Sweetness (14 page)

At noon Dominic
and I go back to my room to freshen
up before I have to drop him off at his hotel. Dominic
asks to use my computer while I am in the shower and I
log him on without hesitation. When I walk out of my
closet fresh from my shower I hear his song-my song-
playing through the sound system in my room.

“Whatcha’ doing?”
“Downloading your song into your computer, so
you can listen to it whenever you want. And loading my
info so you can email, text, call, Skype, and FaceTime
me.” Dominic smiles brightly from behind the screen. I
walk over to the desk and slip onto his lap enjoying the
way I fit perfectly around him.
“I am going to miss you like crazy. If I didn’t
believe in love at first sight before, I just might, now. I
don’t know if I love you Emma, but I feel actual pain
because I have to go away. I don’t want to leave you.”
Dominic admits, hugging me tightly causing my heart to
flutter and my heart to skip a beat at his confession.
I feel the same intensity. I have never loved a man
before so don’t know if that’s what it is. Love and being
loved are not feelings I am familiar with. Sex I get. Sex is
a tool I used to feel any real connection with a man. I
never felt anything but lust with anyone I have ever slept
with before, so I definitely find myself in uncharted
waters.
“Dom, I don’t want you to leave either. I’ll miss
you. It’s not fair. I feel like we’ve been cheated. Now that
we found each other again, you have to leave.” I rest my
head on his shoulder, needing have every inch of me
touching every part of him. “I’ll think of you every time
I come in this room, every time I walk through central
park, and especially when I listen to your song.”
“
Your
song, its yours. And, I feel cheated, too.”
He pulls my chin up and kisses me tenderly on the lips.
I try and get ready while he gropes me and we
play a good old fashion game of grab ass. The closer we
get to leaving, the less jovial I feel. I am not sure if it my
heavy heart or if it is the humidity getting thicker as
summer progresses but once we exit the building I find it
hard to breath. Once we pull out of the garage and into
the busy city street I can feel Dominic staring at me;
when I glance over he smiles. I am going to miss that
smile. Those dimples. Those eyes.
“Nice car.” Dominic says and he runs his hands
down the black leather seats.
“Thanks. Graduation present from my father. I
don’t know that I will use it much. I am going to let my
brother, Mark, take it back to Brooklyn with him.
Besides, my father has a driver and a fleet of cars at his
disposal so I don’t see a need for my own car unless I’m
going out of the city. “
“Humm. You get along with your brother, Mark?”
“Yes, he and I are very close.”
“Do Glen and Mark get along?” I don’t want to
talk about Glen, but I am sure this is all very confusing to
him.
“Yes, I guess so. Glen and Holly left Mark alone. It
was me who they hated.”
“Why do they hate you?” That is a loaded
question.
“I guess because they hate my mother and I was
her daughter….I don’t know. I know they blamed my
mother for their mother taking her own life.”
“Wait…I thought it was an accident? Glen told me
it was an accident. She put the car it drive instead of
reverse and went over the cliff. ”
“It was ruled an accident, but the car that she was
driving was Paul’s car. Glens father, Paul. I overheard
Paul and my mother the day of the funeral saying that
she was talking crazy a few weeks before she died.
Saying she was going to kill herself if Paul didn’t come
back home. I think Glen overheard the conversation, too
because he wasn’t far from where I was standing.”
“Wow. That’s fucked up. I meant what I said Emma. If he
gives you a hard time, you call me. I know Max looks
after you but that was before.” I don’t take my eyes off
the road but I can feel him staring at the side of my face. I
chance a glimpse over at him. He seems to be searching
for the right word.
“Before what?”
“Before you and me,” He says after a long pause
as he grabs my hand and kisses my palm. I smile like a
teenage girl who just got told her crush like, liked her.
As we approach the hotel the city traffic gets
denser. There is a small crowd being held by a security
guard in a black satin jacket. In front of the hotel there is
a big black tour bus with ‘Lost’ written in red letters
across each side. Dominic whistles through his teeth as
we approach the curb for the valet to take the car away.
A small group of girls yell out his name as we exit the
car. Dominic gives them all a small wave as he grabs my
hand and pulls me inside to take a look.
The interior has hardwood floors running the
entire length of the bus. It has a small kitchen complete
with eating area, a flat screen TV hanging on the wall
behind where the driver sits and two black couches on
either side of the walkway that leads to the back of the
bus.
Under the TV, I see a video game console, DVD
player, and from what I can tell, there are enough movies
on the bookshelf to keep them occupied on their journey.
We walk toward the back of the bus and see 2 sets
of bunk beds built into the left wall. We know there is no
one on the bus yet but the privacy curtains are closed so
we peek inside to see where he will be sleeping. The beds
are barely roomy enough for one person.
On the other side of the hall is a bathroom, a built
in closet and another TV hidden behind a door. In the
back of the bus there is a bedroom with a full size bed,
built in dressers, a small closet, and another TV with
DVD player.
“I better claim this room before anyone else does,”
He says to me as we look around.
“Yeah.”
“Ya’ know what…” Dominic grabs me from
behind and pulls me onto the bed after he closes the door
and locks it. “What better way to claim the room then to
christen the bed. We don’t have much time though. They
will be looking for me soon.”
I pull off my shorts, blue cotton shirt, and kick out
of my shoes. Dominic yanks down his pants and pulls off
his shirt before joining me on the bed. Sliding his hands
up my thighs and testing me for readiness he sinks two
fingers deep inside my melting core.
“You are soaking.” Was the last thing I heard
before he replaced his fingers for his rock hard cock.
With one fluid motion he is inside me, hard and fast. It is
not the most romantic send off, but it serves its purpose.
The sound of the city busting around us mixed with the
excitement of getting caught we both get exactly what we
needed from each other in only a few minutes.
Unwilling to let me out from underneath him,
Dominic lays his hard body on top of mine, pressing me
into the mattress while I lightly drag my nails up and
down his back. Hearing the door open up front, he
springs up from the bed. I quickly grab my clothes from
the floor and get dressed lighting fast.
“Now every time I walk into this room, I’ll see
you. Oh, that reminds me…you’ll need a new bottle of
perfume.” He pulls my perfume bottle from the front
pocket of his jeans and places it on the dresser. When he
pulls his jeans up his legs I see red material hanging out
from his back pocket. I pull on the material before he can
spin around to stop me. When he sees what I have found
in his pocket, he looks shy.
“You stole my underwear too? Anything else in
your pockets, baby?” I am pleased that he took these
things to remind him of me, but the underwear thing is
weird. I really should be creeped out, but oddly enough
I’m not. I actually think its kind of endearing.
“Not today, but don’t look for your white panties
from the other night. I have them too.” My jaw drops
open, in shock. “Don’t look at me like that. If I managed
to get the ones you are wearing off the floor before you
put them back on, you would be missing those too.”
“Lets go pervert,” I mock scold him as I grab his
hand, pulling him out of the bedroom toward the front of
the bus. He stops before we exit and turns me back
around to place a soft kiss on my lips. He then takes a
deep breath into my hair while holding me tight one last
time.

“Lets go man, we gotta’ get on the road.”
Dominic’s
drummer Rocco says when we exit the hotel nearly two
hours later. Dominic and I stand on the curb outside the
bus trying to make each moment last; taking a mental
photograph of this moment to remember in our dreams.
I’m holding on to him for dear life as tears began to
stream out of my eyes and drip onto his shoulder. I see
Gabe out of the corner of my eye walking out of the hotel
with a brown box in his hand, but I pay him no mind. I
know I have to let him go, I just didn’t think it would be
this hard.

“I gotta’ go, Sweetness. “ He pulls away to see my
tear streaked face and immediately frowns. “Hey baby,
please don’t cry. I can’t get on that bus if you’re crying.
Please Emma, I will see you soon. I promise. I will find a
way to see you soon.”

“OK. I’m ok. I’ll be fine. You go,” I choke back the
tears and wipe my face with the back of my hands. I can’t
hold him here, and I don’t want him to worry about me,
but it hurts knowing I won’t see him for a long time.

“You sure?” he asks searching my face for an
answer. I give him a silent nod.
“I’m sure. Go.” I knew I wouldn’t like watching
him leave but I didn’t anticipate it being this hard.
Why is it so hard? I barely know him. This is
crazy. I don’t act like this. Rational people don’t cry in
the street when I guy they barely know leaves. But
Dominic Ross isn’t just some guy. I know this doesn’t
make sense but I feel as though I have known him
forever. Like time never parted us.
“Call me later ok. If there is anything you need or
if you just need to talk, you call me.”
I give him another nod still unable to speak.
“I hate seeing you like this but I have to go,
Emma. If I don’t get on that bus now, I will never leave.”
He kisses my lips and hugs me tight one last time before
releasing me.
As he steps onto the bus he looks back one last
time before the door close. I think I even see a tear in his
eye before he slips his shades onto his face. I watch his
shadow, through smoky glass, walk through the bus and
disappear into the back. The bus pulls into city traffic and
I don’t take my eyes off of it until it’s out of site. Once I
can’t see it anymore I allow the tears to flow down my
cheeks. My heart feels like someone ripped it out of my
body and threw it in traffic to be trampled over.
I feel an arm around my shoulder and look up to
see Gabe standing next to me; very much out of his
element from the look on his face. Doubt he deals will
emotional woman on daily basis, especially employees. I
try in to compose myself by wiping away the tears, but I
can’t stop them from leaking out of my eyes.
“It’s ok, Emma.” Gabe pulls me into his chest in an
attempt to comfort me. I melt against him and breath in
his scent of clean laundry and woodsy cologne.
Something about his embrace settles me. Once I gain my
composure and realize I am crying on my boss’s
shoulder, I pull away.
How embarrassing.
“I am sorry, Mr. Hernandez. I didn’t mean to.” I
wipe my tears away, trying in vein to not look like a total
mess. After his speech last night about being
professional, I show my ass and cry on his shoulder.
Embarrassing indeed.
“I am sorry. It is very unprofessional of me to act
like this.”
He bends over to pick up the brown box that he
must have placed on the ground. “No worries. We’ve all
been there before. This is for you. Dominic asked me to
give it to you once he was gone.” I take the box from his
hand and hold it tight to my chest. Knowing he thought
enough about me to leave something behind makes the
lump in my throat grow bigger by the second.
“Thanks.” I sniff in an unladylike manner.
Gabe nods in response. “Did you drive your car
here?”
I nod viciously, unable to speak without all of my
emotions spilling out onto the city street. .
“I thought so. I don’t think you should drive while
you are this upset. Can I drive you back? We could get
some lunch first or something. I would like to talk to you
and perhaps get off on a better foot before Monday.” He
rambles. He is no longer the asshole he was last night. He
is more friendly and a whole lot less intimidating.
I don’t feel like eating but I don’t want to drive
either so I silently agree by handing Gabe the valet ticket.
He flags down a young man in a red vest to fetch the car.
When the car pulls up Gabe opens the passenger side
door and I climb in, holding my box for dear life. I’m not
at all interested in anything at that moment, except
seeing what is inside. I fiddle with the flaps that keep it
closed and a note slips out onto my lap.

Sweetness-
Since I stole some things that remind me of you,
I think its only fair that you have some things that
remind
you of me. I will think about you every minute of every
day.
xoxo-Dom

Inside the box I find a yellow rose, a bottle of
cologne, his nipple rings, a new Lost, t-shirt, and the shirt
Dominic wore at his show last night. A huge smile splits
my face in two. I am not typically a sentimental person,
never was. I didn’t keep movie ticket stubs or prom
corsages as mementos. No, I am not that girl. But I will
treasure everything in this box. Each item in this box is a
memory of him, of us.

When Gabe honks the horn at a yellow cab I am
reminded I‘m not alone. This is a private box, full of
personal memories I don’t want to share with the outside
world. I close it up tight and drop it on the seat behind
me. When I turn to view the road, I take a deep cleansing
breath to rid myself of my melancholy mood.

“Anywhere in particular you would like to go for
lunch,” Gabe inquires, breaking the silence that has
engulfed us.

“I don’t care. Any place outside is fine. I don’t
want to be inside right now.” I pull down the visor and
try to make myself look somewhat presentable. Fat
chance with these red rimmed eyes and flushed cheeks.
Sunglasses are the best I can do at this point.