NaNoWriMo ~ Backed Up Here for your Reading Pleasure

[AnnieMcD]

  

Blame it on the Mead
Preface

 

When the jeep pulled into the parking lot she knew it was him.  She had never seen this vehicle, and had never even seen him drive anything but the big white truck before, but he had called from the entrance of the property to tell her he had arrived and she was waiting.  Unable to wait patiently, she ran down the ramp to meet him at his car.  He stepped out of the vehicle and zipped up his window, and then turned to face her.  Time ran backwards.  Suddenly it was ten years before and he was the closest thing she had ever had to a real relationship.  To hide her shock at the rush of feelings, she took him up in a tight hug.  She joked with him about the costume he was wearing to her party, and then she took his hand and walked him up toward the room where it was all taking place.  She denied her feelings, she had to, she was about to take him up to spend time with her friends, her husband.  It was just a rush of hormones, she told herself, and she couldn't possibly still have feelings for him.  She was married.  She had been married for nearly five years.  Sure, they weren't the happiest years.  Her husband was a wonderful man, but he could be a real tyrant at times, and her family had been telling her for months that they wished she had never married him.  She didn't agree with her parents, and she accepted her husband's illness which caused his bad temper, but sometimes she thought they were right and that her life would be much easier if she had never even met him that night in the bar. 

Back in the present, she brought him to the door of the room at the resort in which she worked, and introduced him to all of her friends.  He had never met her husband; he had disappeared years before that night she had met her husband in that bar.  She introduced them, and made sure that they spoke, and then she busied herself chatting with her friends and getting progressively drunker.  It was her birthday after all, her thirtieth, and if she ever had a reason to get drunk this was it. She had decided, months previously, that she was having a themed costume party for the occasion, and that she was going to get bombed.  Since she had become a responsible adult there were rare occasions upon which she could do this, and she cherished the opportunity to forget her stresses for the evening.

The night wore on, with games and conversation.  A friend brought some home made mead, and she drank that while talking with her girlfriends who had come to the party.  He had joined her husband outside for a cigarette and she found, upon looking at the two men, that they had much in common.  Aside from looks, they both shared interests, and she was incredibly attracted to both.  She sat down on the back patio of the room in front of her husband and looked at the other as he spoke.  She remembered how much she had always enjoyed talking to him, and the pleasure she took in their conversations. 

And still she continued drinking.

After all of the other guests had left she looked to her husband and asked if he minded if she went on a walk with her friend around the property, as it had been so long since she'd had any time alone with him.  They left the room and began their walk hand in hand.  It felt natural, as though she had never let go of him years before.  Now let's not get dramatic, they hadn't been in love.  Hell, they hadn't even been a couple.  He was just a good lay on a lonely night, but he was also a good friend.  She had always had a few extra feelings mixed in there, but what girl in that situation didn't?  So, yeah, she liked him.  More than she should have.  But he moved, and she got married, and those extra feelings were supposed to have gone away.  But lately he had been calling her on the phone, and she enjoyed talking to him.  She remembered the friend he had been, and the good times they had had together.  So it had seemed natural to invite him to her party.  And even more natural for her to want to spend a few minutes alone with him, after all she hadn't actually seen him in years. 

So they walked, and they chatted about nonsense, and then she stumbled, because by this time she was completely trashed.  So they sat on the curb together, and talked some more.  And she told him about the problems in her life, although not all of them because that would have taken far too long, and she would have had to admit the problems to herself.  Something she avoided like the plague.  But she told him how much she loved her husband; she just didn't like him very much sometimes.  And the drama, oh the drama in her life, it got so tiring. Being married to a crazy man was exhausting.  And she looked into his eyes, so kindly listening to her cry, and she wanted him. 

So she told him so. 

She told him that there was nothing in the world she wanted more than to kiss him right then.  And he didn't laugh, and he didn't yell, and he didn't tell her she was a whore who didn't deserve to be married.  Instead he continued to listen.  He didn't push her decision in any way; he let her make up her own mind. 

So she kissed him.  

Even though she knew she shouldn't.  It was wrong.  She was married.  But she did it, and it was wonderful.  His mouth was just as soft and gentle as she remembered, and he still made her feel special even though he was probably seeing at least three different girls.  And he didn't make it awkward, or make her feel guilty. And she realized it was time to walk back to the room, to go see her husband again.

So they walked. 

When they were almost back to the room she pulled him into a dark corner and kissed him again.  And it all got more complicated when brought her hand down and showed her how excited she had made him.  Because all she wanted to do next was get into that jeep with him and drive away.  She wanted to forget all of the drama, all of the angst, all of the negatives in her life, and just have fun for a night.  Instead, she cried.  And he told her it was ok, and that she hadn't done anything wrong.  And then he took her hand and took her back to her husband.

When she awoke the next morning, guilt ridden and hung over, she had hopes that the feelings that had awakened the night before would have faded again.  But even in her sobriety they had not.  And now she's still filled with guilt, because she still loves her husband, she still wants to be with him forever, but he left town the evening after the party and somewhere in the back of her mind is a desire to do something bad and to cross a line she has never considered crossing before.  And she knows that the smart thing to do would be to never speak to him again. 

Instead, she called him.

 

 

Add A Comment