CHAPTER 11
Skye walked back into the house in a dazed state. Her mind was on the few moments before when she had encountered Brian again, what’s more in a very undressed state. That affected her more than she cared to admit. In many ways it reminded her of her dreams she had been having with Brian in them. She shook her head, as she reached for the doorknob to turn it. This time yesterday Brian was a figment of her imagination, her Blue Eyes she had spent many nights with in all sorts of situations. Now all of a sudden he was real and it was going to take a lot of getting used to.
“You should have kissed him,” came the familiar voice of her grandfather and she smiled to herself. The first time she heard his voice it had frightened her, coming out of nowhere. She had dreamt of him, but when she heard it in her waking hours it scared her. She had looked around for an explanation for hours until ‘he’ convinced her it was him. She couldn’t explain it to herself, being usually a very practical person who did not believe in the supernatural, but now she welcomed the voice as a reminder of her past. Happy memories from her childhood and teenage years, right up until last year before… No she didn’t want to dwell on the sad times now. The voice was prodding her again. “Skye, you should have kissed him.”
“I can’t kiss a man I just met yesterday. They have names for women like that,” Skye answered the air in front of her. It felt odd talking to no one but she couldn’t ignore him.
“Yes, that’s true.” He chuckled. He had always liked Skye’s joking nature. “But Skye, when you do, whenever that is, you will know it is the right thing,” he prodded.
He had been prodding her on the beach too, and at that moment standing on the sand in front of Brian she wished she could have given in to her morals and kissed him. Her body tingled at the thought of kissing him. She had done so many times in her dreams, it almost felt right to give in to the demands of not only her grandfather, but her own body.
“We’ll see about that won’t we?” Skye said making herself a cup of coffee. She had done all her chores earlier in the morning, having risen at sunrise and now planned to relax, beginning with a cup of coffee out on the deck. Even after her late night, she was too edgy to stay in bed. She had had another dream about Brian and it had unsettled her to now be dreaming in this personal manner of a person she had actually met.
Meeting Brian had resurfaced her doubts and fears again. After he had left the night before, it had brought her thoughts of Trevor back to the surface and she had again reminisced about him, missing him terribly, the ache as painful as ever before. Her grandfather had made an appearance to reassure her that Trevor was fine and watching out for her. He wouldn’t leave her until he knew she was happy. Even though she still didn’t understand what was going on, she had found peace in his words, believing that Trevor was watching out for her. She thought back to her previous dreams about Brian, and one memory of them stood out. Someone was always telling her he was the one. Was that true? Could he possibly be the one for her? She didn’t want to dwell on it though because she feared thinking about it too much would put a strain on a budding relationship should there ever be one. Her dreams that night had returned to Brian and that had confused her again.
To ease her mind she always took a stroll along the beach. It always brought her peace and helped her to see things clearly. Seeing Brian swimming along in the ocean felt almost like a sign. She chuckled as he swam into the beach and a wave swamped him, but felt concern as he came up spluttering. Was that a sign too? No that was just human kindness. But there was no denying the feelings buzzing through her as he walked towards her.
She saw the familiar smile in his eyes when he looked at her, the smile she had dreamt about so often. It was uncanny how she had dreamt it so realistically, captured the very essence of his smile and the sincerity behind it. But then her granddad had spoken to her, telling her to kiss him. She tried her best to ignore him in this situation but he was relentless in his desire to have her kiss him. Then Brian, beginning to look unnerved himself, shouted out No! It was almost as if he was answering for her. Or… Could it be? Could he have heard the same thing? No, that couldn’t be possible, surely.
She had to escape and she had done so quickly. Now that she thought about the way she had left, what would he be thinking of her? He might think she is some sort of loony and maybe she had spoiled any chance they had together. She hoped not. She was actually looking forward to getting to know him for real instead of in her subconscious.
As if on cue the doorbell rang. Her heart started to beat faster, hoping it might be Brian. Then again, what reason would he have to come to see her? She had brushed him off just an hour earlier.
She pulled the door open and saw Brian on the other side of the screen door. A smile came to her face almost immediately and she guessed it made her look eager that he was there, but she didn’t really care right now. She wanted to make sure he knew she wasn’t trying to brush him off earlier. His face lit up with a smile too and Skye stood mesmerised.
“Let him in,” came her grandfathers voice and she snapped out of her daze.
“Come in Brian. To what do I owe this pleasant surprise?” Skye asked him, pushing the screen door open and standing aside for him to enter.
He brushed past her and the familiar tingling returned. She would have to take control of that or she might make a fool of herself.
Once they entered the living room Brian spoke. “I thought I would come over and say hi. It really wasn’t a great start this morning was it?”
Skye stood in front of Brian gazing at him. He mesmerised her and she shook her head slowly to answer him.
“So hi,” Brian repeated when she didn’t say anything.
Still Skye stood there. “Skye, talk to him,” whispered her grandfather in her ear. She shivered then shook her head and laughed at herself.
“Sorry,” she told Brian, blushing. “Hi.” Brian smiled at her sending her insides fluttering again. She had to get a grip on herself. “I was just having a coffee out on the deck, would you like one?”
“That’d be nice,” Brian said to her and she realised he was as nervous as she was. She didn’t know if that was a good sign or a bad one.
Skye escaped to the kitchen to put the water on to boil, fully aware that Brian had followed her in. She had never experienced this feeling before, not even with Trevor who she had known for a long time before they began to date. She looked out the window gazing at the ocean. She had to stop comparing everything that was happening now with Brian, to Trevor. It would be hard to do, but she was going to try. Besides, she sort of liked the feelings going through her now.
She made Brian’s coffee, remembering from the night before how he liked it. She passed him his cup of coffee and took some of the leftover cake out of the fridge. They walked out to the deck and sat in the same seats they had last night. She wasn’t ready to get closer till she understood the feelings racing through her.
“This is nice.” Brian said taking a sip of his coffee. A cool breeze floated over them as they sat, keeping the warming temperatures comfortable.
“Yes, my favourite place. I am always out here.” She laughed self-consciously. “I think I told you that last night though.” Brian shook his head. Maybe she hadn’t. She didn’t remember what was real and what she dreamt anymore. “Maybe not. But it is. Any time of the day or night, if I am feeling stressed or down, I come out here and a peace washes over me. It was my favourite place as I was growing up to, so many memories.”
“Sounds wonderful. It really is a nice spot you have here, the beach, the small town just away from the big city.” Brian reached over for a piece of the chocolate cake. “Does the weather get rough? You know, storms and things?”
“Oh yeah, we have our moments. But it’s fairly sheltered here. It’s in a sort of inlet and that helps keep the ocean just that little bit calmer. That wave that caught you this morning was out of the ordinary.”
At the mention of that morning, Brian fell quiet. That was the reason he had come to see Skye. He wanted to apologise for his odd behaviour. Awkward moments passed when Brian suddenly spoke up. “Skye, I’m sorry about this morning.” He watched her as her eyes shot up in surprise. Those eyes were going to be the end of him if they kept affecting him as they did. His body began to warm with the beginnings of desire again.
“Apologise?” she asked looking at him over the rim of her cup.
“Yeah.” He was struggling. “Just for blurting out that no when we were talking. You must have thought I was crazy. I’m not really you know. I…” he swallowed.” I thought I heard something, I can’t really explain it,” he admitted.
“Heard something?”
She wasn’t helping him any. “Yeah, but it was nothing. I just wanted to make sure you knew I wasn’t crazy.” He laughed self-consciously again.
“It’s okay Brian. Forget about it.” Skye said to him. She was confused now. She had thought Brian must have heard the voice too and answered for her. She had thought she was the one going crazy. She wanted to ask him but guessed now wasn’t the right time yet.
They fell silent again, this time there was no awkwardness, both feeling more at ease. Skye looked over at Brian and caught him watching her. And she blushed. He smiled back at her setting her heart a flutter. The place seemed so familiar to Brian and he wondered if he had at some time dreamt about Skye's house too.
He finished his cup of coffee and as much as he wanted to stay, Brian was expecting a phone call back at his house. Even on his break he couldn’t escape business. “I hate to leave so soon Skye, but I have to get back.”
“Still working Brian?” Skye asked and immediately regretted it. He might have had something personal to do. It really was none of her business.
Brian smiled softly at her setting her at ease. “Unfortunately yes. It follows me everywhere.” He stood and turned to look at her. “Can I see you again Skye?” He asked he suddenly.
An inexplicable burst of desire slammed though her body at his question, taking Skye by surprise. She was glad she was still sitting or her knees might have buckled. It was crazy to feel like this, he had only asked if he could see her not sleep with her. At that thought the feeling intensified and Brian looked at her curiously. “Skye? Are you busy or something?”
“Huh? Oh no. Sorry,” she blushed. “I’d love to see you again.”
“Tonight maybe? Dinner?”
“Tonight? Dinner? Like a date?”
Brian chuckled. She was nervous, he could tell and with the limited dealings he had with women, he classed that as a good sign. “Yeah, I guess. Like a date.” He stood in front of her and took her hands in his. Her hands were warm in his and the shy smile on her face gave him the courage to continue. “Skye, I like you, I would like to get to know you better. It seems as if I already know you so well.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Skye answered, feeling a bubble of joy in her chest at his words. She did feel she knew him so very well already too, but to do it for real would be nice too.
“So? Dinner tonight? You choose where. I’ll pick you up at around 7, does that sound okay,” he asked still holding on to her hands, He was reluctant to let them go.
“Sounds great. I know just the place,” Skye told him, having in mind a romantic intimate little restaurant by the sea. She had imagined going there on a date ever since it opened 6 months earlier. Of course the date was always Trevor and he had not been here when the place opened. She shook herself inwardly. ‘just think of Brian’ she told herself. It was going to be hard. Trevor would always invade her thoughts. She would try to avoid the special places she and Trevor had shared, but here at home it was going to be hard.
“Okay,” Brian said letting go of her hands leaving Skye feeling surprisingly at a loss. “I’ll see you about seven.” He looked at his watch. “I have to dash, that call could come at any time.” He looked at her again before turning to walk towards the door. As she watched him walk out of the room she snapped out of her daze and followed him, telling him she looked forward to tonight, watching him walk away. Her day was turning out better than she thought it was going to.
Chapter 12
Index
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