The Melody of Songbirds and Wolves

Chapter 1 - The Kiss

Vera's Point of View

I plopped down on my brand new Ikea couch and took a giant breath. I went through me mental checklist of things I needed to do to unpack.

Unpack each room's boxes - check!

Hang curtains in my room, the dining room, bathroom, and guestroom - check!

Organize the kitchen - check!

Hang pictures and decor - check!

Make beds and fluff pillows - check!

I couldn't think of anything else to do and all the boxes were unpacked, so I decided I'd have a glass of wine, watch Twilight for the umpteenth time since it's pretty much my go-to comfort movie, and then head to bed. My dad gave me a few bottles of wine as a house-warming gift. He left earlier today to go back to Lubbock after helping me move to my new house in Austin. It's about a six and a half hour drive so he's probably got another hour before he makes it home. I silently thanked him and poured myself a lovely glass of cabernet sauvignon. Red wine is dry and not very sweet, but it gets me tipsy faster than white wine does. I don't mind the taste. I looked around the living room of my new home and smiled. It's a bungalow-style home built in the 1930's. Original hardwood floors, two bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, a nook that overlooks the front window, a cute porch with a porch swing, and an amazing patio in the backyard. My house overlooks a park and a crystal clear stream. It's so peaceful. I'm thinking about installing a swinging bed on the back patio, adding some Edison bulb lights, and building a stone fire pit in the yard for entertaining and relaxing. You can hear the stream from the back, so it will be a great place to settle in with a book in the evenings when I don't have shows. I looked at probably hundreds of AirBNB rentals online to get an idea of how I wanted to decorate. I think my style is charming, classic, and whimsical. The houses in this neighborhood are very cute. I'm looking forward to meeting my neighbors and making some friends in the area. The house next to mine opposite the park is well-kept, which tells me whoever lives there takes care of their things.

The next day, I decided to head next door to introduce myself. They have a Ring doorbell, so I'm glad I look semi-presentable. I did a little awkward wave after I rang the bell and then looked down and laughed to myself. Their door mat says, "Nice Underwear!". They're funny, too. Good! After a few minutes of silence, I figured no one was home, so I turned around and went back to my place. A week passed, but I never saw anyone coming or going. There were a few sss packages that were left on the porch but soon disappeared, so I know someone lives there, but I guess they just have a busy schedule or work nights. I'd eventually run into them one way or another, so I didn't bother myself with trying to catch them at home for a silly introduction. I'm busy anyway. Tomorrow is opening night for the show. I've made fast friends with most of my cast mates. They are all so friendly. The actor who plays my love interest is really cute and I get to kiss him in the show. He plays Marius, but his real name is Kyle. We haven't practiced the kiss yet, but we will tonight during the final dress rehearsal. I've had stage kisses before, but I wasn't attracted to any of the guys I had to kiss. I've kissed two guys in real life that I liked, but that's as far as it went. I'm oddly nervous. You'd think a twenty-four year old woman wouldn't get nervous over a silly fake kiss, but the dude is hot! I can't help myself. I gather my makeup, character shoes, phone charger, and a few snacks and head out to the theater while butterflies whizz around in my stomach.

I open the door to my dressing room and see a beautiful bouquet of flowers sitting on my vanity. It was from the cast congratulating me on my first show. The nerves immediately went away and were replaced with warm fuzzies. I felt at home here. I pulled a flower from the arrangement to smell it, but suddenly froze. The voice was back. This time I could tell it sounded feminine. I feel like I'm going crazy. The voice was still a whisper, but stronger. It said, "It's happening.". This voice weirded me out, but I brushed it off as nerves or excitement and pushed my worry to the back of my mind. I had a show to focus on. And a kiss with a hottie! The dress rehearsal started with the orchestra warming up in the pit. I took my place in the wings and watched as my cast mates began to perform the opening number. It was so well choreographed and staged. Everyone hit their marks. This show was going to be wonderful. The first three weekends were already sold out with my name headlining the marquee! It felt surreal to me. My dreams are materializing in front of my eyes. As if on cue, it was time for my entrance. The stage manager cue'd me and away I went! The rest of the rehearsal sped by until we got to the wedding scene. The kiss. This is it. We both bowed, performed the Sign of the Cross with our hands, stood up, and then turned towards each other. Kyle nodded at me as if asking me if it was okay to move forward. I subtly nodded back and moved closer to him. His eyes were several shades of brown with little black flakes. He wrapped his right arm around me and leaned in. I figured this would be like all the other stage kisses. A quick peck on the lips and then move on to our next scene. We were given directions not to speed through the kiss. Kyle was an inch from me. I gave him a small smile. He seemed nervous too, but he slowly closed the distance between us. My heart was pounding and I felt a heat in my core that I'd never felt before. I closed my eyes as our lips met softly. I instinctively let out a soft breath, which seemed to encourage him to deepen the kiss. He pressed his body against mine as I wrapped my arms around his neck. We parted our lips to make way for each other to explore. His other hand moved to the side of my face. It was the most romantic moment of my life. and it was just the two of us. What made it crazier is that we'd barely had the chance to get to know each other outside of rehearsals. I was brutally snapped back into reality when I realized the orchestra had stopped playing and the entire cast and crew were gawking at us. When we noticed them, they started to whoop and holler like a bunch of rowdy kids in middle school. I didn't know how to react, but I could feel the blush forming on my cheeks. How could I have so much chemistry with an almost complete stranger? The director clapped her hands together to move the show along. Kyle and I jumped and moved onto the next part of the wedding scene, which was the dance. I had nailed it in previous rehearsals, but I was so thrown off from earlier that I kept tripping over my dress. The director stopped us and made us take a quick break. I looked at Kyle and said, "Thanks.", then booked it dressing room.

I quickly shut the door behind me cussing to myself. Why did I say that? Ugh! He's going to think I'm nuts. "Thanks?!" Who says that after such a passionate moment? Me. I do. I rolled my eyes at myself and decided to scroll through my phone for a few minutes to take my mind off my stupidity. I heard the door open and looked up to see Kyle. He smiled and said, "hey" quietly. I stood up and smiled back. I began to speak, "Look, I'm sorry if I embarrassed you or the kiss was too much. We haven't had much of a chance to...", but I was interrupted by his mouth crashing onto mine. I heard that damn voice again. She laughed and said, "Well, that came out of nowhere!". My body was following what Kyle was doing, but my head was out in left field having a conversation with itself. It was so bizarre. I shut the voice out and focused on this very random kiss. I pulled myself closer to him and then pulled my face away and broke the kiss. I looked into his brown eyes searching for any answer to why he felt so compelled as to kiss me this way. He gave me a small boyish smile and said, "I'm sorry. I should have asked, I've just never felt that kind of energy from a kiss before.". I smiled back and reassured him, "It's okay. I didn't mind and I'd like to do it again.". That was enough of an invite for him, so he leaned in and brushed my lips with his. I gasped. He put his arms around my waist and gently pushed me towards the wall. I melted into him as he pressed his body against mine. My hands wandered from his hips to his back, and then found themselves under his shirt feeling his warm, chiseled stomach. That elicited a moan from him, so I moved my hands back down to his waist and slid my fingers just barely down his pants to feel the heat his body was letting off. He moaned again and I smiled to myself. His lips moved from mine to my neck where he softly sucked, moving down to my collar bone. I instinctively pressed my hips into him and gasped when I felt his member protruding from his pants. I wanted to wrap my legs around him, but my giant dress prohibited me from doing that. Probably a good thing considering I was a virgin and I barely knew this guy. Just then, we heard the stage manager over the speaker say, "Three minute warning!". We pulled away, both breathless and a little sweaty. Kyle leaned in again and gave me a soft kiss, then whispered, "We should probably go back out there." I smiled a little and nodded, then followed him out of my dressing room. He turned around, pushed me against the painted cement wall, and kissed me again. I was dripping with desire and couldn't focus on anything but him. He broke the kiss and asked, "Do you want to grab something to eat after rehearsal?". I nodded, still winded from that very heavy make-out session. He smiled and we walked back to the stage to finish the rehearsal. By the end of the show, I had caught him checking me out at least six times. Butterflies churned in my stomach as I thought about our late dinner and the kissing. I hoped dinner would lead to more. This must have been what that voice was talking about.

I changed into some yoga pants and an oversized t-shirt. As I was leaving the theater, I texted Lila to give her a brief synopsis of what happened and then met Kyle at a little ramen shop a few blocks away. We talked for hours. The restaurant kicked us out around 1:00 AM when they closed, so we walked back to our cars and continued to laugh and talk. He was really sweet and seemed to have a good head on his shoulders. We got to my car where he asked, "Vera, may I kiss you?". We both laughed and I said, " Yes, you may. Thank you for asking.". Kyle was much taller than me. He probably stood 6'1", where I'm an average 5"4". Kyle picked me up, I wrapped my legs around him, and he leaned me against the side of my jeep. He pressed himself into me, which caused me to moan into his mouth. My body took over and I began to grind my hips into him. The pressure felt so good on my mound. "God, Vera. I have no control around you", he breathed. We continued like this a little bit longer and then I finally pulled away and said we needed to rest for our first show the next day. He agreed, kissed me once more and sat me down. We said goodnight, and I watched him walk back to his truck. What have I gotten myself into?