They Say Love Is Blind

  He bent and had her step out of them and now all she was wearing was the bra. He reached around and unhooked it, letting it drop to the floor. His hands moved up the sides of her body, seeming to rediscover each curve. He left no part of her torso untouched and when he discovered the bandage, beneath which the tube had pierced her lung, his brow drew together and he placed a tentative kiss there before moving on. He found the bruise on her shoulder and kissed it and so that he wouldn’t miss kissing any injury he kissed every inch of her body until she could take no more.

  “Please…” she begged breathlessly.

  He raised his head and looked at her. “Please, what?”

  “Please,” she bit her lip her eyes bright. “Put it in me. Make me cum, make love to me, fuck me—I don’t care! I just want to feel you inside of me!”

  “Fuck…” he lifted her and carried her to the bed, lying her down carefully. Then he swiftly removed his clothes, grimacing once when he raised his arms above his head to remove his shirt. When he was naked, standing over her in beautiful perfection, Tory moaned in anticipation. He was so beautiful. He’d often called her beautiful, but he was. He was perfect. He was hers.

  “Tu és tão lindo,” she whispered.

  He lowered himself carefully on top of her. “You are the beautiful one, and you don’t even realize it. My beautiful Tory.” He brought himself up until he was poised to enter her and she suddenly felt him pushing into her. She was slick and ready but for a moment she felt that he might over fill her. But then her body relaxed and closed around his girth. He sighed and uttered a word that she didn’t know; whether it was Portuguese or some mixture of a groan and a word she just didn’t know. His hips began its slow roll and then it was her that made non-existent words.

  He increased his pace and Tory’s legs encased his body while her hips slid up and down in rhythm to his pumping hips.

  Oh god! It was so good. She was liquid…she was the epitome of all sensation. She was a neuron that transmitted and received every chemical and electric signal in both her and Lee’s bodies! The rising tide of passion was overpowering—strong enough to engulf and obliterate them. Their bodies rolled and pumped and finally imploded. She couldn’t bare it, it was too much! She yelled out in passion and held onto Lee as his body guided them back down to reason. With one last bit of effort, Lee rolled off of her and onto his back before going limp.

  Neither could talk but lay side by side panting, trying to catch their breaths. Tory’s hand moved to his and she gently stroked his finger tips. He opened his hand and she traced his palm, moving across the cast before holding his hand tightly in hers.

  ~***~

  “Tory Torres.” He said.

  She laughed. They were in the bath, much easier than trying to shower and keep his casts from getting wet. They made water casts but she guessed no one had stopped to think how much more convenient it would be for a person with two arms in a cast to keep them dry.

  “Victoria Torres, Victoria das Torres, Tory das Torres,” She tested the names and sighed happily. Her back was leaned against his front and his arms rested on the sides of the tub. “I love the sound of it, even though I sound like I’m a character in a Dr. Suess book.”

  “Mmmm, I want to be married to you Tory Torres; Mrs. Tory Torres.” He kissed her temple.

  “When?”

  “Mmmm, up to you.”

  “Next week.”

  He laughed. “I have a huge family and they aren’t all situated in Ohio. Three months? That will give us time to prepare.”

  She made a face. “I guess…” she wiggled her hips. “As long as we can keep pretending like we’re married.”

  His fingers gently grazed her nipple. “I can agree to that.”

  “I think we really need to pick out rings.”

  “Mmmm,” he sighed in contentment. “Whatever you want, querida, I want you to have. Oh yeah, I know that you aren’t Catholic but I’d really like to get married in my church. Would that be okay?”

  “Oh yes. I love your church.” But it was huge. It sounded like he wanted a big wedding. She turned slightly to regard him. “We need to talk about finances.”

  “Yes we do.” He sighed. “But let’s get out of the bath. “My cock is getting wrinkly.”

  “Ooo bad boy,” she laughed.

  “Plus my parents will return soon and I’d rather not give their imagination fodder.”

  She wrapped a towel around herself and frowned. “You didn’t make love to me last night.”

  He paused in drying off and then wrapped the towel around his waist. “Tory, I know just how much sound it takes to be heard in that other room…”

  “Ah, gotcha.”

  “I’m an adult but the idea of my parents listening to us make love is…”

  “Yeah, okay, yeah.”

  After they dressed and were comfortable in the living room, Lee got them iced tea and then she rested in his arms. She didn’t know why this topic was so difficult for her; maybe because she didn’t want to be impacted by the amount of money he made. If he was poor she would love him no less and if he was a millionaire she couldn’t love him more than she did at this very moment.

  “Tory, if I had my fondest wish, it would be for you to quit work and to allow me to take care of you financially.”

  She made a face. “But then you’d have to give me an allowance…”

  “No. Why would you need an allowance for what is essentially ours? The only thing I’d ask is that if we make any major purchases we discuss it first. Other than that what’s mine is yours; ours.”

  “Well…” she bit her lip. “I do have these student loans...”

  “Tory, I make a hundred and twenty thousand a year without even trying. I can make double that just by transcribing more books. Visually impaired people are always going to want books, even in the digital age and there is never going to stop being books that people need transcribed. I have great benefits and my boss is also a personal friend of mine. We’ve been buddies since we met at the blind academy when we were both sixteen. When he started this company I was the first person he contacted and I’ve been with him for ages. So I’m in a secure job, my finances are secure and-”

  “Okay,” She grinned. “I’ll quit my job. I really…hate that job.”

  He kissed her and seemed relieved. “I know you do. And it’s not that I don’t want you working. I just don’t want you working at some job that you don’t like and that doesn’t appreciate you. I mean if you were doing something else that you liked; like how my sisters have their restaurant than I’d support that completely.”

  She considered his words. Would she want to start her own business? If she could do anything that her hearts desired, what would it be?

  “I don’t know what I’d want to do for a career, but I do know that I want to do something. If it’s okay I’d like to find some type of job that I’d enjoy.”

  He nodded. “My only requirement is that you like whatever it is you chose to do.”

  She snuggled deeply into his arms. “I am quite possibly the luckiest woman in the world.”

  ~***~

  After church, Mr. and Mrs. Torres announced that they would return home the following day. Everybody objected but understood. Dinner was at Kaye and Paulo’s big home where the entire family showed up to spend one last family dinner with the matriarch and patriarch of their large clan.

  Rosalind was even present with her two boys Brice, jr and Michael. Tory was determined not to allow the other woman to get under her skin. Lee was so solidly hers that there was nothing Ros could do to change that.

  In the kitchen, the ladies convened to prepare the meal. Tory knew what to do in the kitchen but since Mama Torres (Mrs. Torres insisted she stop with the MRS and call her Mama) was present all rolls were changed as the older woman took charge of making an authentic Azorean dinner. And to think, all this time she thought she was eating authentic Azorean food!

  She was told to make arroz doce ins
tead of the aletria that she usually made. And there would also be deep fried calamari sautéed in olive oil and wine, grilled linguica, little neck clams, beer mussels, caldo verde sopa, and a braised beef served with potatoes and carrots called carne guizada. She liked being in the kitchen with Mama Torres, who seemed to know everything about cooking just by sight. She knew when Kaye needed to add more salt to the beef and that Francine’s wine wouldn’t do for the molho vilao.

  “When will I be returning for the wedding?” Mama Torres asked with a sly smile.

  Tory grinned as she stirred the custard. “Three months.” Everyone began to whoop in excitement, everyone except for Roz who was pretending that Tory wasn’t present.

  “Have you picked out a ring?”

  “Where is the wedding going to be held?”

  “Where is the honeymoon?”

  She giggled happily and held up her hands. “We haven’t decided on all of that yet. The only thing we know is that we’re going to be married in the church.”

  Rosalind’s head whipped around. “But you’re not even Catholic. Only Catholics can get married in a Catholic church. Everybody knows that.”

  “Nonsense,” Kaye said. “Father Romano knows us like his second rib. He wouldn’t want anybody else to do the nuptials.”

  Macey piped up. “And if he dared to raise a stink he’d lose all of us.”

  “That’s right!” Everyone agreed, including Senna and Leticia, which surprised Tory. It appeared that the tides were turning back to her. Roz wisely kept her mouth shut.

  While the men watched the big screen television in the other room, Mama Torres went off to spend time with the grand children. The women sat and had wine and cheese in the dining room.

  “How are you holding up?” Leticia asked Rosalind. Rosalind shrugged and sighed. “I’m fine but the boys are having a difficult time. I’m happy they have all of their cousins here to play with, and of course their aunts and uncles.”

  Ugh, what cousins? What aunts and uncles? She wasn’t even related to them!

  Katy, who was married to Carlo patted the other woman’s hand. “You have us, Roz, don’t forget that.”

  “I appreciate that. My family is back home and you are all the family I have now.”

  Francie gave her hand a pat. “You’ll always have us. God willing you will find the love that you deserve.” Tory watched as Roz shrugged and looked down forlornly. She almost said, ugh, out loud at her fakeness.

  “I don’t think I want to be in love. I’ve had two great loves and both ended leaving me in misery.” The room grew quiet. “If I could I would go back in time and choose wisely in my youth.” She gave Tory a careful smile. “Then I’d be happily married just like the rest of you.”

  Fiona made a sound of disapproval at her words.

  “Rosalind, watch your mouth.”

  “I don’t mean any disrespect. These are just the words of a broken hearted woman.” She stood. “Excuse me. I’m going to take cerveja to the men.” Tory counted to ten…and then to twenty before she felt it was safe to stop gripping her chair handle so that she wouldn’t jump down Roz’s throat!

  “Who invited her?” Macey muttered after a few quiet moments. Everyone chuckled.

  At dinner Lee was having a tough time feeding himself because it was too difficult to cut the beef with the cast. Tory took great pleasure in feeding him and shushing him when he complained that he could do it. She delivered a kiss to his cheek to quiet his protests and then the men laughed and complimented him on figuring out how to be served so efficiently. Tory joined in the good-natured razing and despite the careful glares by Rosalind, Tory felt like everything between her and the Torres family had returned to normal.

  During dessert, Rosalind commented that she would be willing to drive Lee and Tory home.

  “We have our own car.” Lee responded.

  “I’m just offering because I noticed that Tory was drinking.”

  That was it! That was the last straw. “What are you trying to say?” Tory asked. “Are you suggesting that I’m not able to drive safely?”

  “Not at all.”

  Paulo opened his mouth to make a joke but Kaye stopped him and so the room grew quiet.

  “Accidents happen,” Rosalind stated.

  “Especially when others are driving down the wrong side of the street.” Lee added.

  “Yes,” Raphael agreed with a chuckle. “That is usually a sure fire way to start an accident.”

  The tension lifted except between Rosalind and Tory who watched each other warily from across the table. For one split second, Tory thought about letting it get swept under the table. She thought about leading the rest of her and Lee’s life together with her ignoring the other woman as she took pot shots at her. And in that moment she knew that she couldn’t. She might be about to stick her foot in her mouth and mess everything up but she wouldn’t go another second pretending.

  “Rosalind,” Tory said, cutting through the chatter. “Say what you’ve been dying to say all evening. I know you’ve been waiting for the best opportunity, so go ahead and get it off your chest.”

  “I have nothing to say. But you sound like there is something that you might want to get off your chest.”

  Kaye stood and ushered the young ones remaining at their seats around the card table to the other room to play video games.

  “Rosalind, what are you doing?” Lee asked.

  Papa Torres stopped Mama Torres from intervening and the older couple remained quiet along with the other members of the family.

  “It’s okay.” Tory said. “I do want to talk to you all. I know that some of you have voiced a concern about what happened the night of the accident. I know some of you are worried that I might not be responsible enough to be married to a visually impaired man.”

  “Tory, you owe no one an explanation-” Lee began but she placed her hand on his.

  “No honey, this needs to be said.” She looked at everyone around the table. Macey gave her a look of approval. Tory allowed her eyes to rest on Rosalind. “I’m not going to meet a man that is visually impaired and just because I fall head over heels in love with him immediately know everything there is to know about his blindness. But Lee is a great teacher. He’s taught me how to dance like I’m Portuguese, and how not to move the furniture. He’s taught me how to accept…my shortcomings. I’ve taught him things too. I’ve taught him that his inability to see does not impact the love that a woman can have for him. Somehow I don’t think he’s learned that from…past relationships.” Someone snickered and Rosalind’s eyes flitted to that person.

  “On the night of the accident, after we left the restaurant we walked to our car. We even stopped and kissed right there on the sidewalk.” Lee took her hand. “I remember thinking that I was the luckiest woman in the world. We got into the car and he reached out and took my hand as I drove. I looked at him and thought, he looks the way I feel.” Tory smiled to herself. “I never thought that I’d meet a man that could feel that way about me.” Lee squeezed her hand.

  “I don’t know how long I looked at him; about as long as someone looks at their radio dial when they’re changing the channel, or glances in the back seat at their sleeping child, or at their cell phone when they missed a call. And then I heard a horn blow and I looked up just in time to see that car right there in front of us. How long does it take a car driving thirty miles an hour to drive a few yards? How much time do you need to spend the wheel? I can’t answer those questions. All I know is that I turned the wheel hard and fast…but it wasn’t fast enough.

  “So…there you have it. You decide what you need to decide. Lee and I have already talked about it and he knows how I feel. I’m going to always doubt myself because of that night. But I’m also always going to adapt and learn from my mistakes. More importantly, I’m never going to worry about how you or anyone else feels about me. Lee loves me and that is all I need to make me happy.”

  Rosalind looked around the table and
then looked at Tory. “I know that you will be a good wife to Lee. You don’t need to prove anything to anyone. I just hope that you and I can be friends-”

  “No we can’t. But we don’t need to be enemies.” Tory said flatly. See bitch, I don’t trust you and now everybody knows it. Game over!

  “Tory,” Rosalind said quickly, “I’m not trying to interfere in your life! We all love Lee and just want the best for him-”

  “Rosalind! Cala-te praí! This conversation is over! She doesn’t want to be friends with you and that is it. For the rest of you, I need to tell you, that you are driving me NUTS! I can’t freaking breathe without one of you calling or stopping by! I love you, but this has to end! Now, I know you worry but it’s not needed.”