Destiny by chance: A Contemporary Romance Fiction Novel (10 page)

And then she did.

Destiny felt her heart begin to race as her eyes met his once again.  How did she get here?  How did this man, this stranger reach into the very depth of her heart when she had so determined to close it off completely after Phillip’s death?  They had hardly spoken all night, and yet she felt she had known him all his life.  His hand still held hers as he leaned against the door nervously.

“Why is it I don’t want to leave you?”

“Why is it I don’t want you to leave?” 

“I have to see you again.”

“Have to?” she chuckled.

“Yes,” Bill replied emphatically.  “Have to.”  He took a step closer to her.

Destiny nodded as she looked up.  She slid her hand from his and moved it to his face.  “So, are you going to tell me what happened?” Her hand traced the bruising carefully.

Bill crossed his legs and his arms and exhaled.  “Oh.”  He cringed.  “Is it still that obvious?”

Destiny laughed.  “You’re all black and blue.” Her hand brushed his cheek.  “Does it hurt?  I mean it looks like it should hurt.”

“Naw.  It doesn’t hurt,” he sighed, then bit his lip.  “Do you ever have one of those days when nothing goes right?  Kind of like when things are going bad, and they just start to snowball and then it goes downhill from there?”

Destiny nodded.

Bill wriggled his lips.  “Well, this,” he made a circular motion around his face with his finger, “was one of those days wrapped up in five minutes.”

Destiny smiled, cupping his face with her hands.  She leaned up on her toes and kissed his cheek.  “Maybe one day,” she whispered against it before kissing the other.  “Maybe one day you’ll tell me your secrets.”

Bill suddenly took her face in his hands.  “And maybe one day, you’ll tell me all of yours.” Slowly he leaned in and kissed her ever so gently on her lips.

Destiny closed her eyes and accepted the kiss.  It was warm and sweet.  And when he pulled back she opened her eyes and gasped.  Then she smiled up at him weakly, their eyes locked on one another’s. 

“What about your car?”

“I’ll call them first thing in the morning,” she whispered, still reeling from his kiss.  “My brother will take me to it.  We usually have breakfast on Saturdays.”

“I don’t mind,” he said.  “In fact, I was hoping...” he began, drawing in a deep breath, “it would give me an excuse to see you again, sooner.”

“I texted him earlier from the car.  I didn’t want to bother you.  But that was before—”

“Before what?” he asked, his fingers gently brushing her cheeks.  Destiny looked down, but he tilted her head back up.  “Before what?”

She closed her eyes, feeling his breath caressing her lips; welcoming it, wanting it.  Slowly his hot breath was against her cheek, kissing it, tracing it to her ear.  She felt dizzy.  Destiny opened her eyes, looking up into the wood beams.  “Before this,” she added in a breath.

He stepped away from her, waiting for her to open her door.  When she stepped inside, he leaned against the door jamb, just staring at her.

“What?”

“I was just wondering if I should ask you out.”

Destiny narrowed her eyes.  “You were, were you?”  She looked away cryptically.  “You don’t even have my phone number.  How were you planning on asking me out?”

Bill slid the phone from his pocket and keyed in his password.  Her hand moved to his, taking his phone, her fingers lightly brushing his palm.  Electricity instantly coursed through his body at her slightest touch.  A few strokes later she handed the phone back to him.  Bill looked at her suspiciously and pressed dial.  Destiny’s phone rang, and she grinned.  When he continued to hold his phone up to his ear, she opened her purse and removed her phone, looking at it.

“Hmmm,” she looked at him mischievously.  “I usually don’t answer strange phone numbers.”

Bill looked skyward, patiently, as her phone continued to ring.

Destiny narrowed her eyes and then answered the phone, without saying anything.

Bill held up his finger to excuse himself and stepped away from the doorway, his back to her, as though he was secretive about his phone call.

“Hello?” he cooed.

Destiny decided to play along.  “Hello.”

“Yes, I was just checking that this was a good number.”

“Uh, huh,” Destiny murmured.

“You see, there’s this amazing woman I met and I was so afraid that when she gave me her number, that maybe she really didn’t.  You know?  Kind of bait and switch.”

“Nope.  Real number.”

“Good.  Thank you.”  Then he hung up.

Destiny took her phone from her ear, then looked at it, perplexed. 

“Well, Goodnight,” Bill smiled sweetly and nodded cordially.  Then he turned and reluctantly walked away, his smile growing with every step.

“Is that it?” Destiny called to his back.

Bill turned instantly and walked back to her, taking her face in his hands anxiously.  “God, I hope not,” he gasped before kissing her again.

Though his breath was hot and rushed, he showed restraint.  His kiss was so sweet, and yet, more than that; it was remarkably… sensual.

Destiny felt weak in his arms, holding the door for support when they parted.

He breathed in a deep breath then slowly exhaled.  “Would you go out with me?”

Destiny couldn’t speak; her eyes transfixed on his.  So she nodded.

“Next Saturday?”

Destiny nodded again.

“Seven o’clock?”

She felt mesmerized as she nodded again.

“I’ll pick you up?”

Another nod.

“You’re an extremely difficult woman, aren’t you?”

Destiny bobbed her head from side to side and wrinkled her nose.  A small smile grew on her lips, and she nodded once more.

“Good,” he said, leaning over, kissing her again.  Softly.  “I love a good challenge,” he whispered against her lips.  Then he gently lowered her head and pressed his lips to her forehead, holding them there for many moments.  Bill stepped away, backward, his eyes never leaving hers.  “Goodnight,” he sighed.  A moment later he was gone from her sight.

Destiny furrowed her brow and smiled to herself.  “Goodnight,” she replied, under her breath.  As she continued to peer through the parted doorway, her heart pounded in her chest.  But more than that, her heart smiled again. 

And for the first time in a long time; actually, for the first time in a
very
long time, Phillip wasn’t the last person on her mind when she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Sometimes the memories came in small discernible pieces—fragmented; snippets of time, forever frozen snapshots in her mind.  Sometimes they came like full visions; visions that felt so real she could touch them.  Sometimes they came in dreams.  Sweet dreams of holding her son, cradling him in her arms, rocking him.  She could hear his soft cooing.  She could feel him grasping her finger.  Dreams so clear that she was there; they were still together.  A family.  Dreams she never wanted to wake from, dreams she desperately never wanted to forget.

Then there were the nightmares.  The accident.  Glass shattering.  Her son was crying.  Her Rhett crying,
“Mommy!  Mommy!”
  Oh, the blood!  Phillip’s blood, her own blood mixing with his as rain pelted her cheeks.  The door that wouldn’t open.  The screaming of the saw so close to her face that it was deafening.  The sparks flying around her like fireworks as the blade cut through metal. 

Destiny sat up with a start, gasping for breath.  Her heart was racing, her sheets wet with perspiration.  She clutched them to her chest, dropped her head into her hands and sobbed.  It had been months since she’d had a nightmare, one so vivid that she woke feeling as though it had all just happened again.  As she closed her eyes and wiped away the tears, her arms ached to hold her husband and her young son. Not a day went by that she didn’t think of them. 

Destiny rolled onto her side, curled into a ball staring ahead at the bare wall.  There were no pictures framed around her home.  Those were kept in albums, in a cabinet.  Hidden.  The memories were too painful, and she didn’t want or need daily reminders of who was no longer there. 

Slowly she reached for her prescription bottle, shakily removing a tablet and washing it down with the water at her bedside.  Destiny hated taking any medication, but these helped balance her.  Depression no longer consumed her every day.  They gave her the will to get out of bed, the will to go to work.  The will to live.  She drew in a deep breath and lazily crawled out of bed.

An hour and a shower later, she felt somewhat better.  Triple-A was sending someone to meet them within the hour.  Andy was on his way to pick her up.  He agreed, on one condition—a condition he hadn’t mentioned the night before. 
She
had to buy
him
breakfast.

Andy and Destiny arrived at the same time the mechanic did.  The large man with a handlebar mustache readily threw out several suggestions of what the issue could be, all of them expensive to repair.  As long as it was a warranty issue, and she didn’t have to pay for it, it wouldn’t be a problem.  In the end, the car had to be towed.  Andy consoled her by telling her he’d buy breakfast instead.

“So, why can’t you retire, again?” Andy asked, before opening his mouth wide and stuffing it with the giant burrito.

“For the millionth time, I want to work.  I need to work.”  She sliced her burrito into rounds, then each round into quarters, unable to open her mouth wide enough to eat even the small burrito that she had ordered.  Then she proceeded to sprinkle a little of the homemade hot sauce onto each quarter.

Andy chuckled at her.  “You’re so OCD,” he teased, watching her repeat the same routine she had practiced inexplicably since childhood, even cutting her hamburgers into quarters.

Destiny glared up at him as she forked the first piece and put it into her mouth. 

Andy shook his head, a sly smile on his lips.  “I’m going to marry an OCD woman,” he informed her.  “That way I know that my house will always be clean, and organized and in perfect order.”

“And you’ll torture her daily like you tortured me?” she retorted, before taking another bite.

“Yeah, but it will be different,” he said, holding the burrito next to his face, primed to be consumed.

“How’s that?”

“There will be sex involved,” he said, lowering his voice.  “Lots of sex,” he added, his mouth full.

“You’re assuming an awful lot,” she smiled, then carefully placed the next piece in her mouth, chewing daintily.

Andy chased his bite with a sip of Dr Pepper and, wiped his mouth.  “
Lots
of sex,” he grinned.

“I hate to remind you, but women aren’t built like men are.”

“Thank God!” he exclaimed, before taking another bite.

Destiny grinned as she sliced another round of her burrito, then cut it into four equal sized pieces.  Feeling his eyes on her, she looked up.  Andy was perfectly still, watching her.  When she rolled her eyes at him, he finished chewing, a smile plastered on his face.

“I mean,” she began, also lowering her voice. “Most women don’t just… I mean, won’t just,” she stammered.  “Just don’t expect it, like every time you think about it.”  Destiny took a sip of her root beer.

“What?  You mean I won’t get laid fifteen times a day?” he asked in a normal voice, drawing stares from all over the room.

Destiny spit out her soda, spewing it all over her food and his, choking.

“Argh!  That’s disgusting!” he exclaimed, putting down his burrito.  He grabbed extra napkins from the holder, blotting his arms, his shirt, plate, and table.  Then he chuckled.

Destiny wiped her arms and plate.  Embarrassed, she casually looked around, as those who were staring, looked away, one by one.

Andy patted her back.  “Didn’t think it was that funny.” Andy lowered his head to see her face.  As she blew her nose, he grinned.  “Could have been worse.”  Her eyes turned to his.  “You could have been drinking milk.”

Destiny shook her head.  “God help the woman you marry.”

“Hey, that’s not very nice.”

“I didn’t mean it that way.”

“How did you mean it?  Andy feigned offense.

“You have a perverted sense of humor.  Not everyone would know quite how to take it.”  She grinned mischievously.  “It will take a special kind of woman to appreciate you.” Destiny chuckled behind her napkin and shook her head, as Andy crammed his burrito into his mouth—which was much more than would fit.  Her cell phone rang, and she held up her finger to her brother while answering.  “Hello?”  She dabbed her lips with her napkin again.  “Oh, hey, Rita.”  Her voice sounded disappointed.  “No, sorry,” Destiny said.  “It’s just my car’s not working, so I’m kind of bummed.”  As she listened, she occasionally glanced at her brother, who was still trying to chew the overabundance of food he had shoved into his mouth.  “Tonight?”  She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them again and smiled.  “Sure, why not?  I don’t have a car; so could you possibly pick me up?”

Andy held up his napkin to discreetly wipe the excess food from his mouth that hadn’t fit.

“Seven is good.  See you then.”  Destiny hung up her phone.  “That was my boss.”

“You’re going somewhere tonight?” He looked into his sister’s eyes and smiled.  “Two nights in a row?  I’m so glad for you, Dee.  You’re finally getting out.”

“Don’t make more of it than it is.”  Destiny pushed her plate away and looked up, her eyes meeting his.  “Please,” she added, to end any further discussion.

Andy nodded.  “Okay,” he sighed, interjecting.  “But, I have to say,” he continued, to a furrowed brow, “that I’m proud of you. I mean.  You’ve come a long way, Destiny.” 

Her eyes softened.  She looked down at her hands folded in front of her on the table.

Andy put his hand on hers.  “You’re going to be okay,” he smiled.  “I was worried for awhile, but, now I know it.  You’re going to be okay.”

Destiny squeezed his hand in return as she dropped her forehead to his.  “
We’re
going to be okay.”