By
Sascha Illyvich (From Sensualities)
Lisa stood in her black dress at the library with her back turned to him. She was oblivious to him as her job kept her busy enough to ignore the normal distraction of library wanderers. Kevin crept up on her, placed both his arms around her and kissed her neck.
"Fuck," she turned around, cut off by another kiss this time on her lips.
"Mmm, that's better."
She turned around to kiss him full on as their eyes met. Her tongue probed his mouth and he melted, visions of past kisses from her ran through his head.
"Now that seems more like a good afternoon kiss. Care for an afternoon delight?" She ignored him deliberately.
He followed her as she shelved a few more books, admiring her hair now that it had grown out.
His worst fear was that she would not respond to his advances the way he expected her to, as she did two years ago. She kept things interesting by keeping him wondering.
A few minutes passed, he found a book to thumb through, then her hand graced his shoulder, tugged at his ponytail and was gone. He turned his head to follow her; she sashayed along between two rows of books and disappeared. He stood up, a gut feeling telling him what he wanted to feel. His heart felt the pang of rejection and warmth at the same time but it had been a year since they last saw each other, between then bitter phone calls and a bad relationship for them both. Her previous love was merely an immature little punk, not fully capable of understanding her needs or desires.
His last relationship was a farce, a night of lust and an email telling him that she felt they had different desires. Both their hearts broken they kept in touch, he was there for her, yet he showed none of his pain.
He followed her off to a little corner, the fiction section. She pulled a book for him.
"Read this, my shift will be over soon." She smiled at him as he went to a table.
He opened the cover on the worn out book and found a page marked in familiar handwriting. Determined to waste time until she got off, he thumbed through the pages of the book, feigning interest. There wasn't much to "Computer Concepts of the 90's" that he didn't know, but it would do enough to stall time.
Some time passed and Kevin must have dozed off. He felt a hand run through his hair before his eyes opened and he saw Lisa motioning his exit. She followed after she clocked out.
Kevin stood up lazily, stretching from having sat too long, and headed out the door. He turned the corner to wait. Two minutes later, Lisa came out, greeted by Kevin's lips.
"Mmm, Kevin, I did always like that."
"As did I Lisa. How have you been? It's been awhile."
"Yes, it's been about six months and I'm still alive."
They continued to walk, going nowhere in particular.
"So do you still see John?' Kevin reached for her hand as he spoke.
"No, and I'm glad the bastard's not in my life. He didn't treat me well."
"I remember how you told me, he hurt you badly." He'd spent a number of nights up late on the phone with Lisa as she cried on his shoulder.
"Yes, that he did. Asshole. I just don't understand men sometimes."
"Lisa, I have some sad news for you, I don't sometimes either."
They giggled as they walked. Lisa's familiar laughter brought back a flood of memories for
Kevin. He swallowed hard, exhaling a sigh of relief from her calming touch.
Lisa headed in the direction of a little restaurant Kevin mentioned an interest in a month before they broke up. He looked around, took in the sights of the island, the salty scent in the air and her perfume. Lisa couldn't help wonder if Kevin had changed as he said he had. She felt him through his touch but his distance in the last few months had been a mystery. They seemed to drift apart until unexpectedly, she called him and asked him to come to Galveston.
He finagled his work schedule and left work an hour early to come see her. He practically jumped at the chance when she'd first offered but his heart cautioned him against making such quick decisions. Still, he had to come see Lisa. Kevin couldn't let go of the past without a fight.
Lisa didn't tell him things could change, or that she had changed. She hadn't told Kevin that she'd learned a few hard lessons since having left him once. She'd show him instead.
They walked arm in arm now, in silence. Kevin's head had been warring with his heart but the pounding had stopped for now. He was boyishly nervous. Lisa sensed Kevin's state of mind and laughed. She enjoyed keeping him wondering but only to a point. After that point, it became torture on them both because of their past relationship. She couldn't handle the confusion from his heart at the time. He wanted to love her, he did love her.
Their differences in age pushed them apart.
Still young, she wanted to have fun and get ready for college but Kevin's serious tone always bored her. She turned 21 before they met but he was still 5 years older. She entered the "what am I going to do after high school" phase and he was working on his career. They were two different generations but they worked well as a couple. When they were together, meeting in the flesh, they were hot. Kevin's well-placed touches managed to subdue Lisa's needs even though they never ended up in bed together. Something always came up.
Kevin broke the silence before they stopped, "So where are you taking me Lisa?"
"Right there, " She pointed to a rustic looking building with a sign that read the name of the restaurant.
"You're taking me to eat?"
"I know you're always hungry. So I get to treat you."
"But I didn't bring cash and they don't take credit. My paycheck doesn't come til-"
"Kevin, hush. You won't need it this time. I'm working now."
"Goddamnit." His tone was rather light-hearted, almost defeated.
"Does that hurt your pride?"
"Yeah, a little."
"Good. You need to be humbled. Humor me."
"Yes dear.
Sometimes he had trouble remembering the reason he dated Lisa in the first place. She was mature for her age. He strongly disliked most of her friends who were younger. They showed their age too much for him. They distrusted him because he was older.
She did remind him of the way he acted when he was her age. So close did she resemble his actions, it scared him sometimes, and she was now picking up his mannerisms as well as well as his speech.
They walked into the restaurant and Kevin glanced around. The restaurants' charm made up for its lack of elegance. They hit the restaurant just before the dinner crowd, were seated right away and Kevin began thumbing through the menu.
"Stop thumbing for it, it's on the back."
"What?"
"Kevin, the wine list is on the back here. It's not that big either."
"Oh, well I wasn't looking for that."
"Liar."
He leaned forward kissing her lips, "I know."
She looked at him in disdain for a moment, stuck out her tongue and batted her eyes at him. She was still his little flirt.
"Damn I want you Lisa." He muttered under his breath.
She either didn't hear him or she ignored his words as she looked at the menu. Occasionally glancing at Kevin, Lisa noticed the look in his eyes; he had that gleam of lust. It never bothered her, but because of her weight and age, she sometimes questioned why. Outright, Lisa was a Rubenesque woman, tall for her age. Her face still had a childish charm but from judging from her mother, that was a good thing. Kevin always told her she was pretty but the teenage doubt never left either of them.
They ordered, ate and had finished dinner in an hour. Kevin excused himself to the restroom while she paid the check. When he returned, they were ready to go. She took his arm in hers and they headed out the door.
"Where are we going now Lisa?"
