Merle

The man was starting to make me think that maybe I had been wrong when I thought that he wanted me. He had kissed me and I was sure that he wanted me as much as I wanted him, but after he left the bathroom and I was still basically untouched, I wasn’t too sure anymore. It was a shame because there was part of me that wanted him to take the hint and take me already.

I had done everything that I could to entice him, but he must have had the patience of a saint because I was untouched as he left.

He hollered through the door about going out for dinner and I told him that I would be out soon. I wanted to find a reason to call him back into the bathroom, but being shot down so thoroughly was going to do it for me. My face was red with the idea of it. How many times had I been turned down in such a way? It wasn’t that many, I was sure of it and it certainly wasn’t done when I was naked in a bubble bath.

When I got out, I tried not to act sour but I was. My body was in overdrive and all he would have had to do was touch me a little bit and I would have been able to feel better. I wasn’t too happy about the fact that he hadn’t given me what I needed and I wanted to tell him about himself. I was actually angry a little bit.

I went into the room he was letting me use and I got dressed. I almost just threw on something hot and sexy, but that avenue hadn’t worked for me, so instead I just threw on a pair of jeans and a sweater. There was no reason for me to dress up if the man that I wanted wasn’t going to pay attention to me. He had saved me from the cold water and given me a job. It should have been enough, but it wasn’t. I wanted more from Charlie.

Charlie was waiting in the living room when I was done and he still had that dark, haunting look in his eyes that had started it all. It had made me think that he wanted the same thing that I did, but now I wasn’t sure what it meant.

“You look good Merle. I can’t even tell that you were lifeless a couple of hours ago.”

I didn’t like the image that his words gave me and I just kind of sighed to him. He was not going to let that go. I was ready to move on and think about other things. He was still stuck on earlier.

“It’s not like it hasn’t happened before. I feel fine now. Thanks for being there though. I think if that would have happened with Kevin, I would have been a goner.”

Saying that made me really think about what I had just said. If I hadn’t have ran into Charlie and gotten hitched up with him, would I even be here now? Kevin would have been drunk no doubt or at least in a stupor and I had a feeling that he wouldn’t have caught something like that. My oxygen had been cut off with him, as well as the hot water. What if I would have been too far from the surface to get there in time?

I didn’t like the thought of that or how dangerous the job was. I knew that it was of course, I had done diving before, but never like this. Maybe I was brushing it off like it was nothing because I didn’t want to think about it. I didn’t want to think about how close I had been to death and that was why my first reaction was of the sexual nature. I had been so happy to be alive that I wanted to feel alive as well. I had wanted to just take the moment and do something crazy.

“I don’t like to think about that. I know that Kevin is a bit of a mess, but I think you are right. If something like that happens on one of his rigs, there might not be anyone there to help you. I’m just glad I could get to you in time. That was a scary few moments before I got to you and got you out of the water. You had swallowed some down and…”

I could tell that he was bothered by it and instead of trying to jump his bones or be mad at him for turning me down, I felt bad for the way I had acted. He was a strong man, that much was clear, but he was rattled and I hated that I had scared him so much.

“Thank you for saving me Charlie. I know that it could have been really bad.”

He agreed and stared through the windshield at the road in front of us.

“So where are we going?”

I was desperate to talk about something else, anything else but what had happened earlier. I didn’t want to think about it and the best way to forget about it happening was to not talk about it or think about it again.

“Molly’s. She has a store and a little restaurant that has some home style cooking. It’s really not too bad.”

“I know her a little bit. She was the one that gave me a ride from Hikma. She was very nice and told me about all of the history here in Nome.”

“Yeah, that sounds like Molly. She loves it here and wants to share it with everyone so that they will love it here as well. Molly is a good cook too.”

I smiled to him and I was glad that we were talking about something else. It would be nice to see the woman again. I remembered something about her telling me about her restaurant, but I hadn’t been paying much attention then, I was too wrapped up in the view. This place had a way of drawing me in.