She was okay. I had to keep telling myself that, over and over. The day before was like none I had ever known. I had never been the anxious type. Sure, I had dealt with my far share of problems, but I never dwelt on it, until I sent CeCe to the hospital. I'd asked Megan to report back to me all day, but she was busy with the camp. I was pissed off with myself for getting the boot from the hospital, I wanted to be there with her. So, I had to do something to pass the time.
Early that morning, I went through my fridge and pantry, boxing up anything she couldn't eat. Later, I checked with a few staff members that had families and gave it all away. I hated throwing away food, so that worked out. I went shopping. I was very thankful for a grocery clerk that knew all about food allergies and walked me through the store to get what I needed. I'm sure I bought way too much, but I really didn't care. There was no way I was going to let that happen again. It was still early, too early.
Megan finally called. Hearing CeCe coughing made my heart constrict. I wanted so badly to talk to her and hear her voice, but not if was going to hurt her even more. I made sure she knew to keep quiet and get back to me as soon as she was able to.
After that, I went to CeCe's cabin. I had to convince her to stay with me and only eat at my house. So I took everything from her cabin and brought it home. Pretty quickly I figured out that she had a suitcase for clean and one for dirty clothes. We had on site laundry, but she was obviously too busy while working to do it often. Even her clean clothes smelled like the hot and muggy cabin though. So I washed it all, except for the very few dry clean only items. For those I asked a staff member to run them into town. The laundry kept me busy most of the day and I was very thankful for the distraction.
I checked in with Megan a few times, I could tell she was getting cranky, I guess she had been put under a lot of stress with all this. Even though I loved CeCe, Megan had been her best friend forever. She'd seen her through the worst of times, so that couldn't have been easy. Around 5:30pm I got a call from her letting me know that she was heading to the hospital to takes few things to her. She needed into the cabin to get clothes, but I explained that I already had them. She stopped by and I could tell she was exhausted. I apologised again for not being able to go instead, she understood and thanked me for taking care of her friend. There was something she wasn't telling me, but I knew better than to push it. Although I did make her promise not to spill about CeCe's stuff.
The next morning, around 8am, I got the call that she needed picked up. Megan knew I wanted to get her, so she made sure I knew that CeCe was expecting her. That worked for me, I loved surprising my girl.
After we got home and had breakfast, I was excited to show her the closet. She needed a shower, so I just had to wait. Sure enough, she was pleased. A small part of me was afraid she'd take it as too Alpha Male and be pissed, but she seemed honestly happy. I wanted to badly to get in the shower with her! But I wasn't crazy, it may have been two days ago, but I couldn't forget everything we discussed that day. I had to have patience, it was the only way.
She was in the bathroom for a long time, which I could kind of understand. I'd spent a few days in the hospital after a broken arm when I was thirteen. It was like I could feel the germs on me, I had showered three times when I got home. So, a little extra hot water wasn't a big worry for me.
"I love your shower! Seriously, why don't the cabins have these?!"
"Right, how about I fix that and charge an insane amount the next time your group books our camp?"
"I thought we were already paying an insane amount."
The smirk on her face gave me the distinct impression that she was only half kidding. That's okay, maybe someday I'll go over the actual cost to run the grounds, then she'll know the deal they got. A lot of the places they'd been to over the years since it all started were much smaller, with way fewer amenities than here. I'd looked into it, that was before we got involved, but I always like to know what I'm getting into with a group this size. Especially since they were going to be exclusive for a month, that was very rare. Finding out that some churches actually sponsored people blew my mind. I knew they had to pay a pretty penny to, not only afford the initial fee, but to lose a month of work. It was another reason I was so curious when I was offered the chance to sit in. I'm still not 100% convinced it's worth it, but so far I've been extremely impressed. CeCe is, without a doubt, fiercely committed to what she does.
"Mmhhmm, well we can negotiate for the next time."
"Oh? You seem confident we'll be back here. Maybe we could find a better deal elsewhere."
I narrowed my eyes and gave her an obvious 'that's what you think' look. It just made her laugh. A laugh I'd missed.
"What do you want to do today? I know you have to take it easy, so we'll have to take our hike another day. But we could go to the pool. We could swing by the Rec Center. Whatever you want."
"I'd love to do all that, but maybe tomorrow. Do you think we could sit outside and... um... you could hold me?"
I was on her in an instant. I held her in my arms and moulded my mouth to hers. I tried to make it sweet, but it quickly became desperate. I wasn't sure where to go or what to do. My brain said to slow down, but my body was already headed for the bedroom. Half way there, I started listening to my brain. I broke the kiss, but didn't let go.
"Sorry, I'm struggling to control myself. I know that's not what you want to hear, I'm just..."
"Don't be sorry. I wouldn't have allowed it if I wasn't feeling the same way."
Oh, fuck.
"So, what do we do now?"
"How about we make out and see just how self-disciplined we really are?"
My lips met hers again. I lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around my waste. I carried her out to the back patio and laid her down on a lounge chair. We kissed, slowly. Every time one of us would start to heat things up, the other would cool it down. I felt like I was in high school, well early on. As if she could hear my thoughts, she stopped and looked at me.
"Is it my turn to ask questions now?"
"Ha! Sure, I'm an open book. Ask away."
"When did you lose your virginity?"
Damn, she gets straight to the point!
"I was sixteen. It was actually a dare, a stupid one made at a party. We were playing truth or dare, which I never recommend, by the way. And someone from a different school dared me to 'fuck the next girl that walks in the room'. Well, lucky for me the next girl was Gina Walker, she was eighteen and by far every guy there's wet dream. Sorry, that was crass. Anyway, it didn't take much convincing, which surprised me! She was a senior, I was a sophomore, didn't typically happen at my school."
I stopped to gauge her reaction, but all she did was give me a 'go on'.
"Right, Gina took my hand and led me to an empty bedroom, which I'm pretty sure was my friend's sisters room, because there were pictures of princesses and shit all over. I only saw that for about two seconds because she was completely nude by the time the door was closed."
Laughter. CeCe was laughing so hard.
"Wait, wait, wait. Your first time was in a princess room?!"
I rolled my eyes and nodded. She burst out again and I couldn't help but join in.
"Ok, so... it was awful! I had no idea what I was doing, what I should be doing, and I was starting to sweat. Exactly the way to seduce a woman, right? Anyway, she took control and not only made it good, but she showed me some helpful hints for the future. Of course I had to go and make it super awkward and ask her out after. Shot me down like a... something that gets shot down easily. But it worked, she confirmed that the dare was completed to her satisfaction. I chose truth from then on!"
CeCe never really stopped laughing, just slowed down while I talked. After I was done, we were both red in the face.
"You know? I make sure my guests never have to worry about being laughed at while telling stories like that. I may have to give a little more leeway. I don't think I would have made it through that without getting kicked out of my own camp!"
I feigned shock and hurt, but all she did was slap my chest. I just chuckled.
"So, any more questions?"
"Yes. Tell me about your parents."
"That's not really a question, but I'll tell you anyway. As I've said before, I grew up in a Catholic family. I begged to go to public school, but they were so sure I would get corrupted there. Little did they know that the same amount of parties, sex, booze, and drugs went on there. As I've mentioned in the truth or dare story."
She stifled a laugh, it was so cute.
"Not all Catholic schools are bad, but mine... it could have set the standard for the bad ones. I asked my parents constantly to take me out of there, but all that did was get my Dad angry and he'd whip out the belt. I heard 'spare the rod, spare the child' all the fucking time. But my dad wasn't just a good Catholic, he was CEO of a multi-million dollar business in Chicago."
CeCe gasped. 'What?! Wait, you're from Chicago?"
"Yep, it's why I bought this land. I wasn't too far from home and it's what I really wanted to do."
"YOU OWN THE LAND?!"
I couldn't help but find that amusing. Most people think I just run the grounds, but I was doing this to get away from my father's business.
"Yep, it's not something I advertise, I wanted to not only be my own boss, but doing the things I love. Being outdoors, creating jobs, fishing, did I mention being outdoors?"
"Were your parents okay with you not joining their business?"
"Oh no! My father flipped a lid. I had gone to college to get a business degree, and he was so sure it was because I wanted to join him. But I only did that to learn how to run my own business. Made things tense for a long time. I have three brothers and two sisters, so they had plenty to carry on their legacy."
"Ok, there's a lot of stuff to get back to in all that, but I absolutely need to hear about your siblings! I'm an only child, the closest thing I have is Meg. So..."
"I'm the oldest at 28. My brothers, Joseph and James (twins) are 26. My sister, Sarah is 24. My sister, Mary is 21. And the baby is my brother Peter, is 17."
"I'm sensing a theme here. Eli is short for Elijah, isn't it?"
"Yep, we all have 'biblical' names. And we (well, mostly me) got the shit kicked out of us if we ever did anything 'ungodly'. At home and at school. Eventually I got used to it and started to just not care. But me and my brothers, became very protective of our sisters. We would keep any secrets for them, coach them on what to do or not do to keep from getting punished. Didn't always work, but it helped. Once I left for college and it was only the twins watching them, it got worse. Mary has to see a therapist twice a week."
"That's.... that's just.... awful!"
"Yeah, but it is what it is. My Dad isn't a bad guy, no, honestly. More often than not, he made it clear how much he hated hurting us. It was almost like he felt if he didn't, then he would be sinning. He even supports charities for domestic abuse. Fitting, isn't it? Anyway, a lot of people go through a whole lot worse, so I can't complain."
"Of course you can! Ok, I'm gonna drop a little nugget of what I teach others. Just because someone else is suffering in a different way than you are, doesn't mean you should block out your feelings. A whole lot of women have gone through far worse than me, but I know that talking about it, can help me and others. By the way, that was the extremely condensed version. A long class would make way more sense."
God, I love this woman. All I can do is look at her in awe. We've been on the lounge chair for a while now and I'm starting to cramp up, but I don't want to let her go. Then I hear a yawn and see her starting to fade.
"CeCe, honey. How about you take a nap? You look tired."
"I don't wanna. I slept a ton yesterday, I want to hear more about you."
"We can continue 20 questions later. You're sleepy and going to bed."
She gave me her most innocent pout, but I wasn't giving in. I stood up with her cradled in my arms and headed for the bedroom. After laying her down under the covers, I turned to walk out, when I felt her hand on my wrist.
"Stay. Please."
So I laid down behind her and held her close. Praying for more days like this.