Damaged Ch. 05

Silence finally settled around the small shack in the woods.

*********

It was dawn by the time Alan's pick-up truck pulled up in front of Teri's house. She had been as quiet as he was during the ride back.

It had been uneasy and tense between them from the moment they had awoken together in the shack. Lying on the cushion, Teri had looked up at Alan expecting to see warmth and contentment in the man's eyes. Instead she saw a cold stare that looked back at her only briefly before he got up and quietly got dressed. Her mind unable to find the words to question him, Teri had simply pulled up her dress around her neck, pushed the skirt of it to her knees and picked up her shoes and torn underwear from the floor. Then she followed Alan as he walked out of the shack.

They sat in the cab of the truck outside of her house for a long moment, the engine running. Alan just stared straight ahead, unmoving. Teri couldn't think of what to say.

Finally, she just leaned over and gave Alan a kiss on the cheek. As she turned to climb out of the truck however, he grabbed her arm.

She looked at him. "Alan?" she said softly.

Alan pulled her back into the truck. As she looked up at him, he held her close and moved towards her. He gazed deeply into her eyes and she saw an intense longing reflected in his expression. Then he gave her a deep and passionate kiss that seemed to last forever --like heneeded it to last forever-- filling her with a satisfying warmth. Teri smiled gently as they parted, then she turned away again and stepped down from the truck.

Standing on her lawn in her bare feet and yellow dress, holding her shoes and her underwear, she waved slowly as Alan pulled away and down the street.

**********

Alan went home and checked in on Dean. The boy was still asleep in bed. Then he got himself another shirt and put it on as he walked to the kitchen.

He scribbled a note on a small slip of paper: "Cereal for breakfast. I'll be back before noon to make lunch. -Dad"

Then he left in his truck again.

He drove for a few minutes through to the other side of town and parked at a street corner. He watched from a fair distance as Turner Locke came out from his house, got into his car, and drove away. Walking from his truck, Alan went up the steps to the biggest house in town and knocked.

Sophia Locke answered the door in a long royal blue robe completely hanging open down the middle. It was still early morning but she looked as fresh as a rose, her juniper-violet scent drifting through the air.

She curled a smile then said, "So lover...had your fun?"

She stepped aside and Alan walked into the house without a word.

Sighing, Sophia closed the door thinking that the man had better have saved something for her.

To Be Continued