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Comical and bizarre, are the only words that could aptly describe this scene and the events that led to it.
My new wife, whom I met and married after a week due to some unreal circumstances, was showing me around her…I should say our, home. We’d agreed on living at her place for the next few weeks - she was still working and I was preparing for a new project and therefore not urgently needed elsewhere.
The last stop was her bedroom. For the tiny size of the apartment, the bedroom was quite large. Her room, like the rest of her home, was spotlessly clean but with ‘lived-in’ touches everywhere – two books on the pedestal next to her bed, a larger pile beside her laptop on the small table by the window, a robe lying on the king-sized bed. Within a few minutes she had arranged closet space, a work space and bathroom space for me.
“Sorry, girls tend to have a lot going on in their bathrooms,” she apologised for the millionth time, as she packed the bulk of her cosmetics and toiletries in one of the cupboards. “Towels are in there,” she motioned to the other cupboard, “and you’re welcome to use whatever you need to in here.”
“Thanks. It’s been quite a couple of days. Mind if I freshen up? I won’t be long.”
She smiled. “This is your home now too…take your time. I’m going to start dinner. Anything you’re partial to? Allergic to?”
It was definitely different, having someone fuss over me in that way. “No to both,” I answered, smiling, hoping it would convey at least a small bit of my appreciation for all she was doing.
After dinner, we both sat down with some work – me at her table with a script my agent had sent and she, sitting cross-legged on the bed, so completely focused on her laptop it made a little crease at her forehead. She’d been talkative the whole day, so the silence was unexpected but not necessarily uncomfortable. I took this opportunity to stare at my wife. With her glasses and braid, staring at her screen, her fingers occasionally flying over the keyboard, she looked like a school girl. The thought made me realise that I didn’t actually know her age. A loud sigh signalled that she was either fed up or finished with whatever she was busy with.
“You didn’t swallow your tongue at dinner, did you?”
My question snapped her out of her focus and she burst out laughing.
“Sorry. Deadlines are the bane of my existence. When I’m busy with a piece, I tend to zone out of everything else.”
“I was getting lonely here. And I am, technically speaking, supposed to be on my honeymoon.”
That produced a chuckle. “Indeed,” she said, closing her laptop.
We sat for a while, just staring at each other. My eye fell on her braid and I remembered that I was curious about something specific.
“I hope you don’t mind me asking, but how old are you?”
“I’ll be twenty-eight in December.” A small smirk played at the corners of her mouth as she registered my surprise. “Not eighteen, as the pigtail may have suggested.”
Either my poker face was failing or she could read minds. My usual MO would be to come back with some witty wisecrack but something about her disarmed me completely.
“You need anything?” she asked, standing up.
“Not right now, thank you.”
“Kay.” Smiling, she grabbed her robe from the foot of the bed and some things from her closet. “So…in case you doze off before me, I sleep on the left side of the bed,” she said matter-of-factly, disarming me again before slipping into the bathroom.
Thirty minutes later she emerged from her shower. I’d gotten into bed and switched off all the lights except the one on her side of the bed. I was lying facing away from her, so she would assume I was asleep…with every intention of turning over in a few minutes to watch her before-bed rituals. The angle of the small mirror ensured that I would be able to look at her unnoticed.
I turned over as she removed her robe. I didn’t know what to expect. Steam was still emanating slightly off her face. She’d removed her glasses and loosened her braid, sending chestnut waves over her bare shoulders and down her back. The dim light showed signs of very little under her nightgown.
I didn’t expect that I would be attracted to my wife.
I closed my eyes when she turned toward the bed and felt her get in. I waited a few minutes, till I heard her breathing slow down, before I opened my eyes again. When I did, I looked into a pair of alert brown ones.
Eventually, she asked, “Regrets?”
Deception or honesty? I chose the latter.
“Two…” Her face fell, but she stayed silent. “Shall I tell you?”
She nodded, still looking down.
“Okay. Well…the bed’s cold.” One could fit two more people in the space between us, the bed was so big. Her eyes shot up in surprise, which turned to confusion as she saw me open the covers. I bit back the urge to laugh – I didn’t want her thinking I was joking – and held her gaze till she shifted into my open arm.
“Hmm, better.” When she was comfortably settled, I allowed myself to smile into the top of her head. First battle won. We lay like that for a few minutes. I wasn’t quite sure how to broach the second battle with her. Fortunately, she gave me an opening.
“You said there were two regrets,” she murmured softly.
“Mmhmm.” Using my free hand, I gently tilted her head so that she was looking at me. “I haven’t kissed my wife yet.”
Her eyes widened a fraction but before she could protest, I pressed my lips to hers. I felt her stiffen slightly. I was surprised at my disappointment at the lack of a response on the other side of that kiss…and when I lifted my head, her eyes were closed.
She lay like that, not a hint of an expression on her face, for what felt like an eternity. My resolve was waning and I was about to release her completely when I realised that I could feel her pulse quickening. Her eyelids lifted, revealing what she had been trying to hide.
Encouraged by the desire smouldering beneath those lashes, I rolled her onto her back and lowered my face to hers once more. This time, there was a willing participant on the other side, her hands making their way through my hair and her lips melting under mine.
There, with her pressed into her pillows, imprisoned by my body, my wife and I shared our first real kiss.