The dilapidated cabin looked gloomy amongst the towering elms. He ascended the front steps toward the door, already had ideas of what he was going to do with the steps and the small veranda. He put the key in the keyhole and turned it. It still smelled like old tobacco and wet wood. He entered carefully, the floor creaked, the hinges squeaked. Everything was still at its place, nobody had been in there since old man Bob's funeral.
He sat on the two seated ram shacked sofa, he took a small picture frame from the side table next to it, a picture of the old man and him when he was about 15 years old. He remembered how Bob used to show him magic tricks that were obvious to him, but he kept his mouth shut, pretended that it was the cleverest trick he had ever seen.
Bob asked him one day, "Do you believe in magic, Tommy?"
He said, "No."
Bob smiled and said, "You will ... when you see her," with a pat on his shoulder.
He never really understood what it meant until he saw Charlie.
He stood up, looked around, it was a tiny little space. It won't take too long for him to fix the whole place and made it livable. Samuel and Ryan were already out around town to gather materials for the renovation. He spent the weekend toiling with his friends to turn the cabin into a decent space, it was going to be a place he can call home. His friends will be welcomed to stay there too, just like the old days with Bob. He couldn't help but wonder if Bob had thought about this day when he decided to leave the cabin for him.
Charlene was busy being a good hostess to her guests. Her parents made her sit and went with them everywhere, just so she could spend more time with Landon. He never mentioned what he saw that night, he observed the situation and realized nobody else knew about it either.
Summer holiday was approaching, Bill Ludlow had already made plans for her to visit Gastonburry for a couple of weeks. Charlene was to go to an open house at UOG while he had a business meeting with Lloyd Friedman. They were to stay at Friedman's because they would return their hospitality.
"I can't wait to show you around and introduce you to some professors there that can help you get admitted next year," said Landon before he headed home on Sunday. Charlene responded with a smile. "Thank you for your hospitality, I really enjoyed staying at your lovely home."
"You're welcome," she said and shook his hand. Landon leaned forward to kiss her but she turned her face, he ended up kissing her cheek. She was annoyed by the fact that he was going for her lips when they had only met for a couple of days.
"I'll see you in summer," he said, still holding her hand.
"I'll see you then," she replied.
He went into the car with his parents and waved goodbye. She went straight to her room without any remarks about Landon to her parents, even though they were expecting her to make some comments about him.
"I saw you two were getting along," Catherine started the conversation when she went up to Charlene's room.
"He's okay ... we've only met for two days, I can't really say ..." she was combing her hair.
"Your dad just wants to make sure that everything's fine between the two of you because he's about to do a big business with his father," Catherine took the comb and started combing her daughter's hair.
If anything, she thought Landon was a bit forward, maybe because he was older, so she didn't say anything about it.
"I guess we'll find out more about him when you go there next month ... they have a really nice summer home there," Catherine added.
Charlene smiled reluctantly, "I really want to stay here for summer, it's my first summer where I can be out with my friends."
"It's only going to be two weeks, you'll have the rest of summer here with your friends," her mom finished combing her hair and put down the comb.
"There's going to be a town's gathering next weekend, the Mayor is going to announce your father's candidacy for next term election. He's going to be pretty busy very soon."
"Are we going to the town's gathering too?" her eyes widen.
"Of course, everyone in town will be there, we should be there to support your dad too ... there's going to be dinner, socializing, dance, bazaar, and other things after the town hall announcement."
Her mother stopped when she noticed something, "That's a nice necklace, is that new?"
Charlene touched her necklace and put it inside her shirt, "It was a birthday gift from Kayla," she lied.
"That's nice of her, well ... alright, I'll leave you, then, make sure you have a proper dress for the town's gathering," she told her before she went out the door.
Every day after school, she looked around to find him lurking behind a tree somewhere, but he wasn't there. She later found out from Samuel that he was working on some cabin in the woods. "Can you tell him I'm looking for him?" there was a hint of sadness in her voice.The thing about Tommy was he sometimes disappear for days without any news, and left her wondering if he was ghosting her. "Can you ask him if he's coming to the town's gathering this weekend? Because I'll be there, with my family too," she added. Samuel assured her, everyone in town will be there, including Tommy.She was excited for the weekend, mostly because she hadn't seen Tommy for an entire week. She wasn't particularly excited to conceal her relationship with her parents if it was even a relationship. Her father was officially going to be a very important figure in town, possibly their next Mayor. He was well known for his contribution to Bluebridge and the community, but to be elected as Mayor w
It wasn't easy for a girl who was falling in love for the first time to not see the boy she dreamed of every day. But that was often the case with Tommy. He was unreachable. The only way she can get to him was through his friends if she happened to bump into them. Tommy wasn't finished with his cabin just yet, and she was not patient enough to wait around without hearing from him. She got into these mood swings and lost her appetite, thinking that Tommy was busy with other things while she can hardly function without seeing him.After almost another week, she was determined to find him. She got the direction from Kelly when she met her at Mrs. Cooper's store, and she went there alone. The cabin wasn't too far into the woods, but there was no other building close to it. She walked into the area surrounded by the tall trees, the further she went, the more distant the sound of people and their activities were and the more silent it gets. She doubted herself for a moment, but the
She blazed inside him like a wildfire. He watched her naked body after every time they made love and dwelled in his thoughts. He studied every inch of her, she was his instrument, he was honing his craft. She shivered beneath his touches, and he wondered if it was another guy, would she lit up the way she did with him. Was it all just for him? These thoughts kept going around in his head like a mild obsession, and when she so much turned to look at him with her bedroom eyes and her dreamy smile, it was enough to drop him to his knees and he would hold her close in his arms and drowned her with his deep passionate kiss. She was his, he wanted nothing more and nothing less.Summer had finally arrived, she told him that she was leaving for Gastonburry with her dad for two weeks. He had made his own arrangements to go to Goldstone for some work and to meet up with Jeremy Stone, a guy he made friends with. Jeremy was a singer-songwriter who was trying to make his way
The Silver Tongue is one of the most popular clubs in Goldstone. The long queue to get into the bar every night was a view that some tourists would capture through their cameras, just to stand and took pictures of themselves in front of the club was a good enough experience for them. A huge silver neon tongue on top of the building can be seen from miles away. It is the center of the nightlife in Goldstone, and Goldstone is a city that never sleeps.It's situated in a rather shady part of the city, but that never prevented anyone to go there and stood for hours just to get a taste of the Silver Tongue experience. Public figures went there as regulars, actors, actresses, celebrities, athletes, everyone who was Somebody in the city went there. They have a VIP lane to let their distinguished guests in, while Tom had a back door passage for delivering supplies regularly to the place.Jeremy Stone had tried for years to be able to land a gig at T
The room was filled with visitors just like her, some came with their parents, some in groups of friends. She was there with Landon to listen to Professor Aaron Dover who was giving an introduction to prospective students on University life. He emphasized how independent learning would hold the key to success in any field the students choose.He gave a presentation on how the syllabus looked like, the credits that they needed to take in order to achieve the most with the least time spent in the faculty. He gave inputs on how to manage time for students who would consider taking up a part-time job while studying in the University, and other life advice that they needed to hear before entering higher education."Ask yourself this ... if you never have to worry about money ... what is the one thing that you would do in your life, for free? I hope the answer is what you have chosen to study here in UOG. But if you haven't got the answer to that,
When they had finished lunch, Landon took her on a walk along the avenue. There were shops that sold clothes, bags, and shoes. Even though they're not designer brands, those apparels were pretty pricey. Charlene went into a few of the stores and bought herself some dresses, and also something for her mom and sister. Landon waited outside most of the time, patiently, knowing that it was what he was supposed to do for her.It was almost sundown when Charlene decided that she was done for the day, they have walked quite far to the other end of the avenue from where Landon had parked his car. They had to walk all the way back, Landon offered to carry all 8 of her shopping bags. "You know, we look like a typical couple with all this?" he lifted both his arms decorated with 8 shopping bags."No we don't," she refused to admit it."It's true, why don't you take a look around, all of the guys who carry shopping bags are carrying
"Sweetheart ... I heard you're going to the party at campus tonight?" her dad greeted her in the dining room. She managed to avoid real conversations with him for the past week, but it seemed like that wasn't the case that morning."What party?" her tone was flat.Landon was sitting across from her father, eating a pancake with a knife and fork, "I was just telling your dad about the pre-summer party on campus since everyone is going home for summer on Monday, it's a tradition we have at UOG ... it's gonna be fun," he explained.Charlene took a seat beside Landon and put a napkin on her lap."Since you're also leaving on Monday, I thought it'd be nice to enjoy a party before you leave ... get a taste of the campus life," he elbowed her lightly."Sounds like a party for 18 years and older," she commented coldly."Well, since this is a special occasion, I will
Landon was right, yet again, she had a massive hangover the next day, she could barely get out of bed. When she didn't come down for breakfast, he knocked on her door to check if she was alright. She let his knock went unanswered. She packed her suitcase instead. She couldn't wait to go home the next day. He came knocking again after a while, she finally opened the door, gave him the cold shoulder."Water?" he lifted a big jug of water which she immediately grabbed from his hand."Thanks," she chugged it in."Are you okay?" he was being nice."No ... my head is about to explode, but thanks for asking," she closed the door on him.He knew she remembered what he had tried to do the night before, thus her unfriendly gesture toward him. She avoided contact with everyone in the last two days she stayed there. She kept her goodbye short and cold, both to her dad and Landon.&nbs