All The Pieces (Pieces of Lies 3) (21 page)

How do I plan the best date of my life in less than twenty-four hours? I’ll tell you how. With skill, charm and ingenuity. I can’t say it wasn’t a challenge pulling it together, especially so last minute, but I managed to find a place in London that happened to be doing exactly what I wanted, on this very special night. Someone above was looking out for me.

I had blindfolded Len for our date. I wanted it to be a surprise. It will have more impact this way, and I wanted maximum impact. When you are in the final round of a boxing match, you have to go in hard, arms swinging. It was all or nothing.

Delia had given us all free-range at using the cars at the estate. I had to admit, the Westons had decent taste when it came to collecting cars. They had everything from Rolls Royces, to Cadillacs, to a very nice Jaguar, which was my second choice, but I settled on a Dodge Charger for the evening. It was gun-smoke grey, and I figured it would remind Len of my Mustang. Bringing up our happiest memories was my game plan for the night.

“Where are we?” Len asked, as we came to a stop at our destination. I sat staring at Len for a minute in the car. I was admiring her, taking a moment to remember all the times Len and I had parked in New York when we were sneaking around behind our families’ backs. It was such a familiar sight seeing her dressed up in the passenger’s side. I wanted to slide across the seat, put my arm around her shoulder, and pull her next to me. It’s funny how time works. Some things feel like they happened only yesterday, and other things, like the painful memory of when Norah’s Dad burst in on us and stopped our engagement, felt so long ago.

I wondered how long I could sit here and admire her before she got restless and clued into my perversion. She knew I liked to watch her when we were together. I used to watch her sleep, and read, and drive. Pretty much anytime I could sit back and just look at her, I would be staring at her, taking in the way she moved, with her grace and her beauty. She was a hard woman not to watch, especially once you got to know her. There was something about her unique way of moving and talking that drew you in.

Tonight she looked every bit as beautiful as the first moment I saw her outside NYU. She was wearing a short, yet flowy black dress with spaghetti straps that tied up around her neck, and her hemline fell just higher than mid thigh exposing her long elegant legs. Her hair was down too, all wavy and wild. Exactly how I liked it. I was going to miss this vision, this beauty who was so sexy in such a natural way. If I could frame this picture of Len sitting in the car, blindfolded for me, I would.

“Seriously Samuel. Where are we? Can I take off the blindfold now?” her ruby red lips asked. Len had gone to some effort with her makeup, getting a little dolled up for me tonight. Of course I noticed. I didn’t miss a beat. Our chemistry was still undeniable.

“Just one more minute please,” I begged. I didn’t need one more minute. I needed a lifetime of minutes with this girl beside me. But for tonight, I planned on taking advantage of what little time I had left. Finally, I reached across to her face and slowly removed the blindfold, moving her lustrous mane out of the way. Fuck I wanted my hands to get lost in that hair. Just running my fingers through it ever so slightly made the decent side of me that held out for so long, want to push her down on these seats and climb on top.

Her eyes blinked quickly, adjusting to the headlights shining at the sign in front of the car. She moved her head forward, reading the sign and then turned to me, her smile wide and beautiful.

“Really?” she said, sounding excited, and pleased, and everything good I had hoped in the reaction I was after.

I half shrugged, trying to be the cool guy I always was with her. “What can I say? I deliver only the best, for the best girl I know.”

Len clapped her hands and jumped enthusiastically out of the car, going and standing near the sign leading into the garden path. It read, ‘
Shakespeare in the Park. Tonight’s feature — Romeo and Juliet.’

I went round and opened the trunk of the car and pulled out a picnic hamper, complete with all sorts of treats and a blanket for the evening. Some of the staff at the estate helped me source all the supplies I needed, which wasn’t hard given the place had everything you could imagine. I closed the trunk, picnic hamper in hand, and went over to where Len was waiting, her eyes growing bigger at the sight of the hamper.

“I have no words Samuel. This is...”

I loved that my plans had made her speechless. I wanted her never to forget me. I wanted her to always keep a piece of my heart. She smiled that glorious smile at me again, and out of pure old habit I took hold of her hand with my free one. “Is this alright?” I asked. “Can I hold your hand?”

“I didn’t stop you, did I?” She gripped my hand tighter in hers and we started our little trek through the dimly lit woodland path. I could already tell that Len wasn’t going to hold back this evening. She was allowing herself to be open. Open to possibility maybe? The possibility of me? Maybe I still had a chance.

The path came to an open clearing where a stage was set up and big spotlights shone upon the actors preparing to start. The small stage was surrounded by deck chairs and people relaxing on blankets in readiness for the show. The trees were covered in sparkling lights, and the moon and the stars were shining brightly, adding extra lighting to the performance. We found a large tree, slightly off to the left side of the stage. It was a little more private than some of the closer trees but still had a good view.

I laid out the blanket and we sat down, close to one another, our shoulders touching as we leant in to watch. I reached into the hamper and pulled out one of the containers which held chocolate covered strawberries that I had prepared earlier. I held out one to Len, her eyes gleaming at the sight of food. “Yes please.” She took the strawberry and began to devour it, moaning and licking her lips like it was pleasure in her mouth.

“Gosh Len, if I had known you’d be this hungry, I would have packed a buffet.”

“Oh my god, thank you. They taste amazing Samuel. It’s exactly what I feel like eating. Hmmm. Sooo good. I’ve never been this hungry before. Hmmm.”

Holy fuck! If that was her reaction to her food, I can’t imagine what she was like when she had an orgasm. Actually I could imagine what it would be like. I had imagined myself inside her making her come nearly every fucking day since we met. It was no wonder Clint and Josh fought black and blue for this girl. She had this sexy yet sweet addictive quality about her. And she used her whole body in the way she expressed herself. Like right now while she was eating. It wasn’t just her mouth enjoying the delicious treat, her entire body had the same movement and flow that was absolutely desirable and intoxicating to watch. You wanted to own her. You wanted her all to yourself. You wanted her to be your one and only because when she looked at you, you felt special, you felt complete, you felt like you could do anything. You felt like her hero, and her gift.

After she finished her strawberry, she held out her hand for another. Hell, I could watch her eat like this all night. After she ate the second strawberry with similar pleasurable moans as the first, she turned to look at me, her face smiling in satisfaction. I noticed then that she had a smidgen of chocolate near her lips. I stared at the small brown patch of chocolate, thinking about my new dilemma. Did I want to be that guy in the movie who reaches out, wiping the chocolate away with my lips in a subtle but not so subtle attempt at kissing her? Could I really be that cheesy?

Fucking eh!

I reached out, cupping her cheek with my hand. She flinched a bit and pulled back. “Ummm, what are you doing Samuel?”

I smiled a cheesy smile. “You have chocolate near your mouth. I was just going to remove it for you...” I moved my head towards her mouth, my lips aimed at hers.

She flinched again, pulling away, and then started laughing at me. Deep, hard, from the gut style of laughing.

So this is what I get for pulling such a cheesy move. I get laughed at in my face.

“I’m sorry Samuel. No really, I’m sorry. You just surprised me. I never picked you as the type of guy who would pull the ‘you have food on your face, now let me kiss it off, move,’.”

“It’s not funny Len,” I said, honestly disappointed. She stopped laughing when she saw my sad face. Then she moved closer and put her arms around me, hugging me tight.

I hated to admit it, but she was right. My moves had much more style than that, but I had to seize the chance, no matter how lame the attempt. I wanted to kiss her so badly, I didn’t care how I got there.

“I’m sorry. I know it’s not funny Samuel. Nothing about what happened between us is funny.” Now she did something completely unexpected. She climbed over and straddled me, pulling my hands around her waist. She got into this position so she could look deep into my eyes. This was serious Len. A girl who had said something important to say, and by God, in this position, with her on top of me, she had my
full
attention. “Look Samuel, there is something I need to say. I need to say I’m sorry for not believing you. That day with my Dad when you swore to me that you didn’t put a hit on Clint, I...I did...I believed you. And I couldn’t admit it. I couldn’t accept it. I’m so terribly sorry I said what I said to you. I just didn’t want to think about the alternative...that...”

“Shhh, now.” I put my finger on her lips. “I know why you believed it. I know you’re sorry. So am I, because if I had just fought for you after your Dad separated us to begin with...if I had just damned everything and swept you up in my arms the day after he told us we were over and we ran away, then it would be me leaving with you on Saturday.” I knew why Len and I were not together. I didn’t fight hard enough. I let her think I had given up. I let her go to McLaren without so much as a letter or a phone call. My fear of her father and my safety had stopped our future. I should have never been scared. I should have never have let her go.

“Do you really believe it would have been us?”

“Len, I
know
it would have been us.”

She swallowed, and then tried to move off me. All she wanted to do was get close, and apologize. Nothing more. But damn this fucking opportunity. Damn it to hell. I was going to get bitch slapped for my next move, but it was going to be fucking worth it.

Before Len could swing her leg over to take a seat next to me again, I pulled her down on top of me in one swift movement, taking her by complete surprise. I spoke the words from Romeo and Juliet as I heard them, using them as part of the poetry of this moment.
“Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I never saw true beauty till this night!”
  She tried to speak, but I crushed my mouth over hers, seizing the chance. It was our night. Our final good-bye. I was making the choice to give her the good-bye I wanted. She resisted at first, and then, just let it happen. Our lips danced with one another like the slow sensual movement of a couple during a love song. It was a slow, deep kiss, full of passion and regret and a future we would never know. She even allowed her body to grind up on mine for the briefest second, feeling once more our symbiotic rhythm we had always shared.

It was a moment I would never forget. It was our moment in this beautiful park, in the moonlight while listening to
Romeo and Juliet
. This was how I would always remember this girl who took my darkened heart and brought to life a man I never knew I could be. I was better because of her.

And then, her eyes opened slowly, and her lips left mine. She climbed off my lap, and sat next to me, breathing quickly as she tried to focus on the stage.  She didn't speak.  She didn't do  anything but just letting our kiss be frozen in time, for me and for her.

“Thank you,” I said softly as we sat side by side, now listening more intently to
Romeo and Juliet
. Our moment had come, and now it was gone. It was time now to enjoy this night and what we had left, making it fun and memorable.

As we watched the show, I started cracking jokes, making Len laugh. We spoke about my car, and music and about things we had always loved together. We fell back into a comfortable tune of closeness, as friends. By the end of the show, we both didn’t want to leave the park. Our mood shifted to something serious on the blanket. 

“Len, when you think of us, do you think of us like the real Romeo and Juliet. Like a real tragedy? Because as much as I joked that we were like them, it kind of feels like we are. Like the death of our relationship ended the same way.”

“Samuel, I’ve never considered our relationship to be tragic. I will always remember you as my first love. The first guy who opened me up and saw in me something passionate and strong that needed to be brought to life. Tragic...never. Beautiful...always.”

Wow!  Hearing Len talk about us like that was really what I needed. It helped the pain that I would surely feel when she was permanently gone. She didn’t regret me. Not at all. She loved me and our memory. I would always have that.

Len sat on her knees, staring up at the stars, her mind ticking over about something else. “Samuel can I ask you do me one final favor after I’ve gone?  But it’s a big one.”

Favor? “Of course my sweet...anything.”  I said, wondering what was so important that it required my assistance.

“Well Tess told me yesterday that she has a new job in New York and is moving there next month. And it’s just...without me around to keep an eye on her, I worry. I really would appreciate it if you helped her settle in. Show her around some more. Check in on her from time to time. Do you think you could do that? For me?”

Hmmm.

Tess...

In New York.

My
little firecracker.

I mean,
the
little firecracker.

Well...

Ummm.

“No problem,” I said quickly. A little
too
quickly.

Len smiled at me appreciatively. “Thanks Samuel. It means so much to me to hear you say that.”