Short Shorts

You could tell by the pride in her voice and the way that she stood up proudly, that she was very proud of her accomplishments. In the twenty minutes that I'd known her, Reilly had shown herself to be a very complex young woman.

"Now, let's see to your owies." She said seriously and bent over my hand.

I snorted in laughter.

She looked at me, "What?" She had no idea what she had said.

I laughed aloud, "Owies?"

She flushed bright red. "Sorry, I used to be a pediatric nurse and it just comes naturally."

There was something in her tone that bothered me. "Used to be?"

She visibly sagged. "That is part of my story." She stood up and paused for a couple of moments. "Let me get you cleaned up and bandaged, get you a cold drink and I'll tell you everything you want to know." She sagged some more. "Then if you want to run from me, you and I will know why you're running."

She went into the other room and brought back bandages, antibacterial soap, water and saline solution. I smiled because I could tell by her touch that she was accustomed to working with kids. She carefully cleaned my hands and knees then bandaged them. She put everything away and then she went and got me a bottle of Gatorade and herself a cup of coffee and sat down.

She sat for a moment just looking at me. She sighed, slowly closed her eyes and began speaking. "As I said already, I'm an Irish-Catholic girl from Boston. I come from a large family; I have eleven brothers and sisters."

I giggled and said, "Wow!"

She opened her eyes, smiled at me and then closed her eyes again. "We were very happy growing up. We were very spread out, age-wise and evenly split between boys and girls. It worked out that in our three-bedroom apartment there were never more than three of us in each bedroom at a time. As we graduated from high school, we got jobs and moved out or went to college and moved out. Mom and dad always had a crib in their room. When the oldest at home would move out, the baby was moved into their vacant spot in a bedroom."

She sighed, "Then mom and dad would begin working on another baby. Anyway, I was the second youngest, so by the time I was in high school, I had my own room. Way back when, mom had wanted to be a nurse and she encouraged me to do the same. So, I grew up dreaming of being a nurse. I wanted to go to Boston College, but we couldn't afford a private Catholic school, even with scholarships and help from the parish. So I went to UMass. I did well and got my degree on time. I applied to a lot of hospitals and got my share of offers, but I was really excited to get an offer from the Franciscan Children's Hospital and I jumped at it. Having grown up in a big family, I wanted to be around kids, to help kids."

Reilly got up and got another cup of coffee. She walked over and leaned against the granite countertop and looked at me. "This is where it starts to get ugly. Are you sure you want me to go on?"

Even though I was apprehensive at the prospect of a terrifying story, I was also hooked. "I feel terrible," I said, "but I'm nosy and want to hear this."

She gave me a little smile, "At least you're honest." She stood there for a minute, just looking at me and then closed her eyes again. I realized that closing her eyes took her back there. I also recognized that I didn't want her to experience this obviously painful memory alone in her head.

"Reilly?" I said softly.

She opened her eyes.

I held my hands out to her. "Please let me share this with you. Don't relive it alone."

She froze and stared at me and I was concerned that I had angered her. Suddenly, she smiled and came over to sit with me and took my hands.

"Thank you." She whispered and then closed her eyes again.

"I had worked at the hospital for almost a year and I had dated a couple of guys from the old neighborhood, but there was never anything serious. After four years of high school, four years of college and a year at the hospital, I was still a virgin." She giggled, fortunately able to see the humor.

"Then I met Dr. Anthony Riviera, a tall, dark, gorgeous, Italian-Catholic." She rolled her eyes. "My mom was thrilled. Don't get me wrong, Anthony, don't call me Tony, Riviera was everything a woman could want, including me."

I frowned a little, "Don't call me Tony?"

She shook her head. "He would always say, 'If my parents wanted me to be called Tony, they wouldn't have named me Anthony.' He was a little pompous about his name."

"Wow." I said and she nodded.

"We went out for a long time before we started fooling around. I was a classic nervous Catholic virgin." She blushed and looked sad at the memory. I gently squeezed her hands and she smiled.

"After a while, we fell in love and Anthony asked me to marry him. I was excited and said yes and my dad gave his enthusiastic approval when Anthony formally asked for my hand." She stopped and took a deep shuddering breath. I could tell that this was a painful memory for her and I squeezed her hands, trying to convey that I was there for her.

"My mom wanted to do this huuuge wedding and I wasn't so sure about that. Anthony told me to let her have her fun and wanted his mom to be part of the planning, too. Anthony was an only child and his mom would only get to participate in his wedding. My mom was grateful for the help." She opened her eyes and smiled a little. "I didn't realize what all went into planning a big Catholic wedding. My older sisters had gotten married while I was at school. Even though I had lived at home, I was focused on my studies and had paid no attention to what they were doing. I went for fittings, went to showers and to the wedding and reception, but that was all I had done. Mom, my mother-in-law, and I looked at thousands of magazines; it seemed like hundreds of venues, visited dozens of bakeries. I wanted my bridesmaids, my sisters, to look as beautiful as they are, and I wanted all of the dresses to be the same color, so we looked at hundreds of dresses and an infinite number of colors. My sisters all have varying shades of the same red hair as me and there were colors that would make one drop dead gorgeous while at the same time making another one look like a corpse. It seemed to be impossible."

I giggled, "Sounds like a nightmare."

She opened her eyes briefly and smiled, "It was."

"I had kept resisting any variants of red, because any red washes my skin out, terribly. I just knew that any red was a horrible idea. Finally, my mother-in-law convinced me to let my oldest sister, Patty, show me a dark red dress that she had found. She was breathtaking in it. Then I said, 'Patty looks spectacular, but what about the rest of them?' My mother-in-law smiled and nodded to the salesgirl and my sisters came out, one by one and stood next to Patty. Each one had the same design of dress, but with a different shade of dark red that perfectly complemented their hair, they were all stunning. At first I was speechless, then I frowned at them and Patty got nervous. She said, 'Mary Katherine, we were trying to help, we didn't want to upset you.' I said, 'You have upset me, you will all be prettier than me.' Patty looked stunned for a minute and finally realized that I was teasing. She said, 'You brat!' and came over and hugged me and it turned into a giant group hug with my sisters, my mom, my mother-in-law and the salesgirl."

Reilly smiled again, "That was a really, really good day."

She stopped and looked at me. "I know it seems like all of this is unrelated, but this is the only way I know to tell it."

I squeezed her hands again, "You tell me any way you need to tell me."

She smiled again, "Okay, thank you." Then she continued, "There was never any question that we would be married in our church, so we reserved several dates and then went looking for a reception venue."

I interrupted her, "Did Anthony participate in any of this?"

She actually laughed aloud. "No, he went to one cake tasting and bailed almost immediately. Among me, my mom, his mom and my sisters, he said there was waaay too much estrogen and he took off. He kissed me, told me he loved me and said he knew that I would make good decisions to have a beautiful day. Then he ran."

It was obvious that she had loved him and I laughed at her description. (My assumption of the past tense in my mind was automatic. Something had happened; I just didn't yet know what it was.)

She smiled before resuming, "After we had looked at the first venue on the Boston Harbor, I wanted the reception overlooking the water. I wanted it late in the afternoon, so that the sun would set and the lights in the harbor would come on and then the dancing would be overlooking the harbor. I pictured the scene in my mind and it was like it was out of a fairytale. My mother absolutely freaked at the cost. I asked Anthony about it and he said we would pay for the reception. Daddy tried to refuse but Anthony talked him into it. I got my fairytale wedding and reception. It was classy, it was beautiful and most of all, it was romantic." She had a faraway expression on her face, her eyes still closed. It was a little sad, but I could tell this was a very happy memory.

I said softly, "That sounds amazing."

She jumped a little, startled when I spoke. Opening her eyes, she giggled, "Oops! I forgot you were here."

I tilted my head to the side, "But, I'm holding your hands."

She reddened, embarrassed. "I was imagining it was Anthony, holding my hands."

I brushed my thumbs across the back of her hands. "I'm sorry that I'm not him."

She smiled warmly, "Don't get me wrong, I miss him, but I'm not sorry you're not him."

I didn't respond, but blushed and lowered my eyes. We sat silently for a few minutes, holding hands.

Finally, she slowly withdrew her hands. When I looked up, she had folded them in her lap, her expression flat and difficult to read. I looked at her questioningly.

"This is where the story gets harder to tell and I understand that it gets harder to hear." She said quietly. "Are you sure you want me to continue?"

My heart ached for the sadness that seemed to envelop her. Nosiness aside, I felt a need to hear the rest of the story. I really liked Reilly and I wanted to get to know her. There is no reasonable explanation for it, but I had a feeling that telling me her story, a complete stranger, might be therapeutic for her. I reached out and took her hands in mine again and her smile was sad, but grateful.

"Evidently, when we ordered the flowers, one of the guys in the flower shop had seen me and decided that I really was Amy Adams." Apparently, I looked a little shocked and my mouth fell open and Reilly reached up and gently closed it for me. She smiled, put her hand back in mine and then continued. "I didn't realize it at the time, but he began following me. He followed me to work; he followed me home, to the grocery, on dates, to all of the wedding stuff, everywhere. In retrospect, I am guessing that I had seen him, but he didn't make an impression; I was preoccupied."

My fascination and discomfort were building at every turn. I wanted to hear more to satisfy my prurient urges, but didn't want to hear more because I was afraid of what was coming. Prurience won and I kept my mouth shut.

Reilly continued, "Weird things started occasionally happening. I noticed a picture that had been hanging crooked and that I was meaning to straighten; was straight. I dismissed it, figuring Anthony had gotten tired of seeing it. A light bulb in the hall that had been burned out for a couple of months was replaced. Again, I dismissed it figuring Anthony had replaced it. There was a welcome mat on the porch of our townhouse that had been there when we moved in. It was suddenly replaced with a really pretty one. Again, I assumed Anthony. Those things continued to happen and I was thinking that Anthony was so sweet fixing all of those things and taking no credit. Then one day Anthony came out of the bathroom and said, 'Hey, I see you got the landlord to fix the wall switch. That was great work, honey!'"

She paused, having started to shake. I didn't know her and didn't know how she would react, but I drew her into a hug. She immediately stiffened, but I hung on and she relaxed, little by little and then broke into deep sobs.

"Oh god, Kendall, I miss him so much." She sobbed into my shoulder. I didn't say anything; I just held her tight and let her cry. It was ten or fifteen minutes that she held onto me sobbing and then settling down and then resurging into deep, deep sobs. Finally, I felt her relaxing and she gently pushed me away.

She blushed deeply, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have cried on you."

I took her hands in mine again and squeezed warmly. "You can do anything that you need to do. Crying has to make you feel a little better. But, do you want to stop telling me? I know this must be painful." I grinned a little in embarrassment. "I hate to admit it, but your story has me fascinated. I do want to hear more."

I got a small smile in return. "Again, I admire that you're being so honest."

I smiled, but got serious. "You don't know me, but I will always be honest with you."

She squeezed my hands in return. "You're right, I don't know you, but I feel like I do and I know in my heart that you will."

She leaned forward and kissed my cheek, which made my heart flutter, and hugged me. "You're right about something else." She whispered in my ear. "I need to stop, for now. I can't take any more of this, at least for the time being."

I was disappointed, but said. "That's okay."

She laughed at that. "Hey! You said you'd always be honest with me." She mocked my inflection, teasingly. It was good to hear her laugh again.

I smiled and said, "Yeah, and I was honest, disappointed but honest."

"That's better," she grinned. "How about this, you come to dinner tomorrow night and I'll tell you some more."

I thought about it for a moment. "Reilly, as much as I want to know your story, I don't want to put you through all of that."

"Honestly," she said, "after telling you what I have and crying, I feel better than I have in a long time. I think you're right about telling a stranger my story. Please, I want you to come and I want to tell you some more."

I grinned happily. "I'd love to come, thank you. What should I bring?"

She giggled, "Just your pretty face and banged up knees and hands."

I had completely forgotten my hands and knees. I looked at my hands and then down at my knees. "Huh! I was so fascinated by your story, I forgot!" With that, I stood up and wobbled at the sudden pain from the breaking of the newly forming scabs. I grabbed the table and flushed in pain, sweat breaking out all over my skin. Reilly quickly grasped my elbow and supported my weight.

"Oh Kendall!" Reilly exclaimed. "Are you all right?"

I grinned, embarrassed. "I am, but I was surprised by the quick jolt of pain."

"Are you sure?" Reilly asked; the concern evident in her voice. Again, I was taken by her concern, it was heartwarming and unexpected.

"I'm fine, really," I murmured. I glanced at the clock and realized that I had been here for nearly an hour and a half and it was past lunchtime. "I need to go anyway; I have taken up way too much of your time today."

She smiled shyly, "No you haven't, it's nice to have a new friend." She paused expectantly; hope shining in her eyes.

I reached out and took her hands in mine, the powerful surge comforting me. "It is, isn't it?"

Her returning smile was so radiant that it warmed my heart. Even though I was banged up, I felt more comfortable in her presence than I had with anybody in a long time; as though I belonged here, with her.

I turned to go and unexpectedly, she grabbed me and hugged me. Her body felt wonderful against mine, compact, firm and we fit together as though we were two pieces of the same puzzle. I felt a surge of affection and lust as she clung snugly to me. She slowly let go of me, her eyes finding mine and holding them as I was mesmerized by the deep, green pools of unreadable emotion. She turned and led me to the door as I held her hand in both of mine.

We stopped and she turned to look at me, grasping my hands with both of hers. "I'll see you tomorrow, right?" she asked shyly.

I smiled as sweetly as I could. "Without a doubt, but what time should I be here?"

She opened the door and I stepped out, her hands only letting go when I reached the edge of the small porch. "Umm, about seven, okay?" I nodded and she said, "Bye Kendall."

I winked, "Bye Amy," and she giggled along with me. "I mean Reilly." She waved and watched me walk around the corner of the house.

I barely thought about anything on my way home other than her cute nose, adorable smile and gorgeous eyes. I could barely wait for tomorrow. When I got home, I stripped and took a shower after caring for the bandages. After, I lounged around the house for the rest of the day and evening, not wanting to put any stress on my injuries. I didn't want them to break open so that I could remove the bandages in the morning. I went to bed early and fell asleep quickly. My dreams were filled with Reilly and I slept deeply.

++++++++++

I woke early, feeling refreshed and eagerly looking forward to dinner tonight. Not only did I want to hear more of the story, I wanted to see Reilly again. I pulled the bandages off and saw that the scrapes were healing nicely. I took it easy all day, doing simple chores around the house. I spent several hours on the computer, catching up on some tasks from work.

About five o'clock, I went into the bathroom, took a quick shower and washed my hair. I wanted to dress appropriately, but attractively so I pulled my brunette hair up into a high, tight ponytail. I dug through my drawers and found a soft cotton, pink skirt that stopped about two inches above my knees and paired it with a white spaghetti strap silky top. I couldn't wear a bra with the top, so I went without and found a new pair of pink bikini style panties with tiny, white polka dots. I pulled out my white sandals and looked in the full length mirror. I thought I looked pretty good, maybe even hot.

I realized that my contacts had been in for far longer than they should have been. I popped them out and rinsed my eyes and they felt better. I put on my oversized black framed glasses and went back to the mirror. My reflection wasn't sexy librarian, but the look was sexy, nonetheless, but I needed something else. I went back into the bathroom and applied a little blush and light pink lipstick. I went back to the mirror and found that I liked this version of my look. I was too old to be a schoolgirl, but the look was definitely sexy schoolgirl.

I figured that Reilly was straight and I had no illusions that I would be able to get her into my bed. But that didn't mean that I couldn't dream a little. She was beautiful, hot and made my heart quicken, but she was still straight and I didn't need the drama that went along with straight girl experimentation. Then I remembered her little pirouette yesterday and realized that I didn't know what to think.

I looked at the clock and saw that it was about ten minutes until seven. If I left right now, I would be a couple of minutes early and that would be perfect. I was anxious to see her again. I grabbed a bottle of chardonnay and walked to her house. I went around back and before I could knock on the door, Reilly opened it and the vision of her knocked me out.

She had also pulled her hair into a pony tail, similar to mine, but lower and looser. Her shorts were white and skin tight. She had paired them with a gorgeous, teal, silk camisole that brought out her eyes and displayed her curves. It was either cool in the house, or (I hoped) she was excited to see me as her nipples were poking the silk.