First Class to New York (23 page)

Scooting down his legs, Janie continued kissing him down to
his belly button and swirled her tongue around and around and then down the
trail of hair that disappeared into his jeans. She rolled up and saw him
watching her intently, eyes hooded, lips apart, shallow breathing. Eyes locked
with his she released his hands and fumbled with the button on his jeans and
carefully pulled on the zipper till his bulging erection was only confined by
his black boxer briefs.  She wriggled off his legs so that she sat in between
them and pulled the denim from his body, one leg and then the other. She felt
in the pockets, looking for the condom she knew would be there, and then
discarded them in the pile on the floor, adding his athletic socks to it.

She kissed the top of each foot and each ankle and then
worked her way up his shin. She kissed his knee and kissed his thigh all the
way up to the bottom of his briefs. Then she kissed the other knee and his
other thigh, stopping again when she came to his black underwear.  Ever so
delicately, Janie slipped her fingers into the waistband of his briefs and
gradually pulled them down, down to his knees. She lifted his right leg and
pulled his foot through and then his left leg, depositing them on the floor.
She reached for the condom she had removed from his jeans and tore it open with
her teeth, discarding the wrapper. She knelt over Matt’s hips and rolled the
condom down his taut length and gazed up at him, desire pumping through her
veins. Matt grabbed her shoulders and pulled her down to him, kissing her
passionately.

Straddling him she tilted back and found the head of his
penis between her legs and slowly, wantonly, slid down onto him, their gaze
never breaking. Janie sat upright, fully impaled on him, feeling every inch of
him inside her. All of her senses gloried in the feel of him buried deep within
her. Matt’s hands grabbed her hips and held her firmly to him as he bucked his
hips and groaned with pleasure. Janie splayed her hands across his chest and
rose up and then slid back down, creating the rhythm of their union. Over and
over she went, desire building more and more. She could feel the tension
building and she knew she was right at the brink when Matt thrust upwards,
gasping, and Janie pushed into his hips and they fell splendidly over the edge
in unison into an orgasm that racked their bodies, leaving them breathless and entwined
in each other’s limbs.

*****

The alarm buzzed at exactly 4am and Janie slapped at the
snooze button. The realization that it was all over, all done, that she was
leaving weighed heavily. She was going to have to say goodbye. Matt rolled over
and grabbed her around the waist.

“Not yet,” he breathed.

She turned and tried to see him in the dark, tried to study
his features, every last detail committed to memory. If she stayed any longer
her tears would fall and she couldn’t let him see her cry. She lifted his arm
and escaped to the bathroom. Leaning on the door she fought the tears back,
willing herself to focus on getting dressed, packing the last of her toiletries.

A few minutes later, Janie emerged dressed and her small bag
closed and ready. Matt was dressed sitting on the edge of the bed. She couldn’t
read his expression; it was closed, veiled, hidden. He stood and took his turn
in the bathroom. Janie looked around the room, double and triple checking that
she hadn’t forgotten anything. She checked departing schedules on her phone and
confirmed the flight was on time.

 Matt joined her and grabbed his jacket off the chair. He
took her bags and they left the room. They traveled down to the lobby and out
the front door without saying a word. Ray was waiting for them and opened the
trunk and Matt put the suitcases in the car. Ray opened the door for Janie and
she slid into the backseat. Looking out in the dark, she watched as they pulled
out from the curb and headed for La Guardia.

Matt reached for her hand and she risked a look at him. He
was looking out his window. She squeezed his hand and they rode in silence.

*****

Matt wheeled her suitcases into the terminal despite Janie’s
insistence she could manage herself. They walked straight to the ticket counter
and Janie handed the agent her driver’s license. He took her bags and gave her
two boarding passes; one for the New York to Denver leg and then on to
Portland.

“They have a nice lounge in Denver,” Matt mused.

Janie smiled and took the passes. “Good! I’ll be there for
three and a half hours,” she said.

They walked hand in hand to the beginning of the security
checkpoint. Janie could feel her eyes filling, her throat tightening. She turned
and placed her hand gently on his cheek and looked into his eyes, finding the
strength to whisper, “Thank you Matt, I mean it. You have been…….it has been
the trip of a lifetime. No regrets.”

She kissed him, barely touching her lips to his and turned.
She walked quickly to the TSA agent sitting on a stool, tears streaming down
her cheeks, unable to look back. “Goodbye Matt. I love you.”

*****

He didn’t trust himself to say a word. The ride to the
airport had been excruciating. He had wanted to scream that he didn’t want her to
leave; that they could make a life together. But she had made it obvious there
was no future for them and he hadn’t wanted to beg. He didn’t want to make her
uncomfortable. He would abide by her wishes. He would abide by his rules.

He had made a promise to her to carry her bags in and that
was what he intended to do. He had fulfilled everything he had told her would;
they would spend time together, he would show her his New York and then she
could dump him and walk away. Only, he had been wrong about there being no
regrets. Very wrong! He would never have imagined two weeks ago that his life
could be turned upside down so quickly and by someone such as Janie Anderson.

And she had walked away. He had willed her to look back at
him, it would have been a sign and he would have yelled her name and she would
run back to him, but she hadn’t. She walked away.

Matt stood there like a statue for several minutes after she
disappeared from sight. Finally, he walked out to the car. Ray was leaning on
the hood and stood as he exited the terminal. “She’s gone,” he said a deep
frown on his face.

“Yes. She is.”

“Home, Sir?”

“No. The office.”

Ray drove back in to Manhattan as Matt watched the sun rise,
a single tear falling down his cheek.

*****

Janie boarded the plane first. She sat down in her
comfortable wide leather window seat and shoved her purse under leg. Locating
the seatbelt under the pillow and blanket, the metal ends clinked as she
clasped them together and she pulled the belt tight and leaned back closing her
eyes and taking a deep breath. She could hear the other passengers around her,
finding their seats and stowing luggage in the overhead bins. The pleasant
voice of the flight attendant that welcomed her aboard filled the small cabin,
offering help and drinks.

It was exactly the same as two weeks ago when she had boarded
the plane in Portland. Only this time, a pleasant elderly woman came and sat
next to her. Janie looked out the window and just wished she was home.

*****

There was a pile of documents on his desk when he entered
his office. He sat in the chair and swung around to look outside. He rubbed his
forehead and took a deep breath. She was gone and no matter how hard it was he
needed to put her behind him.

Matt swung back to his desk and flipped through the messages
Angela had left for him. There was one from his attorney about the new
partnership with Mark. A couple from Chicago and one from Katy.

Do I know a Katy?
he thought. He scanned the number
and it had a 503 area code. Angela had written Janie’s name in the memo line.
What?

After a few seconds he put the pieces together.
Katy is
Janie’s friend in Oregon. Why would she be calling me?
The message was
dated yesterday afternoon. Matt thought about the day before. It had not been a
good day.

He picked up the phone on his desk and dialed the number. It
rang three or four times.

“This had better be fucking important,” the woman’s voice
said.

“Katy?”

“Yeah. Who is this? It’s four o’clock in the morning!”

“Katy, this is Matt Lathem. You left a message for me
yesterday. I am returning your call. I apologize. I didn’t think about the time
difference.”

“Are you shitting me? You wait till she’s on the fucking
plane before you call? You really are an asshole, aren’t you?”

“What? Is there something you wanted, or did you just call
to swear at me?”

“Oh no, there was a couple of things I wanted to say to you.
She’s on her way back right?”

“Yes, I dropped her off at the airport an hour ago.”

“First off, I just want you to know that your little game of
‘let’s have a great time while you’re here and then we just walk away with no
regrets’ might be fine for the type of women you date, but I am sure that Janie
is NOT the type you usually hook up with and that was just cruel to do to her.
This is the first time that she put herself out there and she gets screwed by
you. You’re a real gentleman aren’t you? And secondly, I get that you made no
promises to her but you might have been just a touch discrete about fucking
your ex-wife at the same you are fucking my friend. You’re just an asshole. And
that’s all I wanted to say.”

“Whoa! Hold up! What are you talking about? I am not fucking
my ex-wife, not that it’s any of your business. And you are right. Janie is
nothing like the women I usually date,” Matt said. “She’s nothing like them,
that’s what changed this whole thing,” he whispered.

“So, you’re not all up with your ex?”

“No! Why do you think I am?”

“Janie came to your office and she overheard you telling
Beth that you wanted to fuck her raw cuz Janie wasn’t your type.”

“Shit! Shit! Shit!” Matt slammed his fist down on the desk.
“She heard that.”

“Yeah, she did. And it broke her heart you asshole!”

“She heard it wrong! I was being sarcastic. I actually told
Beth I never wanted to see her ever again. I didn’t even want her saying
Janie’s name! I love…that isn’t what I meant at all. Is that why she told me
she was sick?” Matt was now sick, physically ill. He hit the desk again and
gritted his teeth.

“Yeah, it is.”

“Is that what that talk was about yesterday? Telling me it
was all a fling and she was glad to be leaving?”

“Matt, tell me how you feel about her? Is it just a fling
for you? When Janie told me you hadn’t reacted with relief, I needed to talk to
you, to ask you whether or not you were just screwing her for fun.”

“God, no!” Matt spat. “I was ready to ask her…I wanted to
tell her that…I didn’t want her to leave.” Matt ran his hands through his hair
and leaned back in his chair. “I really fucked up.”

“Matt, she only said that stuff cuz she knew that’s what you
wanted. You told her that’s all there was. She was just protecting herself,”
Katy sighed. “Is that what you want?”

“No! No, it’s not. I’m in love with her.”

“Well then, yes, you really fucked it all up!”

*****

Janie sat in the lounge in Denver just staring at nothing.
She had texted the boys to say she was on her way back and she would let them
know when she landed at PDX. She texted Katy to say her flight was expected to
land twenty minutes later than scheduled. Katy responded by saying she would
pick her up curbside. Then Janie just sat, sat looking at nothing for two and a
half hours. She was despondent, there weren’t even any tears left to cry. She
must be dehydrated from crying all the way from New York to Denver. The poor
woman next to her must have thought she was mentally unstable. And to be fair,
she felt unstable.

She made her way to the gate and handed her boarding pass to
the gate agent. She boarded the plane and sat in her window seat, staring out
at the activity on the tarmac. She heard the rustle next to her and looked to
see a dark grey suit. Her breath hitched and her eyes looked up to see a grey
bearded man sliding into the seat next to her. She turned back to the window
and just desperately wanted to be home.

*****

Matt sat in his office, staring out the window, as he had
done for most of the day. The sun was now setting and a soft glow was appearing
over the city as lights began to flicker. In his hand he held the blue box,
wrapped in a white ribbon with a perfectly tied bow. It was a gift for Janie. A
gift he had not given to her before she left.

“Matt!”

Mark’s voice caused him to swing around in his chair.

“You look like shit,” said Mark.

“Good! I feel like shit!”

“So she left today?” Mark’s eyebrows were raised.

“Yep.”

“And you didn’t tell her how you felt? You didn’t stop her?”

“Would it have made a difference?” replied Matt.

“You’ll never know now, will you?” Mark was obviously
irritated with his brother.

“She’s too good for me. She deserves much better.”

“Go get her Matt!”

The End of
First Class to New York
Matt and Janie’s story continues in

First Class to Portland

http://www.firstclassnovels.com