Selfish Mistakes

15 - Trying Too Hard

"Yeah, I'm going to take a long good sleep tonight. I've been exhausted for the past few weeks." She was hinting that all possible invitation anytime soon would be rejected.

"Aww, too bad. Take a vacation, everyone deserves a time to relax." Kevin saw a positive sign of getting chummy with her because she hasn't hung up on him yet.

"I already took a leave three months ago." She almost bit her tongue when it sank into her brain that she had literally divulged a sensitive detail as a slip of the tongue. It wasn't too long before he would likely shove a follow-up question. Sometimes she was really too honest for her own good.

"Really? Out of town or out of the country?"  Kevin had an inkling that Liz might have been the nurse in question who flew to an overseas convention with Jeremy.

"Look, I'd like to stay and talk over the phone but I'm literally falling asleep here in the kitchen. I'll give you a call some other time when I'm fully energized. Ok? Bye." She hung up the phone before he could react to the elusive promise.

She changed the audio settings of her mobile to vibrate to escape the annoying sound of her phone ringing. The day had been too overwhelming for her that there was no room to expend energy and patience to deal with anyone.

Dragging herself to the bedroom, she fumbled out of her clothes and took a warm shower with eyes barely open.

Remembering that Jeremy had left behind one of his t-shirts, she rummaged through her closet and donned it before crawling into her large comfy bed. Curling up into fetal position, Liz felt vulnerable and lonely while missing the safety and comfort of his warm embrace. Tears kept her company until she fell asleep.

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Jeremy woke up from the disturbing sensation caused by long fingernails grazing over the skin of his lower abdomen. The memory of last night made him sigh in relief knowing that although Darlene was with him in his bed there was no sexual contact between them.

He was already asleep last night when Darlene arrived using the key to his house that she had failed to leave behind when she abandoned him three years ago.

She was trying to seduce him when she came into his bed half naked in her flimsy lace expensive lingerie but he evaded her tactics pretending to be too exhausted to keep his eyes open.

He had a clear escape last night. But his early morning arousal was undeniable. Surprisingly a part of his thinking brain told him not to yield into the call of the flesh. If he would resume his interest in Darlene, he would have to settle his current association with Liz. Whatever that meant.

He wanted to be a decent guy with a conscience now. His self-reformation had been brought about with a sense of justice when he met Liz. It wasn't because she forced him to be a better person, it was more of a personal motivation through inspiration.

It probably sounded gay as Kevin had expressed numerous times in the past. Kevin was stern with his beliefs that a man wasn't obligated to change anything about himself for a woman. It was a fact based on Kevin's narrow-minded principles.

Jeremy was derailed from his train of thoughts when Darlene's hand skimmed lower over the waistband of his boxers, her fingertips sneaking underneath heading south. His hand grabbed her wrist in reflex to stop her from exploring further, sitting upright on the bed he asked her for the time.

Darlene's ego was a bit slighted, feeling rejected for the first time was not what she had expected after his eager responses from their kiss at the flower shop yesterday.

"I'm not sure, around seven I guess?" She had to think fast else he might have the mood swing to throw her out of his house. "I'll make you some breakfast..."

"Don't bother. I'm already late for a meeting. Help yourself to anything you can find in the fridge." He wanted her to leave but it was very unlikely to happen at any rate with her persistence to pick up where they left off years ago.

Jeremy was suffering ambivalent feelings towards her and he knew that if sex was involved it will never lead to anything positive. At the moment, it was far from his mind to entertain guilt feelings.

He went to take a shower, locking the door behind him to make sure that Darlene would have no opportunity to jump in to seduce him and intrude his privacy. He was able to get dressed in peace inside his walk-in closet. There was no sign of her trying to force the doorknob open while it was locked. When he stepped out, Darlene was already in the shower, conveniently giving him the chance to leave the house unnoticed.