Imagining what might’ve been – Write Naked Part 4

Next installment of my NaNoWriMo 🙂

Part 1                      Part 2                      Part 3

“Damn, kept you up most of the night, after you got me drunk, had us a good meal and now a nice little beach walk to start, or finish the day, however we see fit,” she was smiling. “When’s the last time you had a weekend like this?” she asked.

“Darlin’, I’ve never had a weekend like this,” he mocked her.

“Whatever, smart ass,” she responded.

“Uh, I was being serious,” he shot back.

She ran towards the ocean tide and as soon as her feet got wet, she kicked the tide towards him, attempting to get him wet, laughing as loud as she could. God, he loved to hear her laugh. She kept trying to splash him, until finally he walked over to her and picked her up and carried her three feet back in. Upon letting her down, she asked, “Was that necessary, Travis?” still laughing.

“I’m afraid so, not sure what to expect from you, young lady!” he laughed at her back.

“It’s beautiful here, huh,” she asked him.

“Yes, it is, Lyla, very much so.”

They continued to walk on for about twenty minutes, not really saying much, just feeling each other’s presence, before turning around to head back to the car. As they got closer, she asked him, “I’m really tired – need a few hours of sleep. That okay with you?”

“Sure, baby. What you got in mind?” he asked back.

“I’ve got a little money stashed for this little trip, so I’d like us to get a room – that way we have some air-conditioning. I’m too damn old to be sleeping on the beach or in my car anymore,” she said. “That work for you?” she asked.

“Lyla, I am fine with us getting a room on two conditions,” he teased. “Number One – you have to let me pay. And Number Two – you have to promise to take advantage of me.” He was laughing at her now.

She looked at him and smiled that damn soul-melting smile of hers and started to giggle. “You, my friend, are a mess, and I’m not sure I can live with your conditions.”

“Take it or leave it,” he said. Though he was laughing, he meant it, and she could tell.

“I didn’t invite you so you could pay for stuff,” she continued, “I invited you because we have fun together.”

“I’m aware of that, Lyla. I’m offering and quite frankly, if truth be told Lyla Rochelle, I am expecting you to let me pay if I want to.”

“Ooooh, the middle name – am I being naughty?” she laughed even harder, teasing him. He smiled so hard at that, he couldn’t help but start cracking up and shaking his head. He put his arm around her shoulders and hugged her. “Not arguing with ya, sure, whatever,” she said, as she really was tired and starting to get very sleepy.

“You got a place in mind,” he asked her.

“Yep – Holiday Inn, not too far from here, I believe.” She led the way to the car.

“And by the way, woman, I like when you say naughty,” he said huskily. She looked over her shoulder at him, and gave him a playful glare.

They checked into the Holiday Inn, under his name and he paid. Though she tried to pay for the room, he insisted and presented his credit card to the clerk. They had a cooler, and a bag of snacks, as well as one small bag she brought to bring up to the room. She immediately pulled the bedspread and blanket down to the foot of one of the beds, and laid on the cool sheets. She was so sleepy. “Trav, thanks for getting the room. I told you I would, but that was so sweet of you to insist,” she murmured. “There might be a couple toothbrushes and some toothpaste in my little bag, not sure what else, maybe some ibuprofen. Look in there and see if you want. I’m so tired,” she yawned. “Travis?” she waited for him to respond.

“What Lyla?” he replied back.

“Thanks for coming . . .,” she whispered.

“Sure baby,” he said softly as he leaned down and kissed the top of her head. “Getcha a few hours.”

She fell asleep quickly, since she had been up all night. He sat there and watched her sleep thinking about all the things he had missed over the years because he let her go, didn’t tell her, didn’t fight for her. He imagined what kind of life they might’ve had, the children they might’ve had, the love they might’ve had. He had been married four times, and none of them lasted. His longest relationship was twelve years. His past relationships, though he had many many happy memories from them all, had all ended badly.

The women cheated on him, lied to him, deceived him – betrayed him. But for some reason, he felt had he married her, she wouldn’t have done these things. He truly believed, while certainly not perfect, she would’ve honored their wedding vows. She told him she had never cheated on her husband, and he believed her – had no doubts to her honesty. He knew he could be wrong about her. He had been wrong about others before, but he just didn’t think so. And he knew there was a reason why she had always been the one that gnawed at the back of his mind.

He hadn’t slept much either, and all this deep thinking was making him tired. He lay on the other bed, facing her at first, then turned on his back. He closed his eyes and began to think about the past. When he first met her at the restaurant his cousin worked at and how beautiful he thought she was then. He felt affected by her from the start. He thought about all the drugs they used to do together as teenagers, but he knew that wasn’t the draw – just the times. He thought about the night he painted her toenails. The smile crept across his face slowly as he thought about that, and that was his last thought as he fell asleep.

*                                                 *                                               *                                                  *                                            *                                             *

She knew the tattoo shop opened at 4:00. The room they had gotten was about fifteen minutes from the shop. She was nervous, yet excited at the thought of doing something she had so wanted to do decades ago, but never did. That goldfish, she laughed to herself. She had resigned herself to the fact that she would never get a tattoo. She didn’t have anything specific in mind, and hoped the artist could draw her something she liked, or she might not get one. As usual, fence sitting . . .

She sat and drew a few things out, and considering she was not an artist by any means, the sketches of what she had in mind looked pretty good, something the tattoo artist might be able to work with. She still had no idea where she wanted to get this tattoo permanently placed on her body. She thought about her shoulder, but then she wouldn’t be able to see it. She wasn’t getting this for others, she wanted it for herself, and wanted to be able to easily see it, as well as maybe cover it up, if she so desired. She would talk to the artist about that, too, she supposed.

She looked over at Travis sleeping. He looked handsome lying there looking so vulnerable somehow. She loved his thick head of silvering hair. He looked so long on that bed – he was tall, much taller than her. She remembered when she first met him. In reality, they were both still so innocent in their youth – something they would not realize until many years later.

She thought about all the things he had told her about his past, his women, his life. Though her life had been far from perfect, and Travis had been to many exciting places and had some great memories, she knew he was missing having a family, kids that he knew, grandkids that he was involved with. The same things so many of us want in our lives. She hated that his life had turned out that way. He had always been kind to her, and she had always wanted only the best things for him. She cared deeply for him, always had. She had looked for him for years off and on, when she finally found him a little over a decade ago.

Sometimes she wouldn’t hear from him for a while and the number she had for him didn’t work. But sooner or later, he would always contact her again and she was always glad when he did. They had had an abundance of conversations over the years. They were kindred spirits in many ways, but when she met her husband, she had stopped thinking of Travis in a boyfriend kind of way. He hadn’t been calling her much during that time either, come to find out besides his mom being sick, he had been seeing some other girl and had gotten her pregnant. Lyla didn’t know about this until they had reconnected. When she realized the son he never knew was conceived when they were dating, she had to admit, it tarnished his shine just a tad. She wondered, but had no real idea that he was cheating on her. She wasn’t angry, as she wasn’t ready to have sex with him, so she understood him wanting to get it from somewhere – they were horny teenagers after all – but in light of some of the things he had shared with her, it was surprising he would do that. It just seems like he would’ve tried harder. Lyla did not understand guys sometimes.

Sitting here, knowing what she knew, and her marital situation being what it was, she wondered what it might’ve been like if her and Travis had dated longer and fell in real love, marriage type of love. What might it have been like to be Travis’ wife? She knew he adored her, as that had always been clear. He seemed to be a good provider, always having good jobs. Would he have been faithful to her? She wondered. He wasn’t when they dated, though they were only teenagers at the time and everything was so new and unknown. Is he the kind of man who could be happy with just one woman, knowing she was happy with and faithful to him. It didn’t seem like he had too many relationships like that. She wasn’t sure, as she watched his chest move slightly as he slumbered. She did know that he was good to her, kind, considerate, and caring. She enjoyed conversation with him, it was easy as hell for them to be flirtatious – and they both were occasionally, but never anything out of line, never anything that could be taken out of context. Well, not really.

He was starting to rouse; she nudged him a little, “Hey you ‘bout ready to start the next stage in our adventure,” she smiled at him. He opened and closed his eyes a few times, registering what he was seeing upon waking. He hadn’t been dreaming. She was here. He was with her. ‘Look at that smile, those eyes,’ he thought to himself, ‘and to think I might’ve woke up to this beautiful soul-pleasing sight every day of my life, had I been smarter, had I been braver, had I handled things differently.’ He smiled back at her, “Hey gorgeous,” he half whispered, “I am.”

[Part 5 – You Want To Make A Memory]