The Carousel

Seize

"I didn't realize we were fighting...I thought this is our normal way of talking."

"Baby, I promise no groupies," he traced a cross over his heart with his pointer finger. "I promise you."

"Okay. I trust you."

He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her tenderly. "I love you, Ames."

"I love you, Jay. So much."

He kissed her on the lips again and rolled on top of her. His lips moved from her lips to her jaw, down to her neck and collarbone. He unbuttoned her cardigan and slid it off her shoulders. He settled her more comfortably on the couch as he pulled his shirt over his head. His lips fused back on hers as he worked on her white oxford shirt next, not taking it off, just letting it part in the middle. He kissed around her belly button and was making his way up her sternum when he noticed something different with the bra she wore. He looked up at her and smiled.

"Meh, I figured you deserved a treat," she reached in front of her and unhooked the front clasp. She giggled when he tickled underneath the curve of her breast and parted the bra.

"I love surprises."

Her giggles were drowned out and replaced by moans soon after. After all was said and done, Jared sat on the carpet with his legs outstretched, the coffee table kicked away from it's usual spot. His back rested against the couch, and Ondine straddled him, her arms looped under his armpits and her head lay on his shoulder. She still wore her oxford shirt and bra. 

"Babe? I want to do something real quick since I didn't get to do it earlier," he broke the silence when his breathing evened out. 

"What's that?" she moved her head away from his shoulder so she could look at him.  

He reached in front of her and clasped her bra again, only to unclasp it again. "I love it! Easy access!" 

She flicked his ear at what she heard. "Jay, ugh, you pig! It's not just for your benefit. It's easier for me to put on as well." 

"You said it was my treat!" he kept clasping and unclasping it, playing with her bra like it was his new toy. 

"I regret ever saying that now!" she tried to contain the laughter bubbling in her chest. "If only I didn't love you so much and won't miss you so much, I would have probably not have given you your treat," she stuck her tongue out at him. 

"I think we should replace all your bras with ones like this," he unclasped her bra for the final time. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head when his head dipped and his lips, tongue, and teeth played with what was underneath the bra this time. 

*** 

Jared, Ben, Jackson, and Lucas were sitting in the booth at one of New York's most popular rock radio stations. They were giving an interview to support their mini East Coast tour that was kicking off that evening. White Noise was doing a two-week ten city tour. It was no secret that out of the four guys, Jared was the least alive in the mornings, but ever since he started dating Ondine, he was not only awake early in the mornings, but was alive and full of energy as well. He had talked with his girlfriend prior to the band's interview, hence the smile on his face that couldn't be erased. The DJs mostly talked about their music and their tour, business related stuff.  

"Jared, you've been quiet. I thought it was the bassist who was usually the silent one in the band," the female DJ, Sherry, inquired. 

Jared laughed. "Sorry, I'm just getting used to the time change." 

"It's only a three hour difference," the male DJ, Tyler, noted. 

"Jared's just gotten back from Austria," Jackson quipped. 

"Austria! That's random!" Sherry said. "What did you do in Austria?" 

"Gotten reacquainted with the musical stylings of Beethoven," Ben tapped Jared on the shoulder. 

"Oh, I get it! I keep up with the news!" Sherry said giddily. "Your girlfriend lives over there, right? The concert pianist?" 

"Yes," Jared said with a big smile. 

"Are we gonna hear wedding bells and baby's cries soon?" Sherry asked. 

"We haven't gotten that far in our relationship yet." 

"Good luck, Jared doesn't want to get married nor have any children," Lucas said. 

"Wow, are you sure you guys are my friends? You guys keep dropping me like a hot potato!" Jared shook his head.

"I know why that is, Jared," Sherry spoke again, clearly on Jared's side. "They're just jealous!" 

"Thank you, Sherry," Jared replied appreciatively. 

"Have you seen her pictures, Tyler? She is beautiful!" Sherry turned to her co-DJ. 

Jared beamed with pride. While it was true that Ondine was aesthetically pleasing to the eyes, there was more to her than her physical beauty that truly made his girlfriend beautiful. 

"I have seen her pictures, Sherry...mostly with this guy right here," Tyler pointed to Jared. 

Jared just let out a laugh. Those were obviously old pictures because Ondine was out of the country, and there were no paparazzi hounding them in Vienna. He did take photos with her while she was in Vienna, but neither one of them had any social networking accounts, so those pictures remained private. "I would hope you'd only see pictures of her with me." 

Tyler steered the conversation back to the band's show that evening, to which Jared was eternally grateful. He didn't like to talk much about his private life, and he for sure didn't want to drag Ondine's name all over the press even though she wasn't explicitly named during the radio interview. He knew Ondine was also a very private person, especially since her parents' and brother's name always get mentioned whenever she makes it in print somewhere, and she wanted to shake that, hence the decision to go to school far away from home, and now work very far away from home. He wanted her closer, but he had to respect her decisions in life. He wanted her to do what made her happy.  

"How is Ames, by the way," Ben asked Jared after the interview. While he and Ondine remained close, their correspondence had lessened considerably mostly in respect to Jared. 

"She's doing good. She absolutely blew me away when I saw her perform with a full orchestra." 

"See, I told you!" Ben gleamed. 

"I've never had any doubts about her talent... I had qualms about the material she plays," Jared joked.  

Ben laughed out loud. "I'll see you later, dude. I'm gonna go take a nap," he said to Jared when they reached their floor at the hotel they were staying at. 

"Yup."

Jared nodded at Ben before going inside his room. He took out his phone and played the piano piece he uploaded from the CD Ondine had given him at the airport in Vienna. She had told him that it was something she composed specifically for him, a lively, playful tune with a catchy melody. The beginning sounded mischievous, akin to two people bantering, and the middle and ending sounded like courtship and then new love.

He wasn't good with lyrics like Ben was, but he wanted to try his hand because his love wrote it for him. He wanted to return the song to her completed, by the time she got back from her stay in Vienna.