“I love you,” I breathe as he begins to move.
Something breaks in my chest as he drives into me with so much passion I feel his love in every stroke. A tear falls from my eye and I know there is no turning back. This man is mine and I am his.
He doesn’t ask if I’m on the pill. And had I not been, I would be ready to make babies with him. When his name slips off my tongue, it surprises us both. I call him Drew as he climaxes on a growl of pleasure. My vision explodes with a million stars.
We settle back on the mattress and he threads his fingers through mine. Tears slip out the corners of my closed eyes because my emotions are raw and I’ve admitted the truth I’d been holding back.
COMING BACK FROM OUR OWN little paradise is harsh. I shouldn’t complain because life is pretty damn good. We live in a fabulous home, Drew loves his fellowship and the attendings he works with, and my new job is great. I landed an entry-level auditing position with Ernst and Young. It’s not my dream job, but with my ambition and goals, I can see myself making partner one day, if not here, then another firm.
Every day, though, I find myself daydreaming of our little villa on the sea, and how Monique and the rest of the staff spoiled us. The summer ends and fall is upon us before it barely registers.
One day at my new job, a huge flower arrangement is delivered for me. I scratch my head, wondering if Drew is trying to apologize for something. But that’s silly because the man never does anything to piss me off. Then I open the card and feel my heart beat a little faster as it thumps a lot louder.
Cate, Catelyn, My lovely wife, Happy Anniversary! Two years ago you agreed to go out on a date with me and you changed my life. Without you, I would be less than a man, because that fist-sized thing that beats in my chest,
only beats because of you.
I love all the pieces of you with all the pieces of me.
Forever yours,
Drew
I hug his note to my chest and smile. Thinking back to that day, I laugh a little because I thought he was so old. He was twenty-seven then and I called him Smokin’ Hot. And he was. And still is.
“Flowers, huh?” A voice says over my shoulder.
I turn to see my boss, Joseph, standing there.
“Yeah. They’re from my husband.”
“He likes to spoil you, I see.”
I beam. “He sure does.”
Joseph smiles and then moves toward his office. I’m in a cubicle the size of a shoebox. There are about two dozen on this floor. When I stand, I have a perfect view of the cubicle sea.
After Joseph leaves, I hear, “So, Drew sent you flowers. What’s the occasion?”
It’s my cube neighbor, Nan. I like to call her Nosy Nan. She knows everything that goes on here, and then some. I hug Drew’s note tighter to my chest, afraid she’ll be able to read it with X-ray vision or something.
“No occasion. He’s just attentive.”
“If I could be so lucky,” she sighs.
I wonder if her luck, or lack of it, has anything to do with the fact that she sticks her nose into everybody’s business. I can already hear Drew telling me to be nice, so I switch my thoughts back to the audit I’m working on.
My phone buzzes. It’s Drew texting me.
Drew: Happy Anniversary!
Me: Thanks for the flowers. They’re magnifigorgeous.
Drew: That’s not a word, Cate.
Me: It is now.
Drew: You like?
Me: Nope. I LOVE!
Drew: Score! How about dinner tonight? FIG?
Me: Time?
Drew: Right after work to save us a drive. 6:30?
Me: Perf. LOVE YOU <3
Drew: LOVE LOVE YOU!
Dinner is awesome. But it always is at FIG, one of my favorite restaurants downtown. That night when we get home, I think the flowers were sent to seduce me, because Drew doesn’t even give me a chance to get in the house.
He opens my car door, and kisses me. The silk blouse I wear magically disappears. My bra gets unhooked by the time we hit the door, and the kitchen counter becomes our bed. He doesn’t give me time to think, only feel. His hands and mouth are magic, but they always are. By the time we both come, our breathing sounds like we just ran home instead of drove.
All of a sudden, Drew gets hit with a coughing spell. It’s unusual and I become alarmed. Of course, anything that happens to Drew alarms me. He could stub his pinky toe and I’d freak. He accuses me of being too overprotective, but that’s what happens when the man you love has been through a bout with cancer.
He finally stops, but his eyes are watery and his nose runs. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, it was a wicked tickle in my throat. Maybe it’s ragweed allergies, or something.”
I hope it’s the ragweed and not the or something. “Maybe. Want some water?”
“No, I’m good now.”
It starts to happen off and on. Not a whole lot, but enough to send up a warning signal. It’s about three weeks after the first episode, and I say, “Do you think you should talk to your doctor?”
He sighs. “My next round of scans is next week.”