City of IF

[Guest]

PG-13! SOME SEXUAL QUIPS!

RULE 1: PLAY HARD TO GET TO CATCH HIM
PART A

Ok, I admit it. I fell for him the minute I saw him. His smokey blue eyes, and his tall lean muscular body. His tan skin, and his short spikey black hair. The perfect face, with no scars and very cute dimples at the corners of his mouth. Call me a hopeless romantic, call me crazy, call me whatever you want. This man was the one I have always dreamed about.

The encounter was something I wasn’t dreaming of. I was driving down a New York street in my Mazda, and I looked over to my right where my favorite store was. Hollister was having a sale. Every store was having sales considering it was only 1 more week until Christmas. Well, I was driving down the street behind a pickup truck. The snow was falling hard, it was practically a blizzard. Visibility was zero and I couldn’t see the tail lights flicker on when the truck stopped. My Mazda rammed the truck with a sickening crunch. My airbag deployed right out of my steering wheel and hit me hard in the face. I felt my nose break and then everything went black.

I woke up and every part of my body was aching. An oxygen mask was on my face, helping me breathe. I couldn’t move my right hand, it was in a cast. A pounding headache was in my forehead and my vision was blurry. I told my toes to wiggle in my mind and they obeyed my command. Okay that was fine. I wasn’t paralyzed. I breathed a sigh of relief, but it hurt my chest to even do that. By each minute, my vision was getting clearer.

I noticed I was in the emergency room of the hospital. I brought my left hand to the bed and started to prop myself up, but a firm hand pushed me back down. My eyes looked at the hand, then the arm, then I finally looked at the face. It was one of the female doctors that worked there at the hospital. She looked at me with gentle green eyes.

“Glad to see that you have regained consciousness. I’ll be sure to tell the gentleman in the room next to you. Saved your life he did. Apparently, he gave you mouth-to-mouth when he pulled you out of the car,” She said with a smile as she looked at the various monitors around me that were recording my vitals. I looked at the tag on the front of her crisp white coat. Her name was Linda Reiser. I brought my hand to the oxygen mask and pulled it off.

“Ouch. Do you know what happened? Why does my nose hurt so badly?” I asked slowly, trying to breathe for myself.

“Well, you rear-ended a rather large pickup from what the man next door says. It doesn’t surprise me, we’ve been so busy with car accidents. I’m guessing that when the airbag deployed, it must have broken your nose. Sorry about the oxygen mask, it was either your nose or your life. As for your hand there, some of the carpal bones got broken, you won’t need surgery though according to your x-rays,” Linda explained as she removed the oxygen mask.

“You said the man I hit is still here?” I asked once my breathing went back to its normal rhythm.

“Yes, he has problems of his own. A dislocated shoulder, and whiplash.”

“Can you please tell him that I’m really sorry?”

“Apology accepted even though you did total my truck,” a masculine voice said from the doorway. My eyes shot straight to the direction of the voice. That’s when I laid eyes on him for the first time. Even though his left arm was in a sling and a foam brace around his neck, he looked hot. Surprisingly, he looked quite happy. Not the reaction I was expecting.

“I’ll help you get another vehicle, I feel so guilty about hitting you,” I said as he walked closer to me. Just looking at him just made me want to get out the damn bed and screw him right then and there, but I restrained myself.

“Nah, that truck was ready to go to the junk yard anyways. Don’t worry about it. Do me a favor and worry about getting back on your feet,” he said. He spoke with a voice as smooth as silk. For a second, my eyes went to his left hand. There was no ring. He wasn’t married but he was probably taken. He had dirt on his face, probably from pulling me out of my car, that’s probably how he messed up his shoulder. He was wearing a button up white shirt that was stained from all the dirt and grime.

“Before I forget, thank you” I said solemnly.

“For what?” he asked curiously.

“You saved my life. So I wanted to thank you. That shoulder must really hurt.”

“Not really, Doctor Reiser over there has me doped up on Vicaden. If you’re talking about the mouth-to-mouth thing, it was no problem.”

I couldn’t think of anything to say. My eyes couldn’t stop checking him out. He had black uniform pants on that had dirt all over them. His black shoes that were all dusty and messy from the slush and salt looked as if they had been polished earlier in the day. His face was clean shaven. He was talking to Linda, but I couldn’t hear what he said. He looked at the doctor with the most wonderful smokey blue eyes ever. They were so deep, that I could get lost in them. Every other word he spoke, I could see the hint of dimples on his face. I was snapped back to reality when a man burst into my room.

“Linda! We just had another arrive! This one’s bad! There are no rooms open!” He yelled. He was a paramedic that was out of breath. From what I saw, he must have ran around the whole ER looking for the doctor.

“Shit! What about the trauma rooms?” Linda asked as she set my chart down on a chair.

“All full!” He replied

“You guys can have my room. I’m just waiting for CT scan results,” the dream man said to them.

“Okay, get your stuff and get back over here, grab your chart for me please,” Linda said. She then looked at me with those gentle eyes again. “Sorry about this, I hate having to double people up in the rooms. If it gets any worse, we’ll have to start sending patients to the hospital across town.”
“I don’t mind sharing a room as long as they’re not bleeding,” I said. Linda gave a slight chuckle and left the room.

As soon as Linda left, dream boy walked back in. He placed the clipboard containing his chart on top of mine. Draped over his arm was what looked like the jacket of a military dress uniform. Actually, I was pretty positive that it was what it looked like. I looked at his perfect face.

“What branch?” I asked. He draped the jacket over the chair and put the clipboards on a table. He brought the chair beside my bed and sat down in it.

“Marines. By the way, I am Alexander Lewis,” he said with a slight smile.

Damn it. Not only was he a military man, but he had a sexy name. This wasn’t helping me fight off the urge to ask him to have sex with me. I know it’s wrong to ask him but I have this thing for men in uniform. They just make me want to take them and have my way with them.

“You haven’t told me your name,” Alexander said, saving me from a great deal of embarrassment.

“Kelly Shaw,” I replied quickly. It was starting to get hard to breathe again. Alexander apparently noticed this and went out into the hallway. A few seconds later, a nurse walked in and listened to my breathing. She put the oxygen mask back on my face, causing my nose to be in more pain. I crossed my arms which was quite difficult with a cast. I pouted as I laid down. I heard Alexander chuckle. I turned my head to him and stuck out my tongue.

I laid there and stared at Alexander again as he walked over to the tv and turned it on. He had a nice ass too. Damn it, I couldn’t take it any longer. It was taking all my restraint to not ask him. I kept telling myself in my mind that he was taken. Then I remembered Linda said he gave me mouth-to-mouth. He kisses me, and I’m unconscious to enjoy the experience. My mind was now in tears.

Linda walked back into the room, she wasn’t wearing her white coat and her sleeves were rolled up to her elbows. She was reading a sheet of paper, and she looked at both Alexander and myself. She turned to him.

“I just got handed your CT results. You’re free to go Mr. Lewis. Your sister is in the waiting room ready to pick you up,” she said with a smile. She then looked at me. “Problems breathing?”

I nodded and she wrote something down on my chart. I watched her leave. I then looked at Alexander. This would be the last chance I got to see that perfect sculpted body of his. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a light blue Chocolate cell phone. It looked just like mine. Wait, it was mine! He handed the cell phone over to me and smiled. I took it. He threw his jacket over his shoulder.

“I put my number in there for you, and I got your number,” he said. I pulled the mask down to speak to him.

“Won’t your girlfriend be mad at you?” I asked.

“I’m single. And no, I’m not gay,” he said as he walked out of the room. Linda walked back in and looked at me.

“Put that mask back on,” she said. Normally, I would have argued. But I was so overcome thinking about Alexander. I watched Linda pick up my chart. “We’re going to move you out of the ER. In about an hour, a nurse will come and get you.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, I woke up to find my best friend sitting beside me, watching television. I pulled the oxygen mask off my face again and tested my own ability to breathe. My friend was still oblivious to the fact that I wasn’t sleeping anymore. I reached over and grabbed her purse. She always kept a stress ball in there to throw at her car windshield when traffic pissed her off. I found the ball and threw it at her head.

“Hey!” She yelled turning around. “Oh Kelly, you’re awake. Your parents are so f-ing worried. They’re on a flight from Cali right now.”

“Yeah, I don’t care about them right now Amber,” I said, picking up my cell. Not missing a beat, Amber shut off the tv and looked me square in the face.

“Something’s up. Oh my god! You met somebody! Tell me who!”

I pulled up Alexander’s number and just stared at it. Amber grabbed the phone and looked at it.

“Alexander Lewis, sounds hot but what does he look like?” she asked, refusing to hand over my phone. I told her everything from his hot bod, to the way he talked and walked. It was just then my ringtone of Into the Night by Chad Kroeger and Santana started playing. Amber looked at the phone, squeaked and tossed it into my lap. It was dream boy. I fumbled with the phone for a second or two, then I hit a random button, hoping it was the right one

“Hello?” I asked

“Oh, for a minute there, I thought it was going to go voicemail,” Alexander said as I switched the phone to speaker. “Are you tired? I can call back in a few hours if you want me to,” he said as Amber and I both listened. I looked at Amber, she mouthed a time to me. 3 pm.

“I was just about to take a nap, it would be better to call at 3:00,” I said. I listened to Alexander say his goodbye to me and I hung up the phone. I looked at Amber as she cleared her throat.

“You are about to go into this relationship so easily,” Amber explained as I scratched my nose with my uninjured hand. “You are not following the rules.”

“The rules?” I asked stupidly

“The 10 rules of dating Kelly,” Amber said holding up 10 fingers. “Here they are: 1:Play hard to get to catch him, 2: No sex until the 3rd date, 3: Candlelit dinners must be homemade, 4: Make good with his family, they may just turn out to be your in-laws someday, 5: He pays for every date, 6: Don’t bring up the ex’s. If he brings them up spend as little time on them as possible, 7: You don’t move in with him until you have been with him for at least 6 months, 8: He caters to you, unless he is sick, 9: Keep the sex to a minimum. I know that may be hard, but if you do it too many times, you might as well consider yourselves friends with benefits, 10: The engagement ring requires a minimum of 3 months salary.”

I brought my left hand to my forehead as I tried processing these rules in my head. It was too complicated to understand. Which was surprising. Amber had so many blonde moments, it was a miracle that she graduated high school and went into college.

“Where in the fucking hell did you get these so-called rules?” I asked, using the controls on the bed to put myself in a sitting position. Amber looked at me with a smile.

“Oh, I’ve figured them out for myself. They seem to work for me pretty damn well.”

“And yet, you can’t keep a boyfriend for at least 6 months.”

“Yeah because all the guys I had just wanted a piece of ass.”

“It took you 6 months to figure that out for yourself. Write these rules out for me will you?”

Amber grabbed her purse from me and wrote the rules down on the back of an Aeropostale receipt. She handed the receipt to me and I looked at it. Apparently, she ended up spending $100 there on jeans and sweatshirts. I turned the receipt over and looked at the rules. It wouldn’t hurt to try these rules out on Alexander. Amber yawned and looked at the clock on her cell. She stood up and hugged me.

“I need to go pick up your parents at the airport, they took a red eye in order to get here. That’s how worried they are,” Amber said as she threw the stress ball at me.

“What if traffic pisses you off?” I asked holding up the ball that landed in my lap.

“I have a feeling you’ll need it when your parents come and see you. Now don’t forget those rules. I’m expecting a phone call from you around 4:30 telling me about what he said,” Amber said as she left the room.

It’s true. Amber was right. With all my past relationships, I fell into them so easily. My last relationship would have worked out if I knew rules 6 and 9. We had too much sex and then his ex came into the picture. That was by far the worst relationship I had ever been in.

Looking at the rules, I found out they made a lot of sense in order to keep a decent relationship. Breaking any of these rules, would kill it instantly. But I kept wondering why 10 rules? This doesn’t cover everything in a relationship. It just covers the basics. But reading these made me feel like I was 13 again, just having my first boyfriend in middle school and jumping into bed with him by the 2nd date. Of course, he was 15 and had a bit more experience than myself. We broke up after 4 weeks. To think about it, none of my relationships lasted longer than 3 months.

Thnks Fr Th Mmrs from Fall Out Boy started to emit from my phone. It wasn’t 3:00 yet. So who would be calling me? I picked my cell up and took a quick glance at the caller id. Great, why would they be calling if they were on their way here? Amber must have exaggerated again the condition I’m in. Maybe I should let it go to voicemail and pretend I’m sleeping. Yeah, that would be fun. But then again it would make them think I was in the ICU or something like that. I sighed, which put my chest in even more pain and I hit the little green telephone button.

“Hello?” I asked with a slight cough.

“Oh my god! You sound terrible! We’re on our way right now! Amber’s driving but she’s not driving fast enough,” a panicked voice from my mother said. I chuckled a little when I heard this.

“Mom, hand the phone over to Dad and take a deep breath. You know what happens to your blood pressure when you get worried,” I said, trying to sound as normal as possible. I heard shuffling on my parent’s end of the phone conversation. Then I heard my father’s calm voice.

“Kelly, first of all are you all right?” he asked me. By now I was starting to get tired of that question.

“Yes Daddy, I’ll be fine. I don’t want any visitors right now, I’m going to take a nap. The nurses said I need some sleep,” I lied to my dad. I didn’t want him to hear my phone conversation with Alexander.

“Ok darling, we’ll be there tomorrow. I’ll bring your laptop with me,” my dad said along with an I love you and a goodbye.

The minute I hung up my cell, a nurse walked in carrying a bundle of the prettiest red roses I had ever seen. They were a very dark red, almost mauve. There were 24 of them. The nurse was also carrying a vase and as she put them on my bedside table, I grabbed one and examined the petals.The base of the rose was very firm, a good sign that they would last for a pretty long time. But what amazed me was that they were a regular red with many thin dark red streaks, therefore giving them the mauve color. They were long-stemmed. The nurse handed me a card and smiled a sweet smile. I looked at it and it read:

“Hoping these brighten your time here. From the man standing in your doorway.”

I looked at the card with a puzzled look. Then I turned my head quickly to the doorway. Dream boy was standing there. This time he was clean and was wearing civilian clothes. He wore faded blue jeans and a gray sweater. His arm was still in a sling, but the neck brace was gone. I thought he couldn’t have looked any sexier than he did last night, but I was wrong.

“Alexander!” I squeaked. “I thought you were going to call me. Not show up with very beautiful roses.”

“Well, I didn’t know if your phone would be dead or not,” he said. “You feeling any better?”

Ok, I know I said that the question was getting old, but when a hot guy like him shows up with roses and asks me, I really don’t care. I was about to answer him but then I remembered rule #1: Play hard to get to catch him. I thought for a minute and I gave him my response.

“How do you think I’m feeling?” I asked in a sweet voice.

“By looking at you, I think you are feeling a bit better. You are sitting up, but you still have the oxygen mask which means every now and then you have problems breathing,” he explained making observations about me.

I nodded in response to him. I don’t know why I didn’t speak to him. Maybe because, I was so amazed by him that he made me speechless. Then he asked me more questions. I put the mask back on my face, so it would be easier to follow rule 1.

“Do you know when they’ll let you out of here?” he asked. I just shrugged my shoulders.

“My sister was pestering me with questions about you last night. Plus, I want to know a little bit more about you myself. How old are you?”

I put up two fingers and then one to signify that I was 21.

“I’m 23. Any siblings?”

I shook my head.

“I have 2. One twin sister and an older brother by 5 years. Favorite music?” I pulled the mask off.

“What do you think?” I asked.

“I say alternative rock, considering that was what was playing in your car last night. I like alternative rock, but I can listen to rap and country too. Any hobbies?”

“Maybe.”

“I would say some athletics of some sort. Maybe running or swimming. You must lift some weights also. I can tell from how toned your muscles are. But lately you may have neglected exercise maybe because of the winter months. You need to be careful of that. This is the time of year that most people gain weight.”

He asked more questions and I kept beating around the bush, not giving him straight answers. I learned a lot about him though. He was now on medical leave because of his shoulder. That made me feel bad. His older brother’s name was Jordan and his sister’s name was Mariya. Jordan was in Iraq and Mariya wasn’t even in the military. She was a fashion designer working for Dolce & Gabbana. I also found out Alexander was allergic to dogs so he had a pet bird. He just got a new 2008 Chevrolet Silverado in a dark blue color. I really don’t care for Chevys, I’m more into foreign cars like my Mazda. But that was now in car heaven. I learned that he lives in a loft in the Upper East Side of New York City. I also live in a loft but it’s in Manhattan. He loves sports, especially basketball and soccer. Then he surprised with a statement as he stood up.

“You’re hot, do you want to go out on a date after you get out?” he asked.

“I don’t know. My parents will be keeping a close watch on me when I get discharged,” I lied. He had to work his ass off to get me on a date. Just then, a woman appeared in the doorway wearing very stylish clothing. I guessed that this was Mariya. She looked almost like Alexander except for a few features. But the eyes and the hair color was exactly the same. Alexander looked at me and smiled.

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” he said in his silky voice as he turned and walked out of the room. I grabbed my cell phone.

There were 5 missed calls. I didn’t hear my phone ring because it was set to silent while Alexander was here with me. All the calls were from Amber. She must be itching to know exactly what dream boy and I talked about. I don’t blame her. It was now 5:30 pm. I pressed call after I selected her number.

“Damn girl what in the f-ing hell happened?” Amber asked, practically yelling. I set my phone to speaker and put it in my lap.

“He came and visited me instead of calling me,” I explained.

“He came and visited you?” she asked all surprised.

“Yeah, and he brought me the most beautiful roses ever. There’s 2 dozen of them sitting on my beside table right now,” I explained as I looked at the roses.

“Okay, did he get you on a date yet?”

“No, he’ll have to do more than bring me roses to get me on a date.”

PART A-END

[Player of Fates]

Oooh! Romance! Lol, I like it strangely enough and our girl seems to be very horny since she wants to jump out of the hospital bed and screw a man that almost killed her. Keep it up!

[Mephistopheles]

hmm, no wonder good women are hard to find. they all play hard to get and we decide that they aren't really into us!


(edit) loved the story, btw! keep it going harls!

[Aponi]

Hmmm - you do realize she has two black eyes now, right? Smashing a nose on an airbag has that effect... Isn't she at all anxious about her appearance?

I got a little confused about who was speaking during the dialogue - I thought she mentions her sister and then he asks about her siblings and she shakes her head no?

Other than that, I'm wondering if you're taking this down a straight chick-lit comic romance path, or if the guy is going to turn out to be some kind of psycho. He's just a bit too observant. And being a Marine is no guarantee of sanity.

I like Kelly a lot - she has a great voice.

Keep it up! :-)

[Lilith]

Harley.... *bites tongue to stop her gigglefit* You know what, I'm gonna sit back and shut up. You've done some good work here, Harls.


PS You can't go around dropping ALL the rules!

[Guest]

Deleted by poster

[D-Lotus]

Alexander doesn't beat around the bush. I should learn from him. Next time I see a hot chick, I'll walk up to her and ask: "Hey, you're hot. Wanna go out?" :D

Anyway, nice story. Keep going.

[LordoftheNight]

No, D - it only works if you get into a car accident with her first. Honestly, haven't you been reading? Though running people over isn't to be advised.

Incidently, what's all this about rules? And roses not being enough? No sex until the third date?

I'm glad I don't live in America if everyone goes by these guidelines.

[Lilith]

Lordy, it's a girl thing... more importantly, a prep-girl thing. (Yes, Harley, I am indirectly calling you a prep! MUAHAH!)

Anyway, it's just something silly that's been come up with to try in figure out why women and men are so confused about each other in the dating world. *shrugs* Go figure.

[Mephistopheles]

the answer to what is wrong with men and women dating is simple, women want romance before sex, guys want sex before romance. if everyone switched priorities, dating would be much more satisfying and less complicated. :)

[Aponi]

No way. Men just need to figure out what women want, and do that. :-)

Actually it's about value. Men value what they work for. Women value what they can rely on. So women make the men work for them, so that the men will stay, so that the women can rely on the men.

The idea behind the rules is to make the women seem more valuable, and to make the men seem more reliable.

I still say I want Alex to be a psycho. ;)

[LordoftheNight]

Aponi wrote: Actually it's about value. Men value what they work for.

On behalf of my gender...huh? Everyone knows the best things in life are those handed to you on a silver platter. Even if you have to steal the platter first.

[Chinaren]

Quote: No way. Men just need to figure out what women want, and do that.

Which is impossible, as women:

a: Keep changing their minds.

b: Don't really know what they want half the time anyway.

c: Are women.

Sorry Lil. :off:

[Guest]

Deleted by poster

[Mephistopheles]

lol, the worst that's gonna happen huh? anyways, fun read again harley!

[Player of Fates]

I didn't know there were rules. Shit.

[DELETED]

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[The Meaning Of Fear]

So THAT'S why women are so weird...

Nice going there Harley, this linear is both entertaining and (Kind of... Sort of... A bit... not so much) informative. Look foward to more of it!

It seems pretty obvious what you're doing for the next rule though...

"3: Candlelit dinners must be homemade"

[Lilith]

*winks* Nice work Harley. Now as for what's the worst that can happen?

*shakes head* You never say that.. especially with me around...

Let's say Mr. Hot and Sexy's ex comes into town and ruins the "candlelight dinner" at a fancy restaurant.

MUAHAHAHAHAAHAA!

[Kirranna]

Wow, I tend to have a hard time wanting to stick with a dramatic "how we fell in love" story but this one is very intruiging due to the consistency of Kelley's voice. Though sometimes I have gotten confused on where you characters are, like for example when Gabby came to steal Kelley I thought they were just at the front door but all of a sudden they had to go down some stairs to get their coats. But definately not a glaring issue for me because I love your characters.

Also, um, oh man, Alex is quite a how should I put it... Hunk...I think that's a good description. At first I thought he was a little too good to be true but then he pulled the typical guy thing, "Thets get Busy!" yep good job, I like it a lot.

[Mattheus]

Normally I don't really like stories like these, but I am actually enjoying it very much. Keep up the good work. :D

[Novelest_Ninjagirl]

AWESOME! I didn't know there were rules, but I've never even been asked out on a date yet, so I got a nice heads-up! This story Rocks!

[Guest]

Wow, not what I was expecting when I saw the title in your sig. I thought it would be on of those boring stories my mom reads all the time. But that's not the case here. I love this story!

[Guest]

You guys may have thought this was the chappy, but it is not. Sorry! I have just got started working nights at my place of employment, so my sleep schedule is all out of whack, I've only been up maybe 2 hours during daylight hours and up all night, that's only 10 hours per every 24 hours during a day. There is no way in hell that I can write chappies in 2 hours while the 8 is devoted to making money. Once I get something figured out, to where I get less sleeping hours and more awake hours, I'll work on the chappy!

[Lord Byron]

I dont particularly like Social Problem novels (thats what it is right?) but this is pretty good, capture my attention :)

[Guest]

Deleted by poster

[Novelest_Ninjagirl]

Coolieo! This rocks, I was a little confused at first, but that could be because of how long ago it was I read the preceeding chapters. As for hte story itself, as usual, I didn't see any typos pop out at me. I enjoyed the discriptions, though a few placed could have gone with a little more.

This freaking rocked!

[Guest]

Hmmm, I wonder who Shelby is and how she's connected to Alex. Makes me wonder. Left us all on a good cliffhanger here.

Great story btw!

[Lilith]

*pounces Harley* I demand part B. Now.

[Guest]

Deleted by poster

[Guest]

Unexpected Harley. The way Alex turned Kelly away was very unexpected. I thought he would just take her to his apartment and clean her wounds while bad mouthing his ex.

I love it and I WANT MORE!

[Lilith]

*pounces her Harley and shakes her* HE SAID IT! HOW CAN YOU JUST LEAVE IT THERE, WOMAN!?

*makes plans to raid Harley's laptop for more*

hehe ... well done