Chapter 4
The next morning dawned bright and clear. Not a trace left of the storm. He woke up first and watched her sleep. Her blond hair spread over her face and pillow.
Todd felt so guilty. I wonder what she thinks of me now. Just yesterday she was in my office suffering from the heat and now the next day I have her in my boat and we spent the night making love? He thought back on his younger years. All during high school he was pretty much a loner except for Dennis his only friend. His mother sheltered him because he was an only child. His father was gone most of the time flying around the world for a major airline. When he was home, they spent most of their time on the water. He studied hard and when he graduated from high school at sixteen and entered Stanford at barely seventeen he had never so much had a date.
At Stanford he was too young to go out with the girls. Even though he was considered handsome, but he was also too young to be attractive to the older girls on campus. It wasn’t until he went to Harvard that he lost his virginity. After discovering that girls thought he was rich and handsome, he had his pick of the litter. Two years later he was tired of the scene and returned to his introverted ways.
At medical school he was too busy for relationships and there were many opportunities but he longed for a one woman relationship to fill his life with.
She sighed a little and he could see she was waking up. He slipped out of bed to take a shower. After his shower, he saw she was still sleeping. He went up on deck to check out for any damage left by the storm. All was well and he returned to the cabin to find her stretching her arms and blinking the sleep out of her eyes. “Good morning,” he said.
She smiled at him and returned the greeting. She pulled the sheet up over her breasts because she was still a little shy. Jen was blushing and thought to herself, what must he think of me this morning? Our first date and I go to bed with him like a tramp! My god, what have I done? Can he still respect me? Last night was wonderful and I thought we bonded well. I will put on my best smile and tell him what a nice time I’m having.
“Todd,’ she said quietly and with a nice smile and eyes shining, ‘I’m having a wonderful time and I want it to continue for the rest of my life. For me, this was not a one night stand.”
He looked at her and down deep he knew she meant it. Now I must show her my true feelings as he said, “I never for a moment thought we were having a one night affair. I think we both are old enough to be frank with one another and last night for me was the most romantic time of my life. I too want our relationship to continue.”
Jen jumped out of bed and ran to him with tears in her eyes. He held her and buried his head into her sweet smelling hair and kissed her neck.
“I’ve already taken a shower and I have a few things to do on the boat before we set sail. There’s a nice little restaurant along the way that serves a really good omelet.”
He turned and went up the stairs to the deck. She went to the bathroom and looked into the mirror. “Mirror, what can I say, words are not enough to explain how I feel.” She brushed her teeth and jumped in the shower remembering how to take a boat shower.
She was just coming out of the shower when he came down the stairs. She moved to him and he took her in his arms and gave her a light kiss on the lips, telling her how good she tasted.
“Love the taste of toothpaste?’ she asked.
“If it is your mouth, I love the taste of it,” he said back to her.
He gave her a hug and no words were needed to express how both of them felt about each other.
He said, “Time to weigh anchor and set sail my love.” She was beaming with happiness and pride and followed him to the deck.
“Wow! What a beautiful day”. No trace of the storm was evident. “What can I do to help,” she asked.
“You can untie the mainsail and man the tiller while I pull up the anchor.”
“Aye, aye Capin.”
Soon they were under way headed for a restaurant across the bay not far from the yacht club. She told him she was going down to the cabin for a little while and would be back up soon. She went down and washed the dishes from the night before and made up the bed back into a table and bench. Went into the bathroom and cleaned the shower and sink. Changed back into the clothes she wore the day before, put on some lipstick, necklace and earrings. She didn’t comb her hair as the wind would only mess it up again. Put on her baseball hat and went up on the deck barefoot. The air was still cool, but the promise of a hot day was coming.
He said, “We have to be careful as we are crossing the lanes of traffic. Boats, especially sail boats don’t have very good brakes.”
It was still early Sunday morning, but there were lots of boats on the water. Finally they crossed without a mishap and pulled into the dock area of the restaurant. She jumped off with a tie line and he laughed at her trying to tie the boat up.
“Let me show you how to do this job,” as he jumped off the boat and ran up to her.
“It’s very simple, but if you didn’t know before, most people just tie a knot.”
He showed her the correct way to tie the boat up and then he placed the fenders over the side and tied up the back of the boat.
“Let me go change and I’ll be right with you.”
She waved at him and looked around at all the other boats tied up at the dock. Lots of money, she said to herself.
He came out of the cabin and jumped over the side, took her by the arm, gave her a quick kiss and a hug and said,
“Man am I hungry, this night boating makes a guy very hungry.”
She poked him in the ribs with her elbow and smiled up at him. They were greeted by the owner of the restaurant. Todd introduced Jen to Millie and they were led to a table for two by the window. The place was mostly full of early morning boaters and some locals. Millie came over with a pot of coffee and poured them both a cup of French Roast.
“Your special coffee Doctor,” she said with a big smile on her face. “Now, young lady, how did you meet up with our special regular patron? It’s about time he brought a nice girl here. We are tired of seeing him eating and sailing alone.”
Todd was embarrassed, but put a smile on his face and said to Millie, “I want one of your special crab omelets and how about you Jen?”
“I’ll have a cheese and mushroom omelet please with sour dough toast and strawberry jam.”
“Ok, it might take a few minutes as there are many customers today.”
“Take your time.” Todd said.
They were holding hands across the table as Millie walked away with a big smile on her face. Won’t be long till there's wedding bells, she said to herself. It was obvious to many looking at the young beautiful couple holding hands next to the window that they were in love. Some of the customers had envy on their faces, thinking back to when they were first in love with their wives.
Todd and Jen were not aware of people looking at them. They didn’t care who was watching them. They were in a world of their own. Millie walked by with the coffee pot and noticed neither of them had drunk any of the coffee she poured them.
Todd said to her, “I told you something of my family, now tell me some things about yours.”
She wanted to be open and frank with him. Not afraid to bare her soul. Nothing will be held back. She wanted to tell him everything: wants and desires of the future. A life that you only read about in fairy tale books, but she also knew that it wasn’t realistic. Jen knew life and she would work hard to be a good wife and mother. Her mother had raised the two of them to respect and appreciate what was given them. Her father was the greatest dad a daughter could have. She knew he wanted a son to throw the football around with, but he would be completely satisfied with a daughter. Today no son, but he had two daughters with whom he showered them with his love and affection.
Todd could tell she was thinking about what and how she was going to tell him about her family. He reached for his coffee and noticed it was cold. Wher
e did the time go? he said to himself. He waved to Millie and she came over smiling.
“Need a fresh cup of coffee Doctor,” smiling down at him with a twinkle in her eye.
“Yes, please, and I promise to drink the next one. You’re very kind Millie. You also have the best breakfast on the bay.”
“Thank you, you flatter me to no end.”
She took the two cups and went off to get new ones and pour them fresh coffee. Meanwhile, Jen was back from thinking and looked into his eyes and took a deep breath.
“Well, my father is forty-eight and is a doctor. Mother is two years younger and a homemaker. My twin sister is a model and living in France. We are identical twins. Her name is Jan. We are very close, as you can imagine. We both are graduates from Wesley University. I went on to advertising and she went to modeling school. We thought it too confusing if both of us were models. Besides I love my parents and wanted to stay home with them. Jan, on the other hand, had an itch to travel and live in France. She had met a guy from France and after modeling school, they moved into together. That relationship didn’t last long and now she lives with another model and she seems very happy. She will be home for Christmas. You can meet her then.”
“I work for an ad agency in upper Manhattan. Same company since I graduated. I usually work only about four hours a day. I have certain clients and take on no new ones. My father’s stockbroker invests my money. I have no idea what's going on with the stocks, but father says I’m doing well in real-estate and high tech stocks.”
“We live in a brown-stone house in the same area as I work. Not far to work, so don’t have a long commute. There's a nice park nearby where I run every morning before work. It’s very safe as there are lots of people out that time of morning. My father used to run with me, but lately he has gotten a little lazy. You didn’t ask me what is my dream. Well, I’ll tell you Mr. Todd, I want a husband and children. I want a husband who is kind, has patience and respects his wife’s wishes, and of course, loves kids. I don’t think that is a lot to ask for, do you?”
“Not in the least Jen,’ reaching for her hand. I have the same wants and desire as you and the sooner the better. I think we both agree we are made for each other.”
She nodded her head yes.
The omelets came and they began to eat with a hunger that was very pleasing to Millie. Not a word was spoken during the entire meal. Todd leaned back and put his napkin on the table and picked up his coffee and rubbed his stomach. They he sighed and said to Jen, “Man, was that good, I needed that. I feel like I could take on the world.”
Jen nodded her head, while finishing off a piece of toast with strawberry jam. She wiped her mouth and she too leaned back and took a drink of coffee. “Very nice, wonderful food and please excuse me, I must go to the ladies room.”
“Me too and I’ll meet you at the front door.”
After saying good bye to Millie, they returned to the Penny and cast off and set sail for the rest of the morning hugging the coast line looking at the beautiful homes. People were working in their yards and working on their boats. Many waved and Jen waved back with a smile that would melt an iceberg. Todd relaxed and enjoyed the scenery: his future wife! She had changed back into the blue shorts and a light blue halter top. He put sun-block on her back to protect her fair skin. He noticed on her top left shoulder a small mole. He leaned down and kissed it. She moaned a little and he continued to kiss her neck. “
“Want to go below?” he whispered in her ear.
“Who’s going to steer the boat?” she asked, laughing.
“You got a point there.”
He moved back to the till and she returned her sightseeing to the shoreline.
About noon, they returned to the dock and changed clothes. Todd talked to his guy and said to her, “My guy would secure the boat for him. He was very dependable and when he wanted to go sailing, he would call him and it would be ready to sail when he arrived.”
They talked to the valet and he radioed the parking lot and his car was brought up. He tipped them both generously and they got in and started to drive away. He pulled over and said, “I must call grandmother and tell her I’m, we, are coming for lunch.”
Jen was a little nervous about meeting his grandmother, but he assured her grandmother would love her to death. He talked to grandmother and said he would be there in about an hour or so. He didn’t tell her he was bringing a girlfriend. Thought it would be a nice surprise.
Sizzling Romance New York Style Page 4