“You know, whatever Mary tells you, none of this would have been possible if you hadn’t broken up with me,” Gerard said and looked around the room.
“So you’re thanking me for breaking your heart?” Sue said with a laugh and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
“In a way. It became a mission for me to succeed and win you back,” Gerard said and was interrupted by the same uniformed gentleman who appeared with a plate of stacked Meringues.
“Thank you Luke,” Gerard said as he placed the plate on the table. “That’ll be all, Luke. And you can tell Janine to retire as well,” he added with an authoritative but gentle voice.
“You have a butler now?” Sue raised her eyebrow after Luke left the room.
“He’s the housekeeper. I can’t have the house go to ruins while I’m busy with my work,” Gerard said and pulled himself closer to the table.
“Back up a minute. You wanted to win me back?” Sue bit down on her lip. She was trying to make a lighthearted joke, but his face darkened.
“I was young and believed true love lasts forever and all that. Until I heard you married a novelist.” Gerard was picking at the meringues, a habit with food that she well remembered. It was endearing as ever.
“I’m sorry, Gerard,” she said quietly and their eyes met. His eyes were weary and downcast, while hers were pleading with him to forgive her. Now more than ever, she knew exactly what it felt like to be discarded and abandoned.
“Why did you leave me, Sue?” he asked her. He wasn’t the same over-confident man she had met at the cafe a few days before. He was now the Gerard she had met at the Fresher’s party, awkward and fresh-faced.
“I don’t know.” Sue looked away from him and he stood up from his chair.
“Look at me. I deserve to know. It’s been twenty years and I still don’t know what I did wrong.” He had walked over to where she was sitting and was looming over her now. His big frame cast a dark shadow around her in the dim light and Sue hung her head low.
“Sue!” he raised his voice and she jerked her head up to look at him.
“I didn’t think you loved me. I thought you loved your work,” she said and this time, she couldn’t hold the tears back. They came gushing down her cheeks and to her surprise, Gerard bent down before her, kneeling with his hands on her knees.
“That wasn’t true. Why would you think that?” Gerard held her gaze, even though she was crying.
“You spent days cooped up in that garage. Towards the end of college, we barely spoke any longer. What was I supposed to think?” He pulled her towards him and she buried her face on his chest.
“I was close to writing the perfect code. I was crazy for perfection,” he whispered gruffly into her ear. Sue was sniffling into his clothes, her hands gripping his arms tightly as he held her against him.
“I’m sorry, Sue. I didn’t know I pushed you away. I thought you dumped me because I was a geek.” He almost laughed and so did she. “Sue…” he said her name and kissed her tear-streaked cheek gently. She bit down on her lip as he held her shying gaze and pulled her closer to him.
“Sue…” he said again and this time he kissed her. It was the kiss she remembered, but only more eager. Like he wanted to make up for lost time by devouring her whole. His lips massaged hers and his tongue soon found its way inside her mouth. His hands had now encircled her neck, gently stroking the base of her throat as he kissed her.
She bit his lower lip and she could feel him smiling against her face. He pulled himself away from her and she could finally breathe. His hair looked ruffled again, the way she remembered it and she ran her fingers through it and closed her eyes. She could feel his arms around her waist as he picked her up and placed her on the edge of the table. She leaned back immediately and he shoved the plate of meringues away from behind her.
“Best get that out of the way,” he said and she smiled at him. He lunged forward again and was kissing her and she couldn’t resist it any longer. She was pressed up against his chest, but she wanted more. Her fingers fumbled with the buttons of his jacket and he pulled away from her again, wriggling out of the jacket and lying down on top of her. The cold glass of the table-top pressed against her back and she relished the calming sensation.
The buttons on his shirt were easy to deal with and she popped them off, one by one, as they continued to kiss. His hands were busy pulling down the zipper on the side of her jumpsuit and she felt a cold tingle as her skin was exposed to the air. She remembered him being gentle, taking his time and this time too, she was the one in a hurry. His shirt came off and his pants soon followed, while he slowly began to maneuver her arms over and under the engineering of her jumpsuit.
“What on earth are you wearing, woman?!” he finally exclaimed, exasperated with it. Sue laughed and helped herself out of her clothes and lay back, in her undergarments, again.
“As ravishing as ever,” she heard him say, more to himself than to her. His hands were running all over her body, cupping her breasts, then feeling the nearly flat bump of her belly and running down the length of her legs. They finally settled between her thighs, where she was more wet than she could ever remember being, and Sue took in a sharp breath. His eyes were still darkened and he had a bewildered expression on his face, like he couldn’t believe this was happening.
He stood away from her to slip his own underwear off and his penis pointed towards her. She realized that she still remembered it well, very well. He didn’t tarry. Within seconds, he had peeled off her panties and pulled her towards him roughly. His gentleness had suddenly disappeared, he wanted her, now. Her legs dangled over the edge of the table as he thrust inside her, while staring at her shaking breasts.
Sue moaned and so did he. That moment, when he entered her, was like a continuation, like they had never stopped. His hands grabbed her breasts as he pushed and pushed inside her. They were both grimacing, and Sue knew she was going to cry. She had always loved this man, she had never stopped, she had forgotten to think about it, perhaps, but once he was inside her again, she knew she had only been fooling herself.
She gripped the table with her hands till her knuckles turned white. Neither of them cared that they were making a lot of noise. The table was creaking, her back against the glass made squeaking sounds that both Luke and Janine, no doubt, could hear. And, they were both moaning very loudly. Gerard pushed in and out with force, his hands travelled from her breasts, where he pinched both her nipples gently and then down to her waist for a better grip.
She knew he was struggling hard to control himself. She couldn’t help but think back on all those days, when they had sex on his slim single bed in his parents’ attic, how he lasted for nearly an hour every time. This night, he couldn’t control himself for very long, it was clearly too much for him to bear. She decided to come, to let go. She moaned loudly and arched her body towards him, with his penis still deep inside her she quivered against him, lifting herself upwards to fully enjoy the sensation. She could feel him coming inside her as well. Shuddering and groaning, his grip on her tightened and then relaxed.
“Oh my God, Sue,” he said, his breathing was ragged and he lay down flat on his face on the table, beside her.
“Looks like we still got it,” she said with a laugh. He lifted his head to look at her and smiled, then wrapped his arm around her belly and nuzzled his face in her hair.
“Gerard…” Sue waited a few seconds before saying. He didn’t reply, she knew he was awake.
“Gerard…” she tried again and he said Shhhh….
“We can talk about it later, if you really want to talk about it. Just enjoy the moment for what it is, Sue,” he said into her hair and she couldn’t help but smile. She couldn’t remember what she had been sad about a few hours ago.