Dear Maria (on hold)

Part 21

  Gripping the rather dirty handles of the large garbage bin, I kicked the base of it to shift it back onto the two small wheels. I slowly rolled it down my driveway, struggling to keep it from tipping, and carefully set it on the edge of the sidewalk. Straightening up, I saw Maria making her way over to me from her lawn, and I smiled, waiting for her. She raised her hand slightly to wave, and I waved back as she smiled.

“Hey, beautiful. How are you?” I greeted as she neared.

“I'm great, thanks! You?” she replied, and we both leaned in for a quick kiss.

“Good, I'm good,” I answered. “So what's up?” I questioned easily, the warm breeze gently lifting my hair and coyly playing with Maria's curls.

“Eh, not much, I guess. Saw you wrestling with your garbage bin, thought I'd come over,” she teased.

“I was not wrestling with it!” I exclaimed indignantly, a laugh in my voice.

“Nah, it was cute! Don't worry about it,” Maria chuckled, and I felt a surge of happiness as she called me “cute.”

“Okay then,” I laughed. Sighing, I ran my hand through my hair and watched Maria's sweet face, the way her lips moved when she spoke and how her eyes crinkled and lit up when she laughed.

“So, do you wanna come over to my place tonight?” she offered. “I'm cooking,” she added enticingly.

“Sure,” I agreed eagerly, not even needing to think it through.

“Cool. You know, I'm glad you're not the nervous type; most people think that when a woman invites someone she's attracted to over to her house for a homemade dinner, that she just wants to sleep with them,” she commented teasingly; at least I think she was teasing. Sometimes it was hard to tell with Maria. I snorted a laugh, shaking my head slightly in exasperation.

“Uh-huh, okay then Maria,” I said. She grinned.

“See you later, sexy,” she said casually, leaning forward to kiss me once more.

“Bye,” I concluded, watching her walk back to her house, my eyes lingering on the way her hips shifted subtly as she took each step.

I knocked on Maria's door, the cool evening air swirling around my warm skin. I waited briefly before the door swung open to reveal Maria, wearing a white button down shirt, and the front of the shirt where the buttons met was tied in a loose knot near the bottom, a band of soft skin showing between her shirt and the loose olive green skirt she was wearing. My breathing paused as I took her in; the top four buttons were left unbuttoned, the little shirt that did cover her was slightly wrinkled and vaguely opaque, the light cotton skirt hung over her thighs and ended just below her knees, and her cinnamon curls shimmered red in the low light. Her green eyes were bright and framed by her dark lashes and light eyeliner, her soft lips were full and glossy, curved up into an intimate smile.

“Hi,” she she said, her voice low, her eyes looking up into mine.

“Hey,” I replied. She moved aside and motioned me inside. I stepped over her threshold and into her warmly lit home, the door shutting quietly behind me as Maria closed it.

“You hungry?” Maria asked, turning to face me, smiling. I nodded, my lips quirking up into a smile of my own.

“So we're actually going to eat? You don't just want to sleep with me?” I teased, and Maria's shoulders shook gently as she laughed.

“You're gonna have to eat first at the very minimum, I've been slaving over this damn stove all afternoon,” she answered, her voice light, but her eyes were searching mine as I moved away from the door, towards her. We were now a foot apart, my skin warming from being so close to hers.

“Deal,” I whispered, and kissed her. My hands met hers, and I slipped my fingers between hers, our hands clasped together. We moved together, becoming closer, swaying side to side infinitesimally. Our lips broke apart, our foreheads nearly touching. She smiled into me, and led me towards the dining room. The table had been beautifully set, and I felt my breath hitch in my throat. It was immediately apparent that she'd taken a great deal of time and care with this dinner. There was a bottle of red wine sitting in between the two white plates that sat opposite each other, the wine glasses glistened in the dim light, and a small, elegant bouquet of unblemished white blossoms rested in a fine glass vase beside the wine. I wrapped my arms around Maria, my lips pressed against her hair. “I love you,” I whispered. She settled into me, her hands covering mine.

“Love you too,” she murmured.

The dinner had been eaten slowly, our voices had been low, our laughter shared. As we had looked at each other over a glass half full of deep, smooth wine, our feet had been touching beneath the table. After the table had been cleared, Maria took my hand deliberately in hers and tugged me into her room.

As we stood at the foot of her bed, lost somewhere deep in each other's eyes, not wanting to be found, our lips met softly. We both raised our hands from our sides and they too joined, just our fingertips touching, and continued the kiss, the space between our bodies filled with soft, thick air warmed by the feeling that soaked the room around us. I pulled back a little, and the silence seemed to say everything we'd left unspoken. My hands drifted down to her waist, and I began slowly unbuttoning her shirt. The knot easily came undone, and I ran my hands up over her soft, warm skin to push her white shirt off over her shoulders. It slid down her arms and fell to the the floor at our feet, along with any inhibitions we may have had. We moved back together, Maria's leg slipping between mine and mine between hers, her hands holding on to my shoulders and my hands caressing her waist. I brought my lips back to hers, warmth flowing between us, from my lips to hers, from her hands to my shoulders. The silence thickened around us, and the white bed stood beside us, waiting.