Chapter 14 - Ceiling Fan
Simone soon found herself spending more time with Rachel. She was really glad that she was able to find a friend in her because she needed a female companion to talk to, especially if she was going to be staying at the Hanson household for awhile.
One night, Taylor got a phone call from a friend of his that he hadn’t seen in a long time, so he decided to go out with him. Simone was invited to go, too, but she didn’t want to intrude with any time Taylor would get to spend with his friends. She called up Rachel and asked her if she wanted to go out that night.
And they did. Even though Simone wasn’t of legal age to drink, Rachel was and they went to a popular bar in downtown Tulsa. Rachel somehow knew the security that was checking ID and was able to get Simone in without any questions asked. The music was slamming, the beat could be felt through the floor. There were quite a few guys there that checked out both Simone and Rachel as they walked over to the bar to get something to drink.
“Hey, what’s your sign?” a good looking guy came up to Simone and asked her. She rolled her eyes and just turned back to talk to Rachel. “No, really, what is it? Wait, let me guess ... you’re a leo?”
Simone turned her attention back to the guy. “How did you know?” she asked him, amazed that he knew. It was more than just a lucky guess. He smiled and it was the first time Simone looked at him for the first time. There was no doubt about it; he was very good looking. Dark hair, light eyes, and that rebelish goatee look going.
“It’s my special talent.” He said, taking this as an opportunity to look her up and down at a closer look. He obviously liked what he saw. “So, Leo, what’s your name?”
“Simone.” She said. The guy smiled.
“A very mysterious sounding name.” He continued. “I’m Kurt.” His voice was very smooth sounding.
“Well Kurt,” Rachel interrupted. “Sorry, I don’t mean to eavesdrop, but I couldn’t help but overhear you hitting, or trying to hit, on my friend. Well, if you were smart enough, you would’ve looked directly at her hand before anything else and you would’ve clearly seen that rock on her finger. Can you take a wild guess as to what that might be?”
Simone smiled at Rachel’s bluntness. She loved her. But then she focused back to Kurt and his reaction. He lowered his gaze to her finger, like Rachel commanded, and his eyes widened.
“An engagement ring.” He said.
“Very good. We just came out tonight to get a few drinks and have some fun, but not to get any guys.” Rachel said. For some reason, with her accent, it sounded so much nicer than it would’ve if someone without an accent said it. Kurt nodded, took one last long look at Simone and turned away from the bar to find his next victim.
“Thanks for helping me out there.” Simone thanked Rachel. She winked.
“What else are friends for?” she said. “Now let’s get those drinks.
The night wore on. Several other guys flirted with Simone, as well as Rachel. However, with all the drinks Simone had, she was finding it more and more difficult not to flirt back. Luckily, Rachel only had the one drink at the beginning of the evening, and she was completely sober and realized that Simone was getting a little out of control of her actions. Just before she was about to get up on a table and lap dance for some guy, Rachel grabbed her arm and led her away. The guy looked somewhat disappointed, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it.
“We’re going home.” Rachel said, then looked at the clock on the dashboard of her car. It was only midnight. Simone didn’t protest. After Rachel dropped Simone off at her house, she went straight to her room, and changed into her pajamas. She stumbled and banged her head on the bedpost. She held onto it to keep herself from falling down, but it was no use and she fell down anyway.
There was a knock at her door. She didn’t respond. The door opened slightly and Zac peered in.
“I heard a crash, are you -- oh my gosh, Simone, are you okay?” he asked her. She looked up at him.
“Taylor, I fell down.” She said, thinking Zac was Taylor.
“Sim, I’m not Taylor. I’m Zac.” Zac said.
Simone squinted her eyes. “Oh yeah. So you are.” She said, then tried to get back up. She fell again, falling towards Zac. He reached out to catch her. Her arms wrapped around his neck, and he positioned his hands around her waist to steady her.
“I think we should get you into bed.” Zac said, then adjusted his hands and lifted her up, carrying her over to the bed. He gingerly laid her down, and turned down the covers, getting ready to cover her up.
“Where is Taylor?” she asked him, looking up into his eyes.
“He’s still out with Jake.” Zac said. “I don’t know what time he’s going to get home.”
“Oh, okay.” Simone said, still looking in his eyes. He was looking into her eyes, too. For at least a minute, they just looked into each other’s eyes. Finally, Zac broke the stare, shifted his weight and started to get up. Simone stopped him by placing her hand over his. He did indeed stop, and their eyes locked again.
“Zac, I, um, I mean, I’ve been thinking about you lately.” Simone said. The alcohol was still in control and under normal circumstances, she would not have been doing this.
“What do you mean?” Zac asked even though he knew what she meant. Especially because he has been thinking of Simone a lot lately, too. He never admitted it to anyone because he loved Angela, and because he loved Taylor, and respected Simone.
“I don’t know what I mean. But I have been thinking about you,” Simone said again, “a lot.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know and I have no idea why I just told you, either.” But there must have been a reason, she thought to herself. Drunk or not, there was a reason why she brought that up. Maybe just to see what his reaction would be.
“To be honestly truthful, I have been thinking about you, too.” Zac said. She smiled.
“I want you so badly right now.” She whispered seductively. Zac said nothing in response, but he did make it look like he wanted her, too. Just the look on his face pretty much explained everything.
Then, she leaned up to a sitting position and looked at him more closely. His eyes were so mesmerizing. She loved looking into them. Then, she closed her eyes and waited to feel his lips on hers. It just felt natural. She could feel him getting closer to her, yet she detected him being hesitant.
Finally, Simone was the one that leaned the extra bit forward that made their lips touch. So soft was his kiss. So soft and gentle. So much different than Taylor. Even though it was just a small touch on the lips, Simone could tell that he was a lot different than Taylor. And she wanted to know just how much different he was.
When the first short kiss was over, she allowed for another kiss, and he didn’t back away, or refuse. This time though, Simone let her tongue skim gently over his lips. Excited tingles raced through her entire body. Thrilling kiss after thrilling kiss, Simone wrapped her arms around Zac’s neck, pulling him as close to her as possible.
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The front door opening and closing woke Simone up. Her eyes widened and she sat up quickly, looking over at Zac sleeping beside her. She shook his arm to wake him up. It took her a few seconds to realize what had happened and while Zac was in bed with her, it hit her. All at once, it almost knocked the breath out of her. She slept with Zac; she had cheated on Taylor.
“Zac!” she whispered. “Taylor’s home! You have to get out of here!!” She tugged gently on his arm to help wake him up.
Zac’s eyes shot open at the words “Taylor’s home”. He quickly rolled out of bed, picked up his clothes and ran out, just as Taylor’s footsteps could be heard coming up the steps. He ducked quickly into his room just before Taylor had a chance to see him in the hallway. Simone decided to pretend to be asleep when he came in.
Taylor quietly entered, and Simone could hear him undressing. She felt so bad about what she had done, especially when he crawled in bed beside her, wrapped his arm over her waist and kissed her ear. She felt so bad for what she had done. Thinking about it over and over again, she couldn’t think about if she should tell him or not. “I’ll have to talk about it with Zac,” she determined silently. Simone pretended to just wake up, stretched, and rolled over. She smiled when she saw him.
“How was your night out?” she asked him.
“It was good. It was great to see Jake again.” Taylor said.
“That’s good.” Simone said. Then she yawned. “Kiss me, I’ll see you in the morning.”
Taylor kissed her quickly on the lips and let her roll back over to let her sleep. He was kind of disappointed because she normally cuddled, laying her head on his chest while they slept, and he held her. Why not tonight, he wondered.
“Can I hold you?” he asked her. That’s when she realized that she wasn’t cuddling like she usually did. Aww, she thought, he must like cuddling.
“Actually, I have to go to the bathroom first. I’ll be right back.” She said, getting up out of bed and she slipped out into the hallway. She was now thankful that the bathroom was in the same direction as Zac’s room. She opened his door without even knocking. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, as though he was waiting for her to come.
“Look, about what happened earlier …” Zac started.
“Shhh.” Simone said. She walked closer to him so she could see into his eyes. “I don’t think we should say anything about it to Taylor.” Zac nodded in agreement. “I was drunk, and it just happened.”
“But I wasn’t. I shouldn’t have let it happen, though.” Zac protested.
Simone couldn’t help herself. He was so sweet and gentle, in so many ways. She put her hands around his jaw and kissed him. She could hear his breathing get a little faster and he put his hands around her waist and pulled her closer. It was all so exciting, partly because there was such a risk of getting caught. That made it all the more stimulating and spine-tingling.
“Stay with me tonight.” Zac requested. It was tempting. Oh-so tempting. Then, the engagement ring around Simone’s ring finger caught some light and it glistened in the darkness, reminding Simone of how wrong everything was that she was doing. Then her conscious told her that sometimes, people end up doing the wrong things.
“I can’t. I belong to Taylor.” She held up her hand. Zac nodded. He understood how much he meant to her and what she meant to him.
“This will never happen again, I promise.” Zac swore.
“But what if I want it to happen again?” Simone asked. Zac smiled shamelessly. She knew that he wanted it again, and the really bad part is that she wanted it to happen again, too. “So do us both a favor and don’t make promises you can’t keep, okay?”
“That’s a deal.” Zac said. Then he kissed her quickly before she left his room.
Simone quickly tiptoed back to her room and slipped into the bed with Taylor. She remembered to cuddle up against him, laid her head on his chest, letting him wrap his arms securely around her, falling fast into a deep sleep. However, it wasn’t Taylor that was in her dream; it was Zac.