mavericka

In Bloom

PART ONE


Leetha leaned on the edge of the wooden stool, trying to see the tv in the bed room from her perch in the kitchen. In between spoon fulls of cheerios she could see the local news, or half of it anyway. The anchor woman had a gaudy pink necklace that clashed with her dark red lipstick, and it made it hard for Leetha to follow what she was saying.

A knock at the door startled her, and almost sent her slipping to the floor. The only door into her apartment opened into her kitchen, so she only had a few steps to look through the peephole and see who was there.

Seeing it was Alan, she put down her cereal bowl and pulled her chocolate brown hair out of the low pony tail she kept it in when she was home alone, she slipped the scrunchy that held her hair around her wrist then set about opening the chain and locks that were necessary for safety on this side of town. She opened the door and found him leaning on the edge, his head was down, and his light brown hair falling onto his forehead.

He looked up at her and gave her his little boy grin, "Hi Lee, sorry I haven't been around in a while." Alan shrugged instead of giving an excuse and she backed up so he could enter her apartment.

It wasn't like him to ever say he was sorry. He had showed up still dressed from work, and the first thing he did was take off his tie, it was blue as they usually were, he let it fall to the floor and it was forgotten. He reached her bedroom, also the living room, and was greeted with barks.

"I love you too Foofer," Alan then ignored the dog and sat on the edge of the sofa bed. It was already made out into a bed as it was dark already.

"I'll be right back, let me take care of Foofy,"said Leetha as she picked up the barking dog and stepped into the hall. She put the dog down and crossed her arms over her chest, hiding her nipples that started to get hard as soon as she stepped out into the cool hallway. She unfolded her arms only to knock on her neighbors door and then stood there shifting her weight from left foot to right and back again, almost jogging in place to try to stay warm.

It was a tad chilly in her apartment as well, she had bothered to put on her baggy jeans along with one of the t-shirts she always wore to bed.

When Mr. Manchez opened the door Foofer ran right inside.

"Can you keep him tonight? Please?" At Mr. Manchez's grunt she turned and scurried back to her own room. Foofer wasn't much of a watchdog. The Pomeranian puff ball never seemed to make any noise at all except when Alan came over. For some reason the dog just didn't care for him. She relaxed as she closed the door. She walked back into the room with Alan as he was slipping out of his suit jacket. This too would also have found the floor if she hadn't scooped it up in time. She hung it in her closet as her brow wrinkled. Something was wrong. Leetha sighed, he would probably never tell her what it was.

She walked over to her weary guest and brushed his hair back from his face. Close up she could see silver hairs threaded in the with the brown. Alan had started going grey his senior year in High School. It was something passed down in his family, his mother had been the same way. At 25 almost half his hair was grey, especially at his temples. When they had met he had worn glasses, but months ago he had traded them in for contacts, she very much enjoyed his hazel eyes. They were kissed with green, and he always got wrinkles at the edge of his eyes as he smiled.

Leetha leaned down and kissed his forehead, his arms went around her and pulled her closer. His hands gently rubbed her back, he always touched as if she was made of gold. She noticed little things like this, and filed them away as evidence, they were proof of things he never told her. He never spoke of his feelings.

Alan worked at a bank downtown, she was never quite she what he did exactly. The few times he had talked about work she had fallen asleep. Normally she would have felt bad about falling asleep that like, but Alan was famous for passing out on her. After the first few times it had stopped bothering her. He was a workaholic, she knew that from day one. He was the grand-nephew of Old Lady Randall, who had lived on the third floor. Leetha would run into Alan as he was bringing his Aunt groceries, or her latest prescriptions. She would see him in the hallway and they would talk until Old Lady Randall was pounding on the floor with her cane and yelling for Alan.

This had gone on for about 4 months when Old Lady Randall died. Everyone in the apartment had felt the loss, they were a family of strangers there. Leetha didn't think she'd ever see Alan again. But next Friday he showed up, as he always had, with a armful of groceries. He had been so busy with work he had been on automatic. He settled on the steps outside Leetha's door, confused and hating himself. He had forgotten his Aunt had died. For the millionth time he thought about getting a new job.

Alan might have sat there all night if Mr. Manchez hadn't called Leetha. Foofer didn't bark at people in the hall so she wouldn't have known he was there otherwise. She went out into the hallway and found him very much the way he had shown up tonight. Weary. Lost.

She had brought him into her apartment, and hugged him as she had at the funeral, her arms around his neck, her head on his shoulder, only this time when his strong arms went around her he didn't let go. He held her so long Foofy got tired of barking and curled up in the corner on his matt.

Eventually he leaned back, his fingers threading through her soft hair, "Lee, you are the only good thing about this town."

And then he kissed her, and she realised that somewhere in his busy life between making A's and working overtime he had definitely learned to kiss. His lips were warm and pressed against hers firmly, his hands in her hair holding her steady, not that she was going anywhere.

Three months later he sat on the edge of her bed and kissed her stomach, pulling up her t-shirt to do it more properly. To the right of her belly button she had a tattoo of a little blue fairy with a sparklie wand. This always got special attention.

Sometimes he would come and take her away to her favorite restaurant, or to the diner up the street, but most of the time they stayed here, in her little purple decorated cocoon with beatles posters framed on every wall and an incense holder shaped like a dragon by the small tv. But she preferred it that way. Far from being the life of the party, she was closer to being a hermit. She found crowds to be unsettling, and it took her awhile to warm up to people she didn't know. She worked here at home, on her computer, so except for the occasional errand she didn't often need to leave.

"Work keeping you busy as usual?" Leetha moved away as she asked, busying herself by putting a stray sock from the floor into the laundry basket at the bottom of the closet by her bed. Before she lost her head he was going to talk to her.

"Yes, the usual. I'm up for a raise soon, until then I can't afford to let up any." Alan had over a hundred days of vacation time he'd never done anything with. He'd yet to take a vacation since he went to work at the bank.

He caught her around the waist as she tried to get past him to adjust the drapes.

"Are you feeling shy today Lee?" He held her near and yes she did in fact feel shy. It had been so long since she'd seen him, she given up on him. And yet here he was rearranging all the truths she'd just gotten used to. Looking so cute, every time he grinned at her it made her tummy twist and toes curl. This all had happened before, its how he knew to ask. He never called as the rest of the world did, he simply showed up. He hated the phone, used it only for work. But his work was demanding enough that he kept it with him always. She had come to hate that phone.

But here he was again, and he was cute, and his hands were warm. How could she hold things against him? Things had never been any different than they were now.

"I think about you...when you gone," she mustn't say too much about missing him, she knew somehow it wasn't allowed.

Alan smiled and stood up, "I think about you too sweety," He hugged her close once more, lightly kissing her neck and smelling her hair. It smelled like apples today. That was his favorite fruit. It felt so silky next to his cheek.

"I could take you to Fredo's or Japanga? Save you from another cereal dinner?"offered Alan.

He went to nibble on her neck but she pulled back to smile at him brightly.

"I have sugar smacks,"she announced.

Alan laughed,"I'm sure you do." he leaned over to kiss her, and slid his hands in the waistband of her jeans to rub her hips. When she leaned up to curl her fingers in his hair, she straighten up enough that her jeans fell down. She giggled and tried to step out of them as he slid his hands along her thighs to scoop her up and turned to place her on the sofa bed.

She's quick to pull him down with her, finding his lips with hers, giving him a reason to stay. As he tries to kick off his shoes and shuck off his own pants, she works on his dress shirt. She makes little progress, and pays more attention to the hungry kisses. He sat up to help her remove it, and then shirt and pants found their way to the floor. There was no one to save them this time. Clad only in boxers and his undershirt he lays out on top of her, pressing her body into the mattress. He kisses her hard as a whimper escapes her.

In Leetha's 23 years she had only had 2 boyfriends, not counting school day crushes. She had tried to make them healthy relationships. She was always very careful who she trusted. They were nice men with uncomplicated lives that shared her hippy sensibilities. She had enjoyed their company, and enjoyed them, but it didn't compare to how Alan made her feel. Like she was flying. Excited and tingly all over. She'd only felt it once before, sitting the band hall storage room, in 6th grade, with Steven Marsh, waiting for him to kiss her. The kisses were never as exciting as the waiting for it part. Alan made her feel like that with every kiss and touch and dimpled grin her threw her way. Funny how you can't choose those things, they aren't decisions you can make.

Leetha rubbed the soft curve of her foot up the back of his calf, and raised her knees to hug his hips with her thighs. Her hands rubbed his shoulders, and neck, alternating between caressing and massaging as they always seemed tense.

Moaning his appreciation, one of his hands slid up her thigh to cup her ass, squeezing gently and then pulling her against him. He shifts his weight to push himself against her and her nails briefly dig into his shoulders as she gives a small gasp of pleasure. He slides a hand under her white t-shirt and lets his thumb play over one of her nipples as it finds it. Toying with it until she starts to squirm against him. Then he pulls back and slowly and deliberately lifts her shirt, her brown eyes on him the whole time.

He kisses the center of her chest, then turns his head and rubs his cheek against her left breast.

And then his cell phone started going off. It was the god awful old fashioned telephone style ring, and that meant it was work related. Leetha groaned in frustration, and Alan tried to ignore it, helping her forget by taking her nipple into the heat of his mouth. Her hips bucked, and her fingers thread through his hair. And the phone is forgotten. It stops ringing, then seconds later, begins again.

This time its Alan groaning, a tortured sound. And Leetha went limp. It was over, he would leave now.

Alan got off the bed and answered his phone. She didn't bother listening, it didn't matter, it was always the same. She scooted off the bed and put her jeans and shirt back on. She walked into the kitchen and leaned her back on the fridge, where he couldn't see her.

"Yes I understand. Goodbye."Alan hung up the phone. And put his shirt and pants on."Lee?" He walked towards the kitchen, the only place she could be.

Leetha pushed off the fridge and went to open the door. He stepped to her and hugged her from behind, kissing her neck and saying, "It won't always be like this."

She opened the door halfway and waited untill he moved to open it the rest of the way. "It always has been like this." was her answer. She crossed her arms over her chest once more as she stepped out into the hall. Alan followed her. There was already someone in the hall.

The stranger was a bald white man, very skinny, wearing a camouflage vest and pants with big black army boots. He was sitting on the steps in the cream colored hallway and looked as if he was ready for the jungle. Something you noticed right away about the man was that both his arms were heavily tattooed. From wrists to shoulders, sleeves, and he wore a big gold watch.

Neither Alan nor Leetha were expecting an audience.

"I'll talk to you later,"said Alan shortly, he started making he's way down the stairs, moving past the stranger.

"Yeah...call me..." Leetha didn't really expect him to even hear her. She stood there looking after him, staring at the door to the street as he closed it, and then she noticed baldie was starring at her. She looked at him long enough to get a good look, and then looked at the floor. Late thirties she would guess.

"So ya like men in suits, do ya?"He asked in a smooth voice, with an accent she couldn't place. He was three or four steps down, and he stood and continued to look at her.

She didn't intend to give him an answer, she was about to turn back to her room when the apartment on the other side of Mr. Manchez's opened and two small pale headed boys ran out screaming. They ran down to the other side of the hall voices at full blast, running from some imaginary terror. The door they came out of opened further, and a blond woman stepped out.

"The Bishop boys will get back in this apartment right now."Ms. Bishop said, pointing back into her apartment with her thumb."Now."she said, raising her voice.

The boys started to run back, and stopped when they reached the stairs. They had spotted the new man.

"Why'd you paint your arms?"the shorter of the two asked.

Just then Mr. Manchez opened his door and stepped into the hall. The boys screamed, again, and ran past him and their mother back into their apartment, she quickly closed the door.

Foofer came out into the hall and over to Leetha's apartment door, pawing it a few times.

"Goodnight," Leetha said, to whomever was listening, and opened her door to let Foofer and herself inside.

Mr. Manchez walked over to the top of the steps and stood there looking at the stranger. In the dim hallway light, with his dark brown skin and black hair, Mr. Manchez looked like a tall shadow. The tattooed man straightened and stood tall. He looked incredibly short with Mr. Manchez being a few steps up. So he took the last few steps to the top and stood tall again, looking Mr. Manchez in the eye. Mr. Manchez was still a good foot taller.

"Goodnight then,"said the strange bald man. He casually walked down the steps and out the door. Getting into a black car that was very plain with the exception of blacked out windows.

He said to the driver,"We'll come back tomorrow, and we'll be more prepared."