Authors: Loren Lockner
“I kn
ow you could love me if you’d just give me a chance,” said Tim, moving even closer. “And our families would be so thrilled.” He looped his arms around her torso, locking her in an embrace, as he forced her back again his chest. His hot breath was insistent as he leaned forward, whispering dirty suggestions in her ear. Neither heard the door open nor noticed Seth entering the foyer. He stopped to wipe his wet shoes upon the doormat and hung up his umbrella, suddenly tensing as he heard Julia’s adamant voice.
“I’ve told you before to leave me alone, now get away from me,”
demanded Julia, slamming an elbow into Tim’s stomach. He snarled as she pushed away from him, forcibly turning her and kissing her passionately, grinding his teeth against her protesting mouth. Julia leaned back and slapped him violently across the face, which only enflamed him more. He restrained her one arm and reached for her breast, totally beyond reason. Julia fought violently, realizing she was in real danger of being raped.
“Stop it Tim!” she ground out, trying to move her head away from his questing mouth.
“I told you before I’m not interested; why can’t you get that through your thick head!”
She was suddenly sl
ammed against the brickwork of the fireplace and Tim ground his hips against her while kissing her bruised mouth as she struggled and tore at him, managing once to scratch his face.
“The lady said let her be.
I suggest you do it mister.”
If Seth’s deliberate tones
ever penetrated Tim’s lustful preoccupation, the store manager didn’t respond. Instead he continued groping Julia who fought furiously. Seth placed a hand upon Tim’s left shoulder and pulled him back, his fingers tightening cruelly upon the bony shoulder. Tim retorted and swung, hitting wildly at whoever dared try and thwart his enflamed actions. Julia had never seen a man move so fast. One moment Tim struck out at Seth and the next lay flat on his back, his nose spewing blood over his disbelieving face. Tim groaned and grabbed the protruding member between his hands as blood gushed out, staining the parquet floor.
“I do believe the lady said no more than once,” stated Seth nonchalantly, peering down at the man he’d just brutally sl
ammed to the ground, a very self-satisfied expression on his perfect face.
“Who the hell are you?” cried Tim
, managing to sit up straight though his freckled nose still streamed blood.
“I’m Paul’s roommate and a friend of Julia’s, and I suggest that if you don’t want Paul to personally toss you out of his condominium after using you as his private punching bag, you’d better leave while you can.
It probably goes without saying that I don’t want to see your face around here ever again.” Seth by this time had returned to the coat rack, and picking up Tim’s blue windbreaker, waited for the thin man to rise awkwardly from the slippery floor.
Tim gazed long and hard at Julia before finally shaking his head violently. “You ain’t worth it babe,” he scoffed scornfully; grabbing his coat from Seth’s outstretched hand.
The door was already open and Seth slammed it behind him. Reaction to the incident finally hit home and Julia, from where she remained before the crackling fire, shivered as if from cold.
Seth approached her, the smug expression fleeing his face.
“Are you alright?”
“If you hadn’t come along I think
. . . I think...”
“I think you’re right,” said Seth soothingly.
“Here, sit down. I’ll get you something that’s certain to make those shakes disappear.” His hands gently pushed her onto the comfortable recliner positioned before the fire and he hurried into the kitchen. Julia heard the slosh of some liquid being poured into a glass as she stretched her suddenly cold hands toward the revitalizing flames.
Seth knelt before her, handing her a brandy glass whose
amber liquid beckoned enticingly. “Drink this up, it’ll help.”
Julia swallowed a gulp of the strong
, warming liquid, gasping as it burned its way down her throat.
“Did he hurt you?” asked Seth tightly.
“I think I’ll have a few bruises, but I’m alright. Please, please don’t tell Paul.”
“On the contrary,” countered Seth
, leaning back to examine her tear-streaked face. “I believe you should inform your brother. He’s probably not aware of his friend’s unwanted advances, and unless you enlighten him, you can be certain that Tim will do it again, if not with you, then with someone else. It’s important everyone’s righteous indignation toward sexual abuse is clearly relayed to animals such as Tim.”
Julia recognized the validity of his words and nodded, a single tear trickling down her cheek
. Seth leaned forward and wiped off the warm drop. “I guess he felt some of
your
righteous indignation,” she managed to quip.
Seth grinned smugly and fumbled in his pocket for his handkerchief
, which he handed her gently.
“Thank you,” Julia
mumbled before glancing down, unable to meet those beautiful gray eyes. She blew her nose and wiped her eyes, grateful he didn’t belabor the point.
“No thanks necessary.
I’m just glad my timing was right. I’ll tell you what... I’ll relate what happened to your brother if that will make you feel better. You sit here and finish up the brandy. I noticed a couple of blood droplets on the parquet and I’ll wipe them up before your brother arrives.”
Seth
headed to the kitchen and returning with a wet dish towel wiped up the evidence of Tim’s broken nose. Later, he sank upon the love seat across from her and analyzed her with his silvery eyes.
“Feeling any better?” Before she could respond the door opened and her brother’s loud voice echoed through the entryway.
“I not only got beef and refried beans; I found a little guac
amole and sour cream. These are going to be the best tacos I’ve made in a long time.” He stopped short at the sight of a Seth but no Tim. “Where’s Tim? Is everything okay?”
“I’m afraid your friend Tim had to go home.
Julia, why don’t you take the groceries into the kitchen for your brother? Paul, could I speak to you for a moment in my room?”
Paul glanced from Julia to Seth
before handing the plastic bags to his sister.
Ten minutes later he emerged from Seth’s bedroom, rage reddening his face while his hands curled into white
-knuckled fists.
“If Tim ever tries anything with you again Julia, you let me know.
He’s not welcome in my house, my parents’ house, or anyone else I know for that matter! I’m planning to tell mom and dad what he did and ask them to relay his despicable actions to his parents. If we let him get away with this kind of stuff he’s just going to do it again. I wish you’d have told me earlier about the real reasons you didn’t like him.”
“I tried,” answered Julia as she spooned the guac
amole out into a small blue ceramic bowl and placed it upon the table. “You just didn’t want to listen. Mom and Dad knew how I felt but I couldn’t seem to get through to you.”
Her brother sidled forward
to enfold her in a warm embrace and kissed her on the forehead. “I’m so sorry. Sometimes I’m just not alert to things like that. Please forgive me. Thanks Seth for explaining it all to me,
and
arriving when you did. I’m just glad it put a stop to his unwanted advances and that he took your advice and left.”
Julia eyed Seth as he gave a tiny shake of his head, realizing Seth hadn’t revealed how Tim had been requested to leave.
She smiled broadly. “Yes, it was very fortuitous Seth showed up when he did and since we’ve made enough tacos for three, won’t you please join us for dinner? “
Seth studied her dark green eyes for a long moment before ans
wering half-reluctantly, “I’d be happy to.”
D
arkness engulfed Seth’s room as he sat alone and contemplative upon his beautiful mosaic bedspread. He gazed moodily through the window at the few stars flickering valiantly as they tried to break through the heavy cloud cover. Seth rubbed the back of his stiff neck and sighed. This was a dangerous game he played. He’d knowingly embarked on something best left dormant, allowing himself the joy of Julia’s company this evening. It’d been pleasurable to watch the twins banter, so comfortable in that natural camaraderie they always shared. He’d tried to ignore her, to distance himself from her undeniable beauty and wit, but tonight fate had intervened and forced him near the most attractive woman he’d ever met.
Seth had no doubt Julia could have handled the situati
on by herself and suspected Tim may have achieved worse than a broken nose after she’d finished with him, but had wanted to step in. He’d wanted Julia to know he wasn’t immune to her. So he sat forlornly on his big bed, knowing he shouldn’t think about her but powerless to stop. He tensed, suddenly afraid that after all this time he’d finally run across his soul mate and at a time he could least afford.
Chapter Two
Kerry Matthews was used to unusual things happening at
Hyatt Elementary School. That morning she’d already dealt with a child who’d swallowed an eraser, a late bread delivery man, a stray dog she’d personally had to chase out of the front office, and the school nurse going home ill. So when at 11:10 that morning, just before the bell announced lunch for the lower grades, a blue-clad flower deliveryman showed up, she wasn’t remotely surprised.
“Yes,” she asked sweetly, approaching the L-shaped desk that fronted the elementary office to
greet the slightly perspiring Hispanic man who placed a large vase jammed with roses upon the counter.
“A delivery for Julia Morris,” he said politely.
Kerry was just a little put out;
having secretly hoped that her husband for once had remembered their anniversary. She and Tyrone had been married for almost two decades, which was nearly a record in divorce-torn California, and particularly among African-Americans, and had hoped that just this once he’d remember. So she smoothed back her perfect ebony hair and let herself succumb to blatant curiosity.
“Julia Morris,” she said. “M
y oh my!” She scrutinized the twelve long-stemmed red roses surrounded by baby’s breath resting inside the lovely porcelain vase and signed for the flowers.
She l
eft the beautiful bouquet sitting on the counter for a while, knowing Julia and her counterparts weren’t due in the lunchroom for another twenty minutes. The fragrance of the roses filled the front office and when the principal, Connie Fernandez, ventured out of her office to ask Kerry something, her dark eyes lit up.
“Tyrone remembered your anniversary?”
Kerry put on a fake pout. “No. If he did he would ruin his track record. These are for
Julia
.”
Connie’s grin widened. Julia was one of her favorite teachers and
after working at her school for nearly five years, had never once received a flower delivery.
“W
ell it’s about time,” she observed. “I think the bell’s about to ring,” and as if on cue the shrill elementary school bell echoed, announcing to students and teachers alike they were on reprieve for a full forty minutes; the children to eat for twenty minutes and then go to recess, and the teachers to wolf their food down before hurriedly preparing for the upcoming afternoon session.
“I’ll think I’ll take these into
her myself,” said Connie, who’d always considered herself a good friend of Julia. “I want to see the expression on her face. Is there a card?’ she asked.
“Why P
rincipal Fernandez,” said Kerry. “You know I’d never peek at the card.”
“What does it say?” demanded Connie.
“Thank you for the lovely dinner and is signed by someone named Seth.”
“Ooh, I haven’t heard of this Seth before.
Well,” said the principal, hoisting up the large bouquet of flowers, “let’s see what her reaction is.”
Julia settled herself down to lunch and
gazed forlornly at her bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich and wondering how on earth she’d forgotten to spread mayonnaise upon the wheat slices. She glanced up to see her principal approach with the largest bouquet of flowers she’d ever seen.
“Well, well,” said Connie, a wr
y look on her normally serious Latino face. “I didn’t know you had a secret admirer,” and with that she clunked the roses smack dab in the middle of the faculty lounge table.
Julia’s counterparts Leroy, Martha, and Tracy all ooh’d and aah’d, appearing thoroughly impressed.
“Well aren’t you going to read the card?” asked Tracy, frowning. She sniffed appreciatively and leaned forward to snag the card from its holder until Julia deftly plucked it from her hands. Julia read the note and smiled.
“Well?” said Leroy
, munching on a carrot stick. “Aren’t you going to spill it girl?”
“It’s just from my brother’s roommate,” Julia replied.
“His name is Seth and we had dinner last night at my brother’s apartment that’s all.”
“I was hoping that it was going to be a lot spicier than that, and don’t you
folks believe that it must have been a mighty nice dinner to warrant
twelve
red roses?” said Connie in mock disgruntlement.
“Don’t you have some paperwork to catch up on?” said Julia to
her principal, refusing to rise to the bait.
“I know you’
ll tell me all about it later at the racquetball court,” announced Connie knowingly before she departed, humming a nauseating little love song Julia had heard on the radio that very morning. Leroy laughed aloud and Martha gave Julia her best motherly know-it-all glance.
The roses’ sweet fragrance filled the air and Julia, not able to stand her colleague’s
comments any longer, lifted up the heavy bouquet of roses, her sandwich, and some papers she needed to photocopy and hurried to the work room. Seth’s dark eyes materialized before her as she Xeroxed the worksheets for her twenty students, wondering what on earth had motivated him to send flowers. Whatever the reason it didn’t help her overactive imagination.
It hadn’t been enough that she couldn’t stop thinking about him after she’d returned
last night or that Seth had been her first waking thought this morning. She reread the card and sighed, dreamily lifting the fragrant bouquet to her nostrils before heading back to her classroom, bracing herself for that last energetic burst of energy from her pupils before the four-day weekend.
Her cell phone was ringing as she unlocked her car later that afternoon.
She always left her cell phone in its stand because phones were not allowed in the classroom. She braced the lovely bouquet between the door and her tote bag and lifted the receiver to her ear, surprised and pleased to hear Seth’s beautiful, even voice.
“Did you get my roses?” he asked softly.
“That I did,” said Julia, “and much to the envy of the entire elementary staff. You didn’t need to send them but thank you very much.”
“I wondered
,” began Seth tentatively, “if perhaps, even though it’s really late notice, you might be free for dinner?” Julia couldn’t know that he was mentally kicking himself behind the closed door of his office. He’d been peering sightlessly at some blueprints for the new shopping center near the university and had completed absolutely nothing worthwhile for the past twenty minute in his efforts to predict when she would be finished teaching so he could call her.
“I think an early dinner would be nice.”
“Do you like Japanese food?” he asked.
“I love it,” she responded simply.
“Then I’ll pick you up at 5:30 and don’t worry about the directions. I asked your brother how to get to your place just this morning. I’ll see you then.”
“Until then,” she promised, suddenly barely able to wait until
5:30.
The Japanese restaurant was one of those where you sat shoeless on the floor while a Japanese masseuse wandered around the restaurant massaging anyone who decided that their sushi and teriyaki wasn’t enough of an oriental experience.
Seth, dressed in a dark navy blue suit with a power red tie, appeared the consummate professional and was so stunning that even the Japanese waitress couldn’t tear her eyes off him.
Julia had changed into a lovely gray and black sweater dress and wore a simple pearl pendant her grandmother had surprised her with on her sixteenth birthday.
“So how was your day?” he asked casually, after they’d ordered their California rolls and teriyaki chicken stir-fry.
“Busy and hectic as usual,” she replied.
“Second graders keep a teacher on their toes and I have twenty; eleven boys and nine girls.”
“I admire you,” he said sincerely.
“It must take a great deal of energy and patience to keep up with the likes of... how old are they?”
“Seven,” interjected Julia, “and to tell you the truth, this grade is as low as I could go.
I truly admire those who can handle kindergartners and pre-schoolers, but I’m afraid I just don’t have the stamina. And how was your day?”
“Hectic as well,” admitted Seth.
“I’ve been handed a fast-food and mini-market complex near the university and we’re running into some problems with the city planning commission. The project should start in about two weeks if we’re to have any hopes of finishing on schedule and unfortunately to get permits from the city means a delay. It seems I spent most of that day trying to ward off belligerent contractors as well as city officials, neither of whom have the least compassion or understanding for the other.”
“I thought you
’re just the architect?” asked Julia.
“I
am, but I’m what you call a follow-through architect. That is, I follow through the project until the final stone is laid, the electricity, plumbing, and sewers are in, and the final ‘i’ is dotted. In other words, the building has to be standing upright and functioning properly for me to dust my hands off the project.”
Julia smiled.
It didn’t surprise her Seth wouldn’t let go of a task until it was completed to his satisfaction.
“Seth, I was wondering,” asked Julia hesitantly as she munched on a just
-delivered spring roll. “Your voice has a different quality to it, a different accent from what I’d expect from a New Englander. You didn’t live your entire life on the east coast did you?”
“No,” said Seth vaguely
, wanting to drop it there, but realizing she still waited for an answer. “I was actually born and raised in upstate New York, but my father worked in Canada for many years before transferring to the UK for nearly four years. Since all this happened in my formative years, I think my accent got rather internationalized; not quite American, Canadian, or British, just an odd blend of the three. I know I have a tendency to say certain words a little differently, like I say
sch
edule instead of schedule, but I’m trying to reform,” he said contritely.
“Please don’t,” remarked Julia. “It’s a refreshing change from the flat tones of
California. So what did your father do for a living?”
He allowed
the approaching waitress to set down heavy marble platters of sushi before them before continuing. “My dad was actually into bridge construction and generally worked in North America except for the four years he spent in London. My mother, believe it or not, was a civil engineer and fortunate enough to work in the same firm as him.”
“And did that create problems?” asked Julia.
“Not in the least. My parents were very compatible and their personal and professional camaraderie was a pleasure to behold.” He took a bite of the succulent sushi. “This is delicious. You see my parents were what we call in my family, soul mates.”
“Soul mates?
I’ve heard of that phrase before; it’s when you believe there is only one person for you in the entire universe and your meeting is predestined.”
“Well kinda, but actually it had a very different connotation in my f
amily. Maybe someday I’ll tell you about it, but not tonight.”
“So you were an only child?” queried Julia as she s
ampled her teriyaki and rice.
“No,” said Seth shortly, but didn’t expound upon his brief answer and Julia glanced up to catch a strange expression darken his eyes.
Not knowing him well enough to delve deeper into the reason for his stony countenance, she changed the subject.
“So what is your favorite thing to do when you’re not designing houses and buildings and all?”
“Well, I do have a hobby. It’s just not one I’m certain your brother would appreciate.”
“And what could that be, since he is constantly strumming on his guitar and singing
off-key at the top of his lungs? What could you do that is possibly worse than that?”
“You brother actually has a decent voice
, you troublemaker. It’s just that I like to design, build, and stock salt-water aquariums.”
“You mean the big ones?
Like the aquarium down in San Diego?”
“No,
smaller ones for homes and offices.”
Julia chewed her
California roll carefully. “I would suspect that this would be the place to do it since we are so close to the ocean; it would be awfully easy to get the salt water.”
“That’s true; the local stores stock jugs of salt water and import all sorts of exotic fish, including my favorite, the yellow tang.
If your brother was game I’d design a t-shaped tank of maybe five to six hundred gallons right between the dining room and living room and plunk some coral and fish in it. It would create an exotic accent to an already lovely place. I’m just not so sure he would be willing to allow me to experiment with his beloved condominium.”
“It would never hurt to ask
.”