Coming Together As One

"I swear to you, Holly, it was nothing." He couldn't meet her eyes. "Her grandmother was in the hospital at the same time as Mom. We met in the waiting room and had coffee together and talked. That was all that happened."

Chicken, he inwardly chided himself.

Holly regarded him warily. "Was it really?"

"Of course it was! Look, Holly, I was in a country I'd never been to, surrounded by strangers, worried sick about Mom, and I just needed somebody, anybody, to talk to."

"I was really worried about you, you know," said Holly. "All that time, I had no idea what you were doing. I just assumed you'd forgotten about me and moved on."

"Never!" Henry replied. "I could never forget about you, Holly. It just felt so weird to be in another country for the first time. It was like a whole different world over there - I can't really explain. You'd have to see it to believe it."

"After awhile, I halfway thought I'd never see you again." Her voice was soft.

"I never intended to stay over there for good," said Henry. "I always knew I'd come back to my life here, and that includes you."

"Are you glad to be back, Henry?" Her voice was soft as a feather as her hand touched his arm, and suddenly he wanted her more than anything else in the world.

"No. This is where I belong, here with you. Come back to my place with me, Holly."

"Mom's expecting me home for dinner."

"Tell her I'm taking you out for dinner."

"All right."

He watched as she walked to the counter to ask for the telephone, desire welling up within him as it had on that special night last spring, right before he'd had to leave the country.

That felt like forever ago.

She returned a few minutes later. "I told her you were taking me for dinner, like you said."

"Are you hungry? Would you like to go for dinner first?" asked Henry.

"Remember what happened last time we went for dinner first?"

"Excellent point."

They walked out to his car, and he drove the familiar path to her home, noticing a couple of minor changes that had taken place over the summer. The new restaurant was now open for business; a side street was now closed for construction work. None of that mattered; the only thing on Henry's mind was he finally had a chance to be alone with Holly.

The perfect silence of the house as they entered made Henry feel weird and a little creepy. "Would you like some music on?" he asked.

"Kenny G would be great," Holly replied.

He found the CD and popped it into the CD player, and they began to dance. Her arms came up to encircle his neck, and as their lips pressed together, her tongue slide into his mouth, and he wanted her more than ever.

"Let's go into my parents' bedroom," he choked out.

"Why theirs?"

"Their bed's bigger and more comfortable."

He took her hand and led her into the bedroom. Once there, they eagerly ripped the clothing from one another's bodies, not stopping until they were both completely naked.

"Wait!" Henry cried, dashing to his own bedroom to retrieve the condom, then returning with lightning speed.

Soothing saxophone music wafted from the living room and through the open bedroom door as they came together as one for the first time. Holly cried out as he entered her, and he tried his best to go slowly, to be as gentle as he could, and to him it was as if the incident with Anya had never happened at all, as if it were only a distant dream. Although he couldn't actually remember whether or not they'd completed the act, it didn't matter at all; all that mattered was that he and Holly were together at last.

After it was over, they lay entwined together, her head resting on his chest, her hair tickling his nose. The Kenny G CD had ended long ago, and in the quiet stillness of the house, Henry felt relaxed and content.

"I wish I could stay like this forever," he murmured.

"Me too," Holly mumbled.

His stomach rumbled. "Are you hungry?" he asked Holly.

"A little. Are you?"

"I feel like I could eat a horse!" He laughed. "Come on, let's get dressed and I'll take you somewhere."