Summary: MC (Charlotte) finds it hard to focus on writing as her mind wanders back to the night she and James rekindled their relationship.
They rode in relative silence as the road whispered beneath the tires of James’s car accompanied by the gentle hum of the radio in the background. Charlotte snuck a look at him; she still couldn’t believe he’d shown up at her signing today. She’d glanced up, expecting to see a stranger, and instead had seen a face that was all too familiar.
He’d told her about Vanessa, she knew he was engaged. But hadn’t she felt his knee against hers in the bar? Was it a mistake and he hadn’t noticed it? That didn’t seem like James, but, then again, she hadn’t seen him in years–she really didn’t know what James was like anymore. Charlotte studied his face, catching flashes of it with each passing streetlamp. She knew it might be the wine talking, but he was even more handsome than she’d remembered. Charlotte wondered if his lips were still as soft as they’d been in college.
Stop it, she scolded herself. You have to stop.
James pulled up in front of her apartment building and put the car in park. He sat back in his seat and looked over at her.
“I’m really glad I saw you today,” he said.
“Me, too,” Charlotte said. They stared at each other for a long while, his dark eyes holding hers until finally she glanced away. “It’s cold out, I should probably get inside.”
“Yeah, you should,” he agreed. James leaned over to hug her and Charlotte returned the embrace. It took her a moment to realize he wasn’t letting go either and they were just sitting in his car, reaching across the center divide for one another. When James finally pulled away, he didn’t sit back all the way, his face still very close to hers.
“I should go,” James murmured. Charlotte felt his nose against hers, his lips brushing against her own.
“Yeah,” she whispered against his mouth. “You should.”
He pressed his lips to hers, shattering the tension and she kissed him back with an intensity she hadn’t felt in a long time, far too long. His tongue found hers and Charlotte sank into the familiarity of his mouth. She cupped his face in her hands and she felt his fingers drift down her back.
“Do you want to come in?” she whispered, breathless. James nodded and kissed her again briefly before they broke apart and climbed out of the car. They hurried up to her apartment and Charlotte had barely fit in the key in the lock before she felt his breath on her neck, his lips trailing down the curve of her smooth skin. She pushed open the door and it hit the wall with a crack as she turned around and pulled James into her dark apartment. He grabbed the door and threw it shut behind them before he groped for her in the darkness. James tugged her shirt up and over her head as she fumbled with the buttons on his while she led him towards her bedroom. Charlotte finally got his shirt off and pressed his bare chest to hers.
“Charlotte,” he murmured, his palms flat against her lower back.
That was all it took. It had been so long since she’d heard him say her name like that and she knew she couldn’t wait any longer. Her fingers clawed at his belt and ripped it from its loops, flinging it across the room. James pulled down her skirt and panties and let them fall to the floor as he knelt before her. He pushed her legs apart and Charlotte nearly stumbled, but she caught her balance just as she felt his tongue trace a warm line up her thigh. When his mouth reached her center, she moaned softly and held his head in her hands. He still seemed to remember everything that drove her wild and before long, she could already feel legs began to shake. Charlotte found it hard to stand still, but James gripped her hips with his hands, hard, as he slipped his tongue inside her, pushing her closer. He sucked hard on her clit and she bucked against him as she came, her voice ringing out in the darkness.
When he finally released her, Charlotte stumbled backwards towards her bed and fell onto it, her legs still weak. She could just barely see James’s outline as he took off his pants and knelt over her.
“Please,” she begged, reaching for him.
“Turn over,” he said, his voice thick with lust. Charlotte wasn’t sure her legs would hold her, but she did as he said and crawled onto her hands and knees before him. She felt his hands caress the length of her back until he reached her hips. Charlotte could feel him, hard and pressing against her entrance. She pushed her hips back against him, just barely suppressing a whimper in her desperation. James thrust into her and Charlotte gasped, her sharp intake of breath curling into a moan as he filled her, over and over and over again. Her hands knotted in her sheets as his hand slid around to the front, his fingers fluttering against where she was still almost painfully sensitive.
When she came again, Charlotte’s voice was muffled against her bed as she buried her face, biting the sheets to keep from screaming. James began to move faster and she knew he was close, recognized the groans she’d heard so many times before. His fingers dug into her flesh as he slammed into her for the final time and she tightened around him, pulling every last bit from him as he spilled over the edge into his own climax.
Exhausted, they both collapsed onto Charlotte’s bed, breathing hard. Charlotte still lay on her stomach and as her heart rate started to slow, rational thought began to creep back into her mind.
What now?
After a minute or so, Charlotte felt James shift his weight on the bed and she thought he was getting up until she felt him nestle against her back, his face resting between her shoulder blades.
“I missed you,” he said, his words vibrating against her skin.
“I missed you, too.”
Charlotte shook her head, trying unsuccessfully to clear her thoughts as she stared at the blank word processor in front of her. The cursor on her screen blinked impatiently but she ignored it as she picked up her phone for what felt like the millionth time. No messages. She hadn’t heard from James since she arrived at the cabin four days earlier when she’d texted him to let him know she’d arrived safely. Part of her desperately wanted to text him, but she had a feeling he wouldn’t text back and sending a text without hope of a reply was almost more depressing than not hearing from him at all.
Suddenly, her phone blared to life in her hand. Charlotte fumbled it in surprise and it clattered to the wood floor. She picked it up, silently praying her screen wasn’t cracked, and was flooded with disappointment when she saw who was calling. Charlotte debated ignoring the call, but she’d been avoiding him for days now and knew she couldn’t realistically put him off any longer.
“Hey, Zack!” she said brightly when she answered. “How’s it going?”
“Charlotte.” His tone was simultaneously warning and exasperated. “Please tell me you have something for me.”
“I have something for you?” she echoed as she winced.
“You do?!” he exclaimed.
“Not yet,” she said apologetically. “But I will soon! I’m sitting at my computer right now!”
“Are you actually writing anything?” Zack asked drily. Charlotte quickly reached over and typed “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”
“Yes!” she said indignantly. “I’m offended you’d even ask that.”
“Uh-huh,” Zack said. “Seriously though, my bosses are getting antsy. When can I have some pages?”
“Soon, I promise.”
“How soon is soon?”
“I can have them to you by KKKKKHHHHH,” she hissed into the phone. “Zack? Are you KKKKHHHHHH!”
“Oh, I’m sorry, is the cabin going through a tunnel?” he asked, unamused.
“Yes, but it’s all better now,” she said with a sigh. “I’ll get you something in the next 48 hours, I promise.”
“It doesn’t have to be perfect,” Zack pleaded. “Seriously, I just need some tangible proof to show my bosses that you’re working on something, anything.”
“I know, and you’ll have it, I swear.”
“48 hours?”
“48 hours.”
Zack sighed, his relief palpable.
“Now that that’s out of the way,” he continued. “How’s the cabin? Has Kaitlyn already filled your head with horror movie plots about remote cabins in the woods?”
“You know my sister well.”
Zack laughed.
“That I do,” he said. “I’m supposed to have dinner with her and her new girlfriend tomorrow. What’s her name?”
“Annisa.”
“Do we like her?”
“Sure,” Charlotte said with a shrug. “I don’t know her all that well, but Kaitlyn seems happy so far. They’re definitely going to try and get you to go to a punk club with them.”
“That’s alright, I can hang,” Zack insisted. Charlotte thought of Zack in his pressed khakis and colorful shirts and grinned.
“Okay, I just wanted to give you fair warning,” she said as she leaned forward and cleared the page on her computer. “Hey, I should get going so I can get back to work.”
“Alright. 48 hours?”
“Yes, I promise! 48 hours!”
“Thank you!”
Charlotte said goodbye and ended the call before opening her messages app. No new text messages. She opened the thread from James and scrolled through them again. She couldn’t get the feel of his kiss out of her mind.
Charlotte set down the phone and looked back at her computer. A minute later, her phone was back in her hand. She jiggled her foot anxiously as her thumbs hovered over the screen. Finally, she typed out a quick message.
“Hey, hope you’re having a good day. I miss you.”
She hit send before she could talk herself out of it and turned her phone facedown. Then she moved her attention back to the computer in front of her and started to type.
“They rode in relative silence as the road whispered beneath the tires of Jack’s car accompanied by the gentle hum of the radio in the background. Ana snuck a look at him; she still couldn’t believe she’d run into him today. She’d glanced up, expecting to see a stranger, and instead had seen a face that was all too familiar.”
Later that night, as she lay in bed, Charlotte checked her phone yet again. No new messages. She set the phone on her chest and stared up at the ceiling, unable to fall asleep for a very long time.
