The Rain Began to Fall (4 page)

“Anything wrong,
Leigh?” Gene asked as he drove toward a French restaurant where they would dine
this evening. Leigh was deep in thought, staring silently out the passenger
window. The radio was playing low. He turned it off.

“Huh?” she
replied, blinking and turning toward him.

“What’s going on
with you?”

“Nothing,” she
replied, clearing her throat. “Why?” He glanced over at her, frowning.

“You seem ...a bit
distant lately,” he replied, gripping the steering wheel a little tighter.
“What gives?”

She had seen Kyle
once in the past week when she went to the break room to get a soda. When she
spotted him, she’d tried to leave before he saw her, but he practically ran
across the room to catch up with her.

“Well hello, Ms.
Andretti,” he’d said.

“Hey Kyle,” she’d
replied. “Sorry, I’m kind of in a hurry…”

“I understand. I
just wanted to say hi and look at your beautiful face again.”

She blushed and
stared nakedly into his eyes, feeling her heart trying to push out of her
chest. Those millions of butterflies in her stomach all had babies and she
thought she would float away.

“Thank you,” she
replied, feeling her face warming up.
Good lord I’ve got to get out of here!

“Well, like I
said, I’m in a hurry, sorry, okay?” she stammered, turning away.

“See you later,”
he responded, smiling.

She looked back at
him once more, and then fled to her office.

Kyle had moved
into the corner of her mind (more like dead center), setting up residence, and
she couldn’t seem to move him out. This was new territory for her, new feelings
she didn’t understand or know how to deal with, and that’s what she had been
mulling over just now.

“I’m just
thoughtful,” she responded. “Just little things.”

“Anything you want
to share?” he asked, prying further.

“No, nothing
important,” she replied absently.

He let it go, and
the silence resumed. Then he smiled and took her left hand, squeezing it
gently.

“Well, the big day
is only two months away now, darling! Have you decided where you want to go on
our honeymoon? Which will it be? Paris or Venice?”

They had narrowed
the locations to those two European cities, and whatever was bothering her, he
knew this question would excite her and get her talking. Their upcoming
honeymoon was her favorite subject, and she never failed to get charged when he
mentioned it. She looked down at his hand interlocked with her own. His Rolex
watch gleamed in the evening sunlight.

“Either place is
fine with me,” she replied dully. “Whatever you decide.”

He jerked his hand
away from hers quickly as he pulled into a parking spot at the restaurant. He
turned toward her with a shocked expression.

“What has gotten
into you?” he asked, exasperated. “You’ve been all fired up about our
honeymoon! It’s all you ever talk about! What’s this nonchalant attitude?”

He was clearly
disturbed, and, coming fully out of the world of her wandering thoughts about
Kyle, she realized her response was
way
off.
Oopsy daisy!
She had
to recover. She took his hands in hers.

“I just think both
places are
marvelous
,” she soothed, smiling broadly. “I can’t imagine
one being better than the other! I’ve thought about it and I would be happy
with either one. So you pick, okay? There’s just no way you can make a
mistake!” He searched her eyes and gradually returned her smile, then sighed,
obviously relieved.

“Babe, you know
how much I love you,” he said. “I just want you to be happy.”

She
did
know how much he loved her. She felt guilty (and not for the first time) about
letting her thoughts drift away on a guy she barely knew. Beside her was the
man who had always been there, always supported her. She rubbed his hand
between hers.

“I’m sorry if I’ve
seemed distant lately,” she said. “I’m really not, though. I’m right here
beside you.”

He leaned over and
kissed her then, and she returned his kiss with purpose, attempting to iron out
the small wrinkle she had created. But Leigh felt something different as their
lips came together; for the first time in their long relationship, she felt
something was missing.

# # #

Kyle’s job at Falstead
was packing skids, which would be wrapped, weighed and shipped beyond his
station. The average carton weighed forty pounds, but he was in good shape and
he managed it quite well; he certainly had no problem keeping up with the feed.
Wade and Billy, whose job it was to pick and fill each carton behind him and
send it his way, didn’t have setting a world record in mind.

With time to think
on his job, he was pondering his next move in the literary world, if there was
one.  He’d recovered somewhat from the last rejection (he’d had plenty of
practice), and was thinking about what he would do next. He hadn’t gotten any
new ideas or storylines in awhile;
Terrence Tried
was the last thing he
had written, and that was eight months ago. He knew he needed to get writing
again if was going to keep his agent on board.

Neither Wade nor
Billy had spoken to him since he had started; after introductions they had left
him alone, content with eyeing him suspiciously. No one had gone out of their
way to approach him, for that matter; but then, he hadn’t made any overtures to
anyone either. He decided it was better that he kept to himself at the start,
concentrate on his job. Working dutifully for several minutes, he suddenly
wandered in his thoughts onto a new concept for a story.
There we go
, he
thought.
This is good
. His mind had cleared to a state of objectivity
through menial labor, and the fountain began flowing. Actually, it was a
deluge. He was excitedly pouncing on it, mentally outlining the characters and
plot, when Wade walked up to him.

“Hey man, is that
car of yours just for show or can it go?” he asked with a smirk. Kyle’s mind
was whirling, and at the moment nothing existed outside of the world he was
creating. He didn’t acknowledge the question as Wade stared at him, awaiting
his reply. When several seconds passed and he felt sufficiently ignored, he
spoke again.

“Hey, I asked you
a question man,” he stated forcefully. He got through and broke Kyle’s thought
patterns, and he turned to face the shorter, stockier Wade.

“Yeah, it’s for
show,” he responded sarcastically. “I show people the rear end of it when I’m
blowing their doors off.” He stared evenly into Wade’s beady eyes. “Why do you
ask?”

Wade stared back
for a moment; he then looked at Billy, who was intently watching the exchange
from his station, and laughed.

“Hey Billy, did
you hear that?” he hollered over the sound of the machinery. “Sounds like this
guy thinks he’s the man!”  Billy guffawed. Kyle knew what was coming; he
had been here before. Next would be the challenge to race, and that would be
just fine with him.

“Well, I’ll tell
ya what pal,” Wade continued, condescension in his voice and a challenging
gleam in his muddy brown eyes. “You know where Summerville road is?”

“I can find it.”

“We drag there on
Friday nights, nine o’clock. Come on out and we’ll see if you’re as bad as you
think
you are.” He stared up at Kyle, sneering.

“I’ll be there.
Count on it,” Kyle replied with a sneer of his own.

“Alright!” Wade
exclaimed, and then walked back toward his work area, turning around to add:
“Don’t chicken out on me, ya hear?” He elbowed Billy in the side.

What morons,
Kyle
thought, shaking his head. He went back to work, glad Wade had challenged him.
He was ready for a good race. That was something he could win at.

# # #

“Again?” she
asked, frustrated. Despite her growing acceptance of Gene’s cancellation
habits, this was getting to be ridiculous. Leigh was on the phone with her
fiancé at 11:30 am, and he was begging off their lunch date. “You’re working an
awful lot lately, you know.”

“I know babe, but
this Roberson case has me all tied up!” he explained. “It’s a strong one
though, and if I can win it, it will mean a lot to my career and for us! I’ll
call you later, okay? I promise we’ll spend some quality time together this
weekend, alright? Love you, gotta go!”

He hung up. She
sighed, stared at her phone in disbelief, and flipped it closed.  When the
plant lunch bell rang, she stood and stretched, then walked over to her office
window and looked out across the company grounds. It was another gorgeous
spring day. As she watched the employees spill out, she saw Kyle walking alone.
He went toward a big solitary elm tree, one behind and away from the picnic
tables. He leaned back against the tree and folded his arms, one foot propped
up behind him. He was wearing jeans and a short sleeved black tee shirt, his
muscular forearms folded across his broad chest.
Scrumptious,
she
thought as she unconsciously licked her lips. She wanted to go down there and
see him, but knew that was a bad idea. After she got home from dinner with Gene
Tuesday evening, she had successfully rationalized that her attraction to Kyle,
and her doubtful feelings, were simply the product of pre - wedding stress, a
passing thing. That had placated her troubled mind somewhat.

Turning away from
the window, she looked at the pile of papers on her desk.
If Gene is working
through lunch, I guess I can too
, she thought determinedly. She stared at
their picture and thought about their upcoming wedding, attempting to shore up
emotional fortitude. She sat down, picked up a folder, and immersed herself in
her work.

A couple of
minutes later, she looked toward the window and sighed.
Just for a chat
.
She dropped the folder, rose slowly, and started outside.

# # #

“Hello, Kyle.”

His head had been
tilted back, resting on the tree, and his eyes closed.  At the sound of
Leigh’s voice, he blinked twice, then fully opened his eyes and looked at her,
surprised. The weight of the moment was not wasted on Kyle; she had
come to
him.
He did not immediately respond, but instead stared intensely at
her, and she didn’t lower her eyes, boldly holding his gaze. She felt her pulse
quickening.
Amazing,
she thought with wonderment.

“Well hey,” he finally
responded. “To what do I owe this honor?” He unfolded his arms, lowered his
foot to the ground and hooked his thumbs into the belt loops of his jeans.

“Nice day,” she
responded quietly, finding her voice. “Too nice to stay indoors.”

“Yeah,” he agreed.
He continued staring at her, smiling slightly.

“So… how’s the job
going?” she inquired, finally looking down, having to. She could only take so
much.

She was dressed in
a white blouse and a form fitting navy blue skirt, the hemline an inch above
the knee and showing off a world class pair of legs. When she looked back up at
him, he was staring down at those legs, and she watched as his eyes, slowly and
deliberately, crawled up and over every inch of her body. He was blatantly
undressing her, and she could almost feel her clothes peeling off. He made
absolutely no effort to hide what he was doing. He came to her face, and his
eyes settled on hers with open lust. She felt very weak in the knees and
extremely warm, but she didn’t budge.

“It’s okay,” he
responded. “It’s work.” A passing breeze blew through his hair. It looked so
wonderfully soft, and, not for the first time, she imagined how it would feel
to run her fingers through it. She found herself, in that moment, imagining
plenty of other things as well.

“Well, how do you
like Charlotte?” she asked, attempting to make conversation

“So far, so good,”
he responded.

She had come out
here to see him of her own volition and he knew now, beyond doubt, that she was
game. He pushed off the tree and stepped closer to her. She watched him do this
with some apprehension, and some excitement, but she didn’t move back. He
stopped just a foot from her, well inside her personal space, and hooked his
thumbs again into his belt loops. This close to her, he admired her soft, full
lips. He could smell her, and the scent was intoxicating. He imagined how it
would feel to kiss her, and she, looking back at his lips with equal desire,
imagined the same thing. As she looked into his eyes, his gaze drawing her in,
she suddenly turned away, stepping past him, attempting to shake off her
wayward desire.
Get hold of yourself!
she thought. She drew in a breath
and cleared her throat, louder than she had planned.

“So… are you a
Charlotte native?” he asked, turning and facing her. She was now leaning back
against the elm, switching spots from where they had originally stood.

“Yes... I am,” she
responded softly, unable to find her full voice. She was too nervous, too
excited to expound further. The sexual tension between them was palpable, and
as he stepped closer to her, she thought suddenly:
My back is against this
tree
!
 
She realized she couldn’t move quickly from this
position, and that she was susceptible to a sudden approach on his part, should
he attempt it. Her heart was beating rapidly as he leveled his eyes on hers and
took another step closer.
This is not good
! she thought anxiously. She
quickly scanned the crowd around them.
Not good with all of these people
around. But is anyone looking?
She glanced about again. They were out of
the way enough, and she saw that most were eating their lunches, in
discussions, and probably wouldn’t notice if he kissed her.
Kissed me
?
she thought wildly.
What am I thinking
?
What am I doing
?