Holding Up the World

by Shirley Hailstock

  Lisa hadn’t seen the condom until Rhys protected them, but as he entered her, she stretched her legs to accommodate him and to revel in the pleasure their union afforded her. Sensation, like a narcotic, fired her blood. It rushed like lightning, through her system. Everything about her came alive. Her hand reached for Rhys. She touched his damp skin. She wanted to touch him everywhere and wanted his hands all over her.

  Their body’s fit together like matching gloves. Lisa moaned at the scorching joy that consumed her. Wrapping her arms around his body, she worked with him, each giving the other everything they had. Neither held anything back. She felt the rush of her climax coming. She wondered if she would survive it. The intensity of their mating threatened to burn her out. Then she heard her own voice. It sounded as if it were a long distance away. The sound was hoarse, deep and laced with emotion. Waves passed through her, radiating along bow strings she didn’t know she possessed.

  She felt Rhys coming with her. His body moved with the rapidity of her heart beating a war dance. The pain was exquisite. She was sure if he continued this howling ride, she’d see the glow of fire between them.

  Finally they reached the pinnacle of rapture. It burst like a sun spot leaving the star and heading out into the universe. Rhys collapsed on her. Both of them were breathing so hard, they had to do it through their mouths. The room was alive with the smell and sound of sated sex.

  Rhys rose up and gathered her to him, although their bodies were still connected in the most intimate way.

  “I haven’t had sex like that since she was a college student,” Rhys said.

  “Neither have I,” she agreed with him. The experience was altering. She’d never be the same again. She knew already that she’d want to repeat the experience. She’d tasted the candy and it was addicting. Her willpower wouldn’t permit her to refuse a second helping.

  Rhys slid to the side, pulling her with him. They faced each other, but neither felt the need for words. They’re bodies had talked to each other. Lisa’s head lay on the pillow. Her arm linked across him, her smooth legs entwining with the roughness of his. She felt like a cat, wanting nothing more than to stretch and purr.

  Lowering her head, she breathed in the strong male scent of him. His body was warm, his skin moist and conducting its heat to her. She watched and felt the steady rise and fall of his chest as he tried to get his breathing back in order.

  Order would not be the rule of the day, Lisa thought. Or ever if this continued. And she wanted it to continue.

  Chapter 9

  Business picked up at Grace’s store. When Lisa went in a week later, the place was crowded with customers.

  “I don’t have to ask how things are going,” Lisa said. “I can see.” She turned fully around, taking in all the activity going on.

  “That school book section was a real winner,” Grace said, ringing up a sale on the cash register. “Thank you and please come again.” Then she turned back to Lisa. “I’m going to hire help if this keeps up.”

  “Well, you wished for it.”

  Grace smiled. “I know. And I’m loving it. I can’t thank you enough.”

  “It was only a few ideas. Most of the work was yours.”

  Grace, momentarily free while her customers browsed in other areas of the store, leaned toward Lisa conspiratorially and said, “When did you and the judge become an item?”

  “Are we an item?” Lisa felt her ears grow warm.

  “You’re the talk of the town.”

  “Good or bad?” Lisa asked a little too quickly.

  “Lisa, you can’t think people are saying anything malicious.”

  Of course she could.

  “They were a little surprised. You know Rhys hasn’t seen anyone since his wife died.”

  Lisa nodded.

  “And of course, neither have you.”

  “I didn’t know that was common knowledge.” Lisa didn’t live in Woodbine Cliffs when she was married. She’d moved there after her divorce.

  Another customer set a stack of books on the counter. Lisa walked to the coffee section and made herself a cup of hot chocolate. She usually drank coffee, but the chocolate looked inviting.

  “You two make a nice looking couple.” When Lisa turned Grace was behind her. Grace reached for a cup and made herself a coffee. She glanced at Lisa. “I could you two only had eyes for each other.”

  “I didn’t think we were obvious.”

  “Well, when you’re an old romantic like me, you see things you want to see.” She paused and sipped the hot liquid. “So, tell me, was I seeing things that weren’t there?”

  Lisa didn’t know how to answer that. She’d been so conflicted over a public unveiling of their dating, but she couldn’t keep it hidden. She liked Rhys. More than liked him. She didn’t want to hide her feelings as if they were somehow unclean. But she didn’t want people airing their prejudices and tainting what she thought was a wondering new world.

  “Lisa,” Grace prompted. She’d asked a question and Lisa hasn’t answered it.

  “Your eyes are perfect.”

  ***

  With Grace’s recommendation, Lisa’s phone started ringing and she accepted offers from several local businesses for marketing plans. Rhys supported her, encouraging her to develop her own business. They brainstormed names and designed logos. Before she knew it, Lisa was setting herself up as a freelancer.

  While Jade slept or was quiet, Lisa worked on the plans for her contractors. She enjoyed working from home, enjoyed spending more time with Jade and enjoyed Rhys’s constant presence. She was free to meet him for lunch or spend an evening out with him while Susan and Bill watched Jade.

  Using her own advice, she rearranged her home-office and sent out brochures to local businesses with a germ of an idea for a full-fledged marketing plan. She customized each one and her phone never stopped ringing.

  “I got three new commissions today,” she told Rhys after dinner that night. Jade was asleep and they were relaxing with a glass of wine. “With what I’m doing now, I can support myself with this work. But I’ll have to expand my horizons. Woodbine Heights is a small town. After I’ve done the work here, my business will dry up.”

  “So, do you have a plan?”

  She turned to him excited. “Yes!”

  “Well, don’t keep me in suspense. What is it?”

  “There’s a marketing association meeting. I need to go to it. It’s in New York for four days. Not only can I make contacts and network, but I can probably pick up some business, get new ideas, see what the competition is doing.”

  “You seem to have all the details in place.”

  “Not all of them,” she said. “I have to find somewhere for Jade to stay for several days. Then I’ll be set.”

  “I’ll keep her,” Rhys said without hesitation.

  Lisa laughed. “What are you going to do, prop her up on the bench in court?”

  “Of course, not. She can go to the sitter during the day and I’ll pick her up after work.”

  Lisa laughed. She thought of her own children, especially the twins. Her ex-husband would never watch the kids. She remembered being in the grocery store with them when they were infants. She had a basket with babies in it and one with food. Pulling one and dragging the other because she had no help. And here was this man, this superior court judge, offering to watch her grandchild for two full days. Lisa felt a surge of lover greater than any she had ever known.

  “Rhys, are you serious?” Lisa leaned back and stared at him. She wasn’t used to anyone helping her. With the exception of Susan and Bill, no one had ever offered to help her with child care.

  “Of course, I’m serious. You’ve been working without a net long enough. I promised you I’d be here when you needed me. You need to get your business up and running. I’ll watch Jade anytime you need me.”

  She couldn’t be this lucky? Life wasn’t like that. Not Lisa’s life. In her world everything was done the hard way. Rhys was making
it easier.

  “You are a Godsend,” Lisa said. Joy surged within her and she set her glass on the table and kissed him. Their coupling lasted a long time. Then Lisa pushed back, comfortable, satisfied. Her head lay on her shoulder and his arm lay along the back of the sofa where they sat. Music played softly in the background. Lisa felt lazy and warm. She liked lying in his arms, like waking up in the night and finding the solidity of his body next her, liked his smile and the hot waffles he made for breakfast on Saturday morning.

  Lisa was falling in love with Rhys and she welcomed him as the net beneath her feet.

  “Do you have any plans for dinner this weekend?”

  She shifted her head, looking up with him. Impishly, she asked, “What do you have in mind?”

  “My daughters want to meet you,” he said. “I thought we’d all go to Three Roses.”

  Lisa was numb. She’d been wondering why Rhys never mentioned her meeting his family. She knew he had two daughters and two sons and that one of the sons was married and about to become a father. For a moment, Lisa thought he didn’t want her to meet them, but she ignored the idea.

  Now that he’d asked her to have dinner with his family, she felt nervous, self conscious, almost as if their eyes were prying through the walls of her house and staring at her.

  “Would you rather go somewhere else?”

  Rhys’s voice startled her and Lisa jumped. “Oh, no. Three Roses is fine.”

  “I know that look,” Rhys said.

  Lisa straightened on the sofa until she was sitting up. She grabbed her glass of wine for something to hold. “What look?”

  “When my wife asked me home to meet her father and mother, I had the same look on my face.”

  Lisa tried to laugh, but only a small sound came from her throat.

  “They don’t bite,” he teased.

  “They’re part of you,” she said. “I wouldn’t expect them too.”

  “Then what’s wrong.”

  Lisa faced him, looking him squarely in the eye. “I suppose our perfect little world had to end sometime.”

  “What does that mean?” he asked.

  “We went to Grace’s re-opening. The neighbors all know. I imagine you’ve had people mention our seeing each other to you at the court.”

  She waited and after a moment he nodded assent. “But they haven’t said anything negative.”

  “To your face,” she finished.

  “Lisa.” Rhys took her arms in a gesture that said he was serious and that he was going to say something important. “I’m falling in love with you.”

  The lightning bold that passed through her had to be felt by him.

  “Am I wrong? I thought you felt the same.”

  “Oh, Rhys, I do.” There was desperation in her voice. She never thought she’d feel so sad about falling in love. “I just think I know more about what we’re in for than you do.”

  “You can say it,” he said. “I’ve thought about the differences in our races. I know that some people won’t see us for what we are, but that’s their problem. As long as we feel the way we do about each other, that’s all we need.”

  Lisa went into his arms. She hugged him close. Their little world was changing. Two new moons were carving out a place in the universe. It remained to be seen if they just orbited the rock, their magnetism in complete complement with the parent, or if they’d go teen-age wild and become objects on a collision course.

  “Yes,” Lisa finally agreed, keeping her face buried. “That’s all we need.”

  ***

  Lisa frowned as she looked at the plans of a local market in a nearby town. The owner wanted to expand the store and attract customers who flocked to the supermarket. She was trying to come up with a plan to do this when the phone on her desk rang. Rhys usually called about this time.

  She picked up the receiver. “Hello.”

  “Lisa,” a cheery voice said. “This is Reggie Lester.”

  “Reggie! This is a surprise. I haven’t heard from you since we were both in Arizona five years ago.”

  Both she and Reginald Lester were sales reps when they first met. They started working for Zeigler Biotech on the same day. Both went their separate ways after a while. Lisa got married and had children. Then divorced and settled at Braddock Pharmaceutical. Reggie, who tried to get people to call him Reginald for about six months, finally gave up and accepted that the nickname he’d had for most of his life was who he really was.

  Reggie married his college sweetheart, a chemist for a fragrance company. They had four children, three boys and a girl and moved to Minnesota about ten years ago.

  “Where are you?” Lisa asked.

  “I’m home.” Lisa wondered if he was in Chicago and they could possibly get together to relive old time. “I hear you’re a free agent.”

  “Finally, it was my turn,” she said. “I see the good news reached you.”

  “It did,” he confirmed. “That’s why I’m calling.”

  “Why?”

  “I need a director of marketing. If you’ll agree, the job’s yours.”

  “What?” Lisa said. Things didn’t happen this fast. She knew people who had been looking for jobs for over a year. A new position couldn’t just fall into her lap.

  “I started my own biotech firm five years ago. Two years after that I took over Zeigler Pharmaceuticals. I thought for sure you’d know that.”

  “I think I heard about it, but my own problems took precedence.”

  “Well Zeigler is doing well and we need someone like you.”

  “Are you offering me a job?”

  “Yep. We worked well together before and I saw what you did for Braddock. They were idiots to let you go, but I consider that my luck.”

  Lisa’s head was spinning. She leaned back in her chair. So many things were crowding in on her. There was a job offer. She knew Reggie. He would be fair in the way of salary and he would pay her what she was worth.

  “Lisa, are you still there?” Reggie’s voice brought her back to the call.

  “I’m here.”

  “Good. We’ll match whatever your salary was and give you a bonus. The cost of living is lower here so you’ll make out.”

  “Reggie, slow down. I haven’t said I’d take the job. You’re in Minnesota. My life is here.”

  “You kids are the same age as mine. They should be in college or out by now.”

  “The twins are in college.”

  “Has Julianna finished? Wow, I hadn’t realized so much time had gone by.”

  “Julianna didn’t go to college. She’s...living somewhere else.”

  “Then what’s to hold you in Chicago?” Reggie was in salesmen mode. He was closing in on her and she knew it. “Tell you what, why don’t you fly out here and see the place. We’ll make all the arrangements. You can tour the factory, talk to the staff, see what the country looks like and make up your mind then. I’m sure Angie and the kids would be thrilled to see you again.”

  “Let me think about it? I have some jobs here that I’m working on.”

  “Hey, I’m family,” he told her. “Anyone who makes you an offer, I can top it. You’ll love Minnesota. We’ll move you, pack and unpack, you won’t have to lift a finger and I’m sure the twins and Julianna will love it.”

  Reggie didn’t know about Jade. “Let me think it over,” Lisa said. “I’ll talk to the girls about it.” What she really meant was she’d talk to Rhys.

  “All right. Give me a call next week and we’ll get the ball rolling.”

  Reggie wasn’t taking no for an answer. It was good to be wanted, Lisa thought. After losing her job at Braddock and having Jade suddenly thrust upon her, she needed a stable income and a place to raise the child. But there were a lot of considerations. Rhys was one of them.

  She only met him recently and the two of them seemed to be going toward making something of their time together. It had been years since Lisa was involved with a man and she liked it. She didn’t want to lo
se him. Minnesota was as far away as the moon when it came to relationships.

  And what about Julianna? If Lisa moved, how would her daughter ever find her? She wasn’t even sure she could move. Jade was in her custody, but she hadn’t adopted her. Could she leave the state with the child? And if she couldn’t, there was no way she could leave her behind.

  ***

  It was with both excitement and anxiety that Lisa entered the restaurant several days later to meet Rhys’s daughters. He’d explained that his son’s would meet her later. Colby’s wife was due any day now and she’d fallen several times. Colby didn’t like to leave her alone and she wanted to avoid cars as much as possible since motion sickness was one of the effects of her third trimester. The other son, Eric, was away on a school sponsored trip. He’d return Sunday night.

  Lisa had spent the afternoon shopping for a dress. She refused to view this dinner as a test, yet she wanted her first impression with Rhys’s children to be a positive one. As black was not her color, she settled on a winter green dress. The skirt bottom softly flared out at the knee. The ensemble was topped with a short green and white jacket. Lisa finished off her appearance with diamond stud earrings that her mother had given her years ago.

  Inside the restaurant the maître ‘d told her Rhys’s party had arrived and were in the Tea Rose Room. It was an area in the back and to the left of where Lisa stood. Turning, he offered to escort her to the table, but Lisa wanted to visit the ladies lounge first.

  “I’m familiar with the Tea Rose Room,” she told him. “I’ll find them after I check my lipstick.” They smiled at each other and she left. It wasn’t her makeup she wanted checked. Her stomach had suddenly hatched a bevy of butterflies and she needed a place to calm them.