I Remember (Remembrance Series)

by Cynthia P. O'Neill

  The alarm clock startled me from the best dream, ever. I sat up in bed wondering if last night was just a dream. Then I saw the single red rose in a bud vase by my bed and I realized that reality was much better than any dream could ever be.

  I jumped in the shower, full of excitement, knowing that I would soon see Gregory, again. I dressed in a nice pair of blue jeans, along with my favorite pink t-shirt that was comfortable, but flattering at the same time. I opted for no makeup to see what Gregory would think, remembering how my dad had always preferred natural.

  At that moment, the phone rang. “Hi, Gregory, I was just about to give you a call, but you beat me to it.”

  “Hey, beautiful, when do you want me to come over? Sorry for calling you first, but I was out and thought I’d stop by if you were ready.”

  “I am ready to start, but take all the time you need.”

  “Okay, I should be there in twenty minutes. See you soon, my love.”

  “Sounds good, Handsome.”

  I decided I would finish the kitchen today, since there wasn’t too much left to do. I opened up all the cabinets and pulled out the remainder of my items; placing them on the counters.

  There was a knock on the door. I glanced at the stove and it showed only ten minutes had gone by since I spoke to Gregory. Maybe he finished his errand early.

  “That was quick,” I said, opening the door.

  My smile quickly turned to alarm. It was a tall man, with dark red, glowing eyes, short black hair, and a goatee. “Where’s Alley?” he demanded, in an ominous tone

  “Sorry, but she’s not here.” I tried to close the door.

  His muscular frame bolted forward and his hand pushed the door back toward me, slamming it into the inside wall. I backed away as he pushed into the apartment.

  “What do you want? I told you Alley’s not here,” I shouted.

  “I haven’t talked with her in a few days, so I thought I would come by to surprise her. But, now I’m wondering why I’m wasting my time with her, when she has a hot dish, like you, for a roommate.” His pupils began to dilate, as his gaze crept up and down my body.

  “Please, leave. I will tell her you came by.” My voice shook with fear as he continued to approach me. I suddenly realized this must be the Tony, the guy Alley talked about.

  I tried to run to my bedroom, but he grabbed hold of my upper arm, nearly squeezing it in two, “Where do you think you’re going?”

  The touch of his skin burned like hot coals. He was dangerous, very dangerous and now I feared for my life.

  Tony threw me up against the wall and pressed the weight of his body against mine, pinning me where I couldn’t move. “Why don’t you try to relax, Darling? You are so beautiful.” He started stroking my hair with his hand, breathing in large whiffs of my scent and licking his lips in a disgusting manner.

  I tried to find my voice to scream, but was frightened into silence. My only thoughts were of Gregory, wishing I had asked him over earlier.

  He held me firmly against the wall as one of his hands started groping at my body. I detached from my mind and prepared for whatever was coming, next.

  “Get your hands off of her, NOW!” It was Gregory, shouting at the top of his lungs.

  Tony turned around. What are you going to do if I don’t?”

  “I have 911 on the phone and the police are in route. I figure if you leave now, you might escape being arrested.”

  Tony turned, taking a swing at Gregory. I slumped to the floor in terror as I watched Gregory stop his fist mid-punch. The shock gave Gregory enough time to twist Tony’s arm behind his back and push him through the door, slamming it shut and locking it, instantly.

  He picked me up in his arms and carried me over to the sofa, cradling me close to his chest as I sobbed quietly into his shoulder. He rubbed my back, gently, trying to calm me. “Thank goodness I got here in time, Jordan. Everything will be ok, now.”

  I jumped when there was a knock on the door. Gregory left me on the sofa to go see who it was. He opened the door to a couple of police officers holding Tony by the collar and in handcuffs. “Is this the perpetrator you warned us about, sir?”

  “Yes, Officer. I came to my girlfriend’s place to help her pack and found her pressed against the wall, with him groping her. When I tried to stop him, he took a swing at me and I managed to kick him out of the apartment,” he explained, calmly.

  “Would you like to press charges, sir?” The officer asked.

  “Yes, I would.”

  The officer passed Tony over to his partner, telling him to put him in the cruiser, while he handled the paperwork.

  Did he just call me his girlfriend?

  The officer sat across from us, taking only a few minutes to fill out the forms, asking me to recount what happened. Afterward, Gregory showed him to the door and thanked him for such a quick response.

  As he closed the door, he put one hand towards his head, mumbling to himself, “They have already found her,” in a defeated voice.

  I have extremely sensitive hearing. “What did you say?”

  “It is nothing important.” He sat back down beside me looking deep into my eyes. “Are you doing all right? I can hear your heart pounding and you are as white as a ghost.”

  “I think so. How did you get here so quickly and how did the police know to come so fast?”

  He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me close as he explained. “I had the strange feeling something was off; so I drove here as quickly as I could. One of your neighbor’s cars was getting ticketed and I asked the officers to stay close in case I needed assistance.”

  I reached up to hug his neck. “Ouch!” I grabbed my left arm as it started throbbing.

  “Let me take a look at your arm.” He lifted my sleeve to reveal a large bruise forming where Tony had grabbed me. “Where do you keep your kitchen towels?”

  “They are on the counter. I took them out to pack.”

  He went into the kitchen, rattled some ice in the freezer and returned to the sofa, pulling me against his chest, while he held some ice to my arm. It was quite soothing, being in the comfort of his embrace, listening to his heart beat.

  Gregory held me for what seemed like an eternity, giving me gentle kisses in my hair and on the side of my face. It wasn’t until the ice began to run down my arm that he took the make-shift ice pack to the sink.

  “I think you are going to have a nasty bruise for awhile.” He sat back down beside me and shook his head a moment. “What am I going to do with you?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Tony will probably make bail in no time and he strikes me as the type to finish what he started. If you don’t mind, I think I should be over here with you as long as you are still packing.”

  “I don’t mind spending time with you, but don’t you think you are being a little over protective?”

  He began kissing me up the side of my cheek and then just below my ear, where he whispered, “I can be at times; especially when it comes to someone I care so deeply about.” His lips trailed back over my cheek, brushing lightly against my lips, softly at first, then growing in intensity until I could feel his breath mingled with mine.

  I could have sat on the sofa, lost in his kisses for an eternity. “Will you be okay by yourself for just a couple of minutes?”

  “Where are you going?” I felt a touch of panic.

  “I need to get something from my car. Lock the door behind me and keep an eye out for my return.” He stole a quick kiss, before exiting.

  I stayed by the door, looking through the peephole, watching for him. It wasn’t until I saw him walking down the hall that I realized how amazing he looked today, dressed in a pair of stonewashed jeans and a light blue t-shirt that showed off the muscles in his arms and chest. His light brown hair sparkled with gold tones in the sunlight. He was easily a vision of Adonis.

  I unlocked the door as he brought in a picnic basket and pulled a bouquet of flower
s from behind his back.

  “Beautiful flowers for my stunning girl.”

  “They are magnificent, but you didn’t need to do this. I already have one in the bedroom.” I smiled, walking to the kitchen for a vase.

  “What is the basket for?”

  “Just a little something I picked up for us to enjoy, later.” He smiled, coyly.

  “Can I have a look?”

  Gregory nodded as I opened it and was surprised to see a pitcher of iced tea, a variety of fruits, some chocolate dip, a tossed salad, bread and a small array of cheeses and lunch meats.

  I was about to protest him bringing lunch, when he moved my hair to the side and started trailing kisses on my neck. My train of thought was gone. His lips slowly made their way to nibble on my ear. “I know I promised you could buy lunch, but thought you might enjoy eating here, so you could keep packing.”

  I turned around to face him, wanting to object to his generosity, but found my hands reaching into his hair, pulling his lips to mine.

  I broke the kiss. “Thank you for being my knight in shining armor, today.”

  “No thanks needed. I would do anything for you.”

  I pulled away a little further. ”I noticed that you told the officer that I was your girlfriend. Am I already in that category?”

  “Last night was the most amazing time of my life, Jordan. I cannot stop thinking about you and how wonderful I feel when I am around you. I know its fast, but I already consider you my girlfriend. Is that okay?”

  “Yes.” His lips crushed mine as his arms circled around my waist, drawing me closer.

  The apartment phone rang, breaking our embrace. Gregory followed me over to the sofa, our hands still intertwined. “Hello?” It was my mom.

  “Hi, Mom, I was going to wait until this afternoon to call I wasn’t sure if you and Cousin Beth were sleeping in or not.”

  “We’ve been up awhile. Beth is getting ready to head back to Jacksonville. Is Gregory there, yet?” My mother questioned.

  “Yes, he’s here.” Just then Gregory motioned for the phone. “I think he wants to talk with you.”

  I couldn’t imagine what he needed to say to my mother. “Hi, Mrs. Carlisle, we had a little mishap here this morning. Apparently, Jordan’s roommate has a boyfriend who is a bit of a hot head and attempted to hurt Jordan.”

  I could hear Mom gasp over the phone, but he remained calm as he explained what happened.

  He listened intently to my mother, before answering. “Don’t worry, she’s fine; but she has a nasty bruise on her left arm.” He paused before continuing. “I think quite highly of your daughter and would do anything to protect her. Speaking of which, I would like your permission to follow her up there, to make sure she makes it home safely, tonight. The way her arm looks, she’ll need help getting her boxes out of the car.”

  “Yes, ma’am. I will be sure we call when we are on our way. Bye.” He turned off the phone and handed it back to me.

  “What was that about?”

  “Your mother needs to know why your arm is hurt and I wanted her to understand why I may be hanging around. Besides, don’t you want to introduce your boyfriend to your mother?”

  “Of course I want you two to meet; I just thought we would have a few more dates before the introduction.”

  “Well, you can thank Tony for pushing up the introduction date.”

  I was thankful when he changed the subject. “You have a nice apartment. So what part is yours and what part is your roommate’s?”

  Most of it, except for Ally’s room is mine.

  “Can I have the grand tour?”

  “But, you have already seen most of it.”

  “Yes, but I haven’t seen where we have our midnight chats on the computer.”

  I stood up and extended my hand for him to follow. “Please forgive the mess. The computer desk is over in the corner, overlooking the fountain in the lake. In there is my bathroom and this is my bedroom.”

  Gregory’s eyes were focused intensely on my bedroom set, which was an ornate cherry wood four poster, full sized bed with matching side tables and a chest of drawers. He reached forward to feel the wood. “This furniture is amazing. Victorian?”

  I was shocked that he was familiar with period furniture. “I think so. It belonged to my uncle. It was in his family for a long time. He had hoped to pass it down, but he and my aunt never had kids. Whenever we went to visit, I always admired it, so he gave it to me as a gift when I graduated high school.”

  From behind me, Gregory mumbled something under his breath. It sounded like he said, “I cannot believe this found its way here.”

  He must have noted that I heard him as he started commenting about my computer. “I didn’t realize your computer is so outdated. Let me build you a new one.”

  “What?”

  “It’s a hobby of mine.”

  “I’ll agree only if I can pay you for your time and the parts.” He had given me too much already, but I did need a newer computer.

  “We can talk about that later. How about we get some packing done? Where did you want to start?”

  “I was thinking about taking the computer home tonight, but given I cannot lift it now, maybe I will leave it until next time.”

  “I’ll take care of it,” he said with a wink, and started unhooking all the wires.

  “I’m going to the kitchen to start packing some of the smaller items.”

  Once finished with the computer, Gregory never strayed more than a few feet from me. We managed to get a nice assembly line going and in no time had the kitchen completely packed.

  On my way back into the kitchen I tripped over an empty box and fell right into his arms.

  “Jordan, are you okay or are you just falling for me?” He asked, smiling, as he caught me.

  “Yes…I am falling for you,” I whispered, my voice barely audible.

  He held me tight to his chest, “I’m glad, because I think I love you.”

  Before I could wrap my mind around what he said, he changed the subject. “No more packing until we have a hearty lunch.”

  My head was still spinning but I had to laugh at the tone of his voice. “Yes, sir.”

  Gregory grabbed the picnic basket and blanket, laying the contents out on the floor, and sat down. “Why don’t you sit here next to me and we will enjoy a nice, indoor picnic.”

  As he reached for my hand, my mind clouded with the sudden vision of déjà vu. I saw Daniel in front of me, sitting on the same blanket, on the bank of a lake, underneath the shade of a large oak tree. I shook off the image. Now my dreams are seeping into daytime, I thought, as I sat down next to him.

  He filled a plate full of food and handed it to me.

  “I hope that’s your plate.”

  “No arguments, Jordan, you need to eat. You’ve had a very traumatic and busy morning and you need to refuel.

  “But I can’t eat all this.”

  He smiled. “Eat what you can; appease me.”

  I reached for some bread at the same time he did. “Ladies first,” he offered.

  Just like Daniel, “After you my dear, Angeline.” I blinked my eyes but it was Gregory sitting across from me.

  I’ve never dreamt of Daniel and Angeline picnicking, so why am I remembering it now?

  Gregory was full of questions, asking if I had movers lined up, when I planned on being out of the apartment, if I was going to store the items here or in Deland, and if or when I would come back.

  “I don’t really have a timeline, but given how much progress I’ve made, I guess I could try hiring some movers in the next week or so. I hadn’t really thought about where I would store my stuff. Probably down here, since I’ll still be working here and I hope to come back. It would definitely save on moving expenses.”

  “With your permission, I know a few people in the moving industry and could probably get you a good price. I would need to check their schedules to see when they have availability, plus I know of a sto
rage unit a couple of miles from here,” Gregory offered.

  “Thank you. That would be great.” No matter what the issue, he knew how to help.

  We talked until the food was gone.

  I looked up at him, giving him a quick peck on the cheek. “Thank you for such a refreshing lunch. Next time it is my turn to take you out, okay?”

  He flashed an endearing smile, wrapped his arms around my shoulders and drew me in, “We will see about that.” I started to object, but his lips silenced mine with a kiss.

  I was lost in Gregory’s arms until I heard Alley’s voice. “I’m sorry.”

  “Hi, Alley.” I turned toward her, blushing from the embarrassment of being caught.

  I got up and went over to greet her while Gregory kept one arm around my waist. “Alley, this is Gregory, the guy I have been talking with for several months, now. Gregory this is my roommate, Alley.”

  He shook her hand. “It is a pleasure to meet you.”

  “It is nice to finally meet you too, Gregory.” She turned her head in my direction, silently mouthing, OMG.

  “Is everything ok? I thought you were working a full shift today and then going to your parent’s for dinner.”

  “The store was slow, so I got off early. A kid spilled some drink on my dress, so I decided to come home and change before heading over there. ”

  “I will be heading back to Deland, soon. Gregory was kind enough to help me get some more packing done. Between the two of you, I don’t know how I would’ve gotten this far.”

  She grabbed my hand. “Jordan, I am in no rush for you to move out, so please feel free to take your time.”

  I grimaced, as she moved my arm and caught site of the growing bruise. “What on Earth happened to you?”

  Before I could speak, Gregory pulled me protectively into his side and answered, “Jordan had a little run in with your boyfriend, Tony, this morning. He came here demanding to talk to you and became violent when he discovered you weren’t around.”

  Alley shook her head. “It couldn’t be him. It must be a mistake.”