The glass door opened to the bright Florida sun and a fresh stiff wind. Alan spotted Melissa across the parking lot. She was leaning against the trunk of the car, talking on the phone and twirling an unlit cigarette. Her blonde hair was flying in the breeze and her sunglasses mirrored the parking lot. She was wearing a bright red dress, very short, and red sandals. Her ruby anklet sparkled in the sunshine.
This was Alan’s second week of work since they had returned from the moon. Melissa was house hunting and had insisted that they not buy another car until she had closed on a loan. His eyes had quickly glazed over when she had begun explaining loan-to-debt ratios and underwriting guidelines. It seemed to be rather inconvenient for Mel to bring him to work and pick him up. She had finally tackled him on Helena’s living room floor, climbed atop him and insisted that she would pick him up every day, without underwear, and he could do whatever he liked with her for the evening, until further notice as long as he agreed not to buy another car. It sounded like a good deal to him. They had been living at Helena’s while Alan began his job at a nearby aerospace firm. John and Helena had gone on vacation and would return next week. Since the Koenigs would be living in Houston, they had offered the Carters the use of Helena’s house in Florida for as long as they needed.
Melissa smiled and blew him a kiss as he drew near. “Yes, I do want it… Don't you dare," she laughed. "Tonight. I have to show it to Alan first… I’ll let you know as soon as possible. Yes, of course,” She grinned. “A big kiss. Bye.”
“Hello flyboy. Have a good day?” she headed to the driver’s seat of the red Miata. Usually she tossed him the keys.
Alan slid into the passenger seat. “Where are you taking me?”
“I’ve found us a house. I want you to see it.”
“Was that your real estate agent?” he asked. She’d been flirting with whoever it was. Alan hated that, although he tried not to let it show.
She shook her head. “My contractor. I wanted to make sure the place was structurally sound. And it’ll need a little work. It’s not new, but I think you’ll love it.”
“Your contractor?” Alan asked trying to make his voice sound neutral.
“He’s an old friend,” she said starting the car. She glanced at him, then looked back again. “It’s not someone I’ve ever screwed, Alan.”
“Oh, sure,” Alan tried to keep his tone light.
She turned and pulled off her raybans. “You’re jealous.”
“Of course not. Just because you decided to show this guy the house you want before you showed me…” he sounded silly, even to himself.
She stared at him. Quietly she said. “Really, Alan. He’s not someone I’ve ever screwed.” She hesitated. “I’ve never lied to you.” She looked at him steadily.
Something suddenly told Alan they had hit a crisis point. What he said right now could effect everything else in their lives. He looked deeply into her eyes. Then he relaxed slightly. “I know you haven’t, love. I’m sorry.” He reached out and touched her cheek. “You’re just so gorgeous, I know every guy wants to hit on you. Just like I always do.”
She smiled and he knew he’d managed to say the right thing. “Mac is fifty-eight, and very happily married to his wife of over twenty years. They have four teenage boys—two of whom are dying to meet you because you’re an astronaut. The other two want to check you out and make sure you’re good enough for me.”
“How do you know him?” Alan asked, hoping he still didn’t sound jealous.
“He likes to take his family on challenging vacations. I’ve been arranging them for him since the boys were tiny. When his youngest was eight I even went to Machu Picchu with them. His wife is a sweetheart. You’ll love her.”
“When will I get to meet her?”
“Well, we’ve been invited down to their place for dinner on Saturday, but I told them I’d have to talk to you.”
“Where do they live?”
“Down in Vero. We could stay at my place,” she smiled and corrected herself. “Our place—on Saturday night.”
“I’d like that. Helena’s place is ok, but I don’t really feel at home there.”
“I know,” she put the car in gear and they pulled out of the parking lot. “Me either. But I think I’ve found the solution. And Mac will get it ready for us to live in as soon as possible.”
“Tell me about the place.”
“I’m taking us there now. I want to get there before the sun goes down. It’s on a canal off the Banana River, and has its own boat slip. We can tie Windseeker right in the back yard!”
“Now I see why you like it so much. Other than that, is it a dump?”
“No. No it’s not. It has quite a few redeeming qualities. It was built in the early sixties by some long gone NASA exec. The family who most recently owned it bought it in the late seventies. The kids are grown, and the parents have both died recently.” She turned and looked at him. “Does that bother you?”
“Did they die violently or something? Is this place some kind of Amityville Horror?” he teased.
“No, nothing like that. The old lady did die in the house, but she had a heart attack. It happened last summer, before Breakaway. The kids live all over the country and the house has been on the market since then. It’s been vacant since then.”
Melissa had pulled out onto the highway and they had to shout to speak over the wind.
Alan shrugged. “That doesn’t particularly bother me. I take it they’re willing to cut us a good deal.”
“They’re desperate. They can’t close out the estate without selling the house. And there’s an aspect of the house I know you’re going to love, flyboy.”
“And what would that be?”
“I want to show it to you. Like I said. It’s older, and there are some things we’ll need to do to remodel. The kitchen really needs help. And the bathrooms aren’t very large.”
“No fancy shower like the Coastal Condos?” Alan asked with a grin.
“I’m afraid we may just have to leave the baby with a babysitter and reserve us a condo when we’re in the mood for an erotic shower.”
“That could be arranged,” Alan said. They stopped for a stoplight and he leaned over to nuzzle her neck. “Is there a baby in the oven to be hiring a sitter for?”
“I won’t know for another week,” she said giving him a kiss and pushing him back as the light changed green.
“Where is this place? It looks like you’re headed for the Cape.”
“Almost. It’s still on this side of the river.” She headed toward the bridge that would take them across the Intercoastal Waterway to the Space Center, but turned right onto a sand and shell road just before they left dry land. They bumped about a quarter mile with mangroves on the left and palmettos on the right. Then she turned onto a small asphalt road with a row of banana trees on the south side. There was about a hundred yards of orange trees in straight rows, the sand beneath them disked neatly. Then another clump of banana trees screened a yard and Melissa turned into a shell driveway.
She reached up and touched a button on a garage door opener that was clipped to her sun shade. They paused in the yard and she let Alan take in the exterior of the house while the garage door ahead of them opened up.
The house was a two story Spanish-style stucco with a clay roof. There were ornate iron bars on all the windows. The sandy yard had not been cared for. The grass included more sand spurs and other weeds than grass. A concrete walk from the driveway to the front door was cracked and azalea bushes were growing over the sidewalk. The bushes looked like they hadn’t been trimmed in years and grew nearly as high as the second story windows—windows also covered with iron bars.
“It looks… defensible.” Alan managed.
“I know the front isn’t much. But take a look at the inside.” She drove on into the garage.
“You’re making yourself at home.”
“Like I said, they’re getting desperate. The agent was quite willing to give me the keys for a five hundred dollar refundable deposit. I told her I’d give her an answer in the morning.”
“Love, if you like it, I trust you.”
“I really want you to take a look.”
She touched the remote and the door closed behind them. They got out of the car. The garage was large enough for two cars. There was a row of shelves and cabinets and a pegboard across the back of the garage. It would be easy to tinker on a car here, with all your tools at the ready. She opened the door and they stepped into a small laundry room with the washer and dryer already there. She walked directly across the room and opened another door. The sunny room had high window along the south wall.
“This room smells like chlorine.”
“I think they may have kept the pool supplies in here. Not a smart move. There’s a complete bath here with a walk in shower.” She pointed out the small bathroom and the door opposite that opened onto a wide shaded patio and a large pool. The back yard included more overgrown bushes and weedy grass, but the pool had sparkling blue water and had been properly cared for. The patio had a wet bar next to this door that looked like it had not been used in a decade. “We’ll have to replace the bar. There’s electricity there, and a refrigerator, but I think we’ll want a new one.”
“Room for a hammock here in the shade.”
“You noticed,” Mel said with a smile and a wink. She stepped back into the changing room and back to the laundry room. That opened onto the kitchen.
“The kitchen cabinets need to be replaced. The whole room is too dark.”
Alan noticed the cabinets were a dark wood with heavy ornate handles, continuing the exterior’s Spanish style. The appliances were all elderly and avocado green. A window over the kitchen sink opened onto the wet bar. There was a wide windowsill to allow the window to act as a pass-through. Melissa pushed open a swinging door on the left.
“This was the dining room, but I think we can close this door off, and increase counter space and cabinets. I’d rather have the dining area over there.” She pointed to the end of the kitchen which ended in a breakfast nook. There were sliding glass doors leading onto the patio and plenty of room for a large dinner table. She took his hand and led him to the doors. They turned away from the patio. The flooring here was a marble tile which seemed to keep things cooler.
“This must be the living room?” Alan asked.
“Yes. We can take down that divider for the dining room and have a nice large
living room.” There were stairs to their right and doors on either side of
the stairs. She led him to the one toward the rear of the house. “This is
the rec room.”
They walked into a room with dark green plush carpet that looked as if it had rarely been walked on. The north wall was a hearth and fireplace in antique red brick. There were french doors leading out to the patio, wide windows on the south wall, and a huge pool table in the middle of the room.
“Does the pool table go with it?”
“They can’t figure out how to get it out. Even changing the carpeting will be a challenge. It’s a solid slate table and wider than the doors. It’ll never balance right again.”
“Our good fortune.” Alan walked around the table admiring the polished carved wood base and eyeing the felt which appeared to be in perfect condition. “I’ve always wanted a pool table like this. Mel, can we afford this place?”
“If they’ll accept my offer we’ll be fine. And I think they will. I’m going to offer them four hundred.”
“Four hundred thousand dollars?” Alan gasped. “How can we possibly afford that?”
“Well, I’m going to use your back pay plus the proceeds from selling your condo and the signing bonus from your new company as a down payment. That gives us a hundred fifty thousand for a down payment. Then between the contract you signed with Aero Industries and my trust fund we’ll qualify easily for a jumbo loan. I usually reinvest the trust fund money, but I use it when I need to. Last time was when I was starting my business. Then we’ll use the profits from that stock fund we started with the proceeds from that kissing contest to do the remodeling and furnishing.”
She had started the stock fund as a joke when Alan insisted she keep the entire amount, saying he considered it an investment in their future. She opened a joint account for them. Almost as amusement, something to talk about on email that didn’t make the screen sizzle, they decided to add a thousand a month apiece to it. In the bull market that summer she had grown the twelve thousand to nearly fifty thousand. Then breakaway occurred and neither one of them had their mind on stocks.
She was certain it would have crashed back, perhaps to even less than their original investment, and some stocks certainly took a bath. But in August she had purchased shares in a small firm run by some former classmates of hers who specialized in resource recovery following natural disasters. It was hurricane season and the young couple who were running it had grown their business each year as hurricanes struck the southeast. They were in the perfect position to help businesses recover from the effects of the moon’s departure, and very much in demand. The stock had split twice, and still continued to increase in value. The company was still booming.
Mel leaned across the pool table, feeling the smooth felt, setting up an imaginary shot and giving Alan an excellent view of her cleavage. “We’ll be fine, Alan. By the time Mac and I finish with the house it’ll be worth nearly twice as much.”
“You’re in charge of the money, honey.” Alan said with a shrug. He had left money matters to his accountant who had proved extremely incompetent in handling the moon’s abrupt departure. Bills had gone unpaid and his condo had nearly been foreclosed upon. Mel had straightened everything out with a combination of sweet talk and scathing conversations with the head of the accounting firm. Their mailbox had been filled with apology letters and assurances of good credit lately. He let Mel take care of it. He was more interested in watching her lean over the pool table.
“Come on. There’s more to see.” Melissa led him to the stairs. They quickly poked their head in the study at the foot of the stairs. The room faced north and had windows on the north and east walls and bookcases on the south and west walls. Then she led him upstairs.
The landing was a hallway along the back of the house with more french doors opening onto a roof terrace above the patio. She led him to the end of the hall, showing him three nice sized bedrooms arranged in a “L” shape above the living room, garage and cabana room. The third bedroom also had french doors onto the terrace and was bright and sunny. “I think this one could be a play room. And I want to put a system in that will alert us if someone opens the doors.”
“Such as a small child headed for the pool,” Alan said, eyeing the wrought iron spiral staircase.
“Exactly.”
He nodded. He could see another set of french doors across the terrace. He pulled Melissa into his arms. “Tell me, Mrs. Carter. Does this house have a master bedroom?”
“Why funny you should ask, Mr. Carter,” Melissa smiled. “That’s where I was going to take you next.” She kissed his lips lightly, barely running her tongue against his lips. She moved her hands down his side and over his hips. Aero Industries employees didn’t wear suits. Alan was wearing khaki slacks and a maroon polo shirt embroidered with the company logo. She pulled away from him, winked and took his hand and led him back down the hall to the door at the far end. She stopped and met his eyes, her hand on the doorknob.
“This is what you’re going to love.”
“The bedroom?” Alan grinned, placing his hands on her waist. “You know as long as you’re in it I’ll think its terrific.”
“This is even better,” she winked and turned the knob.
Alan wasn’t sure what he expected, especially with the build-up Mel was giving it. The room was as large as the two bedrooms on the other end of the house together. The room was as empty as all the other rooms had been. There were windows on every wall, with french doors opening onto the terrace. The room was painted white with white carpet. It seemed as light and airy as Mel’s bedroom in Vero Beach. Alan grinned at her. She led him further into the room and over to the window facing east. Hands on his shoulders, she pointed him in just the right direction. She put her chin on his shoulder and smiled at him.
The view from the window was unexpectedly spectacular. The yard stopped a few yards from the house and a thick tangle of trees began. The small twisted mangroves didn’t grow tall, however, and didn’t interfere with the view of the river or the Cape beyond. Alan could see the old Apollo gantries and the huge Vehicle Assembly Building. The VAB glowed orange in the sunset. Alan looked slightly farther north. You would be able to see Eagles launch from here.
“So?” she asked when he didn’t say anything.
“It’s… spectacular, love.”
“Does a view like this… turn you on?” she asked, moving her hands down his side, and around to the front of his pants.
He grinned. “It’s great, love. But you’re what turns me on, in that hot red dress of yours.” He turned and pulled her into his arms.
“I want you here, in our new house.”
“It’s not ours yet.”
“It will be.” She wrapped her arms around him and delivered a deep searing kiss.
His hands moved down to her hem line then back up underneath the dress. He enjoyed the feel of her smooth bare skin beneath. She pulled his shirt out of his pants and moved her hands up his back. She tugged at him and moved to the floor, he followed her down and knelt above her. She reached for his fly while he unbuttoned her dress, pulling the fabric away from her bare skin. They exchanged eager grins and he moved down to press into her. She moaned with satisfaction as he slid deep within her.
She encouraged him to pump against her, calling out his name and pressing up against him. He pressed harder and pressed his lips against hers. The passion between the two of them overwhelming him once again. She arched her back at climax, clamping down on him both inside and out. He exploded inside her and clung to her as she gasped. He moved off of her, stroking her body and slowly removing himself from her.
He met her eyes and smiled. “The first time of many here. But I think we ought to buy a bed.”
“And sheets,” Mel answered with a smile.
He buried his face in her blonde hair. “You should have told me how much fun house hunting could be.”
She laughed and held him close. “Welcome home, Alan.”
Maureen J. Long
June, 2000