Noel

 

 

    “I have a little surprise for you,” I explain playfully. Reaching inside the car I present her with the bouquet of yellow roses.

Emma’s smile radiates through me. She breathes in the bouquet and hugs me once more. I feel horrible because I know the real reason for being home early today. I cannot afford to lose my wife. We’ve been together for thirteen years, so starting over is not an option. She’s an investment and like all investments, one has to protect it.

    “Baby you didn’t have to,” she chides. I don’t want her to see the rest of the things I bought her. I’m usually smooth at bending the truth with others, but my wife, she reads me like a book. So, I don’t bother trying to.

    “You know you’re my queen, girl. I have to take care of you. I need you to go inside and freshen up.” She begins to protest and I place a finger on her lips.  “Ah, ah, ah... I have big plans for you. Here are the requirements: no work tonight, no phone calls, no TV, and oh, this is a big one, no arguments. Just do as I ask and Daddy will reward you later.”

That puts a naughty I- know- what- you- might- have- in- mind smile on her face.

    “You drive a hard bargain, mister.” Emma sniffs her flowers again, giggles, and walks seductively inside the house. Woo! That woman makes my blood boil.

In this house I do most of the cooking it’s one of the things I’m very good at and my wife doesn’t mind because she never learned how to. It’s not her cooking I married her for anyway. I chuckle. Emma and I are high school sweethearts. She never wanted to be with anyone else besides me and neither did I, until recently.

    “Got doggit,” I curse aloud. I make it to the stove in time to prevent the rest of the water from spilling over the pasta pot.

The stove is up too high. I turn it down to med-low. I only have a few more ingredients left to prep for my Italian sauce. Most people prefer to buy the ready-made sauce from the store, but not me. Paying attention to my mother in the kitchen as a youth has certainly paid off over the years. Scooping up the tomatoes, basil, thyme, oregano, and onions, I dump it into a sauté pan of olive oil. The pot sizzles when the ingredients hit. The ground meat looks okay. Everything is on point.

Emma should be through with her bath by now. I dim the living room lights, press play on the stereo, and Kem serenades with his song, ‘I can’t stop loving you.’ The mood is set. Distracted by Kem’s lyrical giftedness, I don’t see Emma’s naked legs curl around the pillar leading into the living room.

    “Hey baby,” she coos, looking all good in her lacy black garter belt getup. My pulse speeds up at the sight of her. Heavenly, by Victoria’s Secret, floats up to my nose and finds its way down below.

    “You are so beautiful,” I say as walk toward her.

Emma cocks her head to the side as she stares up into my eyes. “I can’t believe you still can look at me as you do after thirteen years,” she says, breathless. I brush a wisp of her hair from her face then bring my mouth down to crush hers. Emma’s mouth is sweet, sweet like a honeycomb. Her body coils around mine like of a snake. It takes everything in me to pull away.

    “Mmmm, woman you make me weak.”

    “Then my work here is done,” she says and sashays into the kitchen. The sway of Emma’s hips hypnotizes me until she disappears around the corner.

    “You should be ashamed of yourself. Turning a man on and leaving him in this kind of state,” I yell, willing the blood that rushed downward back into my head. Now I’m wishing dinner to come to an end, but it’s not, so I limp back into the kitchen in giddy anticipation of what’s to come.