Chapter 2

You remember all of it like it was yesterday. In actuality it had been an entire week since that night. At first, you refused to even answer the phone when Sean called. You finally answered after his 15th call on the 3rd day.

"What?" you say when you pick up aggravation evident in your voice.

"Please listen to me babe." Are the first words that come out of his mouth.

"There's nothing you can say Sean. I don't want to hear any of it. I loved you and you cheated on me with my friend of all people. I can't forgive you for that. We're through." You say flatly.

Now you are on your way to the park because Sean was coming by to get his things and you just couldn't see him. You had told him to leave his keys on the counter. Not that it mattered you were changing the locks anyway. You're not stupid.

You sigh. This has been a very long week and you wondered when you would start to feel better. Right now all you felt was raw. Your emotions were hanging on by a thread. Hopefully this walk will do you some good. You hadn't been out of the house since it happened. You took some time off work.

Entering the park you scan around for an empty bench. There was one near the park. You love to sit at the park and listen to the children play. Walking slowly across the park you glance around. There are quite a few people here today. Reaching the bench you sit down and pull your book out of your bag. You can hear the kids playing and laughing. This relaxes you and for the first time in days you feel yourself smiling slightly. The laughter of children is beautiful to you.

You focus you attention on your book. It pulls you in and you sense little else for awhile. It's not until one of the children squeals loudly and you look up. One of the boys is chasing a girl with some sort of insect and she was yelling loudly. You chuckle softly to yourself.

"They're cute, aren't they?" A voice on your left asks.

You glance up. There is a man standing next to the bench. Your gaze travels up from his legs up to his face. He's tall and thin and wearing blue jeans, a black leather jacket and a red ball cap. The cap is pulled down low over his brow shielding his eyes from your view. The one thing you can tell is that his jeans fit him extremely well.

"Yes, they are." You reply laughing.

"Is it ok if I sit?" He asks in a soft voice.

"Sure." You say. Something stirs in the back of your kind. Why does his voice sound so familiar? Shaking your head you dismiss the thought.

"Something wrong?" the man asks his voice amused.

"No.", you respond. "It's nothing. Just for a second your voice seemed so familiar."

Chuckling he replies, "I get that a lot."

You both fall silent. You keep glancing at his profile. His nose is slim and slightly upturned at the end. His lips were full and his tongue darts out to lick his lips. He glances over and catches you looking at him. His eyes find yours and you can finally see that they are blue. He's gorgeous. There's something about his face that gives you a sense of déjà vu. You know you have never met this man before. You look down at you book.

"What are you reading?" He inquires curiously.

Feeling embarrassed you hold up the book. There is a surprised look on his face.

"Harry Potter?" He says questioningly raising his eyebrows.

"Hey there not just for kids!" you say defensively. "They're very good books!" You can feel you cheeks heating up.

"I know." He says giggling. "I've read them all too."

You try to look offended, but his smile is so cute and playful that you can't help but laugh. "That's not fair."

Silence falls again. Sneaking a quick peek at him you see he is watching the kids with a wistful expression on his face.

"It looks like you want to join them."

He looks at you and you see his cheeks are red. "I do." He admits smiling ruefully.

Gazing back and forth between the playground and him a thought comes to you and it's irresistible.

"Let's go then." You say, standing up and holding out your hand.

He looks surprised. "Seriously?" he says and you can hear the hope in his voice.

"Seriously," you say. "Come on!"

He grabs your hand and it engulfs yours. His hands are gigantic! You pull him to his feet and both of you laugh a little recklessly!

Running to the park you yell to the children "Who wants to play tag?" All of the children want to play and soon you're running around having the time of your life. After a little while you are completely out of breath. You realize that playing is hard work. How do these kids make it seem so effortless? You remember that you used to play like this for hours.

Eventually you can't do anymore and you collapse on the grass. Lying on your back gasping and laughing. You realize that this is the most fun you have had in a long time. You're breathing finally returns to normal and looking over you see him laying a couple of feet away from you, also on his back. He's face is flushed and sweaty. Wow, he looks good like that you think to yourself.

"That was so much fun!" he says laughing.

"It was fun!" you agree.

"So do you have a name?" you ask?

He hesitates for a moment "Mike" he says and holds out his hand and says in a formal sounding voice "It's very nice to meet you."

He's very charming and attractive and you like him. You shake his extended out hand. "Same here." You reply.

"What about you?" he asks.

"What about me?" you reply laughing.

"A name?" he says bemusedly.

"Oh that!" you reply embarrassed. You tell him your name. He glances at his watch and winces. "I have to go," he says apologetically. "I have a plane to catch in a couple hours."

"Work or pleasure?" you ask.

"Work unfortunately." He says.

"Well it was nice to meet you." You say holding out your hand. He takes it and you almost can't control the involuntary shiver that courses through you. He looks at you quizzically.

"You too." He replies. He gets up and you do too. Brushing off your backside.

He looks at you and seems like he wants to say something but doesn't. "Well bye." he says quickly and starts to walk away. You start to walk back to the bench. You glance back and realize that he has stopped and is watching you. You smile and wave good bye to him and he suddenly starts walking back to you. Your breathing falters and your heart rate speeds up. What is he doing? About 10 feet away from you he says "Listen can I have your number?" You can hear the uncertainty in his voice.

You try to keep your voice normal when inside you jumping and screaming. Instead you just nod. He feels in his pockets. "I don't have a pen or paper." He says ruefully.

You giggle. "I think I have something in my bag". You reach into you purse and pull out a pen and a business card. You write your cell phone number on the back and hand it to him. He smiles and suddenly his lips are on your cheek. His smell reaches you and you almost gasp. He smells like sunlight and a hint of something you can't quite describe. Whatever it is its very seductive. His lips are soft as he kisses your cheek.

"I'll call you." He says and walks away.

"Bye!" you call after him and he turns and waves.

You go back to your book and find you can't focus on it. Your mind keeps drifting. Will he call? Probably not you think. How many times have you heard that line? You try to go back to your book and finally give up. Sean should be gone by now and you would love some food and a nap. You feel emotionally exhausted.

After a late lunch of a ham sandwich and yogurt, you crawl into your bed and fall asleep. You awake a couple of hours later and look over at your bedside clock. It's right around six and it's just beginning to get a little darker outside. You stretch and your body feels sore. A bath would be heavenly. You head to the bathroom and start filling the tub. You look through your collection of bubble baths. You decide on Gardenia scented bubble bath. Steam and the smell of Gardenias soon fill the bathroom. You remove your clothes and climb into the tub. Sighing you sink down in the hot water and lean your head back. You have no idea how long you relax like this. Suddenly the silence it shattered by the shrill ringing of the phone.

Groaning with frustration you reach over and pick up your cordless phone from the table by the bath tub. "Hello," you say your voice husky with relaxation.

The person on the other end hesitates, and then says "Am I bothering you? It's Mike from this afternoon."

Your eyes snap open and you sit up clearing your throat. "No, you're not bothering me," you say quickly

"Are you sure?" He asks, "It sounded like you were busy." His voice trails off

"I'm sure. I was just, well, actually I'm taking a bath at the moment." You say in an embarrassed tone.

He inhales sharply and you wonder what his is thinking. "Sorry." He says in a lower voice. "I'll call you back."

"That's probably a good idea." You say laughter in your voice and you can almost hear the smile when he talks.

"Five minutes?" He says questioningly.

"Fine." You reply.

"OK bye."

"Bye."