Match Met

Sorry for the delay! I hope you all enjoy this final chapter and please leave me some comments-- I love reading what you have to say (good and bad)

9 YEARS LATER

Crisp fall air fell on Kiana's pink windbreaker and her hair blew lightly in the wind. In response to the gust full of air, Janelle pulled down the canopy on her daughter's stroller. With her 1 year old protected from the wind, she continued her walk on the park's trail. Kiana looked at her brown ring finger still laced with her diamond, then shot a glance at Janelle's. Her hand shined with an engagement ring too, although hers had a band right behind it.

"I can't keep living like this." Kiana told Janelle. Janelle took Kiana's hand out of her own sight by smacking it by her side. She gave her best friend a stern look.

"Stop it. Sawyer loves you, and just wants you stable before you take the next step. Besides, you have an interview tomorrow. So you know the next step is coming." Janelle told her.

She was right. She had just graduated from graduate school with her PhD in psychology last spring. She thought she and Sawyer would get to elope that same night, but he had many other plans. He wanted her to find a job, and work for at least 4 months before they even began planning. Kiana knew he was trying to promote her father's wishes, but she'd be damned if she didn't die a little each day. The feeling of watching a movie on pause and wondering why nothing was happening was bleeding into her life. She'd worn her engagement ring for

9 years

. People would question her on the wedding, and it was hard to tell them she had as much information as they did. They'd give her a funny look before casting on a face of understanding and pity.

Janelle however, found love a few years after Kiana did. But with Janelle only in school for 4 years, instead of Kiana's 8, she was able to start her life quicker. She'd gotten a job with her nursing degree fresh out of college and got married a few months after. Janelle's husband was a very handsome, successful elevator engineer. They moved into a 3 bedroom house and were moving along nicely. They were a beautiful family.

"Kiana you have to stop comparing our lives, we're different people. I understand how you're feeling but you have to consider the circumstances." Janelle told her. Kiana nodded quietly, embracing her motherly words.

"You'll have a 4 story house and 6 kids with a Bentley in your driveway soon enough, don't worry." Janelle said, feigning jealousy to boost Kiana's spirits. But that didn't work too effectively because that wasn't what she wanted. She wanted a simple life filled with love.

"Alright well I'm gonna go home." Kiana told her as they finished their 2 mile walk. Her car was in the driveway and the two friends had stopped walking. Kiana squatted around the front of the stroller are opened the canopy. The mahogany girl with a big puff atop her head looked into her brown eyes with caramel ones. Her smooth skin was hydrated and shinning as she smiled from the surprise visit. Kiana smiled back at her niece/God daughter.

"See you later Lee-Lee." Kiana said before showering the girl in kisses that made her squirm in delight. Kiana closed the canopy again and stood to her full stature.

"Talk to you later." Kiana told Janelle lightly. She walked up to her car and Janelle called after her.

"I'll call you later to check on you!" She screamed. Kiana nodded and got inside her car to return home to Sawyer's apartment. She drove on autopilot, her mind racing ahead of her. She couldn't believe how desperately she wanted what Janelle had. Every day she thought about the dormant eggs in her womb and the ever progressing biological age happening in she and Sawyer's body. He was scraping middle age with his 36th year of life approaching in a few months and Kiana was 2 years away from 30. At this point, they should be so much further along.

She had to stop. Every word she spoke to her self-conscious brought her mood to rock bottom. Their love for one another should be all that she needed to keep herself happy. His emotional commitment to her should be enough—worth more than a metal ring and vows. They had their own unspoken vow.

*

"Is this dressy enough?" Kiana asked, catching Sawyer's reflection in the full length mirror. He was leaning against the doorframe of the bedroom right behind her. She rubbed her hands down the curve of her hips. She wore a smooth black pencil skirt that reached below her knees. Her breasts looked huge in a crème turtle neck sweater that was tucked inside neatly. Her makeup was natural and she wore simple flats.

"You look good." Sawyer said, approaching her. He coiled his hands around her clad waist and pressed himself snuggly against her. Kiana tilted her head so Sawyer could lay kisses below her ear. He was growling lowly in approval. The sound reverberated from his mouth into her body.

"You sure?" She sighed nervously. Her heart was racing at the thought of her interview and sit in at Brown University—an Ivy League school in Rhode Island. After hearing that a professor was backing away from his position, she'd been hounding the school about an interview. Within a few weeks, she was able to get it.

"Kiana, relax. You'll do fine." Sawyer told her strictly.

"I really want to get this job." Sawyer had stopped kissing Kiana and now looked at their reflections in the mirror. Kiana stared into the mesmerizing pattern of his deep blue eyes and her mind flashed toward that day she'd first seen him. It was the first thing she'd noticed and the one thing she could always identify him by. Over the years his white-blonde feather light tresses had sprouted in a few grays and his features grew a little more sophisticated. But he kept his body up and was the most attractive she'd ever seen him.

Sawyer narrowed his eyes in on Kiana. Her dark cocoa skin looked beautiful paired next to the off white right beneath her. Her girlish features had developed into those of a woman. She looked nothing like the 19 year old he'd purposed to. Her cheekbones had gotten more pronounced, evening out the childlike appearance of her large brown eyes. He let his eyes wander down her body and back up again.

"You will baby. You've worked so hard." He told her honestly. That was something he always admired about her. She was a woman determined to get what she wanted and that determination always kept her focused. She'd been so strong willed, but lately her mind had been wandering toward other needs. It hurt Sawyer to know she felt off balanced in relation to her life with him. But he had his reasons for prolonging her happiness, even if she was too sidetracked to realize them. He'd always be the logical thinker in the relationship. It was his duty to stand firm in his decisions.

"I know... I know." She whispered to herself. She looked into the replica and met her own eyes. She kept her eyes fixed there as if she were having a motivational speech with herself. Sawyer admired her with a puzzled look on his profile. He moved the hair off of her face slowly, revealing even more of her beautiful face. His fingers lightly skimmed the skin and he couldn't deny himself the chance to lay his lips against it again. After another minute, Kiana spoke quietly.

"Maybe if I get the job... we can start talking about having a baby—Sawyer!" Kiana called after him. Before she could get her statement out, his hold on her was gone and he was leaving the room. She droned out in agitation as his strong body stormed into the living room. Kiana followed him and he was slipping on his shoes, in the midst of leaving.

"Are we ever going to move on?..." Kiana put her hands on her hips and chuckled at the man above. She was fighting back tears which threatened to prove her real emotions about the subject. Devastation, hopelessness and utter worry about the future. Had she wasted 10 years on a man who really wanted nothing to do with her? "You havent spoken a word about our wedding since we got engaged." She whispered. Her voice sounded entirely too weak to be taken seriously. But Sawyer didn't respond, he kept tying his shoes in an unbelievably fast fashion.

"You can't be mad at me for wanting some progress. I've loved you for a long time, and all I have is this fucking ring to show for it." Sawyer's silence seemed to be a bridge for Kiana to finally vent out her secret thoughts. " I'm living in your bachelor pad with my shit sitting in

storage.

At any moment you could snatch this ring off my finger and tell me to leave, and there'd be

nothing

I could do about it." She continued. "No divorce papers to sign, no custody battle or decisions over who got the house." She said bitterly. "That's a scary feeling Sawyer." He had finished tying his shoes and his elbows laid on his knees. Sawyer's blonde hair sat in his large palms and Kiana took an extra step toward him. "Sometimes I wake up and wonder if I'm still 19!" She practically screamed at him, her sadness and frustrations seeping through her words.

"Because you pretty much are! Nothing has changed. I don't make enough money to pull off a wedding, honeymoon, new house and baby in the same year Kiana. I'm sorry." He snapped back at her, standing to his full height. His large stature was intimidating, almost like that New Years night.

"I'm not asking for them all at the same—" She tried in vain to sound as powerful as he did.

"Do you fucking hear yourself?" Sawyer stalked a little closer toward her. His nose was a few inches above hers although their feet were an inch apart. She looked up into his eyes with a pleading face of horror. He searched her orbs, looking for a glimpse of her sanity. "You don't have a damn job." Kiana was left a little speechless. Her lips parted and reopened many times in an attempt to reply. She hadn't realized she was sounding so selfish and irrational. For some reason, her employment situation seemed to slip her mind. Kiana hadn't been working in months; Sawyer was paying for everything.

She put a hand on her hip and sighed deeply. Her tears of anguish had turned into a fresh wind of regret. He returned to his seat.

"I-I didn't realize that." She said delicately.

This was a perfect example of the importance in Sawyer's maturity. He loved Kiana more than anything, but he hated when she was so naive and young. When she was focused on something, her mind would just zone in on it and forget about all the obstacles in her way. It was mandatory for Sawyer to hold her hand and remind her of what she failed to see.

He retrieved his spot back on the couch and a silence drifted over them. He was hunched over on the couch, thinking deeply. She stood directly before him but he refused to look her way. She rubbed her hands through his tresses, the silk running between her digits like water. She observed the deep heaving of his back and eventually he looked up at her. His eyes were glazed over due to the feel of her hands scaling over his scalp.

He gripped the backs of her thighs, his hands fitting perfectly below the curve of her bottom. He looked up into her brown eyes for just a second then pulled her pelvis toward his face. He nuzzled into her while she continued to rub her hands over his head.

"You know I love you Kiana." He reminded her, trying to convey his feelings despite their frozen relationship. "I want to give you everything; it's just not the right time."

Kiana nodded to herself; that made sense. The little things he'd do for her, the way he thought of her in ways she couldn't think of herself—it all proved how much he cared.

"I love you too." She responded delicately.

*

Kiana walked into the large Psychology 101 class and couldn't believe the large number of people sitting in. There were no less than 200 students. But she did notice the odd balls; 3 men in full suits sitting in the back of the room. They had no textbooks or paper, so she could only guess they were there for her. She walked behind an undergraduate who worked in the office. She had been assigned the job of escorting Kiana to her interviewing/observing class. An older man, soon to retire, was standing at the head of the room. Her student guide spoke a few words to him while the students gawked at Kiana in astonishment. She could understand their concern, she looked like a teenager. She hardly aged, her chocolate skin seemed to stay in place no matter how many years passed by.

"Hello Ms. Freeman, nice to meet you. I'm Professor Davis." Davis told her, reaching his hand out for hers. Kiana shook it with a smile. His rumpled lines shifting as his facial muscles did. He had a shinning bald head with a patch of hair wrapping around the island of smooth skin.

"Likewise." She responded. Her leader was on her way out the door and Kiana was on her own.

"This is Ms. Freeman; she's going to tell us a bit about herself." Davis announced to his students. Kiana stood tensely in front of them, twiddling her fingers and trying to control her breaths.

"Well... I graduated from Bryant University with a PhD in psychology. I've been dancing for over 20 years as a hobby, and I'm engaged." She said calmly. She looked at Davis for some insight as to what to do now and he gave her a look of satisfaction.

"We're discussing functions of the brain. I'll let you start them off." Kiana could hear her heartbeat ringing in her ears as she watched the old man sit behind his desk and cross his legs. Everyone sat quietly in the room, waiting for her to start their lesson. Kiana cleared her throat and tried desperately to get comfortable. To be honest with herself, this was her favorite part of psychology. She'd always been good when working with brain functions.

"10 years ago my father passed away." Kiana started, regaining the attention of her uninterested students. They all looked at her with their curiosity piqued. "But 4 months before that, he had a massive stroke. So just to test your knowledge, I'm going to ask you a few questions about him and see if you can tell me which parts of his brain were damaged." She let the directions sink in for a second before starting.

"The entire right side of his body was paralyzed—face, arm, legs. Everything." A few hands slowly rose into the air and Kiana sighed in relief. A small Asian girl in the front row caught Kiana's eye and she called on her.

"The left side of the brain was damaged." She said in a tiny voice. Kiana nodded vigorously.

"That's correct. The left side of the brain controls right muscle action as the right side controls the left's." She explained. Each word she spoke, she seemed to feel a bit more relaxed.

"My father couldn't speak. He knew very few words." No hands went up and Kiana nodded in understanding.

"It's the Broca's area." Expressions of epiphany settled on most of the student's face and Kiana laughed.

"Hindsight bias." She whispered, cracking a joke only Psychologists would understand. She was surprised that some people, even Davis chuckled a bit.

"But Broca's area is located in the..." She tried testing to see if anyone knew the answer to the location.

"Frontal lobe." A voice called from the back table. It came from a large man who seemed to be eyeing Kiana a little inappropriately. She tried her best to give him a look of warning while not being completely up front.

"Very good." She praised. "Broca's area is responsible for speech production. Damage to it causes Broca's aphasia. It slurs speech, hinders word production and comprehension. This area is also located in the left hemisphere which would make sense in his case."

The rest of Kiana's lesson was pretty easy. She could feel herself really getting into what she was saying and feeding off the energy of her students. She hadn't even realized 2 hours had gone by until Davis stood from his seat an asked the students to give Kiana a round of applause. She finally took note on how the balls of her feet ached in pain and her mouth was dry from talking. She looked around and grew pleased with the long pages of notes everyone seemed to be taking during the course of her interactive lecture.

"Thank you all so much." She said, waving them off as they hurried out the door.

"I'll take you back to the office." Davis walked back down the hallway with a clipboard in. She saw the scribbling of his notes on it and the sight made her a little nervous. Davis waddled beside her and Kiana finally took in how small the man was. He couldn't have been more than 5'3 and it didn't help that he was hunched over at a 90 degree angle. Kiana could understand why he was retiring and it relieved her to know it would be soon; he needed a break.

"You did great today, covered most of my lesson matter of fact." He chuckled, looking up at Kiana with a bountiful smile. Kiana returned it and heaved a sigh.

"Thanks, it was a bit easier than I thought it'd be." She admitted. Davis held the door of the office open for her and she thanked him. One of the men she'd noticed was suddenly at the front of the office and gestured for her to enter a small room located at the back wall. Kiana tried her best to walk confidently in his direction but she still wasn't quite sure if she was pulling it off. Kiana was astonished to see the other two men sitting around a round oak table. She took her clue to sit opposite of them and they waited for Professor Davis to join them. They all looked down at their notes for a moment and Kiana crossed her legs delicately.

"Alright Ms. Freeman," One started without even making eye. He skimmed over his scribbled notes for a second longer. He brought his hazel eyes to hers and said, "We think you're perfect for this job." A smile slowly spread on her face and she tried to remind herself to be modest.

"More than perfect actually—you're young, authoritative, fresh and you actually know the material. You understand what it takes for these kids to learn." The oldest of the men told her.

"To keep this short; we'll be calling you with more details on next month." Kiana couldn't breathe. She had the job just like that. As soon as she felt like she was out of the men's vision, she sprinted toward the parking lot where Sawyer's car sat.

He smiled as she saw her. She was cheesing so hard, he thought her cheeks might burst. She sat inside and closed the door behind her.

"I'm guessing everything went—"He didn't even have a chance to get out his sentence. Kiana was swallowing his words as their saliva mixed together. She held both hands on either side of his face and forcefully pushed their heads together. She put her knees onto the passenger seat so she could further her body into the driver's boundaries. Sawyer's member was twitching in his pants at Kiana's eagerness. He could only imagine how wet she was getting from their kiss. He could feel her hardened nipples through her shirt as they scraped over his arm.

"Kiana," He tried to say. He was having an internal battle with himself. A piece of him wanted to pull into a parking space a little further behind the school so she could straddle his lap and satisfy them both right then and there. But another piece, wanted to celebrate in the comfort and privacy of their home. Although the latter would mean he'd have to drive there with a hard on and a soaking pussy right beside him, it was the right thing to do.

"I think a teacher's watching us." Sawyer mumbled against her lips. It was a cruel thing to do, but it was the only thing she cared enough about to put some distance between them. She immediately sat in her seat and scanned the face of the building, searching for a crack in the blinds. But no one was there.

"Damn Key." He mumbled to himself, closing his eyes and sighing with his head against the back of his chair. His lips were bright red from her kisses and his thick cock was snaking itself down his pants leg. Kiana bit her lip and unconsciously ground her legs together. "I wanted to go out for lunch." He groaned, knowing that his desire would never be fulfilled. Mainly because a new desire had taken it's place. He looked over at Kiana through low lids and she looked so good. He could tell she was horny and ready for anything he was willing to give her.