Under The Rose

"That's an interesting necklace you got there, Bruh," I said.

He lifted it and said, "It's special. I got it from some old lady on the beach. It's got magic powers."

"Does it? What like some kind of effect on guys? If you talk to a guy while wearing that, they'll fall in love with you."

"Not guys, asshole, chicks," he snarled.

"Oh, okay. You don't have to lie to me. I'm okay with your lifestyle and choices. To each his own, I say."

"I'm not gay, asshole."

He pushed me and I grabbed his arm, pulling him down on me. We rolled on the ground a bit before his friends pulled us apart. Surprisingly no punches were thrown. Well, none landed anyway.

"How about you take off and get some rest, Sir," the bartender said menacingly.

"Sure, I didn't mean to start any trouble. Sorry about all this."

I glared at the asshole as I walked out to the lobby. I dropped the necklace I ripped off him into the trash bin before I stepped on the elevator. I knew then that the necklace worked and that's how she kept being pulled into his charms. It was literally his charm. The same one that I had, and we were fighting each other for her without knowing it.

She was sitting with her back against my door when I walked up the hall. When she saw me, she jumped up and ran to me. I groaned at the sound of her jingling bracelet as she threw her arms around my neck.

"Please, Foster. Don't throw what we have away. I can't explain..."

I kissed her and she returned it passionately. We continued to make out as I backed her up to my door and opened it. She moaned into my mouth as I pushed her through my room and onto my bed.

"Yes, Foster. Make me yours. Claim me as rightfully yours. Only you."

Her words were almost comical. "Claim me as rightfully yours?" I managed to not laugh and continued to kiss and lick her neck. She smelled of soap, not suntan lotion and I appreciated that. I hated the smell of coconut.

Suddenly, she pushed me back and ripped my button-down shirt open. She smiled and I thought she was going to laugh, but she kissed my chest and surprisingly kissed the charm necklace. She kissed down my abdomen, following the trail of hair I had leading to my belly button and below.

"I love hairy chests and abs, Foster. Never shave."

In a moment my shorts were around my ankles, and she was gripping my erect cock.

"Foster, Foster, Foster. Shame on you for hiding this from me."

She took the glans into her mouth and licked the head. "Mm," she moaned. The vibrations felt incredible.

"Damn, Kiana," I groaned.

She took me as deeply as she could and coughed around me.

"Whoa," I said pulling her head off. "Don't get crazy. You don't have to gag on me to impress me."

She smiled and returned to work, and she was a maestro.

She licked, bobbed, sucked and my senses were on overload. Her mouth was so hot and wet, her slurping sounds were music to my ears, and then she blew my mind by pressing on my perineum. Her fingers massaging it felt amazing and was pushing me over the edge.

"I'm getting close, Ki," I moaned.

"Can't have that, Lover," she chirped and stood to kiss me.

I returned her kiss and lifted the sundress she had on over her head.

"No underwear? How naughty of you," I teased.

"I hoped to make up with you. I hope I have, anyway."

I laughed and stroked her cheek. "I don't foresee any future issues between us." I thought of the necklace I took from the asshole and smirked.

She gently pushed me to the bed with a finger on my chest. I lay and she asked, "Mind if I ride you, Big Boy?"

I smiled, "Ride me cowgirl."

She straddled my hips and felt painfully tight as I entered her. "Fuck, Baby," she moaned. "So, good."

Her juices spilled down my shaft, soaking my groin as she slowly rocked, taking me deeper with every movement.

"Squeeze my breasts, Baby," she begged as I tweaked her nipple.

They were a perfect handful. Firm and tight, like the rest of her young body, and I sucked each nipple in turn as a complied with her demand to squeeze her.

"Oh, yeah. I'm so close. Oh, shit," she whispered.

Within moments, she was bucking wildly. Her long red hair was flying around in circles while her hips danced and gyrated on my pole. And then she flew forward on top of me. She wrapped her arms around my back and in her stillness, if felt her body quiver as her orgasm subsided.

"Jesus, Foster. That was amazing."

I smiled and said, "I didn't really do anything, but you're welcome."

She sat up on my still hard shaft and bottomed out again. "Oh, Honey, you did plenty, believe me."

She grinded on my pelvis, rubbing her clit into my body. "God, I feel like I haven't stopped cumming. I feel like...oh, my God!"

She threw her head back and sped up her circling, grinding on my body. I closed my eyes to concentrate on not cumming, and felt her hands drop to my chest. My eyes shot open as she began to slam me into the mattress. Her soft moans became loud screams that were unintelligible.

"Baby, I can't hold back," I groaned as she slammed faster.

"Cum for me, Baby, I'm on the pill. Fill me up."

I rolled her over and started pounding into her from behind. Her head turned and she begged, "Harder, fuck me harder."

I slammed into her making her yelp and sped up my hardest thrusts. I saw the lust in her eyes when she looked at me again and I released into her. Stream after stream, each feeling more unbelievable than the first, coated her tunnel.

I fell forward into her, our sweaty bodies intertwining when I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her cheek.

"I want a hundred thousand of that, please," she sighed as my softening member slipped from her body.

I chuckled and said, "One at a time, Sweetie."

She snuggled into me and fell asleep in my arms. I vowed to never take the necklace off again.

*****

I was working on a machine that broke down three months later and the necklace fell out of my shirt and got snagged on a corner of the press. The chain snapped and the charm went bouncing along the floor towards a drain.

I screamed, "No!" and dove at it to try to stop it. My fingertip only pushed it farther along and it bounced into the drain.

I pulled the cover off and saw that it was no use. Who knew how far the drain went down, but there was nothing in sight. I sat back on the floor and almost cried. Things had been going so well with Kiana. There had been no issues with other men sniffing around, no issues with her inner bitch coming out, no issues with her cheating whore friends, and I was going to ask her to move in with me.

With a snap of a thin piece of metal, it would all be gone. My dad ran up and asked, "Are you alright? What was that yelling all about?"

I looked up and said, "Nothing, Dad. It was just an expensive piece of jewelry I lost down the drain."

"Shouldn't wear jewelry in the shop, Dummy. You know better than that."

"You're right, Dad."

"Did you get it running?"

"Yep. It's purring like a kitten."

"Great job, Foster. Just in time too. It's about three o'clock."

I nodded and accepted his hand to help me stand.

"Tell that little hottie of yours I said hello."

"I will," I said sadly. I knew it was all over and it was all my fault. I blew it and I didn't even want to go to the restaurant to pay the piper.

I always stopped at the restaurant on the way home. Her parents always needed some little job done and I was handy enough to do most of them. I didn't get paid in meatballs, but I got free linguini and clams whenever I wanted. It was a good enough deal for me.

I walked through the back entrance into the kitchen and got a big hug from Kiana's mother.

"Foster, I'm glad you stopped by. We got new towel dispensers for the bathrooms; do you think you can install them? I didn't trust the kid they sent out to do it. I don't want my walls torn up; you know?"

"Sure, it won't be that hard. It'll probably take an hour."

"You're the best. Go see my daughter first, and when you're done, I'll have some linguini for you."

I thanked her and headed to the offices to find my girlfriend. I hoped she'd still be my girlfriend anyway. I fell so hard in love with her during the trip, it overtook my entire life. I lived for her and tried to show her that every day.

I was already a romantic guy, and I did all the same little things that I did before. I gave her space when she had a bad day, I gave her love when she needed extra, and I gave her my soul when we made love. It couldn't have been going any better--and then I fucked it up by losing the charm.

"Hey, Honey," I said after knocking on her open door.

Her eyes shot up from the computer screen and sneered, "We need you to put up some towel holders in the bathrooms."

"I know. Your mom already asked me."

"Then why are you just standing there?" She snapped. I knew it was only a matter of time. It wasn't an hour since I lost the stupid charm, and she was snapping at me.

I waved as I walked out of the office, she ignored me and went back to the computer.

I found the boxes and grabbed the toolbox I bought for them. They didn't have the basics and always paid for a handyman to do minor repairs. I was sure I saved them thousands of dollars, but it was Kiana's restaurant, and her parents were sweet people.

The holes in the wall from the previous towel holder didn't match the new one, so there was some minor patching needed on the wall. They smartly saved the scraps from the wallpaper used in the bathrooms, so I was able to fill the holes and put a small patch of wallpaper over the empty spots. It looked good as far as my eye could tell and wouldn't be noticeable to anyone that wasn't looking for it.

I finished the other bathroom and put everything away before stopping in the kitchen.

"Take a look and let me know what you think," I asked Ki's mom.

She smiled and said, "I already looked at the men's room while you were doing the ladies' room. I could hardly tell there was a patch of wallpaper there. You did a good job as always. Grab a seat and I'll bring you and Kiana some dinner."

"Okay," I said as she kissed my cheek.

The restaurant didn't open until 5 for dinner, so it was empty at 4:30 when I sat at the nearest table to the kitchen. I was looking at a water stain on the ceiling and wondered how I never noticed that before. I made a mental note to ask if that was always there or if the roof was leaking. Just then the kitchen door flew open, and Kiana stormed out.

"You call that a good job? Jesus, I could have let the idiot they sent out do the work and it would have looked better. Get your ass in there and fix it."

Before I could speak, her mother came out, "Kiana, what is the matter with you. I approved of what he did. It looks great."

"It looks like shit, Mom, and he's sitting out here waiting for his free fucking meal like a king. Just fucking leave and I'll get someone who knows what the hell they are doing to fix it."

She stormed back to her office which left her mother standing in shock.

I stood and kissed her cheek, "I think I'd better go. Sorry for the trouble."

"Foster, wait a minute. I don't know what that was all about but it's not acceptable. Were you guys fighting before?"

"No, Ma'am. We weren't fighting. I guess, I just overshot my skis and flew too close to the sun."

"Foster..."

I shook my head and said, "It was only a matter of time. Our love was never real. Well, it was on my end, I really loved her. I'll see you around. Thank you for everything."

I walked through the kitchen and out the back door. The drive home was the loneliest I ever felt. I couldn't believe how quickly it ended, or at least I assumed it ended. She had no reason to snap at me and go off like that. It was a replay of the worst moments on our trip. Our breakup was inevitable.

*****

I burned up the internet searching for the half rose charm. I found nothing similar. I found no reference to the old lady's cart, nor any reference to a legend about magic rose charms. I called the resort and they laughed at me. I called other resorts and they hung up on me. It was truly over.

It was three days before Saturday came. I hadn't heard from Kiana and while I was saddened, I accepted it was over. I pulled out the last of the Cuban cigars I brought home and gently lit the smokey goodness. I put on Metallica's black album, cranked the volume, and sat in my recliner. I was saving that cigar for our anniversary of that day I bought the cigars. We decided that perfect day was going to be our anniversary date.

I had just taken my third puff when the music stopped. I spun around and saw Kiana by my stereo crying.

"I hate that album," she said.

"I know."

"That cigar was supposed to be for our anniversary."

I sighed, "I didn't think we were gonna see an anniversary."

"I don't want that, Foster. I love you so much. I'm so sorry I snapped at you. I can't explain what happened."

"You don't love me. You never did."

"Don't say that. You know that's not true," she cried.

"I know for a fact it's true. You never truly loved me. It was all a magic spell, and that spell was broken three days ago when I lost the rose. That was why you snapped at me. The spell was broken, and you lost the fake love that you thought you felt."

"What are you talking about?"

"The necklace. The half rose. I broke the chain on a machine and the charm went down the drain. Symbolic, isn't it? Your love for me went down the drain. I wish I never fell in love with you."

She walked up to me and grabbed me by the shoulders. The annoying jingle of her bracelet as loud as ever.

"Don't be an idiot, Foster. I didn't fall in love with you because of a necklace. I fell in love with you because you were a good man who made me realize how I deserved to be loved. I felt your love that perfect day. I fell for you while we ate cheese and drank wine on the beach. I fell for you while we shopped for wraps, and hats, and cigars. I fell for you when you kept getting jealous over other men. It wasn't a stupid necklace. It was your heart."

She hugged me and I felt her tears wetting my chest.

"Don't give up on me, Foster. I need you so much."

I pulled her tighter into me. I needed her as much as she needed me.

*****

I was sitting at Kiana's bedside. She didn't have much time left they told me. I already spent as much time in the hospital as they'd allow. She floated in and out of consciousness, but she remembered me and that was a good thing.

I had just sent our kids and grandkids out to let her pass alone with me in peace. I wanted to give her the last bit of love I had left in my heart. Truth be told, I didn't want my kids to see me cry.

She woke and patted my hand, the damned bracelet jingled with the charms that were always there. We even added some over the years. It was always a good go to present when I didn't know what to get her.

"Hey, Love," I said as she opened her eyes.

"Hey, Yourself," she smiled.

She was weakened and was struggling to breathe, but she said, "Remember when you thought I wouldn't love you anymore because you lost the rose charm."

I laughed, "Yeah, that was pretty silly."

She shook her head, "You had it backwards." She shook her wrist and I saw the half rose charm she didn't think I knew about. "I never loved you because of a magic spell. That's how I got you to love me. I've kept it on all these years."

I took the bracelet off her and set it on the table next to the bed.

"Oh, my dear wife, I didn't love you because of the charm. I loved you in spite of it. I feel more love for you now than at any moment of our lives"

A tear fell from her eye, and she barely got out, "Thank you, My Love," before her eyes closed for the last time.

I walked into the waiting room and told everyone she passed. My youngest granddaughter, who was the only single grandchild I had, walked up to me, and hugged me. Soon I was surrounded in a group hug with all my family.

I took her hand and set the bracelet into it.

"No, Grandpa. Mom should have this."

My daughter smiled and took her husband's hand. "I don't need it, Baby." Her husband kissed her cheek and agreed.

"Be careful with that. It's pretty powerful stuff," I said and sat on the nearest chair.

The last thing I heard was the cackling laughter of the old lady.