Road to Redemption Pt. 01

"Well, I appreciate all that, and your kind words. I do. And I hope there is a future here, but I don't want to get my hopes up again and..."

Abruptly, she stood, walked around the coffee table to me, bent down and kissed me gently on the lips.

"Nick, I too hope there is a future here. And yes, it's just a starting point, but I want to see where it goes."

We opened the second bottle of wine and Celia told me about her family and her childhood. Her dad had started out as a bar-back in a restaurant; went to school and became a sous-chef at the same restaurant; then, when a head chef position opened at another restaurant, he took that and gradually worked his way to opening his own place. Eventually, he expanded to five restaurants in three cities, two being high-end joints. By the time she was in high school, they were well off. But, being independent, she was determined to make her own way, worked hard and graduated number two in a class of over 400, getting a free-ride scholarship to a top-tier college. She majored in marketing, and after a couple false starts, she tried the women's apparel boutique and that became very lucrative.

She pressed me for details about my childhood and my parents, but I was reticent to go that far - not the happiest story. Fortunately, by that time, we had finished the second bottle and Celia was feeling no pain. She decided she wanted to dance.

"Do you have any music, something we could slow dance to?" she asked, surprising me.

"Sure, I have The Righteous Brothers, Etta James, James Taylor..."

"The Righteous Brothers. Do you have 'Unchained Melody'?"

"Coming right up," I replied and headed to the stereo.

I put in the disc and turned around. Celia immediately slipped into my arms, wrapping hers around me. As we danced with her plastered to me, I spent a lot of time trying not to get an erection, as she felt absolutely divine in my arms.

My efforts went for naught as Celia pressed her leg against me, encountering my semi-hard on.

Celia surprised me, murmuring, "You can kiss me, Nick."

I didn't hesitate. Celia had the most amazing, full lips, and the longest tongue...kissing her was a sexual experience in itself.

At some point, Celia said she needed another drink.

We had finished the wine she brought, so I offered, "I have a California Merlot and an Australian Quintet."

"I've never tried a Quintet. Let's go with that."

"Coming up." I grabbed fresh glasses and poured us each a generous amount, then went to sit back in my chair. She sat on the divan and patted the spot next to her.

I sat down and she cozied up to me and held her glass up in a toast.

"Here's to friendship and new beginnings," she offered.

"Here, here," I replied.

After chatting and drinking a bit, we had finished our wine and she indicated she wanted another.

"That was delish', similar to a Bordeaux. May I have another?"

"Of course, but, um, I'm concerned about you driving home."

"Well, I might just have to sleep over," she grinned, then followed with, "on the couch, of course."

"I have a guest bedroom," I informed her, after running the gamut of emotions - at first thinking, "Yippee" - you guessed it; but then she said the couch - big woop.

She smiled, "I thought you didn't have anyone sleeping over since you've been here."

"I was preparing for this very thing. After all, it wouldn't be very chivalrous to make a lady guest sleep on the couch, and I don't surrender my bed to anyone," I replied, sounding serious.

"Even if they let you stay in the bed, too."

"I'm afraid that would be too great a test of my ability to be chivalrous, especially if that someone was as desirable as you."

She laughed and kissed me on the cheek, "You just made a joke and paid me a compliment, all in the same sentence."

"I'm versatile and multi-faceted," I quipped.

"That you are, Nicholas, that you are."

We sat and drank and talked. It was comfortable, unforced, and I knew I was falling for this woman. At some point, we had finished our glasses of wine and set them down. I turned and began kissing her. She pulled me to her with one hand on my neck. The other hand was rubbing my leg and she bumped into my erection.

She broke the kiss. "How about you show me to that guest bedroom, before I do something I'm not ready to do."

"Of course."

I walked her to the bedroom, "You have your own bathroom and should find everything you need. I'll say goodnight, before I do something you're not ready to do."

She pulled me to her and kissed me, then said goodnight.

I went to bed, but didn't sleep. I got up at two in the morning and went to the patio with a couple porters and continued with the muddled thinking I was doing in bed. The cold air did nothing to add any clarity to my thoughts.

I was sleeping with a sweet woman I couldn't love, and I had a wonderful woman in my home, whom I knew I could love, but wasn't sleeping with.

A few weeks ago, my life was shitty, but much simpler.

The end of Part One of

ROAD TO REDEMPTION

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Continued in Part Two - REDEMPTION