The Promise of Tomorrow - 5

Saturday seemed to take ages in coming around. I waited impatiently for it to come, but it was only on Friday night that I was satisfied, and drifted off to sleep with a smile on my face.

In the morning, I was more nervous than words could say. Butterflies danced restlessly in my stomach while I swallowed glass after glass of orange juice. I ate cereal, then later on made toast, and then nibbled on a breakfast bar. When it was eleven, I allowed myself to squeal and jump upstairs to get ready.

Suddenly, all my beautiful, comfortable clothes that I had loved all my life seemed lame and silly, tomboyish or just simply not enough. I rooted around my things for a long time, but couldn’t find anything that seemed right.

We would be going to the woods, so that ruled out skirts, dresses, or white garments. I looked outside. It was beautiful, clear day, so it was a shame about the white thing.

Finally, my mother, bleary eyed and smiling, threw a bundle of things in my room. She poked her head around the door.

"The woods, is it? Huh." She grinned, and then slumped back to bed. I held the things that she had picked for me up.

They were nice, and simple, I had to admit, and flattered my shape very well. The outfit she had thrown consisted of black jean Capri’s and a deep blue halter necked top. She threw heels, too, but tempting as they were, they were entirely too inappropriate for the woods. I went with my dark blue Chuck Taylor Converse All Stars instead, and concluded that they looked fine.

I checked myself in the mirror with baited breath.

The girl that looked back look halfway decent! Her hair spilled in dark, soft curls – almost waves – on her shoulders and down her back, and her eyes were wide and sparkling. The lashes were thick anyway, but enhanced slightly with mascara, and her lips were full and pink without the need for lip-gloss.

I was satisfied for once.

Glancing towards the clock, I noticed that it was eleven fifty five. I sat on my desk chair and stared at the little hands, willing them to go faster. They didn’t, of course. They moved along happily at snails pace.

Then, at precisely eleven hours fifty nine minutes forty two seconds, the doorbell rang. I raced downstairs and almost flew into the door. I caught myself before I stumbled, smoothed a hand out over my hair, and unlocked the door.

It swung open, and there he stood. Blaze. Looking like my own personal angel.

He had shades on to protect him against the glaring sun, and wore simple, cut off combat khakis and a black shirt which fitted him snugly, showing off the tight muscles that ran the length of his top half. I immediately glanced down at his feet to check his footwear. Good taste in shoes was an important thing to me.

He was wearing sloppily tied, loose Converse. I felt like I’d closed my eyes and was dreaming.

I stepped out the door, but Blaze was totally unsmiling. I felt his gaze trickle down me, but couldn’t see it due to the shades, and he pressed his lips together once, revealing those darling dimples.

"Hello, Ella." He said, and this unnerved me for a second – I was distracted by the way his tongue softly caressed my simple name – as if it was the most precious word in the world – as he uttered it for the first time.

"Blaze," I replied, and was mortified to say that my voice was low and strange and totally unlike my own.

And really, why wouldn’t he stop looking at me from behind the sunglasses? His hot gaze was setting me aflame, or, even better, setting me ablaze.

Without gesturing that I follow him, he chucked his keys in the air and then caught them again. Then he turned and skipped down the porch steps easily before leading me to the most beautiful little car I had ever seen.

A Ferrari f430. No joke.

"Whoa. Amazing wheels," I murmured, reaching out to stroke the glossy black paint.

That ghost of a smile played on his lips and he automatically unlocked the doors. I bent down low to slide into it.

"You like cars?" he asked smoothly. I felt like singing ‘I like you’ but seemed that inappropriate. Tactic number two style inappropriate. Instead, I said,

"I like this car," and proceeded to try and buckle myself in. I was failing helplessly when Blaze, with gentle fingers, reached across me and did it for me. I tell you. My heart when into overdrive.

It was thumping so loud and fast that I was sure he could hear it, and to make matters worse, I was blushing like a loon! As he drew back, his hand brushed ever so lightly against my fingers, which were clenched into the plush leather seat I was sitting on.

My temperature went haywire. I felt hot, then cold, then hot again. My hand tingled dangerously where he had touched it. Oh no, oh no, oh no!

Mushy tongue!!!

"S-so … w-where are you t-taking me?" I stammered idiotically. I actually got another lopsided smile! My heart sang.

"To the woods, where I can ravish you in private, of course," he responded forebodingly, his smile growing wider as my eyes popped out of their sockets and my grip on the seat tightened.

I could not tell whether he was being serious or not. I just could not tell. And this, kind of sickly, filled me with a dark pleasure. I was kind of hoping he was serious.

"R-ravish?" I stuttered dumbly. He pulled off his glasses and looked at me intensely with his golden green eyes. I was so taken away be them for the moment that I forgot my current predicament.

But Blaze’s slow, amused smile brought me back to the present.

"Unless you go willingly, of course," he murmured dangerously, his eyes igniting some sort of fire inside of me. The bright green seemed to smoulder like molten emeralds set on fire. I got lost in them.

I got lost in them, okay?

Lost.

Which explains what I said next, which was a very absentminded and distracted;

"Yes, I’ll go willingly."

Blaze didn’t look at me like I was crazy. He did not laugh when I snapped out of my trance and blushed a dark shade of cerise. He didn’t smirk like he was the business. (Which, FYI, he so totally was.)

He just gazed at me, very solemnly, before nodding.

"Good." He said, and I couldn’t determine whether he was joking or not. I was starting to get a little worried now. I mean, Blaze, ravish me all you want, but it our own time. Let’s take it slow.

Instead, he began to drive. Very fast. Which was really exhilarating, since he automatically slid all the windows down and I love speed, anyway. The slight breeze that came in from the open windows tugged restlessly at my curls, and it felt good – relaxing.

When we eventually pulled up, it was in a space in the middle of nowhere, but there were no double yellow lines about, so I assumed it was legal. He jumped out of his side of the car and jogged around to mine; opening the door and offering his hand.

I looked up at him, then at his hand, then up at him again. I slipped my fingers in his, and it felt like I was coming home. He pulled his shades off and threw them in the backseat before helping me out of the car. It was magical moment. Firstly, because he was touching me and staring into my eyes and we were alone. Secondly, because Edwin McCain’s ‘I’ll Be’ suddenly blasted out of my bag.

I pulled my cell out, but it was only an alarm. For my meds. I pulled pills out and discreetly popped them in, swallowing without liquid.

Then, with a touch that never failed to unnerve me, Blaze began to lead me into the forest. We walked and walked and walked. It seemed pretty far, but that was only because I was a step behind Blaze, so I couldn’t see his face, so I wanted the journey to end quickly so I could.

So.

And then he pushed away a tangle of what could only be described as vines and pulled me through the shrubbery into the most beautiful place I had ever seen in all my life. I gasped. I couldn’t help it. It was magical.

Blaze had led me to a pond, and a stream. The pond was large, and the water impossibly clear, so I could see all the smooth, brown pebbles on the surface of the ground. The banks were smoothly cut, so smooth it seemed man made, like a perfect little natural swimming pool.

Beside the pond, there was tall, willowy sward and flowers; oh, the flowers. They were so pretty, threaded into the blades of grass in bright colours of pink and purple. I stepped closer, and looked to the right. To the right, the stream that fed the pool went around a sharp bend so I couldn’t see anything.

To the left, I could see a mountainous cliff of sand coloured rock, and the stream, although it was impossible, seemed to be running up it!

"Wow." I whispered, looking around in awe before finally settling on Blaze.

He smiled, and took my hand again, which had fallen out of his as I gasped. He walked to the waters edge and then dipped our joint hands in it.

"It’s warm!" I smiled delightedly, revelling in the bath-like quality to the pond. Blaze nodded.

"It’s heated by undercurrent volcanic flow; that mountain right there is actually an inactive volcano." He explained in his deep, husky voice.

Then he tugged me closer. My heart jumped to my throat, and then slid back down again, only to gallop like a frenzied horse. Blaze, seemingly oblivious, placed one cautious hand on my waist.

It felt as if he burned through the material, through my skin, right to my soul. "Now. Ravishing time," He announced, and I froze.

Then I pictured the ravishing, and blushed even more deeply than I had before. I realised that I really wanted to be ravished by Blaze, sadly. I had no life.

Then Blaze did something that was completely unexpected. He laughed. It was a deep, short chuckle, but it was a laugh all the same, and the sound made my heart sing. It was beautiful, and, like the soft burbling of the stream, it was a solace to my ears.

I was so busy still revelling in the beauty of it, in fact, that I hardly noticed when he gently pulled away and untangled our fingers. I felt empty, cold where his warmth had been. My chest thumped hollowly once, and then I realised with unbridled horror what this meant.

I had already grown too attached to him and this pain, ultimately, would be my punishment.