“All the Right Moves”

“Annie, grab another bottle of wine while you are in the kitchen!”  I giggle because Sara and I have already killed two bottles and we don’t seem to be close to stopping any time soon.  I walk past the flowers sitting on the counter and run my hand across them releasing their fragrant smell.  I thought they were from Michael but they aren’t signed.  The note simply says ‘For you Much Love, Me’.  I called Ray thinking that maybe they were from him but he said no they weren’t but he wished they would have been.  He said he wanted things to be different but I know that it won’t be something that I can deal with long term.  I called the flower shop they came from to find out who sent them and they said they had to track the order down and would call me back and let me know.

Leaning down in the open fridge the cool air hits me and my stomach does a little flip.  Oh boy I need food.  I grab some cheese, strawberries, crackers and hummus, the bottle of wine and pop the door closed with my hip and head back to Sara’s room.  Not sure why we ended up in here but we decided to have our own little fashion show.  We are taking turns being the paparazzi using a old Polaroid camera.  I didn’t even know these things even existed anymore.  When I walk in the bedroom Sara is pulling on bright yellow tights, pink heels and has on a black mini skirt that looks more like tutu, a bright neon green sweatshirt that hangs off one shoulder and her hair is pulled into a side ponytail.  “Umm, hello 1985, where have you been.”  I say and hand her the wine.  She pops the cork and takes swig from the bottle and passes it to me.  “Ok get the camera ready I am gonna work the shit out of this catwalk.”  The ‘catwalk’ is a bunch of towels we lined up on the floor that goes from one end of the room to the other.

She pushes play on the CD player and music blasts out of the speakers and she struts down the catwalk posing and blowing kisses as she passes.  I am clicking pictures and the Polaroids are dropping to the ground as I try to take as many as I can but it only goes so fast.  Now I know why I like my digital camera.  We grab the pictures and jump up and down on the bed shaking the film.  This brings back memories of another lifetime of family growing up.  “Sara thanks for getting drunk with me.  I really needed this tonight.”  She grabs a picture of the two of us and tries to stick it to my forehead.  “You are going to find the right guy Annie.  When you least expect it ok?  It has to find you though not the other way around.”  Ahh, it is out now.  We have been avoiding this all night.  I sigh and flop back onto the pillow.  “Why does it have to be so hard? How many frogs do I have to kiss before I find my prince?”  She lays down and puts her head next to mine and pats my face making me laugh.

She holds up a finger.  “Hold that thought I love this song.”  She turns it up and starts singing.  I laugh because she found this song in one of her many random searches for good music.  “Who is this?”  She has her eyes closed as she moves to the music.  “It’s called Age of Denial by Luke Hicken.  I found him on sound cloud.  It reminds me of you a little.”  She covers my mouth with her hand so I have to be quiet.  “It’s a shame to have to search back to so far away….”   She takes her hand away and continues to sing to me which makes me love having her as my best friend and roommate even more.

I wake up to loud knocking at the front door.  I am sprawled out on the couch so apparently I didn’t quite make it to my room last night.  “Just a second!”  I yell and immediately regret it.  Wine hangovers are not fun at all.  I stumble to the front door and look through the peep hole to see a gentleman dressed like a limo driver with a small package in his hand.  This makes me giggle for some reason.  I open the door.  “Can I help you?”  He gives me a quick once over.  “Yes I am looking for Annie Gibson.  I have a delivery.”  Oh how interesting.  “Who is it from?”  I look from him to the package.  “I take it you are Annie?  He said I would know you when I saw you.”  He hands me the package and stands there.  I raise my eyebrows at him.  Is he waiting for a tip?  “Once you open it he asked that you give me your answer.  So if you please.”  He motions me to open the package.

My heart is racing as I tear it open.  A single white Gerber Daisy lies on top of a thick ivory colored invitation. I pick up the flower and place it to my nose inhaling deeply.  I read the card slowly making sure I don’t miss a single word:

It would give me great pleasure to have you join me for a horseback ride on the beach tonight at 6 pm.  This will be followed by a sunset picnic.  You will be picked up at 5 pm if you choose to accept my invitation.  ~Michael

I am standing there speechless with the biggest smile on my face.  “Yes!  My answer is yes!”  I give him a hug which takes him by surprise and I close the door squealing like a little girl and run to Sara’s room.  I knock on the door and listen.  No Discovery animal noises so I am not going to interrupt them.  I open the door.  “Sara!”  I whisper loudly.  “Get up I have to tell you something!”  I hear her stir and moan something about getting up.  She sounds as hung over as I do right now.  She drags herself into the living room with her eyes half closed.  I show her the card and she immediately wakes up.  We both jump up and down like little kids.  “Ok you need to get some sleep and then we need to go shopping later so you are ready for your first date with Michael.

I am sliding on my new jeans that Sara insisted I needed to get because “they make your ass look really really good”.  I have chosen a light green paper thin long sleeve shirt with a white tank underneath.  The green from my shirt is really making my eyes stand out so I do a natural look for my makeup.  I decide to wear my hair down since Michael seemed to like touching it so much the first time I met him.  I am definitely hoping for a repeat of that kiss.  At exactly 5 pm the doorbell rings and there he is.  My breath is taken away again.  He is even more gloriously handsome up close.  My eyes go to his lips and I feel my face turn red remembering his kiss.

“Annie.  You look as beautiful today as you did on New Year’s Eve.”  He takes my hand and brings it up and gently brushes his lips against my knuckles.  I smile at him and fight to keep my knees from getting weak.  What is this?  He looks at me and I turn to putty. I find my voice at last.  “Hello Michael.  You look like you were carved by the gods.”  Oh hell did I just say that out loud.  He laughs at this and in one motion has pulled me out of the apartment and closed the door.  He is wearing dark jeans, a black fitted tee shirt that displays his very nicely built arms and a pair of black boots. I can’t stop looking at his ass as we walk to his car.  What is coming over me?

The drive is relatively quick so we don’t get much time to talk in the car.  He asks me lots of questions about myself so I don’t get a chance to ask anything about him other than he is in fact George’s brother so Tom was right about that.  We park and he takes my hand and leads me down a trail to the beach.  There is a tent set up and as we get closer I see a table filled with heaping plates of food.  There is chilled shrimp, oysters on the half shell, various types of cheese and fruit.  I can see two bottles of champagne in an oversized ice bucket as well.  There is enough to feed at least 10 people here.  There are two oversized white chairs with a small round table between them.

The same gentleman who brought me the invitation is walking toward us with two beautiful Thoroughbred horses.  They are both dark bay with jet black manes, tails and socks.  They are huge, standing about 16 hands high and their coats are so shiny.  I have never ridden a horse before so I can feel myself tense up a bit.  He gives my hand a squeeze.  “Don’t worry Annie.  I will be right next to you and I promise I won’t let you get hurt.”  He pulls me with him and we walk over and they both help boost me up onto my horse.  Her name is Daisy and she seems to be very relaxed with me on her back.  I have to force myself to relax because I want to enjoy this.

The ride is amazing and we have gone up and down the beach several times and Michael even convinces me to let her run through the water so we are both soaked from mid-thigh down but what an amazing feeling riding next to him.  We are almost back to tent when he rides up next to me which causes Daisy to slow down.  He grabs her rein and pulls her to a stop.  “Are you having a good time tonight?”  He is looking at me with those beautiful light blue eyes and I feel like I am going to slide right off Daisy and into those pools of crystal blue.  “This is the best first date I have ever been on Michael.  This is so much better than in the movies.” He gives me a sly smile and reaches out and touches my face.  “Annie you are incredibly sexy.  I can see the excitement in your eyes and your smile.  You are glowing right now.”

He leans over and pulls me toward him and I can hear the saddle creak slightly as his weight shifts.  Our lips touch and I feel like I am back on that balcony.  He parts my lips with his tongue and kisses me deeply make me feel light headed.  The kiss is very passionate and sensual and his hand is in my hair again pulling me closer to him.  I feel myself leaning into him and I don’t care if I fall off the horse right now I am so caught up in him.  He pulls away and I really do almost fall off before he grabs my arm.  “Easy Annie, I promised I wouldn’t let you fall and I never break my promises.”  I blush and pull myself upright in my saddle.  If his kiss can make me feel so weak I can only imagine what the rest of him would do to me. Oh my god what is wrong me!

He helps me off Daisy and I can feel his muscles under his shirt as he pulls me close to him and then gently sets me down on the sand.  The horses are taken away and we walk to the tent to eat.  Throughout dinner I can’t help but stare at Michael.  I want to touch his face, to kiss him.  He seems so mysterious to me and that makes me want him even more.  “What are you thinking about right now Annie you have this Mona Lisa smile on your face.” I take a sip of my champagne to gather my courage.

“Well, to be honest I can’t stop thinking about your lips and your kiss.  I mean I am thinking about the rest of you too but….. Oh wait, that didn’t come out right either.  I just don’t know what it is you have done to me.  I sound like a total idiot around you and you would think it is my first day walking because I can’t seem to stand up without being close to fainting when you kiss me.”  He laughs and even that is sexy.  “Well I didn’t realize I had that effect on you and you are far from an idiot.  I find you refreshing and I don’t think I have ever met someone like you before.  Trust me it is taking everything in my being to not launch myself at you right now.  But I am a gentleman which is very lucky for you.  But give it time darlin’ because I won’t always be able to be on my best behavior around you.  That is if you agree to go out with me again.”  I smile and nod at him.  I don’t trust myself to speak at the moment.  I feel myself tingle from head to toe.  He leans in and gives me a soft kiss on the corner of my mouth.  “For tonight though I will behave.”