Absolutely Unforgivable

chapter 2 - Our First Date

The next day Jeromy made his way back to the bar. Only today I wasn’t working. I had come to pick up my check and sat down to have a drink while I waited for the manager to get it for me.

Jeromy sat down next to me. I didn’t look over to him, but I knew it was Jeromy because behind the bar with a big mirror that allowed me to see him clearly without having to actually look his way. “You know, I’m not going away.”

I replied without glancing over at him, “I figured as much.”

We sat there in silence for a few moments drinking our beers. Then on the jukebox someone had started playing the Rick Springfield song Jessie’s Girl. Through the mirror behind the bar I could see a big grin come across his face.

I swerved my chair so that my body was facing him. “What’s so funny?”

“Oh it’s nothing. It’s just this song made me think of an old friend. He’s in a band called Jessie’s Girl.”

“Jessie’s Girl? That’s a weird name for a band.”

“Yeah, I guess it is,” he said as he sort of chuckled to himself. He seemed almost lost in thought.

Now he had me curious. “Why did they name themselves that?”

“You know, I asked him that very thing once. He said it was meant to serve as a reminder that we always wanted what we couldn’t have but in the end it only caused pain and heartache and no bitch was worth that.”

I rolled my eyes at him and swiveled back in my chair facing the bar again. Eventually my manager walked up and handed me an envelope with my check inside. I opened it and sighed in disappointment.

“That bad huh?”

“Yeah,” I said quietly. And it really was. While I did make most of my money on tips, I at least looked forward to the $100 or so a week I got in my base wages. This week however my check was quite a bit smaller. I had taken a day off recently; only worked half a shift on another day and that really hurt.

Jeromy turned in his chair to face me. “Well let me take you to dinner to cheer you up.” He stood up and started pulling my arm to get me off of my bar stool. “Come on, I won’t take no for an answer. You owe me at least that, since you didn’t call me, after all.”

He was right, he was helpful that first night I met him I probably did owe him at least a dinner; so I begrudgingly agreed to go with him. Jeromy looked incredibly edible tonight, but then again when didn’t he? His looks really had a way of making me lose my good senses. Dinner was probably such a bad idea, but I guess it’s too late now, I already agreed to go.

“If it would make you feel better, you can drive your car and follow me to the restaurant.”

“No, don’t be silly. I’ll go with you in that monster you call a car.”

“Hey! Don’t hate on the car. I love that thing.”

His car was really a white, H2 Hummer, with dark tinted windows and tires that were almost as tall as me. I did my best to crawl into the passenger side gracefully. But it wasn’t an easy task.

Jeromy took us to a nearby Mexican restaurant that he had recently found. He said they had great fajitas. We ordered margaritas with our dinner and that was probably a mistake. One turned to two and two to three and three to seven. By now I was feeling no pain.

“So do you live nearby?” Oh my God, why did I just ask him that? I hope he didn’t think I was hinting to go back to his place. What is wrong with me?

“Yes, I’m at the Radisson around the corner.”

“The Radisson? That’s a hotel. Are you not staying long?”

“Another year or so,” he said with his head tilted slightly, wondering perhaps where my line of questioning was headed.

“That’s a long time to live in a hotel. Who lives in a hotel for that long?” I blurted out, while quickly realizing I probably shouldn’t have drank so much, at least not if I wanted the thoughts in my head not to come flying out of my mouth.

“No, no you don’t understand. It’s not just some cramped hotel room. It’s like a little apartment, with a kitchen, living room and two separate bedrooms, one of which I use for my office.”

“A hotel room with a kitchen?” I had a hard time imagining what it could have looked like in my head, probably in large part to the margaritas. “I want to see it!”

“Sure, okay. I guess that would be okay.” He said as if he was almost hesitant about taking me back to his place.

After dinner we made our way to his hotel. When I entered the room I saw what he had meant. It really was like an apartment, but it wasn’t little by any means. I had lived in little apartments and this was anything but that. The hotel room opened up into a spacious living room, and a half wall at the other end of the room, separated the living room from the kitchen. On each side of the living room was a bedroom, each with its own private bathroom.

First he showed me his office and then we made our way to his bedroom. I looked at the king size bed and winced at the thought of how many women he has been with in that very room. I started to walk back into the living room but then he said something that stopped me dead in my tracks.

“You know, you are the first girl I’ve brought back to my room before.” I turned my head to look at him. Surely he wasn’t serious. He looked over at me with an innocent look on his face.

“What do you mean? How is that possible? I see how girls fall over themselves to even get the opportunity to sit next to you.”

“Oh I’m not saying I’ve never been with a woman before. I just don’t bring them home with me. I just …” he paused as if to give thought to what he was about to say, “I don’t like to shit where I eat.” He had a devilish grin on his face as the words left his mouth.

I rolled my eyes and walked back into the living room. My gaze shot back to his eyes as I took my seat at the wide bar that separates the living room from the kitchen area and saw he was watching me watch him, yet allowing the perusal.

“Have you seen enough?” he said with a half-smile. “Or did you come hoping for me?” I stammered, my mouth unable to form a reply.

His white polo shirt hugged his broad shoulders, so stark and sexy set against his olive skin. Maybe I had come for more. What was I doing? I should leave now before I do or say something I regret. I started to stand up and grab my purse but he stopped me. His wide smile fell just slightly. “No please, I was just joking.”

His hands cupped my cheeks as he softly said “Please stay.” The tender, encompassing nature of the embrace made me want to give him whatever he wanted. His lips brushed mine but he didn’t kiss me, at least not yet. Instead he lingered there for just a moment, drawing out the anticipation of our first kiss.

He was surprisingly tender, gazing down at me, his green eyes were soft and seductive. He was a great kisser and I melted in his strong arms as he lifted me up and carried me to the bedroom while my hands twisted in his thick dark hair. His body was heavy on top of mine, but in spite of the urgency of his passion, he was gentle with me.

◊

I had never been a late sleeper and woke up with the sunrise the next morning. I propped myself up on one elbow and spent several minutes enjoying the novelty of watching Jeromy sleep. Then with a gentle grunt, he rolled over and crawled out of bed, almost as if he had forgotten I was there. I sat up and pulled the sheets up to cover my still naked body, but he was not so modest.

He stood there in front of me, partly stretching with one arm in the air and the other scratching his stomach. “Hey you,” he murmured and then gave me a wide smile. It was that smile, more than anything that melted my heart.

Jeromy crawled back in bed to be next to me. “What are you trying to hide? Is there any part I haven’t already seen?” He said with a devilish grin on his face. I didn’t answer. I just pulled the sheet tighter over my body as red rushed to my cheeks. Jeromy titled his head a bit and eyed me curiously. “Are you really not going to let me see?”

I started to protest and say “Of course not!” but he started kissing my neck and before I knew it, the sheet had given way. Jeromy was passionate and full of life and he had a way about him that got me caught up in his delight.

We spent the rest of the day in bed and most of the next two days as well, only venturing out when we absolutely had to, like to get subsistence. Jeromy didn’t keep his hotel kitchen stocked with much of anything.

Our second date I was sure wasn’t going to happen. I figured after I slept with Jeromy on the first date he would have blown me off, but I was wrong. The next day I had to work, I went back to the locker room to store my purse and throw my hair up in a ponytail. My eyes widened as I entered the room. It was full of roses of all shades, varying from the softest pink to the deepest crimson. The smothering flowery scent overwhelmed me. In one of the bouquet of roses I found a note that read “Thinking of you.” Jeromy, it turned out was a bit of a romantic.

I had to work until the bar closed that night but after work he took me to eat breakfast. We stayed up the rest of the night talking, getting to know each other better. For our third date Jeromy took me back to his place where he had cooked a wonderfully delicious meal for me.

The more time I spent with Jeromy, the more I wanted to be with him. His kisses took my breath away and his smile made my heart skip a beat. He had this charming way of making you feel like you were the only person in the room. I don’t think he was even aware he was being so charming. He was just being himself and the charm came naturally.

On our fourth date we decided to go to the flea market. It may not sound like a grand affair but it indeed was, as it was the very place where Jeromy won my heart. We walked hand in hand from stall to stall, while I looked for a new case for my iPhone and Jeromy looked at nothing but me. It was truly endearing.

Another reason I wanted to go to the flea market on this lazy Sunday afternoon was to stop by and see the new setup for Bell’s. When I was young, Tulsa had an amusement park that filled my childhood with many wonderful memories. But a few years ago the owner and his family were on the losing end of a fight with a corrupt city official. It was Tulsa however, that was the real loser in that ordeal. Now the city was without its landmark and a safe place for kids to gather. Bell’s Amusement Park had been in Tulsa and run by a member of the Bell family for generations and now it was gone.

Bell’s Amusement Park was my first job when I turned 16. It was the place I met my first boyfriend, had my first real date, my first kiss and my first heartbreak. No matter how many years pass, it will always hold a special place in my heart.

Recently, members of the Bell family had set up a small kiddy park at the flea market and I wanted to stop by and check it out. As we were walking into the area of the flea market that had the new Bell’s kiddy rides set up a small boy fell and skinned his knee. Without hesitation Jeromy ran to the boy’s side. He helped him up, reassured the child and helped him find his mother.

Most mothers would probably be horrified if some strange man was standing next to their child, but not with Jeromy. People just naturally took to him and trusted him. I stood off to the side watching the mother thank Jeromy for helping her son. I was awestruck by his gentle and compassionate nature. From that moment on Jeromy and I were an item and spent every minute we could together.

Thanks to his encouragement, I switched from working the night shift to evenings at the bar which allowed me to get off work by 9 pm and spend more time with him. And now instead of working four days a week, I was working only three days.

The tips weren’t as good on the evening shift but Jeromy more than made up for that. He was generous to a fault. He was always sticking money in my tip jar, far more than he should have but truth is, I wouldn’t have been able to pay my bills if he hadn’t. The evening shift was mostly a bunch of regulars and while they were nice, they didn’t have a lot of money to tip all that well.

I truly hated that Jeromy spent so much money on me but he seemed to enjoy himself when he did. The more he gave to me, the happier he seemed to be. He was just that kind of guy. There was nobody really that he didn’t get along with. He fit in with almost any crowd from the conservative businessmen, to frat boys and even with bikers. That worked out well since we seemed to attract a lot of bikers on the evening shift.

I wasn’t exactly sure what Jeromy did for a living so I finally asked him about it. He went on to explain that he was a landman. I had no idea what that meant but it turned out it had something to do with getting other people to let you lease the oil and gas rights they have on their land or something confusing like that. All I knew for sure was that when he made a deal with someone for their land rights, they always ended up with a lot of money and he seemed to get true joy out of making some really poor farmer into a millionaire almost overnight.

I guess that would be a nice job to have and they seemed to pay him well for it too. Not only did he earn his own salary but they also covered many things under what he called expenses, including where he lived, his meals, his cell phone, his iPad, his laptop, his car, and all the gas it uses -- and Hummers use a lot of it.

He once joked about his expense check being almost as much as his normal paycheck. This was astonishing because with his own money he really had almost nothing to pay for except maybe his clothes, his beer tab, and all the money he spent on me, which lately had been far too much.

Jeromy and I had been together just a few weeks before I found myself staying the night at his hotel almost every night. Within a few months I was officially living there.