Forever & Always, Even if My Forever is Limited

F&A...Chapter 7

Chapter 7

As if my bathroom incident was not enough to kill the evening, Taylor insisted on going for a walk afterwards. It was almost ten, but surprisingly warm for this late in December. The reasons why he wanted to go walking were completely lost to me. Taylor was a huge mystery in himself; aloof and cautious, yet it drew me in all the more.

We walked along a fairly abandoned road. Cars occasionally drove by and bathed us in their bright lights. For the most part, our walk was dark and quiet. "This way." Taylor pointed. We took a sharp turn off the shoulder and down a small hill.

After walking a little longer, I saw it. God, it was the picture of loveliness. There was a small, crystal clear pond in the center of a clearing in the trees. The ice had melted and you could see the ripples of the light rain hitting the surface. Overhead, there were two large willow trees that sheltered us from getting too wet. Various flowers that managed to survive the beginning of winter were scattered about. A soft mist spread across the pond. It was achingly romantic.

Taylor guided me to a place right by the pond on a large and smooth rock. I immediately took off my heels and soaked my feet in the bone chillingly cold water. "Mind if I take my hair down?" I asked him.

"Only if I can take off this stupid tie." he replied.

"You don't look stupid." he rolled his eyes at me. "You look quite debonair, actually!"

"Can I take it off now?" He begged.

"Fine, fine." I laughed.

My hair fell down to my shoulders as I pulled it out of its tight bun. I'm sure it looked ridiculous, but I could not stand the bobby pins impaling my skull any longer. Taylor pulled off his tie and tied it around a tree limb above his head. "So, what do you think?"

"It's beautiful." I answered.

I felt his hand brush a strand of my hair behind my ear. His hand was rough; it made my cheek tingle. "You're beautiful." He whispered in my ear. I blushed lightly, thankful for the darkness to disguise it. I started to protest but his husky voice whispered louder in my ear. "Yes, you are." Taylor turned my face gently to his. He gazed into my eyes. It was one of those long, penetrating gazes that makes you feel like they are reading your mind, like they know everything about you. Slowly, he moved his face closer to mine. I took a deep breath and prayed that my first kiss would not be a total fail. After what seemed like an eternity, his lips met mine. They were soft and smooth and tasted like peppermints. At first, I was timid and unsure what to do-obviously you do something, I mean, I did not think you just let your lips sit on each others. I allowed Taylor to show me the way.

His peppermint lips moved in harmony with mind and I soon found myself immersed. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he pulled me closer by my waist. His tongue traced abstract patterns around my mouth. I thought about some vivacious comment I could make about it later to him. No doubt I would forget.

In a swift movement, he pulled me underneath him. I paused for a moment, but ultimately I decided it could not hurt anything. It was hard to breathe with his weight pressing on my chest. It was bearable...for now. It was impossible to move. Was that how he wanted it to be? My suspicions were all confirmed when his hand slowly inched up my shirt-I sure knew where he was headed.

Violently pushing him off of me took effort. While gasping for air I yelled, "What the hell?" I yanked my shirt back down.

"What?" He asked innocently.

I glared at him. "We've been dating less than 24 hours. You can't just try and feel me up on our first real date!" Taylor looked angry, almost fearsome. I toned it down a notch. "If that is all you want from me, then you best leave now. I do not want to be one of your little play things and nothing more."

My heart broke in two as I watched him stand up and walk away without a word.

Broken hearts are easy to get, but hard to fix. They take a long time to heal. Why can't we just have a broken arm instead? You can take painkillers for it...and it always heals. I came home in shock, no tears. Now, however, the tears are flowing freely without a sign of stopping.

He left. I can never get over that. All I was to him was a toy. Did I come off as being easy? Why didn't I see the signs? Should I have let him do whatever? Would that have made him stay?

No. I decided that my self-respect is worth more than any guy. Taylor would have stolen all that I had and left. That was not who I wanted to be. Why did accepting that have to be so hard?

With a heavy sigh I surrendered to sleep. Maybe copious amounts of sleep would cure me. It was all I had to hope for right now.

At three in the morning on December 17th my phone rang. I grudgingly opened my eyes and answered. I knew who it was. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's me." he said.

"What do you want?" I snapped.

Taylor sighed. "Listen, Vera, I am seriously sorry. Honestly, I apologize."

It sounded sincere enough. "Why did you go?" I demanded.

"I have never been refused before...ever. I know I am not exactly the smoothest or most attractive guy out there, but I never had a girl tell me no. And you refused; that really irritated me.

"I told myself to forget you. I told myself you didn't matter and all that. But...you do matter. There is something about you that makes me want to prove myself to you. Vera, you are the most beautiful girl I have ever met. You aren't a total whore and I completely respect that. I will not bother you again on that subject. If you say no, fine, you will never hear from me again. But, please, will you give me a second chance? I promise I won't be a jerk this time."

It was pathetic of me, but Taylor's speech made me tear up. I wished I was not such a sucker for him. With a heavy sigh I replied, "Alright. I want to take things slow though."

"I can do that." I could hear him smile over the phone. "Good night, Veronica."

"'Night Taylor."