That evening Julia sat barefoot in a grey tank top and black jeans, reading The Great Gatsby, in the sofa when the doorbell rang. She looked at her watch, it was nearing 10pm. She placed the bookmark between the two open pages, closed the book, and put it down on the empty spot next to hers.
She walked slowly to the door and opened it. Standing in a black t-shirt, blue jeans, and black leather jacket was Conrad.
"I know it's late, but it's been bothering me all day and I wanted to say that I was sorry. You're not a damsel in distress that needs rescuing and now looking back at it, I realize it was belittling and condescending."
He paused for a second.
"And bringing Al up was a mistake and stupid."
She let her eyes search his. She could read people well and he was being honest. He was wrong though, she did need rescuing but before she could let him, she needed to finish what she had set out to do. The right thing to do would have been to say 'ok. Goodnight,' and close the door, but not a single part of her being wanted him to leave.
"It's a bit late to head out to a bar, but I've got some SweetWater IPA in the fridge, you look like you need one."
His straight-lined mouth started to upturn into a smile. It was obvious that even if she had been angry, she wasn't one to hold a grudge. Then again, he had been wrong, and he didn't deserve for her to.
He nodded and walked inside the house as she closed the door. She passed in front of him and pointed to the living room.
"Make yourself comfortable, I'll go get the beer."
He watched as she headed down the hall toward the kitchen. He stepped inside the living room and looked around. The room transpired her in every way. It was welcoming, simple and lively. He removed his leather jacket and placed it on the side of the sofa before taking a seat. He took the book she was reading and looked at it. He was surprised to see her read that kind of book.
She watched him from the opening that led from the kitchen to the living room. He put the book down, raised his head and saw that she was looking at him.
"Good book," he said.
"Yes, it is," she answered as she headed toward the sofa and handed him one of the beer bottles.
"You like to read?"
She nodded. "I think if I hadn't gone for medicine, I would have been an English Literature Major and maybe taught in high school."
She took the book and placed it on the coffee table.
He took a sip of his beer and quickly glanced around the room again. At that moment her phone, placed on the coffee table, rang. Without meaning to Conrad looked at the screen and saw it was Al. She touched the phone and sent an automatic text indicating that she would call him back later.
"You can take the call," said Conrad.
She eyed him. "Nah. He's probably drunk in a bar and needs someone to listen to him wallow in self-pity."
He laughed. "You're probably right."
He then ventured out in a more neutral way than earlier in the day. "You and Al know each other well."
She shrugged. "I guess being in a relationship with someone for 3 years makes it that you know someone well."
He blinked. They had been in a relationship for three years?! When? Where? He had questions and the most important one was why had it ended?
"We met when we were doing our internship in Philadelphia." She said almost as if she had heard his interior question.
"We started dating early on and he was the kind of guy I was looking for back then. He was sure of himself but not overly cocky. He was gentle and knew how to joke around and not take himself too seriously. He was driven and knew what he wanted out of life. It just clicked. After a year we decided to stop commuting back and forth between each of our places and we moved in together in a nice apartment."
She paused for a moment as she thought back to that time of her life. It seemed like it was two lifetimes ago. So much had happened before and after. She even wondered if she was the same person she had been back then during their relationship. If she wasn't, what even had changed her?
"We worked long hours, sometimes not seeing each other more than ten minutes over the space of a week, but it was what we had signed up for, you know?"
Conrad nodded in understanding but said nothing.
"One morning, I got called in and remember being so angry because it was the first time, in a long time, that we both had the day off and I was so looking forward to spending quality time together. I was told I'd be assisting in a surgery that would last up to 6 hours. I told Al I would call him when I left the hospital."
She pressed her lips together.
"The patient died two hours into the surgery. I left the hospital and headed home, completely forgetting that I had told Al I'd call him. When I arrived home, he wasn't alone."
And there it was, even though she hadn't flat out and said it, Al had cheated on her resulting in the end of their relationship. Conrad tolerated Al but now for some odd reason, knowing what he had done, especially to someone like Julia, he hated him. Yet, somewhere in the back of his mind, he silently thanked Al for his mistake, as now, Julia was single, and fortunately, he was nothing like Al.
"As it was someone from the hospital, things got tense. Without knowing it we both put in our transfers. I went to West Virginia and Al ended up here. We agreed to remain friends and that's what we've been over the years."
She saw Conrad lift his brow.
"With me being in Chastain, I think Al imagined that time had healed what had been broken between us. That somehow, he could show me he deserves a second chance."
Before he could catch them, the words left his mouth. "Does he?"
"No. As much as I care about Al and know that I'll always be able to count on him, he's my past and I try as much as I can to not live in the past."
Seeing it was starting to rain, she stood from the sofa and went to close the window. She turned and leaned against the windowsill her eyes locking with Conrad's.
"I lied earlier," she said.
He narrowed his eyes.
"When I said I didn't need your help."
He stood and walked over, stopping only a few steps away from her.
"But you were wrong. It wouldn't have been different if it had been Al."
"No?" he asked as he took a step bringing him closer to her.
"No. The only person I would have wanted in that corridor to comfort me and protect me, was already there… You."
It was all he needed to hear her say. He had been waiting for some sort of sign, to comfort him in thinking that she too had feelings for him, and she had just given it to him.
He lifted his hand, gently removed a strand of hair from her cheek, placing it behind her ear, before he placed his open palm on the side of her face and neck. He pulled her tenderly toward him and let his lips brush hers cautiously. When he pulled them away slowly, she had been the one to come back to them and more confidently than he had.
He felt her hand place itself on his back pushing herself further into him. Their kissing intensified and when their tongues collided for the first time both let out a pleasurable moan. He lifted the hem of her tank top and removed his mouth from hers long enough to lift the top over her head and toss it on the floor. He resumed kissing her as his hands caressed the accessible bare and soft skin of her chest.
Just as she remembered, when he had helped with her leg, his touch was soft and gentle, instantly sending delicious shivers throughout her entire body.
With every minute that passed, with every kiss and touch, their desire for one another grew. She wasn't in the habit of sleeping with a guy that quickly, but she wanted him, her body wanted him, desperately.
Feeling he was at an advantage and wanting to correct it, she lifted his shirt off and let her hands roam over his muscular chest, outlining his pecs then his abs. Her eyes strayed from his chest, and she looked up at him. His eyes softly landed on hers, lips slightly apart visibly enjoying her touch on his skin, just as much as she did his.
Her lips kissed the bottom of his neck, and she worked her way up the side of it, her hands all the while caressing his strong back and firm shoulders. Her hands on his skin were so soft and delicate he felt like they were made of silk, and he didn't want her to stop, nor did he want to stop touching her and discovering every inch of her body.
He felt her tongue playfully outline his parted lips and it aroused him. His mouth claimed hers and he, in turn, teased playfully her tongue. His hands reached the back of her spaghetti strap black cotton bra and unhooked it with ease. His mouth orphaned hers and gave her breasts all the attention they deserved. As he did, she tenderly caressed his hair, closing her eyes, abandoning herself to the moment. There was nothing aggressive in his foreplay, only tenderness and wanting to pleasure her as much as he could… it was like he could read her and what exactly made her relish.
His tongue slid down the middle of her chest and stopped at the edge of her jeans, as he knelt. Almost asking her for her permission, he looked up at her. He saw her bite her lower lip then let her lips curl up in a smile as her eyes twinkled.
He gave her an amused and naughty smile as he undid the button of her jeans, then lowered the zipper, slowly, extremely slowly… too slowly for her taste. He hooked his fingers in the belt loops and just as slowly as he had lowered her zipper, lowered her jeans.
Holding on to the windowsill, she lifted each leg, helping him remove her jeans. His hands wrapped around her ankles and gently ascended, landing on her butt cheeks, then coming around to the front, applying just the right amount of pressure, making a needy gasp escape from her throat.
With his hands on her hips, he took the black cotton sports panties between his fingers and took them off. He planted a kiss on the front of her pelvis before standing back up at her level.
Her breathing had quickened, and he could see her heart beating through the vein on the side of her neck. He placed his hands under her butt cheeks and in one easy and swift motion, lifted her from off the floor. She instinctively hooked her legs around his waist and placed her arms around his back removing any distance between their naked chests. Her breasts perfectly married the shape of his chest and hovering over him, she could smell his musk and wooden cologne.
Not knowing where her bedroom was, he went for the closest surface he could, and lowered her on the dining room table. They looked at each other for a few seconds before he placed his hand on her shoulder and pushed her back in a laying position.
She didn't know if it was the cold of the wood on her back or his breath between her legs, but she shivered. He took his time pleasuring her like no man before him had ever done. He felt her shudder and moan out as she climaxed under his skilled and vivacious tongue.
He pulled her back to a sitting position and looked at her with a satisfied smile. He took a step back and ridded himself of his jeans and boxer briefs. Even if there had been little doubt in her mind that he was aroused by her and their foreplay when he was carrying her over to the table, it was now a certainty that he wanted her just as badly as she wanted him.
He moved in closer and with his hands on her butt cheeks again pulled her in against him. His hands then supported her as he lifted her and headed for the sofa.
He sat down and helped her over him. He wanted to see her, he wanted to be able to touch every part of her body as he made love to her. Their eyes diving deeply in the other's, never cutting the eye contact, he slowly lowered her.
A long pleasing moan escaped from her parted lips as he filled her. His hands on her hips helped and guided her in an up and down motion massaging his erect manhood with every repetition. They increased the pace, and his hands left her hips to her ponytail, pulling it backward, arching her back allowing him to go deeper.
He bent his head and his mouth latched on to her breast, sucking it, then biting her fully erect nipple. She let out a yelp in a mix of gratifying pleasure and pain. He removed the elastic band that held her hair in the ponytail and her hair cascaded down her shoulders and back. He once again pulled her into him, almost making them one and kissed her greedily as they continued their lovemaking. He could feel her tighten around him with every thrust and with her increasing whining he knew she was close to the tipping point.
He shifted so that he was laying down on the entire length of the sofa and continued rocking into her as she echoed his every move. He looked into her eyes as her brown hair cascaded around his face. She was beautiful and he could read on her face, the pleasure she was letting fill her, consume her.
When she increased the rhythm, he didn't hold her back, instead he echoed it. When she threw her head back and screamed out his name he didn't slow down or stop, and he too climaxed in a whirlpool of pleasure yelling out her name.
Out of breath, she collapsed against his sweaty chest and placed her head in the nook of his neck. He placed his strong arms and hands around her and knew that everything he had felt while making love to her had never come close to anything he had felt with anyone else.
As they recuperated, he caressed her hair and back, making the after just as gentle as the rest. Noticing a light blanket on the back of the sofa, his hand he reached over and pulled it over them. It wasn't to cover their nakedness, that he could spend a lifetime in, but simply wanting to indicate that he didn't want them to part.
She raised her head and looked up into his loving eyes. He bent his head down and kissed her. She pulled away and shifted down a little so that she could lay her head on his chest while she caressed it. She wished they could stay like that until the end of time, skin on skin in a loving haze. She wanted to forget about everything and just focus on him, on them, but she knew that when the morning came, she would have to refocus on her objective.