Runaway Mother chapter 27

I usually look forward to spending time in the deli with Chad on a Sunday, this Sunday however, I feel anxious. Chad is the first person I told about Carolyn leaving me and Zach, and us raising him on our own for weeks on end. As I walk to work, I’m fearful that he’s going to look at me with pity eyes. I don’t want pity, I want…well…I guess I don’t know what I want!

I enter the deli and make a bee line for the break room. I head towards my locker and see Chad at his…topless. I stop in my tracks, and even though I know I should look away, my eyes can’t help but stare at the ripples of muscle in his stomach.

‘You like what you see?’ he asks.

‘Sorry,’ I say when I finally look into his eyes, eyes that are smiling back at me. I try to hide the fact that I’m blushing and look away.

Chad comes over to me and I open my locker door to put my bag and coat into it. When I close it again, Chad is still there, topless, taunting me. ‘You like what you see?’ he repeats.

My hand begins to move towards his body, as if by instinct. I feel as though I have no control of it, when at the last minute, my fingers tremble and I pull it back. Chad catches it and places it on his body. My insides tingle with excitement and intrigue. He moves closer to me and takes his hand off mine, brushing my cheek with it. Our eyes meet and he kisses me gently. My body is feeling something I’ve never felt before…lust!

As his tongue gently tickles my lips, he pulls away. I want more but he says, ‘we’d better get to work!’ He returns to putting on the shirt that was in his hand the whole time, and winks as he passes to grab two fresh aprons from the cupboard.

I close my eyes tight, locking in this momentous occasion in the memory bank. I close my locker and accept the apron he hands me, his dimples showing. He clutches onto my hand, letting go once we exit the break room door and venture onto the shop floor.

 

After the lunch time rush at three o’clock, Chad brushes past me, ‘you wanna catch lunch?’ he asks.

‘Sure!’ I say. I love my job, but when you are banging out literally hundreds of coffees a day, you can’t help but go on auto pilot until someone, or something, tells you to stop. My someone just happens to be Chad!

As daisy, who’s always on the food end of things comes over to relieve me, I hightail it into the break room where there is a freshly made sandwich, a coffee, and a hunk waiting for me.

‘How did you make these coffees?’ I ask, ‘I just handed over to daisy a second ago!’

‘Jesus is my man!’ Chad grins. ‘I got him to get you to make these as I made the BLT’s!’

Before I take a sip of my latte, I recognise the heart I made on the top with the milk as it was specially ordered. ‘You are full of surprises Chad Spencer!’ I grin. It’s not until after I take a sip of the latte that I promise myself that I have to kidnap Betsy and set her up at home it tastes so good! Then again, it might have something to do with the man I’m drinking it with.

‘It’s so nice to be able to sit for a while!’ I say out loud unbeknownst to myself and take a bite of my delicious sandwich. 

I jump as the cork board quickly moves and out comes Bob. ‘You are the exact person I was looking to talk to!’ he storms out of his office, his finger pointing in my direction.

I swallow hard, ‘Chad gave me these…and I’m more th…’

‘…don’t worry about that!’ he waves his arm dismissively, ‘I was just wondering if you could tame Betsy until we close at nine tonight. I know it’s a big ask and that you will have worked for over twelve and a half hours but I’m really in a bind and it will show in your pay ch…’

‘…yea, sure!’ I answer without letting him finishing his sentence.

He looks at me with kind eyes and says, ‘I knew I could count on you!’ before retreating back into his office.

‘I guess I can give you a lift home later then!’ Chad smiles, his eyes twinkling in the light.

‘I guess you can!’ I smile back and tuck into the sandwich once more!

 

When Bob closes the door to the deli by changing the sign from open to closed, only opening it to let the last few stragglers out, my eyes automatically scan the room for Chad. He’s making sandwiches and I can’t help but stare in awe at the speed at which he’s banging them out!

Every employee goes home with something from the deli and I must have been stuck to the spot for a while as Bob comes over, ‘are you ok?’ he asks.

‘Yea, sorry, I’m just jaded!’ I say, which is only half of the truth. I’m guessing Bob doesn’t want me telling him that I want to jump his sons bones!

I sit in the break room waiting for Chad to finish, when Bob approaches me again. He hands me a Fanta, ‘he’s not going to be much longer!’ he says and winks at me before going back onto the floor to do the end of day rituals that comes with owning a diner.

‘Thanks!’ I shout after him, but I’m not sure he hears me.

I open the bottle of Fanta and gulp down half of the bottle, the bubbles tickle the back of my throat and move down my oesophagus. I can’t help but enjoy the lovely feeling of being able to fully relax, safe in the knowledge that Ethan is being looked after and that I’m not on the clock to get home. I had of course texted Connie to tell her I’d be working late and she didn’t make me feel pressurised into giving her a time to expect me.

‘Just come home when you’re ready!’ she wrote back, ‘Ethan is fine!’

As I enjoy the feeling of the bubbles, I close my eyes until I hear movement around me. Its Chad! He approaches me with a smile on his face and an armful of sandwiches and deli meats.

‘I know that your family has grown since the last time I saw you, so I just packed up what was left and some extra sandwiches with a variety of fillings!’

I beam up at him as he’s putting the goodies on the table. I’m taken by surprise when he leans down and kisses me gently.

With my eyes still closed after the kiss, fireworks soaring through my veins, I hear keys jingle in front of me.

I look up to see Chad with an expression of wonderment on his face, ‘you want a lift home?’ he asks.

‘I would love one!’ I answer, my feet so sore that I was going to ask to sleep in the deli if I had to walk home!

 

‘You fancy going somewhere different, or would you prefer to go straight home?’ I look at him and am full of adrenaline.

‘Somewhere different would be lovely!’ I say, intrigued at where he is going to take me.

We drive a bit away from the town, up rolling hills until finally we stop. It’s a rare clear night and Chad exits the vehicle. I follow him and when he sits on the bonnet of the car, I join him. I look up at the twinkling stars above us and the breath-taking lights of the town beneath us.

‘This is a very romantic place, Chad!’ I smile at him.

‘I guessed it was the perfect night for it…the sky isn’t usually so clear!’ he takes my hand and looks deep into my eyes.

I unbottle the feeling I had earlier when I was touching his magnificent abs, and the lust returns. I kiss him and ask, ‘do you have a blanket or something in the car?’

‘What for?’ he asks, his eyebrows raised.

‘I think I’m ready!’ I simply say.

‘You are?’ he asks with surprise.

‘You couldn’t have picked a more romantic spot!’ I kiss him again this time touching his stomach as I do so.

He tells me to wait until he can see what he could find and disappears into the belly of the car. I look up at the stars, and everything feels right!

When Chad returns, his arms are laden down with sandwiches and drinks and that all important blanket. He spreads it out on the patch of grass in front of the car and we make love.

When we’re finished, we lay there, my head on his smooth chest and I can’t help but feel glad that my first time was so perfect. Chad was so gentle and let’s just say…he has skills. I never in my life felt as good as I do now! I look up at him and thank him.

‘Theres no need to thank me!’ he laughs, his laughter sparking a sequel to the main event!

Just as we’re getting our breath back, my phone rings. When I realise its Connie calling, I answer straight away!

‘I’m wondering if you have been kidnapped?’ she says.

I look at my watch and realise it’s almost midnight. ‘Shit!’ I say. ‘Sorry, I just lost track of time!’

‘But you’re, ok?’

I look at Chad, ‘yes, yes I can say that I’m definitely ok!’

‘I hate to be a hard ass, but when you didn’t call, I got worried!’

‘No need to worry!’ I assure her, ‘I’m with Chad!’

‘Oh,’ she says, followed by ‘ooohhhhh!’ and laughs down the phone.

‘I hope I didn’t interrupt anything!’ she says, and I get the sneaky feeling she knows what me and Chad just did under the star filled sky…twice!

‘No, no interruptions!’ I look at Chad, my face contorted while he just lays there and laughs.

‘Well as long as you’re safe, that’s the main thing!’ she says, ‘you were being safe right?’

I could die with embarrassment and reply, ‘I’m on my way home now!’

‘You take your time honey, I’m not your mother after all!’

I look over at Chad who’s putting his pants back on as he continues to laugh.

‘I will be home shortly and I’m sorry for staying out so late!’

‘Don’t be!’ she says, ‘you deserve a bit of you time!’

I am mortified, not at the fact that I slept with Chad, but at the fact that she now knows I slept with Chad! ‘Thanks!’ is the only thing I can think of saying before I hang up and get dressed as quickly as I can.

Chad holds my hand the whole way home. As we reach the house, he looks deep into my eyes, ‘any regrets?’ he asks.

‘Not about us!’ I smile back and give him the same kiss that he gave me at my locker earlier that day…one that makes him want more!

As I walk towards the front door, he rolls down the car window, ‘you’re a tease Mary Fisher!’

I open the door and blow him a kiss, exaggerating it with my hand. When I close it after me, I stand with my back to it smiling. I want to tell someone, but am afraid with my group of friends that the words slut, or whore, would follow me down the hall at school as none of them can keep anything to themselves.

I run upstairs to brush my teeth, intending to write about the story of how I lost my virginity when Connie meets me on the landing.

‘How was it?’ she asks, leaning against the wall with a massive smile on her face.

‘What?’ I ask blushing uncontrollably.

‘Was it your first time? He didn’t force you, did he?’ she asks and I can’t help but smile.

‘You, are now officially a woman! I hope it was better than my first time!’ she grins wider. ‘You should go and write all the details down, because your first time is so special! If you write it down, you can relive it over and over again.

‘Yea,’ I say to her with a stupid grin on my face, ‘I was intending to do that!’

‘If you want to ever talk about anything…I mean girl talk, then I’m available every minute of every day!’

‘Thanks, I smile and retreat to my room to write about the most amazing night of my life. I try to not leave anything out. Some of the details I’m embarrassed to even admit to my diary, but like Connie said, I need to so I can relive it over and over again for years to come!

Just as I’m finished writing all the nitty gritty details, Chad texts me.

‘I love you, Mary Fisher!’ the text reads, ‘but I hate the fact that you left me hanging on a kiss so perfect that I wanted to ravish your body again!’

I don’t know why, because there’s just me in the room, but I’m blushing.

‘I love you too Chad Spencer,’ I reply, ‘and I can’t wait until the next time you ravish my body again!’

I put my diary away, happy in the knowledge that I have every single detail of the night encapsulated, and turn off my light to go to sleep.