Ten weeks and ten years

Depending on how you measured it, Carly and Alec knew each other for ten weeks or ten years before things changed. They both agree on how and where they met though: an annual artists’ conference and panel discussions week. With her a painter and him a sculptor, it felt almost like fate in how well their chosen media complimented each other. Fate, they believed, was something that kept them knowledgeable of each other’s works outside their meetings.

During the 358 (give or take a few) days they weren’t surrounded by art and getting to savor in-person contact with each other, they had little direct communication. It was a semi-conscious choice given their opposite coast residences and erratic, creativity-filled schedules. Somehow, with each reunion every new ‘week,’ they fell into their relational rhythm like no time had passed.

Their first meeting was definitely a chance encounter given both of them being shy by nature. It actually took until the next-to-last day of their first week/year knowing each other before they had a conversation. They were walking in opposite directions through a hallway.She had her head down in focus on a sketch she’d finished at lunch. He had his head face up and ahead in search of the next panel he was to hear.

“Ooof,” he’d cried out as part of her body connected with his.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t, I mean, I hope you’re okay.”

He’d watch her look up, “Eh, I’ll live. What about you? Head to shoulder contact doesn’t usually often end softy.”

She’d laughed and assured him she wasn’t hurt. At the same time, they then bent down to pick up the paper that had fallen out of her hand. In the movements, their knuckles grazed each other.Carly had snatched the page as quickly as she could before she gave it a small fold and put it in her purse. She still remembers the immediate blush that warmed her cheeks at the physical contact though. While she made her hasty gestures, she’d also caught a glimpse of a impish grin on Alec’s face. When she saw his small smile, her own crimson cheeks deepened in their hue. They didn’t share any other words after that, just went on to the next seminar they’d each registered for, which turned out to be the same one.Alec never commented in the moment about her red-faced reaction to his touch. Carly also keeps the image of his playful grin and friendly eyes burned into her memory. Of course, what helps keep in on file like a screensaver to her thoughts is his reminder of that encounter at least once a year at every conference since it happened.

Fast forward ten weeks/years later and Alec stands at the hotel’s registration desk. He drums one hand with nervous energy on the soft wood in front of him. The clerk nearby gives him a side-eyed look. It’s just a half-glance but the disdain, annoyance, and frustration are clear enough. Alec takes the cue quickly and stops his tapping. He grimaces and gives a small apology before he turns away from the younger man.

Carly sees Alec before he sees her. She laughs when she notices this detail despite the fact that they’re both looking in each other’s general directions. With a smile, she takes the first steps toward him. The sound of her walk alerts him to her presence without her realizing though.When she’s within arms’ length, he whispers quickly. She picks out the word ‘hug’ as his sturdy embrace encompasses her. Carly sighs and then smiles when she breathes in Alec’s scent.A warm, comforting peace envelops her from the inside out.

“It feels like it’s been more than a year,” Carly says into his chest.

She feels his body jiggle in agreement, “I know. I can’t believe it either.”

Alec releases her but continues to keep an arm wrapped in hers. He gestures with his free one toward the hotel’s restaurant. Carly nods and they walk together. Silence fills the space between them in their strides, but it’s a comfortable one. Years before, they’d discovered how at ease they felt around each other, whether words were used or not. They sit at the first table for two they find. Carly uncharacteristically starts the conversation, eager to all at once let out the nervous energy she recognizes to have been in her from the moment she stepped into the hotel.

While she talks, a worry pings into her excitement that she’s getting too animated.She notices Alec’s facial reactions soon become more exaggerated, his gestures more dramatic. Carly turns her head away from the table and Alec, her silent apology.I know I get erratic when I’m talking about things I’m passionate about. Why does this always happen more often around the man people have told me is my emotional and intellectual equal?

Before her thoughts hit their twisty peak, she feels his hand grabs her forearm in protest.

“No. Hey. What have I said before about our tangential talks?”

“We go off the rails together or not at all.”

She smiles and lays her fingers over his hand on her, which hasn’t moved even after he stopped talking. Carly pauses her verbal spill of words then and reflects on when Alec first told her how little he minded her distractible discussions. She remains quiet in reliving the memory. Her silence, she notices, inspires him to respond with his own divergent topic. He quickly explains how her discussion led to him having semi-related ideas come to mind and he wanted to tell them in the order he recalled them.

“I knew I had to wait until you were to a somewhat coherent end of your spiel before I felt comfortable jumping in though,” Alec says with a smile that envelopes his whole face.

Carly grins and rolls her eyes, obvious in both gestures, and she then allows him to continue his verbal rambles. Their food arrives during his rant about the lack of cultural appreciation the world seems to have developed since they last met. Carly starts to cut her chicken and adds a bit of baked potato to the meat on her fork. She notices Alec try his steak first. He continues to slice and eat pieces of it before he moves on to its accompanying fries. Their conversation slows down during the meal, but not to a degree that observers would label recognize as noticeable. Carly knows in between bites, chews, and swallows, her face is nearly always in a smile. The expression is nothing compared to the inner joy that’s flowing through her body though.

After they finish their meals, Alec goes to pull Carly’s chair for her. Her face warms without hesitation despite her familiarity with the gentlemanly actions and words Alec has displayed in the past. Tonight shouldn’t be any different, she thinks, but other emotions soak through her thoughts, and a buzzing question comes into her head. Carly stands to clear her mind of the possibility and after a few moments, Alec has her arm in his to begin their walking again. They pass by the rooms which will seat all of the forthcoming days’ events. Intwined with him, Carly notices the displays already out in advertising panels, hands-on activities, and more. While they talk again along their path, her face regains its beaming glow from dinner.

At one point, Carly notices how close their bodies are in addition to their linked arms. Her face pinks at Alec’s reaction to the intimate physical contact, which from the corner of her eye, she sees is none at all. Outside one of the conference rooms, they stop to read the schedule for the next day’s sessions there. Carly feels the exhaustion from her westward trip hit her and she lays her head on Alec’s shoulder as she scans the page. His body reacts to the sudden weight, but he doesn’t move her away. Instead, he tilts his own head and lays it on hers with gentle care.

Carly doesn’t even flinch when she feels his head there. She lets her body relax as they stand together in silence contentment. Within minutes, her breathing slows to a labored but easy rhythm. Alec’s breaths mirror her own. I can’t recall the last time I felt this comfortable, she says in her head.

When Carly starts to notice her eyes droop, she jerks at the sensation.

“I need to get to my room, rest up from the long day,” she yawns, “Prepare for tomorrow’s events too.”

Alec yawns in reflexive reaction, “I can walk you to the elevator.”

They move their bodies to positions that allow easy walking. As they do so, Alec sees they’re holding hands and looks at her, not fully bashful but with a grin that she knows has a secret to it. Carly quirks an eyebrow to silently ask what’s happened. He looks down and she follows his eyes. When she sees what he has already noticed, her own shyness envelops her, and she knows her cheeks are seconds away from being cherry-red. Alec uses his empty hand to gesture their path. Carly nods in agreement.

In the elevator, she pushes her floor’s number. On their upward trek, Carly realizes Alec didn’t say his. She’s still got her hand in his, the warm, steady support of him being something she wants to enjoy for as long as he’ll offer it. The elevator dings and they step out together, still attached.

“I don’t want to keep you from your floor,” she says.

“Kind of hard to do that since I’m on it.”

Carly’s eyes widen with curiosity, “Did you plan us to do that?”

“Well,” Alec says and his smile grows, “No. Just a great happy accident.”

They share their room numbers and discover they’re in opposite hallways. He offers to let her go to hers, a final reprieve from his ‘wretched’ company. She swats him with her hand then, causing her to have to let go of his. Instantly, her fingers and palm feel colder without being wrapped in his. Carly gives him a teasing, hollow threat that Alec is never allowed to think so little of her opinion of him or his presence.

“If you can stand to be without me for about ten minutes to freshen up, I can meet you in your room for a nightcap.”

When he hears this, it’s Alec’s turn to raise his eyebrows with intrigue, “I thought you wanted to rest.”

Carly shrugs. Guess I’m getting a second wind. She says if he doesn’t want her around, they can do a raincheck. He shakes his head adamantly no. Not a chance, his inner voice all but growls. He reminds her of his room number, and they go to their separate places.

Minutes later, she knocks at his door. He opens the door during one of her taps and welcomes her inside with a question of her drink choice. Carly requests water and jokes about how her nightcaps are lame overall. As she walks into the room, she sees a sketchbook on the nightstand. When Alec brings her glass, he notices where her attention has focused and follows her eyes. He grabs the book, brings it to a bed, and motions for her to sit. Without a word, she knows he wants her to see the bound pages with him.

Carly gazes over outlines for different sculpture plans. Some are more finished than others and she recalls what he’s told her about those in past conversations. Others are new enough that they are rough lines without clear forms or structure. She stops on a sketch of a building. It’s modestly sized and includes a list of different ideas for what will go in its rooms. The last item on the list is the one that that halts her breath: “Carly’s Creations.” As she remains focused in silence on the words, Carly senses how close Alec is to her on the bed. She can feel his breath rustle her hair.

“I want to start a mixed media gallery. I’ve love to feature your paintings.”

Multiple emotions slam inside Carly. Excitement, worry, appreciation, apprehension, they all hit her in a line. She doesn’t know how to begin to verbalize her first thought to him. With a turn of her head, she tries to center herself and focus on saying one idea aloud.

“I’ve always been a solitary painter,” her words finally come out.

Alec stays beside her and looks at her back, “I know and I would continue to respect that. I do now. I just also want. Carly, I’ve been yearning for more with you and your work for a while now.”

Carly’s hands twitch without her control then. Her stomach flutters and her own longing warmth pools into it. The solace she felt on his shoulder before almost seems like a dream she’s had or a song she’s heard about a slow-burning love affair. It can’t be true that they’re both feeling this at the same time, that’d be too amazing to imagine. She’s never thought it possible to have more than the ten weeks, ten years, her mind corrects her of the time she’s known Alec. Her mind makes another correction—she never thought more until this week/year about how much their natural understanding and connection meant to her. Their easy but deep bond has remained steady until tonight where it’s quickly bubbling into what could be a major tipping point.

Suddenly, Carly knows what she wants to be her first new interaction with Alec. She feels it throughout her whole body. With a tremor in her hand, she puts her glass on the floor and turns to fully face him again.Alec’s face is neutral and she knows it’s his way to not influence her choice toward or against his offer, well offers really. Despite this objectivity, she sees him read her thoughts since he stands with her when she gets up from the bed. Two steps forward and they’re both on the carpet path between the bed and the room’s dresser.

“Alec, I’m a mess. I’m feeling so many things. I want…” she trails off.

He grabs her hands then and clasps her fingers in his. The warm liquid feeling from her belly before returns with hotter intensity this time. Alec uses his other arm to wrap himself around her. She lets her head fall on his shoulder again. He grazes her hair with his hand. They remain entwined and momentarily silent.

“I want you—and the gallery,” she whispers into his shirt.

Neither of them speak after that and it leaves the only sound in the room to be their soft breaths. Did he hear me? Carly wonders. I don’t know if I have the bravery to say that again. Alec repositions their joined bodies so he can look into Carly’s eyes. The neutrality from before has morphed into restrained but happy excitement. The longer he gazes at her, the more a painting starts to fill Carly’s mind. I’ve been seeing his face in so many people and places.

“I hoped you’d say that. I’ve been wanting to tell you my offer all year,” Alec tells her.

Carly notices her cheeks and face move into her own jubilant smile.

Alec leans his face forward, “I want you too.”

Before Carly can register Alec’s statement that echoes her desire toward him, his lips cover hers. They linger softly, a tentative guess to see if she is okay with the sensation. Carly presses her lips back and wraps her hands around Alec’s neck. They deepen the kiss together and Carly feels like she’s floating above the carpet and soaring through the sky at the same time. Alec’s hands move so that one is on her waist and the other stays gently on her face. He cups her right cheek and strokes his thumb over it. She sighs into his mouth when they briefly pause their kissing.

The sensation of such gentle caresses from Alec gives Carly a rush of safety and security. She thinks of how much she’s felt their connection through all the days/years they’ve known each other. This feels deeper though. Alec’s more than just someone I would share my art with. He’s my home. Carly pulls him back to her and they kiss again. It’s a silent affirmation of their supportive history that led to this night and a promise for what they will offer each other in a collaborative future.