Honor: a novella (6 page)

We made breakfast together and ate on the front porch. I noticed his neighbors had decorated for Halloween and were getting ready for all the kids who would be trick-or-treating later that evening.
 

“I bet you get a ton of trick-or-treaters in this neighborhood,” I commented.
 

He looked over at his neighbor who was putting out pumpkins along her walkway. “I wouldn’t know, I guess they must.” He motioned over to the neighbor.

“When I lived at home, my parents would always buy a ton of candy and then count how many kids would come to the door.” I laughed at the memory. “The things that old folks do to entertain themselves. What about you?” I asked him, “What did your family do for Halloween?”

“We never did Halloween,” he said.
 

“Really?” I asked. I watched him, as he seemed lost in thought. “Now that you’re a homeowner, you should try it at least once.” I walked over and took his plate from him.

“We can if you want to,” he said smiling at me.
 

After I helped him with the dishes, he took me to get my car. I told him I would pick up candy and head back over after I showered. I cleaned up around my apartment and did laundry in between getting ready. I had kind of neglected my apartment over the last couple of weeks.
 

My phone beeped and I saw I had a text from Lilly:

How are you feeling today? You guys just left!

I am fine today. I wasn’t feeling too hot after my drinks.

So did Osric give you a GOOD present or what?? ☺

HAHA…No Lilly! Get your mind out of the gutter ma’am.

That’s why you love me. Well, I hope you had a good birthday! Talk to you later. Muuaahh!

I thought about this morning and what happened in Osric’s kitchen. I wasn’t going to tell Lilly about it. I also hadn’t told her my true feelings toward Osric, even though I am pretty sure she knew. I wanted to tell him first but was not sure how to go about it. Then the thought hit me that maybe he didn’t feel the same way about me as I did for him. I pushed the thought away knowing it would not change my feelings toward him anyway. I loved him and nothing would change that.
 

I put away the last bit of laundry and put my favorite black sweater on. I kept it plain and simple. I had my favorite jeans on with my black Converse. I grabbed my purse and headed down to my car.

Chapter 10

I pulled up at Osric’s house and saw some kids had already started heading door to door. I struggled carrying the candy, my purse, and a huge pumpkin that I had bought on sale. Osric met me on his front porch and took the pumpkin from me.
 

“A pumpkin?” he asked, looking down at me with a smirk on his face.
 

“Yes, a pumpkin. It is Halloween,” I told him.
 

He placed it by the front door and took the bag of candy. He had showered, his hair was still wet and smelled heavenly. He had a gray hooded sweatshirt on with a pair of faded blue jeans. I couldn’t help but stare at him. He looked down at me, and fixed on my eyes. He leaned in and kissed me. I jumped as little footsteps came up the porch stairs.
 

“Gross!” I heard from behind me. One of the kids yelled, “Trick or treat!” They all opened up their bags waiting for candy. Osric handed me the bag and I started passing out the candy. Some of the kids just stared up at Osric with their mouths hanging open.
 

“You are big mister,” said one boy who was missing his front teeth and had a nose dripping with snot. The boy coughed and wiped his snotty nose on the sleeve of his knight costume.
 

“You are small,” Osric replied.
 

The boy laughed and coughed at the same time as he walked down the steps to leave.

“You’re not used to kids are you?” I asked him.
 

“Not really,” he said as the group of kids walked out to the street.
 

“You do want children though, someday, don’t you?”
 

He seemed to think about this with a trouble expression. “I haven’t thought about it much,” he said then acted as if he were going to say more but was cut off by another group of children. This time he helped pass out candy.
 

All the kids would stare up at him in amazement. Some parents gawked too, especially some of the single mothers. The street was packed full of families walking from house to house. We sat and watched in between the groups of trick-or-treaters.
 

“What are your plans for Thanksgiving?” I asked him.
 

“I don’t have any. Why do you ask?”
 

“My parents have asked if you would like to come home with me. I understand if you don’t want to though. I am sure you would want to spend it with your family.”
 

He looked down at the porch. “My mother past away a long time ago, and my grandparents died before she did.”
 

I came over to him. “I am sorry. I just assumed they were still around.” He took my hand in his. I thought of his father, but I wasn’t going to bring it up unless he chose to.

“I would like to go with you to your parents,” he said.
 

I smiled up at him.
 

Some more kids came up the steps and, in the middle of them, one girl had a huge pair of wings and a halo on. It was an extravagant costume to say the least. Osric didn’t move from where he sat while I passed out the candy. I told the little girl in the angel costume how much I liked it. I heard the chair slide on the porch and hit the house. When I turned to see what had happened, I saw the screen closing shut and Osric walking inside. None of the kids noticed what had happened, but I did. Once they had all cleared from the porch, I headed inside and shut the front door behind me.
 

“Osric?” I called after him. I couldn’t find him anywhere. I went into the kitchen and saw the light was on in the garage and the door was up. I headed out the back door toward the noise. He was working on something that looked like a door. He was running a saw that was deafening. I waited until it shut off, and I walked over.
 

“Osric, is something wrong?”
 

He stared over at me. “I am fine.”
 

“You are a really bad liar. Is it me, did I do something?” I asked him.
 

“Stop thinking it’s you, Honor. It isn’t you. I don’t want to talk about it.”
 

I turned to walk out, feeling the hurt from his words. “When you do want to talk, you know where you can find me.” I had mixed emotions as I walked back to the house. I got my purse and walked out to my car. A part of me hoped he would come after me, but the rational part of me was saying
this dude has more issues than I could keep up with
. I drove home deep in thought. I just wished he would talk to me.
 

Once I got to my apartment I felt exhausted from the day before and my dramatic day with Osric. I put a large comfy t-shirt on and climbed into bed. I hadn’t been asleep that long when I heard a tap at the front door. I went to the door and looked out the peephole. Osric stood there with his arms on both sides of the doorframe. He looked as awful as I felt. I opened the door.
 

“Can I come in?” he asked.
 

I held the door open wider and he walked inside. I shut and locked the door behind us.
 

He took my hand and led me back to the bedroom. He took his keys from his pocket and set them on the side table. I was tired, and just got into bed. I heard him take off his pants and throw them to the floor. He moved in beside me. My bed sunk to his body weight, causing me to roll into his chest. He put his arms around me and I scooted in closer to him.
 

We laid there in silence for a while.

“I love you Honor,” he whispered in the dark room.
 

“I love you too.”
 

He found my hand in the dark and entwined his fingers with mine. Neither one of us moved from each other’s embrace as we fell asleep.

Chapter 11

I sat on a blanket reading while Osric worked on the dock that led out to the river. It was much colder out, and the leaves had started falling from the trees. I pulled my jacket around me tighter as I looked up from my book to see Osric walking towards me. He laid on the blanket and put his head in my lap. I pulled his beanie from his head and pushed back the long hair that had gotten into is eyes.
 

“I should get a haircut,” he said.
 

“No, don’t! I love your hair. I am jealous of how pretty it is.” I laughed.
 

“You think my hair is pretty? I really have to get it cut now.”
 

I normally thought long hair on men was just nasty, but not on him. I doubted he could make anything unattractive. “I think it’s hot! Is that better?” I asked.
 

He sat up on his knees and pinned me down on the blanket. “So you think I’m hot?” he teased.
 

I laughed out loud as he held me down. “You know I think you’re hot. Now, tell me that I am hot.” I laughed.
 

He fell to his elbow, setting me free. “You’re more than hot Honor—you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.”
 

I laughed at him. “Then you need glasses.”
 

“I don’t think I do,” he said kissing me on the cheek. “I have to finish this, and you need to change,” he said motioning over to the dock.
 

“Why do I need to change?” I asked as I watched him put his hat back on.
 

“I am taking you to dinner tonight,” he stated.
 

“You are huh? Well, I do need to change then.”

He leaned down and kissed me. “I will pick you up in two hours at your place.” He walked back to the dock. I gathered my stuff and headed for my apartment.
 

I pulled the nicest dress I owned out of my closet and looked it up and down. It was a black one-shoulder dress; it was shorter than I would have liked for the cold weather, but I would tough it out. I pulled out my newest shoe purchase, which was a pair of bright-red high heels. After my shower and makeup, I decided to straighten my hair. I put my dress and heels on in just enough time to hear the tap on the door from Osric. I greeted him at the front door and saw he was dressed in a dark blue button up shirt with dress pants. He smiled and leaned in to kiss me.
 

“You look beautiful,” he said.

“Thank you, you look handsome yourself,” I told him.
 

I put on my dress jacket that I had laid out earlier. Osric helped me as I put my arms through the sleeves. He gathered all my hair, pulling it over my jacket, giving me goose bumps. I picked up my clutch purse and he opened the door for me, kissing me on the way out.

We sat at a table in one of the nicest restaurants I had ever been to. The lighting was dim, most of which came from the large fireplace at the back wall of the restaurant. The candlelight flickered between us casting shadows on Osric’s face.
 

“This place is impressive,” I said as I looked around. A man played a piano towards the middle of the restaurant. “Have you eaten here before?” I asked him.
 

“No, but I did help build this place.”
 

I looked at him and smiled. “Well, that would explain it then. It is a lovely place.”
 

The waiter walked up and filled our glasses with champagne then placed the bottle on the table. Osric ordered our meals for us after I noticed the menu was in French. It surprised me to see he could speak French with no difficulty at all.
 

“I didn’t know you could speak French?” I said, as more of a statement rather than a question.

The waiter walked away and Osric turned to me. “I lived in France for a while.”
 

I really didn’t know much about him, and he didn’t often share things about himself. I was lost in thought and he noticed.
 

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I was just thinking, I don’t really know much about you,” I murmured.

He reached for my hand. “I’m sorry. I am not very good at talking about myself. Until you came along I never felt the urge to share anything with anyone.” He seemed to be lost in thought now.
 

“We have time to get to know each other. I can’t speak for you, but I don’t plan on going anywhere,” I told him squeezing his hand.
 

“I love you,” he whispered as he kissed the top of my hand.
 

The waiter interrupted us as he placed a salmon concoction in front of both of us. I was a bit weary to try it but did anyway. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. The courses moved by as we talked about the upcoming trip to my parents. Osric seemed to be happy to go, and my parents were excited about meeting him. We were finishing our custard tarts when Osric pulled something out of his shirt pocket.