An Unbreakable Bond

Chapter 7 - Meddling Family

Aaron was so caring. I woke in his arms, his fingers softly brushing through my hair. I felt so safe. It was a feeling that has eluded me for so long and now, I felt loved, felt cared for, secure in his arms but, I was still confused as to what happened last night. I remembered us kissing each other and then that was it. I still had my clothes on, as did Aaron, minus his shirt, but in all honesty, after seeing his chest, the lack of shirt didn't seem to matter. What did matter was what happened.

"Did we....?"

"Did we kiss? Yes. Did we go further? No."

"I don't remember anything after the kiss."

"You had a lot to drink, it would have been unfair of me to take advantage of that. Just kissing you was the perfect end to the night. Waking up with you in my arms was the perfect start to the day."

My face felt like it was burning, as I buried my head into his neck to hide my blushing. I was glad that nothing else happened. I wanted my first time to be special, to be remembered, to be with the right person. Aaron, was showing me that he was the right person, but I stll knew little about him.

"Aaron, what time is it?"

"A little after noon, why?"

"Just wondering if you fancy going for some lunch with me?"

"Well, I was planning on visiting my auntie today, she has been feeling a little bit under the weather, but I'm sure she won't mind me being late. Do you need to go home first?"

"I'll just freshen up here."

As Aaron got out of bed to use the bathroom, my eyes were glued to his body. Wicked thoughts entered my head, whilst going for lunch escaped it. I lay back on the bed, waiting for Aaron, daydreaming, wishing, hoping, that finally, my life was going right for me. He came from nowhere and gave me something to smile about.

"Okay, your turn Annabel. I'm just going downstairs to see if anyone is awake yet."

I almost forgot that we were in a strange house. I didn't even know who it belonged to. I got ready as quickly as I could, tying my hair back into a pony tail as I had no brush and washing all the make-up off my face the best I could. I had a little make-up with me so there was no panic there. As I left the room to go downstairs, I heard Aaron on the phone talking to someone called Edith, he didn't seem happy.

"Is everything okay Aaron?"

"Yeah, it's no problem. It was just my grandmother, I called to say I would be running late on seeing my auntie, she gave me a lecture. She is very family orientated and expects people to be on time whenever she clicks her fingers."

"I'm sorry. I don't want you to get into trouble for my sake. You should go Aaron."

"No, I want to go for lunch with you."

We left the house and Aaron drove us into town to find a cafe. He told me more about his family, said they didn't like people coming between family and interupting things. He told me how Edith, his grandmother, was always the string puller, ordering everybody about. It made me feel a little uncomfortable, but he assured me that he was not like them. He wanted to break free from all of that and do things his own way, on his time and on his terms. I asked him if it was a religious thing, due to the fact that I had a friend at school who had the same type of family and they were devout. He just nodded his head and looked quite sad, almost worried.

We arrived at a cafe just off the main high street. He still looked troubled from the conversation of his family.

"You sure you're okay Aaron?"

"Yeah. It's just, I never really talk about my family to anyone."

"You can tell me anything Aaron. I'm not going to judge you on other peoples way of life. How about I buy lunch, and if you're free tonight, you can repay me back?"

He smiled me at me and took my hand as we entered the cafe.

I was starving. As soon as the door opened, the smell of food hit me. I wanted to eat everything in the place. As we sat down and looked at the menu, I couldn't help but notice that Aaron still seemed troubled. I kicked his leg playfully under the table and told him to smile. He laughed, and said he would be fine.

"How come you didn't go on to university after college Aaron?"

"I just wanted to get out of education quickly and start earning my own money. Trouble is, finding a job is hard. I have some interviews lined up, but nothing amazing. I just need a foot in the door and then go from there really. What about you?"

"I'm the same, in that I want to start earning my own money, but I made a promise to myself to get to university. I start next year doing media studies. Don't really know why, as I want to become a primary teacher. At least I will have something to fall back on if teaching comes of nothing."

"I'm sorry Annabel, I really need to take this...."

His phone started ringing. It was his grandmother again demanding he come to visit his auntie.

Aaron told her he was with me and would come later. Didn't seem to go down to well and I don't think it will be the end of that either.

We ate lunch and talked more about what we wanted in life and where we wanted to be. Just like when we first met, he was always interested in what I was saying, looking at me as I spoke and being attentitive with everything. The whole issue with his family seemed forgotten about and Aaron started smiling more.

"So, you said I can repay you later?"

"What do you have in mind?"

"Well, I don't have much, but I was thinking you might like to come and see where I live, and I can cook you dinner? It's the least I can do."

"Sounds good to me."

"Good, I'll drop you off at home and then pick you up later, around seven?"

I was hardly going to say no.