Against Reason

Right Person, Wrong Time

~ "young people fall in love with the wrong people sometimes" ~

The next day, I didn't even make an attempt to get out of bed. My alarm went off and I immediately snoozed it. No one will notice if I skip one day, I'll just tell the attendance office that I have cramps. I burrowed deeper into my comfy bed, and prepared to sleep for as long as I could.

When I actually did wake up, it was due to a loud banging coming from downstairs. Looking over at my clock, I saw that it was 5 PM. Damn, I slept almost 12 hours. It's now about to get dark, and pouring rain. The banging didn't cease, so pulled on some joggers, then stumbled out of bed and downstairs. Maybe it's a serial killer, but at this point I'm not sure I would mind being murdered. I swing open our heavy front door, only to see Vera. She looked like a cold, wet, puppy that someone left in the rain. Her blouse and skirt were soaked, and her mascara was running.

"I'm not interested in buying whatever it is that you're selling. Goodnight" I said, beginning to shut the door. She slapped a manicured hand on my door and pushed it back open, then proceeded to let herself in. "Damn, you girl scouts have gotten more aggressive with your selling techniques."

"Stop being a smart ass" Vera fumes.

"...You gonna tell me why you're dripping water all over my floor?"

"....I locked myself out of my house." I took a second to process, before bursting out in laughter.

"HA! Karma is a bitch" I said. She then somehow managed to look even angrier than before. "How did you lock yourself out of your house? Aren't your kids home with a sitter?"

"No, the kids are at my moms for the week, Sean is out of town, and I left my keys in the house this morning when I left for work." The woman looks extremely worn out and I begin to feel bad. But then I recall how she behaved towards me all day.

"And you thought you should come here? To your student's house?" Her face went blank and I immediately felt bad. She doesn't deserve shit from me right now.

"I knew this was a bad idea. You're an ass" she said, before turning and leaving. Ah, I fucked up. Just as she got to my lawn, I darted after her, not caring if I soaked my brand new t-shirt. She made it to my driveway before I caught up to her and grabbed her wrist, successfully turning her to face me. I opened my mouth to speak, but all I could do was admire her porcelain face as a confused expression came over it. All of my words got caught in my throat as I stared into those damn blue eyes. The cold rain made me shiver, but I felt a heat inside my body.

I regained my speaking abilities, and muttered an "I'm sorry. For everything. I'll leave you alone from now on if that's what you want." My voice faded to a barely audible whisper as I spoke that last sentence. It just dawned on me that I was still gripping her wrist, so I quickly dropped it. I searched her face for any sign of....anything, but she just seemed to be processing. We had somehow gotten a lot closer, and now our faces were mere inches apart. My eyes were drawn to her pink, full lips that were glistening from the constant downpour. The sound of rainfall, as well as a deafening silence somehow both filled the crisp  air.

"No Aria. That's not what I want" Vera whispered, before gently, almost fearfully, placing her hands on my face. Her touch alone made me dizzy. I watched as her eyes glanced over my lips, then back up to meet my gaze. Her eyes told me everything I needed to know. Then, finally, our lips met in a sweet, soft kiss. A kiss that was also filled with enough passion and lust to melt every glacier in Antarctica. The rain continued to pour and soak both of us, but we didn't care. Vera wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me closer, as if she couldn't get close enough. I slipped my tongue between her lips and she let out a tiny moan into my mouth. Somehow in the process of trying to pull me nearer, Vera mis-stepped and plopped down onto the slick grass, taking me down with her. She landed on her butt and I caught myself with an arm. She threw her head back and let out a beautiful laugh, I couldn't help but smile. I kissed her again. We both were laughing but also making an attempt to kiss each other, which made us laugh more. The rain soaked our faces, making for a very wet kiss.

"You mind showing me where you keep your towels?"

We both came inside, leaving a trail of water on the floors. I went to retrieve some towels from the laundry room, my heart still beating rapidly. I came back and saw Vera looking at our framed picture wall, mostly filled with embarrassing pictures of baby Aria.

"What are you doing?" I whined, throwing a towel at her. She laughed and began to dry off.

"I like the one where it looks like you don't know how to eat cake!"

"I was four!" I giggle.

"So you know how to eat cake now, right?"

"Yes, I took a course and now feel confident in my cake-eating abilities."

"Thank God!"

Eventually I dig around our junk drawer some and find Vera's spare key that she gave us years ago when she moved in. I give it to her, and I can't help but smile at how perfect she still looks, despite her damp hair and ruined makeup. Her blue eyes still sparkle.

"Thank you Aria. You're saving my butt." I just give her a small smile. "But, uh- about earlier.."

My smile falls. Fuck. Obviously she's going to want to talk about that kiss and probably tell me that it was a mistake. How could I be so naive. I really thought something would work out between us, not taking into consideration our situation. Whatever. At least I got a glimpse of what could have been.

"You don't have to say it" I say, looking at my muddy socks. Then I feel her lift my chin up to look me in the eyes.

"You are so special Aria. And I wish there was a way that this could work out. But I think it's just the right person wrong time cliché. I don't know. Maybe if we were closer in age, things would be different. Either way, I need time to figure out some things, like my husband. And I don't want to keep stringing you along, it isn't fair to you." Vera softly spoke and I felt my eyes well with tears. One fell from my eye and she gently wiped it away with her hand, but she kept her palm on my cheek. Slowly, she leaned down a little to place her soft lips on mine one last time.

Vera left and I was alone once again. I had the woman of my dreams in my grasp for one moment, but then I lost her and she slid through my fingers like sand.

My heart hurts.