“So now that we’re ‘us,’ Sherry, what’s next? Where do we go from here?” I asked, anxious to find out what came next and how we got there.
Sherry tapped her coffee-stirrer against her bottom teeth, an unconscious mannerism of hers when she was thinking that I’d missed so very much.
“What are you asking, Danny?” she murmured, so I took a deep breath and plunged in feet first.
“What I WANT is for us to run away, forget all this, just you and me, go somewhere and start a life that’s just you and me.”
She looked startled at that that.
“No Danny, this is what you want, you have to finish…” she began, but I interrupted her
“What I actually think you should consider is coming back and finishing your MBBS; you already have two years, and you’ve been out for a year now. Pretty soon you’ll have to make a decision to come back, re-instate your transcript and take up where you left off again, or let it all go. That would be a real waste. I remember how much you wanted to be a doctor; that’s kind of what kick-started me as well.”
Sherry nodded slowly, obviously thinking about what I was saying, so I finished unravelling my thread.
“Even if you decide not to come back and finish qualifying, I’m still going to be here. I’m not letting you out of my sight. I do plan on qualifying, but I’d drop that for you in a heartbeat, because I won’t lose you again. I can drop out and find a job, we can get married now, today, if you wanted. You should have your mother’s insurance payout by now, I know Mum set it up in a trust for you, and I still have Mum’s life insurance money, the compensation from the airline, most of Dad’s and the money from the sale of the house. We have a lot of money, Sherry, more than enough money to get married, buy our own home outright and start a family, anything else we want; we have options, Shel.”
Sherry took my hand, squeezing it tenderly.
“Don’t leave medical school, Danny, I know it’s what you want; don’t mess with your future, and I’d never ask you to. I can wait, baby-boy. I’ve waited half my life, a little while longer won’t hurt, just please don’t throw it all away because of me; be who you’re supposed to be.”
Sherry stood up, bent over, and planted a soft kiss on my lips.
“Okay, buster, now we’ve got your life sorted out, only one question remains: how long is it going to take you to get all your stuff and move it to my place?”
I goggled at her, and she smirked happily.
“You don’t think I’m letting you out of my sight, do you, baby? Get your stuff together, Dan-Dan, we have things to do and we’re wasting time talking. Chop-chop soldier, up and at ’em!”
Sherry stepped away from the table and grinned at me lost in sudden contemplation of her perfect behind and long sleek thighs in her glossy leggings. She wiggled her lovely pert little apple bottom at me.
“If we hurry back to my place, sorry our place, you get to peel them off again, baby; you do know I’m ‘commando’ under here, right?”
That did it; suddenly my jeans were far too tight, and thoughts of medical school, coffee shops, and hulking thugs all fled as thoughts of my sister/aunt/girlfriend naked rushed in to take up all my available head-space.
“Lead the way, Sherry-baby!” I croaked, while her smile broadened and her eyes danced as I took her hand and let her lead me away from the table. This was just the best day of my life, and I wasn’t going to waste a single second of it!
****
Sherry’s place was a rather swish two-bedroom apartment in an exclusive, newly-built and deceptively modest apartment block in Locks Heath, right next to the River Hamble and all the swish marinas and private super yacht moorings. I walked around in astonishment that a barmaid could afford a place like this; it must have run to at least 2, 000 a month, four or five times what my Student Halls accommodations cost. She noticed my expression and grinned.
“Don’t worry, baby-boy, it’s mine; if I had to live on what I earned at the pub I’d starve under an overpass. Mum arranged with my trustees to pay for this place when I first came down here. All my personal expenses are mine, but I still have the bulk of the insurance payout stashed away in the trust. It was the only way Mum could make sure my deadbeat father, wherever he is, couldn’t get his grubby little mitts on it, and, because the trustees have invested wisely, I still have every penny I was paid out, and then some. The interest alone on that money pays for this place, my utilities and any other expenses.”
She looked sad, and her lip quivered as her eyes welled up.
“Mum took good care of me, Danny; she may have been my half-sister, but really she was my mum, she loved me like a mum should, and she made sure I was properly taken care of. I miss her every single day, baby… ”
I pulled her to me and hugged her as her arms went around my waist as she cried silently into my shoulder.
“I miss her, too, baby, every single day. I miss her nagging me to clean my room. I miss her doorstep cheese sandwiches and her threatening me if I leave any; I miss her laughing at my clothes, I miss her slapping me on the butt as she walked past and asking me when I got so tall. I miss her telling me to get a haircut, I look like a haystack. I miss the early morning cup of tea on my nightstand. Even though it pissed me off, I miss her telling me about all her friends’ unattached daughters and all the big hints; I miss her sitting on the couch at night watching those garbage soaps, and I miss Sunday morning bacon sandwiches and a mug of tea with her after a Saturday night out with my friends, but most of all, I miss just seeing her smile and hearing her singing old pop songs while she cooked and cleaned. It’s so hard not having her around; it’s hard knowing I’ll never see her or hear her voice ever again. She was yanked away from us; I never even got to see her off, and then she was gone. It’s so wrong, so unfair…”
Sherry hugged me, feeling the loss in me, and when she looked up at me her glorious eyes were two bright wells of loss and need.
“I’m sorry I never came to the service, Dan, I couldn’t, it was too much to come and see for real that she was gone and you would have been there… I wasn’t strong enough… it was all just too much for me. I mourned her in my heart, baby, and kept her here inside me, because she was my mum, too, and I loved her so much… ”
I hugged her even closer, hoping like hell I didn’t start blubbing, but then a thought struck me.
“Shel, I used to go see her every Sunday, and every once in a while I’d find a bunch of flowers on her grave, Chrysanthemums, her favourite; was that… ”
Sherry nodded, tears spilling down her perfect cheeks.
“I couldn’t come while you were there, Danny, you know why, but I couldn’t keep away. I wanted her to know… I had to do something… ”
I kissed her forehead and held her to me.
“At least you were there for her, Shel, you came to see her, that’s good enough, I just wish…” I murmured, and she hugged me even tighter.
“I know, but… I just couldn’t, it was too… I’m sorry, Danny, I wish… ”
I held her to me.
“I know, but now it doesn’t matter anymore, we’re good now, yes?”
Sherry looked up at me and blinked the tears from her eyes, swiping her eyes with her cuff before she grinned suddenly, and lightly punched me in the chest.
“Whoa, what was that for?” I complained, and she grinned again as she punched me again.
“That’s for making me teary, you rotten little piggy! This is our happy time. I’ve got you and you’ve got me, no more sadness, got it? Good, now come and help me work out how the closets are going to work. And Danny, there’s a bedroom through there… ”
She grinned at me and darted away, squealing as I gave chase, cornering her in a bright, spacious, airy bedroom bigger than my whole student digs, with an enticingly spacious king-sized bed. Sherry squealed again as I tackled her onto the bed, rolling around with her until she ended up on top of me.
“Like it so far?” She smiled, and I squeezed her bottom as I tried to kiss her, as she ducked and grinned while avoiding my attempts to kiss her.
“Nice pad, kiddo, you’re doing well for yourself,” I drawled rolling her under me with a surging heave so I could kiss her properly. After some long and thoroughly enjoyable kisses she stroked my hair out of my eyes.
“Do you like it here, Danny? We can get another place if you like…” she began, but I kissed her to shut her up, before rolling off her to lie next to her, with my hands still clamped firmly around her lovely juicy little bottom.
“Nah, we’ll stay here, it’s a nice pad; I think I’m going like dating a rich chick… ” I grinned, waggling my eyebrows like Groucho Marx.
Sherry leaned up, smiled and did that sexy, lip-biting thing she did that always drove me crazy, before pecking me on the lips.
“So you’re only interested in my money, then?” she teased, and I squeezed her bottom, making her giggle.
“Nope, I kind of like your body, too,” I leered, and she kissed me and squirmed sexily against me.