Free The Topsail Accord by J. Kalnay Page A

looking at the pictures.”
    “ Did you have to?” Joe asks.
    “ No. But I love you and I was curious. Do you want to know how rich?”
    “ Could I stop you?”
    “ No.”
    “ Alright then. Is she richer than me?”
    “ If we are going to calibrate our scale by saying you are rich, then on that same scale she is filthy rich,” Karen said.
    “ Wow. Well at least that solves that usual problem.”
    “ I’ll say,” Karen says.

Shannon
     
    “ I kissed him,” Shannon tells Cara.
    “ You didn’t!”
    “ I did!”
    “ How was it?”
    “ He wasn’t ready for it. I took him by surprise. So, he was kinda stiff.”
    “ I’ll bet he was,” Cara leers.
    “ Cara! Stop it!” Shannon says as they share a conspiratorial laugh.
    “ He said it was okay to buy him the surf lesson,” Shannon says.
    “ That’s cool. Can you do it online?”
    “ Yes. I’m going to look after it right now, and then give him the certificate when I go over for coffee.”
    “ You’re going over for coffee again? Right after you kissed him?”
    “ Yes. And after coffee I’m going to kiss him again. He’ll be ready for it this time, so we’ll get a much better read on the second one.”
    “ Yeah the first one can be awkward,” Cara says.
    “ How would you know?” Shannon asks.
    “ I don’t. It just sounded like the right thing to say.”

Shannon
     
    I kissed him. I actually kissed him. That is not what I’m like. But, apparently it is what I am like. Because I kissed him. He didn’t expect it. And he didn’t know what to do. I didn’t really expect it either. But I felt so good from the miles on the beach, it just seemed right. He didn’t whine or cry about being left alone on the beach, and he was happy to warm up and cool down with me. And the way he was looking at me when I ran up on him after the second repeat. That look was filled with lust.
    The kiss felt right. He feels right. Is it because I know I can leave whenever I want? Is it because I know he won’t come after me? That he is so tied to this place that he couldn’t possibly tie me down in any way? Is that why he feels right? Because I know his reach and dominion can never extend in to mine, and that he won’t be able to impinge on my habits?
     

Joe
     
    She kissed me. She actually kissed me. I liked it, once I realized what was happening. I can’t believe I didn’t try to kiss her back. But then again she didn’t really give me a chance. Why would she kiss me like that? The day before she’s leaving. Is that it? Is it because she’s leaving? Or because she just ‘had to know’ what it would feel like to kiss me? Or was she able to kiss me with impunity because she knows she’s leaving and that it can’t possibly lead to anything. Her being a ‘Thursday’ and all? That’s got to be it, because she’s leaving, so she was free to kiss me just to kiss me. Not to kiss me to lead me on, or to kiss me out of some social convention, or for any reason other than she just felt like kissing me.
    I think I will lean over the counter and kiss her when she comes in. Right off the bat. And then give her a cup of coffee and let her have the whole cup of coffee to think it over. And then, when she’s getting ready to leave, I will ask her if I can kiss her again. And if she says yes, it’s going to be a full on kiss. A hug and a kiss and a long time between breaths. Wow. Down boy.
     
    She is wearing a different outfit, not the sundress. A skirt, just above the knees, and a blouse floating free, not tucked in. She looks good, still glowing from the run. I am wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Pretty slovenly, even for me.
     
    “ Is my coffee ready?” she asks, slipping onto the stool at the end of the counter.
    “ Almost,” I say. Before she knows what is happening, I lean over the counter and kiss her on the cheek.
    “ You are a cheeky man,” she says.
    I am unsure whether she is upset.
    Seeing my uncertainty, she stands and looks me in the eye.
    “