Michael showed up at eight on the dot. It was a good thing he’d brought two sacks of wine, because Violet had finished off the entire bottle nearly an hour earlier. She was not normally a big drinker, but she had so enjoyed primping for her night with Michael that she had drunk more than she realized while she was getting ready.
Alex would have been irritated by her drunkenness, but Michael found it endearing, and he scooped her up in a big bear hug as soon as he laid eyes on her. Her dress was spectacular, but she’d kicked off the heels an hour ago because they were killing her feet. But that didn’t stop her from putting them on for Michael, and she spun around in a drunken circle, singing “Ta da!”
She did not get to show off the dress for long because the next thing she knew, he was taking it off of her. She had decided on a bra and panty set instead of a negligee, and as he pulled her back, he examined the lacy bra and low-cut thong.
“Wow! Violet, you are gorgeous,” he moaned, keeping his eyes on her as she spun around again, repeating her performance. Michael was mesmerized by her beauty, and he couldn’t help but love her childlike excitement and joy. He reached for her, but she pulled back, and he recognized the seriousness of her expression. “Michael, we have to stop…”
Michael put up a hand to keep her from saying the words he was not yet ready to hear, but she took his hand in hers and pulled him over to the edge of the bed where they could talk.
“I know I’m a little tipsy tonight, but I need to say this first, and I hope it comes out right,” Violet said. Michael did not like the sound of it, and he told her so.
She explained, “Michael, I love you. I have loved you since I was a girl. But right now I need to say that if we’re going to leave our significant others, it should be for more reasons than our feelings for each other.”
“I understand what you are saying, and I feel the same way. I don’t want you to leave Alex for me. If you are going to leave him, I want you to do it because you want to. I don’t want to break up your marriage and carry that burden with me for the rest of my life,” he said.
“Exactly,” she said. “You proposed to Penelope for a reason, and I know that your feelings for me are real and true, but you have to figure this out on your own. After today, I don’t want to sneak around anymore.”
“Me neither…but how am I supposed to just walk away from you after everything that’s been said and done between us?” he asked, shaking his head from side to side.
“Alex gets home tomorrow, and in another month, he’ll be going back to San Diego to work on another site for two months.”
“How do you feel about him coming home?” Michael asked.
Violet sighed, and she could feel the tears coming, so she held up a finger and tucked her knees up to her chest. The anxiety was back with a vengeance, and this was not the time or place for her to fall apart. Despite the reality of the situation, she wanted to enjoy this night with Michael. She wanted to enjoy it as though it were their last night together, because in reality, it very well could be.
She took a deep breath to soothe her nerves, and he held her face gently in his hands. He kissed her neck and shoulders lightly, then moved behind her and started massaging the tension out of her shoulders. God, she loved him. And she wanted to savor this moment forever, regardless of how it would end.
Violet closed her eyes and imagined that day when she was eleven. Michael picking her up off the ground and treating her wounds…Michael sitting on the rooftop of his family home, blasting heavy metal as he took drags off one of his parents’ cigarettes…Michael walking up to her outside the bar and telling her everything she had ever wanted to hear from him all these years…and last but not least, this very moment, and all of the other recent encounters they’d had. Violet could not imagine never seeing him again. She could not imagine going back to life as usual with Alex and pretending that nothing had ever happened. But she had to know they were doing the right thing, and they owed it to their spouses not to carry on with their relationship until they were sure of what they wanted.
“You asked me how I feel about Alex coming home…” she finally said.
“Yes?” he asked, continuing to massage every ounce of anxiety out of her body.
“Well, the truth is, I don’t know how I feel about it. And that is exactly why I think we should both go home tomorrow and spend the next month figuring out ourselves,” she said.
“What does that mean, exactly?” he asked, leaning forward to kiss her right earlobe.
“So, this is my proposal to you,” she said, turning around to face him on the bed. “In one month, when Alex leaves for San Diego, I will reserve this same room for us,” she said.
“Sounds pretty good so far,” he said with a chuckle. She gave him a playful shove and reminded him that she was being serious.
“If you decide you want to continue our relationship, then I want you to show up on that day, one month from now…” she murmured softly.
Violet looked up into Michael’s amazing, green eyes to see his reaction. “If that’s what you think is best, then I’m on board. Waiting to see you for an entire month will be hell, but you know what they say about fondness making the heart grow stronger,” he teased, reaching forward to tickle her.
Violet let him tickle her, and they wrestled for several minutes on the bed, laughing and teasing one another. She finally won the match and straddled him when she had him pinned on his back. She looked into his eyes once more and said, “I want you to take this seriously, Michael. I care about you and your son very much, and I think you owe it to him and to yourself to think this through before we proceed any further.”
Michael pulled her face onto his chest, and they held each other wordlessly for a moment. “I will, Violet. I really will,” Michael agreed, softly, “and I want you to do the same with Alex. I don’t know the guy, but there must be something special about him if he bagged a hot babe like you,” he joked, and then they started wrestling again.