Chapter 2 After the cut
Chapter 2: And then just an apology
“Sorry” Alba said as she rushed the rest of the way to her car. Rylan looked after her, she looked strangely familiar. When she was close to him, he couldn’t help but feel as if he had been that close to her before, even her smell was recognizable. He shrugged it off as a weird déjà vu coincidence and went to the counter to order his coffee, black.
He had just gotten off work, and was in a different side of the city than he was normally in, but the coffee shop that may or may not be starbucks called him inside to get a nice hot coffee. He had been working on a roof when the blizzard hit, and was not wearing appropriate clothing for that kind of weather. He should have known. He always heard of Calgary as the wandering weather city, I suppose you never really believe it unless you live here yourself. At least where he was from it was always the same over cast and chilly day for the entire year.
Though he loved the weather as it was now, and the golden light made by the sunset made him always feel a sense of peace. Though he would never admit his poetic love for the sunsets to any of his male friends, and found it hard to admit it to women he fancied. Perhaps because it wasn’t just a line he found it hard to use. Though it would work, he grinned, not that he used lines like that. Often.
Rylan was in his car again turning the key to head out and head towards home. Or the smaller sized down town apartment he called home. He had made the decision to go back to this coffee shop, make it his regular stop after work. Rylan thought about Alba, of course he didn’t know her name was Alba.
He couldn’t quite get her out of his head. He ran a bunch of women through his head, those he had slept with, those through work, he even tried the “girls my friends have slept with” database. Maybe she will be at that coffee shop again. He pulled into the underground parking lot under his apartment and got his suitcase out of his car. His phone rang, his cell phone made the actual ringing sound, he couldn’t stand those silly tunes. He put it to his ear.
“Stu, you bastard, how are you?” He called into the phone. Stu and Rylan were brothers. They were still close even though Rylan had moved to Canada.
“I am doin’ great! You remember that little Lass Maria I was telling you about?” Stu said with equal enthusiasm.
“’course I do, same little lass you been talkin’ about for four years. Did she finally get tired of you and run away with some Spanish pene?” Rylan knew there was no way Maria would run off with a Spanish guy; she was definitely not a fan of Spanish guys, even though they seemed to really love her.
“No sir, she just happened to have said yes to my proposal last week.” The smile was definitely recognizable over the phone. Rylan had a tinge of sadness that he wasn’t notified right away of the proposal, he knew that Stu had been planning to propose for quite some time, but Maria needed to finish up her studies.
“I am so happy for you bud! You both deserve the world.” He was happy for his brother. Marriage for Rylan never really seemed like an option. He didn’t want to feel trapped, and he also didn’t want to trap someone else. His parents stayed together, and were still together. He never understood why, perhaps it was just easier to stay together miserable then it was to separate. Rylan knew they most likely used the kids as the reason why they didn’t leave each other. There was no love between them that Rylan could remember. They married because they had to back then, not because they wanted to.
He chatted with his brother for awhile, giving congratulations and made sure to save the date on his calendar. They talked about how the rest of the family was doing, how Rylan’s soccer team was playing and about different things that were in the world news. He stood talking just in the door way of his apartment and when the conversation was done he put his cell phone and his keys on the kitchen counter that was by his door and ran his fingers through his hair. His shoes were then off and placed on the mat by the door.
“What would this place be like if I had a wife in here?” He said as he looked around. He didn’t have much furniture. It was just a bed and a TV that were in the living room. He blamed it on not being able to move most of his furniture from Ireland to Canada without paying ridiculous amounts of money. He had given the rest of his belongings to good will, or to Stu to keep for safe keeping. It had been almost a year since he moved to this apartment, but still his apartment was empty. Rylan would never admit that he was lonely. He was fully capable of being happy without a woman constantly by his side.
He wasn’t a man whore either like some of his friends had been, but he wasn’t a novice when it came to women either. Still though, Rylan never really gave his chance to love a woman. He always got a little scared when the thought of a commitment came up. He may have left some broken hearts along the way. He never meant to hurt anyone.
Rylan was sore from work, he shingled all day and was coated in sweat and dust. He needed a shower, a way to end a long day. He went to the laundry room and grabbed a fresh towel; his mother had gotten him Navy blue bath sheets for Christmas a couple of years ago. They were soft and long. Rylan went through his master bedroom to the en-suite. He turned the water on so it would have enough time to get to the right temperature, the hotter the better.
He undid the buttons of his pants and took off everything below his waist in one smooth move, though the socks took a bit more effort. Rylan took a few seconds to enjoy an ass cheek scratch before removing his shirt, and enjoyed then a nice chest scratch. Rylan was a man of 5 10, a strong body build that was made from his career as a roofer. His chest and abdomen was wealthy in hair department. The mirror was only then starting to fog over with the heat of the shower building up. He rubbed his green eyes before getting under the hot spray.
Rylan made a huge sigh of triumph as the water fell on his body, making every inch seem more awake and relaxed with its heat. He reached for his shampoo and squeezed a healthy amount into his hand. He then lathered the sweet smelling concoction onto his head and chest. Rinsed. Rylan then got out the loofa. He laughed every time he took the pale pink loofa out. It was his sister that bought him the loofa, he tried to act all manly when he got it. Now that he has actually used its ultimate lathering goodness he couldn’t use anything else.
He washed the rest of his body in a hurried fashion, soaping up his various body parts then rinsing them thoroughly. He even remembered to clean between his toes and his behind his ears. When Rylan was done washing his body he anchored his body with his right arm on the wall and just stood under the hot massaging power of his shower. Even though it was an old apartment he was glad that the water had pressure.
He thought about his day, briefly about the part where he worked. There was a new guy on the job site he wasn’t quite sure of. All of that however faded to the background when he went to focus on the girl that was leaving the coffee shop as he was coming in. What was it about her, Rylan though about her. The red hair of hers carelessly flirting behind her back in the sunset rays as she practically ran away from him.
Rylan scoffed at himself “That image is a little too romantic for you isn’t bud.” Then he shook his head slightly “No, it’s not.” It seemed as though she ran away from him. She did seem as though she recognized me. Pfft, that thought is just silly. Rylan threw away any intention of playing around with that thought.
His mind trailed and he thought again to that night at the masquerade ball. It all happened a year ago, but still Rylan thought about the woman who had seduced him there that night. He was not expecting anything that night. He had gone through a bad break up and was drug by a friend who needed to get Rylan out of his apartment and back out into the real world. He was not looking for another women, not even a rebound lay.
Her emerald mask and blue eyes, those images made for an instant semi erection. Rylan had to make sure that he never thought of her at work. Of course with that thought, and the remembrance of what they did together that night. The way her body felt against his, the way he felt inside of her. He often thought of the taste of her kiss, the smell of the perfume on her neck and the feel of her body under his, and above his.
Rylan was stroking himself; just slowly and leisurely, enjoying with his eyes closed the memory of the night of the masquerade. The pace slowly went faster, as the images in his head got racier. Her naked wet pussy grinding against him sent him over the edge, and all over the shower wall.
“She never took off her mask,” Rylan said to himself, panting still from his personal excursion with his favourite fantasy (only a fantasy because he thought of what would happen if he saw her again. Rylan remembered that that night his mask had fallen off, where hers was always firmly in place. He had seen everything of her body except for her face and her hair which was covered by a hat. How the hat and mask stayed on during their encounter was beyond him.
