Chapter 2
(Dawson)
I was in love with Selah before I ever invited her over to my place that first time. She was so fresh, so vibrant, so new. Her lack of experience in the bedroom bothered her, but it only incited my lust and love to higher levels.
Most of the women I’ve been with were already well-versed in the ways of carnal pleasure, and I could never quite get it out of my head that they had probably been with more men than I cared to think about. Sex with those women was just that, sex. And nothing more.
With Selah, however, lovely, sweet, innocent Selah. It was wonderful and fulfilling. I had never in my life felt the way I had after our first night together. To protect her from the cruelties of the world and make her dreams come true became my priority.
Not wanting to scare her off, or seem overbearing, I waited a full eight months from that first night to give her the keys to my place. My deepest desire was to have her move in with me. My idea of being romantic had been to go to her apartment while she was at work and empty it, take all her things to my place, and then surprise her after work. My friend Rick shook his head when I told him my plans.
“Oh, Dawson. You can’t do that. That might have passed as romantic back in the sixties, but not now, man. Women don’t like that sort of thing now. You have to let them decide that kind of thing.” Rick had poured us a drink and then sat with me, talking me through Romance in the New Era.
By the end of our talk, I had made my choice. I gave her the keys and told her how I felt the next night as we sat in my bed drinking wine and talking of the future. It seemed like the perfect opportunity. I should have known something was wrong when she merely shrugged and kept staring at the ring of keys. Thinking she was merely shocked, I sat there, practically glowing with love for her, fantasizing about the day she would move in and we would become a bonified couple.
As she was leaving the next morning, I saw the keys lying on the foyer table. I picked them up and dangled them in front of her. “Don’t forget your keys, my love.”
Wanting to go with her, I asked, “Are you sure you don’t want me to ride with you? I really don’t mind at all.”
“No. It’s okay. It’s not far.” Haltingly, she took the keys, and her expression bounced from shock to sadness and then to exasperation and finally to neutral. It was a strange thing to witness. Why would a set of keys cause such upset?
“Thanks.” She dropped them into her purse and turned to the door without the customary embrace and kiss.
“Hey?” I loved the way the early-morning sun fell through the doorway and filtered through her thick mane of light brown hair, turning the outer edges and the tips to gold.
She turned, eyes downcast. “Yes?”
“I’ll see you this evening? I’ll have Carter pick you up after your shift, yes?”
“No. I can find my way here. Not like I’ll get lost.” She had chuckled nervously and spun on her heel to leave again.
Confused, and a little frightened of what her actions meant, I watched her go to the car. Carter, of course would see her safely back to her apartment, but I wanted to accompany her. But if she needed a little time to think over the offer I had made, then so be it. I would give her that time, and her space, to think. I was confident that she would return to me that evening with an acceptance.
I was wrong. I was so very wrong.