034

Jon arrived at the party with uncertainty stepping on the heels of his shoes, his heart thumping like a drum against his ribs and what seemed like a well laid plan seemed to fall apart in his hands. His heart skipped a beat when he finally spotted June among the crowd near the marble stairs that stood at the back of the hall: she was giving her back to the entrance where Jon was standing, but he could clearly see that she was wearing the green sheath dress he'd seen in her closet. As he’d imagined several times, only two thin straps traveled down over her shoulder-blades, leaving her entire back bare all the way down to her lower back, where the delicate fabric accentuated and covered the graceful curve of her pert ass. Her hair was longer and cut in all its length in a layered fashion, but she kept it pulled to the front over one shoulder. 

Jon noticed how some guests threw him swift glances, but there was not much acknowledgement on their part. Perhaps they just didn’t recognize him. Perhaps. He couldn’t help but notice, though, that a number of the women - and a couple of the men as well - certainly gave him second looks, and third; some women even seemed to be really forward about it.  A wary grimace flashed across Jon's face, gone as soon as it appeared.

Then his eyes moved to June once again and by what seemed like an impulse, June turned from the waist up in an exquisite movement and looked over her shoulder at him, but the instant she caught his eye, she looked away again. Jon noticed that her face was also framed by shaggy bangs that made her look so sexy he could picture her in the video for at least three of his songs. She didn't look different, but something had changed; her skin was bronze and sleek and she looked so...inaccessible. She almost possessed a kind of nobility before which Jon felt himself helpless, and what overwhelmed him in that instant was a feeling of admiration.

Put your eyes back in your head, man, he whispered to himself. Why did she not notice him? Why did she not come to him? Or smile? Just a smile. Time to break some deals, Jon swore to himself, and took a step forward with the intention of reaching her when he heard a familiar voice behind his back.

"Security? Please remove this man from this party, he didn't RSVP", the joking tone was unmistakable. Trapped by what he was watching, Jon had not seen or heard his friend John approaching. They greeted each other with their usual tight hug and pat on the back. "I'm glad that you made it", said the handsome green-eyed man.

"Well, you know, the plane ticket was next to the counter", lied Jon with a tight but warm smile.

"Why didn't you tell me? We could've flown together?", thought John out loud. It really didn't make any sense, but what the hell, if Jon said that two plus two was five, then it must be five.  While John thought, Jon was already two steps ahead of him resuming his walk towards June, who was surrounded by a group of people.

Jon knew a couple of the women: Cristina, a lawyer, slim, dark-haired and pretty, and Carolyn, who was a pleasant woman, and pretty despite her years, though Jon was not partial to fair-headed women. Of the men he only recognized Carl, June’s manager, a cocky fellow, who had the ability to swagger even when standing still. There were other two men unknown to him. 

As he came closer to the group he started to have a clearer idea of what they were talking about, apparently there was something funny about landing on a bee while lying down on the beach and getting stung by it. Apparently there was also something funny about the conjugation of the verb sting, because one of the unrecognized men, the gray-haired one with an equally gray goatee, repeated the word "stung" until it lost all meaning. Some threw their heads back and roared in laughter.  

Sensing him behind her, June turned again, blushed slightly and turned her gaze to her interlocutor, just a second before she felt Jon's arm snake around her waist. "Green becomes you", he whispered against her ear, but for a few moments she made no response whatsoever, not even tried to disengage herself. After what seemed like an eternity, she finally whirled in his arm and kissed him demurely on either cheek, placing one hand lightly on his forearm over his impeccable black suit. "Jon!”, she seemed to be reacting, “I'm glad that you made it", she said between each peck with a broad, genuine smile, unknowingly repeating her brother's words. She briefly noticed that his hair was lighter and shorter, with a more defined fringe that partially covered his broad forehead. He had visibly regained his muscular physique. He looked so handsome she swooned inside her own skin. And his smell…

Without further ado, she proceeded to introduce him, as if there was any need to do so. 

"So you already know each other", asked Martin once she was finished. Martin was the head translator who could speak practically any western language and master the major eastern ones as well. He seemed genuinely intrigued, he knew Jon was June's brother's employer, but he had no idea the bond was that tight. He definitely had no idea. 

"Jon is an old friend of the family...", explained June, "and the only one who's had the courage to tell me I sing out of tune". She made sure that her tone was casual and breezy. Perhaps friends was not exactly the right word, or maybe he was a friend, whose company she found more pleasant than that of others.

Jon looked at her, astonished at her intimate recollection.

"You know I didn’t mean it like that", he smiled sheepishly, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her close to him in a friendly and playful attitude.

"Well, I’m still waiting for you to apologize", she teased with a broad smile but avoided his gaze. Everybody willingly laughed, ignoring the circumstances that surrounded the comment. He gently released her.

“So…Jon”, said Paul, the one with the goatee. “You’re a writer, as well…They say that we can only find in a book what we already carry inside, like a mirror. Do you think the same applies to songs?”

“Oh, definitely”, he said nodding. “Listening to music, reading a book…for both you have to use your mind as well as your soul”, he couldn’t help a fist of passion for his craft. “Scarce goods these days, unfortunately”, he added, almost as an afterthought, receiving the agreement of the rest, then Martin took the word and the conversation moved on to deeper and subtler arguments that Jon was not able to understand, much less to answer, so he listened absent-mindedly while he paid attention to the people present in the conversation - good attitude, under the circumstances. Paul was a philologist, specialist in Chinese poetry and one of the team of experts June had managed to gather in the course of only a few months. Martin was German, smooth-faced and looked around 35, but was probably older. He had light brown hair and reddish skin and was what Jon supposed most women would consider good-looking. He also had a peculiar sense of humor and one had to be blind not to notice how he reacted to June. Jon had a habit of doing a lot of ignoring of what he did not want to admit, but Martin was mad about June, it was written all over his face. Their body language said that June and Martin were comfortable around each other, but apparently – and hopefully – not intimate.

A waitress offered them champagne and each of them took a glass from the tray. Jon couldn't help snatch on another sidelong glance at June's face and she, noticing it, felt as though a fire was burning in her belly, and she was sure it wasn't the champagne she had just sipped. I know you, I see right through you his eyes seemed to say. She felt helpless.

They were not touching, but Jon could feel June's body shaking, or maybe it was his own. At first, he noticed that she moved slightly away from him, but later she seemed to resign herself to have him by her side. He tried casually placing his hand on the small of her back, just where the dress started to cover the curve of her butt. It was then when she looked directly at him for the first time since he'd joined them, only a momentary glance, full of surprise, as if his presence there was the product of sheer chance, but all the communication of what he wanted was there in the pressure of his hand. Jon, on his part, continued to feel a peculiar uneasiness, which had feared mixed in it as well as expectation. But then, when one is not ready to let go, you hold on with nails and teeth, even when the reason to keep doing it doesn't exist.

Her scent was fresh and pure June.  Focus on her eyes, he thought frantically. They were green, and large, and not at all meek when she looked at him again, all they did was keep alive in him the belief, or hope...

"I just have to tell you that your new book is fascinating, darling", said a newly arrived and obviously Italian young man with a strange haircut and pants so tight it made Jon wonder how he himself had been able to pull that off. "How you managed to top the last one is the reason why I love you so much", he said with a flamboyant and heavy accented voice, pulled June's hand to his lips and kissed it before pulling her to him, bending her backwards and kissing her neck. June giggled like a little girl, unable to notice the hostile flash Jon darted in their direction. 

"What would your boyfriend say about this?", asked June, straightening her dress and shaking her hair softly so each layer felt perfectly back into place. The question took Jon by surprise, leaving him disarmed and frightened by finding out how easy it is to lose your antipathy for someone you consider your enemy when you realize they don't represent a threat whatsoever. "What he always says: that you're the only woman he'd let me dump him for", said Simone gallantly.

"How is the book getting on, by the way?", asked the newly arrived, raising his voice so as to overcome the noise of the bustling hall. He looked maybe in his twenties, maybe his forties, changing from every glance to the next.

"Too slowly for my taste...", said June, understanding by the way he placed the emphasis which book he meant, " ...but we're getting it in its final shape", avoiding to break the secrecy the editorial had built around it. She took a bite from another tray in one delicate hand, casually trying to change the subject, but a sort of vapid eagerness flitted across her face at the mention of the book. Her long hands gestured eloquently and her eyes were like green fire. Her reaction didn't pass unnoticed to Jon, who had no idea what it meant, and even less unnoticed to Martin, who knew exactly what it meant. 

"May I have a word with you for a minute?", Martin interrupted her, seeming suddenly eager to say something that he'd had on the tip of his tongue the whole night.

"I'm sure it can wait", she said casually in a low voice, trying not to interrupt the ongoing conversation or to show her reluctance to discuss what she already knew Martin would bring up. Again.

"No, it can't", he said politely but firmly, and without letting her answer back, with a hand under her elbow but without actually touching her, he guided her to the deck outside. Jon's frowning gaze went to the man again and again as Martin followed June, half a pace behind her. The terrace of the Intercontinental Hotel in Hong Kong offered a magnificent view of the bay and the famous skyline of Hong Kong Island.  June stopped at a spot where they were as visible as ever to the rest of the party, but they could turn their backs to it. Martin understood that that was as much privacy as June was willing to concede. 

Jon's heart stopped once again when abruptly a thought struck him. The next second he was jealous where he had no cause, hurt where June had done nothing and angry where he himself could not see why. He took a deep breath and tried to find a safe spot from where he could have a clear view of the terrace without being obvious about it and with someone he could be comfortable enough so that other people wouldn't interrupt their conversation. Careful thought was all he had. He looked around and immediately noticed June's father holding and almost empty glass of whisky by the bar. Jon asked for two more and walked towards the white-haired man with an impressive physique for his age. As long as there was football Jon would always have something to talk about with his potential...father-in-law? Someone inside his head laughed out loud at the thought, and he had Richie's throaty voice.

When Jon was able to position himself so he could observe the conversation going on in the terrace, Martin's face had turned bright red and June had drawn herself up practically on tiptoe. She was not tall, not quite to Martin's shoulder, but she appeared to be trying to put herself nose-to-nose. Every few moments Jon tried to steal glances at June and Martin from the corner of his eye. June was not amused, or anything close to it; arms folded, she gave Martin a perusal that made the Cohen's stare of death seem mild in comparison. In the end Martin put a hand on June's arm and she hesitated, then nodded, but she didn't look convinced, rather reluctant. 

Martin smiled and, wrapping his arm around June's waist, he kissed her softly on the cheek. Jon clenched his teeth and looked away. He downed what was left of whisky in his glass and thanked his experience in smiling and talking while his mind was yards or miles away from his body. When he managed to gather courage to look again, June was standing alone. Now was his chance, but when he tried to disengage himself from the conversation and catch up with her, a new group of unknown faces surrounded her, nearly shouldering him away before they began showering her with questions. He still wanted to say something, though he'd hold it back until they were alone, because it was the woman he loved he wanted to tell it to, not just his friend, or his friend's sister for that matter. If only they'd leave her alone, just for a few moments...

The boat rides we would take, the moonlight on the lake

The way we danced and hummed our favorite song

The things we did last summer I’ll remember all winter long

June and everybody else at the party turned their heads to the blonde man with a black guitar that was standing in front of the microphone, but there was also a general whispered "Of course he was gonna play something" in at least five different languages. 

While he sang, Jon stared at June with brilliant blue eyes, knowing the effect he was having by the feedback her eyes gave him. There wasn’t fear creeping in this time, and she didn’t walk away, there was a link of understanding between them that she couldn't avoid, a link even more important than affection or friendship.

The midway and the fun, the kewpie dolls we won

The bell I rang to prove that I was strong

The things we did last summer I’ll remember all winter long

Diane took the chance to approach her friend and spoke secretively over her shoulder. “Surprise surprise, indeed”. June momentarily turned her face and looked at her askance, a deep, meaningful stare. “What? I just hope you’ve thought about what I told you”, finished Diane, stifling an amused smirk and pinching her friend’s butt. June couldn’t help but snort at Diane’s boldness, but secretly thanked her adding levity to the situation. She was right, after all, it was obvious why Jon was here, thinking there was another reason would be like trying to find a hair on an egg. Now June had to make her move. Fortunately, he gave her a few more minutes to think. 

I’ve tried so to forget, at times I do, and yet

The memory of you lingers like our song

The things we did last summer I’ll remember all winter long

Two more songs, a long applause, some words of congratulations and good wishes to his "dear friend June" in this new project and Jon hung his guitar amongst comments of disappointment at the surprise show being so short. On the background, the host of the party announced that dinner was about to be served while the band followed with a mellow rendition of Duke Ellington’s What am I here for? Jon smirked at the music muses’ irony.

“I…need some fresh air”, she managed to tell Diane, but the brunette chuckled at June’s unnecessary excuse. Jon followed her steps out towards the terrace, unable to avoid shaking a number of hands who took the chance to finally approach him. "Come with me, please?", Jon said once he was at June's ear-range, tilting his head to his left. It was a command, not a request. Jon’s was a face used to getting what it wanted. Not petulant, just absolutely certain that whatever he wanted was right and proper and must be, and his determination made June instantly feel the rapture in her blood.

She let him lead her to a spot on the terrace where, even though the noises from the party could be heard, they were visually out of reach thanks to a venetian-tiles covered wall behind the pool that served as outdoor showers for the swimmers when the pool was in use. All the thoughts she had been trying to repress the past few months flashed through her mind in a matter of seconds, but her reason reminded her that the circumstances hadn’t changed so there wasn’t a reason to think the results of her choices would be any different now. And now…why did he come now. His timing couldn’t have been worse. But he was there, and her need of him burnt and pulsed like a fresh, open wound.

“How have you been?”, she asked, bending over and propping her elbows on the handrail. She looked at the light on the top of the Bank of China building on the other side of the bay. Her hair cascaded on either side of her face.

“Lonely”, he whispered against her ear after pulling her hair to one side, and she chuckled nervously. “You?”, he leant his butt against the tempered glass handrail, his hands on either side of his hips, his legs crossed at the ankles. She seemed willing to play first, so he’d let her play, then.

“Well…you can meet a lot of interesting people here”, she looked up at him, holding up her defense as well as she could, as if she could hide from him the turn in her stomach his answer had produced.  

“Like Martin?”, he asked with a tone of self-satisfaction, certain that it would crack June’s defenses. June looked down and smiled sideways. She nodded, but when she straightened up and looked at him again her smile was tight and her eyes were tired, sad. Game over.

“That’s what you’ve come here for?”, she snorted in disbelief, or maybe it was disappointment. “Go ahead, Jon…it was my fault to think that we could still be friends after what happened…or believe we could...”, she trailed off and motioned back towards the hall. “I gotta get back to the party, I hope you enjoy yourself. It was good to see you again, Jon”. But as soon as she turned her back to him, she felt his hands firmly grasp her waist and his arms were around her before she could find the strength to take another step forward. As soon as he touched her she seemed to wince and stiffen. "No", she said sharply but Jon was stronger and turned her around to face him. With a hand on each of her shoulders, he pressed her back gently against the wall. June felt each of the tiles against her bare back; they were still warm from the scorching sun that had set a couple of hours before. 

“Be a good girl and stop whatever you’re trying to do. You know I don’t give a damn about Martin, or anybody else. I know that you love me”, he buried his nose in her neck behind her ear and breathed deeply before pressing a kiss on her skin. “I know that you still love me”. Even when she was pushing him away with all her strength, he had the feeling she was clasping him firmly against her, the rigidity of her muscles managed to convey that impression. Apparently she was living him no other choice but to cut the crap by kissing her.

“No”, she gasped her lie when she was able to part the kiss, and she couldn't help a smirk to curve her lips at Jon's poker face. "You're late", she answered his unspoken question. She felt stupid for the little scene she had presented, for having fooled herself into believing Jon didn’t know her like the back of his hand.

He smirked against her lips when he realized that her playful tone meant she was submitting and they both sighed inaudibly against a new, more delicate kiss.

"I haven't stopped thinking about you all this time, I dare you tell me you haven't done the same", he looked straight into her green eyes, and his whisper was a shout as he held her face close to his clasping her head with both hands, his fingers tangled in her soft hair. “I can’t bare the idea of somebody else laying their hands on you”, he put into words what he knew his eyes were already saying before capturing her lips with his, silencing her and forcing her mouth slightly open with his tongue in order to kiss her more deeply. June’s reason was suddenly nowhere to be found and she felt like the most desirable woman in the world.

“What are we gonna do, Jon? We know how this ends…us apart from each other”, there was reason again, and she almost winced.

“I’ll show you how this ends”, he threatened, and with a swift movement of his arms, he lifted June completely off her feet so he was standing up with her legs around his waist, holding her under her back and pushing her against the wall. That’s how it ends, then. June quivered with anticipation.

Holding her with one hand, Jon used the other to pull the top of her dress down over her shoulders, while June managed to undo the buttons of his shirt and open it so she could feel his soft, warm flesh against hers. She released a deep moan when he rubbed his hard-on against her crotch. Reason gone again.

“God, baby I missed you so much”, he whispered against her neck, and she winced when his stubble scratched her delicate skin. Her conscience made a brief appearance to make her wonder how that was going to look during dinner, but she was too busy unzipping his pants with one hand, while the other clasped his head. His hardness made her wet as only he could do it, that feeling of her insides filling with a warm, thick fluid.

“We’ll think of something…there’s gotta be a way…I can’t live without you”, he breathed while he trailed kisses down to her breasts. Maybe he should have thought about a wider time frame for his plan.

“Shut up”, she gasped throatily, snapping him out of his sudden desperation. “Don’t say that to me anymore”, she said while her fingers curled around his soft, hard shaft.

“Why?”, he said in a chuckle and pressed his forehead against her, her nails still scraping his skull.

“Because right now I will believe everything you say”, she said before pulling his face to her, sucking his soft lips into her mouth and burying her tongue deep inside until she could feel his taste in the back of her mouth.

When she felt him inside her she thought she was going to faint the feeling was so good. A deep moan of relief rumbled inside her and he started to pump rhythmically, silencing the grunts and groans of pleasure as much as he could manage by means of kissing her fiercely. How was he ever going to have enough of her was still an unanswered question.

Back at the party, everyone had taken their seats at lusciously decorated tables and starters were being served. That’s everyone except Martin, who approached John and inquired about his sister.

“I have no idea…”, he frowned and turned his head around. She noticed Jon wasn’t there, either. “She’s not back from the terrace?”, he shrugged. “…Give them a minute, they haven’t seen each other in a while, they probably have a lot to…um…”, a strange idea crept into John’s mind. “…talk about I guess”. No, it wasn’t possible. His arm was physically around his girlfriend, but mentally it was scratching his head. No, no, he would have noticed something. “Maybe she’s in the lady’s room?”, he added as an afterthought. Yeah, that sounded like a more reasonable explanation.  

Martin softly slapped John’s back. “Yeah…that’s what I figured”. But neither man was completely convinced. Martin didn’t go back to his table and walked out to the terrace.

One of June’s arms now crept under Jon’s shirt and her hand explored his muscular back, her fingertips recognizing every single tight muscle.

“June?”, they both froze when they heard her name being called. June recognized Martin’s voice. “Are you there?”. No reply. Jon kept his mouth open and breathed heavily against June’s shoulder to silence his labored breathing. Martin walked over to the edge of the pool and looked around but there seemed to be no one there, the loud buzz from the party and the splashing of the water fountains buffered any other near sounds.

“Martin, June’s upstairs, she had to take a call”, Diane’s voice sounded slightly ragged, as if she had done a sprint to catch up with Martin. “Come, she’ll be right back”. She hooked his arm with hers and led him back to the hall. He wasn’t falling for it, but he respected June enough to know that whatever reason was keeping her from the party was something that mattered to her.

Jon pressed his forehead against June’s shoulder and started chuckling. It took June about five seconds to start chuckling as well. “God bless Diane”, Jon whispered and lifted his face up before they joined for a soft, deep, warm, wet kiss before he started moving again inside her, the first two or three thrusts were slow and lingering, but Jon’s raging blood and the feeling of June’s walls tightening around his cock made him quickly pick up the pace.

June felt completely possessed, a feeling she hadn’t really felt in a long, long time. And she liked it. When her climax came, her grip around Jon’s shaft was so tight that it almost hurt to be inside her, what did nothing else but trigger his own climax and all the lights shut down inside his brain as it flooded with exquisite, sweet pleasure.

Pinned against the wall, her eyes closed, June’s lips murmured “I love you, Jon”, when she finally found the breath to say it.