by S M Mala
‘Got to go!’ he said as she jumped down the bottom two stairs and smiled. Jake did a double take and grinned. ‘Your police dress? It’s very pretty.’
‘It serves its purpose,’ she said, walking out of the house towards the jeep.
‘To make people do what you want?’
‘It makes me look like a sweet young woman.’
Hatty waited by the car as he used his remote control keys to unlock the car doors. She got into the driver’s seat.
‘Who said you were driving?’ Jake groaned, standing by the car door.
‘I’ve been driving every Sunday so what’s the problem? You can drive on the way back.’
‘Let me drive,’ he said. Hatty glared at him for a second and realised Jake was gorgeous. She missed and wanted him so badly. Getting out the car, she went to the passenger’s seat. ‘How did I do that? You didn’t even put up a fight.’
‘Some things aren’t worth fighting over,’ she said, buckling up and closing her eyes, hoping her desire would pass.
‘Are you okay?’
‘I’m awful, thank you,’ she replied and focussed on the front window, not wanting to look at him. ‘Let’s go.’
For the first time ever, she put the radio on hoping it would stop them talking.
As he parked up and they got out, Jake led her to the Chinese restaurant they went to on New Year’s Day.
‘I did manage to get a table,’ he said, walking up the stairs.
The place was packed with families and couples. She let out a sad sigh knowing last time she was here with him, they were together. The waiter led them to a balcony table and they were put in the corner, shaded by a palm tree, which also overlooked the pretty town square.
‘I’ve never sat here before,’ she said, in all honesty. ‘We usually sit at the same table all the time. Delores likes it.’
‘And what about you?’
‘Me? I just go with the flow. You know, I’ve never been here without her so this is a first.’ Suddenly Hatty felt perkier and examined Jake looking at her. Her heart twisted for him. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘What for?’
‘For being insecure and not trusting you. I know it wasn’t very nice of me. I didn’t mean to say you weren’t the man I thought you were because you are. I’m not the woman I thought I was, if we’re being honest.’
‘Your history is irrelevant,’ he said, leaning closer. ‘It’s what you’re about which is the most important thing. I think you’re lovely.’
‘That’s sweet,’ she said, smiling back. They looked at each other for ages, not saying anything, until someone interrupted them to hand them the menu. ‘You order.’
‘I know you’re funny about your-.’
‘I trust you to order the right thing,’ she said and knew she wanted him back, even with the pitfall that he was going to break her heart. ‘And I trust you to teach me to swim.’
‘You can already swim,’ he laughed and glanced down the menu.
‘In the sea.’ She saw him instantly look up at her, his eyes widened with surprise. ‘I might as well deal with the two things I’m afraid of at the same time and see how I go.’
‘Are you sure?’ Jake glared for a moment. ‘Don’t do this to prove a point.’
‘What point would that be?’
‘You’re not afraid of anything.’
‘I am afraid of things,’ she shrugged. ‘Mosquito and you.’
He was aware she’d not drunk much and barely ate anything, which made Jake wonder if she was alright. Not forcing the issue of her picking at her plate, he merrily tucked in and filled her silences with talk about work. Hatty listened and nodded while looking around the restaurant. As they finished the meal and paid, he noticed she was staring.
‘What’s wrong?’ he asked, putting his cash back into his wallet.
‘Why did you jump overboard last night?’ she asked, her eyes fixed on him for an answer. ‘Please tell me the truth.’
‘I saw the house from the boat and realised I’d prefer to be with you. I only went on the boat trip to find out some information about your father but Gina wasn’t forthcoming. Though I did have an interesting conversation about Simon, as you know, and then that was the end of that.’
‘I see.’ She didn’t divert her stare. ‘I’m just interested, that’s all.’
‘Are you still interested in me? Was this a small glitch in our relationship?’ he said, anxious at saying it openly as he waited for her reply.
‘Will you start to be honest with me? Tell me everything you know.’
‘I started writing a book on you, how honest and devoted is that? Tell me we can get through this.’
‘We can,’ she smiled. ‘Though we’re still bound by secrecy.’
‘I’d prefer it if we did tell people. We’ve nothing to hide,’ he said seriously, remembering what his father had told him about having no choice in them seeing each other.
‘But you know how people talk.’
‘Let them Hatty. They can say what they like because nothing’s going to change between us. It’s us versus them.’
‘Delores will be furious.’ She looked nervously around the restaurant. ‘Small steps, we agree?’
‘Small steps.’
When they got back to the house, Hatty ran upstairs and got changed into her swimming costume, which took him by surprise.
‘We begin facing the sea now,’ she said, standing in front of him. Jake smiled and would have preferred to take her straight to bed for making up sex instead. ‘Put your swimming shorts on and then we can go in.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘As sure as I’ve ever been! You have to remember I might get upset and if I do, then we go back.’
‘Fine.’
Hatty marched ahead of him as he focussed on the beauty spot on her bottom, realising they were on the sand. He noticed she looked like she was concentrating really hard on what to do next. Jake walked ahead of her, taking her hand.
‘Follow me,’ he said, the wind whipping across his face as Hatty’s plait was blowing behind her. ‘It might be a little windy to start this now.’
‘Up to my knees and you hold me tightly, won’t you?’
‘I’m not going to let you go,’ he said. They stopped where the waves were coming onto the beach. ‘One step in.’
‘Yes,’ she said.
Jake could see she was petrified and looked at him, her eyes welling up.
‘Don’t do this. You’re not ready.’
‘I have to,’ she said, gulping hard as the tears fell down her face.
She shuffled her feet a little at a time towards the small waves lapping towards. Jake stood slightly in front, holding her hand then he turned around, walking backwards.
‘You just say when to stop.’
‘Yes,’ she said, looking straight at him as she stopped when the waves reached her knees.
Hatty looked down, then up then down again.
‘You know if you stay there a wave might knock you over.’
‘That’s okay,’ she smiled brightly. He knew she was pretending. ‘I’ve got you to protect me.’
Suddenly a wave came from behind him and knocked him towards her as she was about to fall backwards. Hatty screamed. Jake quickly grabbed her and steadied her from falling over. She looked up at him as he let out a nervous laugh but he could feel her heart pounding through his body and she started to shake before saying,
‘That’s enough for today.’
She couldn’t believe she’d done it and didn’t feel scared, though her body was trembling. Jake put an arm around her. Hatty was elated and petrified.
‘That wasn’t bad,’ she said, feeling monumental relief. ‘That wasn’t bad at all.’ Jake was nodding. ‘It was pretty quick. Ten minutes do you think?’
‘Ten minutes,’ he sighed. They walked towards the ledge and she jumped up, followed by him. ‘Let’s wash this sea off.’
They headed to the freshwater pool and Hatty
felt exhilarated. Suddenly she was full of energy as she jumped in the deeper end and swam around. Jake was watching her.
‘Aren’t you coming in?’ she said, floating in the water. ‘I can’t believe I just did that? Can you? It’s amazing. Thank you.’
‘And you’re not scared today?’ he asked dubiously. ‘What about tomorrow? You might be worried tomorrow?’
‘You’re at work tomorrow and I won’t go in when it’s the evening because the tide comes up really high in the night. I can just feel good about doing this today,’ she said and could see he didn’t look convinced. ‘Come in!’
Jake slowly walked in and swam towards her. Hatty waited for him to come near her face. She kissed him on the cheek. He kissed her back on her nose.
‘Small steps,’ he smiled as she slipped her arms over his shoulders and placed her mouth on his.
Her body somersaulted when she kissed him and was longing for his touch.
He wasn’t joining in.
She pulled away and noticed he was staring.
‘Is something wrong?’
‘I think we need to talk,’ he said and she wondered if something had changed. ‘Let’s swim first.’
‘If that’s what you want,’ she said, instantly worried. Two minutes later she got out and waited for him as he dove under the water and swam up and down. Something inside her made her think he was stalling. ‘Come on!’
Slowly Jake got out of the water and didn’t sit near her. Hatty propped herself up against the tree.
‘I want us to be clear about a few things,’ he started and she could tell by his tone of voice, all wasn’t well. ‘I’ve let you run rings around me.’
‘Pardon?’ she said, sitting up.
‘You’ve had everything your own way.’
‘I don’t think so.’
‘You have. For over a fortnight you wouldn’t speak or see me. I felt like shit. I didn’t know what to do and I was sorry about all the things I said but you weren’t listening. It seems when you’re ready to put things back together, it’s okay. What about me? What about how I’m feeling?’ She could tell from his expression he was upset. ‘I’m going through a shit time finding out about dad and my mum. It doesn’t make me feel wonderful but it seems all the support is for you, not for me.’
‘Is that what you think?’
‘It’s what I feel,’ he said earnestly. ‘I don’t want us to be locked up in here for months, unable to go out and have fun. I want to go out with you, have fun with you and let the world see we’re together. We’ve nothing to be ashamed of. Yeah, people will talk about things but we’ve both had so much crap flung at us, we can shrug it off.’
‘What are you saying?’
Hatty knew he was building up to something and wasn’t sure if she was going to like it.
‘We act like a normal couple,’ he said, staring hard at her. ‘We can hold hands and touch. Even after lunch, I felt I couldn’t touch you, as if you wouldn’t let me.’
‘I see.’ Hatty felt bad, knowing all the focus had been on her and he’d been in turmoil but she chose to ignore it. ‘I’m so selfish, I wasn’t thinking about you. No, that’s not true, I was thinking about you but not as I should’ve done. I’m really sorry for not trusting you and pushing you away. I was just scared but really I’m probably more afraid of life than most. It’s not to hurt you. You know it’s never to hurt you.’ She shuffled towards him and wrapped her arms around his neck as his head nestled on her breasts. ‘I just want to make you happy. Happy with me, that’s all I want. And when you go, I’ll be devastated but I’ll know we had a happy time. That’s what’s important, isn’t it?’
That night she lay in her bed alone, holding onto the wooden butterfly she’d carved Jake’s name on and looked at the moon. He’d gone to bed early and they’d had a nice evening, cuddling and talking things through but nothing sexual. She wondered if he was very hurt about what had happened and now didn’t trust her.
Hatty couldn’t sleep and as the minutes ticked by, her agitation and desire for him grew. She threw back her mosquito net and quietly walked out of her room, standing outside his door.
Gently, she opened it and could see he was fast asleep, the net half hanging over the bed. As quietly as she could, she walked to his bed and leaned over to put the butterfly on his pillow then he turned and she gently stroked his face.
‘Hello,’ he said, half opening his eyes.
‘Go back to sleep, I was just doing something,’ she whispered.
‘What?’
‘Wait until the morning.’
‘Come and sleep next to me,’ Jake said.
Hatty looked at him and could see he was going to fall asleep again.
She pulled the mosquito net down then clambered beside him, putting the butterfly under the pillow. He shut his eyes and wrapped his arms around her body as she felt happy for the first time in weeks. Hatty inhaled his scent and buried her nose in his sweet skin, drifting off to sleep.
It was his lips on her forehead that woke her. It was still dark and his mouth was travelling done her nose until she felt them on her lips. She didn’t open her eyes as she kissed him back, his hands glided over her vest and knickers. There was a strong desire in her body for him as she felt his tongue in her mouth. As she opened her eyes, he was looking at her, then he pulled off her vest and she pushed down her pants.
‘I love you,’ she said, feeling desperate for his touch.
Jake kissed her harder and squeezed her breasts.
She spread her legs, knowing what she wanted him to do. He immediately put his hand between them.
‘You’re very warm,’ he groaned into her ear as he rubbed her.
Moaning loudly, she realised he was very deft at making her come.
And it had been over two weeks.
Her legs were moving higher as she buckled under his fingers and let out a massive groan into his neck. He moved his finger inside her. Hatty’s hips were moving frantically in time with his hands, as she moaned before having another orgasm. Jake pushed his rock hard dick inside her quickly and they rocked their hips in unison.
He pushed her knees up higher as he banged her with all his might before he gasped, ‘Jesus!’
‘I love you,’ she said, holding on to his back, pulling at his skin while mauling his neck.
He kissed her very hard, squeezing her breasts until he suddenly pulled out and ejaculated over her stomach, groaning all the way through, as his hand milked his erection.
‘Oh god I love you,’ he said, flopping back onto the bed as Hatty’s legs were still splayed. Jake reached to the side and got some tissues, carefully wiping up his deposit while she tried to overcome her very strong orgasms, her fanny contracting from it, and control her breathing. She felt him blow between her legs which gave her goose pimples as he came back up and kissed her. ‘How was that?’
‘Amazing,’ she said, feeling overwhelmingly happy at his smiling face. ‘I do love you Jake, you know that don’t you?’
‘Yes,’ he sighed as she buried herself in his body and fell asleep.
Holding her in his arms, he felt happy and exhausted. They’d made love twice in the night and he’d have preferred to stay in bed all day. Her head was in the crook of his neck and he could feel her breath on his chest. Then he noticed she was holding something in her hand. Jake gently prised it off her and recognised her wooden heart butterfly. He smiled seeing his name carved out.
‘That’s very sweet,’ he muttered.
‘I know,’ she sniffed, looking up at him, her eyes full of sleep. ‘I’m nice like that. Happy Valentine’s Day!’
‘You old romantic,’ he smiled, squeezing her tightly. ‘You have to stop having giggling fits of laughter after we make love.’
‘It was funny and I only did it once,’ she cheekily smiled. ‘Some of the noises you make are just strange.’
‘It’s called lust,’ he said, trying not to smile back as she laughed into his neck.
; ‘Can you give me a lift to the estate on your way to work? I can’t face sitting on a saddle after all your lust.’
‘Was I that good?’
‘Yes I was,’ she sighed, sitting up, her cape of hair falling down over her shoulders. ‘It was very good but it always gets better the more we do it.’
‘What are we going to do tonight?’ he said, stretching out as she turned around and sat propped up on her knees.
‘Anything you want.’
‘Come and meet me after work and-.’
‘What?’
She scowled for a moment and he wanted to laugh.
‘No hiding for us. We tell everyone and take what comes our way.’ He noticed her pursed lips. ‘I’ll tell Delores if you’re scared.’
‘Oh,’ Hatty said and he could tell she was uncomfortable. ‘I’m not scared.’
‘Are you ashamed of me?’
‘You should be ashamed of me,’ she quietly replied and got up, taking her vest and knickers. ‘What will people think of you, Jake Logan, being with me, Hatty Harris? People will say nasty things and I don’t want you to get hurt.’
‘What hurts me the most is when we’re not together, anything else is irrelevant.’ Jake got out of bed and walked towards her, pulling her chin up. ‘And when you’re upset because you don’t think I love you.’
‘I love you.’
‘I love you. Simple.’
‘Yes you are simple,’ she said, starting to laugh again as his heart felt like it was literally bursting with love.
Even as he dropped her off, she was fidgeting due to nerves. He wanted to laugh loudly because she was trying to hide it from him, which only made her twitch more.
‘I’m coming with you,’ he eventually said, realising Hatty wasn’t up to it.
‘I can do it!’ she said firmly. ‘I can do this.’
‘I’d prefer it if I was there because then she’d know it was true. She might just think you’re making it up.’
‘But I’m not,’ Hatty frowned. ‘Or are you implying something?’
‘Like what?’ he laughed.
‘She’d think I’m delusional because it’s you, the handsome Jake? Where I am poor Hatty Ha Ha, the orphan child?’