Hoax (6 page)

             
He turned to me after a while, “You have plans today?” 

             
“Yeah, I do.”
Did I really have to spell it out for him?

             
“I was planning on spending the day with you.” 
There , I said it.

             
“You don’t have any secrets do you?” He said and I shrugged. 

             
“Nope.  I guess I just don’t bullshit.  What you see is what you get.”

             
“Thank God.”

Abel

              I sat there, swinging next to her, trying to get my head around how—well for lack of a better word—easygoing she was.  It continued to surprise me.  I doubted she ever got angry or pissed off.  She probably didn’t hold grudges or get revenge.  She just was who she was. 

             
“I’m starving,” I finally said. 

             
She got up and said, “Come on.”

             
Within fifteen minutes she had four grilled cheese sandwiches going and they smelled like none I had ever tasted.  And just to watch her glide through the kitchen was a treat.  It was truly dinner and a show.  The way she cocked her hip out while she stood at the stove was enough to make me want to forget my hunger and forget my resolve to take things slow with her.  Forget everything but letting my hands rest on her curves while she rocked them back and forth as she did her culinary magic.

             
The ‘clink’ of the plate on the island in front of me snapped me out of my daydream. 

             
“Quit looking at my ass and eat.”  She giggled and I had to laugh back but didn’t argue—couldn’t argue with the truth.  And it was that brutal honesty that I was falling for, hard and fast. 

             
I took a bite of my sandwich and it didn’t disappoint for one second.  I groaned out a ‘mmmmm’ and she turned around smiling at me.

             
“It’s so good.” I said and she sat down across from me.

             
“Yeah, but how is the sandwich?”  We both cracked up at that and ate joking about the zombie movie.  She remembered the mistakes she saw and where there were errors in continuity.

             
I could listen to her talk for hours and that’s exactly what I did for the rest of the afternoon.  She started talking about the book she was in the middle of and it sounded interesting.  I convinced her to get it out.  We sat next to each other on the couch and she started at the beginning but after four or five pages I could see that I was a much faster reader than she was.  I kept waiting for her to turn a page and she was still reading.  I took the book from her and she gave me a ‘what the hell’ look.

             
“What are you doing?” She said.

             
“Lay down Corinne.” She gave me a look that said ‘you’ve got to be kidding me.’

             
“What, you don’t trust me?” I gave her my innocent face.

             
“Ok, ok.” She lay on the couch and crossed her feet and put her arms over her chest.

             
I sat on the floor in front of the couch with my back against it and opened the book to where we had left off.  I read four or five pages to her and then passed the book behind me for her turn.  While she read to me the fingers of her left hand combed through the back of my hair. It was an interesting book but between her voice and her hand doing what it was doing, I didn’t catch half of it. 

             
I couldn’t stand it anymore.  I turned around while she read to me.  She turned the page not even paying attention to what I was doing.  I leaned against the couch next to her with my elbows propped on the same cushion she lay on.  She turned while finishing the sentence she was on.

             
“What?” She said and when she turned to face me our noses met.

             
“I love the sound of your voice.” She closed her eyes not for a long time, like a long drawn out blink.

             
“It’s the book, it’s really good.” 

             
“It’s not the book.  You could be reading the dress code for the IRS and it would be like listening to a song.”

             
She stared at me, specifically my lips, for the longest second in history. 

             
“Will you just kiss me already?” It was a simple whispered question but I could hear the longing in it.

             
I made myself move slowly the few inches that separated my face from hers.  I’ve never wanted to savor a moment so much in all my life.  I closed in and I could feel the heat from her lips to mine—and something occurred that was unexpected.  It wasn’t just the silken warmth of her mouth on mine.  It was more than physical.  When they touched something inside me fell into place. A puzzle piece not pushed in all the way.  It was there, waiting for the right person to see its folly and return it to the place where it fit.  She found it and with her kiss, emotions and feelings were unlocked and connected to each other.  I was hers.  For as long as she would have me, I belonged to her.

             
I pulled back and her eyes were still closed.  Her eyelashes, one shade darker than her hair, fluttered and opened her brown eyes which smiled before her mouth showed any signs of it. 

             
“Finally,” she whispered.

             
“It’s only been two weeks Corinne.” I chuckled at her and reached out to finally get my fingers in her honey blonde hair.

             
“Feels like forever.”  We stayed like that for a few minutes before she checked my watch. 

             
“Oh, it’s almost four o’clock!” She jumped up off of the couch and grabbed my hand, dragging me off somewhere. 

             
“What happens at four,” I asked, almost slamming into the door jamb.

             
“Just come on.” She let go and ran out towards the barn.

             
When I reached the barn she was trying to maneuver a ladder against the barn’s roof.

             
“Here, let me help you.  Are we getting on the roof?”

             
“Yeah, we are.”  She climbed the ladder and I had to keep my hands on the back of my head, forcing myself to look down, trying desperately to be good.

             
“Come on Abel, you’re such a slow poke.” 

             
I got up to the roof and she lay there with her arms behind her head.  I lie next to her but not too close, still not sure of how close to get, mimicking her posture.  As soon as I looked up, she scooted closer to me so that our bodies met from toe to shoulder.  Without a second thought, I put my left arm out, and she moved to use it as her pillow. 

             
“Ok, what are we looking at here?”

             
She turned her head back and forth and then pointed to my right.

             
“There,” She pointed with such a fury that I thought her shoulder was going to give out.

             
I looked and finally saw what had this gorgeous girl’s attention.  A pink, white, and black bubble emerged from the trees slowly and the telltale sound of fire heating air filled my ears. 

             
“Hot air balloons?”   She giggled at my surprise.

             
“Yeah, it said on the news this morning that they would be passing over this area about four o’clock. They had a hot air balloon festival in Bossier City.”

             
“So this is something you like?” I baited her for more info.

             
“Yeah, my Dad worked for a company that sponsored the festival one year and we spent the whole day there.  We got to ride in one and everything.  It’s one of my best memories.”

             
“How old were you,” I asked, trying to picture an adolescent Corinne.

             
“Eight, I think.  I’m seventeen now, so—yeah eight.”  She shrugged, satisfied with not knowing.

             
“You wanna know something?” 

             
“Mmmhmmm”

             
“I think I was at that same festival.  We went when I was eight.  I remember because I got lost there.  My parents were doing, whatever, and I lost them.  I found a policeman and I spent the rest of the day with him until four hours later my parents came looking for me.  Four hours.”

             
And without warning, I remembered her.  Same hair color, same unbelievably warm eyes, and the most beautiful voice in the world.  I remembered her from time to time but now lying next to her on the roof of this barn I knew that the voice from my childhood and the woman’s voice next to me were one in the same.

             
“Now—you wanna know something really weird?” 
Please don’t be freaked out!

             
“Yeah.” Another balloon came into view, this one with a yellow smiley face with sunglasses.

             
“I remember you from that festival.” I squinted my eyes shut, prepared for her to bolt.

             
She rolled on her side facing me, “You what? How?” 

             
I turned my head to look at her, “I remember you and I guess your Dad.  You were begging to go on a balloon shaped like a frog with a crown on it but he said one ride was enough.  Your hair was the same color, your eyes the same, and your voice more childlike but the same too.  But your Dad called you Corey, I think.”

             
“Holy crap.  I can’t believe you remember that.”

Corinne

             
“Yeah, he used to call me Corey when I was little.  I had forgotten that. That was one of the rare times I actually got to go somewhere with them.  I can’t believe you remembered me.”

             
There was something there, connecting us.  Like we’d known each other before and found one another again.  I just wish I could remember him, too.

             
“I’ve got an idea.”  I sat up quickly and he reached out to catch me even though the roof was flat at the top. 

             
“Shoot.”

             
“You go get some swim shorts and I’ll run to town and get some Chinese and we’ll meet back here in thirty minutes.”

             
“Deal.”

             
We both scrambled down from the roof; somehow this thing had turned into a silent race.  I ran inside to grab my keys, my phone and my wallet, if I was going to speed, I was taking my newish truck, not the BMW.  I opened the other side of the garage and Abel had already started his truck and was backing out.

             
I used my cell to call in our order and sped to get there.  I walked in and to my left saw a big group of people, mostly guys.  They were loud and were openly harassing the bus boy who tried to clean the table next to them in peace.  He picked up the tray of discarded plates and cups and as he passed the big guy, with a buzz cut, reached out and pushed him down.  I gasped and inadvertently brought attention to myself. 

             
I had no experience with bullies.  We were so strictly watched and regimented at Wellsley that there was no bullying or time for it.  But I knew it was wrong.  Anyone with eyes could see that this brazen harassment was wrong. 

             
“Hey you.  Where have you been all my life?”
I think I’m gonna gag.

             
“Me?”  Like I didn’t know.

             
“Yeah, you.  Where’d you come from?”  I opened my mouth to say something snide but was interrupted by an Asian lady saying ‘hey’.

             
“Yes ma’am?” 

             
“Your order is ready.”  I let out a nervous breath.  Saved by the noodles.

             
“Thank you.”  I pulled out my wallet to pay but she put her hand up in the air. 

             
“No, no, no.  Mr. Collins already pay.” But she whispered it to me, her nose almost touching mine. 

             
“Ok, thank you.”  When I turned around the rowdy table had quieted some and I was being eyed.