Author's Note: Well, here's my first contest submission. I hope you like it. Please don't forget to vote and as always, I welcome any and all comments. Happy reading! -MC
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Nearly every day, just about an hour before I get off of work, I can count on receiving a text message from my boyfriend, Matt. Sometimes they're sweet, sometimes they're naughty and often times they're incredibly private. He just wants me to know that he's thinking about me and can't wait to be with me. In fact, he's been so consistent that nearly all the women in my office await the sound of my message alert and pester me to tell them about them. When the texts are sweet, I share and revel in the jealousy. When it's the other kind of message, I just blush and let them use their imaginations.
As this trend developed, I let Matt know that his messages had become the office soap opera and he just laughed and said it was good for his PR. He offered to tone down the naughtier ones so that I could share all of the messages, but I let him know, in no uncertain terms (aka a really great blow job), that I wouldn't accept his censorship. I can't help it. The man has a perfect penis. Not that I'd be willing to share or anything, but I'm pretty sure even prudish girls who make scrunched up faces at that the thought of giving head would be unable to resist.
I used to have each of his texts saved in my phone, but then the inbox got full, so I just locked the four most important ones:
1) "I can't stop thinking about you. Call me when you get home." -- the day after our first date
2) "I hope your clit misses me as much as I miss it." -- My favorite of the naughty texts
3) "I really meant it. I can't imagine my life without you." -- the day after he told me that he thought he was falling in love with me
4) "I hate fighting with you. Let's talk tonight. I love you." -- three weeks ago, after I stormed out of his house, angry that he wasn't going to be able to attend my company's Fourth of July picnic.
I honestly thought that the messages were going to stop on the morning of that fight. I didn't deserve them. I knew that I wasn't being fair, but I just couldn't seem to stop myself from lashing out at him in my disappointment that my co-workers weren't going to be able to meet him. How was I supposed to remember that he and his 3 best friends from high school go to Vegas that weekend, every year? He'd only mentioned it once in passing when we'd first started dating!
On one hand, I loved him even more for being a man who honors his commitments, has a life outside of me and doesn't waver in his decisions just because I ask (or try to demand). On the other, I hated the fact that I wasn't going to get my way and my respect for his choice just made me that much more irritated with myself which I, in turn, took out on him. I'm afraid I threw a bit of a temper tantrum, calling him names and accusing him of not loving me. I'd finally stormed out because I just couldn't bring myself to admit how ridiculous I was being.
That day, I was a complete wreck. I called him three times to apologize but got his voicemail every time. By the time I'd gotten his text message, I'd already arranged to leave work early. I knew that if I didn't receive one, I'd need a drink and that if I did, I'd be speeding toward his house to attempt to make up for my poor behavior in every way that came to mind. I can only guess that I was able to make the depths of my contrition obvious because he stopped by my office before his trip and dutifully met his admirers.
"Wow," Karen mouthed to me as he walked away. I knew she was checking out my boyfriend's ass but I didn't hold it against her. She's my favorite co-worker.
This is not to say that he's perfect and that my moments of irrational behavior are the only blips in our relationship. I just happen to be really happy with him right now, as a result of last weekend and that sort of blocks out the little moments that don't matter as much.
Last Friday, I was having a truly terrible day. Matt had been out of town for a business trip, which meant I'd slept alone in the bed in my apartment which had long since stopped feeling like my bed. Somehow I managed to burn toast, causing billows of black smoke to fill the kitchen and set off the smoke detectors. By the time I managed to turn them off, my apartment smelled like an ashtray, though I'm proud to say that I quit smoking almost a year ago.
As if that start to my morning hadn't been bad enough, the air conditioning in my car went out on the way to work. The drive from my apartment takes a good forty minutes and by the time I got there, my hair was plastered to my head and my button-down shirt and pencil skirt were clinging to me at odd angles. I managed to straighten myself out in the women's restroom, but ended up running10 minutes late to a fairly important meeting.
I was flailing and I was beginning to feel a bit like a comic strip character, set up on purpose for the amusement of some bigger audience I couldn't see. I quickly sent an email to Matt describing the foibles of my day. He usually finds the humor in these types of events and shares it with me and I had the sense that what I really needed right now was the opportunity to laugh at myself. I didn't hear back from him, but I wasn't expecting to immediately, as I knew that he would be on a plane home.
The rest of the day seemed to drag on as I worked on
finishing a report.
"Fifteen minutes 'til the Matty Moment!" Alexis, a particularly over-interested coworker, broadcasted. She is the one responsible for coming up with the god awful nickname for my favorite time of day. I have Never called Matt "Matty". Ick. Nonetheless her declaration caused a flurry of activity as several women tried to get whatever they were working on to a viable stopping point.
These announcements always make me a little nervous though. What if Matt forgot to send me a message? What if, heaven forbid, he was busy or not feeling particularly creative? We'd been together about 6 months -- how long could he keep this up?
Fifteen long minutes later, the chorus of the song Love Stoned began to play and Annoying Alexis clapped her hands with glee. Matt added the song, as the alert for text messages from him, a few months ago and it makes me smile. Justin Timberlake might very well be the only man for whom I could ever leave Matt. I flipped open my phone casually, as if there weren't several pairs of eyes watching me and saw the animation of an opening envelope and Matt's name beneath it. I've come to adore this almost as much as the messages themselves.
"Summer heat -- boy and girl meet but oh oh the Summer Nights... Tell me more, tell me more: My house, 5:28. Do not go home, do Not pass GO, just meet me by the pool."
I've loved the movie Grease since I was a kid. Though I've only made him watch it with me once, he knows I usually watch it once a month or so and of course I have every line memorized. Also, Monopoly has always been my favorite board game, largely due to the fact that I've never lost, in twenty odd years of playing it. The fact that he knows me so well (and loves me anyway) had my stomach fluttering almost as much as the anticipation of tonight by the pool.
"Why 5:28?" asked Alexis as she read the message over my shoulder.
"That's exactly how long it takes for me to get to his house from our office," I answered, but in truth, I wasn't paying much attention, not even to the jealous glances I usually enjoy. My mind was well occupied with more entertaining visions of the way Matt's smile lights up his eyes or the way those same eyes darken in response to my touch. Umm umm umm, the things I could do (and have done) to that man.
"I wish I had a man who knew how long it took me to get from work to his house, let alone seduced me with cheesy lyrics from a musical," Jo from accounting sighed, "As it is, I'm lucky if Sam turns off Sports Center."
I listened as the other girls consoled themselves about the absence of romance in their relationships. For the sake of clarity, I feel compelled to point out that Matt is not Always romantic. He is just a man, for god's sake. However, who wants to focus on the mundane when you can spend time Google-ing Cosmo's latest articles about pleasing your man?
Finally, it was five o'clock and I waved goodbye to my co-workers as I practically ran out to my car. On the drive home, I had to roll down the windows to keep from suffocating in the Phoenix heat. I knew that by the time I got to Matt's house, I would look even worse than I did when I got to work that morning. I briefly contemplated stopping at my apartment first for a shower and reapplication of makeup, but that would've made me really late. Matt's message had been clear that he wanted me to come directly to him and since we'd been apart for almost a week, I was eager to see him. I supposed that if he fell out of love with me at the sight of smeared mascara and sweat stains, then it was his own darn fault.
I smiled as I walked up to the front porch. Matt had a glass of white wine sitting on the small wrought iron table I'd bought for him, to fit the open space. Next to it sat a bowl of grapes. He had to have just placed them outside before I got there because even the drops of water on them were still cold. I placed a few in my mouth and sighed as their cool juice splashed across my tongue.
Matt opened the door then and moved to stand behind me as I took a sip of the wine. Pushing aside the collar of my shirt, he leaned forward and kissed the hollow at the base of my neck.
"Oh, don't do that. I'm all sweaty," I complained, sure that no one in their right mind could find me attractive in such a state of disarray.
"You taste wonderful," Matt whispered, his hands on my shoulders, rubbing away tension I hadn't even known was there.
Abruptly he stopped and I laughed, calling him a tease.