The Rain Began to Fall (11 page)

“Is that right?”
he responded, looking away across the grounds. She detected the jealousy in his
voice, and saw his jaw muscles tense, rippling under his skin. She stared at
him admiringly for a moment, tracing the outline of his face, but then she tore
her eyes away.
Can’t allow that
, she thought.
She cleared her throat and looked back at him, but he was still looking away.

“So why did you
want to see me?” she asked busily, brushing something off her lap. He turned
and faced her, sighing. She pushed a rogue strand of hair behind her ear,
raising her eyebrows inquisitively.

“I’ve got a favor
to ask you,” he said, shifting. “I’ve got a friend back in Tennessee who wants
to move here. He’s a great guy, a really . . .  hard . . .  worker.”
He had been staring into her eyes as he spoke, and his train of thought had
been blown off track by the crosswinds of desire. He paused, gazing at her in
silence, lost in romantic imaginings. Her brow furrowed.

“You were saying?”
she prompted.

“Yeah,” he
replied, blinking, realizing that he had stopped speaking. He cleared his
throat. “Anyway, I was just wondering if you could help him out, put in a word
for
him?
”

“He’s your friend,
huh?”

“Yeah, well, he’s
my
best
friend,” he emphasized. “His name is Rob Fenton. He’s very
dependable.” He warmed to the sales pitch. “He’s never late or absent. He’s
easy to get along with, and smart, and . . .

“Okay, okay,” she
interrupted, holding up a hand and smiling. “Your word is good with me,
Kyle.  And your work speaks volumes. Your supervisor tells me he would
love to have ten more just like you!”

“Oh really?” he
replied.

“That’s right. So
I don’t believe it will be a problem. But he’ll need to get up here and put in
an application soon,” she advised.

“How
soon?”

“Within the next
couple of weeks,” she responded. “Sorry so tight, but there is a position that
just came open, as it happens, and it has to be filled by then.”

“Are you sure you
can help him?” He was leaning across the table, his arms folded in front of
him.

“Hey, I told you
how your boss wants ten more like you, right? Well, I’m sure he’ll settle for
one! I’ll put in a word for your friend.”  She glanced at her watch: 4:10.
“I have to get going.” But instead of standing and scooting out of there, she
looked back up at him, into his eyes.

And just that
quickly she was sliding down the slippery slope, powerlessly locked into his
gaze. His eyes were sparkling, dancing fire, imploring her to come along, let
go, live free.

Birds chirped and
the breeze blew, and the moment spiraled deeper. He did not avert his
mesmerizing gaze, and she, returning it, was unable to remove her eyes from
his. She was becoming lost in the depth of his stare, the promise of something
wild and thrilling.

Love
, some
internal voice whispered, as she drowned in his bedroom eyes,
hot...sexy...
I want
....” Her hand went up to her forehead, absently brushing back a
strand of hair blowing across her face, and she was as unaware of this action
as she was her breathing. Her eyes were frozen on his and the moment took on a
dreamy, surreal quality, just as it had that morning at the traffic light.
Nothing had lessened in her time away from him; she had no defense. All of the
resistance she thought she had built up over the past week was gone. Stronger
than her desire of late to make Gene and their lives work together, as it had
been planned so carefully, for so long, was her desire now for this man to take
her and forcefully pull her into his arms, kiss her passionately, and have his
way with her.

Kyle stared
unwaveringly back into her eyes. It took every ounce of discipline he could
muster to hold himself back from the taste of her moist lips. He knew he could
kiss her now, just as times before, but he still felt he was a long shot to win
her, to really have a life with her. And that’s what he was determined to have.
It was the promise of that greater possibility that gave him the strength to
resist what was otherwise irresistible, over and over again. He was still
convinced she would almost unwillingly remain on the familiar path she was
traveling, regardless of any physical contact with him, unless those actions
were accompanied with feelings for him that were truly and unequivocally
grounded in her heart.

He drummed his
fingers on the manuscript lying on the table, and then looked down at it,
breaking the moment. She blinked her eyes, closing them tightly. The sigh in
her mind was practically audible.
I just can’t do this,
she thought
resignedly.
I can’t trust myself
.
I’m not strong enough.

Kyle
had
brought the manuscript along to share this part of his life with her, a window
into his soul. He turned the thick stack of pages over and slid them across the
table.

“What’s this?” She
looked down at the cover sheet. Across the top was a title:
The Fishing
Trip;
and beneath it: Kyle
Tilston
.”

“It’s a
manuscript; a novel.”  He looked at her face, studying her reaction
closely.

“You wrote this?”
she asked incredulously, picking it up and flipping through the pages.
He’s
a writer
?

“Yeah,” he
replied. “I was wondering if you would do me a favor and read it, you know, and
let me know what you think.”

She was stunned to
silence.

“I’m not finished
with it,” he said, “but I only have a couple of chapters to go. I would be
honored if you would read it.”

“Kyle, this is…..
amazing
,”
she responded sincerely. “I’m impressed.”

“Well…you haven’t
read it yet.”

“How long have you
been doing this?”

“I’ve been at it
for a while,” he said. “So what do you say? Will you give it a go?”

“Sure I will!” she
responded. “I love to read!”

“May not be your
style,” he replied.

“Oh, I’m sure I’ll
enjoy it,” she said. “Thank you.”

“No, thank
you
,”
he replied, pointing his finger at her and smiling.

She stared at him
in silent wonder for a moment. His occasional fluent speech now made more
sense. She glanced at her watch, and, as she feared, it was past time for her
to leave.

“I hate to run
off,” she said, “but I’m already late.” He stood.

“Sure, okay,” he
responded. “Let me know what you think.”

“I will,” she
replied sincerely, her head turning away before her eyes moved slowly off of
his.

He watched the
woman of his dreams walk away toward a rendezvous with her fiancé, and the
thought burned in his heart. Controlling his desire around her was the tallest
order he had ever filled; nothing else even came close. But he was thoroughly
convinced he was doing the right thing, and that his patience would be
rewarded.

North City mall
was a sprawling complex, and located within was the most upscale formal wear
shop in Charlotte, “The Bride’s Bouquet.” Leigh and Mindy were back again this
Saturday to choose between the finalists: two wedding dresses that had survived
a severe process of elimination. Both were absolutely the most beautiful Mindy
had ever seen, with trains roughly a mile long, but the enthusiasm and
excitement Leigh had displayed on prior visits was in absentia. Mindy was
perplexed. Leigh seemed preoccupied, and disinterested in the process. The
sales associate, Darla
Vasala
, had been very helpful,
as always, but for all of her efforts to coax Leigh into conversation about her
wedding and the choice of a dress, she was unsuccessful. Leigh had seemed as
excited about choosing between the final two dresses as a person sentenced to
death might be choosing between the firing squad and the electric chair.
Finally, Leigh turned to Mindy and said: “Let’s go.” They left abruptly, the
clerk staring after her dumbfounded. Was this the same Leigh Thompson who had
been in here before, bubbly and excited?
That girl’s not getting married
,
Darla surmised, and then turned her attention to a more promising customer.

When the
engagement between Leigh and Gene had been announced, Mindy was as happy for
her new friend as anyone could be; her own love life was certainly nothing to
write home about. She had been introduced to Gene not long after she and Leigh
became friends. He came off a bit pretentious to Mindy, but seemed to be very
much in love with Leigh, and vice versa. Besides, she knew they were made for
each other; they had grown up together and were products of wealthy families.
Mindy’s family wasn’t exactly as well off as Leigh’s - and that was a gross
understatement - , but that didn’t matter to Leigh, and Mindy loved her all the
more for it. She was a rare breed; rich and beautiful, yet never giving those
facts such weight that it influenced her character or choice of friends.

As they walked
silently to the food section in the mall for lunch, she stole a glance at Leigh
and saw the creases in her brow. Something was definitely wrong. They went for
Chinese. Mindy ordered beef and broccoli, with egg drop soup, and Leigh chose
chicken with cashews.  As they took a seat at a table and waited for their
orders to arrive, Mindy observed her unusually silent friend.

“So have you
chosen a Honeymoon spot?” Mindy asked excitedly, attempting to get a rise out of
her. Leigh did not immediately respond, staring out into space, her eyes
fixated on nothing at all.

“Hello?” Mindy
prompted, waving a hand in her face, “earth to Leigh Thompson!”

“What?” she
replied,
blinking.
 

“I said have you
guys picked out a honeymoon spot?”

“No.” She rubbed
her hands together. “I told Gene to decide. Anywhere’s fine with me.”

“Honey, you’re
going to Europe for three weeks, remember?” Mindy said, twirling a finger
around her ear.

“Yeah,” she
replied. “Europe. Three weeks.”

At that moment,
their food arrived. After the plates were placed, Leigh picked up her
chopsticks and began moving rice around. Mindy was now convinced that something
was seriously wrong. Leigh normally went ballistic with excitement when they
talked about her honeymoon. Her response just now could not have been more
uninspired. Mindy took a bite of an egg roll, and over Leigh’s shoulder, she
noticed a couple of guys smiling in their direction.

Mindy had
successfully split with Jim in the past week. In the beginning, she had held
high hopes for the future with him. He was a charming, good looking guy who
seemed genuinely interested in her. She wasn’t necessarily in love, but she had
tried to “work it”, so to speak, to make something out of it. But as the bloom
went off the rose, his affections began to fade, and in the end, he wasn’t the
person she had thought him to be. She had met his ex-girlfriend, Kirsten, at a
party two months ago, and she and Jim had been awfully friendly to each other,
the kind of friendly that said there was still something there. Three nights
ago, at a restaurant, he had excused himself to the restroom before their
dinner arrived. After he had been gone awhile, Mindy went looking for him, and
she discovered him in the hallway, leaning against the wall and whispering to
someone on his cell. She overheard some of the conversation; she was certain it
was a female, and almost positive it was Kirsten.

“Who are you
talking to, Jim?” she had asked. Startled, he had straightened suddenly and turned
around to face her.

“I’ll call you
back,” he told whoever was on the other end.

“How’s she doing?”
Mindy asked contemptuously.

“She?” he
responded. “That was…that was just my bookie,” he stammered, “I was just
betting on some games, you know?”

“So you call him
“baby,” huh?” she replied with a smirk. “Jim, buddy, you are so
full
of
crap.”

She had broken up
with him that evening, and he wasn’t taking it well. He had called her last
night, begging for another chance, saying that he really loved her.

“Hey Jim,” she had
told him, “how about giving me a call when hell freezes over? Until then, I
don’t want to hear from you again,
capiche
?”

Leigh noticed her
friend’s gaze, and looked back over her shoulder at the two guys staring and
smiling. They weren’t bad looking. One of them waved, and she turned back
around quickly.

“Looks like you’ve
got a couple of
hotties
eyeing you girl.”

“Yeah,” she
responded, scooping up some rice with her chopsticks. “They’re kind of cute,
huh?”

“You’re available
now, right?” Leigh responded, smiling for the first time today.

“Well, I’m not
dating Jim anymore,
that’s
for sure,” she replied. “But I don’t think
I’m available just yet.”

“You’ll go back to
him,” she predicted, still picking at her food. She had not yet taken a bite.

“No,
I won’t
,”
she responded firmly. “He crossed the line with me and I’m through with him.
This time I mean it.” Leigh looked up at her, hearing the conviction in her
friend’s voice. Mindy understood why she would be skeptical. She had said as much
before, only to return to the relationship. But after the other night, there
was no going back.

“Well, I hope so,”
Leigh said. She sighed and pushed more rice around. “And by the way, thanks for
tipping Gene off to where I was the other night.”

Mindy paused in
mid bite and looked up at her, puzzled.

“What are you
talking about?” she responded, putting her chopsticks down and wiping her
mouth.

“You know when
Gene called you last week, asking if you knew where I
was?
”