen is closed at this hour, but they keep the drinks and usually some packages of crackers out to subdue late night munchies. Maybe some crackers and a big glass of milk will do the trick. Isn’t milk supposed to make you tired or something? I think I heard that somewhere.

  I turn the corner and stop dead in my tracks. I guess I did fall asleep. This must be a dream. Across the darkened room, in a light linen gown is Holly. The light of the soda machine glows around her head like a halo. Walking up to her, I notice that this feels more real than any dream I’ve ever had. The details that are usually blurry around the edges are now crisp.

  As I approach, Holly hears my footsteps and whips around, frightened. “Hey, sorry, I wasn’t trying to sneak up on ya,” I tell her softly, closing the distance between us.

  “Oh,” her blue eyes look so vibrant under the eerie light casting off the drink machine. “Jake,” she breathes, her face relaxing, “it’s you.”

  “It is,” I nestle up next to her. “What’s a pretty girl like you doing in a place like this?” I tease her, pressing myself against her.

  “You’re such a dork,” she smirks up at me, but the way she presses her pussy against my growing cock tells me a different story. “I couldn’t sleep, so I thought I’d get a drink of milk.”

&
nbsp; I knew I’d heard it somewhere.

  Under her nightgown, I can see her nipples form into hard peaks. She looks up at me with her eyes half-closed like she’s waiting for me to kiss her. I glance up toward the kitchen door, no one is there. I wind my fingers up in her hair, grabbing a fistful and hover for just a moment over her, breathing her in. This is no dream, this sexy woman, standing in barely anything, this woman I’ve been dying to fuck since the day we met, is very real.

  “Mmmm,” Holly moans, testing my restraint. I cover her mouth with my hungry kiss, my tongue easing her lips open and dancing with hers.

  I slide both my hands down over her back, cupping her sweet ass and pressing her pussy tight against me. I can’t fucking take this. To hell with nine more hours. To hell with one more second. I wrap my hands around each of her thighs and easily lift her up, spreading her legs around me.

  Her natural perfume teases my nose and pushes me over the edge. I need her. NOW!

  Walking her over to a table, I plop her down on the edge and slide my fingertips under the edge of her nightgown, exposing her neatly-trimmed pussy. “You keeping that trimmed up for me, Holly,” I look into her eyes as I run my finger over the short hair.

  “Mmmhmmm,” she bites her lip.

  “Good girl,” I mumble as I start to slide down to my knees.

  “No, we can’t,” Holly pulls on my shoulders to stop me.

  “Why? It’s our last day. Who cares what happens? It’s not like they’re gonna kick us out on grad day,” I fall to my knees and lick my lips, ready to worship her.

  “I care,” she pleads weakly. I look up at her. Her mouth is telling me a different story than her sexy body, but I still need to listen.

  “You’re telling me you don’t want me to make you feel like you did that night?” I cock an eyebrow at her in disbelief.

  “I do,” she squirms on the table and my mouth waters. “I really do,” she pants. “It’s just,” she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. “I made a promise to take this seriously. I want to finish the program by keeping our promise to ourselves and to each other. We said we’d wait. It’s only a few more hours. It’s important to me,” she opens her eyes and stares down at me like she’s uncertain how I’ll react.

  I hate how she looks nervous when she tells me something that she knows I won’t like. As if she’s expecting me to freak out at her, or worse. Of course, after what she went through with Knox for five years, it’s probably a hard habit to break. Still, I want her to trust me.

  “Ok,” I stand back up and pull down her nightgown. “If it’s important to you, it’s important to me too. We’ll wait,” I pull her down from the side of the table to her feet and into my arms.

  “Thank you,” she presses the side of her face into my chest and listens to my heartbeat. “I love you,” she whispers, wrapping her small arms around my waist.

  “You don’t need to thank me. Never for that. And, I love you too,” I smile down at her and give her a quick peck before releasing her to the night. “However, I should go. I’m gonna go take a shower,” I smirk.

  “Ok, I feel like I should apologize or something,” she tilts her head.

  “Never.” My answer is firm. “Just know, that in nine hours,” I growl, “that pussy is mine.”

  Holly’s eyes open wide and she nods her head.

  “Good. Well then, sleep well.” I grab her hand and give it a squeeze before turning and walking out the door.

  Looks like I’ll be working on a world record for how many times a guy can jerk off in one night. Damn she makes me crazy, but she’s worth the wait. I know that once we get out of here, I’ll be working on a new world record. Seeing how many times and how many ways I can fuck her before we’re both too sore and tired to continue. Now, that’s a record I look forward to setting.

  21|Holly

  Standing nervously at the side of the auditorium, I wait to hear my name. I watch as patients who started the program at the same time as me are called on stage, one-by-one, to officially graduate. A little more than fifty percent of us made it through the two months here. Many people quit, choosing whatever their old lives and old addictions provided for them instead of recovery. I knew I had nothing to go back to out there. For me, it was get better or die. “Holly E.” Ms. Morehouse calls me up. Even on grad day, they don’t reveal our last names. Some attempt to give us anonymity I guess.

  I walk up the couple of steps to the center of the stage and shake the hand of the smiling director.

  “Congratulations,” she speaks softly and hands me a bronze coin with an eagle soaring above the cedars on the front. I flip it over in my hand, the back reads: they who succeed, believe they will.

  I smile with tears in my eyes. “Thank you,” I whisper.

  “You did the hard work, we just helped you find yourself again. Make sure you don’t lose her out there, ok?” She gives me a quick hug and I nod, overcome with emotions.

  “I won’t,” I promise and make my way to the other side.

  I squeeze the coin in my hand and look out into the crowd of friends and family cheering us on. My eyes stop scanning when they reach the aging face of my father. His cheeks are flush and his smile looks like it hurts, it’s so wide. His pride radiates around him like an aura. My heart swells up like a balloon.

  I did it.

  I’ve never graduated anything before. Not unless you count kindergarten, which I don’t. I dropped out of high school and never looked back. This is the first thing I’ve really worked for and accomplished in a long, long time. I’ve been locked in Knox’s world of drugs and pain for so long, I’d forgotten what it felt like to achieve something on my own. I fail to recall what it feels like to succeed at anything.

  My gaze moves over to my mother. Her face is in direct contrast to Dad’s. They look like those masks you always see as a symbol for drama. One with a delirious smile and the other with a frown. Why did she come here? Clearly, she didn’t want to.

  “Jake A.” I pry my attention from the sour look on Mom’s face and watch as Jake struts across the stage. I can’t help but soak up every inch of him, starting with his shaggy brown hair and ocean blue eyes and traveling down over his broad shoulders, further to his cut abs, to his… I bite my lip and my heartbeat quickens. I remember how I couldn’t fully wrap my fingers around his long, fat cock. Heat burns over my cheeks as my chest rises and falls rapidly, only a few short hours and I’ll get to explore every inch.

  Jake smiles at me as he makes his way to our side of the stage. We did it! My body tingles with a sensation I don’t remember having since I was a child: pride. I’m happy that Jake and I agreed to wait until after this ceremony to be together. It meant a lot to me, after years of breaking promises to myself to quit drugs, to leave Knox, to start over, and failing myself every time, this promise had to stick.

  Jake looks out at the crowd of strangers, searching. I know what he’s going through, I understand what if feels like to scan unfamiliar faces for your family when they aren’t there. His eyes stop flickering over the crowd and he juts out his jaw, lined with a much scruffier beard than when we first met. I know he’s disappointed that his parents didn’t show up today, even if he won’t say it.

  “And huge congratulations to our graduates of the program. Please, let’s give them a hand,” the crowd erupts with applause as everyone scatters in different directions, bee-lining for their families.

  My father looks like he’s competing for speed walking champion as he hurries over to me, my mother slowly wades through the wake of people behind him.

  “Holly!” He throws his arms around me in a bear hug. Dad steps back and looks down at me, beaming, “I’m so proud of you honey. I can’t wait to get you home and be together as a family again,” he smiles.

  Mom finally makes her way to his side and scowls at Jake. “Who’s he?” She asks rudely.

  “Mom, Dad, this is Jake.”

  “Pleasure to meet you,” Jake shakes my father’s hand, b
ut my mother crosses her arms tight across her chest and purses her lips.

  “Likewise,” Dad answers, looking at me with question marks in his eyes.

  “Guys, we need to talk. Let’s go to my room, I’ve got all my bags there anyway,” I lead the way.

  “I told you!” I hear my mother hiss to my father as I guide them from the auditorium with Jake by my side. “She’s up to something again,” she whispers loudly.

  I pretend not to hear her and lead the way to my room. On the floor are my suitcases, already packed and ready to go. My bed is stripped and the drawers and closet have been emptied, prepared for the next lost soul who needs this space.

  “So, this is where you stayed, huh?” Dad looks around the small space.

  “Yep, this was home for two months,” I smile weakly.

  “Let’s cut the chit chat. Why is he here?” My mother interrupts, her eyebrows knit together and her lips turn down. “What’s going on?”

  I look up at Jake and he nods at me, “Ok, Mom, Dad, I can’t go back with you today. I’m going to need to stay with Jake for a while.”

  “You’ve got to me kidding me,” my mother’s voice is dry as chalk dust.

  “No! There’s no way you’re going with him!” My father protests, puffing out his chest. “Who the hell is this guy? Your boyfriend? It’s not happening, Holly. Not again.”

  “You were supposed to come here to get off drugs, not replace one addicted loser with another one,” Mom snaps and throws her arms across her chest like she’s trying to touch her hands behind her back.

  “Woah,” Jake steps in, “with all due respect, Ma’am, you don’t know what you’re talking about.” He holds up his hands.

  “Excuse me, but I think we know our daughter better than you. How long have you been in here? A couple of months? Are you going to tell us you’re in love next?” Mom rolls her eyes hard.

  “Louise, let them talk, please. This isn’t helping,” Dad interrupts and my mother clamps her mouth shut, billowing out her cheeks like a puffer fish, as crimson rises up her neck.