The Surrogate

Chapter 3

That night, intoxicated on sugary sweet desserts and laughter, Esther let her clothes fall to the floor in a trail behind her as she made her way to the bedroom. Memories flooded her mind, allowing the past intermingled with her present thoughts. She haphazardly brushed her teeth in the kitchen sink, hearing the radiator click on across the open room. The warm air brushed against her skin as she headed to bed. Wiping off her face with a little towelette on her bedside table, she sunk into her bed and a deep mesmerizing sleep. Covering her bare skin with the fluffy white comforter, Esther’s lids were heavy with dreams already queueing up for display.

It was not longer after her eyes shut that Esther was young again.

The dress was gold sequins, matching the cheap plastic tiara that Archie had bought for her from a street vendor on the walk over. The plastered white walls waiting to be painted were just as expectant as Esther felt in that moment. The long wall of windows over the terrace shut out the sound of the party below, but the shimmering ball could be seen like a baseball she could hold in her palm. Esther reached out to grab it, but it stayed just out of reach.

Esther had never been tipsy before, but the champagne had been too delicious to pass up at the party thrown by Archie’s old school friends. Her hair was in wild loose curls like her idol Lisa Bonet’s was in her early days on television, and it was tangled up from her dancing to the vintage disco music at the party. Archie was playing a Weber piece he had been studying. The sound of the notes consumed her as he began to consume her, his lips on every part of her skin. His hands slowly moved up her legs and thighs, still a bit cool from the icy air outside. Time was rushing forward in the blurry reflections of her past came alive in her dreamscape.

She could hear his words again, but they were muddled like her thoughts. Alcohol could be awful that way. Everything was muddled around her, but the wanting was clear. Nothing had ever seemed more obvious. The desire was still perfectly clear as the night it happened. Esther knew these were only shadows of the past, but her longing to let her lips and fingers explore another’s body seemed as potent and real as if it was reality.

Thanks to their novice, there was little foreplay prefacing their interlude. It seemed odd, but Esther could not change things. She could not will herself to draw the moment out. She could only let herself be vulnerable to the one boy she had ever wanted quite like this.

Esther felt the sharp sensation as he was inside her. The contact coursed through her body like nothing else ever had. Eyes shut tight, the blackness gave way to his penetration being crystal clear. The beginning was more slow and careful than she wanted, but it finally happened. After the entire evening of anticipation behind her, Esther began to move with the young love of her life in a new way. The dance was different than the one they had done on the checkered white floor hours ago. It was a mystery finally revealed, and like the breaking dawn it was wonderful.

The white walls shimmered and glowed almost as much as Esther did. Archie said something again, but she just laughed and kissed him deeply. Without little control in the matter, she could feel her short nails scratch against his back and run up his spine. There was no time for words in these careful moments. Esther moved her lips down his neck, kissing him as she begged him to go deeper and forget about being nice for one moment. Letting her lips linger on Archie’s shoulder, she felt him persist as he found in his gentle rhythm.

Screw gentle. Her body craved more. She wanted things that he could not seem to give, but her understanding did not subside that urgency rising out of her chest and parts that she hardly knew she had.

The champagne might have been encouraging it, but Esther knew she wanted him. He finally moved faster. His body pressed harder against her as her heart quickened. Her fingers found themselves bracing against his back as her body arched. Her hands sharply moved up to his neck and his soft blonde waves tickled her fingertips. Esther felt a sudden release of hot air into her air as his entire body relaxed suddenly, and something inside changed before it disappeared like a hurried goodbye.

It was quiet and brief. The magnificent moment that people seemed to have in films did not happen for her, but her body felt bright and hot and changed by this. Hair wild and heart beating fast, the quiet seemed that much more silent compared to the thrilling cacophony in her mind.

After pulling out and removing the cheap condom Esther had picked up at the pharmacy, Archie was still somewhat terrified, but Esther was elated. She sat up as the ball began to drop down the street, and took his hand in his as she counted down the seconds.

Three. Two. One.

She kissed his lips without any reservation. There was no watching to judge them or to judge her. The whispers floated about her head, but she shoved them away by just kissing her Archie even harder. They had left the party of rich kids and socialites, and now they had an even better party of their own. As she teased him with the hope of giving it a second shot, the reflections disappeared in a fine mist.

Esther woke in a cold sweat. It was about an hour before she had to wake up for work, but the tingling sensation in her bones told her that there was no way she was going back to sleep. Instead, she threw her sheets off of her body, and then she set out to her kitchen to make a large cup of coffee.

The dawn filtered through the windows, allowing pale gray light to illuminate the city street below. Looking out, Esther could see the morning runners and cyclists moving through Prospect Park. Wrapping her fingers around her coffee, she admired all the neon colors like flecks on the field of green as she sat at the kitchen bar. Even though it was decaffeinated, the warmth helped wake Esther up. Her phone caught her eye suddenly, charging just in arms reach. She pulled it off the cord without much thought. Esther dialed Archibald.

He was unsurprisingly awake.

“Hey, Essie.”

“Good Morning, is this a bad time?”

“Uh no, I just got back from my morning run, and I was on my way to shower just as you called. I feel compelled to inform you that you’ve caught me in a complete state of undress.”

“You’re naked? Oh, that’s an image I wanted to start my morning with,” Esther joked, but if it was anything like his body once was… the daydream was not unpleasant for her. “Actually, that’s kind of what I wanted to talk about.”

“My body?”

Esther groaned. “No, Archie!”

“Hey, I also took your advice. I found Mrs. Petrolla’s son and called him up last night, and he has been wanting his mother to move to San Diego where he is and his sister is in Pebble Beach. She keeps telling him I am helpless without her, so I am flying him in and we’re going to talk her into moving to California.”

“That’s great, Archie.”

“I could not have done it without you!”

“I appreciate that.”

“Also, I am going to Japan tomorrow for four days, and then I will be in Norway and then London. I’ll probably out of touch for the next two weeks, but feel free to email me if there’s a problem.”

“Okay.”