A Cobbler in His Heart

A Cobbler in His Heart-Chapters 1-3

CHAPTER 1

After One Night of Marriage

Melita opened her eyes and wondered whether she was dreaming. Or a more horrifying thought, was she awake? A gray sky hovered above. She rubbed her eyes. She needed to get whatever this was out of them. Slowly, she opened her eyes again.

The gray sky was still there, but she wasn't outside. The environment felt too contained. There was no breeze. No birds chirping nearby. Just quiet.

Recognition of the new environment came to her slowly. A feathery, light sheet covered her body. She was in a warm bed. She moved her body and felt another next to hers. It was a hard body. It breathed. She could tell that it was content. So much more content than she was. Vibrations of the muscled chest pulsed beneath her head. An arm belonging to the body cradled her close.

She cringed beneath the embrace of the contented soul. He'd crossed a leg over her own. She wanted to break free of his solid physique, while still craving its serenity. She balled up a piece of the t-shirt that rested on the man who aroused so many emotions. Run. Stay. Embrace. Submit. Hit. Caress.

Trapped in the gentle clutches of a man, she looked up to the grayness again. She was awake. Oh God, I'm awake. I'm awake! A silent scream that only she could hear collided with the sound of the other breathing body. The silent scream exploded inside her awakening frame. Her chest deflated from the explosion, leaving her mouth frozen wide.

The grayness above her was not the sky. It was a ceiling. I'm blind, she relented, lying in bed with her husband of one night. Acknowledgment of this new life settled a smoke of delirium over her.

She succumbed to its tainted mist that told her to feel sorry for herself. She lay a while longer against the man's hard chest. She had no idea such hard muscles existed behind his expensive loose shirts and preppy sweaters. She pressed into him. He was a sound sleeper. She wondered if he would awaken if she pounded his chest. She wondered if he felt her tears soak his shirt.

Everything happened so fast last night. The hospital chaplain had married them. Everyone including the doctor thought marriage was the best action for her life. Still, she wondered if she had made the right decision.

Melita closed her eyes to see if there was a big difference between closed and opened eyes. Not much. Blankness when shut. Blankness when opened. Disappointment and resentment exhaled. Easing her head away from her new husband's chest, she sat up. Her movement must have registered something because he lifted his leg off her and turned his body away. She finger tapped him lightly. The back of his t-shirt faced her.

Melita sat on the edge of the bed. The only thing that felt familiar was her long nightgown. Henrietta and Roberto had gone to her apartment and grabbed as much as they felt she would need. True to his word, her husband had helped her undress and get into this gown last night.

She could have done it herself. But she'd let him. It had been awkward. She'd kept on her panties and bra, ignoring his lingering hands. She'd been able to put him off and tell him she wasn't ready to consummate a sudden marriage. He seemed okay with that. She couldn't see his expression, but she believed him.

Melita's fingers clasped tightly to the edge of the bed. It sat high off the floor. Her feet dangled from the comfortable thick mattress tucked inside the four-poster cradle. Her sleeping husband had explained the room in as much detail as possible. She'd been interested in the style of her new surroundings.

He'd further explained his deceased grandfather liked white walls, hardwood floors and antiques. He'd been a minimalist. Her husband didn't tell her that his grandfather had probably been a minimalist because there had been no woman in his life to add color and interest.