Uncle's Hands

HIS WIFE

We jumped away from each other at the sound of the front door opening. He rather jumped away from me, I couldn’t care less if someone saw us.

“Levi?”

The voice grates on my nerves, I didn’t care if anyone saw us, and even less when it was her. I knew him first, it wasn’t fair.

“Kate, I am right here in the kitchen...” his eyes found me, as if the space between us was too small. He steps away again, I scoff.

“With Zo.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. I haven’t voiced how I felt towards his wife, but he should know by now.

Her voice is extremely chirpy and sharp when she goes,

“Zo!! It has been so long!” Her dress flows around her as she rushes towards me with a smile lining her mouth, it stretched so wide I was sure it hurt.

“Kate, like I said numerous times, Zo is for family and friends.” I said, stepping around her and her open arms, dusting invisible lint off my dress.

I look elsewhere, this was petty and childish, the opposite of what I wanted to show him, but he said and did things to me that night, and then married her the next morning. You can imagine how I feel. Plus, she wasn’t my friend nor family. I left right after the wedding, and didn’t know her before then. This would be my second time meeting her.

“Well, you are back now. We can get to be friends.”

I said nothing, my eyes remained on the huge portrait hung on the wall, my first ever professional shot, and no matter how amateur it was, Levi was extremely proud of it. How could I not feel this way about him when he was so... Levi?

Kate clapped, bringing my attention to the present,

“Speaking of friends, I ran into your father on my way back. I told him you were in town, and he was so excited.”

Sure enough, my father burst into Levi’s living room, his eyes wide as he searched for me, and when they landed on me, he rushed over. I swallowed thickly. I never intended to miss him, I didn’t have the right, not after what I had done.

“Zo... why didn’t you call or text? You never returned any of mine.”

I didn’t want to do this here, not in front of Levi when I would look like a kid berated by her father, or in front of Kate, whom I didn’t know.

Smiling, I brought my glass to my lips, my hips c****d to the side and pressed against the counter,

“That’s what college students do, they don’t have time for their parents.” I rolled my eyes to pass the point across; drop it.

I can see he wants to go into it, but I don’t let him, he has already ruined what could have been with Levi and me.

“Why don’t both of you go and make yourself comfortable while Tommy and I get started?” Levi suggested. I turn around and thanked him with my eyes. He gets it, I know he does, since he nods once.

I picked up the bottle and walked to the balcony. I could feel Levi’s gaze on me. He didn’t want me to drink more, but right now what I needed was a drink.

“I know how important you are to Levi, so I really wanted you among the bridesmaids, but you got here too late and left too early.” Kate pouts,

Was she really going to follow me?

I sat on one of the balcony chairs, setting the bottle down. The view from here was captivating, and no matter how many times I had seen it, I loved it. Levi once said he hoped it could inspire me.

“Levi constantly talks about you, like you were his own kid.”

“I am not!” I snapped, my eyes resting on her face for the first time, her eyes were the shape of almonds, and her face a heart shape, her lips were rosy. Was that what Levi preferred?

I wish you weren’t Tommy’s daughter.

His words ring in my mind, I repeat them to myself over and over, like I have done since the wedding. He wished I wasn’t the daughter of his best friend, and while that is great and considerate, I didn’t care. I wasn’t asking for too much.

Kate chuckled, “I heard you are like friends, both of you. Tommy says he wonders if he is the best friend or if you are.”

I raised my brows,

“You and my dad seem close.”

She shrugged, “Levi doesn’t have many friends, and he can be quite a recluse. Believe it or not, I am still getting to know my own husband.”

I am miffed by the word husband, but she was right. Even if the entire time he stood there exchanging vows with her, his eyes were on me, and she’s the one who gets to touch him as she pleases, and his hands could touch her... the thought of it fills me with an emotion I cannot explain.

“I may have gotten impatient and went to who I thought was the encyclopedia for everything Levi--” she laughs as if she were silly, her laugh is pretty, and I can’t help but imagine both of them in bed, and she laughs at something, while he stares at her mesmerized.

“It turns out you know more. Forgive an old lady trying to intrude, I would really like to get to know my husband through you.”

She laughs again as if it were the funniest thing she had heard. As if I was ever going to say anything to her. She continues to say something, tuning her out. I returned my eyes to the view, and I saw the sun was starting to set. It would have been perfect if I had a camera...

“Here.”

I turned to him, he was holding out a camera for me, a knowing smile on his face. He knew my thoughts as they passed through my head. I wasn’t sure what that meant.

“Hurry, the sun is setting.” he says with a small chuckle,

I look from his face to the camera in his outstretched hand. It was a gift from him years ago, the buttons slightly washed from use. I used to take pictures of everything then, especially of him.

My throat dried as I stared at it with longing, the camera had fit perfectly in my hand, but that was long ago.

“I told you to throw it out.” I tore my eyes from him and shut them. There, if I don’t see the sunset, I won’t want to trap it, therefore no need for a camera.

“You can watch it, I am taking it away.” I can tell he is disappointed, but he masks it well, this conversation was bound to come up. I knew this even as I returned home, but he was the pro, and he far outweighed the cons.

“The food smells amazing already.” Kate cooed, at least she knew when to change the subject.

“It is almost ready, Zo must be starving, she likes to eat a lot after her flight.” He says with a chuckle and then invites us to help serve the food. I don’t follow but Kate does.

Our conversation from the night was playing in my head,

“You wish I wasn’t his daughter? Why?”

He taken a deep breath, as if gearing himself up to confess what he had held inside him for a long time.

“Then I wouldn’t feel so guilty for how I feel.”

I leaned in, peering at his glassy eyes, his thumb came up to my lip, brushing it tentatively, he sucked in his own lip with a small, soft gasp.

“How do you feel, Levi?”

I had never gotten a verbal answer, much less a sober one. I needed to know his answer from that night. His consent was important if I were to move forward with my plan.

My eyes watched the married couple carefully as they brought the food to the balcony. He knew I loved to eat with a view. Most of the time, the view I wanted was his face.

They worked together cordially, their hands never brushed, not even once, not even by accident. From her endless yapping from earlier, I knew she was a light weight. My father, too, it would be easy to get them drunk and out of the way.

“Is it okay if I spend the night here?” I said as they all sat to eat.

Three pairs of eyes blink at me, one of them was anxious and going to refuse, so I fix Kate a smile, and the look of apprehension disappears, she nods enthusiastically, and takes a sip from her beer.

My father sighs and responds by drinking as well. He thinks I am avoiding the house. That wasn't entirely untrue.

I clap my hands in front of me,

“Perfect.”

But my eyes remain on him, even when my father and Kate start a story that is neither funny nor interesting, we don’t look away from each other.

Later, both of them had started to get drunk, their stories had started to consist mainly of laughter. I excused myself from the table, willing him to follow.

I was slightly tipsy.

“What are you playing at?”

I was expecting him, but it didn’t stop the excitement that shot up my spine,

“I don’t know what you are talking about.”

He narrowed his eyes at me,

“Zoey...”

I liked the way he called my name, the effortless way it rolled off his tongue, the way my body reacted to him.

“And you? Why did you follow me out here?”

He pressed himself against me, trapping me between the wall and his body. This was the first time I was this close to his body. My body came alive. I could barely control my breathing.

His mouth dipped to my neck, his breath fanning me,

“What do you think?”