Chapter
14: Only Fools Rush In
“You’re mine this week,” Shiri said as she set her bags down on the
floor of the condo. An entire month had passed since Daniel’s accident and he
was recovering nicely. Two more weeks and he’d have the cast around his arm
removed. That week, though, was one he’d spend alone with Shiri. Chance and
Darren were heading to San Francisco to shoot the pictures for their album, so
they lent the condo to Shiri and Daniel.
“Great, what are we going to do with ourselves this week?” Daniel
replied from the couch where his arm and leg were propped up on pillows. As was
custom, he had the remote control to the TV and was absently flipping through
the channels while he stared at Shiri. She headed for his room and began to
unpack her stuff.
Daniel stood up slowly so not to fall over and hurt himself more. He made
his way down the hall towards his room to find Shiri and talk to her. Stopping
at the door, he watcher her take each article out of her bag and straighten it
out on the bed. She didn’t know he was behind her, and when she looked, she
was startled.
“Dan, you shouldn’t be up! You’re going to hurt yourself,” Shiri
yelled. She walked over to him and wrapped her arm around his waist. They made
their way back to the couch where Shiri helped Daniel back onto the soft
cushion. “I’ll be right back. You sit tight. I don’t want you scaring me
like that,” she sternly said, heading back to Daniel’s room.
Shiri finished unpacking and headed to the couch where Daniel sat bored
out of his mind. “So, what do you wanna do tonight?” she asked.
“I don’t know, what do you wanna do?” he replied.
“You wanna order a pizza or something?” Shiri suggested.
“Sure. Pizza sounds great to me,” Daniel confirmed.
‘This is going so bad. Doesn’t he get the big picture? I’m trying
so hard to get him to open up, but it’s not working. Should I open up
first?’ Shiri thought as she flipped through the phone book looking for
somewhere that delivered. ‘Okay, if I do open up, what would the consequences
be? First, he might end up getting scared. Second, he might not want to be
around me for the rest of the week. Third, he might do the opposite of what
I’m thinking and end up wanting to spend more time with me. Whoa, I’d better
not get my hopes up too high. I know Alexia’s still an open wound, but he’s
got to get over her someday.’
“Are you gonna order or what?” Daniel hollered from the couch.
“Yeah, I’m still looking for a place that delivers,” she yelled
back. Quickly, Shiri closed her eyes and picked a pizza place. ‘Great, Pizza
Hut. At least it’s not something I don’t know,’ she thought. She called,
ordered a large cheese pizza, bread sticks, and two bottles of Coke.
Daniel waited on the couch quietly for her return. ‘I wonder what
she’s thinking,’ he thought to himself. ‘She’s so hard to read. I wonder
what’s on her mind. She seems so wrapped up in something, but what? Is it me?
God, please let it be me. She’s the best thing that’s come into my life ever
since Chance. I hope she does something to indicate some interest in me. Should
I be the one making the moves, though? Well, if she keeps me waiting, I’ll let
her know what’s on my mind.’
Shiri walked back to the couch and sat down beside Daniel. The looked at
each other and smiled. ‘Well, here goes nothing,’ she thought. “Dan,
I’ve been taking care of you for a month, but I barely know you,” Shiri
finally said.
‘Bingo!’ The light bulb in Daniel’s head went off with her comment.
‘Thank you, God,’ he silently prayed. “What do you want to know?” Daniel
asked aloud.
“You know, the basics. Name, age, birthday, favorite stuff. You know,
things like that,” she replied. “I just don’t wanna sit here in silence
for the entire week. You know.”
“You said that three times,” he noticed.
“What?”
“You know.”
“No, I don’t know.”
“I mean, you said, ‘You know,’ three times.”
“Oh! I do that when I’m nervous. What do you do?”
“Well, everyone tells me I either crack my knuckles, pace, or mutter. I
don’t know which one I do more, but I know I do one of those when I get really
nervous.”
“You’re nervous now, aren’t you?” Shiri questioned when she
noticed Daniel cracking his knuckles.
“Apparently,” he replied, smiling. “At least I know I’m not
alone.”
“Why are we so nervous around each other?” she asked. “We’ve got
no reason to be, but we are.”
“What’s on your mind? Get it out in the open. I’ve seen you
hesitate quite a few times while Chance was around, but she’s not here now, so
just talk to me. We’re friends, right?” Daniel said.
“Of course. And friends are supposed to talk. So I’ll tell you
what’s been eating me up inside for the last month. Maybe you can help me.”
“I’m the one to call, then.”
“Okay, this is what’s on my mind. You know how Chance and I look so
much alike it’s not even funny?” Daniel nodded. “For some insane reason
I’m beginning to think she’s the sister that I lost a long time ago. I mean,
the timing is perfect because I was four when I lost my sister, and she’s 18
right now. I’m 22. Doesn’t that make sense to you?”
“But that still doesn’t mean she’s your sister. You’ve got to
consider the fact that you have no conclusive dates to prove anything more that
a coincidence,” Daniel tried to reason.
“When’s her birthday?” Shiri asked.
“September 16,” he answered. The color drained from Shiri’s face
when she heard that date. She quickly put her hand down on the couch cushion to
steady herself. “Shiri, what’s wrong? One minute you happy and then next you
look like death. What’s going on?” Daniel questioned as he looped his arm
around her waist.
“I can’t believe this,” she whispered.
“What?”
“That’s the exact same day my sister was born. I can’t believe it
after all these years. My mom is going to be so surprised to find out.”
“Wait a minute. You don’t have any other proof other than that date.
You have to do a blood test before you tell you mom anything about Chance,”
Daniel reasoned. “The only problem is how are we going to get Chance to say
yes to something that might just destroy her life?”
“I don’t know. That’s going to take a lot more time to figure out.
For now, I’m just happy to think she’s my sister,” Shiri replied as she
stood up to answer the door. The pizza had arrived and she was hungry.
~~~~~~~~~~
Two days passed since Daniel and Shiri’s strange conversation about
Chance. Neither had bothered to bring it up again fearing it would lead to
something worse. Instead, they opted to talk about each other. In those two
days, they became more than friends. Shiri was finally beginning to muster up
the courage to tell Daniel she wanted to be more than friends. That night, she
ordered Chinese and made sure to serve it just the right way to make sure
everything went just how she wanted it. With the mood set and everything on the
table, she called for him to come to dinner.
“This looks really good,” Daniel complimented when he saw the job she
did.
“Thanks,” Shiri replied as she sat across from him.
They ate their dinner in silence, each one wondering what the other was
thinking. Finally, Daniel spoke up, “So, what’s the special occasion?”
“Nothing really, I just wanted to have a nice dinner with you,” she
answered.
“I appreciate the trouble you went through. Thank you,” he replied,
smiling up at her.
“I’m glad you like it.”
“Okay, now what’s the real reason for all this. I know you have
something on your mind. Tell me.”
‘Shit,’ Shiri thought. Her plan was spoiled before she even had a
chance to warm up. “Well…” she started, forming the right words in her
head. “You know how we’ve been really getting to know each other these past
few days? I sorta wanted to talk to you about what I’ve been feeling. I
don’t know how to tell you, so I’ll give it to you straight up. Dan, I
really like you, and I don’t mean the friends kind of like. I mean the more
than friends kind of like. You see where I’m getting with this?”
Daniel nodded. He knew exactly where she was going, but the problem was
he didn’t want to take that route. “Shiri, I don’t think I’m ready for
this,” he said, trying to be as polite about it as possible.
“Hear me out, please,” she begged. Shiri reached over the table and
took his hand. “I have this feeling for you that I can’t describe. It’s so
strong that there’s no way I can override it. I just wanna be with you. Its
like after I met you, everything seemed to come together in my life. Please, all
I’m asking for is a try at this. Besides, it just might be the best remedy for
getting Alexia off your mind.”
“By that’s the problem. No matter who I’m with, I’ll always
compare them to her. It’s impossible for me to trust anyone anymore. It’s
like she spoiled the rest of my love life by deceiving me. I don’t want that
to come between us because you’re such a good friend to me, and I don’t want
to lose you because of Alexia,” Daniel tried to explain.
“But all I’m asking for is a month.”
“No, Shiri. I can’t. I’m sorry.” Daniel stood up and hobbled back
to the couch. He didn’t want to see the hurt expression on Shiri’s face as
she watched him in amazement. Turning on the TV in hopes of drowning out
everything from that evening, Daniel found himself exploring his own feelings
for the girl. She was amazingly attractive with those soft brown eyes, long,
silky black hair, and delicate skin. He could tell that her heart was just as
big as Chance’s.
Shiri made her way past the couch, her bag in hand, and fumbled with the
lock on the door. Daniel stared at her. “Where are you going?” he softly
asked, knowing the way he handled this situation would determine their future
together.
“I’m going home,” she whimpered, finally getting the door open.
Daniel sank into the couch realizing the mistake he had just made.
“Shit,” he said aloud.
~~~~~~~~~~
Three days passed since Shiri walked out the door. Daniel was once again
on his own. Despite his efforts to try and get over it, he couldn’t. He had
fallen asleep thinking about ways to fix the situation. Suddenly startled by the
phone, Daniel awoke from his slumber on the couch to answer it. “Hello?” he
asked, still weary.
“Dan, you’re such an idiot!” Majandra’s voice came clear over the
line. “Shiri was practically throwing herself at you and all you could say was
that you couldn’t be with her because you weren’t ready. God, why are men so
stupid!”
“I resent that last comment,” Daniel replied.
“Well, they are,” she snapped back. “Look, you’d better find some
way to make this thing work because she’s really fallen for you.”
“I know, and that presents a big problem.”
“Why would that present a big problem?”
“Because as much as I’ve fallen for her myself, I can’t trust her.
I can’t trust anyone for that matter.”
“Okay, you want some advice? I’m gonna give it to you no matter what
you say. I think you should just completely stop thinking about Alexia and start
thinking about Shiri. She could possibly be the best thing that’s ever come
your way. Give her a chance and then see how it all turns out.”
“Majandra, you know I would, but I have a fear of commitment. What am I
supposed to do about it? Do you have any advice for that?” Daniel retorted. He
was sick of her yelling.
“I’ll get back to you on that,” she replied, unsuspecting of the
annoyance in his voice.
“I have to go,” he said, ready to hang up the phone.
“I’m going to call you again in a few days, and if you two haven’t
made up, you’re in trouble.”
“Goodbye, Majandra,” Daniel replied as he hung up on her before she
had a chance to give him another earful. He lay back on the couch relieved even
though more things were eating away his insides. ‘I’ll give Shiri a few days
to calm down, then I’m going to call her,’ he thought to himself.
Daniel fell asleep on the couch again just as thick gray clouds began to
build in the horizon, blocking out the sun as they quickly moved across the sky.
~~~~~~~~~~
The next thing Daniel heard was the loud crash of thunder and the
doorbell ringing. He slowly stood up, rubbing his eyes to adjust to the darkness
of the room. Walking over to the door, he looked out the curtained window to
find a short, thin girl standing there, soaking wet and waiting. Daniel quickly
opened the door to find Shiri rubbing her hands together trying to stay warm.
She looked so helpless in the rain, her hair and makeup a mess, her clothes
completely drenched, and her entire body shivering. She stared at him for a long
time waiting for him to say something, at the least invite her inside.
Daniel watched her and wondered what she was doing at his doorstep. Their
eyes met, holding them longer in the trance that they were already in. He stood
mesmerized by her simple beauty. She seemed to be the picture of perfection in
his eyes. Alexia was nothing compared to Shiri. She was so much more beautiful
than the fumbling blond that had crushed his heart only a month earlier.
Holding out his hand, Daniel took Shiri’s and led her into the warm
condo. As she stood dripping wet in the doorway, he hobbled over to the couch
and grabbed the blanket he had been huddled in the last few days. He wrapped it
around her shivering shoulders and led her into his room. They sat down on the
bed together and just waited for someone to break the silence.
“Why did you come back?” Daniel asked softly.
“Because I couldn’t stand the thought of you being alone with a
broken arm and leg. I didn’t want you to hurt yourself anymore than you
already were,” Shiri answered, wiping her face with the blanket as she tried
to meet his eye line.
“That’s not the only reason,” he said, feeling her fright as he
wrapped his arm around her waist.
“Maybe I came back because of what Majandra told me. Is it true that
you like me too?” she questioned.
“I do,” Daniel whispered as he looked her straight in the eyes.
Shiri could see the sincerity in those deep green pools and smiled. She
had never felt so relieved in her life. “Thank you,” she said, burying her
face in his chest.
Daniel sat on the bed holding her as she cried. For what reason, he
didn’t know. All he knew was that he liked the feeling of her beside him and
that he didn’t want to let it go. His hand gently held up her chin as he
leaned in and gave her a soft, delicate kiss.
Shiri pulled him closer, his lips a delicacy to her yearning mouth.
This was what she wanted. This was what she longed for. His body was so
close to hers, she could feel his heart pounding against his chest. Everything
seemed to be coming together so perfectly now that they were together.
Find me here
Speak to me
I want to feel you
I need to hear you
You are the light
That’s leading me
To the place
Where I find peace again
Daniel gently pulled the blanket off her shoulders as Shiri began to slip
her shirt over her head. She threw it to the floor exposing her bare body to his
wide, innocent green eyes. Her beauty was magical, mesmerizing him to the point
where he was no longer able to do anything for himself. As she finished taking
off the rest of her clothes, she leaned in to kiss his soft, tender lips.
You are the strength
That keeps me walking
You are the hope
That keeps me trusting
You are the life to my soul
You are my purpose
You're everything
Shiri slowly unbuttoned Daniel’s shirt as he lay on the bed waiting for
her. Her kisses fell on every inch of flesh she exposed. The soft, delicate skin
of her lips made his heart beat faster with every touch. It was hard for him to
focus with such a beautiful creature standing naked in front of him.
And how can I stand here with you
And not be moved by you
Would you tell me
How could it be any better than this
“I need you,” Shiri whispered into Daniel’s ear as she climbed on
top of him, her lips reaching his for another soft, sensual kiss. “Please,
make love to me.” Her plea was granted upon request as he gently kissed the
nape of her neck and slowly made his way down her body. His kisses sent shock
waves through her soul as she waited for him to reach the part of her body she
kept secret from all others who had crossed her path.
Daniel was the first she had ever come to trust. He was what Shiri had
been waiting for all her life. She could see it in his eyes; all the pain and
suffering he had gone through, and all the comfort she had given him. In her
heart she felt everything he felt, and never took anything for granted.
You calm the storms
And you give me rest
You hold me in your hands
You won't let me fall
You still my heart
And you take my breath away
Would you take me in
Take me deeper now
“Dan,” Shiri moaned, feeling his lips devouring her. Daniel stopped
and looked up at her in concern.
“Do you want me to stop?” he asked.
Shiri shook her head. “Please, keep going,” she begged.
Daniel smiled. His life had just turned into one big soap opera, but he
didn’t care. No matter how messed up it became, from this point on, it would
only get better. With Shiri in his life, he felt normal again, whole again.
And how can I stand here with you
And not be moved by you
Would you tell me
How could it be any better than this
And how can I stand here with you
And not be moved by you
Would you tell me
How could it be any better than this
Shiri wrapped her arms around Daniel’s neck as he kissed her waiting
lips again. “Mmmmmm…” came her pleasure filled moan as he rolled her over
and pinned her to the bed. Daniel worked his way back down to her stomach, his
tongue slowly tasting every inch of her body as he descended. She hated the way
he was teasing her and was ready to scream when his hands cupped her breasts as
he gently kissed her inner thighs.
“Dan, I want you, now!” Shiri screamed, her body unable to hold out
any longer. She rolled over. It was her turn to take the power into her own
hands. She had him pinned where she wanted him, his hands above his head and his
body beneath hers.
Cause you're all I want,
You’re all I need
You're everything… everything
You're all I want
You're all I need
You're everything… everything
You're all I want
You're all I need
You're everything… everything
You're all I want
You're all I need
Everything… everything
And how can I stand here with you
And not be moved by you
Would you tell me
How could it be any better than this
And how can I stand here with you
And not be moved by you
Would you tell me
How could it be any better
Any better than this
Their bodies came together so perfectly. Never in the history of mankind
had there been such a perfect coupling. Her curves perfectly fit with the
grooves of his body. Shiri closed her eyes to savor the moment they became one.
Daniel was now at the mercy of her hands. They held onto each other for dear
life, their whole world crashing down as their souls connected.
Shiri let out a pleased scream as she fell to the bed, exhausted. She
snuggled closer to Daniel, his warmth providing her with the comfort she needed
to get through the night. As his arms came around her neck, she looked up at him
to find the exhaustion in his own eyes. Softly, she kissed his hand and placed
it on her waist as she let sleep fall over her.
And how can I stand here with you
And not be moved by you
Would you tell me
How could it be any better than this
Would you tell me