| "Hey, bud,"
Craig said. "How’s married life treating ya? Here’s the camera."
"Thanks," I said, as I took the bag with our digital camera in it. "Come on in." "Where’s Lily?" Craig asked. We heard the sound of running water. "In the bathroom," I deduced. "Let’s take the bags out to the car." We put the suitcases in Craig’s trunk. "So, how is everybody?" I asked, as we headed back inside. "They’re still talking about the party, and gossiping about you both." He laughed, "you should hear some of the stories! But mostly, they talk about the ceremony. The general consensus is, that it was the most moving wedding they’ve ever been to," Craig reported. "Definitely," I agreed. We got inside, and Lily joined us. She was makeupless again. "Hi, Craig!" She said, and went up to hug him. "Hi there, Lily," Craig said back. After Lily was finished hugging Craig, she came over and put her arm around my waist. "Well, look at the two of you!" He exclaimed. I looked down at Lily, and smiled at her. "Was it worth the wait?" "Yes," said Lily and I, simultaneously. I thought he meant, 'Rick, was it worth having to wait, to marry Lily?' But, I looked up, to see that Craig had been asking Lily. I didn’t like that he was teasing Lily about her former extended virginity. He should be more sensitive. Lily’s been mistreated enough, in her life. I was about to say something to him, to that effect. But, Lily spoke first. "Craig, love is worth whatever it takes." Lily turned her head and looked in my eyes, and continued with, "If it takes years, wait for it. And, don’t lose hope. Love will find you." She smiled at me, and said, "Rick was worth waiting for. I never gave up on him." She looked back at Craig to say, "And, Love never gave up on me." I am sure Craig had no clue what Lily was talking about. You can’t really explain love, you just have to experience it. Craig hasn’t, even though he thought he had, a couple times. And, I knew that Lily was really telling me, not Craig, that the seven-year-ache of unrequited love she suffered, was all worth it. I am so glad she didn’t just blow me off, back then. What a miserable life I would having, if she had. Lily said she had felt hopeless. But, I think she did have hope, because she never gave up on me. Oh, how I wish we were alone again! If only just to tell her thank you. Alas, poor Craig. Because, he didn’t know love, like I did. And because, I was wishing he wasn’t in the room, with Lily and me, and I was supposed to be his best friend! "So, you’re not sorry you waited, huh?" Craig asked Lily. "Craig…" I scolded him. Alas, poor Craig was never going to get his own beloved, if he continued being this insensitive. Lily had taken him a different way, but he was pressing it. "My God, no!" Lily answered, "Of course, I’m not. What do you mean?" "We should get going," I interjected, hoping to end this line of questioning. "Craig, you want to get the wedding clothes? I’ll get the garbage." I looked at Lily, to see what she would do, now. "I’ll get the camera," Lily chimed in, and went to put her coat on. She put the hood up, to protect her damp hair from the wind. I got the compost bucket from the kitchen. I grabbed my coat with my other hand, and we all walked out the front door, to the car, bearing our various burdens. Craig hung the clothes on a hook inside the car. I walked over to the composter, donning my coat on the way, and dumped the scraps inside, then re-latched the lid. Lily and Craig were waiting for me, but I had to go back inside, to rinse out the bucket, and then lock the door. As I past them, Lily said, "oh! I remembered one more thing I need!" "What is it? I’ll get it." I told her. "I’ve got to get it. Let’s go inside." She took my arm, and we walked toward the porch, as she called back, "see ya in a minute, Craig." We got inside, and Lily shut the door behind us, rather loudly. It made me turn around. She took the bucket from my hand, and set it on the floor. Then, Lily jumped into my arms, and started kissing me and kissing me. When she was done, she said, "I love you. I just needed one more moment, alone with you." "Me, too." I kissed her, hard. I held her, with her feet not touching the floor, and told her, "because, I wanted to say thank you, for… just everything. You are better than a dream come true." I laughed, and said, "I feel another song coming on, my muse! I think the next CD will be all love songs. Thanks for hanging in there, and waiting, just for me." "No problem, my love," Lily assured me. "Oh! How I want you." I almost growled it. "I want you, too," she growled back, then grinned. "Come, I want to show you something." I put her down, and picked the bucket back up. We stopped in the kitchen, and I gave the bucket a rinse. Then we stopped at the bedroom door. "What did you want to show me?" I asked. "Just look," Lily said. We looked, in silence, at our bedroom for a moment, then we both reached out to close the bedroom door. As we did, we looked at each other, both knowing that we wanted to keep those incredible vibes inside, until we got back. But, if they had faded by then, we would christen the room anew, and generate more. Lily let out a sigh, and said, "let’s go." I turned out the lights, and locked the front door behind us. We walked to the car. Lily and I were both grinning like fools. When Craig saw our expressions, he said, "well, that was… quick." I rolled my eyes. I wondered if Lily was naive enough, that Craig’s comments were going over her head. I hoped she was, actually. She never gave any indication of understanding… And, I sure wasn’t getting a kick out of this kind of talk, anymore. Especially when it was about my wife. "Everybody in the car!" Craig commanded. "You two in back. I’ll be chauffeur, today," Craig informed us. Lily got in first. She shared her side with the wedding clothes hanging there. The over-protective instinct I was experiencing, seemed to have developed literally overnight. When I introduced Lily to my family and friends, her kind and gracious nature, her sincerity I guess, somehow turned them into much more civilized people, when she was around. So, she was able to keep insensitivity at bay pretty well, herself. I have to admit that Craig’s behavior is more civilized, than it has been. I really can’t complain… He’s the nicest guy I know! But, I think he figures he can still get away with using innuendo, like that, in front of Lily. He’s probably telling himself that she won’t get it, or won’t say anything. Who knows?! Maybe, he’s just a blockhead. Lily seemed to tolerate the way Craig was acting, perfectly fine. If I get uptight over the way Craig interacts with Lily, what’s going to happen when less friendly people come around? And, why did I feel like protecting her so much more after the wedding, than I did when we were only engaged? From every tiny thing? …But, if Lily really had been trained to keep quiet, in the past, she may have been offended, but was just keeping her reaction to herself. In which case, I would have to try to protect her… And, even if they were going over her head, that’s still no reason for Craig to do that. It’s not worth the risk, of letting him do something that might hurt her. Yep. I decided that I would have to stay on my toes, in order to be ready to protect Lily, but at the same time, not offend Craig, during the 20 minute ride to the airport. …Then again, maybe I was just overreacting to the whole thing. I paused, and wondered what Lily would think, if she knew what I had been thinking about all this. She’d probably be concerned that wasn’t relaxed, happy and enjoying myself. I’d just have to let it go, and relax. There was nothing I could do about it, now. At least until Craig tried it the next time. Lily and Craig had been talking about the previous day’s events, as Lily re-applied her makeup. Non-stage, everyday makeup, is kind of a ridiculous idea. She’s right. Craig asked, "Lily, you’re an old-fashioned, traditional girl, aren’t you?" Oh, great. He was at it again. "Some think so, yes," Lily replied. "I heard it was traditional for the bride to marry the best man, if the groom doesn’t show. So, would you really have married me, if I had had Rick kidnapped?" Craig was being so cheeky. Can’t he think of anything, but sex? Lily laughed and laughed. She reached forward, to pat his shoulder. "‘Fraid not, Craig! Tradition is not my master." Then, she sat back and looked at me, and said, "for me, it’s Rick or nobody. I had no Plan B." After a pause, she said, "besides, then you would have missed the opportunity to marry your Ms. Right, in the future." Hearing Lily say that it was me or nobody, elated me. The stakes seemed so high for her. If I had never met Lily, I would have gone on with my usual pattern of consecutive relationships, probably. Maybe even marrying one, one day. Like Hugh Hefner did, eventually. Blech. I didn’t care to think of that prospect… But, Lily would never have had anyone, ever. All or nothing. Lily had risked everything for me. What if we had never met? The fact that we did, had to be a miracle. I took Lily’s hand and kissed it, in gratitude. As I looked at her, and she looked into my soul again, I still wondered if I could convey love to her, like she did to me. Do I give her that look, back? "I love you," I mouthed. If Craig had replied to Lily, I didn’t notice. I don’t think she did, either. Lily sure has a way of calming me down. And stirring me up, too. I kept hold of her hand. Craig got our attention again, when he said, "Oh yeah, and everyone wants me to wish you a wonderful honeymoon. May you have a wonderful honeymoon." "Thanks," I said. "Tell them thanks." "And, bring me back some chopsticks, or something," Craig concluded. Lily giggled. "Of course!" She assured him. "We’re here," Craig announced. The small airport, where the Gulfstream GIII I had hired was waiting, came into our view. Craig looked at the clock, "and right on time, too." "Yep, everything is going swimmingly." Lily agreed. We pulled up on the tarmac. Craig popped the trunk, and they got the luggage stored away. I helped Lily up the ladder, into the jet. I didn’t want her to stay outside too long, with her hair still not quite dry. But, a few seconds later, she peeked out the door, holding our camera and called, "Craig, take a picture of us!" Then she ducked out of the way, for a second, to let the flight crew back in. I climbed halfway up, took the camera and handed it down to Craig. He stood back and took a couple shots. He handed it back to me and said, "Have a rollicking good time! Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!" "Thanks, Craig!" Lily answered. I handed her the camera and said, "Lily, find a seat, love, I’m gonna talk to Craig for a minute." "Alright," she assented. "What’s your problem, Craig?" I demanded. "Problem? What are you talking about?" He wanted to know. I quoted him, "was ‘it’ worth the wait, Lily? That was quick. Would you have married me, Lily? A rollicking good time? Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do?" He still looked so innocent. "What was the deal with that? All that innuendo. I can read between the lines. Why would you want to offend Lily, by talking about practically nothing but sex?" "What? Lily was not offended. She’s my friend, isn’t she? And, it wasn’t all about sex," Craig said to defend himself. "Ah ha! You admit it, then." I was right! "Friends can talk about sex, can’t they? And I did put it in terms, where she could have taken it another way, if she wanted. And she did. Now, I know she isn’t the type to kiss and tell. You should be happy about that! Besides, it’s not like I want to do it with her…" He looked at me, in realization. "you’re jealous, aren’t you? Of what, man?" He shook his head at me, "I think you are the one who’s obsessed with sex, not me. You’re projecting, Rick! The question is, why are you obsessing over sex? You did get some didn’t you?" I gave him a look, that told him that was a stupid question. Boy, did I, I thought. "If you did, what was so great about it, that you’ve gotten so fixated?" He chuckled, and looked at the plane. "Way to go, Lily! And a first-timer, too. I can’t believe what a lucky man you are." I had told him way too much, even with that one look. There I was, upset with him for implying things in front of Lily, and I was letting Craig talk about it, behind her back. He had a point, of course. I still wanted Lily as much as I did, back in the bathroom, before. And, I was really tempted to actually tell him what was so great about it. I could have waxed eloquent, but the plane had to leave, and I couldn’t be that disloyal to Lily, anyway. I could have told him that, it was the love that made the sex live, and what made it fly, was the fact that we didn’t hold any of ourselves in reserve, in order to try to protect our hearts, just in case they got broken. We risked everything! And we put our everything into it. Lily vowed that she give me her whole self, and hold nothing back, and I must have done that, too! We give it all we have, and boy, what we get out of it! I didn’t tell Craig this, but I looked down and grinned really big, as I remembered being with Lily. I couldn’t help it. I gave him a quick hug, goodbye. "Kiss Lily for me!" He said, "you know what I mean!" I rolled my eyes again, but I was smiling this time. "See ya!" I went inside, and they closed the door of the jet. That whole exchange with Craig, certainly didn’t help quench my desire to be with my wife! It made me think about it, even more. And, it was an unbelievable thing, we had. It was unbelievable thing, to watch Lily lose her virginity. She was practically in shock! During most of it, she watched my face, and I watched hers. I wish I could have seen better, than that one candle permitted. She was reacting so strongly, but she could barely express it, aloud. And she could not speak words, at all. I asked her if she was O.K., because of that shocked look she had. She couldn’t tell me, one way or the other. I decided that I would ask her about that. She said 'wow' about our third time. So, she was able to express something, at that point. I saw that, out of 10 seats to choose from, Lily had chosen the one in the very back. Near the engines, but away from the flight crew. It had another seat facing it, so I sat in that. It wasn’t until after we had finished ascending, and had eaten our lunch, that I felt free to talk to Lily about things personal. |
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"Love
Among The Ruins" by Sir
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