Free A Breath Until Forever by Keira D. Skye Page A

for tea. No tea in this world was going to be able to quench the thirst he had for Meredith. Whiskey would do the trick. Whiskey was always a willing prostitute who gave him pleasure no matter what time of the day. At least whiskey would take the edge off of his horny thoughts, enough to at least make him pay more attention to Meredith's intellectual appeal, instead of her hot ass.
     
    Meredith lined the tea cups up on the counter, then put a teapot to boil on the stove. Although Meredith was the guest, Meredith felt like she was the host, and felt very comfortable inside Joshua's house as if it were her own.
     
    Meredith then did the unfathomable as she waited. She went to the sink, and began to wash the dishes. Joshua sat there, drinking another shot of whiskey never feeling such emptiness as he did now. Meredith was such a great woman. She was a caregiver and beautiful too. She was the whole package. Smart, funny, pretty. It was sort of tragic how he felt, as he was so close to what he wanted, more then anything, but knew he couldn't have. He instantly felt sorry for himself. It was pitiful and it gave him a bad sense to know that even though he had to push away the woman that he wanted, he was still feeling tortured by all of the little things in which she did so well. Showing glimpses of her body, laughing at his odd sense of humor, sharing with him well read poetry, doing dishes, and making tea, all came together as a fantasy – a fantasy he had to leave for bed and wet dreams.
     
    Some lyrics came to mind and they brought meaningful words. “For Your Love” by the YardBirds. “For your love, for your love, I'd give you everything and more, that's for sure...For your love, I'd bring you diamond rings and things right to your door.” If only Meredith hadn't been married, hadn't had a child, hadn't had all the responsibilities and expectations that she had, he would have done all of these things, and more, fulfilling all of her fancies, and giving her more love than she had ever received before in her whole entire life.
     
    Meredith put a tea bag in a chipped cup. She swirled it around with some two spoonfuls of sugar and a spoonful of honey. She looked at her nails while stirring, priding at how perfectly manicured they were and how long the manicure had lasted, as she had visited Bella Spa before leaving. Just days before she had beautifully crafted her hard as a rock nails with a crimson red, a color in which she loved, but never wore in clothes. She did the same thing with the other cup of tea, and as she personally handed over the cup of tea, she looked at his nails, and how they were so different than hers, with snagged cuticles and yellowed nails with dirt trapped beneath them, and she knew that he never permitted much self care, as it was obvious in the neglect of his nails. A man never really took care of his nails, but a man who had pride in himself, a clean man, would at least trim them up and scrub the dirt out from underneath them. Something in which Joshua obviously did not ever do.
     
    “Thank you.” Thanked Joshua, as he rushed the tea down his throat, even though it  burned his esophagus as it raced down. Meredith expressed a strange look, wondering about a man who drank his tea as fast as his whiskey, and wondered if he had any nerves left as he deep throated such lava like fluids that would cause internal physical damage for the average person. Meredith sat down across from him as to enjoy her tea, unlike the way that Joshua had enjoyed his.
     
    Noticing that his shot of whiskey was gone, his shot glass empty now except for a small dewdrop of backwash, Meredith arranged the whiskey bottle so it was closer to Joshua, and within more reach.
     
    “Better then tea, right?” Meredith stated. She took a sip of her tea. Joshua nodded his head in agreement.
     
    Joshua poured just a little more in the glass, and then dealt himself another shot. The liquor ran down his throat like rocket fuel. He