Temporary Bliss

I felt my eyes close too, and I stood there waiting for our lips to touch, I leaned in a little and our lips still hadn’t touched. I opened my eyes and saw him smirking.

“You leaned in and puckered up. You wanted it.” he chuckled to himself, “I knew you liked me.”

I opened my mouth to protest but nothing came out. His face softened from the jerky smirk he had, to a soft smile.

“Are you hungry?”

I nodded, “Yeah.” I replied softly.

“Let‘s go.” he mumbled. Turning around and walking towards the front of my house.

Both of us stayed silent. The only thing you could hear was the sound of our shoes hitting the pavement.

We ended up at a small diner a few blocks away from my house.

I pushed open the 50’s styled door and walked in. The diner was empty, except for a few people sitting at the counter.

I selected a random booth and sat down on the sparkly red plastic of the seat, hearing air whoosh out of a small hole on the corner.

Michael sat down across from me and flipped open a menu that was placed by the ketchup bottles.

“Why‘d you come to my house?” I questioned. I kept my eyes off of him as I flipped through the music selection of the small juke box that was wired to the speaker system, sitting up against the wall on our table.

He sighed and kept his eyes on the menue, “I knew you wanted to see me.” his head shot up and he winked at me.

“For a second there, I actually thought I was going to get a decent answer. How silly of me for thinking that.”

I shrugged it off and took a sip of my water. I glanced at him as he looked out the window we were sitting next to. His hat was still on, if that was Cameron, he would have taken his hat off. Here I go again, comparing Cameron and Michael, Michael and Cameron. I poked at the ice cubes with my straw, pushing them down to the bottom of the cup and watching them float back up. Nearly five minutes had gone by and neither of us had said anything.

“You really wanna know?” he asked, leaning forward over the table towards me.

I gave him a blunt look and nodded. I put my straw back in my cup and crossed my arms in front of my chest as I leaned back against the seat.

“I felt like I needed to patch some things up with you, since I can‘t call in sick to work every day.” he sighed.

“Woah, a decent response. Where‘d Michael go?” I scoffed.

“See, this is why I don‘t give ‘decent’ responses, people, you being one of them, make a big deal out of it.”

“Do it more often and it won‘t be a big deal anymore.”

“I do it plenty of times.” he winked, sitting back.

“And the asshole is back.” I rolled my eyes, “I‘d say ‘welcome back’ but you‘re not.”

“Yet you‘re still sitting here. You agreed to come here. You came out of your house. You know exactly how I act, yet you still did those things.”

“Maybe I feel sorry for you.”

“Doubt it.” he said as he pulled his phone out of his pocked and started to do something on it. “So are you going to tell Cammy that you‘re here with me?”

He would bring that up. “I‘m not hungry anymore.”

“Are you leaving because of what I said?” I ignored him and took one last sip of my water then got up. “We‘re just friends…no, colleagues, going out to late dinner. Why wouldn’t I tell him?”

“Because you want it to be something more. Because you like me. You did almost kiss me back at your house.”

“Fuck. You.” I spat before turning and walking out of the diner. I pulled my hood up over my head and stuck my hands in the front pocket of my hoodie as I walked back to my house.

I made it back to my house and slipped my sandals off before I stepped on the wood deck, so I would walk quieter. I slowly slid the sliding door open, making sure it didn’t squeak or make an unusual, loud, odd noise that only doors make.

Once I made it safely inside and the door was completely shut behind me I let out a sigh of relief, I set my shoes by the door that led to the garage, seeing as that’s where they would be if I hadn’t snuck out. I made it safely into my room and changed back into my pajamas before heading to bed.

That was the first night I had snuck out…and it definitely wasn’t the last.

Once a week until Christmas break I snuck out to hang out with Michael, don’t worry, it was strictly friends, I was doing everything I could to save my relationship with Cameron, which is why I never told him about these meetings I had with Michael.

It took me a while, and it was painful for me to admit, but Michael was right. I was scared to tell Cameron about these because I was starting to have feelings for him, feelings I shouldn’t be having when I have a boyfriend; an amazing one for that matter. I knew it’d be hard for me to lie to Cameron by denying my growing feelings for Michael. I don’t even know why I was attracted to him, he was an asshole.

But things were so risky with him -- since I usually had to sneak out and go behind my parent’s back. I loved it.

*** *** *** ***

It was the first day of Christmas break, and I had just gotten back from hanging out with Cameron, in an hour I’d sneak out to go hangout with Michael. I waited for the clock to show eleven then I crept downstairs and out the back door, following the same steps/routine I did once every week.

And there he was.

His blacked-out thin frame was standing at the edge of the lawn. My heartbeat changed, it slowed, then increased, then finally returned to its original pace.

He turned around right as I reached him, his hands in his pockets. He gave a smirk and his arm slung around the back of my neck and I leaned into him as we started walking down the street.

“So where are we going tonight?” I asked as I took in his scent. Irish spring soap and cologne.

If I was with Cameron right now the answer would be: “Wherever you want to go.”

But with Michael it was, “I kinda just wanna go down to that diner.”

I nodded, “Alright.”

Once we reached the diner, the one we went to when I first snuck out, both of us ordered breakfast, it’s what we always got when we came here.

He sat up taking a drink of his sprite, and sending off a text message to someone. That’s the thing with Michael; he always had his phone out.

Unlike Cameron, who would leave it in his pocket while he was with someone, and whenever we hung out, especially on dates.

But this wasn’t a date, as much as I kind of wanted it to be, and he wasn’t Cameron.

“So, um…” I started.

“Hmm?” he mumbled, not taking his eyes off of his phone.

“I kinda need to admit something.” I waited for him to set his phone down and look up, nothing.

“Go ahead.” he urged.

“Somewhere between laughing for no reason, calling each other names, making fun of each other, and hating your guts, I somehow sorta fell for you…” I said quietly, looking down. I felt a blush creep up on my face and my stomach felt like it was flopping around. I felt awkward. When I looked up he was still typing away on his phone.

He finally glanced up at me and smirked, “I know you like me. I‘ve known since that day you first snuck out.” he said as he finished up something on his phone, he set it down and looked at me.

“I knew you already knew, you always said it, and somewhat teased me about it so I decided just to admit it.”

He leaned over the table, signaling me to do the same, our faces inches apart. “I kinda wanna tell you I like you too, buuuut.” he said sitting back. “That might start to make these dates…” he winked.

I raised an eyebrow, “So you do like me?”

“Why do you think I kissed you that day in the closet at work?” he laughed. His phone vibrated and he immediately picked it up, most likely replying to a text.

Another thing: Michael always held his phone, like I mentioned before.
But if I was with Cameron right now, his hand would be holding mine over the table.

I sighed, thinking of him at home, thinking everything was perfect between us, when it absolutely was not.

Our food arrived and we ate mostly in silence then paid, each of us paying for our own meal.

Ah yes, yet another thing…Cameron would have paid for my meal. Would Michael? Nope. He wasn’t ¼ of the gentleman Cameron was, and surprisingly, that’s something that made me like Michael even more.

We both stood up and walked out of the diner; we made our way over to the curb and sat down.

“Are you gonna be okay walking home by yourself? I kinda have somewhere to be…” but of course he wasn’t asking me, I would have to be fine with it anyway. That was his way of telling me he couldn’t walk me home – but Cameron would.

“Yeah, I‘ll be fine. Which girl are you going to see?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

He sighed, “Katie. I swear she thinks we‘re like dating. I‘ve gotta go set her straight.”

“After you get your smooch on with her, right?”

“That‘s how Michael Martinez rolls.” he smirked.

“Right.” I nodded, chuckling.

“Jealous?”

“No, because I have a boyfriend that loves me.”

“But do you love him?”

“Yes.” I forced it out.

“Really? Because if you did I don‘t think you‘d be here with me.”

I sighed, “I don‘t even know why I lie to you. I think I‘m falling out of love, and it‘s all thanks to you.”

“My plan is working.” he grinned, rubbing his hands together like an evil mastermind. I let a small smile on my face as I let out a chuckle.

I don’t know why I didn’t just break up with Cameron. I guess it was because I needed assurance that someone was there for me, I knew if I broke up with Cameron and went for Michael, I’d end up like poor Katie. Michael would just never commit, he wouldn’t treat me as well as Cameron treats me.

He spoke up quietly after a few minutes, “Hey?”

I sat up straight from my previous slouched over position and looked over at him, only to have his lips on mine seconds later. My whole body began to tingle and my heart nearly jumped out of my chest. It was short and sweet, definitely a cute kiss.

He stood up, groaning a little as he stretched, “Night, Charlotte.”

I smiled, still sitting down, “Yeah, night.” after he was out of sight I stood up and headed back to my house, trying not to think about that kiss. But it was useless.

It really didn’t make much sense in my mind, he kissed me right before he went to hang out with another girl. That was the first time he had kissed me since the whole work incident. And I liked it. He had the softest lips, and that look in his eyes right before he was about to kiss me was adorable, he looked so sure of himself, but at the same time he looked nervous, like I was going to reject him.

I almost did, but not on purpose. I wasn’t expecting him to kiss me, so my body jolted a little when I felt someone else’s lips against mine.

Once inside I walked swiftly through the kitchen and reached the living room and was starting up the first stair when someone cleared their throat behind me. I froze just as they spoke up,

“Where were you young lady?”