A/N: Thanks for reading--please vote and/or comment if you get a chance! Thanks!!
Two days later, I rode with Maggie to the airport so I could see her off, just the two of us, as Jack’s flight didn’t leave until the next day. I felt strangely sad to see her go, even though we hadn’t spent all that much time together on vacation and she’d be picking me up from the airport in a week. I think my melancholy was due to seeing her with Jack and knowing that the writing was on the wall -- I knew she would likely be moving to Chicago after we took the bar at the end of July. While I loved Jack and was very happy for her, I was also sad for myself -- I didn’t want to lose my best friend.
When she saw me tearing up, Maggie teased me, “I should be the one crying, I’m going home to less than exciting Nebraska, alone, and you’re staying here in heaven with a hunky guy.”
“I know, I’m just going to miss you. Travel safe, I’ll see you soon. Try not to sell my story to a tabloid,” I said with a smile.
“Good point, I’ll try to hold myself back from doing that but I can’t make any promises. Love you, be safe and have fun.”
“Be safe? Who are you, me?” I teased.
“I know, I know, you’ve somehow rubbed off on me. Just forget I said that and focus on the have fun part.”
“I will, see you soon,” I repeated.
And then she was gone. And it was truly just me and Alex. Oh, and his four bodyguards. Of course.
Our final week together was spent much the same as our preceding time, lots of swimming, lots of sex, lots of eating amazing food. We finally tried out Alex’s outside shower, which was an incredibly erotic experience made all the hotter by knowing we needed to keep our voices down. I about bit a hole through my lip, but it was well worth any temporary pain I’d felt.
We did finally risk having more photographs of us being taken by the paparazzi and do a few of the activities we were both interested in --we rode horses one afternoon and snorkeled the next. Alex had asked that we be the only ones on our ride, to hopefully prevent that same guest, or any others, from taking pictures of us they could sell. The Mustique Management Company was happy to comply and I got to see Alex in all his glory atop a horse. He really was in his element and it was super sexy to see.
We also broke our self-imposed television ban to watch a movie one night, and I liked that better than any of the other more exotic things we’d done. It just felt so normal to be curled up together on a couch, watching a romantic comedy I’d seen a million times. It made me sad that there wouldn’t be any other nights like this in our future, that our relationship had an expiration date that was rapidly approaching.
Alex never really brought up how soon we were leaving so I didn’t either, not wanting to waste any of our time in feeling sad about it. But it was on my mind almost constantly -- I felt like there was a big clock hanging over our heads, counting down the hours and minutes until we wouldn’t be together anymore. I was like a graduating senior, everything we did had some sort of significance to me. I’d think, this will be the last time we’ll swim together, this might be the last time I’ll wake up to find myself hanging off the bed because Alex was sprawled across the majority of the rest of it. Ok, so not all of the things I would miss, exactly.
If Alex was feeling the same way, he hid it very well, although I too made every attempt to keep my true feelings locked away.
The night before we were both scheduled to leave was tension-filled. I wanted to make the most of our last little bit of time together, but the sadness I felt about leaving Alex and the magical time we’d shared together on Mustique made it hard. Alex was clearly preoccupied as well and we were curt with each during dinner.
I suggested a swim after that but Alex said he’d rather not as he didn’t want to have to pack a wet swimsuit if he didn’t have to, which was reasonable enough. Instead, we sat on the couch together, listening to some music as we tried to talk.
When several attempts at getting a conversation started failed, I got up from the couch as did Alex, and he stood in front of me. “Yes?” I asked, my annoyance showing a bit in my voice.
“Where are you going?” he asked, his tone much the same as mine.
“I was going to go get some water, did you want anything?”
Instead of answering he just shrugged. Sick of yet another instance of his inability to communicate with me that night, I reached my breaking point.
“Ok, if you’re not going to talk to me, I’m just going to go pack,” I said, striding to his room, my shoulders brushing his as I stalked by. He reached out and grabbed my arm, and, because of the speed with which I was walking, his movement whipped me back towards him and I crashed into his chest as he turned.
When I looked up him, he was breathing fast and his eyes were filled with an unnamed emotion. He bent down and kissed me, deep and hard, and I was soon breathing as rapidly as he was, with my hands fisted in his hair.
Alex grabbed me by the back of my thighs and picked me up, wrapping my legs around his waist as we continued to kiss. He took a big step forward, so I was pinned between him and the wall, allowing him to have a free hand to run down my body. I writhed against him as his touch drove me wild.
After a few minutes of this seductive torture, I couldn’t take it a moment longer. “Fuck me,” I moaned into his ear. “Please, Alex, fuck me now.”
“Bloody hell, Charlie,” Alex groaned, trying to unfasten his pants with one hand as quickly as he could. Once he had freed himself, he shoved my underwear to the side and entered me roughly, in one swift movement.
Gone was the controlled, skillful lover Alex had been previously; he was an animal as he pumped in and out of me as I held on to his shoulders for dear life, my passion meeting his own. Alex gripped my hips tightly as my back slammed against the wall repeatedly, not that I really felt it. All my senses were tuned into Alex and what he was doing to me, what we were doing to each other. As I started to slip down, he shifted his hold on my so both of his hands were under my ass to prop me up.
Sweat ran down his face, as we locked eyes. Alex groaned loudly, then panted, “I can’t ..I’m going to…” Seconds later, he exploded, shouting my name as he came.
Alex rested his head on my shoulder as we remained leaned against the wall, my legs still hooked around his waist. When he’d caught his breath, he carried me into the bedroom, not breaking our connection until he placed me on the bed. He laid down beside me, leaning down to kiss me as his hand moved between my legs. He whispered, “now it’s your turn” as he began the familiar motion around my center. As I was perilously close to the edge from our prior encounter, it was only a moment until I was shouting out his name in ecstasy as well.
We both were flying out the same day, but I was leaving fairly early in the morning and he was leaving later in the afternoon. Despite that, Alex insisted on taking me to the airport. He had wanted us both to fly to Barbados together, but as his flight left from there much later than mine, his security people nixed it -- they didn’t want him waiting for hours in a much larger, less easily controlled airport when they could have him in almost complete safety in Mustique.
We held hands in the back seat of the van the resort provided to get me, Alex, and two of his officers to the airport, but neither of us said anything and our driver and Alex’s guards wisely were silent as well. I was somewhat glad I was leaving first, as it meant I’d at least be in motion, that I wouldn’t be stuck at the airport or at the resort, doing nothing but missing him.
The airport was super close, as all things were on the small island, so in no time at all we were there. The staff person unloaded my large rolling suitcase and I grabbed my carryon and slung it over my neck, so I was carrying it crossbody. Alex grabbed my hand as we walked into the terminal, still saying nothing. I kept looking up, trying not to cry.
As it was an incredibly tiny airport, there were little to no formalities and Alex was able to walk with me all the way to the plane, out onto the runway.
“Have a safe flight,” he said finally.
“Thanks, you too,” I replied, robotically. Was that it, was that all we were going to say to each other? I wouldn’t be the one to cave here, I had to be strong. But there was a lot I wanted to say to him and I didn’t want to miss my chance.
He pulled me in for a big hug and I fought tears. He stepped back, grabbing my hands. The typically eloquent man in front of me was clearly without words.
“It was...I had...You’re..” Alex was trying, bless his heart.
“Thank you,” I cut in, trying to get the goodbye out of the way for both of our sakes.. “For the most amazing two weeks of my life. Not to go all Dirty Dancing on you, but despite all the photos and everything, I’ll never be sorry. It’ll give my kids something to Google later in life, should Google still be around then.” As ridiculous as it was, imagining my future children, children that would absolutely not be fathered by the man standing in front of me, caused me physical pain.
“Would you say...you had the time of your life?” he teased, but his smile didn’t reach his eyes.
“I would. And I owe it all to you.” I smiled back at him but I could feel the tears overflowing my eyes.
“Ah Charlie, please don’t cry. If you cry, I’ll cry and trust me, you do not want to see a blubbering Englishman. It’s not at all becoming.” He put his arms around my waist loosely as I brushed away my tears with the back of my hand.
“So why don’t you figure out a way to distract me?”
“Like, maybe, kissing you?” he said, mocking my very sophisticated come-on line before our first kiss.
“Yes, like that.” He pulled me forward hard, bending me slightly backward with the force of his kiss. As the kiss continued, he wrapped his arms tighter around me and lifted me up, so my toes were barely touching the ground.
As much as I wanted our kiss -- our last kiss -- to go on forever, I knew the flight was long since boarded and we were keeping everyone waiting, although clearly all the airport employees knew who Alex was as I was getting none of the pressure to board that a typical person would get. I pulled away reluctantly, clasping his hands again, then rested my head on his chest for a moment, taking a deep breath to steady myself.
I pulled back slightly. “I need to go. Thank you again, for everything,” I said to his Adam’s apple; I couldn’t raise my eyes to his again without crying. Then Alex undid all my hard work at remaining strong by placing a gentle kiss on my forehead. The tears started welling again immediately.
“Goodbye, Charlie. Thank you. Good luck with your test, I know you’ll be amazing.”
Just hold it together for another 30 seconds, I told myself sternly. “Thanks. Goodbye, Alex.”
After one last tearful glance at his face, I turned, letting go of his hand as I stepped away. I wouldn’t let myself look back.
Through my tear-filled eyes, I recognized a couple of people from the resort, although most of their eyes skittered away from me when we made eye contact. They clearly all had been watching our goodbye and could tell how broken up I was about it. I saw a single seat on one side was still open, so I sat in it, grateful that I didn’t have to sit by anyone. As it was on the side Alex had been standing, I looked out the window and saw him staring up at the plane. When he saw me through the tiny window, his face lit up and he waved. I bit my lip to keep myself from crying and gave him a little wave back.
And that was it. Airport staff escorted him back to the terminal and the plane began to roll, getting ready to take off. One bonus of being in complete misery was that I wasn’t the slightest bit nervous this time about flying in such a tiny plane. In no time at all, we were off.
I managed to not break down into semi-hysterical sobs until we were in the air, which I considered a victory.