Yearning Devotion (2 page)

Gwen made her way to her normal
spot on the subway Tuesday morning for yet another day in the city. She liked
living farther out of the city so she didn’t have to wrestle to get on the
subway and deal with trying to find somewhere to stand or sit. The closer to
the city they traveled, the more crowded the car became. It was the reason that
she normally departed a few exits before she needed to, she didn’t like to have
to elbow her way through thick crowds. Yesterday she had an earlier than normal
appointment and decided to let the subway get her closer instead of having to
walk the couple blocks on her own. She was glad for that now because she had a
voice and name to pair with ‘Green Eyes’.

Today, after she handed the
homeless man his breakfast, he moved to sit directly in front of her. He was
making some pretty disgusting hacking sounds. While she felt for him, she
really didn’t need to get sick, so she moved to the complete other side of the
car. He didn’t notice as he was too busy eating his sandwich. She pulled out
her phone, settling in for her commute. Plugging in the earbuds, she turned on
her music before slipping a sketch pad from her bag to make adjustments to one
of her designs.

After a few minutes, she looked up
and saw that she only had about ten minutes left before her stop so she put her
sketch pad back into her bag. She took a deep breath and let her eyes scan the
crowd riding with her. She leaned back and crossed her legs at the knee. Today
she wore a knee length thin strapped navy blue dress that flowered out from an
empire waist. She paired it with a white cap sleeve sweater with three buttons at
the top and navy 3 ½ inch thick heeled sandals. She’d pulled her hair back in a
French braid to keep it off her face and out of her way. Smoothing her dress down
her thighs, she watched a young couple that seemed to be having a heated debate
over something. A big body stepped right in front of her view. She raised her
eyes up a pair of snug black dress slacks to a pale blue dress shirt topped
with a black tie and finally to a pair of green eyes. Cole.

“So, we meet again.” Cole said as
Gwen removed her earbuds. His large frame still loomed over her.

“Mr. Cressley, how very nice to see
you.” Gwen smiled at him as she shoved her earphones into her bag. “I told you,
you could find me on the subway.”

“Are you stalking me?” Cole’s
eyebrow lifted slightly.

“I’m pretty sure you are the one
that found me. I do ride the subway Monday through Friday.” Gwen raised her
eyebrow back at him. She felt odd sitting here talking to this man that she had
admired from afar for so long.

“I suppose that is true. I’ll just
have to look for you more often.” Cole smiled, flashing straight white teeth at
her. “Please, call me Cole.”

“Well, Cole, I’ll be here
somewhere. You will just have to find me. I warn you though I am pretty good at
blending in when I want to.” Gwen laughed, “Plus, I bet you have lots to work
on.”

“I’ll accept that challenge. And
what work?” Cole finally sat next to her, just close enough that their knees
barely brushed.

“Most people dressed in suits and
business attire are already hip deep in their very busy work day.” Gwen bobbed
her head towards another businessman across the aisle, who had his phone in his
hand and was punching out something with his thumbs. She watched Cole quite a
few times as he did exactly the same thing, but she wasn’t going to admit it.

“Ah. Yes. Admittedly, that’s
normally me. Better to get work started so I have less to do when I get to the
office. But today I noticed a familiar face. I figured I would put off work for
a little while longer and check in with you. You know, make sure you are ok.
Yesterday you seemed a bit dazed after the almost fall.”

“I am fine. And don’t let me stop
you from conquering the world. We wouldn’t want that!”  Gwen winked at him with
a smile.

“I’ve already done that, didn’t you
know?” Cole smiled back. “So, what is it that you do?”

“Oh no, no. I don’t talk business.
How about we settle with you have a job and I have a job, no details needed. I
don’t want to know what you do at work, and you don’t really want to know what
I do at work. It really isn’t important, anyway, it is just what pays the
bills, right? Plus, I’m getting off at the next stop.” Gwen stood still smiling
at him. A jolt in the train sent her crashing into him. She slapped her hand
against the glass above his head so she didn’t fall completely onto him, but
her breast ended up right in his face. She stepped back and with a laugh said,
“Well, how’s that for a good bye?”

“I think that should be how we say
good bye from now on. I find I’m quite a fan of it.” Cole said as he smiled.

She wrinkled her nose at him with a
smile before moving out the door a few seconds later leaving Cole to remember
the feel of her breast right in front of his face. He’d gotten a whiff of her
wonderfully feminine scent. It was more than the sickly sweet smell of perfume
that most women wore in excess. It was an earthy fleshy smell that made him
wonder just what it would taste like.

Damn,
Cole realized he still
didn’t know the beautiful brown eyed woman’s name.

Later that evening, Gwen slowly
made her way down the stairs to the subway. She leaned against the wall to wait
for the subway to arrive. Pulling her ear buds from her bag, she put them in
and leaned her head back against the wall. After looking at the ceiling for a
moment, she closed her eyes.

She was ready to be home, to take a
nice long hot shower, scrub her body clean and clear her head before settling
in to get some designs done. As she was flipping through songs on her phone, a
familiar voice had her pulling the ear buds and turning her head.

“Running into you twice in one day,
must be my lucky day.” Cole’s voice slid over Gwen. Meeting those beautiful
green eyes, she slipped the cord and earbuds back into her bag.

“Hmm… What are you doing here?”
Gwen pushed off from the wall and pulled down on her sweater in the back. Smiling
conspiratorially, she leaned forward and asked in a loud whisper, “Are you
sneaking out early from work?”

He gave her a barely detectable nod
before letting his eyes trail down her body, taking in her large breasts, full hips,
sexy plump ass, and long lean muscular legs. Before he met her eyes again, he
spent a second or two to appreciate her heels then slowly dragged his eyes back
over her beautiful curvy body. “You caught me.”

“Ooh trouble maker…” Gwen gave him
a devilish smile before slipping her phone out to check the time. It was 4:45pm.
“Although, it doesn’t seem all that early to me now that I look at the time.”

“I rarely escape the daily grind
before 7pm, but I’m glad I got away early today. Otherwise I would have missed your
company on the way home.” Cole stepped closer so that he was only an arm’s
length away from her now. He caught her delightful scent again when a subway
going the opposite direction whooshed by.

“This is not my normal stop. So
really you were very lucky to catch me at this station at this time of the
day.” Biting her bottom lip, Gwen took half a step towards him. She let her lip
slip from between her teeth when she noticed Cole’s eyes fixated on it. His
heated gaze stayed on her lips for a moment before jumping back to her eyes.  There
was something about having those eyes on her that made her do things she
normally wouldn’t do. She took another small step towards him, catching his
scent. He smelled faintly of soap, sandalwood and the sun.  Gwen took a deep
breath, it was a wonderful scent that oddly comforted her.

“You know, you’ve never told me
your name, you keep slipping off before I can catch it.”

“Gwen. You can call me Gwen.” She
said looking down the tracks to see if the subway was coming yet. She hadn’t
wanted him to know it, to hear it roll off his tongue. She had been using it as
a way to keep him from getting to know her, but something about this man made
her want to know more, for him to know more.

“Gwen. Beautiful, just like you.
Very fitting. So, Gwen, if we don’t talk about work, what else is there to talk
about? What do you do in your free time?” Cole asked leaning next to her,
against the wall. She had moved close enough for him to touch her, he didn’t
although she could tell he wanted to.

“I’m actually rather boring. I
read, I work out, and I obsess over what shoes to wear the next day. You know,
all that girly stuff. You?” Gwen smiled and tilted her head to the side a bit.

“I like to travel, see new places,
meet new people, you know, try new things. I like to keep in shape so anything
that is physical appeals too.” Cole shrugged. “But mostly I work.”

“Ha! I knew you were a workaholic.
You have to be when you work all the way to and from work. You probably work
when you are at home too, don’t you? Meanwhile, all the good things in life are
passing right by you and you won’t even notice until it’s too late.” Gwen
frowned at him. “It’s like having the love of your life sitting next to you on
the subway but you never strike up a conversation or even realize it’s because
you are too busy working on your phone. Or not helping out someone who could
use a hand to open the door because you are so focused on work that you just
walked right past the person who could have been the best friend you’ve never
had. How much work did you really get done in that short time? Wouldn’t missing
that one email be worth stepping in between a bully and his victim?  You can
change people’s lives and people can change your life with simple little
interactions that you are missing. Life can change so quickly, you should make
sure you enjoy everything while you can, because you never know when things
will change.”

“Sounds like you are speaking from
personal experience.” Cole asked. He saw a flash of something in her eyes but
it was gone as quickly as it’d come. He lowered his voice and in a caring tone
he asked, “Did you lose something or someone?”

“Yeah. I lost something.” Gwen said
quietly, ducking her head as her eyes filled with tears. Taking a deep breath,
blowing it out slowly she said softly, “Let’s just say I had a hard lonely
youth. I had years stolen from me. Now I try to help people the way I was never
helped. Excuse me.” Gwen turned quickly and walked back towards the stairs that
would lead back to ground level. After a moment of surprise, Cole quickly ran
after her.

“Hey! I’m sorry I didn’t mean to
upset you.” Cole said apologetically. Gwen gave him a sad smile.

“It’s not you. It’s me. It’s my
past.” A small sick laugh escaped her lips, “You’d think I’d be able to talk
about it. Talk about that time. I can’t. I won’t. Please, just leave it alone.”
Gwen turned and walked away as she brushed a tear that had escaped off her
cheek.

“Can I take you for a coffee? I
promise I won’t bring it up. We don’t even have to talk. I just don’t want you
going off alone so upset.” Cole asked loudly as she walked away from him yet
again. She stopped and turned to look at him. She considered it for a moment. The
look in his eyes made her nod her head.

“Sure.”

 “Come on, follow me, I know the
best little place and it’s not far.” He led her up to street level from the
subway. Gwen quietly followed beside him, neither of them talking, which she
found oddly comfortable. Two blocks away, he opened a door and gestured for her
to enter before him. “What would you like?”

“Surprise me.” Gwen wasn’t a big
coffee drinker so she doubted she would really like anything. She’d come
because something in the way he looked at her made her want to know him better.

“Ok. Go find a seat and I’ll bring
you something I think you’ll like.” Cole watched as she found a table on the
other side of the little shop that was near a door that exited to the street.
Always
ready to escape
. Cole thought.
What are you so afraid of?
He brought
two travel cups to the table, placing one softly down on the table in front of
her. “Here you go.”

“Thanks.” Gwen cupped both hands
around it as he sat across from her. He just sat there watching her for a
moment. “What?”

“You aren’t going to try it?” He
asked, gesturing to the cup.

“Well, I do want to be able to
taste food over the next couple days, so it’s probably wise to let it cool off
a bit so I don’t burn my entire mouth.” Gwen gave him a goofy smile.

“It’s not that hot. Trust me. Look
I’ll drink mine to prove it.” Cole took a sip from his own cup.

“Did you get the same thing I did?”
Gwen looked from his cup to hers.

“No, why?” Cole’s eyebrow rose
slightly.

“Because they aren’t all the same.
Some drinks are made hotter than others.” Gwen shrugged.

“Do you ever just do something? Act
without thinking? Throw caution to the wind and just enjoy?” The tone of his
voice was gentle as those green eyes gazed at her thoughtfully.

“No. Never. Life is unpredictable
enough, I just try to make the decisions that don’t make it more turbulent than
it already is.”

“I can see that logic. But Miss
Grab-Life-As-It-Passes, isn’t that contradictory?” Cole took another sip as he
waited for her answer.

“Not at all. I didn’t say go do
wild and crazy things. I said be aware of where you are and what those around
you are doing. If you see someone struggling, help them out. How does it hurt
you to take two seconds to help someone else? Open a door to a building you
aren’t entering just because you see a mother juggling her child and groceries.
Help the little old lady in the grocery store who can’t reach an item on the
top shelf. It’s little easy things.”

“You really think that makes a
difference? How do things like that really help?” Cole asked giving her a
skeptical look.

“It just does. Imagine if the
mother dropped her groceries and they went spilling everywhere or broke or
worse if she dropped her child. You potentially just saved her that trouble.”
Gwen shrugged a shoulder. “Call me odd, that’s just how I am.”

“So, you go around helping everyone
you see in need? You ride the subway and you have a mysterious job. What else
do you do?” Cole smirked at her. “Take in lost puppies and kittens?”

“Oh what, are you going to make fun
of me now?” Gwen pushed her chair back from the table.

“Oh come on. No one does nice
things for other people anymore.” He said crossing his arms over his chest as
he scoffed at her, “You are really that selfless? I highly doubt it.”

“Well, sir, that’s just something
you’ll have to take my word for.” Gwen shrugged and stood up. “I suppose this
was interesting. Always good to see another side of people. I’ll be the crazy
broad and you can be the typical asshole guy lacking in manners like the rest
of the world.”

“Wait, wait. Don’t leave. I’m
sorry.” Cole stood and gestured for her to take a seat. She stared at him for a
moment before sitting down. “That’s not how I meant it to sound. I do open
doors for women and give them my coat if they are cold and hold their umbrella
for them. I was raised to be a gentleman. But I’ve never met someone who
literally went out of their way to help people do menial tasks. I do somewhat see
your point. Plus, if you only knew the type women I normally deal with. They
tend to be the type to say one thing, but do the complete opposite. You are a
breath of fresh air and sometimes I don’t know how to take you.”

“Yeah, that’s me. One of a kind. I
doubt you’ll find anyone like me.” Gwen laughed and shook her head.
Stop
being so argumentative
. Gwen told herself as she tried to push back her
natural defenses against men. He seemed to actually be trying to get to know
her. “I think you’d run screaming the other direction if you knew everything
about me.”

“I doubt it. I’d really like to get
to know you more. That is, if you can get over my asshole slip ups.” Cole
smiled at her. “I’m glad you agreed to come here.”

“Yes, I kind of like talking to
you, even if you challenge me. Plus, you are a strange man. Worried about
sending some girl you know nothing about away upset.” Gwen tapped her fingers
on the side of her cup. “I suppose that was the gentlemanly thing to do. Do you
always do the gentlemanly thing?”

“No. Not at always. There are most
definitely times that I’m not a gentle man.” It was Cole’s turn to laugh. She
hadn’t heard him laugh very much, if at all. It was a delight to hear. “I too
have a few secrets that are best not discussed over coffee. And I do know you
more than you think. Your eyes tell me a lot about you. They show me this
incredibly intelligent woman that is behind this incredibly beautiful exterior.
So, are you ever going to taste the drink I got you? I want to know if you like
it.”

“Persistent man.” Gwen grumbled
even though she was smiling. She didn’t want to think about the complement he
had given her so she brought the cup up to her lips and took a tiny sip. The
warm liquid slid over her tongue and she nearly moaned. “What is this?”

“Is it good?”

“Yes. I hate coffee but this… This
is heaven.” Gwen took a much larger sip of it. “You have to tell me what it
is.”

“Chai Latte.” He smiled at her. As
he spoke, he reached across the table to push a stray hair back off her face
with his knuckles. “Its coffee but not. The light in your eyes looks like you
just opened the best gift on Christmas.”

“It tastes like Christmas. That’s
the best word I can come up with how to describe it.” Gwen’s eyes softened and
she tilted her head to smile at him. He pegged her drink right on, even better
than she could have. “How’d you know I’d like it?”

“I didn’t. You didn’t strike me as
a coffee girl or even a tea girl. I thought I’d go with something different.
Just a lucky guess.” He smiled and shrugged. Gwen looked up at a clock hanging
on the far wall.

“As much as I’m enjoying this, I do
have to get going.” She pushed back her chair again and stood to leave. Cole
stood as well.

“Do you have far to go?” He asked
as they walked towards the door they entered through. Cole tossed his empty cup
but Gwen kept her still nearly full one.

“Not really.” She turned and looked
at him. His eyes flicked from one of her eyes to the other as he took a step
closer to her. His hands gripped her hips gently. His eyes never leaving hers
as he slowly lowered his head to tenderly press his lips to hers before
stepping back again.

“I had to do that. Your lips drive
me crazy.” Cole let his hands slip off of her hips, stepping back another step.
Gwen just stood there staring at him. The cup in her hand fell to the ground,
pouring out everywhere. It was the only movement she made for a moment before
her eyes closed tightly shut.

“Well, uh, thanks for the coffee.”
Gwen stuttered before jumping into a cab that someone was just exiting. It
quickly pulled away. Cole watched in confusion as it disappeared a few blocks
away.