Gravity (Free Falling) (4 page)

I rolled my eyes and turned back to face Antonio.  I stretched up toward him to kiss him one last time.  I was openly defying my father in front of
his
house and I didn’t care.  It was my safe, non-destructive way of rebelling.  Antonio was shocked by my gesture, but didn’t risk hesitating long enough for me change my mind.  He pressed his lips to mine one final time.  We hugged, said goodnight to one another and I turned to walk into the house, looking back again to wave as he backed out of the driveway.

I didn’t bother to reach for my key because I could always count on Daddy to be Daddy.  Whenever I went out he waited up for me
, and minutes before I was due to arrive back at home he’d unlock the front door, return to his chair and continued to read his paper.  Tonight was no exception.  As I turned the knob and proceeded to walk into the house I hoped that he wouldn’t pressure me to talk about my evening until tomorrow.  He must’ve read my mind because he didn’t pry, but before letting me retreat to my room he called me over to kiss him goodnight.  With each step that I climbed, I felt myself getting sleepier.  As soon as I reached my room, my phone began vibrating in my purse.  It was a short alert letting me know that it was only a text message and my guess was that it was Leslie wanting to talk about the evening.  I looked at my phone to discover that I’d guessed completely wrong……….
AJ?

All traces of fatigue left my body and I quickened my pace, nearly ru
nning to my room and then locking the door behind me.  I pulled my shoes off hastily wanting to get to the message. 
What could he possibly have to say to me?
Still clothed in my expensive dress, I threw myself across the bed.  The suspense was killing me. 
What does he want?

“u still up?” AJ’s text read.

I took a deep breath and prepared myself to respond.
 
“Of course.”

Figuring that
I had a little time before receiving another message from him, I jumped up off the bed and released myself from the dress that had become my personal prison all night.  I hung it carelessly on the hook at the back of my bathroom door and walked to my dresser to get out a pair of pajamas.  I snatched the shirt over my head, not being careful of my hair–do, then pulled the pants on and slid between the covers just as my phone began to vibrate again.  Enjoying this way more than I should’ve been, I picked the phone up off the comforter and opened his message.

“Did u have fun 2nite
?
”
He asked.

“As much as can b expected…
considering.”

I took advantage of the brief intermission between messages to grab my scarf from the bathroom and tied it around my hair
before climbing back into bed to wait.

“Considering what?
”
He asked.

I didn’t really want to tell him about my dress issue
.
  “I had a bit of a wardrobe malfunction.”

“?”

“Don’t really wanna say,
”
I replied.

“P
romise I won’t laugh.”

I hesitated, but decided to let him in on the joke.
  For some reason I couldn’t seem to bring myself to tell him no. “My dress was 2 tight 2 dance!  Happy?”

“LOL”

“That counts as a laugh,” I replied, laughing myself.

“Sorry”

I was desperate to change the subject
.
“Congrats on ur win.”

“Thanks.  But it doesn’t mean n-e-thing.
”
He replie
d
.

“Sure it does.  Means people thought u deserved it”

“I guess.  What r u doing?
”
He asked, quickly changing the subject again.

“Sitting in bed
txt’n u.  what r u doing?”

“S
ame…and thinking.”

Curiosity forced me to pry
.
“What about?”
 
I asked.

He replied
without hesitatio
n
, “U.”

I wasn’t quite sure how to respond, so I simply said
,
“
What
about
me?”

             
“Lots of stuff.”
 
He replied.

             
“Like?”

             
“Why u wanna know?”

            
 
I smiled to myself.
 
“Told u about the dress.  U owe me,” I responded.

             
“Trying to figure out y u were staring @ me 2nite,” he stated plainly.  I didn’t see
that
coming.  He’d flipped the script and put
me
in the hot seat. 

I knew he’d caught me, but I didn’t expect for him to bring it back up.  I had to think quickly.
 
“Bcuz the red-head was…entertaining.”

             
“LOL…mildly.”

             
“U seemed entertained to me.”

             
“Just killing time,
”
he replied.

             
“suuuurrrreeee…..”

             
“Well, maybe if ur dress wasn’t so tight, u coulda come out there with me and showed her how it’s done,
”
he joked. 

             
“Not nice.” 

             
“Joking……but it
was
tight tho. I think I could see ur belly button,
”
he teased, bringing a smile to my face.  I exhaled and stared at our conversation on my phone.  I’m not exactly sure what I expected him to be like, but I
know
I didn’t expect for him to be like this.  Most guys who look the way he does, generally don’t have much personality because they tend to get what they want based on looks alone. 
But AJ?
  He was surprisingly easy to talk to and he seemed to have a good sense of humor.

             
“It wasn’t that bad!!!!!”
 
I insisted.

             
“Never said it was
bad
,“ he replied, which sent my mind adrift as I wondered what he meant by that.

             
“Does that mean you
liked
it?”
 
Why am I flirting with him?

             
“Liked?  Understatement,
”
he replied bringing a smile to my face yet again. But as badly as I wanted to see where this conversation would take us it wasn’t smart to let it go on.  I’d already crossed the line and it wasn’t going to get any better as we continued on. 

This situation had arisen from out of nowhere, but there was something about him that intrigued me.  He made my body feel like it was disconnected from my mind.  My brain would tell me to go in one direction and I’d do the total opposite.  I was treading on dangerous territory.  Antonio was extremely important to me and
I didn’t want to jeopardize our relationship for anything.  This was what my mind was telling me, but as I said before, my body seems to be doing its own thing.  So, I continued to reject my mind’s warnings and walked blindly into what was sure to be chaos. 

             
“
Will u call me tomorrow?”
 
I asked.

             
“What time do u get up?” he texted back.  I liked that he was so eager to continue our conversation. 

“About 9.”

              “K, call u at 9:01,
”
he replied.

             
“I’ll b waiting”

What
the heck just happened?

Of course sleep wouldn’t come easy in spite of my exhaustion
– definitely not after talking to him.  I lay awake for a while staring up at the ceiling through the darkness.  A lot transpired that night and I wasn’t quite sure what to make of any of it.  Nothing was making much sense to me anymore.  On one hand, considering that I’m in an exclusive relationship with Antonio, my dealings with AJ were becoming completely inappropriate.  But then on the other hand, I felt strangely drawn to him.  I considered for a moment that I might even be developing a crush on him after only noticing him a little more than 24 hours ago.  It wasn’t only his physical appearance that had my mind wandering anymore, now I’d seen a little into his personality too.  He’s polite, funny, and he has an insanely high level of confidence that I can’t even begin to explain.  I sighed aloud and pulled the covers over my head. 
What am I doing?  I’m gonna mess everything up.

*****

I awoke feeling refreshed.  After stretching a little, I sat up and swung my feet out of bed and sat there a moment while I gathered the strength to go downstairs to find something to eat.  The clock read
8:43. 
In that instant, all the events from the previous day unfolded in my mind like a scroll.  Before I could stop it, I was again consumed by the same excitement, guilt and uncertainty that swam through my head before sleep temporarily relieved me of my troubles.  I took a deep breath and made my way down the stairs. 

The house was silent, so I assumed that my parents had already left out.  They sometimes went out to breakfast alone toge
ther on weekends and since it was Sunday, I was sure that they’d be attending church afterward.  It was their chance to get away and enjoy each other.  I marveled at their relationship.   After nearly 20 years of marriage they still managed to keep the love alive.  I saw it in the way Mom would sometimes watch Daddy when he wasn’t even aware of it.  She’d smile to herself, I assumed she was letting her mind wander back, visiting some distant memory.  I saw it in the way Daddy never forgot to kiss her before heading out the door.  I’d made note a long time ago of his expression when he would have to be apart from her for any length of time.  It was almost like a mixture of anguish and worry, as if it was physically painful for him to be out of her presence.  Their relationship was definitely one that I envied. 
Does everyone have a chance to be as happy as they are? Or are they the anomaly?

I plopped down at the table with my bowl of cereal in one hand and the jug of milk in the other.  My mixed feelings were like an emotional cocktail
, and I was starting to feel hung-over.  At this point nothing made sense anymore.  I tried to push the thoughts back, poured the milk into my bowl and sat there absentmindedly swirling the spoon around in it as I daydreamed. 

After a few spoons full I decided that I wasn’t so hungry after all.  I pushed my chair away from the table and walked toward the sink to dump the remaining cereal down the drain. 
There had to be something that could take my mind off of things, so I walked to the living room and settled in on the couch to channel surf.  Remembering that I’d left my cell phone in my room on the nightstand, I was instantly on my feet and up the stairs hoping that I hadn’t missed AJ’s call.  He wasn’t mine to get all worked up and excited about, but I couldn’t help it.  I grabbed the phone and jogged back down to the first floor where I sat back down on the couch and checked the time – 9
:00 on the dot.  What if he doesn’t even call? 
My breathing sped up ever so slightly, as I sat waiting and watching the minutes pass....
9:01…..9:02. 
My phone began to buzz in my hand and I stared at it for a second before finding the courage to pick up.

“You’re late,” I answered, trying to disguise the nervousness in my voice.

“Only by a minute, but it’s good to know you were anxious to hear from me,” AJ laughed.  It was different talking to him on the phone than it was by text message.  The sound of his voice on the other end was enticing and I didn’t like that I was thinking of him in this way.

“I don’t know what you’re talking abo
ut.  It was just an observation,” I replied.  “You
are
late, aren’t you?”  I asked condescendingly.  “Anyway, what are you doing?” 

“J
ust got back in from running.  I cut it a little short so I wouldn’t be late calling you, but I guess my timing was off.”  He joked.

I smiled.  “It was close enough”.  There was a question on my mind that I wanted to ask him. 
Not quite knowing how to word it, I bit my nails self-consciously while I worked up the nerve.  “So…..what made you decide to contact me last night?” My words were muffled because I still had my hand to my mouth.

“Actually, I knew I was gonna call when you first gave me your number; I just didn’t follow through until last night.” 

Shock crossed my face when he didn’t think twice about answering my question.  “What do you mean?” I asked naively, wanting him to clarify exactly what he was trying to say so that I didn’t jump to any conclusions.