Absolutely Unforgivable

chapter 3 - Our New Life

Everything was going great in my life. That was until graduation. I finally had my bachelor degree in Marketing from the University of Tulsa and was excited to start my career and my new life, my grown up life. I’ve dreamed about this day for so long it hardly seems real now that’s it here. Finally, no more school. Just the thought of that gave me a thrill. The problem was, the economy was horrible and finding a job in my chosen profession wasn’t exactly an easy task.

I had only really just finished refining my new resume when Jeromy came home from a long day at work. He had a solemn look on his face as he sat down on the couch next to me, and began staring at the television. I turned the volume down and he didn’t seem to even notice, so I turned the television off completely and turned my body towards him.

“Okay Mr. Pouty Pants, out with it. What’s on your mind?”

“We are finishing up with this job next week.” I looked at him, trying to read the strange expression on his face. His voice was hushed and far away.

“Oh. What’s that mean?” I really didn’t get it yet. I hadn’t put it all together.

“Well, it means I have to move on to the next job.”

That was the worst part of his kind of work. While he might have been born and raised in Houston, Texas or a small suburb just outside of it, he hadn’t actually lived there in a long time. His job took him all over. There was the eighteen months he spent in Marshall, Texas; another nine months in the small town of Alice Texas; then six weeks in El Reno, Oklahoma; and the two months he spent in Provo, Utah. Tulsa was just one in a long line of temporary residences for him. Our life had been so wonderful lately, I had almost forgotten that.

I tried to hold back my emotions but I couldn’t help it. The sting of tears welled up in my eyes as I realized this meant he would be leaving me. I knew that long distance relationships never worked and this was in essence him telling me he was leaving me. My older sister Sarah tried the long distance thing with her high school sweetheart when they went off to different colleges and their relationship ended in disaster. I don’t want that for Jeromy and me, I would rather we part on good terms. I don’t want to end up hating him like my sister did with her boyfriend. I couldn’t bear the thought of that.

I took a deep breath and asked the dreaded question. “When are you leaving?” I was still doing my best to hold back my tears or hide the utter anguish I felt. It wasn’t easy but I didn’t want to let him see me fall apart like that. I took slow breaths and just tried to focus on the here and now, on the time we still had together.

The look on his face changed just slightly “That’s kind of what I wanted to talk to you about.” My heart sped up when he said that.

“I was offered another job already. It’s a really great opportunity and it would last a minimum of three years. I’ve never been on a project where I could be in one place so long.”

I was hoping we would have more time, but I guess not. Just as I started to ask him what place it was he would be going to, he interrupted me. He was almost excited. Was he really that happy to be leaving me?

“But that isn’t the best part. This job is back in my hometown, well close to it.”

I forced a smile across my face. “So you are going home? That’s great.”

He was gently stroking my hand by now. I think he probably knew I was about to burst out in hysterics and he wanted to comfort me. But then he said something I wasn’t expecting.

“Yes, but I was kind of hoping you would want to go with me.” He looked up at me with a boyish grin.

He didn’t really give me a chance to answer before continuing on. “I know it’s a lot to ask because you’ve lived here all of your life -- your friends are here, your family is here. You just ….”

Before he could finish that sentence I jumped on his lap and pushed him down on the couch. I kissed him passionately. He sat up with me still on his lap, wrapping his arms around my back to hold me in place as I wrapped my legs around his waist.

“I take it that’s a yes then?”

Seriously? He even had to wonder if I would say yes. Jeromy and I have been together for more than a year now. I’ve dreamed about our future together and now we get to actually start living that dream. I would have followed him anywhere but getting to be with him back in his hometown was all the better. I finally get to see all of the places he’s been telling me about. I would get to meet his childhood friends and visit his childhood home.

“When will we be leaving?” I asked him. I still couldn't believe he wanted me to go with him. I wanted to just scream out in excitement. It took everything I had to contain myself.

“We’ll need to head out in about two weeks. Do you think that is enough time? Can you be ready by then?”

“Jeromy, I love you. I could leave tomorrow if we had to. Sure, I would rather have more time to prepare but if we really had to go right away, I would make it happen. I love you and I just want to be with you. You are all that matters. Anything else is trivial and together we can work it out. Isn’t that what you always tell me?”

He gave me a cute little half smile and I leaned in to kiss him. I pulled back and asked him if we would be living in a hotel in Houston too. I didn’t know why that thought had suddenly crossed my mind but now that it had I really wanted to know. I wasn’t sure how all of that worked still. Did he have to live in a hotel or would they let him live in a normal apartment or maybe we could rent a house?

Since this job would last at least three years, it would be nice to get a place that was a little bigger. Don’t get me wrong, I loved our little love nest but it was still a hotel and I wanted to play house with him. Just the thought of that brought butterflies to my stomach.

He paused for just a moment before answering me. “We could but, I had another idea. You remember my friend Billy I told you about?”

“The one in the band?”

“Yeah, Billy Snow. We’ve been best friends since childhood, and he has this big house in The Woodlands that is only about a twenty minute drive from where I’ll be working. I thought since you’ll be living in a new city maybe we could stay with him, and when I’m not around he could be there for you to help you find your way.”

I hadn’t really had a chance to think about that. Houston, Texas was a far cry from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Tulsa may have been a big city to me, but in comparison to a place like Houston it was a mere speck of dust. There were millions of people who lived in Houston.

I began to panic just a bit. I could feel my heart speed up and my face begin to flush. I looked down at my hands as they started to tremble and I knew I had to get myself together. I took several long deep breaths. I knew I wanted to be with Jeromy but suddenly the thought of moving to this new place scared me to death. Jeromy however didn’t seem the slightest bit concerned.

“His place his huge so it won’t even be like we would be seeing him all of the time. We would have our own little corner of paradise, completely private, just for us. And, well, what do you think?”

Part of me wondered how some guy only five years older than me could afford a big fancy house while another part of me worried this was a bad idea. Roommate situations somehow always had a way of ending badly. You hear about it all of the time. I don’t know that I’ve ever heard of a roommate story that didn’t end badly. The thoughts of the crazy girl I lived with my freshman year in college still haunt me. But it was hard to say no to Jeromy, especially since he had such an adorably excited look on his face.

The Woodlands was a short drive to where Jeromy would be working just outside of Pinehurst. It was a suburb located north of the city of Houston. From everything I could read about it on the Internet, The Woodlands seemed like a nice place to live. And very out of character for someone like Billy. From everything Jeromy had told me about him, it just didn’t seem like he would be at home in a sprawling suburban neighborhood with tree lined roads and lush green golf courses. But then again, I had wrongly judged Jeromy when I first met him, so I decided to withhold judgment of Billy until I met him face to face.

Since Billy was going to be my new roommate I thought I better get to know more about him. I knew he was in a band called Jessie’s Girl but that was about it. What I didn’t know is that the band was somewhat of a local legend with a devoted fan base; its own website; and YouTube page with videos of some of their past performances.

I pulled up the first video of the band on YouTube and they were singing a cover of AC/DC’s “For Those About To Rock.” They were pretty good; it was a dead on rendition of the song.

I clicked the link to the band’s website. I don’t know what I expected to see but was surprised at how much was there. I clicked the biography page and read it eagerly. Jeromy came up behind me and leaned over to kiss my forehead and then took the seat next to me and watched over my shoulder as I read about each of the members of the band.

The drummer was Bran. I wondered what kind of name that was and Jeromy told me that his real name was Brandon, but everyone had called him Bran. Bran was tall and slender but with well-defined muscles and dark brown hair. He wore pants low around his waist and had no shirt on. He had several tattoos strewn across his chest and arms.

The lead guitar player was Zander. He was cute and had a mess of shoulder length, light brown hair with an intense look about him. He reminded me a little of Kid Rock.

The bassist was a wild-eyed guy named Travis. He had light skin and dirty blonde hair that was styled with little spikes and shone from far too much hair gel. His body was decent and the barbed wire tattoos on his arms were interesting to look at but he was nowhere near as appealing as Billy.

Jeromy’s friend Billy was the lead singer. If I weren’t so in love with Jeromy, he definitely could have captivated my attention. Billy Badass, I thought to myself, remembering what Jeromy had called him before. Now I got why that was Jeromy’s nickname for him. He definitely had that bad boy look down and no doubt stole the hearts of many girls. He had obsidian hair that tumbled all over the place, a strong jaw line and bright blue eyes with thick eyebrows that sat low on his forehead giving him a natural brooding look.

At first glance, Jeromy and Billy could be almost brothers. They both had dark, sleek hair and godlike features. Their eyes, however, set them apart. Jeromy’s eyes were a bold emerald color while Billy’s were a bright blue, equally as beautiful, only distinctly different than Jeromy’s. These two men together would be a lethal combination. I don’t know if the women of Houston, Texas could take it. Who am I kidding? I didn’t know if I could take it.

A loving smile spread over Jeromy’s face as I sat there staring at the web page. His hand, which by then was resting comfortably on my knee, slid up my thigh. This caught my attention and I turned to face him. He leaned in to kiss me, and with his lips gently pressed against mine, all thoughts of Billy left my mind.

Jeromy picked me up and carried me to the bedroom. Normally so gentle and compassionate, today he was more forceful. He threw me on the bed, then began kissing me hard as his body lay on top of mine. He was an incredibly sexy man. How did I land this package of pure perfection?

◊

I spent the next few weeks wrapping up loose ends; putting in my notice at the bar, packing, and giving my resume yet another update, this time with our new address. Houston was a much bigger city and I felt more confident I would be able to find work with my fresh new degree in hand, than I would in Oklahoma. Things here weren’t going so well. The state was hit harder by the economic downturn than others. Our unemployment rates were higher and even those who did have jobs, earned significantly less than they did doing the same job just a few years ago.

I was horribly sad at the thought of leaving Oklahoma behind; it was all I had ever known. But at the same time I knew it was for the best. Not only did it ensure me a better financial future with far more career prospects but it also meant that I got to be with the man I loved, an unbearably gorgeous man who for some reason, loved me just as much.

When moving day finally arrived it wasn’t the complicated mess I had imagined it would be. All of our clothes and the few possessions we did have were packed up and shipped over ahead of time. We were going to fly there with just a small carry-on bag to worry about.

On the way to the airport I sat in the car across from Jeromy staring into his beautiful face. I was nervous and worried about the move, more so than I had been in the past. I knew that Jeromy loved me and that should have been enough, but I was still horribly worried about what lay ahead of me. I was moving to a strange city, a big city, and the only person I knew was him. He had many friends there but they were his friends and what if they didn’t like me? I began to panic and my heart raced. What if all of this was a huge mistake? Should I really be doing this? But then suddenly Jeromy gave me one of his adorably sexy smiles and I knew everything was going to be all right.

It would be a less than a two-hour flight, and Jeromy had flown us to Houston first class, but I didn’t really notice because I slept the entire time. By the time I woke up, we were landing in Houston. My eyes widened as I looked out the window at my new home. The buildings were so tall and everything looked majestic. I suddenly felt overcome with excitement as butterflies filled my stomach.

◊

Billy had met us at the airport. He was even better-looking in person than he was in the pictures on his website and on Facebook. Seeing him in person made my stomach twist in knots and I wasn’t sure why. He had an easy smile, bright eyes and a chiseled jawline. His clothing was spotless and had the crisp-new appearance of garments straight off the store shelf, yet he wore them comfortably like they were made just for him.

The drive to his house from the airport was rather long and filled with lots of traffic congestion. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many cars in my life. It was nerve-wracking and made me nauseated. Jeromy and Billy fell into an easy conversation about what they had been up to lately in each of their lives while I quietly watched car after car rush by. Houston had so much traffic, I don’t know how I was ever going to get used to that.

When we arrived at his home -- what would be my home now too -- I was surprised at how big it was. Jeromy had said it was nice, but he had far understated how wonderful it really was. This house was amazing. It looked like a life-sized doll house. It was a beautiful two story Mediterranean style home that had four bedrooms and six bathrooms. Outside was a covered terrace and a sun deck that overlooked the gorgeous swimming pool.

My mind flashed to the thought of how many different swimsuits I could wear while laying out by the pool and getting a tan. I had a mild obsession with swimsuits, sort of like how some girls collected shoes. The swimming pool and the whole outside area had me distracted. The backyard was like a stand-alone house with a bar and its own kitchen. Billy said that he loves to cook out here and Jeromy and he made plans to grill steaks for dinner tonight and then we made our way back inside the house. I shrugged off my disappointment at having to leave what would no doubt be the favorite area of my new home to continue the tour.

Off to the side of the house on the first floor was what was at one time the media room, but Billy had converted it into a private studio where he and his band often rehearsed. I wondered how he got away with that, in such a fancy neighborhood, but it turns out with the doors shut, the room was completely sound proof. It was a large room, easily bigger than two normal sized bedrooms put together.

“This is where I spend most of my time,” Billy said as he showed us around his studio.

Next we went into the living room. We had glossed past it when we first came into the house. But now, giving it more than just the once over I realized how beautiful the room really was. It was very open and spacious and all of the furniture was turned to focus on the huge marble fireplace in the center of the room, flanked by oversized, built-in bookcases.

The house was immaculate. Everything was perfectly in its place. In some way it made me feel like we were visiting a museum, so much so that I was actually afraid to touch anything.

As we worked our way up the stairs we came to our bedroom. “It will be private here. Nobody ever comes up stairs except the maid,” Billy said while giving Jeromy a sort of nudge, nudge, wink, wink grin.

The bedroom was magnificent. It was really less of a bedroom and more of a suite, with a private sitting area and our own fireplace and a bathroom that looked more like a fancy showroom. It quite honestly looked like it had been done up by one of those design shows on HGTV. This bathroom was spectacular and no detail was left untouched from the seamless shower with dual shower heads that hung from above to the double granite counter tops. It was a beautiful room which I could have lived in and been perfectly happy.

The bathroom had an extra door and I was left utterly speechless as I went to open it. The door opened up into another room altogether. It was the size of a normal bedroom but it was a closet. It was the biggest closet I had ever seen in my entire life and it was all mine. I felt like I was living in a dream.

Billy picked up a remote that had been sitting on one of the custom designed tables, pushed a button and something started moving. “That’s for your shoes Stacy,” he said with a grin on his face. Wow, I had my very own rotating shoe rack. I truly did not know what to say. I was beaming.

“Okay, you boys can go play now, I’ll be fine in here,” I teased as I pushed them out the door of my new closet.

While Jeromy and Billy went off to get caught up on old times, I spent some time unpacking our clothes and putting them away in our enormous closet. I wasn’t a big fan of unpacking, but then again who was? However it almost seemed worth it, to have an excuse to get to spend time in my fabulous new closet.

Exhausted from the excitement of the move, I soon found myself unable to resist taking a nap. So after a quick shower I plopped down on our new bed. It was so comfortable. My body luxuriated in the soft Egyptian cotton sheets and I fell asleep the second my head hit the oversized, overstuffed pillows.