Ninette stood at the baggage claim feeling patently stupid. She’d allowed herself to be herded into a vacation that she wasn’t sure she could afford in terms of her relationship (that had been a hard admission halfway through a fairly heavy bout of airsickness) and wasn’t even sure she wanted. Yet here she was standing in the airport waiting for her “mystery ride.”
Yes, to compound all the other stupidities, she didn’t even know who she was looking for. Her mother had said “You’ll know” and smiled. Great.
Digging her phone out of her carry-on, she alternated glancing around the room with looking for her bag.
A tall woman with her face frozen in a grimace barely even got a thought. She was collected by a much younger man that caused her eyes to soften while utterly failing to do anything about the botox around her mouth.
Next was a tiny old woman worriedly wringing her hands and looking through the crowd. After a moment of thought, Ninette concluded that she probably didn’t know the woman. A few more moments and she was sure as the woman rushed up to a set of children, clucking about them like an anxious hen.
An older man who had managed to catch her eye with distinguished silver hair and a literary look was tackled by a twenty-something giggling blonde cleavage on legs. She wondered who he was trying to impress, as none of the other people were so much as glancing at them.
High pitched laughter drew her eyes to another area of the room and a flamboyantly dressed man pressing himself on a quiet, embarrassed business man. The business man was trying to hush his partner and edge out of the room without drawing too much attention.
Shame. I don’t think there’s a person in the room who isn’t looking at this juncture.
Her bag slid past and she tugged at it, unsuccessfully trying to get it off one-handed.
“Here.” A long, muscular, tan arm reached around her and lifted it easily, setting it on the ground by her feet.
Turning, she gestured towards the phone with her free hand. “Thanks, I was just trying not to- Oh.” Her stomach slammed to her feet and her heart pounded frantically.
“Hey.”
Tall, muscled, tan, smiling. Jason, her first real crush at seven, now in his midtwenties and absolutely heart stoppingly sexy. Velvety brown eyes glinting with a hint of mischief as they met hers.
Oh no…
“Hello? Ninette?”
She started guiltily and held up a finger, turning her attention back to the phone. “Hey, I was just letting you know I’ve landed. I’m here.”
“Is your ride there?”
She glanced at Jason and blushed a deep, painful crimson. “Yeah.”
“You found them alright?”
“Yeah…”
“Alright. Call me sometime later, ok?”
“Ok.” She snapped the phone shut crisply and turned back to Jason. “Sorry.”
“Your fiancé?”
“Mm.”
He looked ready to say something, closed his mouth and started again, “Want me to carry the bag?”
“If you would. I packed a lot heavier than I meant to.”
“Books, I’d be willing to bet.” His smile invited her to share in the joke.
She yawned and covered her mouth quickly. “Gosh, sorry. I’m just…beat.”
“That’s fine. Let’s go get you to bed.”
She nodded, yawned again, and followed him out into the parking lot where he packed her and her bags into a truck.
“So…how’s life?”
“Mm…shitty. Lost my job, boring classes. You know, the usual. You?”
“Busy. Lots of work, school, trying to figure out if I want to go to a graduate school or just straight into the field.”
He was silent for so long that she started to fall asleep, her head tilting slowly towards his shoulder.
“What about Dave?”
She jumped a little and readjusted into her corner of the cab. “Um…It’s…ok.”
“That’s pretty hesitant. Should I cancel my tickets?”
“Ha ha, no.” Her laughter was so stiff she wondered how he could manage not to notice.
“You ok?”
“Just tired.”
The car rounded a corner into a dark little side street and bumped along slowly for a few minutes before turning again and stopping.
“We’re here.”
She looked out the window blearily. A two story house with a light on in a loft area loomed out of the darkness.
“S’ a house…”
“Bed and breakfast” he corrected, a warm dark presence on the other side of the cab. “Are we going to get out and go in or just sit here?”
“Well, I mean, it’s pretty late to be checking in, isn’t it?”
“I checked us in earlier today.”
“Us…” she turned the word over in her mind. “So you’ll be staying here too?”
“Yup.” He stretched. “Ready to go check it out?”
“Sure.”
The room turned out to be the one with a light on. The loft room. Luckily it had its own entrance or they would have woken up half the building. It was decorated in soft neutral colors: green and suede-like brown with accents of yellow.
“It’s lovely.” She tilted her head back to look at the light fixtures and let her backpack fall to the plush cream carpet. “What’s your room like?”
He chuckled. “You’re looking at it.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously. I can’t really blame her. While she could have gotten two rooms for about this price at a hotel.”
“But…”
“Afraid you can’t control yourself around me?”
“No.” Yes.
“Well, alright then.” He set her luggage down on a chair. “I guess you can take the bathroom first.”
She looked around the room, stuck her head in a little closet and checked out the bathroom. “One bed?”
Jason looked up from his position on the bed curled up to a book. “Yeah.”
“Jason! I’m getting married next month, I can’t share a bed with you!”
“Is he here?” he asked logically.
“No, but-“
“Are you going to tell him? I’m not.”
“Well, yes, but-“
He put the book down and came over to her, tipping her chin up. “Hey. It’s nothing, ok?”
“Ok…” she mumbled faintly.
“Ok. Now go get your shower while I figure out what to wear to sleep in.”
Feeling a flaming blush working its way up her neck, she grabbed her toiletries bag and ducked into the shelter of the bathroom.
By the time she got out, Jason was curled up on his side, book folded over a limp hand. Smiling, she took it from him and put it on the bedside table.
“Hm?” He stirred sleepily.
“You fell asleep.”
“Oh.” He stretched showing a hands width of flat, tan stomach with the slightest wisp of hair.
Trying to pretend that she hadn’t been gaping, Ninette gestured to the bathroom. “It’s all yours. There’s some nice shampoo in there.”
“I wasn’t going to shower. Just needed to brush my teeth.”
She gave him an odd look.
“What?”
“I just don’t think I’ve ever known a man who bothered to brush his teeth before he went to sleep.”
He shrugged. “Just trying to be courteous.”
When he went into the bathroom, she slid into the bed, feeling the warmth on the sheets where he’d been laying. With a sheepish glance towards the bathroom, she leaned over and sniffed delicately at his pillow.
It smelled like shampoo, sun, ocean, and just the tiniest hint of a cologne.
She took a deeper breath and smiled.
I guess it’s true: you never forget your first crush.
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