Wilson's Hard Lesson (42 page)

I woke up to another call. It was almost afternoon and my
head felt like it was bearing the weight of mother earth. I was nauseated, but
my eyelids refused to open up and my legs did not feel like getting out of bed.
I tossed in bed for a while but then checked my cell phone. It was Samantha. I
went to the bathroom in an attempt to freshen up a bit and come to my senses
enough to have an actual conversation with the woman. I heard Dad in the living
room watching television.

I ended up puking and then took a hot shower to calm my
nerves down. My back and legs were killing me and I regretted having invited
Samantha to lunch, but if I backed out now then that would break my father’s
heart and likely hers as well.

I decided to not go but send dad on a lunch date with her
instead. I dialed her number and sat on the bed naked with water drenching the
sheets.

“Hello, Samantha? This is Karen,” I said in a hurry as soon
as she picked up.

“Hi, I was calling you to ask about the lunch plan,” she
said. “Yes! I’m sorry the alcohol got me for a little while. Anyways, I will
not be able to make it,” I said trying to sound as apologetic as possible.

“I’m just a bit under the weather that is all, but Dad would
surely love to join you for lunch,” I replied and Samantha’s excitedly squeaky
voice was back on the line.

“Sure! It would be really good. You can rest and I will show
David around the city a bit as well,” she replied, and this clearly implied
that as much as my father was into her, she was proportionally into him as
well.

“Sounds like an awesome plan. He’ll meet you at ‘The Dine’
in about two hours,” I said. ‘The Dine’ was a fancy little restaurant in the
heart of the city. It was perfect for conversational intimacy. I put on another
set of pajamas and went to the living room.

“Get up, old chap! You’ve got a single date,” I said, fixing
myself some coffee.

“What do you mean?” he asked in a puzzled manner.

“What I mean is that you have a date with that Samantha
lady. I’m not going and you are.” I was smiling now.

“Well, now! Look at you trying to be cupid. Why are you not
coming along?” he asked.

“I’m a bit hung-over and have errands to run. We will have
dinner together. You came all the way from Florida for my graduation so it is
time that you deserved a little treat as well,” I said and sipped on my coffee.
It energized me and my nerves loosened up. I could feel my brain becoming active
again.

“Okay. So what time do I have to leave?” he asked.

“Well, I told her you will meet her at ‘The Dine’ in about
two hours so if I were you, I’d get up and shave, put on my best clothes and
leave to beat the city traffic.”

“You’re right. I cannot keep a woman waiting,” he said and
got up. He kissed me on the head and then went to his room. I sat there
changing channels for a while, trying to find something good to watch. I heard
him say from the other room, “Should I dress classy or casual?”

“Daddy, it is a lunch not a dinner date. Put on something
casual. I don’t want you to die out in the summer heat,” I replied.

“Would jeans and a tee-shirt be okay?” he asked again. God!
Dad was acting like a teenager.

“Yes! It would be fine. You’re a handsome lad who can pull
off anything,” I replied. The apartment was a mess. Dirty dishes in the sink
and dust on the furniture. I realized that today was going to be spent cleaning
up after all.

I got up and took a large trash bag from the kitchen. I
scooped up every wrapper and beer can. I was trying to plug in the vacuum
cleaner when Dad stepped in the living room and for a moment I halted to look
at the man. He wore dark blue, faded jeans and a black shirt. His hair was
neatly parted to the side and he was wearing strong cologne that had my mind
fogged up for a little while. I saw how he tried to retain his youth. His
strong jaw line and freshly shaved face did not give away his age at all. He
looked like he was in his 30s even though he was about to end his 40s.

I whistled at him, “Boy! That woman is going to fall for you
hard this time,” I said.

“You think so? Well thank you,” he said.

“Okay, so I called a cab and it will be here any minute. I
gave the driver instructions so you’ll be there without a hassle. I’ll call you
up and we can meet for dinner later on, whenever you are ready,” I said and
went on vacuuming the room.

“Sure,” he said and checked himself in the mirror placed in
the living room.

“Your cab is here so better get moving,”

“Goodbye; wish me luck,”

“Best of luck, Daddy.” He shut the door behind him. I could
sense that he was falling for her head over heels. It was okay because I really
wanted him to be in a relationship providing how hard he struggled with his
love life.

I cleaned up my apartment and made a few calls. It was time
to get the graduation celebrations over with, and hunt down a good job. I
looked over at the clock and it was almost half past five; I decided to ring
Daddy up and ask him for his plans for the night.

“Hello,” I said.

“Hey, honey. I was just about to call you,” he replied.

“I’m sure you were, Daddy,” I said sarcastically.

“I’m at the central park right now with Samantha. She would
like you to join us for dinner at her place with her son,” he said. This
gathering was something that I really had not planned for, but upon noticing
how excited my dad’s tone of voice was, I obliged.

“Okay, text me her address and I’ll see you guys around
seven,” I replied. “Have an awesome time. Goodbye.”

“Sure, I’ll text you right away. Goodbye, sweetie.” And he
cut the line.

About 15 minutes later, I got the text from her that had her
address. It was not that far away after all. A half an hour drive near the
outskirts of downtown area and voila!

I took a shower and put on a black dress with white polka
dots on it because the heat was not tolerable and I wanted loads of air. I
pinned my hair back up into a French bun and then with a tad bit of makeup,
made my way out.

I reached her house which had a vast front lawn neatly kept.

The woman had a love for gardening and I could infer it from
the way the grape vines and roses were in order. I made my way through the
driveway and knocked on the door. In a couple of moments the door opened and
there on the front porch stood a tall man with the body adorned to him by the
gods, if you ask me. He was above six feet tall with a muscular build and
piercing green eyes which made my soul quiver. He had a beard that gave his
face a sleek shape and more rough look with a dragon tattoo which travelled
from the side of his neck to the other end. A knock on the door had changed my
life forever.

He stood there, smiling, “Hello, you must be Karen! I’m
Jake. Samantha’s son,” he said. His voice was coarse but at the same time his
manner of speaking was slow and polite. He showed me inside and all that time I
kept looking at that gorgeous man who had in the first glance stole my heart
from the very start.

I saw Dad sitting in the living room and joined him.

“I’m glad you’re on time,” Dad said as Jake joined us
sitting opposite me on the sofa. He smelled of cigarette smoke and mild
whiskey.

“Well yeah, so where is Samantha?” I asked as my nervousness
stammered my speech.

“Mum’s in the kitchen,” replied Jake.

“She’s a real cook. I just found out about it today. The
woman loves to cook,” said Dad in a proud tone. He liked women who were
independent but maintained that feministic touch in themselves as well.

I kept looking at Jake, and I could feel that he kept
looking at me as well. My heartbeat was pulsing out of the room and my palms
were getting sweaty. It was not love but rather a craving. I craved him in a
manner I rarely craved any other man in my life. He just seemed perfect to me
during that hour. It was highly weird how I had acted out, but the charm in his
manners had wooed me from the start.

“Dinner is ready!” Samantha called out from the dining area.

“You have a very beautiful house, Samantha,” I said, in
order to occupy my mind with something else.

“Yes! Jake helped me design it. People in the construction
business really know how to make even the smallest of places look wonderful,”
she said.

I sat down at the left corner of the table and right beside
me, Jake took a seat. It was as if there was no escaping him or his charm. Dad
and Samantha sat on the opposite ends of the table.

“Well, yeah you could say that. Jake really did a wonderful
job,” I replied.

Everyone started passing around dishes as the air smelled of
roasted chicken with butter. I helped myself with some mashed potatoes because
my gut had butterflies in it that would not settle and let me eat. I ate a
little and time flew by but with him it seemed like an eternity.

After we were done eating, I helped Samantha clear the
table. My dad and Jake went out to the porch to drink a beer or two.

“The dinner was delicious,” I said, trying to keep up the
conversation.

“Thank you, doll,” she replied and went into the kitchen. I
heard footsteps behind me but was too busy clearing the table when I felt
someone weigh a bit on me and I looked back, it was Jake. My heart began to
beat more loudly against my chest. I was closer to him than ever and felt his
breath on my face.

“Well, sorry! I was carefully going to grab that glass over
there but you turned around,” he said, laughing.

“Let me get it for you,” and as he backed off, I took a deep
breath. I ended up handing the glass to him and my hand brushed against his.

“Thank you, pretty lady,” he said with a smirk on his face.

“You’re welcome,” I replied and turned around. I did not
want him to see me blushing.

“Aren’t you going to come out to the porch and have a drink
or two?” he asked.

I really did not want to drink providing my low alcohol
tolerance, but it was rude if I declined so directly and ended up saying,
“Sure! I’ll join you in a minute.” The words came out of my mouth all by
themselves and I did not expect it to be that way.

“Great,” he replied and went out.

My dad came in moments later. “I’m having a great time. Are
you doing okay, honey?” He noticed that all the color had drained from my face
because I was nervous.

“Yes, I’m fine. I’m going out to the backyard to have a
drink. Do you want to come with?” I said.

“No, I’ll have a little chat with Samantha if that is okay
with you?” he asked.

“Sure.” I walked out of the room to where Jake was standing,
looking in the distance.

I grabbed a beer that was placed on the table and stood
right beside him.

“So tell me about yourself?” he asked.

“Well, there is nothing much to tell. I just graduated from
college and now struggling to find a job,” I replied.

“I see, well best of luck with that,” he said.

The moonlight pierced through half his face and half of it
was covered in darkness which made way to a beautiful glow on his face. He was
half smiling at me and I wanted to keep talking but there was nothing I could
say.

“You’re really pretty,” he said.

“Thank you so much. You’re not that bad, either,” I replied.
It took me by surprise. We stood very near and in the air I could hear him
exhaling and inhaling smoke from his cigarette.

“Karen! Honey, should we get going?” I heard Daddy call out
from inside.

“We should,” I said in a loud tone and then directed towards
Jake, “So, I’ll see you again?”

“Sure,” he replied.

“Where do you work at?” I just needed to ask him because I
was planning on dropping by there, while making up a reason. I needed to see
him again.

“Taylor and James Construction Company,” he replied and
smiled. We shook hands and he leaned down to kiss me on the cheek, “It was
wonderful meeting you, Karen.”

The brush of his lips against my cheek had sent shivers down
my spine and I felt weak to my very core. I stammered on my words, “It was
nice, umm, meeting you as well. I hope to, umm, see you soon.” And with that, I
walked out of there.

“Dad, let’s go,” I said and passed by the living room in a
hurry.

Samantha walked right beside my father, “It was lovely to
have you over for dinner, Karen and David. I hope we’ll get together again,” as
she looked my dad directly in the eye and smiled.

“We will,” Daddy replied, and I saw Jake making way to the
small corridor where the three of us were standing.

“Take care,” Samantha said. Dad and I walked to the end of
the street. We wanted to walk instead of taking a cab for some reason.

“Had a great time?” he said.

“I sure as hell did,” I replied.

We walked silently back to my apartment and did not say
much.

During the next two days, neither Dad nor I said much about
Samantha. It was time that Dad flew back to Florida and I start scouting
seriously for job opportunities. I still could not get Jake out of my mind; for
some reason, the man had left more than an impression but a permanent imprint.

At the airport, I dropped Dad off and saw Samantha there as
well.

“I just wanted to see you father off,” she said as we both
hugged.

“I can understand. It is really nice seeing you,” I replied.

“Dad, I should get going,” I said. “Call me when you get
home.”

“Will do, honey!” Dad said. We hugged and said our final
goodbyes. I had a job interview in about an hour and left for it. Samantha
stayed back with my father.

During the course of the next three months, there was little
interaction between me and Samantha, but Daddy had told me that he was
genuinely interested in her. She even went to Florida to visit him. I was
caught up in life badly, but during lonesome nights there was this nostalgic
feeling about Jake in my mind. We had an intimate connection.

My phone rang while I was coming back home; it was Daddy.

“Hello,” he said, but his voice sounded really nervous.

“Hi, Dad! Is everything okay?” I responded.

“Yes, everything is fine. I’m flying in on the weekend. I
thought to let you know,” he said.

“Okay. But is everything alright with you?” I was nervous
and worried.

“Yes, everything is fine. I just need to talk to you in
person,” he replied. “So see you on the weekend.” And he cut the line.

I really had no idea what he was going to talk about. Dad
always had this manner of surprising people. Three days later, I was at the
airport waiting for him to land.

We said our hellos and hugged, but my curiosity was getting
the best of me. I couldn’t wait to ask him about this visit.

“So, what is up?” I said on our way back to the apartment.

“Do you really want to have this conversation now? In the
back of a cab?” he said with an annoyed tone.

“Yes, sir! Right now. Give it to me,” I replied in a cheeky
manner.

“Well, I’m going to propose to Samantha and that is why I
flew here from Florida,” he replied, and as each word hit me, I could feel my
whole body going numb. My father was going to marry someone he met a couple of
months ago. I was half-heartedly crushing over the son of that woman. I was
crushing over my own stepbrother. The marriage really did not bother me because
I wanted my father to be happy, but then the feeling of lusting over him made
me feel super guilty.

“I’m so happy for you,” I replied because there was nothing
much I could say to him at that moment.

“You’re taking it better than I expected. She will be a
great step-mother to you, Karen,” he said and hugged me.

“I’m sure,” I replied, but my mind was twirling with other
thoughts.

“So when are you going to propose to her?” I asked as we
took his luggage out of the trunk of the cab and moved upstairs.

“I’m thinking about tomorrow. I already got her a ring. I’m
taking her out to dinner so that is when I pop the question,” he said eagerly.

I sighed and then smiled back at him. “I hope it goes really
well and she says, yes!”

“Oh, she will. I’m positive about it,” he replied.

I fixed us some dinner and we watched television all the
while chatting about the big day tomorrow.

“I’d better catch some sleep,” I said and got up to go to
bed.

“I cannot even sleep. I’m really nervous. Good night,
darling,” he said and I kissed him on his forehead.

“Don’t worry, everything will be okay.” I walked out of the
room into my own, closing the door behind me.

Jake was soon enough going to be my step-brother. I had not
seen the guy in months but could not stop obsessing about him, and this time,
he would end up being my brother. I really did not know how to take the news.

The next day I woke up to a loud bang in the kitchen.

“I’m sorry. I was trying to make you breakfast but failed
miserably!” Dad called out from afar.

“It is okay! I’ll clean it up later,” I replied and tossed
over to the other side. Dad walked into the room and sat by my side. “Do you
want to hear the way I’m going to propose her?” He sounded eager and telling
him that I would rather not seemed really rude so I smiled and agreed.

Dad had prepared a whole speech telling Samantha how
wonderful she is and how she changed his life, at the end he would ask her to
marry him. It was awfully cute and a side of me hoped that she would say yes
while the other was just numb to whatever was happening.

Around five o’clock that evening, Daddy went out to
Samantha’s place to pick her up and head out for dinner. I went to the bar and
drank a bit with my old friends. I needed to blow off some steam and had this
urge to tell someone about crushing over my soon-to-be step-brother.

“It is perfectly okay. Incest counts as long as it is a
blood relationship. He isn’t really your brother,” I heard Armani say to me. He
was the type of friend who would always tell you exactly what you wanted to
hear.

“Yeah, who cares? If he is hot then better go for it before
he goes out of stock,” said Leena. People around me really did not care and I
guess the point was valid enough. He was my step-brother and we shared no blood
so it was okay. I remember singing karaoke in the bar and then hailing a cab to
take me home. I was drunk and upon reaching the door, I saw Dad sitting on the sofa.

“I was worried sick about you. You could have answered your
phone,” he said.

“I’m sorry, the battery was really low. So how did it go?
Tell me all about it?” I said.

“She said yes! We’re getting married by the end of this
month. A little ceremony with close family and friends,” he replied and I
responded with a happy shriek.

“I am so happy for you. Congratulations.” And then I dialed
Samantha’s number without realizing that it had been so late in the night. I
wanted to congratulate her as well, but she did not answer and I figured that
she was asleep by now.

Daddy and I ended up drinking more in celebration. I went to
bed when the sun came up and the next day was spent dealing with a bad
hangover.

Samantha called Daddy and I to dinner to which we both
agreed. It was the same scenario and as I knocked on the door, Jake opened and
greeted us.

“Hello!” he said and shook my dad’s hand.

“Hello, young man,” Daddy replied.

“Hey!” I said and all of us made our way to the living room.

The sight of him had ignited the same lust in me and I
wanted to claw into him right then and there. The dinner was followed by a
light chat and discussion of the wedding plans. It was decided that the
ceremony would be small and I would get to be one of the bridesmaids.

Samantha and I chatted over clothes and planned the event.
The wedding was in a chapel, but the reception would be in central park. I kept
glancing at Jake every now and then who smiled at me. After a little while, I
went out to the back porch in order to get some air. Planning weddings was hard
and I just wanted to clear my head for a while.

“What are you doing here, lonely ducky?” I heard Jake step
out from the inside and stand right beside me.

“Just getting a whiff of air,” I replied.

“I can see that.” And he turned towards me, “You’ve got
really beautiful lips,” he said as he touched them with his hand, and there was
no distance between us. I tilted my head to one side.

“Tell me about it,” I replied and smiled. He was as into me
as I was into him.

“And really delicate skin. It would be a shame if someone
were to bruise it,” he said in a very sensual tone.

“I would love to be marked,” I replied, looking back at him
directly.

He grabbed my hand and cornered me.

“Our parents are in there, Jake,” I said smiling shyly at
him.

“I know and I don’t care,” he said as he bent down and put
his lips against mine. His hands were on my back, pressing me towards himself,
while the other one lingered over my body. I could taste him in my mouth and
had my hands wrapped around his neck.

“Karen!” I heard my dad call out from inside and we broke
apart. I was soaking wet and could feel how hard Jake was.

“Yes, Dad! I’ll be there in a minute,” I replied and then
took a deep breath.

“You’re mine,” Jake said as I walked back into the room.

After a while, it was time for us to leave. We gathered our
things and made our way out. I planned the wedding shopping days with Samantha
and everything seemed exciting. I still could not get over what had happened on
the porch between me and Jake.

I did not want to get the taste of his lips out of mine or
forget the feeling he gave me.

I just wanted him to last with me, forever. We went home and
I crashed into bed without a single thought except for Jake on my mind.

I craved him like a cigarette on a cold December night.