Cherry Orphan

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Despite a long, tiring day James slept restlessly. He wanted Calley alongside him, as she'd been for the previous three nights, but accepted its impossibility. That glorious phase had ended.

He got up soon after Colleen left for the studio and moved about the rambling house quietly, barefoot in only a terrycloth robe. Pink dawn light filtered through the massive windows.

After investigating the huge kitchen, where he discovered orange juice and cereal, he wandered outside and stood on the far side of the glass-smooth pool. The low sun rendered the house a peach color, twinned by the pool reflection. He needed a record of this—visual proof. No one in England would believe the crazy, luxurious world he now inhabited.

James pressed a button and heard the familiar whirring sound. He took two additional Polaroids from slightly different angles, and then one more from the house side of the pool looking east, through palms, into the silhouetted Hollywood Hills. That done, he sat at a patio table and idly sipped juice from a glass while turning things over in his mind.

The few days alone with Calley had been an unexpected and fabulous gift. Now she'd returned home he'd made up his mind to settle for whatever small contact the new situation might allow. Through tragedy and pain he'd been chosen for this without sense or reason. No education, no matter how select or preferential, could ever have prepared him for Calley. She stimulated all his senses; occupied every brain cell to overflowing. Even though she consumed him he would remain passive and initiate nothing. If Calley wanted to be with him, she'd find a way. In the meantime he had a whole new world to discover, full of exciting things none of his school friends could ever hope to experience in a millennium.

So deep were his ruminations the intruding sound only registered at the last second. A pair of hands slid around the sides of his face from behind and covered his eyes. The accompanying scent told him they were Calley's hands even before she spoke.

Her voice said loudly, "Go ahead, Sonia."

Running bare feet slapped on stone followed by a splash. The hands let go. Calley formed a silhouette against the low sun clipping over the tree-lined hills. Even so he sensed she stood there naked. He squinted and shaded his eyes as she broke away and followed Sonia into the pool, making sufficient impact to send water droplets into his face.

After some random splashing about, both girls rested their arms on the edge of the pool and stared at him, grinning all over their streaming wet faces. "Ready for your morning skinny-dip, James? It's a tradition around here," Sonia announced.

"Yeah, get rid of the robe and join us, or are you still too shy, big boy?" Calley challenged.

He'd always been shy about his body—more than shy—Calley knew that all too well. This setup seemed so unfair. The cresting sun would light him up like a beacon. Calley had seen him naked many times over the past few days and knew what to expect. Her taunt: Big boy, was no joke. Even flaccid he knew the thing between his legs looked out of proportion to the pale, skinny body it served. Obviously they'd discussed him in detail.

Outmaneuvered he nervously undid the sash, then let his only garment fall.

Simultaneously Sonia emitted a squeal as Calley pushed her down hard, dunking the younger sister for several seconds before letting her thrash to the surface. By then James had made it into the pool, mildly shocked by the sudden coolness of the water.

For a good thirty minutes they swam and horsed around before linking arms in a circle. The circle closed and their bodies touched underwater. Everyone kissed, wet on wet.