A Real Love Ch. 02

A Year Later, Birmingham

Nyomi was looking at her mobile phone in hand, in her mother's home. Since leaving London, and filing for divorce from Carl her life had become better for her.

A new job in Birmingham, still single for obvious reasons. She didn't want to go through the same pain and anguish as Carl had put her through.

But every day for the last year, she continued to look at Mark's phone number in her contact book thinking of everything that had transpired a year ago.

How a man she had known since she was eighteen had confessed to being in love with her since the day they had met, had hidden his feelings for her for the sake of their friendship only to save her from the hands of her abusive husband.

A year on, Mark hadn't sent her a single text or called her.

Nyomi assumed he was doing that, to give her space, to allow her to move on with her life.

But it only made her think more of him in the last twelve months, clutching at her phone thinking of him in London, if he was even still living there.

Her new job was fulfilling, working as a secretary to a local school in Birmingham handling administration and paperwork.

But she continued to think of Mark, every minute of every day at her mother's home.

It was this day, she finally had enough of the waiting.

Dialling his number for the first time in a year, she waited hoping the line was still active and he hadn't changed his number.

The thought of that frightened her, to lose him for good if he chose to change his number and rid himself of hers.

She couldn't blame him if he had, the years of hiding his true feelings for her must have been painful to bear.

The call rang, and her hopes faded just as a voice answered her.

"Hello?"

A distinct, Scottish accent clear through her phone's speakers.

Mark's voice.

"Mark?"

The voice on the other end shook, and quivered as if her voice hit his nerves.

"Nyomi."

Nyomi lay on her bed in her bedroom, in her mother's home wearing a pair of loose pink PJ bottoms, and a matching top.

"It's been a long time."

Nyomi said gently, smiling.

"It has. How are things up there, at your mother's?"

Nyomi laid back on her bed, grinning.

"Good, I got a new job up here at a school. Pays the bills I guess."

Mark laughed.

"How about you?"

She asked him.

He said nothing for a moment, and then spoke.

"Good, I'm working around the city."

"Doing what?"

Nyomi could hear him laughing.

"I'm a bouncer, and a security guard as a day job. I was doing it when you left."

Nyomi's smile was gone.

"The bruises, cuts on your knuckles. From work?"

"Yeah, a few fights and scrapes here and there. I've added a few more to the collection, since you left."

The thought made Nyomi shiver, at the thought of Mark being hurt or injured.

"Is it dangerous?"

Mark grunted.

"Well the company send me to places, that are let's say are viper's dens. Some ugly looking pubs and clubs in South-London. Some people don't take too kindly to a new bouncer on their local boozer."

Nyomi breathed hard, as she felt her tummy quiver.

"You're not getting yourself too hurt, I hope?" Mark laughed on the other end of the line.

"I throw as many punches as they throw at me, Nyomi."

Nyomi coughed.

"I don't mean it like that, I just don't want you getting hurt Mark."

Mark felt uncomfortable, as it sounded to him Nyomi was concerned for him.

"I've survived worse."

"Eventually the worse may come along, you told me that once at College."

Mark went quiet.

"Yeah well, maybe the worse has already come along."

Nyomi sat up in her bed concerned, butterflies in her tummy.

"What do you mean, Mark?"

Mark went quiet, coughing as if to mask something he truly wanted to say to her.

"It's nothing."

"Mark, don't lie to me. What happened?"

Nyomi asked concerned, sitting up against the head of the bed clutching the phone to her ear.

A few moments passed, and Nyomi feared Mark would not answer her question.

"I was stabbed about a month ago, at some groggy South-London club called Aces. I am alright though."

Nyomi didn't believe him.

"Mark, did you go to hospital?"

Mark sighed.

"Yeah, I was officially dead for about sixty seconds before they revived me in the ambulance."

The sudden revelation made Nyomi feel as if she was going to have a heart-attack.

"Jesus Mark, you could have died!"

Nyomi screeched down the phone like a concerned wife, or partner would.

"But I didn't and—"

But now it was Nyomi's turn to cut him off.

"But you could have, Mark!"

A silence ensued, as the two were breathing down the phone to one another uncomfortably.

"How's work?"

He asked.

Nyomi grunted.

"Stop trying to change the fucking subject, Mark. This job could get you killed."

"But it's a job, Nyomi. I should count myself lucky I even have one of those nowadays in London today."

Nyomi couldn't stand hearing this from him, him of all people. But she contained herself, she couldn't lose him if he decided to just hang up and walk away from her altogether.

"So are you seeing anyone?"

She couldn't stop the question leaving her lips, and she wondered if she would regret it.

There was a silence, and she feared the worst. Mark had met someone.

"No, the job has kept me busy down here. No one wants to date a human dart-board sadly. How about you, I'm sure you had someone after you the moment you started working at the school."

Mark said laughing gently.

"Some, but I turned them down."

Mark grunted, as if he was feeling uncomfortable himself for some unknown reason.

"Mark, I was wondering. Do you want to come up, and we could meet. Here in Birmingham. For a drink, or something. I feel like I haven't seen you in years."

The silence was staggering, again she wanted to bite her lip for asking such a foolish question.

"Yes."

The answer was immediate, as if no thought went into his decision.

Nyomi's stomach felt close to busting, as if the butterflies inside were fighting to be free.

"When are you free?"

"Tomorrow, I can get off work if you can Nyomi."

It was so sudden, did she have time to prepare for her first meeting with Mark in a year?

"I want to see you, as soon as we can do it."

Mark added, and it only made Nyomi breath so low she felt as if she couldn't breath.

"Yes, tomorrow is good for me. Can you get the first train up in the morning? I could meet you at Birmingham station at midday."

"Done."

Mark said breathing hard himself down the phone line.

Nyomi smiled.

The rest of the call was simply talking about work, and life after she left London.

By the time she ended their call, she was wet and breathing as if hadn't breathed fresh air in years.

His voice had done all of this to her, without even actually seeing him yet.

Putting down her phone, Nyomi was shaking and had to shower to clean herself.

The Next Day, Birmingham Train Station, 11:47pm

Throughout the morning, Mark and Nyomi exchanged texts about the time the train would arrive.

Prior to leaving her mother's house, Nyomi was stumped in what to wear to meet Mark.

Her mother had told her to dress as she felt, and for the first time she decided to dress to impress.

It had been a year since she last saw Mark, the day he had found her and took her away from Carl's hands.

To her Mark deserved to be surprised for once, with her.

Nyomi wore a short black skirt, and shirt under a blouse with black tights and a ankle boots but wore a long coat as it was now cold October.

She had combed her hair, it was shorter now no longer reaching her shoulders but just above them, and had it braided for the occasion.

Standing at the platform she knew Mark's train would be coming into, she was shaking and feeling out of breath once more.

Her hands were clammy inside her coat pockets.

She dreaded it, but also revered it seeing him again.

The train pulled into its platform.

Shaking she watched people disembark from the train, business workers and those living in Birmingham walking out of the platform.

Her eyes searched for him, and in the deepest part of her mind she feared Mark would not even show.

Perhaps he had lied, that he didn't want to see her and this was all a ruse to make her feel like he had for so many years.

Missed opportunities.

As the passengers thinned out, she was about to look away when she saw a thick mass of black hair, and its accompanying copper red beard come into view.

He was wearing a hooded-jumper in grey, and a pair of baggy jeans. But he was there, walking out of the platform.

Her heart skipped a thousand beats in that moment, seeing him spot her and walk towards her as if it were all just a dream.

He smiled under the thick beard he had grown out, still looking as rugged as the day she had last seen him.

She smiled back, and gently pushed a braid from her face shyly.

He was broader than before, his thick chest and shoulders barely hidden by his jumper.

He was standing in front of her, the pair of them breathing and both with clammy hands.

"You look... stunning Nyomi."

His accent made her wane, and she stood her ground.

"You look so handsome."

The pair gently laughed.

Slowly they moved closer to one another, and embraced.

The same feeling Nyomi had felt in Euston station a year ago returned, laying her head to his chest again feeling his heartbeat.

"I never thought I'd see you again."

She whispered.

"Me neither."

Tears flowed, as she pressed her cheek to his chest.

"Hey, it's alright. I'm here now."

He whispered back, feeling her tears on his chest.

"Don't you ever leave me again, ever."

She said in a low whimper.

"Never Nyomi."

He said gently stoking her cheek with his hand.

The embrace was watched by those going to their trains, or disembarking appearing like a reunion of lovers to most people.

"We better get out of here, we've got an audience."

Nyomi cried tears of joy, and laughed gently.

Slowly they broke their embrace, and hand in hand they walked out of the station together.

They walked into the centre of the city, where Nyomi had picked out a nice bar for them to have a drink together.

Nyomi found a table, as Mark went to get their drinks from the bar ordering himself a bottle of Lager and for her a glass of Red Wine.

Slowly she slid her coat from her shoulders, and put it behind her on the chair.

She noticed some stares from some men in the bar, but only wanted Mark to look at her as he came over with the drinks.

She noticed how taut his arms were, and how muscular his chest was beneath his jumper.

He placed her glass of wine in front of her, and took a deep mouthful of his Lager.

One man passing the table took a good look at Nyomi, but Mark glared at him making the man briskly walk passed the table and out of the bar.

"You look beautiful."

Mark said smiling under his beard, looking at her.

"I didn't know how to dress for our first meeting in so long."

Mark grinned.

"Wear anything you want, as long as it's you I met today I don't care."

Nyomi shyly smiled sipping her wine.

A momentary silence ensued, but Nyomi was not wasting this moment with a man she had craved, loved for so long since she last saw him. He could disappear at any moment from her life again, if she wasn't careful.

"How long have you had feelings for me, Mark? I mean tell me when."

Mark was gently touching his bottle of Lager, touching the beads of condensation on the glass.

"Since the day I met you in our studies class, when we became friends. I wanted you then, I still do."

He looked up, like a predator looking at something he truly wanted.

His dark hazel eyes piercing her own, and her heart.

Breathing hard, and shaking she spoke on.

"And those feelings still persist?"

"Every minute of every day they persist, I dream of you. I think of you. I yearn for you Nyomi. I want you Nyomi."

Shaking like a leaf, she felt close to falling from her chair.

"Why didn't you call me, after I left?"

She asked looking up facing him, his eyes on hers.

"A new life, I couldn't without feeling the guilt of it get in the way of that for you here. You needed a fresh start, from anything associated with your life in London. Both me and Carl."

Nyomi gently turned her glass on the table.

"I needed a fresh start from Carl, not you Mark."

Mark nodded, stroking his beer bottle.

"I should have contacted you, but you know me. How I am. In thinking I was doing something good for you, I did the exact opposite."

Nyomi playfully turned her glass more.

"You didn't hurt me, I hurt you for all of those years."

Mark stiffened in his chair slightly.

"its life, you never noticed and I couldn't blame you. I never told you how I felt about you. Had I done, perhaps some things would have been different."

Silence grew.

"So you never met anyone in London?"

Nyomi asked shyly.

"Who wants to be with a man who gets cut up, and beaten up for a living? Not many."

He answered her, drinking his Lager.

"I do."

Mark looked deep into her eyes, his hazel eyes distracted her.

"What about you, at the school? What men did you turn away?"

Sipping her wine she spoke.

"A few, mostly teachers or school staff. But after Carl, I couldn't risk the pain. But the pain was already there, with you gone."

Mark nodded.

"Why was it so hard, when I left?"

Nyomi twirled her glass in her hands.

"Because the day I left, at that station with you there was the day I realised the man I loved was always there from the start. I just never noticed, and that was my own fault. When the man I could always love, leaves me to start a new life I was left wondering for the last year. Clutching at dreams, and thoughts as you had for so long. It's been playing on my mind, my heart for so long looking at your number on my phone. Remembering your face, it was hard."

Mark grunted, and nodded as if uncomfortable at her realisation.

"What about you, what was it like for so many years watching me? Not having me?"

Mark looked up, those god damn beautiful eyes and thick beard in front of her.

"Hell, is the best way I can describe it. Not having you, not touching you, not showing you I could be the man you wanted in your life. Carl, Michael, Terry. All of them, were never good enough for you. It tore my heart apart when you married Carl. I dreamt of you, fantasised about you. But when you chose him, I knew you were gone. You loved him, and I couldn't get in the way of you both. It would have been wrong if I had done. It was pure abyss I was in for so many years, thinking of you."

The revelation, his words, his voice made her shiver in her chair.

Mark took the chance to gulp down the remainder of the Lager in his bottle, and put it down on the table.

"And the past year, was it hard for you?"

She asked.

Mark said nothing, but looked into her eyes and nodded.

His stare, told her everything.

The pain he was in, the state he felt he was in with her. He had endured it for years, and she only for the last year.

Nyomi drank down her wine in two mouthfuls, and stood.

"Let's go."

Mark nodded, and stood zipping up his hooded-jumper once more as Nyomi put her coat back on.

They left the bar, and walked holding hands into the centre of town together and as they passed a quiet side-road Nyomi pulled Mark down it and pushed him against the stone wall of a building.

She pressed her lips against his, and they kissed deeply as Mark's hands roamed her back and under her coat to feel the short skirt she wore.

"I love you Mark."

She whispered nuzzling his neck, and face.

She felt it, it was bound to happen.

The feeling of his tent, bulge pressed against her she knew the man lusted after her for so many years. She regretted never noticing, and seeing what was always in front of her.

He kissed her neck, nuzzling her collarbone and moving up to kiss along her jaw to her lips. His thick beard tickling her skin, prickling her soft dark skin.

They were lost in bliss, lust as Nyomi's hand found the belt of Mark's jeans and undid it before unzipping his jeans to slide her hand inside to feel his thick, fat cock in her delicate hands.

They moved, Mark turning Nyomi to be pressed to the wall and her kissing her as her hand furiously stroked his member in his jeans.

"Don't you ever fucking leave me, ever? Promise me?"

Nyomi gasped, using her other hand to stroke Mark's cheek as they looked into one another's eyes.

"I promise you, Nyomi."

He said inches from her face, his dark hazel eyes and her own brown eyes entranced to one another.

"Sir, ma'am?"

A voice called, the pair looked to their rear and saw a big Police officer, and a female officer at his side looking at one another.

The pair laughed, lost in pleasure.

"I think there are better places for that sort of thing."

He said winking at them, as they saw a small crowd of people watching them from the main road.

Nyomi quickly buckled his belt, and zipped his jeans closed.

"Yes officer, we are sorry. We'll move on, find a hotel."

Mark said grinning like a Cheshire cat in happy guilt.

The two of them left the quiet side-road and walked along the main road, with the group watching them as they left.

They held hands tightly leaving together.

*****

All feedback is appreciated, leave a comment.