The Rain Began to Fall (14 page)

And it was no
longer a purely physical attraction; she cared about his dreams, about his
thoughts, about
him
. What she had considered only playful flirtation she
could control was becoming a very real matter of her heart. How did she get to
this torturous place? She realized fully that if she didn’t slow this train
down – no, get completely off of it – she would reach a point of no return. The
flame she had danced around would blaze and consume her.
And just why is
that a bad thing
?
that
pesky voice spoke up in her
mind. But she closed it off quickly, clapping her hands over her ears in a
fitful gesture.
Stop
!
Stop it
!

In the face of
recurring fantasies about Kyle of late, she had battled back, reminding herself
over and over again of the reasons why she and Gene were right for each other;
their solid, proven background, their families. She now white knuckled and held
fiercely to those facts, sailing against the tidal wave of desire she felt for
Kyle.  
A few moments of flirting cannot stack up to years of
development in a relationship
, she thought resolutely. She pulled a tissue
from the box on her desk and wiped her eyes, sitting up straight and breathing
deeply.

She realized
today’s scenario could not be repeated. She would have to avoid him at all
costs, and this time for real. No more games; her mind was set. She could not
see him again, or tempt herself any further. There was simply no other way if
she were to stay committed to her engagement, something she was determined to
do. With that conclusion, she threw herself into her work.

“So, Leigh, what
do you think of moving to New York?” Joseph Sykes asked, seated comfortably in
his leather chair in the drawing room of the Sykes home. It was Thursday
evening, and having finished a palatable dinner with salmon as the main course,
Leigh sat on the love seat with her fiancé, opposite Mr. Sykes and his wife,
Myrna. Leigh genuinely loved Joseph and Myrna; they had always treated her like
one of their own, and after her father had died, she had begun to subtly
substitute Joseph in his stead as a father figure.

And she was well
aware of what this gathering was about; namely, persuasion. She assumed Gene
had informed his father of her reluctance to move to the Big Apple, and she was
here now for enlightenment. But she would be a hard sell; she had visited “the
city that never sleeps” before, and being a native of the Upper South and
Charlotte, she just didn’t care for the frenetic lifestyle.

“Not much,” she
responded truthfully. Joseph raised his eyebrows, looking at
Gene,
and the latter shook his head slightly.

“Oh, it’s not all
that bad, once you become acclimated,” he advised, smiling. “There are
benefits.”

“Such
as?” she asked, smiling back.

“Shopping!”
Joseph answered, chuckling. Leigh and Myrna smiled at each other, and Gene
gently elbowed her.

“He has a point,
Leigh!” Myrna opined. She did, of course, enjoy shopping. She was female, wasn’t
she?

“True,” Leigh
agreed. “But
it’s.
. . it’s just not my style,” she
said, sighing. “I’ve been, you know, and I
do
love the shopping! But
that’s just visiting.” Joseph sat his drink down and leaned forward.

“I understand your
hesitance,” he assured, “but keep in mind it’s only for a little while. It’s a
new practice, and I really want Gene up there to grow along with it. I know
you’ll be an invaluable asset to him.” She glanced over at Gene, who was
eagerly nodding his agreement. “I’ll be retiring before long, Leigh, and when I
do, Gene will take over here in Charlotte.”

“That’s right
hon
,” Gene agreed. She looked at Myrna, but she had her
head down.

“So when do you
plan on retiring?”

“
Well.
. .two, three years, tops,” Joseph said. But she was
doubtful. She couldn’t imagine Joseph Sykes ever retiring. He may talk about
it, but doing it was another matter. Besides, once they were there, Gene would
grind in. They would be there for life.

“I’ll think about
it,” she responded.

“Good!” Joseph
exclaimed. “That’s all we can ask, right son?”

“Right!”
Gene replied, putting an arm around her.

“You’ll be happy,
honey,” he said, looking into her eyes. Looking back into his eyes, she was not
entirely convinced. While they were occupied, Joseph leaned over and whispered
in his wife’s ear, and she nodded.

“Son, come help me
with something, will you?” Myrna said, rising.

“Huh?” Gene
responded.

“
Come give me a
hand
,” she said, raising her eyebrows.

“Oh,” he replied.
“Okay.”

After they left
the room, Joseph rose from his chair and sat down on the love seat beside
Leigh. He put his arm around her and hugged her tight.

“My dear Leigh,”
he said, and she laid her weary head on his shoulder. He released her, and she
looked into his kind eyes.

“So how are you
doing?” he asked gently. “You’ve got a big day coming up.”

“I’m doing fine,”
she replied, smiling. “Lots of planning, you know.”

“Oh yes,” he
chuckled. He stared at her great beauty for a moment, thinking of how fortunate
his son was. It simply didn’t seem right to him that they were in their
twenties, so grown, so adult. “You know, it seems like only yesterday when you
and Gene were little children,” he said.” We had a lot of fun, didn’t we?”

“Yes we did,” she
responded, smiling.

“Do you remember
the time when we all went to Aspen on the ski trip?” he asked. She did indeed.
It was her father’s first attempt at skiing, and it had taken plenty of
persuasion. She and Gene had both taken lessons in Virginia, but Austin
Thompson had been steadfast in his refusal to take up the sport. But he
couldn’t let Joseph show him up, so he tried. He got turned backwards almost
from the beginning somehow, and went down the beginners slope that way a good
distance, fighting for his balance, arms flailing. It had been comical, and
thankfully, he was unharmed. She laughed aloud, remembering.

“Your father was
always one stubborn man,” he said, laughing.

“Oh yes!” she
agreed. After they had both quieted, she stared somberly into the flames
crackling in the fireplace. Joseph noticed a tear in the corner of her eye, and
he wiped it away with his large thumb.

“We all miss him,
Leigh, and I know you do,” he said sincerely. “I know you would give anything
to have him here for your wedding.” A tear rolled down her cheek, and he hugged
her tightly as she wept.

“But he will be
there in spirit,
hon
,” he soothed, “and he would be
so proud of you and Gene.”

Leigh knew that
was true. Her father had always encouraged them, and she so wanted to honor his
memory. She sat up straight and looked determinedly into her future father - in
- law’s eyes.

“I’ll go,” she
told him, sobbing. “We’ll make it work!”

“That’s my girl,”
he praised. “And the change will do you good, believe me.”

He’s right
,
she thought, laying her head on his shoulder.
A change is just what I
need
!

Joseph told Gene
the good news of her acquiescence later, and they celebrated with cigars and
scotch. And Leigh, back at home, talked excitedly with her mother about the
wedding for the first time in weeks. She was as sure as ever now of her future,
back on track with her life. Her trysts with Kyle had been relegated to their
proper place as nothing but fantasy. There was no place for such things in the
real world.

Two weeks had gone
by since Kyle had last seen Leigh, and he had spent that time working
feverishly on the final chapters of
The Fishing Trip
. On this Friday
night he would finish it. He planned to have it in the mail to his agent
tomorrow morning, and as he cruised along on his way home from work, he thought
of Leigh and her positive response on the several chapters he had given her. He
was thrilled that she loved the book, and her kudos had inspired him all the
more to finish it. He certainly needed something to take his mind off the fact
that they had come so close to intimacy after the intensity of their last
encounter. When he had grabbed her and pulled her to him that day, he had
ultimately realized he’d waited long enough, and fully intended to kiss her. He
had seen in her eyes that she was ready for the taking. If not for that damn
bell, he may be with her now.

When it didn’t
happen, and she ran away, he knew she would keep on running from the terrifying
thought that she was falling in love with him, and probably intended to until
she tied the knot. He had not attempted to contact her since, again shrewdly
calculating that it wouldn’t be prudent, that it would do more harm than good.
Better to back off and give her some time to digest it all. She was smart, and
he trusted she would ultimately heed her true feelings. Another opportunity
would present itself, he believed, and there was still time.

He slowed to a
stop at a traffic light on east Elm Street. He listened to the smooth idle of
his engine, and it sounded good. As he had left work today, Wade had caught up
with him.

“Hey dude, I’m
ready to run!” he’d exclaimed, smirking. “It’s time to find out whose king of
the road!”

“I’m ready anytime
you are.”

“How
about next Friday?”

“Fine with me,” Kyle
responded with a smirk of his own. “I can beat you any day of the week.” He
didn’t care for Wade in the least, and the feeling was mutual.

“In your dreams,
dude,” Wade replied. “You’re in for a big surprise!”

“I doubt it,” Kyle
responded coolly, “but we’ll see, won’t we?”

Kyle now turned up
the stereo in his car as Freddy Mercury proclaimed . . . 
another one
bites the dust
. . .
From me to you, Wade ole boy,
he thought. His
Nova was in great running shape, and he gunned the engine, barking the tires as
he turned into the parking lot of the Seven Eleven store. He pushed the door
open and walked in, and behind the counter Lisa looked as inviting as ever in a
tight, low- cut green sweater that showed off her ample chest. Her long, red
hair was full and flaming, and she lit up like a Christmas tree when he entered
the store.

“Hi!” she
exclaimed, flashing a broad smile. Kyle had never heard a girl who could say “
Your
place or mine
”, “
Anytime, anywhere
”, or “
Take me I’m yours
”,
by simply saying “hi”, but here she was. As he walked down one of the aisles to
the back of the store, Lisa, as always, lustfully eyed his denim clad rear. He
came up to the counter with his drink and sat it on the counter.

“How’s it going?”
she asked.

“Good, how about
yourself?” he responded.

“Better
now
,”
she replied suggestively. “Have you raced that hot-rod of yours anymore
lately?”

“Nah, but it looks
like Wade Singleton and I will get it on next Friday.”

“Ooh!” she
exclaimed. “He’s got the green car, doesn’t he? He comes by here sometimes.”

“Yeah,” he
responded, “that’s him.”

“I’d
love
to
go,” she said. Her eyes narrowed and she smiled invitingly. He removed his
wallet to pay for the drink, realizing she would go on and on if he allowed it,
but he had to get going. Rob was coming in this evening, and he needed to
finish the novel.

“Maybe I could get
off work that night!” she exclaimed. He looked at her and smiled, but didn’t
respond, so she sighed and rang up his purchase. He said bye and headed for the
door.

“I think you can
beat him, Kyle!” she hollered out behind him. He turned around and looked at
her.

“Yeah?” he
answered.
“Me too.”

# # #

Later, at his
apartment, Kyle leaned back in the chair and rubbed his tired eyes. He was
almost done with the novel, having only a page or two to go.

He expected Rob to
arrive any time now. He would be staying with him tonight, and in the morning,
after Rob paid his deposit and did the necessary paperwork, they would be
moving his things into an apartment at the end of the complex. He would be interviewed
at
Falstead
on Monday.

He finally typed
“The End” and the novel was done. He stared at the screen for a moment, then
stood and stretched. It was always a great feeling to finish, but his level of
excitement about this particular story was higher than any before, despite the
devastating rejection of his last submission.
Surely I’ll get a bite on this
one,
he thought, but then laughed at his optimism. Hadn’t he been here
before?  As he pondered this, he heard a familiar loud rumble
outside.  He hit the print key, then went to the front door and opened it.
Rob was just climbing out of his bright red
Chevelle
.

“Hey, is there a
guy that drives a wimpy, four cylinder Nova living around here?” Rob hollered.
Kyle laughed.

“Yeah, there is!”
he responded. “But it’s the craziest thing man!
That four
cylinder
will bark the tires at forty!”

Rob laughed and
walked up to Kyle, holding out his hand, but Kyle ignored it and hugged him
enthusiastically. He then released him and clapped him on the shoulder.

“It’s great to see
you, man!” Kyle exclaimed.

“You
too!”
Rob responded.

“So how was the
drive up?”

“Smooth rolling.
The U-Haul slowed me down, of course.”

“I know that
killed you,” Kyle replied, grinning. “So what have you got in there to move
in?”