Jon sat in the dark theater, every nerve ending sharply aware of Kimber sitting next to him. She'd explained the etiquette of a hearing impaired show. "No applause," she'd told him, and then shown him how to wave his hands in the air, fingers splayed. She'd explained a lot of things right before they'd entered the theater, but mostly, he'd just concentrated on her lips as she spoke.
Now, he found himself unable to look away from the woman on the stage, even though he could feel the heat from the shapely body next to him. Cam's movements were graceful as she told the story with her hands and her facial expressions. Kimber whispered a translation in his ear every few minutes, but he understood the basics of the story even without Kimber's words.
When the show was over and Cam had taken her final bow, Kimber grabbed him by the hand saying softly, "C'mon," and pulled him behind her. She led him backstage to meet her friend. Jon was prepared for the other woman not to recognize him. So, he'd been caught completely unaware when not only did she recognize him, but she'd been harsh and rude to him, ignoring him and talking quickly to Kimber in sign language.
Once they were outside the theater and standing next to his motorcycle again, Kimber apologized for her friend's behaviour. "I'm sorry, but remember that I tried to warn you."
"I remember," he said, throwing one leg over the bike and sitting down. "What was all of that about anyway?"
"Just the standard lecture about being careful when dealing with 'the hearing'," she answered, shrugging.
He took her hand and helped her climb on the bike. "Where to, baby?"
"Back to Gino's, I guess," she told him.
The ride didn't last nearly as long as Jon would've liked. The motorcycle rolled to a stop in a parking space beside the bar. Jon smiled when Kimber almost threw herself off the bike. He'd used the same low tactics to make her basically wrap herself around him on the ride back, but apparently she wasn't as mad as she wanted him to think she was, because she put one small hand on his shoulder to steady herself as she climbed off the motorcycle. When both her feet were on solid ground again, Jon put the kickstand down and threw a leg over the seat.
"Why did you wanna come back here?" he asked. He knew the place was closed.
"I just live a few blocks from here," she answered.
Jon frowned at her in puzzlement. "You intend to walk home from here, instead of letting me drive you home?"
"Yeah, that was the plan," she replied, shrugging one shoulder.
He took two steps toward her so that he stood toe to toe with her. Kimber thought he was trying to intimidate her and refused to step back. With a defiant tilt to her stubborn little chin, she glared up at him through long lashes, her unusual eyes lit from within with an inner fire.
"I'm about to invade your space," he warned her. Before she could object his lips swooped down to take possession of hers. He could feel the tension rolling off her in waves, even though he only touched her lips. He wanted to let his hands roam over her lush curves, to pull her tightly against him, but he didn't want to make her run, and he could feel she was poised for flight. He nipped gently at her fuller bottom lip before his tongue teased the seam of her lips asking for entrance.
He let out a sigh of contentment when she opened her lips for him and allowed his tongue to dip inside. She tasted of homemade Italian sauce and something sweeter. Kimber. As their tongues tangled, he lifted his right hand to cup her cheek, the callused tip of his thumb stroking the crest of her cheek lightly. Jon almost smiled against her lips when he felt her fingers thread through the long strands of his hair. Finally, he stepped back, smiling at down at her. Kimber's eyes were still closed, her face flushed, and her breathing shallow.
He pulled on a strand of her hair until she opened her eyes. "Get back on the bike, baby," he ordered. "I'm taking you home."
"I can walk," she argued stubbornly.
"I'm sure you can," he told her. "But, my mom would nail me to a wall if I didn't see you home."
"Well, it would be your own fault if you're stupid enough to tell her," she quipped without blinking. That kiss had shook her far worse than she wanted to admit, at least to him.
Jon didn't say anything. Truth be told, he was having a hard time not laughing at her wit. He just stood there looking at her with his trademark smirk, waiting for her to realize she wasn't going anywhere unless she let him take her.
"I had a good time. Good night, rock star," she told him, as she started to step around him.
Jon moved to block her path. He had to do it two more times before she finally stopped and glared at him. "You're not going to let me go unless I let you take me home, are you?"
"Yeah, that was the plan," he threw her words back at her, grinning.
"Fine," she huffed, then stomped toward the motorcycle.
She didn't say anything to him for the short ride to her apartment, just pointing which direction he needed to go. At her building, he helped her climb off the bike. When he bent his head to kiss her again, she placed a hand on his chest to stop him. "You've gotta be kidding me."
"Why do you think I fought so hard to bring you home?" he asked, grinning down at her. "I saw it as an opportunity to get to kiss you good night twice."
"I don't think so," she told him. She couldn't help but smile at him. He looked so cute. "Good night, rock star."
She turned to walk away but turned back to him, walking backwards and giving him a smile and a wave, and Jon sat back down on the bike. "When can I see you again?" he called out to her.
"That's up to you," she tossed over her shoulder as she turned to walk into her building.
Jon chuckled softly to himself and kick started the bike. He'd be at Gino's tomorrow night. For sure.
3 comments:
Sooooooooo glad you brought this back!! Thank you!! I like how this is going but I can't believe how her friend warned her about people who can hear. Bizarre.
Can't wait for more!!
Peg,
I'm only going on my own experience with friends who are deaf. The relations between the hearing and hearing impaired have improved greatly over the years, but during the 80's when this part of the story is set, there was a lot of distrust.
I had friends who were tricked by people using their inability to hear against them. Sort of like someone giving the wrong change back to a blind person because they knew the blind person couldn't tell if they'd been cheated or not.
When I was a teenager, my mother's best friend's son was deaf. He and I had many conversations where we just sat and wrote notes back and forth because I didn't know sign. I eventually learned quite a bit. But, anyway, I ran into him again a few years later because we lived in the same apartment complex. Micheal was such a sweet guy, and he truly loved the girlfriend he was living with and supporting. He was working his butt off at a job that he was way too smart to work, but it was the only job he could get since he was deaf. I overheard her telling a friend (with Micheal standing right beside her) that she was just using him for a place to live. Micheal didn't read lips so he was just standing there smiling while she and her friend talked about him.
Needless to say, I quickly fixed that problem and let Micheal know what was being said. The two girls weren't happy, but I didn't care.
I'm glad you're enjoying the story. I'll be posting more soon.
~T
Thanks for telling me that T. That's horrible what she did to Michael. Kudos to you for helping him out. I hate when people take advantage of others. People should be more compassionate to those that have disabilities.
Being hard of hearing myself, I have been the brunt of jokes myself. People will make snide comments or jokes, others will laugh & when I say 'pardon', they just say 'oh nothing'. That hurts. A person can't help but wonder if the joke/comment was about me.
You've done a great job with this story & you know, I'm thrilled you came back to you. I can't wait to see how their relationship develops. Mostly, I hope Jon can break through her resistance to see him just because he can hear & she can't. I bet they can learn alot from each other.
Thank you again!!
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