Help Sessions (4 page)
“But you persist in, well, chasing me,” she said, stifling a sob. She looked down at his hand clasping hers and gently touched it with her other hand.
“I’ll back off, just so you’re not upset.” Roy inwardly gritted his teeth at that difficult promise.
“You’d do that?” Heather’s sobs gave way to a wide-eyed shock.
“Yes, I would,” Roy answered. He could tell she relaxed at that, leaving something unsaid. “It’s getting late. I think we’ve both had a rough day. May I say being with you has softened my rotten day in the lab?”
“You’re too kind, Roy.”
“Still friends?” Roy held his breath.
“Of course,” she answered. Her smile warmed his heart.
****
Roy spoke briefly with Heather and Greta after each p-chem lecture. The semester drew to a close, and Dr. Hunter gave a big test on the next-to-last day of the semester. Roy scored an A but lagged behind Heather and Greta, as usual. Exhilaration overwhelmed him when Dr. Hunter rewarded him with an A for the semester. It mattered not to the professor that Roy’s semester average had bobbed in the low-B range. He graded on improvement, impressed with Roy’s last several marks on tests and quizzes. Of course Roy’s lab work outstripped everyone else’s in the 125-strong class.
It pained Roy that he wouldn’t be seeing Heather for three months, not until college took up again in September. As he conversed with her on their last day, after a short class in p-chem, she surprised him. Greta had already excused herself to go and pack.
“How about a shake over at Sal’s before we go our separate ways?” Heather shifted her books, grinning.
“Sure. We can talk about our summer plans and courses for next semester. I’m sure to need help in Dr. Hunter’s second semester p-chem.”
They met on the street corner and entered a nearly empty Sal’s Soda Shop. Most of the students had left as early as possible for home. Heather acted as though a burden had lifted from her shoulders.
Their shakes, wet with condensation, sat before them. Roy preferred chocolate, while Heather worked on her strawberry shake. He watched the pink liquid rise in her straw and disappear between her full, red lips.
Would he ever seal that beautiful mouth with his, even for just a few seconds?
“Thank you, Roy, for giving me space these last few weeks.” Heather looked down and slowly twirled her straw.
“A tough promise to keep.” Roy leaned forward and drew on his straw but kept his eyes on Heather.
“Now is the time for me to tell you something that will make it easy for you to keep your distance from me.” She inhaled deeply, and Roy thought she lost a little of her control.
“Not a chance,” Roy said, reaching to grasp one of her hands with both of his.
“I’m...I’m not a virgin.” She paused and choked, a short sob laced with anger, followed by teeth grinding, removing her hand from his and clenching her fists before she continued.
“This guy knew how to make a girl lose control. I couldn’t stop myself. It turned out he was seeing how many girls he could score with. That’s what he called it. I was number six. None of the other girls said anything. I didn’t have any friends except dear Greta in high school. I thought I’d gained a boy friend. I knew better, Roy.” Roy’s compassion for her numbed him, tears forming as he witnessed her heart pouring out to him.
“I know you’re a Christian, Heather, just by your actions, and your language and your dress. That being the case, you know how to settle such problems in your life, and no, I’m not judging you. That’s the last thing I’d do.” Roy grasped her hand again.
“Of course, I asked for forgiveness, but I still feel so soiled.” Heather was on the verge of sobbing again. “I’ll bet you’ve done nothing like that.”
“Don’t put me on a pedestal. I’ve had some rotten thoughts, like wanting to clobber my advisor, Professor Baker. That’s only the most recent one I need forgiveness for. Something else I’ll tell you I’m thinking that isn’t proper. Is this guy still around that took advantage of you? I’d like to give him a few dozen knuckle sandwiches.” Roy’s anger seethed. He wanted to meet the jerk and pound him into the ground.
“He made the mistake of adding the sister of our star football player, Donnie, to his list as number seven. You don’t want to know what Donnie did to him,” Heather said, blushing.
“I say three cheers for Donnie! Heather, this doesn’t change how I feel about you one bit.” Roy looked at her, raised her hand to his lips, brushing a kiss across the back of her hand. Surprise swept her face at his gesture.
“It really doesn’t make a difference to you?”
“Of course not.” The low pitch of his voice emphasized his words.
Silence for half a minute followed. She smiled and gripped his hands. Then the set of her jaw and the moving of her glasses announced yet another concern.
“You deserve to have a girl friend who is pure. I’m not,” she said, and Roy basked in her partial smile that conveyed she knew he would refute her statement.
“Stop talking like that. You’re pure of body, mind, and soul. I’ll always feel that way.” Roy felt a rush of adrenalin—or at least something equal to an endorphin high.
“You’re the one who is talking too much,” Heather said, smiling. She cupped her hands around his shake glass and slid it over to her side of the booth. Roy wasted no time in understanding that action—he got up from his seat and slid in next to her, gently bumping against her and draping his arm over her shoulders. She leaned against him, resting her head against his jaw. He took a deep breath and brought his hand up to touch her hair. He felt her breathe deeply too, as he enjoyed the faint smell of lavender from her hair.
“A suggestion for you,” Heather said. “Let’s finish our shakes with two straws in one glass and then, well...”
“I like that suggestion, especially what comes after the ‘well,’” Roy said, putting his straw into her glass. They finished her shake in short order. She dipped her straw into his glass and the chocolate liquid disappeared quickly. They slid their empty glasses forward, and then Roy pressed his free hand against her cheek, while her arm went over and around his neck and she pulled him slowly toward her. Their lips met in a tender kiss that lasted a few seconds. Roy pulled back, parting them, and looked into her eyes and at her lips. She did the same. The next kiss, just as tender, lasted a long time.
“We only live a hundred miles apart. How about you come up and we could go roller skating some evening,” Heather suggested.
“I’d like that. Don’t you have a county fair in July?” Roy asked.
“Yes. I’ll bet you’re too scared to go on the rocket plane.” Heather teased him by bumping his chin with her knuckles.
“Not with you to protect me.”
Roy thrilled at the prospect of seeing her during the summer. His love for her remained unspoken, but he knew she felt the same way about him. The words would come, and it would be special.
A word about the author...
Larry has a B.S. in chemistry from Purdue and M.S. in chemistry from Indiana University. He has been writing science fiction and more recently sweet romance for 37 years. He has several short sweet romance stories published by different publishers on the Internet. He has two novels being considered by two different publishers, one sweet romance and one science fiction with sweet romance elements.
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