You Want To Make A Memory – Write Naked Part 5

Another segment in my novel I started working on for NaNoWriMo. It has not been edited in any form yet, just free writing. If you want to know some back story, links are provided for previous sections. [NOTE: I had changed James’ name to Travis for the novel, but I didn’t like it, so changed it back to James – SO JAMES is Travis (parts 1-4) and if I post anymore excerpts, it is James, as he has always been in my mind. Sorry for the confusion – posted it then realized.] I have written several posts on here about Lyla, as she has been in my head for many years, since college creative writing classes. Any feedback provided would be great! Oh and if you’re interested, here’s how Lyla and James met. 🙂 

Part 1                      Part 2                      Part 3                       Part 4

After finding a nice fairly secluded spot to stop and smoke a joint, they ended up at a little local seafood place not far from there that had a nice deck outside, with a great view west of the sunset that would be coming soon. She ordered a hurricane – the house specialty. He ordered a vodka tonic, then changed his mind and got a hurricane with her.

Their drinks came, and she took a little sip, “Oh yeah, that’s some good shit, now,” she smiled. Immediately swishing the cherry around in the liquor floating on top, she took the cherry out of her drink and ate it, smiling as she did so.

He laughed at her, taking a drink of his own, and commented “Damn, there’s a tad bit of booze in that.”

“I know. I need a little pain relief,” she responded. “Though I love my new tattoo! You know we have an excellent seat for the sunset, did you notice? And I know we’ll still be here when the sun goes down, making a point of it.”

“Are we now,” he said. “Lyla, you always amuse me, and make me bust a gut often. You definitely got quite a way about you, woman. And yeah, I really like your tattoo.” He looked at her, as she was perusing the menu. “What ‘cha hungry for?”

“Not sure, it all looks good,” she announced, “so many things look yummy. What looks good to you? You want to split a couple things?”

He laughed, “What looks good to me? Lyla quit asking such loaded questions!” he continued to be amused. “Baby, it all looks good to me!” he assured her.

She just shook her head and laughed. They decided to get a couple of seafood gumbos, and split an appetizer platter with grilled shrimp stuffed with cheese and jalapenos, coconut fried shrimp, crab fingers, and some other assorted seafood goodies for them to enjoy with their drinks. After ordering, and handing the waitress their menus, he looked at her. She was gazing out at the ocean and she looked happy, peaceful, even genuinely at ease. He was glad about that. He didn’t have any hang ups about being with her, except that she’s separated, meaning she’s married to some other man. He also knows her heart is still vested in her marriage, though he has noticed she is growing weary fighting for something she is beginning to think may not happen.

She flirts with him a little, but never anything that would cross a line, and actually most of it is pretty innocent, meaning she isn’t even aware she’s doing anything that could be mistaken for the wrong idea. He is fully aware of where her heart is, and it is not with him. At least not all of it. But it’s not all with her husband either, since he decided to leave her. She is also NOT wearing her wedding ring.  Nor was she talking about her husband or their problems.

He had told her once that if she and her husband were ever over and she was free and he was free, then they would definitely have some unfinished business to attend to. She had agreed. But she wasn’t free, at least not yet.

He knew what he wanted – he wanted all of her. He wanted her to want to be with him and only him. He knew this was a tall order and possibly a pipe dream, as this might never happen. They may be destined to be friends forever, or at least as long as he allowed it. Being her friend was quite painful at times, though she was a damn good one. The pain was one of the reasons sometimes he dropped out of contact for months, even a year or so at a time.

He couldn’t ask for a better friend and she seemed to truly believe in him, too – encouraging him to always be the best he can and encouraging him to find someone special to share his life with. That always sucked, because what he really wanted to say is that there is nobody he would rather be with than her. She made it clear that she wanted him to be happy, and wanted him to have a good life – was sorry that life had dealt him the hand it had at times. BUT still, being her friend could be incredibly painful for him. But he was willing to take what she could offer, if it meant having her in his life in some way shape form or fashion. For now, he didn’t care and wondered if he ever would.

She had a cancer scare a year or so back, and he was scared to death. He called to check on her and left her a voice message. He knew his voice cracked during the message, but he didn’t care. It was genuine feeling he was displaying for her the only way he could at the time. (James had no idea Lyla still had the voice message on her phone – she couldn’t bring herself to delete it. She could hear the genuine concern and love in his voice and though she was married, she felt like it was okay to keep a simple innocent voice message from someone who she knew genuinely cared for her.) He couldn’t go visit her, and it didn’t seem appropriate to send anything, so he did what he could. He knew at the time she couldn’t talk, so he waited to hear back from her, and was so glad when she texted him that she did not have cancer. He thanked God with every ounce of his being for that one. He hoped he never lived long enough to have to say a final goodbye to her and then live on with her memory.

The food came and they were ravenous. They laughed and shared different items from the sampler platter, comparing notes on what they liked best and least. They ordered another drink, and agreed the gumbo was some of the best they had ever tasted, and between the two of them they had tasted plenty. They talked and laughed and sang with the music. Jesse had sent her a couple of nasty texts about the latest stick in their spokes causing another impasse. She had decided she was ignoring him tonight. He had hurt and degraded her enough with the way he treated her, the way he thought about her – as if he didn’t really know her.

The music was great, lots of rock, blues, and old stuff. Eric Clapton was one of the owner’s favorites, which worked great for Lyla and James, because they loved Clapton’s music too. The song “Old Love” started to play. He looked right at her and said, “Do you know how many times I have had you in my head? I never hear this song without thinking of you.” She just looked at him, not really knowing what to say all of a sudden. “I hope it doesn’t make you uncomfortable for me to tell you that,” he added.

Lyla thought about it for a moment, “No, you have shared many things with me over the years. I’ve said it before, I am just surprised that I never knew how you felt back then,” she responded.

“Lyla you really have no idea,” he was starting to catch a little buzz, and was wondering if he should finally tell her the part she didn’t know. She looked at him and started singing and swaying to Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s “Suite Judy Blue Eyes” – he loved watching her move, sway, dance, walk, whatever. It turned him on, she had a sexy way of moving her body. Though she seemed to have no idea how sensual she was, she certainly had confidence and a swagger or sway that makes a man want to go down on his knees and beg for mercy.

It amazed him that she didn’t see it. And it wasn’t just idle chit chat, she really didn’t see it, didn’t realize it, or didn’t believe it; he knew this by how she handled herself. He actually loved that about her, found that trait very intoxicating, and genuine. There was so much about her he loved, even though he didn’t know her near as well as he’d like. As an adult, she was very different, while still having the same old-soul qualities and rambunctious rebellious take no shit attitude. She still loved music and they shared other similar tastes in many things. She was smart as hell. She still had that wonderful sense of humor and compassionate spirit. She was definitely adventurous and spontaneous. He was drawn to her sarcasm and black comedic side, as well as her daughter of a sailor’s raunchy language sometimes. She was complicated in all her aspects. God, why did he love her so much, he thought. He didn’t stand a chance.

With Lyla singing to Fleetwood Mac’s  “World Turning,” James asked if she was ready for another drink, she nodded. James motioned to the waitress to bring another round, as Lyla continued to sway and sing. This round was for the sunset. It was coming within the next thirty minutes or so. They were both excited. There’s nothing much more enjoyable than leisurely sitting and watching the sun sink into the ocean at the end of the day. There’s something so cosmic and serene about it.

Their next round came and the sun had already started to sink towards the ocean. The colors were starting to fill the sky, first looking a bit like cotton candy. Then as the sun got lower – the oranges, reds, coppers. It was so stunningly beautiful, they both barely said a word, just basking in this wonderful moment of connectedness with nature, the universe, the world, and each other. They could hear the music, the birds, the wind, and the sun hitting the ocean as it began to dip into its nighttime home. The smell of the ocean and the breeze and the various other scents flitting in here and there was invigorating. They watched as the sun rather quickly made its way down until it gently and gracefully slid into the Gulf of Mexico. And then poof, it was gone. It was almost magical and majestic in a sense.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve watched the sun set, especially over the water. What a sensory experience – that was amazing,” she almost whispered, “a spiritual experience for sure.” “I’m enthralled and maybe speechless – imagine that.”

“Imagine that . . . girl, that was something, damn near religious,” he commented. “I’ve seen a lot of sunsets in a lot of places, but that was almost surreal.” He was thinking that he was not surprised since this was the first sunset they had seen together in decades. “The colors were amazing!”

“Yeah, all my favorites,” she wistfully noted, he could hear her smile.  Now it was dark, except for the decorative lighting and candles on the deck and the continued full moon. Damn she looked good in the moonlight. Lyla was thinking the same thing about James.

[Part 6 – Just Talking]