“I reached out, ran the palm of my hand up the length of his chiseled chest and then slipped a finger into the edge of the towel around his waist where it was tucked in. On my tiptoes, I tilted my head to offer him my lips again and…”

“What do you mean Galen didn’t say anything when you told him that you were sick?”

It might have been past midnight for Meghan but she was wide awake as I put the final touches on my outfit.

“Meghan, you have to understand. Galen and I were talking about the passing of his son, the troubles in his past and just life in general. When I said that I wanted to do all the things I didn’t do in my life before dying, he didn’t take me literally. And I’m glad that he didn’t.”

“You wanted Galen to be honest with you but you won’t do the same with him?”

“I know, I know. I really wanted to but I couldn’t. I can’t. I feel so good with him and if I tell the truth, it’s going to ruin everything.  I only have a week left in Maui before reality sets in and I have to face the music. Why can’t I just be happy for the rest of what’s left? What’s so wrong with that?”

Meghan was quiet for a while before she responded.

“Kate, I guess that nothing is wrong with that. It’s not like you’ll see him again after your trip is over. Do what you need to do. Did you call the doctor’s office yesterday like you said you would to make an appointment?”

The way Meghan shifted the direction of the conversation made it obvious she truly didn’t agree.

“Yes, I did. The secretary asked me to come in the same day that I get home. When I told her that I would be too tired after such a long flight home, she kept insisting and I gave in. I might as well bite the bullet, right? Will you still go with me?”

“Of course I will. I’ll pick you up from the airport and we’ll go straight there.”

When I realized how late it was, I grabbed my purse and slipped on my heels.

“I’ve got to go. I’m meeting Galen at his place and I don’t want to be late. I’ve never seen his place before and I’m quite curious to see how he lives.”

“Oh, that sounds quite…sexy. Have you two…you know…done it yet?”

“No. But I definitely want to.”

“Whoa! Listen to you! If you want him, take the bull by the horns and let him know,” Meghan giggled.

“To be honest, I haven’t thought of much else since that day he took me for malasadas and poke.”

“Well, I want all the details tomorrow.” And with that Meghan hung up.

I gave myself one last look in the full-length mirror, refreshed my red lipstick and headed out to Galen’s building. When I got to his door, I took a deep breath, shook off the last of my nerves and knocked.

Photo credit: Foter.com

“Come in! It’s open!” I heard him yell from inside.

The moment I turned the handle and let myself in, I noticed a number of colorful photographs of Hawaiian landscapes that brought the walls to life and the contrast of minimalist furniture that adorned the livingroom. In the far corner near the patio was an array of different sized surfboards hanging from the ceiling and underneath them stood Galen in nothing but a towel around his waist.

At the sight of him standing there half-naked with his wet hair falling past his shoulders, I stood frozen in place. Galen approached and gave me a long lingering kiss that I easily fell into.

“Hey Beautiful! You’re early. I still need to get ready for dinner.” Galen held onto me and all I could think of was tugging his towel free.

“Is this why you asked me to come over here?” I asked against his lips, inviting him to kiss me again. “You wanted to seduce me into staying in instead of going out to dinner?”

“It did cross my mind.” When Galen’s lips found themselves on my neck and behind my ear, I felt my knees go weak. “But I also wanted to show you my quiver.”

For once, I knew what Galen was talking about but that was only because I’d seen the term in a magazine on the plane ride to Oahu.

“And why would I want to see your collection of surf boards?”

“Because I’d like to take you surfing and want you to choose one of my boards to use before we go.”

Photo credit: steveyb via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA

I took a step back. “What if I said that there was something I would much prefer to do with you than surf?”

Surprised, Galen’s eyes crinkled at the corners when he grinned. He ran a hand through his wet hair and stared down with those clear blue eyes that always hypnotized me.

“What would you prefer to do Katie?”

I reached out, ran the palm of my hand up and down the length of his chiseled chest and then slipped a finger into the edge of the towel around his waist where it was tucked in.

On my tiptoes, I tilted my head to offer him my lips again and whispered, “I’ll tell you after dinner.”

©2017 Marquessa Matthews.

If you liked this piece and want to see more like it, please click on “Like” and/or “Comment” below and share with others who would also enjoy it. You can also sign up for my mailing list here to get the latest news from me. 

Save

“Let’s go for some poke,” Galen whispered in my ear, giving me goosebumps all over my body.

The term sounded a bit crude but if “poke” meant what I hoped it did, I didn’t care. Galen wouldn’t have to ask me twice…

With the hint of malasada still lingering on his lips, Galen tasted better than I could ever have imagined.

I’d only kissed three other men before him – my first real boyfriend in college, my ex-husband and the man I had let kiss me in a weak moment that I had chosen to forget a long time ago. None of them could compare to what Galen stirred inside of me.

At first, Galen’s kiss was soft like a feather brushing against my mouth. His lips teasingly lingered on mine as he took his time, allowing me to set a slow pace that I didn’t care to have. But with each kiss that I responded to, Galen returned it with a little more passion and urgency.

When we slowly fell back onto the blanket, our lips never left each other and I was completely under the spell he had cast. We kissed for what seemed like an eternity, like teenagers who knew nothing beyond the instinctual next step until we heard giggling nearby.

Photo credit: The U.S. National Archives via Foter.com / No known copyright restrictions

Our lips broke free, our heads swiveled around and we found two little girls staring at us. We both bolted upright just as their parents came running after them to lead them away. I finger-combed my hair back into place as best as I could and tried to catch my breath. When I looked at Galen, he was smiling from ear to ear.

“What?” I asked, feeling a little shy.

“Maybe it was a good thing that we were interrupted. Otherwise I don’t know what would have happened next,” Galen laughed. He pulled me up with him as he stood, held me close and gave me a long lingering kiss that I never wanted to end.

How could I find such a man, at this point in my life, thousands of miles away from home on a trip to escape my troubles? Life was being cruel to me in so many ways…

“Let’s go for some poke,” Galen whispered in my ear, giving me goosebumps all over my body.

Poke?

The term sounded a bit crude but if “poke” meant what I hoped it did, I didn’t care. Galen wouldn’t have to ask me twice.

“Uh, to be honest, I’m a little embarrassed to say that I haven’t done that in a long while. I consider myself pretty ignorant of anything related to “casual” sex…”

Galen raised his eyebrows in surprise and broke out laughing.

“When I said “poke”, you thought that I meant “sex”?”

Galen continued laughing as he scooped up the blanket, placed it under his arm and then grabbed the box malasadas. Confused that I had missed the joke, I took what was left of our coffees and followed him to the car.

“Isn’t that what it means?”

“Not at all sweetheart.”

Sweetheart. I liked the sound of that. 

“Poke is a salad of bite-sized pieces of raw, fresh fish mixed with seaweed and kukui nut relish usually served on rice. I’ll take you to one of my favorite poke places I usually grab some for dinner when we get back to Lahaina. They have every variety of types and flavors ans if you like sushi, you’ll like poke. My treat.”

Photo credit: Frank Hamm via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

I shook my head.

“Everything has been your treat since you’ve been taking me around to all these wonderful places and introducing me to all these different Hawaiian foods. I want to treat you for once…”

Galen opened the car door for me to slide in and refused.

“No. It’s my invitation so it will be my treat, And if you bring it up again, I’ll be insulted. I believe that men should act like gentlemen when it comes to treating a woman right. “Going dutch” on a tab with a woman is not my way.”

As Galen circled the car to get in, my woman’s mind could have psychoanalyzed his words to death but I let it go. I wasn’t foolish enough to think what we were doing was dating. At the most, I could say that we were “seeing” each other and even that was stretching it when I had two expiration dates looming above my head – my return ticket home and my diagnosis.

But I didn’t want to think about it – the future was now.

“Ready?” Galen smiled and placed his hand on my thigh.

“Definitely,” I said, placing my hand on top of his.

As we drove back to Lahaina content in our silence and listening to nothing but the hum of the tires against the hot road, my cell buzzed with a text from Meghan.

“Is that your friend Meghan?” Galen asked.

“Yeah, she’s checking in on me.”

Hey! I didn’t hear from you today. What’s up? Still hanging with Mr. Perfect? You never did text me his picture you know.”

I texted her back.

Yeah, sorry. I’ll get a photo of him when it’s the right moment, okay? Actually, Galen and I are about to go for a poke.

Instead of seconds, minutes passed before Meghan responded.

Uh, I’m not sure what or how to respond to that…Have fun? Be safe? Don’t break the bed? But please don’t take a picture of him while any poking is going on okay?! 🙂

Realizing that Meghan had no clue what poke really was either, I burst out laughing.

“What’s so funny?” Galen glanced over curiously.

I leaned my head on his shoulder and got myself comfortable.

“I’ll tell you after we poke.”

Continuation – Q is for “Quiver”

Photo credit: Nicole Lee via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA

©2017 Marquessa Matthews

If you liked this piece and want to see more like it, please click on “Like” and/or “Comment” below and share with others who would also enjoy it. You can also sign up for my mailing list here to get the latest news from me. 

Save

Save

Save

Save

“My heart and soul were already missing pieces and with nowhere to go fast, I had no choice but to listen…”

I never realized how hungry I was until I wanted to taste Galen.

How long had I been starving for this kind of connection with a man like him?

 Forever.

The malasada had opened up my appetite and the thought of Galen’s sugary lips on mine ignited my entire body. But just as quickly as our lips barely touched, Galen slowly drew away.

“We shouldn’t,” Galen groaned and closed his eyes.

My heart dropped into my stomach. I felt like a fool as I suddenly realized that he had never really made any explicit advances at me.

That’s what you get for throwing yourself at him. Was I that out of practice that I no longer knew the difference between friendly and flirty? Maybe Galen isn’t even interested in women…

“Uh, no…I’m the one who is sorry,” I muttered under my breath, shifting my body away from his. As a distraction, I grabbed another malasada, took a big bite and turned my red face away. I kept my eyes focused on the sun worshippers and swimmers on the beach from our vantage point.

Photo credit: Foter.com

“I shouldn’t have done that. I had this all wrong.”

I could feel Galen staring at me.

“Katie, you haven’t misjudged anything. I am…I mean…I do want to…kiss you. You’re so damn sexy that holding back has been killing me.”

Galen’s “damn” took me by surprise and forced me to look at him.

“I think that “damn” is the closest thing to profanity I’ve heard you say since we met. I was almost ready to think that you were beyond perfect.”

“I’m very, very far from being perfect Katie and that’s why I didn’t want to ruin this connection in my na’au that I’ve had from the moment I saw you.”

“Na’au?”

I couldn’t keep up with all these new words he kept peppering into our discussions.

“Na’au is like your gut, your chi, your soul – the place where you just “know” things and where you keep your life experiences. It’s kind of like what I was saying about faith.”

Galen closed the distance between us and he was quiet for a long moment. “But I do have a confession to make.”

My heart stopped cold as I waited for the shoe to drop.

Yeah, I had gone and opened up myself and now he was going to drop a bomb on me…How freaking wonderful.

“You know what Galen? I really don’t want to know!”

I scurried angrily to my feet, ready to storm away but quickly realized that I had no place to go. I had no clue where Galen and I were and we had driven in his car.

I was stranded.

With a deep breath, Galen reached out from where he sat and held onto my hand.

Photo credit: Foter.com

“It’s not what you are thinking! It’s just something that I wanted to tell you since we first met…”

My heart and soul were already missing pieces and with nowhere to go fast, I had no choice but to listen.

“I knew who you were the moment I saw you sitting by the pool that day.”

“What? What do you mean?” Now I was totally confused.

What was he talking about?

“When Jennifer texted that she had given my number to a woman, I had a vision in my head of what that woman would look like. Jennifer barely described you but you were exactly as I had envisioned. I immediately knew that you were her.”

Galen blushed slightly, letting me know that it was a compliment. I felt relieved.

“So why didn’t you say something before?”

“You left so abruptly that day at the pool that the chance slipped away. Then, when we had dinner, I felt stupid saying anything “after the fact”. And as the days went on, it got harder and harder to say anything at all and so I just didn’t.”

“Well, you and I have very different ideas on what qualifies as a confession!” I shook my head. “Why say something now?”

“It was nagging at the back of my mind and since you are always so suspicious, like right now, I wanted to be upfront with you before…this…we…went any further.”

“Suspicion has become a part of me.”

Galen pulled firmly on my hand, coaxing me to sit back down.

“Please don’t be suspicious of me. I know that we are all a product of our pasts.” Galen maneuvered himself to sit directly in front of me, took both of my hands in his and looked up at me with those blue eyes. “And I promised to tell you about mine. Let me do that now, okay?”

I nodded, sat down and waited to exhale until Galen told me what I was dying to know.

Continuation – O is for “Ohana”

©2017 Marquessa Matthews.

If you liked this piece and want to see more like it, please click on “Like” and/or “Comment” below and share with others who would also enjoy it. You can also sign up for my mailing list here to get the latest news from me. 

Save

Save

Save

“My stomach flipped and I suddenly felt like I was standing at the top of Black Rock again, ready to jump. And I was going to go for it…”

I was more likely to encounter a unicorn than a perfect man so something had to be desperately wrong with Galen.

I just hadn’t seen it yet or it was just a matter of time before he showed his true colors.

Galen was too good to be true.

Well-balanced, articulate, thoughtful and conversational all combined into the body of one good-looking man who wasn’t tripping over his feet to make me a conquest?

No. Freaking. Way.

I couldn’t believe in an almost perfect man when I didn’t even believe in the concept of a “decent” man. Fifteen years of my ex-husband and a handful of online dating disasters since the divorce supported my well-proven theory.

Maybe he has a wife, a harem of girlfriends on rotation around town, or maybe he simply preys on women traveling solo to add a little spice to his island flavor… 

We had spent the past days enjoying each other’s company and having thought provoking discussions about Hawaii, life and current events. But we hadn’t really spoken about the details of our pasts. It was bizarre to feel like I knew him deeply as a human being without knowing the basics about him. Our connection seemed to be centered on the moment –  not on the past or the future.

I need to find out the basics about him.

Galen and I sat on a seaside lanai at a bustling popular grill not too far from Whaler’s Village. He had insisted that I experience a Hawaiian “mixed plate” for lunch and I was more than game to add it to my evergreen list of experiences. When our mai tai’s arrived with our orders, I was pleasantly surprised at how quaint my plate looked.

Photo credit: jshyun via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

“A plate lunch always includes one scoop of macaroni, two scoops of white rice, a small side like the haupia you have there and an entrée,” Galen explained as I poked my fork at the contents of my dish. I had taken his suggestion to try the kalua pork laulau wrapped in a taro leaf and he had ordered the seafood.

After a futile attempt at daintily unfolding my taro leaf, I quickly gave up and dug in. I couldn’t help but lick my lips at just how crazy good my food was.

“Do you like it?”

“This is wonderful! I love it. How is your food?”

I watched as he grabbed a shrimp from his entrée and began to delicately peel off its shell to expose its pink nakedness.

Photo credit: ooitschristina via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

“I often order this plate and it’s always great. The food here is homemade goodness.”

My food might have been delicious enough to distract me but nothing could deter me from finding out what I was aching to know.

“Galen…” I started cautiously. “You never told me about why or how you decided to leave the “rat race” you mentioned the other day at Banyan Tree Park.”

Galen cocked his head to the side as if he was trying to remember what he had said.

“Oh, that’s right. I promised to tell you about that over a dinner. But this is lunch so technically…”

His eyes crinkled at the corners whenever he teased but this time around, I frowned. I needed him to take my question seriously.

“Don’t worry. I won’t get all technical on you,” he joked. “You’ll have to forgive me on that. It’s just that I’ve gotten so accustomed to living in the present that I rarely look back at the past.”

Galen took a sip of his mai tai, popped another shrimp into his mouth and then put down his fork to give me the full attention of his sexy blue eyes.

“What do you want to know Katie?”

Was Galen giving me carte blanche to ask whatever I wanted?

My stomach flipped and I suddenly felt like I was standing at the top of Black Rock again, ready to jump. And I was going to go for it.

“Are you married?”

“No,” he guffawed. “If I was, I would not be spending all this time with you.”

“Do you have a girlfriend?”

Galen couldn’t contain his surprise.

“Uh, isn’t that basically the same question?”

“Actually, no.” I shook my head. “For a woman, that question doesn’t necessarily exclude the other.”

“Okay. Since I’m not a woman, I’ll have to take your word for it. The answer is no, I don’t have a girlfriend.”

“Have you ever been married?”

When Galen took a sip of his drink and rolled his eyes, I worried that I was making myself look like an insecure fool.

“I got divorced ages ago. This is starting to feel like an inquisition…but I did say that you could ask me anything you wanted so ask away!”

And so I did.

If he was divorced, either something was wrong with him or his ex-spouse must have been crazy to let him go.

“Do you have any children?”

Suddenly, his handsome face clouded over with sadness. I noticed his chest heave with a deep breath and then he closed his eyes for a long moment.

“No, not anymore. I had a son but he passed away.”

I didn’t know what to say and found myself apologizing.

“I’m sorry…” I whispered.

“No,” Galen reached out and touched my hand. “There’s nothing to be sorry about. My son is in a much better place than this crazy fast-paced world.”

Afraid to ask anymore questions, I pretended to focus on my plate. I pushed my food around nervously, creating a tiny mountain with my macaroni. I was about to do the same with my rice when he placed his hand over mine, forcing me to stop playing like a child with my food and to get my attention.

“Do you really want to know how I ended up in Maui? Why I decided to leave the rat race of New York behind me?”

“Yes.”

Of course I desperately wanted to know.

“I’ll tell you everything. But let’s wait until I take you for malasadas later today. Okay?”

I nodded, letting curiosity overtake my thoughts, not leaving my mind any room to wonder what malasadas even were.

Continuation: M is for “Malasadas”

All Rights Reserved ©2017 Marquessa Matthews.

If you liked this piece and want to see more like it, please click on “Like” and/or “Comment” below and share with others who would also enjoy it. I plan on making this story into either a short story or a novella so you can sign up for my mailing list here to get the latest news on when it’s completed.

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

I was flying in slow-motion, having an out-of-body experience on the descent. When I made impact with the water and surfaced for air, not only did I feel empowered, I also felt fearless…

As I peered down at the whooshing of the waves against the rocks down below, I could feel the spray of the mist from where I stood.

My mind raced and my body felt a strange sensation of being pulled forward against my will.

Did I really want to risk jumping when I had already made the decision to enjoy every moment until the very end? 

Photo credit: katsuhiro7110 via Foter.com / CC BY-NC

“Hey lady! Are you jumping or not?”

From behind me, a boy’s annoyed voice startled me out of my trance-like state. Before I quickly stepped aside to let him by, I peered down and could no longer see Galen’s head bobbing in the water. He had jumped thinking that I would be right behind him but then I had found myself frozen in place. I moved away and sat down on one of the rocks to settle my nerves.

I barely jump into my own pool at home and here I am, playing the role of a daredevil by jumping off Black Rock in Kaanapali?

Galen and I had spent time snorkeling and admiring the colorful fish that darted around us. We had even seen a bunch of Honu green sea turtles and I was in awe. But then, I had opened my big mouth by saying that jumping off Black Rock was on my list of things to do. Right away, Galen had promptly taken me up the cliff to encourage me. Now, I sat feeling nauseated at the very thought of following through.

Ugh.

Yeah, I could maybe hurt myself if I don’t jump far enough away. I could even forget to breath properly, panic and drown. But if I did do it, I could say that I conquered the scariest thing on my list. 

“Katie, are you okay?” Galen reappeared dripping wet, breaking my train of thought as he sat down beside me.

“Yeah, just a case of cold feet.”

“Well, you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to.” Galen’s voice helped to soothe my nerves.

“That’s the issue. I don’t have to but I want to. I need to.”

Galen gave me a puzzled look.

“You need to?” He repeated. “Do you mind telling me why?”

“It’s the most challenging thing on my list and if I can do that, I can do anything.”

Galen scrambled to his feet. “Okay, then let’s do it together.”

Without thinking, I took his hand and he helped me up.

“What do you mean “do it together”?”

Like a pig following its farmer to slaughter, I let him lead me to the edge of the cliff.

“I’ll jump with you.” Galen took hold of my hand and squeezed. “Together, we’ll be brave like King Kahekili, the God of Thunder. Legend has it that the souls of warriors left the earth here by leaping from this rock to meet their ancestors.”

The irony of Galen’s statement was not lost on me but I wasn’t in the frame of mind for historical trivia.

“How do you know all this stuff?”

“I just do,” Galen shrugged his shoulders. “Sorry, I’m a little bit of geek.”

Yeah, a really cute geek.

“Well, I don’t want to meet any of my ancestors today, okay?”

“And we won’t.” Galen squeezed my hand hard. “On the count of three, okay?”

“Okay,” I nodded.

“One, two…cross your arms across your chest on the way down…three!”

Photo credit: SKimchee via Foter.com / CC BY-ND

I was flying in slow-motion, having an out of body experience on the descent. When I made impact with the water and surfaced for air, not only did I feel empowered, I also felt fearless.

Photo credit: Joe Parks via Foter.com / CC BY-NC

“You did it!” Galen yelled as I splashed around, trying to get my bearings.

“I did, didn’t I?” I splashed him and he splashed me back.

Galen pointed to my chest and started howling with laughter.

“You sure did. But your bikini top didn’t.”

When I looked down, my bikini top was no longer covering my important bits. I ducked down into the water and hastily attempted to arrange my top back until I had full coverage.

Instead of being mortified and embarrassed, I found myself laughing along with Galen. In the larger scheme of things, exposing my slightly drooping set of almost 40 year old lady bits was not a matter of life or death.

As we laughed, I realized that nothing really was.

Continuation: L is for “Lau Lau”

All Rights Reserved ©2017 Marquessa Matthews. 

If you liked this piece and want to see more like it, please click on “Like” and/or “Comment” below and share with others who would also enjoy it. You can also sign up for my mailing list here to get the latest news from me. 

Save

Save

Save

Save