A Fine Mess

by Hughes, Breanna

  “Stay. Please stay.” Harper almost couldn’t believe the words that just escaped her mouth. What would have taken years to say, now took merely five seconds. After last night, solidifying what she already knew from their first sexual experience, Harper was no longer afraid to go for what she wanted. She refused to chance it by remaining silent. Kiley was here, finally. And all of Harper’s pining had not been fruitless because Kiley wanted her, too. She was tired of verbally circumventing what she wanted; she was tired of dropping hints. It was time to just be real. She wanted Kiley to stay and she was finally in a place where she could ask for it.

  Kiley walked over to Harper and kissed her on the forehead. “I can’t. I’m sorry. But I’ll be back tonight. As soon as we’re done with inventory, I promise.”

  Before another word could be exchanged, Kiley was out the door, leaving Harper to turn her body and fall back onto the couch with her legs hanging over the armrest. It was silent. Unusually silent. There were no car engines revving in the alley, no screaming baby from apartment 5C down the hall, not even the whirring of her refrigerator, which seems to have fixed itself. The most prevalent silence she heard, however, was the lack of footsteps in the hall and the lack of knocking on her front door. Kiley had left in such a hurry, it began to cross Harper’s mind that maybe she wouldn’t be coming back. She pushed that thought out of her mind and decided to have faith in the most unpredictable girl in the world. If the past few months had shown her anything, it was that Kiley, capricious as she may be, always comes around in the end. So Harper just lay there, reflecting on everything, particularly dwelling on how in tune she had become with her body. Kiley had awoken something inside her and she giggled to herself as she felt her body turn to jelly at the thought of Kiley’s touch. She could feel herself blushing, but figured it was okay since nobody was around to see it.

  With her head still reeling from everything that had transpired, she almost thought it was a dream when someone frantically knocked on her door.

  She opened the door and before Harper could say anything, Kiley charged in and pushed her back into the apartment. She kicked the door shut with her foot, spun Harper around, thrust her up against the door and kissed her without thinking twice. Kiley continued to hold her against the door while vigorously attacking her lips. Harper had no complaints. At first, Kiley’s actions threw her off. But once she realized what was happening, she fully accepted everything Kiley was giving her. Kiley brought her hands up to Harper’s face, finding her lips utterly irresistible.

  “I thought you had to work,” said Harper, as she planted kisses along Kiley’s neck.

  Kiley tilted her head back against the wall, closed her eyes and exhaled heavily, taking pleasure in every move Harper made. “It wasn’t that important. Just work. Graham will have to deal with it.” She took Harper’s hands in her own. “Besides, I forgot to tell you something. You know, I witnessed a miracle last night.”

  “A miracle?”

  “It may not be along the lines of a Jesus sighting in the bark of a tree or a doctor reviving a dying patient or a baby being born, but it was a miracle, nonetheless. And it only took a matter of seconds. I saw it all play out.”

  Harper was intrigued. “Do tell.”

  Kiley leaned in and whispered. “Well, you closed your eyes and then, by the grace of God, you fell asleep. And you stayed asleep. For ten full hours.”

  “Well, that makes sense. You were with me.”

  “So does that mean your insomnia is cured,” asked Kiley.

  “Only if you’re with me every single night when I fall asleep.”

  Kiley leaned in and softly kissed Harper. “I think that can be arranged.”

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Breanna Hughes' passion for writing began in high school. She went on to graduate with a BFA in Theatre Performance from Chapman University where she took screenwriting, fiction writing and play-writing classes.

  She is also a singer/songwriter who has performed everywhere from Los Angeles to New York to Nashville, and has been working in the entertainment industry for over ten years in several different aspects of television, music and public relations.

  She was born and raised in Fullerton, California and currently resides in Los Angeles with her fiancée and their two dogs, Dublin and Solo.

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