AN: This chapter is definitely not daddy-daughter. That has never even been a consideration for me. Older men are, well…just amazing. They know who they are and what they want. The rest of us are still discovering that. Thanks for reading, reviewing and following this story. I would love to hear your thoughts. Enjoy…
Chapter 3 Twisted Strength
"The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them." Thomas Merton
At five o'clock Red was waiting for Liz on the patio, but she was nowhere to be seen. Somehow it didn't surprise him that she was late. Soon he heard her coming down the stairs as he slowly turned to…. "Wow! You look beautiful, sweetheart."
His eyes took her in from top to toe. She was wearing a white sleeveless, above the knee, shirtwaist dress splashed with radiant pink and fuchsia multi-tones. She had accented the v-neckline with a bold fuchsia statement necklace and wore a single wide bangle bracelet on her wrist. Her shoes were strappy medium height heels. She had pulled her hair to the left side and secured it just behind her ear then she completed the look with fuchsia earrings, a bit of Chanel perfume Red had given her for Christmas and lipstick.
Red was reminded that he had recently asked her to wear a dress more often, a request that she petulantly ignored. He was pleased that she had decided to honor his request this once.
"You didn't have to dress to the nines to be seen with me. Don't get me wrong, I love it, but now I'm going to have to fight off the competition."
Liz grinned. "Ya think?" It felt good to see his eyes sparkling and his face wearing a smile.
As his cheek twitched slightly, Red commented, "You're going to put me to shame."
She noticed that Red had not dressed in his usual three piece business suit. He was wearing navy slacks, a light blue long sleeve dress shirt and a summer weight beige linen sports jacket. He had left the top two buttons of his shirt undone, a fact that captivated her eyes for a few moments, and she detected the spicy scent of his aftershave. She also noticed that he held an open weave beige fedora and was tapping his sunglasses against his leg.
Liz paused to take another admiring look at the man she hardly knew on a personal, much less intimate level. Her heart beat slightly faster, her breathing quickened and a light pink blush began to spread across her face. She knew that her face was an open book, but she hoped Red was preoccupied with summoning Dembe and would not notice the effect he had on her.
Liz linked her arm in his as they walked to the car where Dembe was waiting to open the rear door. She slid into the backseat waiting for Red to seat himself next to her. He decided to be daring, scooted closer so that they could feel the body heat radiating from each other, and then Red leaned forward to give Dembe directions to a restaurant just down the hill in the neighboring village.
Soon they were traveling down a rolling hillside on a narrow cobblestone road. There were tall, stately, black-green cypress trees standing guard on both sides of the road. As they approached the village Liz noticed cars had pulled off and parked beside the cypress trees. The people who were getting out of the cars were dressed as if for a party. Liz strained to see what was happening in the grove of trees nearby as Red asked Dembe to pull over and park in the field.
"What are you doing Red?"
"I'm going to talk to this man?" Red lowered the car window then while speaking in Italian talked to an older gray haired man. The jovial man replied in his native language, Red thanked him and then opened the car door.
Liz looked a little stunned as Red said, "You told me yourself that we needed to experience the people and their local customs. We've been invited to a celebration. The gentleman who owns our villa has invited us to an event."
He looked at Liz again and said, "The gentleman assured me we are welcome. He thinks we will bring good luck. We're about to crash a wedding."
Liz froze! "Oh no…I'm not so sure about this. We have no right to intrude on a very private ceremony. To be truthful I'm not so sure I'm up for weddings. Tom…" There was a little hint of anxiety in her voice. "Please, Red, can we go on to dinner at the restaurant?"
"Red, you knew about this before we left the villa didn't you?"
In typical Red style he easily deflected her question. "Lizzie, I have a feeling you will gain something from this experience. Now come on. That's my girl."
Red just looked at her, took her hand and gently coaxed her out of the car. They walked into the field where hay bales, covered with baby blue suede pillows, had been placed in rows. Red led Liz to a seat on the back row. Soon a guitar player began to strum songs that set the scene for the occasion, a priest arrived and the groom walked to the front under a flower filled bower of olive branches. He turned and stood nervously waiting for his bride.
Liz began to shiver slightly, her breathing became shallow; her eyes were vacant as if she were miles away. She began to lean into Red as if unconsciously searching for shelter. He reached over and put his arm around her shoulders drawing her closer to him.
The young bridesmaids, with beaming smiles, streamed slowly to the bower followed by the gorgeous bride who was accompanied by an older gentleman, presumably her father. The older man kissed the bride on her cheek, hugged her then took a seat on the hay bales. Now the bride and groom began to exchange the vows each had prepared for their special day. Liz couldn't understand the words because they were spoken in Italian, but she could understand the deep devotion she heard in their voices, the look of adoration in their eyes and their need for a physical connection as they tenderly reached out to touch each other oblivious to their guests and the two strangers who were observing them.
If it were possible Liz leaned even closer to Red, put her hand on his thigh and as if talking to herself said in a whisper, "Bellissima! They truly adore each other." Red strained to hear what she said because he didn't want to irritate her by asking her to repeat herself. He did understand the unspoken feeling when he looked over and noticed one lone tear running down her cheek. He silently reached into his inside jacket pocket and pulled out his handkerchief. As he handed her the handkerchief he captured her eyes. He could not turn away; the unspoken emotion drew him in like a riptide carrying him away from the safety of the shore.
After the priest had officially solemnized the marriage, the guests began to move to the villa where the reception was being held. Red suggested that they walk out into the olive grove. As Liz walked carefully across the uneven ground in her heels, she was welcomed by a sensory feast. The aromas combined within the space of the olive grove suggested she was walking within an overgrown herb garden with the overwhelming smell of sage and rosemary being the most recognizable scents.
She noticed that the grey-green trees were planted in neatly spaced rows on the terraced hillside. Immediately she also noticed that each tree seemed to have its own unique personality. The saplings grew straight and true, but the older trees seemed to resist the imposed formality of the olive grove giving the grove a pleasingly disordered appearance.
"Lizzie, do you remember what the olive branch symbolizes?"
Liz thought for a moment and replied, "Peace, I believe."
"Yes, the people of Tuscany believe you can find inner peace just by spending time among the olive trees. Maybe that is why this couple chose to be married in the grove."
Immediately she decided to jump right in with both feet, "Red, do you really think it's possible to have a long happy marriage or a stable relationship for that matter?"
"Sweetheart, when the time is right you will allow a devoted man to enter your life."
"I thought I had that once and it turned out to be all lies. Oh no, Red. I will never go there again."
"Famous last words."
Liz began to feel uncomfortable with the direction this conversation was going and changed the subject. "Red, have you noticed that each tree in this grove seems to have its own personality? Each one seems to have experienced life differently, like us."
She paused than said, "Let's find a tree that you think is most like you."
Red decided to play along with her, thinking this was just her need to profile, fit him into neat little cubby holes. "O K. I'll bite."
He searched the grove with his eyes. Soon he began to walk toward a tree that was about four feet taller than he; the trunk was contorted into a strange shape, seemingly growing in every direction, but straight up. The trunk was gnarled and knotted, split and scarred, hollowed out by exposure to extreme temperatures. Most importantly the trunk of the tree was twisted by the wind yet remained very strong. Red assured Liz that even though this tree might be over a hundred years old it was still producing fruit. It was still vital and useful. It was giving everything it had to give. Despite being twisted and scarred the tree added beauty and character to the grove, it was most handsome.
"Lizzie, what do you think? Did I choose well? I'm over a hundred years old or so the folktales go. Shall we name this tree Red or Raymond?"
She stopped to consider her next words. "This tree has the honor of being named Raymond. It began growing straight and true. Over time the severe elements have contorted it and scarred it unmercifully, given its flaws, but those flaws have given this tree strength of character because Raymond persevered through the worst of it all."
He was speechless. Strength of character, was that really how she saw him?
Soon Raymond Reddington took Elizabeth Keen by the hand and walked her to an old weathered cypress bench where they could sit and discuss all that had transpired within the past hour. He explained that the trees could live and produce for hundreds of years. Yes, there was much toiling requiring perseverance, but the reward was great satisfaction and peace to be found among the squatty, contorted, twisted yet very strong, battered trees. Red assured her that relationships could survive; individuals could survive the battering, buffeting and scarring just like the trees survived. Raymond and Elizabeth were survivors.
"Raymond. This tree has deep roots; it's unmovable, dependable. This tree is something I can trust to always be there." She had found a new affinity for this tree. She found peace, felt protected here among the wizened trees and amazingly felt cherished.
He knew that Lizzie was speaking of the old olive tree, but he also knew she had just invested her trust in him.
Raymond then did something unexpected, something that would leave him even more exposed to the elements, more vulnerable; he leaned over placed his hands lightly on either side of her face and kissed Elizabeth on the lips exploring the sweet taste and silky softness of her mouth. Despite being startled she did not withdraw, she leaned into his kiss, put her arms around his neck and savored the moment. Soon he pulled back and gazed into Elizabeth's eyes. No words needed to be spoken.
As the sun began to sink below the hills on the horizon adding the colors of fire to the sky, Elizabeth and Raymond rose and walked together to the car where Dembe stood waiting. Both knew that the boundaries they had previously lived by, the lines in the sand, had been forever breached within the seemingly disheveled confines of a grove of twisted grey-green trees.
~X~X~
He couldn't sleep. His mind was a whirlwind. The video of the past few hours with Lizzie kept playing over and over in his mind, he had no right to act on these feelings he had for her, to drag her further into his dark lonely world, she had no idea how deeply he felt. He wasn't even sure exactly how he felt! Right now he just wanted to smash the replay button.
He thought if he just got up and got a cool drink of what…water…scotch perhaps, maybe he would relax and go to sleep. So he moved quietly through the hallway and down the stairs in hopes that he would not wake anyone who might be sleeping. Red stopped in the kitchen and poured himself a glass of red wine—wait a minute…why was that bottle sitting out on the counter? The wine was still cool so it couldn't have been out for long. Then he heard the noise…
Red walked to the patio door. It had been unlocked. He saw her in the moonlight as she was entering the pool. She was wearing a low cut lacy bra and black boxer style shorts. She stopped to take a drink of her wine then set the glass on the edge of the pool and waded out into the deeper water. When she leaned back and immersed herself under the water Red thought he would lose it. As she stood up again lifting her wet head out of the pool, droplets of water ran down her face onto her long lean neck, so graceful. She dove under the water and swam to the end of the pool, coming up for air, she turned onto her back and just let her body relax as she floated on the surface.
He was mesmerized! Her pale silky skin gleamed in the moonlight. Even from a distance he could see her breasts standing erect against her bra and the silky boxer shorts she had on clung to the feminine curves of her body. Her hair floated freely around her relaxed beautiful face. Oh god, he wanted to kiss her dewy lips so badly. He wanted to swim beneath the surface with her, claim her and make love to her.
As he stood in the shadows a low groan escaped his lips…she heard the sound. She stopped, stood up and looked around. Not seeing anyone she continued enjoying the water.
Red knew that he should return to his room, but he needed to watch her; he had to watch her. As if she sensed someone waiting in the dark, she swam to the side of the pool, lifted herself out of the water, dried herself, put on her robe and finished her glass of wine. Red knew he had to return to his room and soon. He headed upstairs just as she entered the house. She heard his bedroom door close as she topped the stairs. She thought he must be having a hard time sleeping too. Then the thought struck her…wonder if he enjoyed the view?
AN: Every review, good or bad, is appreciated! Next chapter will be up soon.