Green Beans and Reminiscent Things
Misleading
“You know,” I whispered back, “your name is very misleading, Temperance.”
“Not completely,” she mumbled, looking up to me. She chuckled and lifted a hand to my hair. “Your ‘do is all messed up, John.”
I caught her hand in mine and set it against my cheek. “I don’t care,” I muttered.
“What time is it?” She shimmied her fingers just the slightest in my grip to stroke the wisps of sideburns I had grown out.
I looked past her to the oven. “A little after eleven.”
She lightly yawned and bowed her head, resting it near my collarbone. She reached her hands around my neck and continued to play with the tiny hairs at its base. I scratched the thought of a haircut I had earlier from my mental to-do list, jokingly reminding myself to grow a mullet, and wrapped my arms around her waist.
“Let’s go to the couch.”
“Why the couch?” She yawned again. “Isn’t my bed more comfortable?”
I sniggered and kissed her hair, bringing a hand up to stroke stray hairs behind her ear that had escaped her pony tail. “I’m sure your parents would never like to see me in your bed, with or without you.” I tucked more hair behind her ear, pausing to think. “Even though you wear a promise ring, they’d be suspicious of any kind of activity that wasn’t completely hands-off.”
She craned her neck upward and kissed my chin. “I’ll get some blankets. You can pick a movie if you’d like.” She slid her arms down from my neck to my chest and gazed at her ring with subdued prudence. I took her left hand and kissed the silver band, massaging a dimple in her skin with my thumb.
“I’ll be sure to replace this one day.”
Trying to suppress a grin, she walked away as I kept my gentle grip on her hand. I followed Temp into the living room and let her depart to the hallway closet to pick out a quilt. I took off my vest, tossed it to the side on one of the lounge chairs, and bent down to the TV cabinet to choose a movie. Once I spotted Mean Girls, I knew we’d have to watch it together.
The second the disc disappeared into the DVD player, Temperance walked back in, toting a large turquoise quilt. I grabbed it and tossed myself and the comforter into the corner of the love seat, tucking in my legs on the edge to make room for Tempe. She flicked off the lights, grabbed the TV remote from the cabinet and fell back into the tiny sofa. She curled into my side, slowly snaking a hand onto my chest. She lightly snuggled in closer and I could feel her fingertips finely trace uninvented shapes on my stomach. I set my hand on hers, letting my fingers play with her ring.
The previews came on and I stole the control from Tempe’s other hand, her wrist curled under her chin. She loved watching the previews, especially those of older movies; I didn’t dare press the menu button. I set the control on the arm of the couch and returned my twitching fingers to her ring.
I lovingly kissed her head, feeling peaceful near the pile of dark orange ash in the fireplace. She kept the imaginary shapes going on my abdomen, giving me goose bumps on my tummy. Of course, this had to be the time when I thought of something to ask her. I’d rather be thoughtless while with her; she was too peaceful for many actions or words.
“How would you say ’teeth’ in Italian?” I muttered, smirking just the slightest.
She angled her head to look up at me and hesitated before answering. “’Denti.’”
“And how would you say, ‘to kiss’?”
She held back a laugh to catch a breath in her throat. “Just say ‘bacio d’denti,’” she mumbled, looking back to the current preview of the third Star Wars movie.
“But will it gain me access?” I mumbled. I lightly kissed her temple, prodding the skin with my lips.
“You could only try, John.”
I leaned over her head and brushed back a few strands of hair behind her ear. “Bacio d’denti.”
Temperance lightly laughed and smiled wide as I placed a hand on her cheek and set a lingering kiss on her teeth. When I didn’t budge, she closed her lips on mine to complete the kiss. She slid her hand up to the partially unbuttoned v of my Henley and tugged on it, fingering the short column of buttons left buttoned. She let go of my kiss only to lightly place one of her own on the protruding outline of my collarbone underneath my Henley. It seemed no coincidence that under her kiss was the ink of Amor on my skin. Her fingers stayed still, folded into an easy fist on my stomach, as she laid her head on my chest. The menu finally popped up, prompting me to start the movie.
By the middle of the film, I’d removed my arm from around her body to make a make-shift hand pillow behind my head. I lazily gazed downwards to see if Tempe was still awake. She was, but she was losing the battle between her will to watch Tina Fey and a black canvas of skin. I stretched my hand over her arm and started to tenderly rub tiny circles on her elbow, causing her to look up in my eyes.
“Are you going to fall asleep, Love?” I whispered. “It’s a quarter past one. Well, at least according to your VCR.”
“Soon, I guess,” she mumbled, her fingers beginning to trace unknown patterns on my chest again.
I took my other hand from behind my head and tucked a few loose strands of maple hair behind her ear. I gently tugged the rubber band inch by inch from her hair, slipping it over my wrist. My hand tenderly smoothed her hair, but my fingers continued the work, refining small clumps of soft to the delight of my skin. I regretfully removed my hand back to rest behind my head and continued the ovals and circles over her forearm and elbow with my other. It was only a matter of time before she completely fell asleep in my arms.
“Temperance?” I whispered, reaching for the remote to my side.
I guess the sound of my voice or the kiss to her temple didn’t do her peaceful sleeping situation any good, because she subtly snuggled deeper into my side, gently gripping and stretching my shirt across my chest. I reached once more for the comforter, now near my waist, and brought it up closer to our intertwined bodies.
The second the TV was clicked off, I heard her mutter against my chest: “Hey, I was watching.” Her eyes were still shut.
I quietly chuckled and stroked her hair again. “No, you were fast asleep.”
She grunted her disbelief as I kissed her forehead. “Goodnight, Temp. I love you.” I unexpectedly yawned, causing Temperance to snicker. “I love you, Temperance. I swear I do.”
“And there’s no doubt in my mind, John.” As she stretched her neck once more to kiss my chin, I gave her a last sweet kiss on the lips for the night. She gripped the partially open top of my Henley, brushing her fingers against the tight skin of my chest before giving me a final kiss under my jaw. She nudged my stubbled skin just the slightest with her nose, the breath from her lips warming my neck. “I love you.”
“Goodnight, Amor.”
“Not completely,” she mumbled, looking up to me. She chuckled and lifted a hand to my hair. “Your ‘do is all messed up, John.”
I caught her hand in mine and set it against my cheek. “I don’t care,” I muttered.
“What time is it?” She shimmied her fingers just the slightest in my grip to stroke the wisps of sideburns I had grown out.
I looked past her to the oven. “A little after eleven.”
She lightly yawned and bowed her head, resting it near my collarbone. She reached her hands around my neck and continued to play with the tiny hairs at its base. I scratched the thought of a haircut I had earlier from my mental to-do list, jokingly reminding myself to grow a mullet, and wrapped my arms around her waist.
“Let’s go to the couch.”
“Why the couch?” She yawned again. “Isn’t my bed more comfortable?”
I sniggered and kissed her hair, bringing a hand up to stroke stray hairs behind her ear that had escaped her pony tail. “I’m sure your parents would never like to see me in your bed, with or without you.” I tucked more hair behind her ear, pausing to think. “Even though you wear a promise ring, they’d be suspicious of any kind of activity that wasn’t completely hands-off.”
She craned her neck upward and kissed my chin. “I’ll get some blankets. You can pick a movie if you’d like.” She slid her arms down from my neck to my chest and gazed at her ring with subdued prudence. I took her left hand and kissed the silver band, massaging a dimple in her skin with my thumb.
“I’ll be sure to replace this one day.”
Trying to suppress a grin, she walked away as I kept my gentle grip on her hand. I followed Temp into the living room and let her depart to the hallway closet to pick out a quilt. I took off my vest, tossed it to the side on one of the lounge chairs, and bent down to the TV cabinet to choose a movie. Once I spotted Mean Girls, I knew we’d have to watch it together.
The second the disc disappeared into the DVD player, Temperance walked back in, toting a large turquoise quilt. I grabbed it and tossed myself and the comforter into the corner of the love seat, tucking in my legs on the edge to make room for Tempe. She flicked off the lights, grabbed the TV remote from the cabinet and fell back into the tiny sofa. She curled into my side, slowly snaking a hand onto my chest. She lightly snuggled in closer and I could feel her fingertips finely trace uninvented shapes on my stomach. I set my hand on hers, letting my fingers play with her ring.
The previews came on and I stole the control from Tempe’s other hand, her wrist curled under her chin. She loved watching the previews, especially those of older movies; I didn’t dare press the menu button. I set the control on the arm of the couch and returned my twitching fingers to her ring.
I lovingly kissed her head, feeling peaceful near the pile of dark orange ash in the fireplace. She kept the imaginary shapes going on my abdomen, giving me goose bumps on my tummy. Of course, this had to be the time when I thought of something to ask her. I’d rather be thoughtless while with her; she was too peaceful for many actions or words.
“How would you say ’teeth’ in Italian?” I muttered, smirking just the slightest.
She angled her head to look up at me and hesitated before answering. “’Denti.’”
“And how would you say, ‘to kiss’?”
She held back a laugh to catch a breath in her throat. “Just say ‘bacio d’denti,’” she mumbled, looking back to the current preview of the third Star Wars movie.
“But will it gain me access?” I mumbled. I lightly kissed her temple, prodding the skin with my lips.
“You could only try, John.”
I leaned over her head and brushed back a few strands of hair behind her ear. “Bacio d’denti.”
Temperance lightly laughed and smiled wide as I placed a hand on her cheek and set a lingering kiss on her teeth. When I didn’t budge, she closed her lips on mine to complete the kiss. She slid her hand up to the partially unbuttoned v of my Henley and tugged on it, fingering the short column of buttons left buttoned. She let go of my kiss only to lightly place one of her own on the protruding outline of my collarbone underneath my Henley. It seemed no coincidence that under her kiss was the ink of Amor on my skin. Her fingers stayed still, folded into an easy fist on my stomach, as she laid her head on my chest. The menu finally popped up, prompting me to start the movie.
By the middle of the film, I’d removed my arm from around her body to make a make-shift hand pillow behind my head. I lazily gazed downwards to see if Tempe was still awake. She was, but she was losing the battle between her will to watch Tina Fey and a black canvas of skin. I stretched my hand over her arm and started to tenderly rub tiny circles on her elbow, causing her to look up in my eyes.
“Are you going to fall asleep, Love?” I whispered. “It’s a quarter past one. Well, at least according to your VCR.”
“Soon, I guess,” she mumbled, her fingers beginning to trace unknown patterns on my chest again.
I took my other hand from behind my head and tucked a few loose strands of maple hair behind her ear. I gently tugged the rubber band inch by inch from her hair, slipping it over my wrist. My hand tenderly smoothed her hair, but my fingers continued the work, refining small clumps of soft to the delight of my skin. I regretfully removed my hand back to rest behind my head and continued the ovals and circles over her forearm and elbow with my other. It was only a matter of time before she completely fell asleep in my arms.
“Temperance?” I whispered, reaching for the remote to my side.
I guess the sound of my voice or the kiss to her temple didn’t do her peaceful sleeping situation any good, because she subtly snuggled deeper into my side, gently gripping and stretching my shirt across my chest. I reached once more for the comforter, now near my waist, and brought it up closer to our intertwined bodies.
The second the TV was clicked off, I heard her mutter against my chest: “Hey, I was watching.” Her eyes were still shut.
I quietly chuckled and stroked her hair again. “No, you were fast asleep.”
She grunted her disbelief as I kissed her forehead. “Goodnight, Temp. I love you.” I unexpectedly yawned, causing Temperance to snicker. “I love you, Temperance. I swear I do.”
“And there’s no doubt in my mind, John.” As she stretched her neck once more to kiss my chin, I gave her a last sweet kiss on the lips for the night. She gripped the partially open top of my Henley, brushing her fingers against the tight skin of my chest before giving me a final kiss under my jaw. She nudged my stubbled skin just the slightest with her nose, the breath from her lips warming my neck. “I love you.”
“Goodnight, Amor.”