The Gravity of Love (25 page)

"You're bath is ready. Nice and
hot." Mrs. Redford informed when she found Molly.

Molly looked back in to the washing
machine. "Where's Harrison?" She asked hesitantly.

"Oh, I thought he would have told you.
He said he had an urgent call back home. He left."

Her eyes bulged. "He left? As in, back
to Nevada?" She exclaimed.

She nodded. "He really didn't tell
you? He was in quite a rush when he left. Just changed and washed the paint off
of him, without explaining that part, by the way, and left." The stare
Molly received was pointed Mrs. Redford wanted to know why.

"That's...strange. I don't know why he
did that. I guess I'll go take that bath now though."

Mrs. Redford took the clothes from her and
held them out, looking at the bottom of her shirt. Where there was a large,
green hand print where her hip was. Another at her shoulder. And on her back.

Molly, red as crimson, spun around and ran
towards the bathroom.

_______________________________________________________________________

Laying in bed that night, Molly tried
desperately to fall asleep. But there was no use. Marty confirmed the fact that
Harrison had come home. He had called Joe to pick him and

Jake up at the airport and take him home.
He hadn't told either of them about what had happened. But he had locked
himself in his apartment. So much for the emergency that he had to fly at that
moment.

What had happened? He kissed her. He, not
her. And then he had fled. Why? Obviously there was nothing of purpose that
called him away. And why lock himself in his apartment? Was he angry at himself
for kissing her? Did he think he stooped to a new low? That she wasn't good
enough for the honor of dating him?

Well she had news for him. Despite how good
it was to be kissed like that from him, she still stuck to her earlier promise
she would never date him. Would never let this relationship prosper to more
than friendship. She was thin with friendship. But she still wasn't fine with
the fact that he had left her, utterly confused, to sort this out on her own.

Her anger started to flare up again. Truce
was off.

_______________________________________________________________________

Molly flew home in the morning, New Year's
Eve. Though she had toyed with the idea of staying longer and allowing Harrison
to find her a replacement, she didn't want to be all alone with her mother
anymore. Okay, so that might not be the only reason...

And Marty had called that night to inform
her of a New Year's party. It was black tie, very formal, and a dance, but it
would be loads of fun she promised she'd go. Despite the fact that Joe had
persuaded Harrison to go and Ephram and his again fiancée were on again. In
fact, the party was pretty much thrown in their honor. But it was going to be
fun...

She arrived at the airport late the plane
had been delayed and instead of having three hours to get ready for the party,
she now had a half an hour.

"So, is he seeing anyone yet? I mean,
he's been home for a whole day now." Molly said, clutching the door of the
car and wishing they could go faster.

"No, Molls. He's barely left his
home."

"But why? And why is he going to the
party? Obviously he must have a date he never goes to a party if he don't
have a date."

Marty suddenly went beet red. Not a good
sign.

"Marty? What do you know what I
don't?"

"Um...well...well, just because you go
away doesn't mean life stops here. You guys left us all lonely and..."

"Marty! Just say it!"

She nodded with a gulp. "Okay. Joe and
I are...are dating. And we're going to the party tonight together. So we set up
Harrison to go with you. Honestly, I didn't know what had went on when we made
these plans."

Molly looked out the window with a smile.
Before the last part set in, she was thinking about the first. Marty and Joe
dating. In all this time, she had never even considered the match. Well, that
was interesting.

But oh, wait. Harrison. Taking her. To the
party. That was not good. "Are you sure he doesn't have a real date?"

"You better be talking about Harrison
and yes, I'm sure."

"Well? What did he say when you told
him this?"

She shrugged, gripping the steering wheel
even harder. "I don't know. He seemed...fine."

Molly looked over at her friend. "Now
the truth."

"He was hesitant. But he did
agree."

Molly tapped her fingernails on the arm
rest. She wasn't sure how to take this. So she changed the subject. "It's
raining. That's going to kill the hairdo's."

"Yeah. It's been raining for three
days straight, I swear. The rivers are already overflowing and they're calling
for a flash flood tonight."

"Really? That's some freaky weather
that's going on then. Let's hope it doesn't flood while we're at the party.
We'd have to stay there."

Marty rolled her eyes. "Yes, you being
stuck with Harrison as your partner for longer than the few hours you already
have to be there would be terribly dreadful." She teased.

Molly looked back out the window to watch
the rain. "You did remember to get me a dress, right? I didn't think of
bringing the dress my mother bought me."

"Oh, don't worry. I took care of the
whole thing. You brought your silver heels along, right?"

"I did."

"Then you shall be absolutely drool
worthy for every guy at that dance. Oh, by the way, do you have any idea why
Harrison has specks of green paint in his hair?"

_______________________________________________________________________

When they finally arrived, Molly ran in to
her apartment. Thirty minutes and Harrison would be here.

The door swung open and she saw a dress hanging
from the doorway of the kitchen. No, not just a dress.

It was a fiery red, the whole thing
glistening with glitter. The straps were made of red shiny beads strung
together. And the slit on the right side would go almost up to her hip.

"Marty, Marty...what did you buy
me?"

"A dress that Harrison won't be able
to resist." She said wisely. "Now, go put on a robe and I'll curl
your hair. Hurry, we don't have much time!"

Marty had done her makeup and finished her
hair before picking Molly up at the airport. She stood in holey, worn down
jeans and an oversized shirt, but her face was beautiful.

Her hair had been piled high on her head
with curls cascading down. Marty went to professionals. Molly went to Marty.

Molly ran in to the bathroom and quickly
took off her clothes, then wrapped herself in a cream colored soft bath robe.
Before leaving, she put the water on in the bathtub. Perhaps she could take a
quick dip if she got her hair and face done fast.

Shutting the door, she went back to Marty,
who had her curling iron already heated and ready, with the makeup all set out
on the counter.

"Alright, begin."

_______________________________________________________________________

"And you're sure, sure Marty, that
this isn't too much? I think it may be too much." Molly said, trying to
pull the dress up a bit to not reveal quite so much cleavage. But then she
noticed that when she did that, the slit on the skirt rode over her hipbone.
She looked hopelessly at Marty.

"You're a vision, Molly, I promise.
It's not too much, just more than you're used to. You watch Hollywood dress
like this on all their award shows and always want a chance to do it yourself.
Here's your chance. Take a risk."

Molly strapped on her heels and puffed out
her curly hair in the back. Her hands started to shake. Harrison would be here
any second. They had taken longer than they thought, but thankfully Harrison
was late for everything.

There was a knock at the door. Marty
gasped, grabbing her gear and hurrying over. She took one last look at Molly,
then opened the door and rushed out.

Harrison took her place. He was dressed
just as wildly handsome as the last dance. In fact, it was probably the same
suit. The only thing that wasn't very classy about his look was that his tongue
was nearly touching the ground.

"Wwow, Molls. You look...you look
amazing." He stuttered, eyeing her up and down.

She smiled timidly, tugging and her dress
again just to put it back in place. "Thank you. You look nice too. At
least much better than the last time I saw you."

An instant blush found its way up her neck
and in to her cheeks. She was referring to the paint, but both of them were
reminded of the kiss.

He cleared his throat. "Yes well, we
best get going." He took her black cloak off the rack and wrapped it
around her, then took her hand and led her downstairs. It was hard to go down
the stairs in her dress, but it beat the alternative of the death chamber so
called an elevator.

Harrison surprised her by showing her to a
black, classy car instead of his rusty, beat up truck. "What's this?"
Molly asked.

"This is the car I rented for tonight.
I wasn't going to get all dressed up just so I could ruin the image in the
truck. Hurry in, it's raining hard."

That was the last he said. The whole way,
granted it was only about fifteen minutes, they sat silently. No small talk. Of
course, what small talk could they really muster up when so much tension laid
between them. They were both thinking of what had happened and it was
impossible to disguise. It was also impossible to talk about.

_______________________________________________________________________

Once at the dance, Harrison and Molly split
up and each found their friend. Sure, Joe and Marty were on a date, but these
were desperate times.

"It feels so very weird to be around
him." Molly said, leaning against the wall and looking out for Harrison.

"Well maybe if you told me everything
that went on...I could understand more. And understand faster, because I'd kind
of like to get back to Joe."

Molly closed her eyes. "We kissed."

"You told me that. But it must be more
than just a peck on the cheek, the way you two are acting."

"We really kissed. And it was
wonderful. And then he fled. It was just...strange. He's been staring at me in
such a way...I thought maybe..."

"What? You got your hopes up that he's
in love with you and now you're disappointed that he won't own up to it."

Molly crossed her arms. "I'm not
disappointed."

"You're depressingly so."

She looked away. "Well I don't want it
to be like that."

Marty laughed and started to walk away.
"Well, good luck."

_______________________________________________________________________

"Joe, come on, you gotta help me
here."

Joe glared at his socalled friend.
"You may be Mister Playboy, but I'm not. This is the first girlfriend I've
had in forever. And I'm trying to be on a date with her. And you're in my
way!"

Harrison waved him off. "Don't worry,
Molly's got Marty captured too. It doesn't matter."

"Well what the hell is going on with
the two of you?"

Harrison hadn't spoken a word to anyone
about what happened. And he found it hard to do so now. "Molly and I were
fooling around. We were decorating this room in the barn and having a paint
fight. And I...I don't know. Something kind of snapped and I grabbed her and kissed
her."

Joe momentarily forgot all about his date.
"What kind of kiss?"

Harrison groaned. "The 'my God I want
you forever because I'm in love with you' kind of kiss."

"I thought you said you weren't going
to tell her you were in love with her. That it was going to just 'go
away'."

"Yeah well, that plan isn't
working."

"So now?"

Harrison shrugged. "So now...now I
guess...I guess I tell her. I mean, she looks angry at me. Some telling her
anything is probably going to be quite the explosion and won't go well at all.
But at least it will be over then."

"Great! Perfect! Then you could both
leave me and Marty alone and maybe I could get somewhere!"

Harrison rolled his eyes as Joe started to
walk away. "Gee, thanks for the support!"

_______________________________________________________________________

If it wasn't bad enough that she had to
dodge being seen by Harrison, she found herself hiding behind anything that
would give her cover whenever Ephram came in her sights. Which was often for
both men.

But finally, Harrison spotted her and
dragged her from behind a bushy plant. "Come on, we're here to dance,
let's dance."

She raised her eyebrows. "What, you're
actually talking to me now?"

He groaned, looking away. "I'm sorry
I've been avoiding you."

She was just about to smile when he put his
hands on her hips. "Are you sure you want to do that?" She asked.
"The last time we danced like this you ran off. And the last time we were
this close to each other you flew across the country to get away."

He pressed his forehead against hers.
"I'm sorry, Molls. I really am. I just...I needed time to think. There's
been a lot of stuff going on lately."

She wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Understandable, I suppose. But I still don't really understand you at
all. Which I suppose isn't much of a change, but..."

Harrison held her tight. "I know. I've
been meaning to explain. I just needed to be able to explain it to myself
first."

His eyes were full of meaning, her answers all
there. And suddenly she didn't want them. Bowing her head, she said, "I
can't date you, Harry. I can't respect you the way I'd need to if I was dating
you. The way you meaninglessly date those other woman...I won't be just another
one of them."

He shook his head. "No, Molls, you
won't. I swear to you that you won't be. Haven't you seen yet? I only date all
those women because..." he paused.

"I do feel a cliché coming on...if you
ever let it out of your mouth." She teased.

He rolled his eyes skyward, taking a deep
breath. "I'm sorry. It's just...well, you know who I am. This stuff don't
come easy to me."

She laughed. "Oh please you've made
woman all around the tristate area fall for you and it doesn't come easy for
you?"

He shook his head. "Not with you."

"Is that bad?"

He grinned. "No, it's good. It doesn't
come easy with you because you're the real deal for me, Molly. You're the one I
love. It's not just some cheap fling to distract me from what

I'm really after. Because what I'm really
after is...well, is you. It's always been you. But I knew you wouldn't have me.
So I took to other women, distracting me from you. It never worked. And I never
even came close having any signs of falling in love with anyone. That's why I
broke up with all of them. It's why you think I used them. That once I was
through, I didn't want contact anymore. Well, because I already knew that it
wasn't working. I had them befriend you in hopes that you would rub off on
them." His breath was shaky, his chest rising and falling heavily against
her.