His Visit

 

It was Friday afternoon as she checked the last of her email, 2 hours till he arrived. She was sending out notices that she was taking the weekend off, so there would be no replies till late Monday, and then turned off her laptop putting it in her bag.  She also set her phone to go straight to the answering machine, but would leave her cell on, just on vibrate incase of any emergency, which was unlikely.  With a quick ruffle of her fingers through her curls in the mirror, she had to get going. It was an hour drive to the Seattle airport with good traffic.  She felt a bit guilty for meeting him in jeans and t-shirt, should she have dressed up a little more?  She just hadn’t really had time between work and last minute errands.  She didn’t look horrible; checking herself in her rear view mirror as she got into the car, the small amount of makeup she had on was still intact. She smiled as she noticed the bright greens and gold in her eyes, yeah she looked fine, she was over thinking it as she had a tendency too.

  The drive to the airport was a nervous one, why she didn’t know, she knew he loved her, even in jeans and a t-shirt.  She got there with time to spare, it was 8:00pm his flight didn’t get in till 8:45. She grabbed a coffee and waited at the terminal window, still nervous. 

As she watched the plane pull in her heart skipped a few beats, or was that the caffeine?  Throwing away the empty cup, she stood back from the gate as one by one the first passengers walked off greeting loved ones or continuing on.  It was a one second glance when she saw him, and all nerves washed away.  As he neared with a grin she didn’t bother to say a word and just wrapped her arms around his neck hugging him.  She could feel his arms around her middle, the warmth in them as her feet left the floor a few inches. She buried her face in his shoulder with a grin, his sent strong as it filled her lungs comforting, as her body relaxed into him. She was set down, a giggle escaping  her  as she looked at him, feeling her cheeks grow warm she shyly said “Hi you.”

With a soft smile he leaned in and kissed her lightly, an instant she felt the softness of his lips meet hers.

“Hi.” He replied with a grin.

She giggled feeling her face grow a deeper red she leaned into him hugging him again, slipping to the side her arm around his middle they made their way to leave the airport. Small talk filling the time, he had his bag, a small carry on was all he needed for the 2 day stay.

The drive back to her apartment was pretty quick, by 9:30 at night most of the rush hour traffic was gone.  Once there she led him upstairs, unlocking the front door she had him set his bag on the unused dining room table next to the door. She was suddenly nervous as she spotted her bedroom door open.  She wasn’t ready to have him in her bed even if it was just for sleeping. What if it made him expect something? She wasn’t ready.  

“You don’t mind taking the sofa bed do you?” she asked nervously, her question came out faster than she wanted it too, she had sounded almost panicked.  Her heart was racing and she felt a tinge of guilt.  He chuckled softly and said it was fine.  She glanced over to the kitchen clock, it was only about 10:30, she knew he wasn’t ready to sleep and she never was till around 1:30 am.

“Wanna do a movie?” she asked trying to break the awkward silence that most likely she only felt.

“Sure, sounds good” she felt he could tell she was nervous and her cheeks again got warm.

“Let me go get you some pillows and an extra blanket, if you wanna pull the bed out and the movies are there next to the TV, if you see anything you want to watch, or we could find something on TV.”

 Now she felt shyer as she sounded to herself like she was rambling, more self conscious than she had ever felt around him. This was all in her head, she smiled and turned to head to her room for the extra pillows and blanket. She could feel his eyes on the back of her neck as she closed the door a bit to get to her closet for the blanket, then decided to slip into a tank top and pajama shorts.

As she came back out, he took the pillows from her, giving her a once over with a smirk. She tried to hide that she noticed it as she went to lock the front door.

“If you want to get comfortable, there’s a bathroom down the hall on the right just next to my room.” She tossed one, then the other pillow onto the bed with a smirk.

“Sounds like a good idea” he smiled, and went over to his bag grabbing pajama pants.

“You want anything to drink?” she asked as he walked down the hall.

“I got water, Coke and…bottled tea I think” she added as she spread the blanket out on the bed.

“A Coke’s good.” She caught a smile as he headed into the bathroom and she headed to the kitchen.

She grabbed him a Pepsi and a bottled tea for herself, then popped in the DVD he had picked that was sitting on the coffee table and sat on the end of the bed fast forwarding through the previews to the start menu.  He came back out and popped open the can that had been sitting on the side table next to the couch.   She felt his weight hit the bed then his arms grabbing her waist as he dragged her farther back on the bed, she giggled helping by scooting back. She leaned into his arm that was around her as he sat back against the pillow; she pushed play and grabbed the blanket, pulling it up covering them then set the remote on the side table on her side.  She rested her head against his shoulder as she felt his fingers rubbing lightly along her arm.  Every bit of nervousness, shyness and self consciousness washed away, her body melting in against his, her heart fluttering she closed her eyes listening to his breathing.  She didn’t seem to notice she had lost track of what was going on in the movie, when she opened her eyes a little while later, realizing she had fallen asleep.  Feeling her move, he chuckled and in a soft voice said

 “Hi there sleepy head” she chuckled back shyly her cheeks blushing.

“You’re so cute when you blush” he added causing her cheeks to turn a deeper shade of red as he leaned down kissing her forehead.  As he scooted to lie down she moved her head to his chest her hand next to her face, her thumb brushing back and forth against his shirt.

She watched the movie drifting in and out of sleep, the last she heard was the TV click off. The cool, quiet, darkness surrounding them, sleepily she felt his body moving as he covered them.  Curling in closer to him tucking her face into his neck, her hand still on his chest, a leg tangled into his she fell into the best sleep she’d had in a long time. Something about being wrapped in the safe warmth of his arms took away any worries, fears; anything negative seemed to never have existed.

She woke quietly to the sun breaking through the sheer curtains of the balcony sliding glass door. She didn’t move listening to his sleeping breaths she woke slowly. The sheer, the thinness of the curtains seemed like a shield, a protective barrier from the outside world, keeping in the warm comfort of their own world.  She could hear the birds outside, the occasional car rushing by on the street outside as his chest rose and fell.

She glanced over to the DVD player, the sun hitting it made it hard to read but she eventually made out 8: 30 or that’s what she thought it said. She slowly, carefully moved her head glancing up at his sleeping face. She was so tempted to kiss him, so tempted to run a finger over his cheek as her heart skipped a beat at the thought, she smiled softly deciding not to wake him and she slipped from his side very carefully. 

Walking toward the kitchen she ran her fingers through her sleep tousled curls with a yawn. Leaning against the kitchen counter she filled an empty glass with water. Then decided to quietly, or as quietly as possible, to make him breakfast.

He managed to sleep through most of it, waking to find her not there as his eyes adjusted.  He turned toward the noise of the last of his breakfast preparations.  Her curls glistened from the morning sun coming in through the curtains, her skin, her arms, and her legs glowed from it. He watched her come to the side of the couch, sitting on the edge of the bed with his food. Looking down he saw the apple cinnamon french toast she had made.  Apple slices lightly browned and carmeled lay across the bread, the cinnamon golden brown against them both.

“Breakfast in bed eh? When did you say I could move in again?” he said with a grin.

She giggled handing him the plate kissing him lightly on the lips.

 “Good morning hun”

He chuckled lightly looking at them again, “These look really good.”

“I hope so, I’ve become known for them among friends and family.”

He took a bite as she waited, sitting on the edge of the bed. He swallowed with a grin,

“I can see why.” She giggled shyly at his response seeing he enjoyed them.

He leaned over feeding her a bite, giggling more she gave him another kiss brushing her nose against his.

“Okay you, everything you need should be in the hall bathroom when you’re ready. You enjoy those; I gotta hop in the shower so we can get out of here at a decent time.”

“A shower, don’t I get to come?” he asked with a smirk.

She chuckled, feeling her cheeks getting warm. “Not this time, maybe next time.”  Stealing another kiss from him in between his bites she got up and headed down the hall.

“Hey, where are we going?” she heard him call after her.

“One of my favorite places” she replied as her door closed, a crack left open.

He heard her bathroom door close and a few moments later the shower start.  He finished his breakfast and got into the hall shower.  

When he finished, a mere ten minutes later, he could still hear a radio and distant humming float through the crack under the bathroom door. As he came out dressed, the steam following his body as the light from the sun through the windows glistened against it; he couldn’t help but just peek through the couple inch crack she had left open to her room. Standing in the doorway of the hall bathroom he could see just her head bent over as she ruffled the towel through her wet curls. He grinned to himself and headed to the dining room to put his things back in his bag then decided to put the bag next to the couch and off of her table.  He took the extra blanket off the bed folding it and put the couch back together; the cushions back on and put the spare blanket along the back end of the couch setting the extra bed pillows on top of his bag next to the couch. He opened the balcony curtains letting in the daylight then sat on the couch. Again, he couldn’t help but glance down the hall wondering if he could spot her through the crack in the doorway.  He couldn’t see anything, so he turned the TV on mindlessly flipping through the morning new channels and infomercials.

A little longer and he heard her door open as she walked out, propping her hand on the side of the kitchen counter to hold herself up as she slipped her sandals on. He glanced over at her, her curls were still a tad wet, combed over a few slipped down against her cheek as she worked her last sandal on. Standing up straight she wore a white cotton sundress. The thin straps sat on her shoulders peeking out from her dark brown curls, the hem of the dress hung just above her knees. She glanced over at him with a smile, the sun light coming in from the window glinted against the hazel of her eyes.  She noticed a smile form over his lips as he turned the TV off he walked over to her, resting his hands on her hips he kissed her lightly, brushing his nose against hers.  She chuckled quietly to herself realizing he obviously liked what she was wearing.  She kissed him back softly and quietly said

“I’ll have to remember to make my French toast for you more” she smirked and slipped away from him moving to get her purse and keys from the table by the door.

“Ready freddy?” she asked playfully grinning at him looking over her shoulder as she slipped the straps of her small purse over her it, her keys moved in her hand.

“Yeah” he chuckled, grabbed his wallet and sunglasses from the side table by the couch and held the door as she stepped out, watching her as she locked it and walked past him down the stairs to her car.

She pulled into a small grocery store parking lot where a coffee stand stood near the back pulling up to the small service window.

“Want anything?”

He could tell this was her regular morning coffee shop when they knew her by name.

He teased her about her green tea frappuccino with mint syrup,

“Such a chick drink” he chuckled grinning at her as he took a sip of his own drink.

“Hey, man… its good, tastes like mint chocolate chip ice cream almost.” She giggled as she pulled out of the drive up window and headed for the freeway.

“So you ever gonna tell me where we’re going?” he asked a little while into the drive.

“We are headed to the Seattle Pike’s Place Market.” She smiled

“It’s a huge outdoor farmers market, crafts, foods all kinds of stuff.  It’ll be fun.”

“Sounds good” he replied with a smile finishing off his drink he moved his hand to the back of her seat.

 

  When they got there she parked at the far end so they could walk through the street vendors and then into the actual outdoor market. 

She got out of the car meeting him at the back she slipped her arm around his middle, his wrapping around her shoulders pulling her closer as they walked across the street pausing as a car drove by.

They spent the day walking through the crowds, looking at the handmade crafts, sampling the different foods. She had him trying out the crisp freshness of the peaches and nectarines. She bought a clump of grapes they shared as they walked around.

As they neared the front of the market, (they had started in the back)near the big neon “Public Market Center” sign she slipped from his arms and walked up to a  large bronze pig statue.

“This is Rachel, the Pikes Place Market Pig” she said with a giggle as she leaned against it, the hem of her dress rippling lightly in the warm breeze.

“The pig has a name?” he chuckled.

“Yup, and she’s a real piggy bank, see,” she pointed out the slot on the back of the pig.  

“And you, sir are doing a picture with me”

His eyes widened a bit with a playful grin,

 “Do I have too?” he asked, he wasn’t a big photo person.

“Awe common, it’s a family tradition to get a picture with the market pig.” She curled her lower lip over playfully.

“Well when you give me that look how can I say no?”

She giggled knowing she’d won this one as she slipped her camera out of her purse.

A passerby who spotted them, offered to take the photo.  She sat halfway on top of the pig, leaning into him as he stood next to her, his arm around her shoulders. He turned his head right as the photo was taken and kissed the side of her head. When she looked at the photo on her camera, she couldn’t have been happier; it was most definitely a frame worthy photo.  Glancing down at it himself he chuckled at her excitement over the photo as she leaned up and kissed him softly.

“Thank you baby,” She said with a big smile.

“Anything for my baby” He chuckled kissing her back.

They headed into the market, his arm around her waist toward a small crowd and some yelling.

“This is the famous Flying Fish Attraction.” She giggled as she watched a fish fly from one fish monger’s hands to another as they took orders.  It was quiet the entertainment from the crowds it always drew.

She smiled watching his face as he too watched the flying fish,

“I’ll be right back babe I promised my mom next time I was here I’d get her some Market Spice Tea at the shop over here.” She said above the noise of the crowd.

“Okay, want me to come with?”

“Nah, it’ll be real quick” She leaned up and kissed his cheek and slipped away.

He watched the flying fish a bit more then looked around and spotted something getting an idea. He smiled and walked over to buy some.

A few minutes later his eyes spotted her as she moved through the crowd weaving between people, her curls brushing against her shoulders and arms.

She walked up to him and he leaned down and kissed her softly his hand cupping her face his thumb brushing her cheek. She looked up at him when the kiss broke with a smile. He kissed her forehead and handed her a small bunch of daisies.

“Awe babe!” she smiled taking them. She loved daisies they seemed be the flower that most suited her, or at least she liked to think so, a playful simple beauty.

She leaned up and kissed his cheek,

“Thank you hunny, I love em.”

“I’m glad, I like seeing that pretty smile on your pretty face” she chucked shyly feeling her face turn red as she slipped her arm around his waist pulling him closer she steered them back toward the car.

It was by now early evening, the sun was slowly heading to set but wouldn’t for several more hours.

“Now where too?” he asked playfully as they got into the car.

“Well I can’t have you in Seattle and not take you to the Space Needle!” she giggled as she pulled out onto the street.

She took him to the top, the hard wind blew her dress against her legs and her curls flipped in the wind against her cheeks. She walked him over to a pair of the big binoculars and put in a few coins to bring them into focus. She pointed out the Seattle Waterfront and where Mt. Rainer stood off in the distance. He looked through them over her shoulder, his hands on her hips. Kissing her shoulder with soft nibbles as she found other things to show him before the money ran out and the binoculars went back out of focus. 

She leaned herself back into his arms as he moved to wrap them around her waist, watching the colors of the sky slowly changing for sunset, crowds of tourists walking behind them. Her hand ran over his that was resting on her stomach she slipped her fingers over his lacing hers in between them.  She looked back glancing up at him; he leaned down and kissed her softly, deeply. A kind of kiss they hadn’t yet shared. Her fingers untangled from his, her arm moving back and around the back of his neck, her fingers brushing over the hair on the nape of his neck as she felt his thumb brush against her stomach through her dress. She could taste him as she breathed him in deep filling her lungs, her body relaxing into his, the tips of her fingers combing through that bit of hair as her curls blew against her cheek.   She broke the kiss slowly and softly smiling gently at him kissing him lightly one more time.  They stood there together, for a while longer enjoying the view, enjoying the simplicity of being in each other’s arms.

That night the couch stayed a couch as a late night storm rolled in. She wouldn’t have had the day end any other way.

The next morning she didn’t move, didn’t want to break the warmth that had surrounded them through the night as she listened to the rain pour down against the roof and windows.  It was a bright and cloudy, not the dark grey she would have expected from a storm that seemed to bring this kind of rain. She yawned and stirred just enough to lift her head from his chest watching him sleep. She reached over and brushed her finger over his cheek, letting her hand cup the warmth of his face.  At this he stirred slightly waking, turning his face into her palm kissing it softly. She leaned in and kissed him just as softly as she had felt his lips against her hand, pulling some of his sleepiness from him, resting her forehead against the bridge of his nose. He kissed her forehead, and she tucked her face into the warmth of his neck as she let him slowly wake feeling his hand rubbing gently over her back through his shirt she had slipped into during the night.

“You won’t get to take this shirt home ya know?” she said after sometime with a grin.

He chuckled sleepily with a slight stretch, pulling her a bit closer kissing the side of her head.

“Yeah I realized that when I saw you slip into it last night, but of course you can keep it, I guess I can live without it knowing you have it.” She giggled and gave him a happy thank you and a kiss on the cheek.

Neither of them left the bed that day, with small exceptions to get another movie from the living room. That’s how they spent the rainy Sunday, wrapped in together in the warmth of each other and the blankets.  Napping, watching movies and being with one another, a perfect last day for his visit.

  They ordered in that night and only got up to answer the door. He gave the delivery guy the money and took the food closing the door.  He watched her gather silverware from behind the kitchen counter in his t-shirt, playfully swatting at her backside as she cut in front of him on the way back down the hall to the bedroom making her giggle and run ahead hopping on to the bed scrambling back under the blanket. They ate right from the containers sampling a bit of all that was ordered.

  He had a late morning flight out; neither really fell asleep that night, she never let herself drift into a deep sleep afraid it would waste the few hours they had left. Quiet whispers of conversation and ‘I love yous’ throughout the night let them both know the other was still there, still awake.

 

The next morning was a quiet one neither one leaving the others side for any longer than necessary as they got ready, her hand rested in his on his leg as she drove to the airport.  He held her as he waited to board; it all felt surreal and slow.

“No tears baby” he gently wiped them from her cheek kissing it softly.

“I’ll be back, might even get you down there to come see me” She nodded trying to hold back the tears as he leaned in kissing her softly resting his forehead on hers, brushing his nose against hers. She leaned in and kissed him deeply; breathing him in, letting his scent and touch engulf her a last time.  She didn’t want to forget it, any of it.

As she stood in front of the large airport window watching the plane pull away she felt a sudden calm wash over her.  Turning as she ran her fingers through her curls and wiped the tear stains from her cheeks onto her jeans, pulling her keys from her purse she decided to stop and get a frame and print the photo on the way home.

The picture sat by her bed each night as she replayed his visit in her head while she fell asleep.