“…And Then…I Kissed Her”
By: Jamie
Sommers
Email: jamiesommers23@hotmail.com
Rated: P/G 13 (for language)
Synopsis: Landon Carter just got sentenced to do the spring
play, but he needs help with his lines and Jamie Sullivan has agreed to help
him on one condition…he had to promise not to fall in love with her.
“Hi.” She was beautiful. No…more than beautiful…stunning…she took my breath away.
“Hi.”
We stood there
staring at one another until her father prompted me to give her the flowers,
“Landon? Did you want to stand there
with those all night or were you planning on giving them to Jamie?”
“Oh…oh yeah,” I
chuckled. “These are for you.”
“Thank
you.”
‘Oh God…there’s that sweet thank you. I could live the rest of my life listening to that soft sweet voice.’
“You’re
welcome.” I watched as she buried her
face in the flowers and looked up at me with those amazing eyes. “Um…should we get going?”
“Sure. Daddy?” She turned towards her father and
asked him to put the flowers in water for her then kissed him good night.
‘Lucky bastard.’
“We walked side
by side down the path until we reached my car, then I opened the door for her
and walked around to my side of the car.
‘Jamie, I hope I’m doing the right thing here tonight. I hope you like what I’ve got in store for
you.’
I made
reservations for dinner at a place my mom had suggested. It was sort of fancy, but comfortable. Nothing too extravagant. Jamie’s not really the extravagant
type. Our drive there was somewhat
quiet, both of us nervous, both of us unsure of what to say.
“Would you like
to…”
“Why don’t we…”
We both
laughed. “We sure have a habit of doing
that don’t we? Talking at the same time
I mean.”
“Yes, we do,”
she giggled. “What were you going to
say?”
“Oh…I was just
gonna say that if you want to turn the radio on you could. What were you going to say?”
I watched as
her smile lit up her face. “I was going
to suggest that we listen to some music.”
“Oh.” I paused
before saying, “This is crazy. I
mean…it’s just that…” I wasn’t sure what I was trying to say. For some reason I just couldn’t get the
thoughts from my mind to make their way to my voice box.
“I know what
you mean. It’s like…we’ve never had a
problem talking before and now…”
I parked the
car in the parking lot of the restaurant and said, “it’s like…things are
different now.”
She just looked
at me and said, “Yes Landon, they are.”
After a moment she confessed, “I’m glad I asked my father’s permission
to go out with you.”
“What? You asked your father’s permission?” I was a
bit confused at her admission.
“Uh huh…right before
I called you I asked him and I was really surprised at how quickly he said yes,
but for some reason he did.”
“Well, I may be
able to shed a little light on that.”
“What do you
mean?”
“I uh…I sort of
asked his permission too.”
“You did?”
“Yeah. That’s okay right? I mean that I asked him and all.”
“Yes,” she said
absently. “It’s more than okay.”
I walked around
the car and opened the door for her extending my hand to help her out of her
seated position. I fully expected her
to remove it when she stood up, but she didn’t. In fact she threaded her fingers through mine as though she had
done it a million times.
We both looked
down at our joined hands and smiled.
“Is it okay if I hold your hand?” she asked.
“Yeah. I’d like that.”
“Me too.”
I was lost, so
lost. Her eyes were sparkling. Her skin was glowing. Her hair blew gently
in the breeze and me? Well, I was so
much in love with this woman that I was having a very hard time breathing let
alone moving.
“Landon?”
“Huh?” I didn’t move. I just stood there holding her hand and smiling into her
eyes. Those beautiful eyes and those
lips…I wanted to kiss them…so damn much.
“I’m not sure
but I don’t think they’ll serve us if we don’t go to a table.”
“Oh…” ‘Dumb Landon. Very dumb.’ “Yeah, we
better go.”
We walked in
hand in hand as they led us to an outdoor area.
“I can’t
believe you asked my father’s permission.”
“It’s no big
deal…he was cool about it anyways.”
We sat down at
our table as the waiter asked us if we’d like a beverage.
“Sweet tea
please?”
“Make that
two.”
“This
restaurant’s really nice, are you sure this is okay?”
“Don’t even
worry about it, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Choose
whatever you want. So…what’ll it be?”
The waiter
returned with our drinks and gave us the nightly specials. I could see Jamie’s apprehension when she
listened to him recite them.
“…Frutte de
Mare which is a combination of various seafood selections in a light marina
sauce served over angel hair pasta for $24.95.
Duck ala Orange served with wild rice pilaf and steamed asparagus for
$22.95…”
Her eyes were
getting bigger as she listened and I knew she was feeling a bit guilty over the
cost of the entrées. The server stood diligently
waiting for our choices and kindly suggested, “Why don’t I give you a few
minutes to decide?”
“Thank
you. That would be great.”
The minute the
waiter was away from the table Jamie leaned over and whispered to me, “I
would’ve been happy with burgers and fries at the diner downtown.”
“I know that,
but I wanted to take you here.”
“But Landon…”
“Jamie, I
wanted to do this for you.
Please…just…” I sighed making every attempt to get her to relax. “Jamie, seriously…don’t worry about it. It’s okay.
Let me do this for you okay?” Looking down at the table I was shocked to
see her fingers threaded through mine. ‘When
did I hold her hand? I don’t know. All I do know is that it feels
good…right.’
“Are you sure?”
“I’m
positive.”
Without realizing
it, I lifted her silky smooth hand up to my lips placing a gentle kiss against
her fingers. ‘I hope that wasn’t a
mistake.’ The look on her face was
one that was difficult to read. I
didn’t know if she liked it or not.
“You okay?”
“Huh?”
“I asked if you
were okay.” ‘Maybe you moved a little too quickly for her Landon? This isn’t just any girl you know. Take it slow.’ I released her hand and laid it down on the table immediately
picking up my menu in order to ease the tension.
“Oh, um… Yeah. I’m fine, just unsure of what to order.”
“Well what do
you like?”
“Anything
really. I’m not too picky.”
“Great.” It was a relief to know that she was going
to try and enjoy herself. “Well let’s
take a look. How about Rack of Lamb?”
“Mmm…nuh uh.” I watched as she made the most adorable
gesture I’d ever seen. Her nose
squinted up and her head shook back and forth in a childlike motion.
“Okay. No lamb.
Duck ala Orange?”
“Uh…”
‘Obviously
not her entrée of choice.’ “Okay forget the duck. How about the Hasenpfeffer?”
“What’s that?”
“It’s rabbit
made with…”
“Oooh…I don’t
think so.”
“Veal Picatta?”
“Mmmm…no thank
you.”
‘I’m
starting to see a pattern here.’ “Let me guess…no cute
food?”
“Cute food?”
“Yeah. If it started off cute, you don’t eat it.”
“I guess I’m a
little more picky than I thought, huh?”
“That’s
okay. I don’t mind. All right.
Let’s stick with the ugly animals.
You got any objections to chicken?”
“No,” she
giggled.
“How does Cranberry
Harvest Stuffed Chicken Breast sound?”
“Sounds
perfect.” She bestowed upon me one of the most charming smiles I’d ever seen
just as our waiter walked back up to the table.
“Have you made
your decision?”
“I think we
have. Jamie? Uh…Jamie??” It was no
use. She was staring at something but I
couldn’t make it out. It looked like
she was looking at one of the waiters. ‘Maybe she knows him from church or
something.’ Well that’s what I
hoped anyway. ‘He’s kinda good
looking Landon. Maybe she…’
“It looks like
the young lady is entranced with our dessert selection,” our waiter chuckled.
‘Pheeeew…dessert
tray. Thank God. For a minute there I thought she was
entranced with the waiter.’ “Yeah. I guess she
is. Well I guess I’ll order for her.” I placed our order and watched as Jamie’s
eyes followed not the young, handsome waiter, but the tray he was holding. Her eyes never seemed to leave it.
“My favorite is
the peanut butter pie.”
“Huh??”
“I said my
favorite is the peanut butter pie.”
“Oh. I’m sorry.
It’s just that…”
“Don’t be
sorry. I enjoyed watching you.”
“Watching me?”
“Your eyes lit
up the minute he brought that tray into view.
It was…cute.”
“Cute? My drooling over dessert was cute? Well wait till you see me demolish one of
those chocolate things. You won’t think
I’m so cute anymore.”
We took
advantage of our time alone to get to know one another. Our likes, dislikes and
pretty much everything we could think of.
Her eyes glistened
as she described portions of her favorite movie, Shining Through. “That these two people could find love and
hold onto it through all of that chaos, not to mention the end when he saves
her…drags her over the border and then he…”
“Wait!! Don’t tell me! I just may want to see it someday you know.”
“Oh. Sorry.
I just get caught up in it sometimes.
I’ve seen it a hundred times at least.”
“Sounds like a
good movie.”
“Oh it is! It really is. You’ll have to see it sometime. Maybe… Maybe you’d like to come
over one night and watch it with me?”
“I’d love to…on
one condition.”
“What’s that?”
“You have to
come over to my place some night and watch my favorite movie.”
“Deal. Uh…what is your favorite movie?”
“The
Terminator. Talk about a great
flick. There’s violence, blood, guts
and…well…it’s a classic guy film.”
Her laughter
bubbled up from within her, “I wouldn’t expect anything less from you Landon.”
I thought about
the movie and how she might actually like it because of the love story between
the two lead characters when…“Now that I think about it…maybe we should pick a
different movie?”
“Why? I can watch ‘guy’ movies Landon.”
“Well yeah, but
this one…uh…I mean…I uh…”
“What?”
“I forgot that
there was a scene where…um…you know.”
“There’s a sex
scene?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh. Well in that case…maybe we should pick a
different movie.”
“How about the
Die Hard trilogy? Classic movies!! Bruce Willis kicks some serious as…butt and
now I’m gonna stop talking about movies before I put my other foot in my mouth
too.”
Her laughter
bubbled over as we continued to talk throughout the meal.
“…you had to
see the look on his face. It was
priceless. Then he says, ‘you’re really
messing with a robot’s groove.’ I wish
you had seen him. At the time I really
didn’t laugh, but now that I think back on it…”
“…he tried so hard to convince her that you
were the wrong choice. ‘But Miss.
Garber, even Landon says he’s naturally bad at it.’ Finally Sally says to him, ‘just give it up Eddie. It’s a lost cause.’ I couldn’t help but laugh when she said that
because not two hours earlier you were at my locker begging me to run lines
with you.”
“I wasn’t
begging you.”
She tilted her
head to the side as though she were saying, ‘yeah right Landon.’
“I wasn’t.”
“Mmmm
hmmm.” She crooked her head even more
and said in a singsong voice, “Doesn’t Eddie Zimmerhoff deserve the best.”
“Okay…so I was
begging you. BUT! It worked didn’t it?”
We laughed all throughout
the remainder of the meal until dessert arrived. ‘Well, guess I don’t exist anymore.’ I took a bite out of my cake and watched as she devoured her
peanut butter pie. ‘You’re wrong
Jamie. You’re still cute.’ I left
my dessert untouched opting to take in her innocent actions and childlike grin
as my after dinner treat. Our waiter
returned once again and Jamie reluctantly handed over her dessert plate
thanking him in that sweet voice of hers.
She looked
around and I watched as her eyes landed on the dance floor. ‘Please don’t ask me to dance. Please don’t ask me to dance. Please don’t ask me to…’
“Would you like
to dance?”
‘Shit!’
“Uh…sorry. I don’t dance.”
“Me neither, I
mean… not usually in front of anybody.”
‘Now what’re
ya gonna tell her? Hey, here’s a
thought. How about the truth.’
“Well, no, I mean I… I don’t, at all, as… as in… I can’t.”
“Everybody can
dance. Come on, you can’t be that bad.”
‘You’ve never seen me dance. There’s no way I’m dancing. No way on God’s green…’
“Please?”
‘Oh don’t do the puppy dog face…come on…not the pouty lip too.’
“For me?”
‘Son of a…’ I have no clue how she talked me into
it all I know is that one minute I’m letting my dinner settle and the next I’m
stepping on her toes.
“Oof!”
‘See what I
mean? Way to embarrass yourself Landon.’ “Sorry… told you I
was bad at this.”
“But in all
fairness you did warn me right?”
“That’s right.” I was
certain she thought I was some kind of dork or something, but she didn’t. She actually made a joke out of my inability
to dance and relaxed in my arms. I felt at
ease with her. Like we were really
getting to know each other. I thought
about what was in store for us in the night ahead and it made me wonder if I
could make her number one come true. ‘Probably,
but first you gotta find out what it is.’
“So… what’s number one on your list?
She shook her
head slowly back and forth and I knew I wasn’t going to get it out of her that
easily. So I decided to let her in on
my number one. Well, it was my number
two actually, but I didn’t think telling her that my number one was making all
of her dreams come true, appropriate first date conversation. “Okay… uh… number one on my list is getting
out of Beaufort.”
“Mmmm… I don’t
think getting out is gonna be your problem.
It’s more like figuring out what you’re going to do when you get
somewhere.”
“What do you
mean?”
“I mean you can
do anything.”
At first I
wasn’t quite sure what to make of her comment, but then she smiled at me like…like
she actually believed I was capable of achieving anything. I was stunned. No one, not even my mother ever believed in me that completely
before, yet she did.
“Landon? You okay?”
“Yeah. I was just thinking…we’ve got a long night
ahead of us and only a few hours to get it all in so…we should probably get
going.”
“Oh. You sure you’re not just trying to get out
of dancing?”
“Nope. Not at all.
It was my pleasure ruining your shoes this evening Miss. Sullivan.”
“Well, the
shoes aren’t the problem. It’s the toes
that are irreplaceable.”
##
“Thank you for
dinner Landon. It was delicious. I’ve never eaten in a place like that
before.”
“No. It was my pleasure. I’m just glad you liked it.”
“I loved
it. Especially the pie,” she said with
wagging eyebrows and a slight grin.
“Well next time
I’ll just take you to Marie Callendar’s for dinner.”
“Marie who?”
“Marie
Callendar. It’s a restaurant that
specializes in pies. We’ll start off
with her Peach Tarts as appetizers. For
dinner we can have the Dutch Apple Pie ala mode and for desert…”
“PEANUT BUTTER
PIE???”
“Actually I was
thinking we’d try the Heath Bar pie, but if you want to stick with peanut
butter…”
“NO! No.
Let’s try the heath…Landon?”
“Yeah.”
“Uh…why are we
at the school?”
“Oh,
well…you’ll see.” I parked the car in
the parking lot close to the field and we walked towards the baseball
diamond.
“Is there a
baseball game tonight?”
“Nope.”
“Then why are
the lights on? And why are we here?”
“I told
you…you’ll see.” I could sense the
anticipation bubbling from within her.
I turned to see her face when we got within viewing range of the
diamond. It was a mixture of excitement
and curiosity.
The baseball diamond
was completely empty but for an elderly man holding a bat, ball and glove on
the pitcher’s mound. “Landon. I wasn’t sure if you were still coming or
not.”
“Hey Lou,” We
walked directly up to him and I shook his hand. “I’d like you to meet Jamie.
Jamie this is…”
“Hello Mr.
Washington. How’s Mrs. Washington
doing?”
“Oh she’s doing
just fine Miss. Jamie. And how’s your
papa?”
“He’s fine
sir. Thank you for asking.”
“I take it you
two know each other.” ‘No wonder Lou
agreed so readily when I told him my plan.’
“Well yes. Mrs. Washington used to baby-sit me when I
was younger, but…how do you two know each other?”
“Oh…well…uh…”
“We worked
together for a bit when Mr. Landon here got sentenced to janitor jail.”
“Oh.”
“Lou here
showed me the ropes on the first day.”
I really didn’t want to get into the whole Clay Gephardt thing so I
immediately changed the topic. “So
Lou…do you have everything?”
“Yup. Most certainly do.” He bent down to retrieve
the bat and handed it to me.
“Great. Thanks Lou.”
“No
problem. Now I’m gonna make myself
scarce while you two play a little ball.
If you’ll excuse me Miss. Jamie.
Landon.” With a nod of his head
he disappeared.
She said her farewell
to him and then turned towards me and asked, “Do you always play baseball on
your dates?”
“Only if the
girl I’m dating has a dream of hitting a home run.”
“Oh
Landon.” Her eyes immediately filled
with tears.
“Now this is
supposed to be fun so no getting all…girly on me okay?”
“Okay.” She
grabbed a hold of the bat that I held out for her and said, “So what do I do?”
I walked her to
home plate and taught her how to take her stance. “Put one foot here and one foot here. Good. Now wrap your hands
around the bat…” Once I got her settled into a comfortable position I suggested
that she take a few practice swings.
“Oooof,” she
called out as she swung the bat and it went flying down the third base
line. “Whooops. Guess that wasn’t supposed to happen huh?”
“No,” I tried
not to laugh. “Let me help you out with
that.” I picked up the bat and watched
as she took her stance once again.
“Okay…now…uh…” I stood behind her and wrapped my arms around hers,
shadowing her form. My hands covered
hers and I whispered hoarsely, “Now…just…ahem…swing.” Her hair caught in the breeze and blew across my face. I was completely entranced by the scent, the
feel of it. ‘Jasmine. It smells like Jasmine.’ Just then she swung the bat in perfect form
and knocked me to the ground.
“Oh Landon! I’m
sorry!”
“No. Don’t be,” I stood up and dusted myself
off. “That was great. Now do it again without me helping.”
“Okay.” She began to talk to herself under her
breath, “Arms up, elbows out, bat just above the shoulder, feet apart, and………
Ooooof!”
‘There goes
the bat again.’ I jogged down towards third base and called
out as I made my way back, “If you can hit the ball as far as you can throw the
bat…hoooey…Mark McGuire watch out.” I
stood behind her again for a few more swings, only this time I didn’t lose my
train of thought in her hair. Okay…I did, but I didn’t fall this time. She seemed to be doing fine while I was
helping her, but it was when I stepped away that she would release the
bat. This time it flew directly towards
the opposing team’s dugout. “You know
what the problem is?”
“Well if I knew
that Landon, I wouldn’t be throwing the bat now would I?” She chuckled.
“Yeah I
guess.” I ran my hands down my thighs
attempting to dry my sweaty palms and said, “You don’t have a shimmy.”
“A shimmy?”
“Yeah…you
know. A shimmy. All the great ones do. Here,” I took the bat from her and said,
“you go over there and I’ll show you.”
I began to wiggle my hips and twist my feet into the dirt in a classic baseball
pose. “A shiii…meeeee” I swung
with all my might and I must admit, even I was impressed with my form.
“Mmmkay,” she
said with a serious face. “I think I’ve
got it now.”
“So…you think
you’re ready to swing at a few?”
“Yup.” Her look of concentration reminded me of the
day I asked her out. The
seriousness. It was as though all of
her thoughts were focused on the task at hand.
“Let’s do this.”
I walked to the
pitcher’s mound and picked up the ball and glove. Turning towards her I was just about to call out to her, but I
stopped dead in my tracks and smiled.
She was talking to herself and then… ‘Holy… Now that’s a shimmy.’ “Okay.
Here we go.” I threw some balls
to her and she missed more than she hit, but she had fun. We both did. We laughed and joked and on more than one occasion I had to jog
down the third base line for the bat, but all in all it was a good time.
“You two almost
finished up?” We heard Lou’s call from
the opened gate.
“Oh, sure
Lou. We’re done here.” Lou had done me a huge favor by setting all
of this up and I didn’t want to take advantage of his generosity. “Thanks…”
I began walking
towards home plate when I heard Jamie’s protest, “NO! Not yet Landon.
Please? Just one more? Please?”
“Do you mind
Lou?” I asked him with pleading eyes.
“Nah,” he said
with a wave of his hand. “In fact…why
don’t you take two Miss. Jamie?” He
settled back against the fence and watched her. I could see him try to cover his laughter when she did her
ritual.
She talked to
herself for a few seconds, did her shimmy and then she’d nod her approval for
me to pitch to her. Only this time she
took a while longer when she had that internal conversation with herself. She seemed to be talking to herself forever
and just when I thought I was going to lose my train of thought by watching her
wiggle she nodded a slow and steady nod.
I pitched the ball to her and saw her squint her eyes closed and swing
with all of her might. The resounding
crack caused her to open up her eyes and we all watched as the ball soared into
the air down none other than the third base line. ‘Holy cow, it’s going into the outfield.’ We watched the
ball start to flounder towards the outside of the foul pole when I began to
chant. “Go fair…go fair…go fair…NO!” ‘There’s
no way in hell that…hey…God?
Please. Please let it go fai…’
it was at that very moment that one of those nor easterners that North Carolina
was famous for blew in and we all three watched her ball not only miss the foul
post but soar just over the fence.
“Holy…”
In the distance
I heard a silent, “I did it.” Then it
progressively got louder, “I did it! I
DID IT!! I DID IT!!!”
Lou began to
make a whooping noise just as I screamed out in delight, “Run your bases
Jamie! Run your bases.”
She began her
trek in a quick and hurried pace but once she touched first base she slowed
down to a steady gallop. Her smile lit
up the night sky and I could see the reflection of tears on her cheeks. I stood on the pitcher’s mound and watched
her round the bases in glee. When she
got to home plate she threw her head back and jumped with both her feet onto it
while letting out a joyous, “YES!! Number 34!!!!!”
Her head was
still thrown back when I arrived at home plate to meet her. Replete laughter echoed from her throat up
to the heavens. “You did it!”
“I did
it!” She finally lowered her head to
face me. “I did it.” She stepped closer
towards me and took a hold of my hand, “thank you Landon. Thank you.”
‘Jamie, I
love you.’ I could hear it’s resounding cry through my
head, but my lips didn’t seem to move.
“Thank you,”
she continued. Turning towards Lou she
said, “Thank you so much for doing this Mr. Washington. I don’t know how I’ll ever thank you…either
one of you. This was just about the
greatest moment…” she trailed off and I could tell she was getting choked up
again. “Mr. Washington? Would you mind if I used the restroom to get
cleaned up?”
“Not at
all. Come with me Miss. Jamie. I’ll let
you in.”
I stood by the
car waiting for her. In the distance I could see her speaking to Lou and then
turning towards me. She stood with him
for a few minutes then lifted up on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek.
‘Lucky
bastard. Is everybody getting one of
those tonight but me?’
“Hey.”
“Hey. You ready for the next part of our date?”
“You mean
there’s more?” she asked in utter surprise.
“Of course
there’s more. You didn’t think this was
it, did you?”
We had a long
drive ahead of us and I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to keep her occupied the
entire time. I knew that she would
start questioning me once we had been in the car for a while so I tried to keep
her mind occupied with conversation.
“Boy I couldn’t
believe it when that ball flew over the fence.
I mean…wow.”
“Impressive
aren’t I?” She giggled. “Honestly I couldn’t believe it myself. I never in a million years thought I was
capable of anything like that.”
“Geez, I’m
not capable of anything like that. It
was really impressive.”
“Well I had a
good teacher.”
“So…can I ask
you something?”
“Sure.”
“What’s your
number one?”
She laughed and
said, “You don’t give up very easily do you?”
“Nope. If I had then I’d be making this drive on my
own.”
“Where are we
going anyway?”
“What’s your
number one?”
“Oooooh…that’s
blackmail.”
“Nope, that’s
bargaining.”
“Well I’m not
gonna tell so you might as well just give in and let me know where we’re
going?”
“Nope.”
“Come on.”
“So…how about
those Yankees?”
“You’re
incorrigible, you know that?”
“So I’ve been
told.”
I was sure she
had given up on the interrogation but then she casually asked me again, “Where
are we going?”
“Just hold on…
you’ll see.” We drove for about ten
more miles and then, ‘we’re here.’
I jumped out of the car and practically ran to her side of it. “C’mon, c’mon, c’mon, let’s go.” I grabbed her hand and started running with
her in tow.
“Where are we
going?”
“Run!” We stopped in the middle of the road and I said, “Okay… uh, stand there.”
“All right.”
“Put one foot
there, and one foot there.” I pointed to the specific spots in the road.
“Okay. You’re
acting like a crazy person, what’s going on?”
‘She’s doing
it.’ “Okay, right now, you’re straddling the
state line.”
“Okay…?”
‘You don’t
get it do you Jamie? Let me explain.’
I turned and pointed towards the sign that said, Welcome to
Virginia. “You’re in two places at
once.”
It took her a
moment before the realization hit her.
Her smile matched the one she had earlier when she landed on home plate
only this time she didn’t jump onto a base; she catapulted herself into my
arms. “Ahhhhhhh…” I lifted her up and spun her around in a
circle before setting her down directly in front of me. We wore matching smiles as our fingers
linked. I rested my forehead against
hers and looked into her eyes.
“Landon,” she
whispered. “I don’t know what to
say…” She pulled her head away from
mine and put her arms around me in a close embrace. The hair on the back of my neck stirred as she sighed against my
ear, “Thank you Landon. Tonight’s been the
best date I’ve ever had.”
##
I looked at my
watch as we got into the car and realized that we still had about an hour and a
half before she had to be home. ‘Just
enough time to do this next thing and I know just where to do it.’
“So…where to now?”
“Nuh uh. Not telling.”
“Oh no
Landon. Now what??” She faced forward and then turned quickly
towards me causing her hair to whip around into her face. Strands of it got caught in her mouth and my
fingers instinctively reached towards her lips brushing the tendrils away.
‘Jamie. Oh God I want to kiss you so badly. Do you have any idea what it is I’m feeling right now? How badly I want to…’
“…not gonna
take me to a tattoo parlor are you?”
Her laughter brought me out of my reverie.
“No,” I shook
my head. “Your father would kill me if
I did that.”
I drove back
toward Beaufort to the dock where my family used to go fishing when I was a
kid. I parked the car in the middle of
the parking lot, intent of finishing up the last of my surprises for her.
“Uh…Landon? Why are we stopping?” Her eyes were going
through varied emotions. Scared, timid,
questioning, excited, but never untrusting.
“Well there’s
one more thing I want to check off of your list for you before the night is
through.” I reached into the glove
compartment and pulled out the assortment of temporary tattoos.
There were some
women in this world that were meant to wear tattoos and other’s that just made
them look…well…cheap, but Jamie… I knew that hers would be perfect on her. It needed to be something that radiated
innocence as well as happiness. I held the various choices in my hand at the
store and knew, just knew which one it should be. It had to be.
Butterfly. In my head, I could
see it’s soft and colorful wings spread out across her shoulder blade and hoped
with all my might that she would see that in her mind too. “Okay…butterfly, rosebud orrrrrr…star.”
She shook her
head and replied, “you choose.”
‘I was
hoping you’d say that.’ Without a moment’s hesitation I said,
“Butterfly.” I put the others down and
asked her nervously, “Soooo…where do you want it?”
I watched, as
she looked her body up and down with a flirtatious pout, trying to determine
the perfect spot for it. In a way I
desperately wanted her to choose the spot that she did, but in another way, I
wanted her to avoid it. When she
whispered, “here” and pulled her dress sleeve down to reveal a flawless
shoulder, my mind started going into overdrive.
‘You have no
clue how sexy you are do you Jamie? Don’t think about it Landon.
Just think about the tattoo.
Yeah… the tattoo on her bare shoulder.
God, if you’re up there, please help me out here.’
I pulled the plastic film off and laid the application against her
smooth skin.
For Mother’s
Day last year I had bought my mom a dozen roses and a few of the petals fell
off in the front seat of my car. When I
picked them up to toss them into the trash I felt the silky texture of them and
thought to myself that it was probably the softest surface I’d ever feel. Silky…smooth. I was wrong. ‘Rose
petals pale in comparison to your skin Jamie.’
I pressed the
wet napkin against the paper appliqué and made every attempt to count to thirty
in my head like the directions said, but it was no use. Our eyes met over her bare shoulder, our
lips lifted in a gentle smile and my mind screamed out for the hundredth time
that night, ‘I love you.’ I
tried counting again, ‘17…22…19…awww screw it…30.’ I pealed away the corner of the paper to
reveal the tattoo it left behind. I
couldn’t say a word; all I could do was stare at the blues and reds of the
butterfly’s wings fluttering across her porcelain skin.
I leaned down
to place a kiss against the tattoo that I had just applied and at the last
minute chickened out, opting to blow against it instead. This insatiable feeling, a desperate need to
touch her, to feel the warmth of her skin underneath my own, consumed me. My hand ran down her back, fingertips
trailing lightly against the smooth surface.
My heart was racing as our eyes locked onto one another’s. Once again she blessed me with her beautiful
smile and I knew that this feeling going through me wasn’t just your run of the
mill high school infatuation. I was
completely in love with her. I loved
her so much it hurt inside. There was
an ache in the pit of my stomach that had been there since the day I saw her
sleeping on her porch swing when we were running lines together. I tried to no end to snap out of this spell
we were under telling myself, ‘you shouldn’t be doing this Landon. You shouldn’t be touching her this way. Yeah, and she shouldn’t be looking at you
this way either. Oh Jamie please stop
looking at me like that. Those
eyes. God. Those eyes and those lips.
So full, pink… Just kiss her Landon.
No. No. If I do that then she’s gonna think that’s
what I had planned all along. To get her
in my car and just…just…no. Fine then
if you’re not going to kiss her you definitely need to get out of this
car.’ “You wanna take a walk?”
After the briefest hesitation she whispered, “Yes.”
We got out and
walked hand in hand down the wooden boardwalk.
“When I was five or six my family used come here and we’d go fishing off
the docks. Sometimes we’d rent a boat and
go out for the whole day…” I trailed off, lost in memories of happier times.
“It’s
beautiful. Sometimes I wish I had
opportunities to do things like that with my parents but…”
“Yeah. I guess it’s hard for you huh? I mean with
your mom being gone and all.”
“Sometimes, but
then other times I think that this is the way God planned it so there must be a
reason for it.”
“You really
believe that don’t you? That God lays
out some sort of path or something?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Hmmmm…”
“How can you
see places like this, have moments like this… and not believe?”
“You’re lucky
to be so sure.”
“It’s like the
wind, I can’t see it… but I feel it.”
“What do you
feel?”
“I feel wonder
and beauty. Joy. Love.
I mean…” her eyes were glowing brightly, I could see the excitement within
them as she said, “It's the center of everything."
As I looked at
her I wondered if her skin felt as soft as it looked. Could she tell that I was
in love with her? Did she know? I needed to tell her. I needed to feel her. I
needed to… “I might kiss you.”
“I might be bad
at it.” Did she really believe that?
“That’s not
possible.” I stepped closer towards her and lifted my hand to cup her
cheek. Our heads moved in one slow
fluid motion, our lips joined. 'So
soft...Jamie...' Her lips were so delicate, full. ‘Those lips... I’ve
never tasted anything so sweet.’ The flavor of chocolate and something else
lingered on them. I could tell she was holding her breath, she didn't know what
to do, I wanted so badly to tell her, just open up to me Jamie. Please let me
in, but it was too soon. ‘Jamie…I love you.
I love you.’ I knew the moment I pulled away that I had to tell her.
"Jamie." 'Just say it Landon. Tell her. You know you want to.'
I felt the slight smile creep up on my lips as I told her, "I love you."
'Please say it back. Please say it back.'
My admission of love was met with silence and an uneasy feeling
tingled up my spine. “Now would be the
time to say something.”
“I told you not
to fall in love with me.”
I didn’t
understand what she was getting at, but then it came to me. So many obstacles were in our path. Her father, my friends. Would this love I felt be strong enough to carry
us through? At that very moment I was
convinced that it would be. I loved her
enough for the both of us. She didn’t
have to say anything for me to know that she felt something more than just
friendship for me too. I leaned in and
kissed her again. First her lips, then
her forehead.
Our fingers
clasped and our foreheads pressed against each other’s. “Landon…” she whispered. “I’m scared.”
“Of what?”
She just looked
at me with tears spilling over her eyelids onto her cheeks shaking her head
slowly from side to side.
“Jamie, I
promise I’ll never hurt you. I’ll never
leave you. I love you. I mean it. I…”
“Shhh…” she
pulled her tear-streaked face back and laid her fingers against my lips to stop
me from speaking, but I kissed them instead.
I lifted my
hand up to take hers away from my mouth and we just looked at each other. I placed a light kiss against her forehead
again as we stood within each other’s space. Her knees bumped my own as I let
my lips linger against her brow. 'I want to kiss you again, so damn badly.'
I had to. I couldn't help it, I just needed to feel her press her lips against
mine. I needed to be close to her. 'You'll
have the rest of your life to kiss her Landon.' I knew this to be true.
Deep within my heart I knew, I would spend my life...my after life loving her,
cherishing her...kissing her. My lips were still lingering across her forehead
and in that one kiss, that one little kiss; I suddenly felt...beauty, joy,
wonder...love. 'She's the center of everything.' I let my hands wander
up to cradle her face...and then...I kissed her.
The End (WOW! Sniff, sniff. It’s over L )