This is Chapter Two of my novel Sweet Release.
CHAPTER TWO
Matthew Preston pushed his handsome 6 ft. frame out of the chair and stood, looking down at the woman he loved—more like a girl in a lot of ways. Truthfully, he was relieved to see her choked up. He’d half expected her to congratulate him with an enthusiastic smile and wish him well. He reached down and pulled her up to him.
“If you change your mind, I’ll be waiting.” With a sad expression he took her face in his strong hands and kissed her lips tenderly. “I love you, CM.” Then he walked out of the room and down the hall, leaving her to her life.
Matthew Earl Preston decided a month ago to take this new job—to relocate back in his home state of California. So by the time he told his company he’d accept their lucrative offer, his younger brother James had agreed to take over his lease and apartment, and they squared it all up with the manager. His parents looked forward to spending time with Matt and having him around the area again.
Matt’s first thoughts upon receiving this promotion went immediately to CM. He’d already determined she was the one with whom he wanted to spend the rest of his life—no one had achieved that status in his life, although many had certainly tried. Until she dropped her Tully’s double mocha on his brand new shoes as she rushed out of the coffee shop one early rainy morning on her way to work, he’d convinced himself he was having fun playing the field. He smiled as he remembered the mixed expressions instantaneously crossing her face at that moment. First, there was utter disdain that someone had gotten in her way and wasted her full mocha when she was in such a hurry. Then as she looked up to see who this scalawag might be, she was obviously taken aback by his handsomeness – this blondish tall guy (compared to her petite height) dressed in a black cashmere overcoat, exposing a pinstriped suit. Those shoes had cost him plenty.
“I—oh, I’m sooo sorry,” she stammered, her hands almost transfixed in a surrendered position. “Uh, let me get some napkins,” she said as she turned around quickly to head back into the shop and nearly separated another patron from his fancy cup of coffee.
At that point, Matt smiled at her and gently led her by the arm out of the way and back into the coffee shop. “It’s alright,” he’d said. “They’re just shoes, you know.”
She’d blushed a hot shade of red and apologized again. “Is there anything I can do?” she asked, exaggerating her hand gestures in complete embarrassment.
“Well, yeah, now that you mention it, there is,” he’d replied with some seriousness and then nearly laughed as he watched a new expression of pure panic appear on her face. “You can let me replace what you dropped.”
His proposal didn’t register on her face for a few seconds, but when it did, she replied, “Oh, no. I couldn’t let you do that—it was my fault. Too big a hurry as usual. Always cutting it too close, you know? No—let me buy yours this morning,” she’d added, fumbling in her purse for her wallet. “It’s the least I could do.”
Gently he stopped her search. “I insist.”
She blushed again and remained silent.
“Since you’re in a hurry, I won’t keep you, but here’s my card,” he offered, reaching smoothly into his inside coat pocket. “I’d like an opportunity to talk to you. Do you come here every morning?”
“Well, yeah, but—”
“Then I’ll meet you here tomorrow, say 6 AM?” he suggested, looking at his watch. “What are you having?” he asked as they arrived at the counter.
Once they got their coffees, he gave her his last pitch. “I know you’re in a hurry, so I’ll be waiting here tomorrow morning. See you then, alright?” He hadn’t waited for her answer.
She’d stood there with her mouth ready to make an excuse but unable to get one formulated in the brief time he gave her to decide.
Matt smiled at the memory. It was a year and a half ago – seemed like a couple of weeks ago in more ways than one because he remembered the way he felt when she finally looked up at him after dousing his shoes. She wanted to snarl but was overcome by what he looked like, and it gave him a charge he hadn’t expected – not because of the effect he had on her because, honestly, he was used to getting the double takes from females but rather because of the effect she had on him. There was this undeniable look of innocence in her eyes, something so rare in nearly every woman he knew these days. She was only 5’ 3” tall and had a slender frame. Her medium brown naturally curly hair was still wet from a morning shower or from the rain outside, and her blue eyes were absolutely penetrating when she’d looked up into his. He was captivated by her being flustered and couldn’t wait to have some time with her, but he sensed the only plausible thing to do with her would be to meet her in a public setting on familiar turf – asking her out would’ve endangered any further contact with her, and he was right about that he later learned once they’d started dating. But, it also seemed like their first encounter had only been a short time ago because once they’d gotten to a certain point in their relationship, CM shut down and what might have grown into true intimacy never materialized on her part. She drew this invisible line in their relationship and refused to cross it, and although she kept redefining the line for Matt, she would never let him cross it either.
The last couple of months had been especially hard. He was convinced he loved her and wanted to marry her, but talk of any commitment was beyond that sacred line, and rather than risk her running off, he remained quiet and endured. Until he just couldn’t do it anymore. When the job offer came up, he waited for the opportune moment to bring up the possibility of her joining him in his endeavor, but it became clear to him that special moment wasn’t going to happen, and he began to realize having her only partially involved in his life was not what he wanted. He couldn’t take the casual relationship anymore. He was a firm believer in moving forward—treading water was tiresome and pointless—something you did only when you hoped to be rescued. Clearly, she wasn’t throwing him a lifeline.
It was a perfect day for driving. No rain. Clear blue skies. Lots of time to think. He reflected back and tried to decipher when CM seemed to shut down and draw that decisive line leaving them in a perpetual state of status quo. When was it exactly? Or was there ever really a defining moment?
Passing through Portland and continuing south on I-5, he began to experience some clarity in his memories. At their first official meeting in the coffee shop the following morning, CM was 10 minutes late causing Matt to wonder if she would stand him up, something that had never happened to him. She apologized for her tardiness explaining she was not a morning person. Matt had thanked her for coming at all.
“I was hoping you wouldn’t think my invitation was just another come on,” he admitted.
She’d started to reply but stopped. She told him only a short time ago she didn’t think it was a come on because she couldn’t understand what someone like him would’ve seen in her. He was shocked by the admission because he’d been instantly attracted to her. The look of innocence in her eyes had done him in, no doubt about it—but he never told her that.
“So what’s this job you were hurrying to get to when I so rudely got in your way?”
She laughed for the first time since he’d encountered her.
“You noticed that look, huh?” she replied with a blush.
He smiled back. “Well, yeah. Frankly, I was glad you weren’t armed with anything other than coffee.”
She laughed again. “I am sorry for that. I do it to myself, you know. Like I said, I’m not a morning person. I’m always putting myself in a pinch getting ready in the morning—as you’ve seen for yourself, punctuality is not my strong suit.”
By the time they’d finished two coffees each, they made plans to have dinner together the following Friday. CM agreed to meet him at an expensive Mexican restaurant called “Carrera’s”. Their time at dinner was a complete success as they talked about their youth and learned each other’s backgrounds. Afterward when he walked her to her car, he sensed she became uneasy, so he quickly thanked her for joining him and asked if he might call her for another date. She seemed relieved and wrote her telephone number on a piece of scratch paper she pulled from the outside pocket of her purse. He waited until she got in and started her car and waved a goodbye. Her smile evidenced nothing short of grateful, and as much as he’d wanted to take her in his arms—really he’d wanted to take her home with him—he was glad he’d used restraint. He knew there would be more opportunities with CM, and he couldn’t wait for them. That was early September, and he remembered the fall weather had come suddenly and on time and had been wet from the start. No Indian summer that year.
The weekend before Christmas, he took her to his company’s formal Christmas party. She was breathtaking in a black sequined dress with a high neck and long sleeves and a bare back and patent leather stiletto sling-back heels that brought her up closer to his shoulder. She’d put blonde highlights in her hair, and although it was up, several strands hung down the side of her face irresistibly. Matt’s heart stirred at the memory. It seemed like it was that very night when he decided he was falling in love with her, but he knew he couldn’t tell her then—she had already been setting parameters he’d been respectfully accepting, one of which was she wasn’t sleeping with him even though they’d been getting more physical as time went on. His co-workers were fascinated with her being a film critic, and she was the center of attention for most of the evening. She was extremely gracious answering their many inquiries and listening to their opinions of popular movies and, of course, all about their favorites. A lot of laughter prevailed along with several glasses of champagne. They left the party for Matt’s apartment at a reasonable hour. CM insisted on driving over to Matt's, bringing a change of clothes for after the party.
When they arrived, she went to her car and grabbed her bag which he carried for her and together they went up the elevator to Matt’s apartment. He remembered he knew she would be his that night and he could hardly contain himself—the anticipation of finally making love to her causing all kinds of physical reactions. Once inside to his surprise and utter delight, when he set down her bag, she reached up and put her arms around his neck.
“Kiss me, Matt,” she’d said softly.
He was more than happy to oblige—his heart was beating on tilt as it was. The desire transmitted through that kiss was beyond anything he could resist. The process of their lovemaking began right there until finally he picked her up in his arms and carried her into his bedroom where the passion he’d been holding back since the first time he’d taken her out to dinner was loosed and satisfied. When he was younger, he’d been with several girls and since with many women, but being with CM hit him in a place he’d never been with anyone. Somehow the innocence he’d been so drawn to when he first saw her came through in their encounter. He actually wondered if it was her first time.
The first girl he slept with in high school was two years older than him and wise to the ways of boys. She gave him a fair education about how to turn a girl on, and once he figured he could handle it without her, he moved on to his next “girlfriend”. Not one of the females he’d been with was a virgin, nor had any of them retained even a hint of their innocence.
CM had fallen asleep in his arms, and he’d never experienced such contentment in his entire life. He felt like she was his, and there was no doubt he was hers.
As he was reveling in the memory and noticing the Corvalis road sign as it flew by, it hit him like a brick through his windshield. Without thinking he put on his brakes and then quickly recovered to speed up before someone rear-ended him in the fast lane.
“Oh no,” he whispered. “That was it.”
Father, you are the origin of my stories. Apart from you, I can do nothing. Thank you is never enough. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
Into the Fire 