Simon brought Salima with him when he shopped for his parents, and asked her advice. She chose a cashmere sweater for his mother, because it felt so nice when she held it close to her face. Simon said it was white. And they bought a Christmas tree and surprised her mother with it, two weeks before Christmas. They bought it on Friday, and Simon and Blaise were decorating it on Saturday afternoon, while Salima had her lesson with Lucianna. Simon had strung the lights the night before, and he had brought the boxes of decorations down from the top of a closet, and he and Salima had bought a few new ones. The tree was almost finished, when they went to the kitchen for hot chocolate, and didn’t want to disturb Salima during her lesson.
It had been fun decorating the tree together, and they were both in good spirits as they chatted. She was wearing an old flannel shirt and jeans, and Simon an old Harvard sweatshirt he wore sometimes on weekends. He had just set their hot chocolate down on the kitchen table, when he turned around and bumped into Blaise, with a package of marshmallows in her hands, which she was intending to put in their hot chocolate, and she popped one into his mouth instead, and as he laughed, his arms went around her and he held her close to him, and looked into her eyes. They could hear Salima singing in the living room and knew she wouldn’t walk in on them. And she would be with Lucianna for two hours. He kissed her then, after eating the marshmallow, and she tossed the bag of them on the table and put her arms around his neck as she kissed him in earnest. And suddenly they couldn’t stop themselves and hold back the tidal wave any longer. They were starving for each other, as his hands went under the old flannel shirt, and hers under his sweatshirt. Their bodies felt smooth, and their hands explored every inch they could as they seemed to kiss forever and finally came up for air. And this time they knew there was no stopping their passion. Silently, they went to Blaise’s suite and she locked the door without a sound, and Simon followed her to her bedroom. She gently kicked the door closed with her foot, as they peeled off each other’s clothes and dove into her bed and under the covers and began making love in the twilight of the December afternoon as snow started to fall outside her windows. They could barely breathe, their passion was so overwhelming, and it was over within minutes. They lay looking at each other in her big comfortable bed that had suddenly become theirs.
“Oh my God, what did we do?” Blaise whispered to him. She had been swept away by all that she felt for him, and she still couldn’t catch her breath, and she lay looking at him with infinite tenderness.
“I’m not sorry, Blaise,” he said, still gasping, his beautiful body lying next to hers, “I hope you’re not either. I wanted you so badly, and I love you so much.” It had all happened so quickly that they hadn’t used a condom, and she wasn’t on the Pill, but she knew how unlikely it was that she’d get pregnant, and he had been in a serious relationship for three years.
“I love you too,” she said, slipping her arms around his neck again and pulling him closer, so she could kiss him. The scent of their lovemaking was heavy in the air, and she closed her eyes as he held her. She felt totally safe with him.
“I know this is right, Blaise,” he said gently, “for both of us. Maybe it won’t make sense to other people, but it does to me. You’re all I want.” She prayed that what he said would prove to be true, and they would be good to each other, as good as they wanted to be now. She didn’t want to disappoint him, or have him disappoint her.
“You’re all I’ve ever wanted,” she said softly to him, as they lay and looked at the snow falling outside. It was a magical moment Blaise knew she would never forget.
They lay there for a little while, savoring their closeness, and then they got up, before Salima finished her lesson. They took a shower in Blaise’s bathroom, dressed, and were about to leave her bedroom, after she made the bed, and Simon laughed.
“What’s funny?” She looked at him with surprise.
“Your shirt is inside out. You’d better fix it. Salima feels those things.” They both knew they had to be careful now. They wanted to protect this from everyone for a while, until it felt solid to both of them. It was all so new, and for now only theirs.
Blaise took her shirt off and put it on the right side, while he admired her. They both felt luckier than they ever had in their lives, and for now Blaise had decided to stop worrying about the children he wanted. Or Megan. They had each other, and it felt like that was enough.
He went back to the kitchen first, and she followed him a few minutes later. He threw away the hot chocolate they hadn’t had time to drink before passion overwhelmed them, and he opened a bottle of wine. He handed her a glass as she walked in, and Blaise smiled.