Lightning
A/N: I'm sorry it took me a little while to update these last two chapters. I had a lot of work and then I started reading this really good book, pretty much, I got distracted, but I'm back. I will be updating until next Saturday (the 19th I believe) then I will be unable to update for a week, then I'll be back for a bit, and I don't know if I will be able to update in July, but I will try. I am a very busy person. Sorry. I just thought I'd let you folks in on my schedule. I plan for this to be a rather long story, but it may take a while for me to get it all finished. Please bear with me.
Chapter Six: A Royal Meal
Tade's car stopped outside of Rory's dorm. He was nervous. He would deny it until his dying day, but this girl made him nervous. He threw a glance to the trunk where he had gathered supplies for their evening. Everything was there. It was 7:11. He knew to be late enough for her to get ready, but not so late that he was rude. One should never be rude, he heard his mother say in his mind. With that he stepped out of his car, closed the door behind him, opened the door to the building (making sure to hold it for the girl behind him), walked to the first door on the left, took a breath, checked his fly, and knocked. After some muffled shouts the door flew opened and he was met with the sight of a visibly perturbed, yet ever so slightly surprised, blonde girl.
"She'll be right out." Paris said recovering from her surprise. Rory hadn't told her anything about this man. All she knew was that Rory was very excited and was getting on her nerves. Needless to say, the man on the other side of the door was not how she imagined. She let herself give one more glance in his direction before walking back to the couch and opening her book.
After feeling a brief rush of confusion he took a tender step through the opened door. He stood there, looking around, feeling jitters inside, but only displaying a calm exterior. After another moment he decided that he couldn't handle the silence anymore.
"I'm Tade." He said in Paris's direction.
"Paris." She said without looking up.
"Nice to meet you. I lived there for a while. In Paris, that is." He said with a faltering smile.
"That's great." She said without even offering fake interest.
"What are you reading?" he asked.
"Can't handle silence can you? You'll work well with Rory, but right now I'm trying to read. And to answer your question: I'm reading White Noise by Don DeLillo." She responded with finality.
"I read that a few months ago." She looked up at him with skepticism. "Which is ironic because the whole book is a satire of mass culture, when it seems that the book itself has become just another factor of mass culture." He said mostly to himself at this point. He didn't notice the flicker of a smile that sped across Paris's face.
Meanwhile, Rory was rushing around her room trying to find her cell phone. After getting dressed she had sat down to read a little and didn't realize what time it was until she heard the knock at the door. Suddenly, she caught sight of the silver corner of her cell phone sticking out from underneath her bed. She grabbed it, put it in her bag with the book she was reading, threw in her wallet, some lip gloss, and a box of tic-tacs. She walked to the door, put her hand on the knob, checked to make sure her skirt was straight, and opened the door.
Tade looked up when he heard the door open. A grin spread across his glowing face when he saw her. Their smiling eyes met. Lightning. She felt like she had just been wrapped in a down comforter. Their smiling reverie was broken by the sound of Paris clearing her throat.
"Oh, sorry. Paris, Tade. Tade, Paris." Rory made hasty introductions.
"We met. I just thought I would stir you two from your haze before you drooled on the floor. That could be a safety hazard." Paris said turning back to her book.
"We should get going." Tade said to a blushing Rory. "It was a pleasure meeting you Paris." He added as he held the door open for Rory.
"Have fun." Paris said with mock enthusiasm although she sincerely meant it.
Outside the room, Rory was about to excuse her roommate's behavior when Tade interjected into her thoughts, "I'm sure she's not as bad as she seems." He said this as he opened the door leading outside for Rory. He was amazing.
"She's really a good person, not one for pleasantries, but she's a good friend when you need one." She explained with a smile as she walked outside ahead of him. She was amazing. He walked straight to his car, opened the passenger side door, and looked back to Rory to see her staring in wonder.
"Is there a problem?" he asked slightly worried.
"This is your car?" she asked ignoring his question and instead focusing on his black, 1957 corvette with red gills and red leather interior. (A/N: if you don't know what this car looks like, I suggest you google it because it is beautiful.)
"Yes. Is it ok? Don't worry, I had seatbelts installed and the engine is in perfect condition." He rambled as the smile on Rory's face got significantly larger.
"Don't worry. I just forgot that a prince would naturally have an astonishing car." She said walking over to the passenger side where Tade was still holding the door open for her.
"Oh. Well, if you're gonna be a prince, why not get a hot car as well?" He said with a smile and a shrug after shutting the passenger door with Rory safely inside.
"That's what I always say." Rory joked as Tade got into the drivers seat and started up the car.
They drove for a few minutes in relative silence except for the purr of the engine and the roar of the wind against their faces. They both had broad smiles on their faces that the wind helped to hold in place. Rory needed to hear his voice again though. "So, where are we going?" she asked.
"I don't really know." Tade replied, turning his smile towards Rory, but keeping his eyes on the road because he knew that if he let himself look at her, even for a moment, he would not be able to look away again.
"Oh." Rory stated. Her mind quickly whipped back to Luke's help earlier. She would have to thank him again next time she went home.
"I mean I have a general idea, but nothing definite. I'm not really the best planner." He admitted.
"Some would call that spontaneity." Rory smiled.
"Well, that may be, but my mother always called it being unprepared." He said.
"Well my mother, who fancies herself the queen of spontaneity, thinks it is one of the most important virtues in a person, and one that she did not pass on to me. I always need to plan and make lists and stuff. She, however, will pick up the night before her wedding and go for a random road trip." She explained.
"Wow. I guess she is the queen. I guess I'll have to settle for being prince." He joked.
Rory smiled at him and turned her eyes back to the passing trees that were beginning to change to different autumn hues. Tade reached his right arm out and turned on the CD player. As the sound of violins filled the car and the air around it, he reached behind his seat to a hidden cooler from which he retrieved two glass bottles of coke. He opened the first one on the dashboard and handed it to Rory as he began to sing along with Frank Sinatra.
"Fairy tales can come true, it can happen to you
If you're young at heart.
For it's hard, you will find, to be narrow of mind
If you're young at heart.
You can go to extremes with impossible schemes
You can laugh when your dreams fall apart at the seams.
And life gets more exciting with each passing day
And love is either in your heart or on its way.
Don't you know that it's worth every treasure on earth
To be young at heart.
For as rich as you are it's much better by far
To be young at heart.
And if you should survive to a hundred and five,
Look at all you'll derive out of being alive.
And here is the best part, you had a head start
If you are among the very young at heart." As the musical interlude broke in he let his eyes meet Rory's and he saw a look of awe inspired happiness. He smiled at this and took a sip of his coke.
Rory had never heard anyone sing as beautifully as Tade. His voice was loud and articulate, yet husky with a sex appeal embedded under every curl of his tongue. Even Frank would have been blown away. At every turn he amazed her more and more.
"And if you should survive to a hundred and five
Look at all you'll derive out of being alive.
And here is the best part, you'll have a head start
If you are among the very young at heart." Tade reached his hand out and turned down the volume on the radio as he turned the car on to a side road.
"That was beautiful." Rory said before realizing how dumb it sounded.
"Thank you." He replied somewhat embarrassed. "Sometimes I get a little caught up in the music." He explained in a humble tone.
"Well it was lovely. Feel free to get caught in the music as often as possible. Do you study music at all?" she asked.
"No. My mother made me take the piano when I was younger, but that didn't last long, then I taught myself to play the guitar, but I've never had voice lessons." He responded.
"Well, do you at least use this talent for anything?" she asked rather intrigued.
"Some of my siblings and I hold an annual concert at home to raise money for the nation's orphanages and on occasion I sing at some clubs in New York." He answered.
"Absolutely amazing." Rory exclaimed, mostly to herself, before noticing that the car had slowed significantly and they were pulling up to the picturesque edge of a rocky hill overlooking the ocean. "Oh, wow." She breathed.
"I'll take that as a good sign. I suppose having no definite plan pays off." He said with a smile as he turned off the engine, but left the CD player on at a very low volume so that light streams of jazz intermingled with the sound of the waves crashing against rocks.
"Oh come on. You must have put at least a little planning into this." She said gesturing her hand to take in their surroundings.
"Well, I had an idea. Sometimes these ideas pan out and sometimes they fail." He explained with a smile.
"I see." She said with a smirk. "Do you often come up with extremely romantic ideas?" she asked.
"Occasionally, but I have many ideas that are not devoted to romance." He answered, taking another swig of coke.
"Really? What other types of ideas do you have?" she asked with her smirk still in place.
"Well, I have been known to create a damn fine Royal Meal." He said quickly getting out of the car and going to the trunk.
Rory watched from her seat as Tade pulled two large, brown, paper bags and a box of pizza out of the trunk. He gripped the two bags with his left arm, balanced the pizza box in his right hand, and closed the trunk with his right elbow. He laid the pizza on top of the trunk and began to take things out of the bags. He placed three Chinese food cartons, two cheeseburgers, and a bag of French fries beside the pizza. This was the perfect feast.
"I didn't know what you like so I just got everything." He explained while getting back into the drivers seat but rotating his body so as to face Rory.
"I like everything. This is wonderful." She said with a wide-eyed smile.
"So far I'm two for two in the successful idea department. Nice." He mockingly congratulated himself. "Alright let's dig in. I'm starving. I forgot to eat lunch today and now it's coming back to bite me in the ass." He said opening the pizza box and offering Rory a slice before taking his own.
"How can you forget to eat?" she asked incredulously as she took a bite of her pizza.
"I was painting and before I knew it I had to get ready for this." He said with a sweep of his hand.
"You paint?" she asked before she realized that it was a redundant question.
"Yeah, you know, every now and then. I was painting a mural on one of those walls in my room. They were just so empty that I couldn't stand it." He said with a shrug.
"What did you paint?" she asked.
"Rain." He answered with a grin. They continued to eat without saying anything for a minute before he had to hear her voice again. "Tell me something about yourself that very few people know." He said before he could change his mind about this request.
"I can't eat tic-tacs in odd numbers." She answered quickly while popping a French fry in her smiling mouth. "Now you." She ordered.
"I don't wear underwear." He replied and then mentally slapped himself until he noticed Rory's eyes unconsciously fly to his lap. "I saw that." He said with a smirk.
"What?" she asked with blushing cheeks although she already knew what he was referring to.
"The crotch glance. I saw it. I'm flattered." He said with a blushing smile of his own as he reached for the coke he had balanced on the dashboard.
"Well, you caught me off guard. I'm here talking about tic-tacs and suddenly you mention your underwear or lack there of. My eyes are going to dart places." She rambled until her words were cut off by Tade's thumb grazing her lips.
"Don't worry about it." He whispered. They smiled at each other and returned to their food for a moment before a question popped into Rory's head.
"So tell me about some of your failed ideas." She requested with twinkling eyes.
"Oh, there were so many I don't even know where to begin. I suppose my favorite failure was when I was fifteen. My mother had just moved to London and she wanted me to live with her there so she enrolled me in this horrific school right out of a Dickens novel. After three weeks I had had enough so I high-jacked a third grade class and a few members of the orchestra and took them to the roof." He started.
"That sounds creepy." She interjected.
"Yeah, I would think so too. It just shows how bad this school was that they would rather follow some strange kid to the roof than go to class. Anyway, I get them all up there and after a moment of telling them my idea we hook up the amps and start to play Pink Flyod's "Another Brick In The Wall" thus disturbing all classes in the building and a few of the surrounding buildings. It made the evening news." He explained.
"How would that count as a failure?" she asked in amazement.
"I didn't get kicked out of school. The next day I left my mother a note and got on a plane to New York." He said.
"Awesome." She let slip from her mouth. "What did you do when you got to New York?" she asked.
"I went to go live with my brother Essien and his boyfriend, Mark. They run a really successful salon and spa thing and they live in this great apartment in SoHo and they just let me stay.
"How did your mother react?" she asked.
"She was surprisingly understanding. Her only condition was that I had to go to a private school of her choice and call her every day." He finished.
"Wow." She breathed.
"It was rather cool. I'm sure you've done some spontaneous things." He coaxed.
"The only unplanned thing I ever did was to cut school and get on a bus to New York to chase after a boy I was in love with." She said this without a flicker of remorse. "I ended up missing my mother's graduation from business school and felt like crap for a long time after." She ended.
"Did you at least get what you went for?" he asked not really wanting the answer.
"Yeah, he came back, but it took us another year to get together because I was dating another guy. In the ended, the original boyfriend got married to some girl and the New York boy ran off to California without a word of goodbye. Spontaneous doesn't really work for me." She stated. From the finality in her voice he knew that she didn't still have feelings for these people so he didn't press the matter.
"You know we were probably in New York at the same time." He said as he finished the cheeseburger he had been eating. They both paused to think about this. They could have met years before. Would that have really made a difference?
"I keep forgetting that we just met." She said without realizing that he might not know what she was talking about. But he did. Their minds had followed the same train of though.
"I know. I feel like I've known you forever." He said with a grin. "Yet you're still a mystery to me." He added.
"Oh Really?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. "You can ask me anything you want and I'll answer." She said before realizing that this might be a bad idea. "If you'll do the same." She quickly added.
"Alright, ladies first." He said pulling his legs into a crossed position.
"What are the names and ages of all your siblings?" she asked. She would start off simple.
"That's a simple one. Alright, let's see. My oldest brother is Akia. He's thirty-five. Then there's my sister Kamilah who's thirty-four. Then my sister Layla who's thirty-two. Then my brother Azizi, who's thirty. My sister Zahra who's twenty-nine. Then Essien is tenty-seven. Then my brothers Thembi and Dinari who are twenty-five. And then my brother Nyack who's twenty-four." He listed.
"How old are you?" she asked.
"Although it is my turn to ask a question I will be a gentleman and answer you. I am twenty-one." When he saw the slight look of confusion on Rory's face he added, "I took a year off before college to live with Layla and her eleven year-old son, Tarek in Paris." A smirk crossed his face. "Now it's my turn. Let's see. You have no siblings. You live with your mother in Hicksville. You've had at least two serious boyfriends. Have you had other boyfriends?" he asked.
"No." she answered very relieved that it was an easy question. "You get another question." She added bravely.
"True. But I'll answer my own question first. Just so we're on the same page. I had a very serious girlfriend before I moved to London, but after I moved we lost touch for a while and the next time I saw her the sparks had gone. And I had a girlfriend in New York, but she turned out to be a big bitch." He said matter-of-factly. "Alright, it's time for the question. You know what it is and I feel like a dick for asking it, but if I don't I feel like you won't and then we'll never know. How many people have you had sex with?" he blurted. He assumed she'd had sex. It seemed that everyone had had sex by the time they were twenty these days. He knew he shouldn't assume, but he couldn't help it.
"None." She answered blushing.
"What?" he asked. He was slightly confused.
"I'm a virgin." She said very quietly with red cheeks.
"Oh." He knew he shouldn't assume things. Rory did look like a very pure girl, but he thought he might have been making it up. He felt an uncontrolled smile form on his lips as he looked at her in a new light. "That's nice." He kicked himself for sounding like a creep.
"It's stupid. I'm going on twenty and I just never got around to having sex. I probably should have just gotten it over with when I was in high school." She though aloud.
"Believe me, that would be a bad idea. I had sex way too early and it was awful. My girlfriend from back home and I had sex before I left for London and it sucked and I haven't had sex since." He explained without sounding patronizing. "Ok. You're turn." He added.
"Hm. I know about your parents and your siblings and your no underwear thing and the sex thing. So, do you believe in God?" she had no idea where that question came from.
"No." he answered. "I've seen to much to believe that one being created it all. You can't be an intelligent person and still believe in God." He stated.
"I don't believe in God either. It doesn't make sense. Because he either created humans to live their lives without thinking about him, and if that's the case, he failed. Or he created humans to worship him, and if that's the case, he failed there too. But God can't fail, so he can't actually exist." She rambled. "Do you know what I mean?" she asked.
"Yeah, I do." He answered.
"Your turn." She said.
"What do you want to be when you grow up?" he asked.
"Ever since I was thirteen I wanted to be a foreign correspondent, but I'm not really sure. I definitely want to write and I definitely want to travel, so foreign correspondence sounds like the perfect thing, but it can also be dangerous and I'm not really one for danger." She explained. "How about you?" she asked.
"Well, I don't have to worry about money so I'm really lucky that I can be whatever I want, but I'm not exactly sure I know what that is. I guess I want to find someone I love, live happily ever after, and have the option of writing, and painting, and singing. That sounds perfect to me." He said with a smile. "That sounds sort of like I want to become a househusband, but I really just want to be happy and I feel like once I accomplish that, everything else will work out just fine." He explained.
"That sounds nice." Was all she could think to say. He sounded so innocent when he said this.
"Your turn." He smiled.
"What's your favorite color?" she asked with a grin.
"White. I know that's not a color, but I love white because it is just the beginning. White doesn't have to stay white and it rarely does." He rationalized. "What's yours?" he asked.
"Blue. I have no profound reason for liking it. I guess it just reminds me of myself, which doesn't make sense, but I just feel most like myself when I'm around the color blue." She clarified. "Your turn." She added.
"What's your favorite word?" he asked.
"That's a hard one." She said.
"No it's not. If you think about all words in the English language there is only one that is perfect." He stated.
"Which one?" she asked.
"Pickle." He revealed.
"You're right." She said with wonderment.
"It's perfect in every way. It has a certain grace and beauty although it is equally bizarre. You can't say the word pickle without smiling." He explained with a smile. She giggled and a strand of her hair fell in front of her eyes. He reached out his hand to brush it away, but as he leaned in his lips took control and they touched her soft lips with a light flutter before he pulled away. Her eyes were still closed as he looked at her. They opened and he was struck numb by their beauty. Every time he saw them it was like lightning. Suddenly, he leapt out of the car and ran around to the passenger side door and opened it for a very confused Rory. "Follow me." He ordered. She complied and taking his hand, they ran down to the beach to look at the stars reflecting over the water. "What do you think of the stars?" he asked.
"They make me feel small." She answered immediately.
"You are small." He retorted. Rory looked up at him with a small pout. "Someone could just scoop you up in their arms and run away with you." He said as tossed her over his right shoulder in one graceful maneuver.
"No fair. Put me down." She squealed, not sounding at all frightened or as though she'd like to be put down.
"My dear lady, your wish is my command." He said while gently placing her on the sand. She looked slightly disappointed until Tade fell to his knees beside her. She looked up into his shining eyes and smiled. He leaned down and kissed her. This time with full compliance from his lips, his heart, and his brain, and his libido too.
The kiss started soft, but gradually heated up. His tongue smoothed her bottom lip and she opened her mouth to meet it. He tasted like sugar, probably from the coke. It was intoxicating. This was the best taste she had ever experienced. She kissed him harder in an attempt to keep this flavor with her forever. He followed her lead. She tasted clean and sweet. He didn't know how else to describe it. It made him feel special to be kissing this girl. He pulled away for a moment to look into her eyes. Lightning. He felt rejuvenated and leaned back in to kiss under her jaw. She let out a small giggle that transformed into a gasp of delight as his lips traveled down to her collarbone. She let her hands glide up to his hair. It was very short and felt rough under her fingers. She liked it. His hand slid up the outside of her thigh and rested at her hip. His strong fingers stroked the area of skin that was not covered by her shirt. Her right hand skimmed across his back and under his jacket. His muscles rippled under her touch and she smiled. His kissed traveled back to her smiling lips and he smiled into the kiss. After on last peck, he pulled away and rested his forehead against hers. They both breathed heavily, until their breaths turned into laughter. Tade kissed her cheek lightly and then lay down beside Rory on the sand. He put his right arm under her head and let his left arm lie across her stomach. She leaned into his side, basking in his soft warmth.
"Thanks for dinner." She whispered.
"It was my pleasure." He responded in a husky breath.
"Feel free not to plan more evenings like this any time you want." She smiled.
"Sounds good to me." He whispered before they both turned back to look at the stars.
A/N: This wasn't a particularly funny chapter, but it needed to be there. I hope it made you smile anyway.