Rebound Into Love

Ch. 1

Dante suddenly found himself standing in a huge field full of small yellow flowers. He had no recollection of how he came to be there. The brightness of the sun was almost blinding and he raised his hand to shield his eyes. He looked down—he was naked, standing on a dark blue blanket that hadn't been there a moment ago. He closed his eyes again and when he reopened them, he was laying propped up on his elbows in the center of the blanket. He recognized suddenly that he was no longer alone. "Lie back," he thought he heard a voice say. A woman, then. Lulu? He smiled as he complied with the voice's instructions. He was straddled but because of the sun's brightness, he still couldn't tell by whom. Dante began moving with the figure above him, sensations rushing through him as he was pushed to the peak of arousal. He opened his eyes again as he climaxed—he wanted to see his wife's face as they shared this moment. A movement above him caused a shadow to fall across his face. He came as he fully saw Valerie's face smiling down at him. What the hell?

Dante awoke with a jerking gasp. He looked over at his sleeping wife to see if he had disturbed her with his motions. Lulu was peacefully still beside him. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and slowly stood. Quietly he crept to the kitchen where he poured himself a glass of cold water. Dante blew out a breath as he held the cold glass to his forehead. Where the heck had that dream come from? As if he didn't know. Against his better judgement, his mind flashed back to his hands yanking, almost ripping Valerie's dress from her body. He glanced over at Lulu as he whispered, "Dante, man, you've gotta try to let that go." Easier said than done.

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Standing by the window of her room at Wyndemere, Valerie gazed out into the inky blackness of the night. She sighed as she spotted the few scattered lights in the distance. "Lonely and isolated, just like me," she thought before sighing again. She laughed ruefully. "Self-pity isn't a good look for you, Val," she admonished herself. Why exactly was she awake, staring out of the window at—she glanced at the clock on the dresser—two-fifteen in the morning? Valerie moved away from the window and sat on the edge of the bed. "Mom," she finally murmured, "I've really done it this time. You aren't gone two minutes, and I'm totally detonating my life. You won't believe what I've done this time; I'm almost ashamed to tell you. Your clever little girl slept with her cousin's husband. Yep, that's what I said. There were extenuating circumstances, true, but I did it all the same. And the bad part, Mom? The worst part? I'm not nearly as sorry as I should be. So there must be some other reason I'm staring out into the night, unable to sleep…" Valerie exhaled and fell back onto the bed as she closed her eyes and willed herself to empty her mind so she could rest.

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Lulu was dressing Rocco when Dante emerged from the bathroom after his shower. He was drying his hair with a towel as he walked into the bedroom/living room. "Hey, Babe," said Lulu, throwing a smiling glance at him while cooing at her son, "how'd you sleep?" "What do you mean, how did I sleep?" Lulu gave him a puzzled frown. "I mean, did you sleep well? It's just conversation, Dante. You know, like 'hey, how's it going? Sleep well?' What did you think I meant?"

"Sorry," Dante replied before brushing her cheek with a light kiss. "I was thinking about this case I'm working on, so I'm a little distracted. I didn't mean to snap at you. I slept fine. You?"

"I slept well, too," she answered. This strange, stilted conversation won't do, she thought. We can't seem to get our footing back after that big blowout. Or after the kiss. That I'm trying to forget about. Aloud, she and Dante spoke simultaneously. "What are your plans for today?" "What time will you be home tonight, do you think?"

Lulu responded first, "I'm dropping Rocco off at daycare and then I've got some invoices to look over and stock to order for the Star. I'll probably be there most of the day. What time are you coming home?" "I'm not exactly sure what time I'll be home. Sonny asked me to stop through, so I'll probably head over there for a minute after my shift. Who knows what he wants, but I'll try to get home at a decent hour. What's up?"

"I was thinking of taking Rocco to Maxie's after work tonight. I thought we could spend some alone time together, kind of regroup, you know?"

Dante finished getting dressed as he said, "I hear you and it sounds like a good idea, but is that fair to Rocco? We'll be away from him all day, and then to pawn him off on Maxie, I don't know. Maybe we should shoot for another night?"

"You have a point. Another night like when, though?"

"Let's sit down this weekend and figure something out, ok? I'd better get going, or I'm gonna be late." He approached the bed and gave Rocco a kiss. Lulu pursed her lips for her kiss, which Dante landed at the corner of her mouth. She gave him a disappointed frown which he didn't see as he turned away and walked towards the door. Lulu called out, "Aren't you forgetting something?" "What?" queried Dante as he began patting his pockets. "I love you, Dante," she said with a little laugh. "Oh yeah, sorry. Me too, Babe," he responded while walking out of the loft. He closed the door and leaned against the wall outside the apartment, sighing softly. "Something's got to give," he thought to himself. "This won't do at all."

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