Finishing her breakfast, she took a trip to the bathroom, to freshen herself up. By the time she came out, there were several dresses laid out. Grabbing her cell phone, she called Elsa. Her friend was much better at these things. In fact, her mother was, but she didn’t want to have to deal with her mother right now. She was more interested in the guy she was staying with.
“What’s going on?” Elsa asked.
“I want to have sex with Kurt.”
“Wow, I wasn’t expecting that for a conversation opener.”
Kim placed her hand on her head, completely stressed out. “We argued yesterday, and I ended up getting naked. He carried me back to his bed, and refused to sleep with me. Isn’t that a bad thing?”
“Not necessarily.”
“How can it be anything other than bad?”
Elsa paused.
“Please, I want to understand.”
“Fine. You and Kurt, you’ve got a past that’s not a good one. You’ve said yourself you’re not going to fall for him, and yet here you are, wanting sex. Just a few days ago you spoke about sexland, and how you didn’t want to regret it.”
“He heard that conversation as well.”
“See, how do you think he’s doing to behave? Kurt’s not a bad guy. He was an asshole in the past. Not now though. Now he’s grown up, and he wants you, Kim. Don’t mistake his hesitancy for a lack of desire.”
“How do you even know that when you’re not living here? You don’t see him.”
“It has been ten years, Kim. Ten years and he came to your rescue. From what you told me the other day, he’s done nothing but show that he’s taking care of you. Tell me, is the guy you want to have sex with the same guy you hated for most of your high school years?”
“No.”
“Then look at it from his side, okay? Kurt cares.”
She had seen the regret in his eyes many times when they’d been talking.
“Give him the chance to be the man you always wanted.”
Kim sat on the edge of the bed, open, raw, exposed.
“Was there anything else you wanted to talk to me about?” Elsa asked.
“Yeah, this gala, charity thing. Do you have any suggestions for what I should wear?”
After picking the dress, and chatting a little, Kim hung up the phone. Putting the dress she was wearing into Kurt’s closet, she left the other one on the bed, and made her way downstairs. There was no sign of anyone, so she went to the art studio at the bottom of the garden. Instead of running, she just walked, taking in the beauty of the sights. Flowers of all different varieties were in full bloom. The colors blended together, showcasing the entire summer.
Opening her art studio, she entered, and started to open the windows. It was really warm, and she looked around at the fun she’d had the day before. The fun all because of Kurt. Sure, her parents would have given her something like this, but it wouldn’t have been the same.
Moving toward the center of the room, she stared at the chaos around her. Thinking about Kurt, and everything in life, she found herself at peace.
For so long she’d been fighting this guy inside her head, and the stereotype that had been plaguing her. She didn’t want to be the girl to fall for the hot bully.
“Can I enter?” Kurt asked.
“Sure.”
He entered the studio, dressed in a crisp white shirt that had a couple of buttons open at the top. His pants were those she thought of businessmen wearing.
“Are you hot?” she asked.
“Of course I am. I’m hot stuff.”
“No, not that. The clothes you wear. It’s hot out. You don’t have to be the businessman with me.”
“I’m comfortable like this.” He took a seat right in front of her. “I want to play a game of truth.”
“Truth or dare?”
“No. Just truth.” He reached out holding her hands.
“What is going on?”
“Trust. I want to be truthful with you, and I want you to do the same with me.”
She nodded.
“The last ten years, I haven’t lived like a monk. I’ve fucked a lot of women, and while I was doing a lot of fucking, you would somehow, come into my mind. It was like no matter what, I couldn’t shake you.”
“I’m a little worried about that.”
“I wanted to move on, but I couldn’t. You were always there.”
She licked her lips. “For the past ten years, I’ve thought about you as well.” She smiled. “It wasn’t about your murder either. I just wondered what you were doing, how you were doing.” She took a deep breath. “There were moments when I wondered if you thought about me.”
“Now you know I did.”
“I also regretted not going on a date with you.”
“You did?”
“Yeah. I wondered if we’d actually be good together. Hearing all these wonderful things about you from Elsa and Noah, it made me wonder if you’d changed. I know you did.”