Glow of an Angel

The sun streaked in through the crack in the window curtain shining directly into Conor’s eyes. He blinked awake, sat up in bed, and smiled to himself about how great he felt. The night before was definitely not a dream, it actually happened.

He was in unexplored territory. He had a sense that he was supposed to wait a few days before reconnecting after a first date. He couldn’t get over the attraction Kai held over him. He didn’t want her to leave last night, he wanted her with him right now. He didn’t want to wait and got up to call her.

As he reached for the phone to call her, it rang, startling him. He answered it and before he said anything he heard Kai say,

“I’m not sure about the etiquette, and I guess the guy’s supposed to reach out, but I’ve been up for a while and couldn’t wait any longer. I wanted to hear your voice. I hope I’m not messing things up.”

“You’re definitely not!” Conor blurted out in a voice a bit too loud.

“O.K., I wasn’t sure. Last night was, well, up to now, the best night of my life and I wanted you to know. I’ll go now and hopefully, we’ll talk again,” and with that, she abruptly hung up.

Conor stared at the phone, laughed out loud, and dialed her back.

Before she could say hello, Conor said, “I think I’m supposed to wait a day or two after a first date, but I can’t. When the phone rang a few minutes ago, I was literally reaching for it to call you.”

“Conor, you should know that I’m actually floating. Seriously, I’m levitating about three feet off my bed right now. Houdini has nothing over on me!” Kai said.

He laughed and replied, “Yesterday was wonderful, and not just the ending, everything was great. Talking, not talking, telling each other anything and everything, it’s like we’ve been best friends for years. The ending was more amazing than anything.“

“I want to be with you all the time, and when I’m not, I have this empty feeling inside,” Kai said.

“You too? I thought it was only me, but guys aren’t supposed to say that are they?”

There was a pregnant pause in the call. Conor was certain Kai must have thought he was a wimp for saying such a thing, and Kai couldn't believe he was sharing something so personal, and unlikely for a, well, a teenage boy.

“One of the things I love about you is you don’t judge others and don’t care what others think of you. Don’t feel you have to be that macho guy with me. Though please feel free to be a manly dude and kick ass on the soccer field.” Kai finished with a smile.

“O.K., I got it.” He paused for a moment then continued, “Kai, the cool thing about last night is that as amazing as it was, I think we’re going to top it over and over again. I really do.”

“All right then, what are you waiting for, get your beautiful ass over here?” she asked.

“Uh, well, I don’t think I told you, I have a part-time job and Saturday is usually a work day,” Conor staggered to admit.

“Really? You’re kidding, right? Damn, I didn’t know.” She said, resigned to the reality that they did have lives apart from each other.

“What is the job and how long will it take for you to get here?” Kai asked.

“It’s kind of a silly job I do for a small security company downtown on Church St. I can be over to your house by 3 PM. Maybe a few minutes later after a pit stop at the drug store.”

“If it’s a condom stop, don’t bother. I’ve been on The Pill for a few weeks. After kissing you in Highland, I was wishing and hoping I’d need them for what happened last night,” Kai said.

“O.K. then, no stopping, straight to your house after work!” Conor replied.

“You’re killing me with this work delay Conor. I’ll be floating on air all afternoon and will need a thorough deflating to bring me back down to earth when you get here. Will you be able to help me with that?”

“Count on it,” Conor snickered. “and make no plans for tomorrow, we’ll be spending the entire day together. I have a plan to elevate you higher than you ever imagined.”

“Oooo, bring it, stud master!”

∞

Conor had been working at Church St. Security off and on since he was fourteen. He met the owner at the pool hall up the street when he beat him badly in eight-ball. Instead of paying off their bet, the owner offered him a job.

The company dealt with fire extinguishers, and Conor’s job was refilling used ones. It involved making sure each canister was still in good shape, filling it with powder, screwing the top on securely, and charging them with CO2 gas. The trick was making sure when the top was attached, it was threaded cleanly, making sure no gas escaped. This last step pressurized each extinguisher, making it similar to a small bomb.

Anxious to meet up with Kai, Conor checked the time and was psyched. It was 2:30 and he only had one extinguisher left to fill. He scooped in the powder, and quickly checked the canister’s rivets. He was supposed to carefully brush them removing any debris. In a rush to finish, he used his fingers, made a quick swipe, and screwed on the canister’s top. It wasn’t perfectly smooth, but he still got it tightened.

Conor began filling the extinguisher with gas and finished perfectly at 200 PSI. He detached the gas hose and turned to place it back on the rack.

There was a loud whoosh, followed by a ping, pang, pong sound, and the door to the work area blew open. The owner was sitting at his desk about fifteen feet away. When he looked toward the cause of the sound, he thought he was looking into heaven.

The filling room was completely consumed in swirling white. The light powder had dispersed with such pressure that it made a cloud of the entire workroom. A few seconds later, Conor walked out of the cloud into the adjacent room. He was completely covered in white from head to toe, including his long hair that was caked in white and stood on end in all directions.

It was as if Conor was a crazy-looking angel appearing from heaven. Seeing he wasn’t hurt, the owner, who should’ve been furious, started to laugh. It was a deep belly laugh that was infectious and Conor started laughing too.

Apparently, the threads were not clean, and the pressure poured through and blew off the top that ricocheted around the room. Luckily, flying faster than a bullet, the top missed Conor or there would be little laughter. The pressure was strong enough to spread the fine powder everywhere, making a heavenly workroom.

“Should I be worried about these chemicals stuck to every pore of my body?”

“Only if you’re planning to bake a cake Conor. It’s mostly baking soda,” he replied.

The owner shut the door to the room still immersed in a cloud. He told Conor to go home and shower off. He said his other workers would deal with the clean-up on Monday.

∞

Donk, donk, donk on the glass of the slider brought Kai off her bed. She slid it open and said,

“What the?”

“It’s a long story, any chance I could use your shower?”

Kai looked at Conor covered in white and walked outside. “Not a chance, all that…” motioning at his whole body, “…will not take one step in my clean bathroom.”

She found a garden hose and turned it on Conor. He ran into the middle of the backyard shrieking from the freezing cold water while Kai sprayed and chased him with the hose laughing her head off. Eventually, the hose got enough of the powder off him. She had him strip down to his boxers on the back patio before letting him inside.

He told her what happened, and how he was now a full-fledged angel and headed into the bathroom to shower off the rest of the baking soda. A few minutes later, the shower door opened to a fully naked Kai.

“How’d you like to earn your wings big fella?” Kai asked.

Without waiting for an answer, she stepped in with him. They soaped each other all over, learning intimately what the other looked like naked. Kai loved the way Conor kissed her as the water cascaded over them. She dreamt it was a waterfall at some sexy tropical rainforest and it made her feel like a wild animal. They made love in the shower until their skin was waterlogged and wrinkled.

∞

Kai put on a robe and ran upstairs to grab two cans of Coke. When she got back Conor was flipping through a book he found on her bedside table.

“Hey, you’re not supposed to look at that, it was a surprise,” Kai pouted.

“What, or should I say where, did you get it?” Conor asked.

“I read about it in a French magazine at my mom’s flat in Paris. Then we found a copy at the used book stalls along the Seine. My French was a little rusty and my mom’s boyfriend translated it for me. God, was that embarrassing!”

“It’s all in French Kai, and the pictures are like nothing I’ve ever seen. What is it?” Conor asked.

“It’s our guide to amazing lovemaking. It’s called Kama Sutra, and it’s an ancient Hindu text that basically outlines several dozen sex positions. It's more than a “how-to” manual though. It’s a way to have sex be more approachable. Helping us talk openly about it and share what we like and don’t like. Sharing ideas about sex doesn’t have to be uncomfortable or stiff.”

Kai paused and thought about that for a second, and then added with a sexy smile, “Although, we do want it stiff for you!”

∞

Naked, on the bed lying prone side to side with their heads together, they studied the pictures in the book. Neither had ever talked about sex with anyone like this before. Unabashed, they fell right into it as if they’d been partners for years. Kai translated the French, and they commented and laughed about the crazy things they viewed and got turned on by the pictures.

They made love, trying different positions, all afternoon and into the evening, only stopping for more Cokes. The intensity and number of their orgasms were off the charts, and they lost count of how many times they reached it. The sex seemed intoxicating and sensational.

Around ten o’clock, they had taken a break and were lying on their backs on the bed staring up at the ceiling. Conor looked over at Kai and said that they should call it a night.

“Not yet, Conor! Just a little more. I can do this non-stop all night and into the morning. Come on, please?” Kai pleaded.

“That’s just it, the morning will come fast, and I’ll be back for you,” He said as he shook his head with a smile.

“Fall asleep now as you are, and I’ll wake and dress you when I get here. It’ll be pretty early, and I’ll bring coffee,” he added.

Without further discussion, Conor gently tucked Kai, still naked, under the covers and kissed her. By the time he was dressed and ready to leave, she was purring her breaths and was fast asleep. He looked at her sleeping peacefully and said a prayer to the gods for helping them find each other.