Destiny's End

Camps Over

         Mike embraced her as he returned her kiss. Then, when she stopped, he pulled back and let go. Standing he helped her to her feet, "Just let me grab my flashlight and I'll be ready to go."
         When he turned, flashlight in hand, Heather was right there and took the light from his hand. She carried it over to the little round table set it down, and pulled the string on the light that hung overhead. Then, she returned to Mike by the light of the fire. "You don't need a flashlight, feeling your way is better."
         She pressed against him and kissed him again. He took hold of her and kissed her deeply, almost savagely. As they kissed, he walked her back toward the couch, but as her legs pressed against it, she stopped and pressed back. Mike stopped and watched as she walked across the small room to the hall.
         "Just hold that thought for a minute and don't go anyplace." Heather vanished into the bathroom and the door closed as the light came on. Mike sat down on the couch and waited. After what seemed like hours, the door opened slightly and a shaft of light shot into the room and across the couch. Then, it was gone and in the dim glow of the fireplace he seen heather emerge from the bathroom.
         She went right across the hall and vanished into the small bedroom. Mike got up and followed. The room was small and dark, and as he entered he felt for the bed. Heather was on it, and as he used his hands to feel his way, he discovered she was stretched out, nude on the bed. He backed into the hallway, and less than thirty seconds later was crawling naked onto the bed.
         They didn't speak, no words were needed. They came together and took their time exploring each other's bodies with their hands and mouths. After a long time of touching, kissing and caressing, they came together and made love slowly as the sky lightened outside the single window. When they had finished, they held close to each other and drifted into a peaceful slumber, safe in each other's arms.
         When Heather woke again, it was light in the room. A bright shaft of white indicated the sun was shining through the window in the next room. She moved slightly and the handsome man next to her opened his eyes. He looked puzzled for a minute, then as he remembered, he smiled at her and kissed her. She returned the kiss, but lightly and closed mouth. She sat up and then stood and stretched, then walked into the bathroom. A minute later he was also standing and watching her as she brushed her teeth with her finger.
         She rinsed her mouth by cupping some water, then used the towel to dry both her hands and her face. "Now, let's try that again?"
         She put her arms around him and kissed him on the lips, but this time it was Mike who was reluctant. "I need to do the same, my mouth feels like something slept in it." He squeezed past and rinsed his mouth with water. He opened the little medicine cabinet and took out a bottle of minty mouthwash and swished it around. Then he leaned over the sink and rinsed with water, as she had done. After drying he came to her and they kissed, falling back on the bed.
         After a couple of kisses, Heather pushed against his chest, "I should get back, I bet Lanae is pissed."
         He looked sad but didn't say anything as he got up and helped her to her feet. She went to the bathroom and dressed, then ran her fingers through her hair. "I look terrible, I need make-up and a brush."
He smiled, "You look wonderful and all you need is more of me."
"I do, huh? I need to get my butt over there and apologize to Lanae for not coming back last night. You and me, we'll finish this later."
Mike nodded, "Do you want me to come with, I can explain to her and tell her it was my fault?"
"It was your fault, what do you think? No, I think it's best if I just go and explain to her what happened. I think she'll understand. She'll probably be upset but she will understand."
Heather kissed him quickly then walked out the door and down the path. When she got to the campsite the fire was out and there was nobody around. She looked and seen the bottle of wine on the picnic table, empty. She seen the flap of the tent open, too.
She thought out loud, "She drank the whole bottle and must have just woke up and went to the bathroom."
She didn't know if she had drank it because she was enjoying some time to think, or if she was upset. She decided to change cloths and freshen up before Lanae returned. She walked through the soft grass and realized she was barefoot. The grass was dry, the sun had been up long enough to dry the dew. She didn't know how late it was, but guessed it to be about noon. She ducked and went from bright sunlight to the gloom of the tent sitting in the shadow of the trees. She couldn't see anything and tripped over someone.
"What the?" A male voice cried out.
Male? Heather's eyes had adjusted and there was a man sitting up now, looking at her. She had a fleeting thought of being in the wrong campsite and the wrong tent. "I'm sorry I...."
Then another person sat up and Lanae rubbed her eyes, "Heather? What time is..." Her voice just faded to nothing as she looked at the man next to her. The sleeping bag had fallen when they sat, and both had bare chests.
Heather stared at them, they at each other, and no one said anything for a long time. Then as the facts of the situation hit home, heather blushed, "I'm sorry I thought - I don't know I just, hell."
She turned and exited out the flap leaving them alone in the dimness of the tent. Lanae looked at Sabastian, who in turn was looking at her. "Who was that?" He asked Lanae.
"That's my friend, Heather." Lanae answered automatically. She remembered well the events of last night. "I'm not sure about anything else right now, but that's Heather."
Sabastian looked from her to the open flap and back. "I know what you mean, I'm not sure about anything, either. I mean, I remember everything, I just don't know how. I don't even know your name."
Lanae blushed deeper, "I'm Lanae, and you are?"
"Sabastian, it's nice to meet you, Lanae." He blushed deeper than she was. "That's so lame, I mean after last night -it just sounds lame."
"Hi, Sabastian. Yes, I guess hellos and handshakes are kind of out of place. I need to get dressed, would you please go outside for a minute?"
"I'm not really able to do that." Sabastian replied.
Lanae looked surprised. "I mean, I would go outside so you can get dressed, but it's light out, and your friend, and. I mean, I don't have any cloths on."
"I'm sorry, I know that. I mean, when we met in the water and stuff. Um, where are your clothes?"
"Over by my tent, I took them off to go swimming and then, um - well you know the rest."
Lanae nodded, "Yeah, mine are down by the water, too. I have more here, though. Could you please turn and not look."
Sabastian turned his back towards her as he nodded. "Sure, and after your dressed, um maybe you could get my cloths, or if you don't want, I could borrow you sleeping bag for a few minutes."
Lanae had pulled a t-shirt on and was stepping into a pair of shorts. "Ok, you can look again. Yeah, I can get your clothes, wear are you camped?"
Sabastian was watching her, "I'm over by the trees, a couple of sites down. I could just wrap in this and go, I'm feeling kind of awkward."
Lanae nodded, "Yeah, I know just how you feel. Um, sure, you can bring that back after you get dressed.  We won't need it until tonight." She heard her own words, "I mean Heather and I, not um. You know." Lanae was stumbling over her words. "Not that I didn't enjoy - I just don't want you to think I'm a...."
"I know, I mean I understand. I enjoyed last night, and I don't think your anything, well, I mean I think you're beautiful and maybe we can.... Later, maybe we can get together again."
Lanae nodded, "Yeah, this is so hard. I know what you mean, and yes I would like to um talk and stuff, later."
Sebastian stood and followed Lanae out of the tent, wrapped up in her sleeping bag. Heather was at the picnic table and turned as they came out. She smiled a very warm smile at them and blushed a little. "I'm making some coffee if you guys want some."
She looked a bit puzzled, but then they all were kind of puzzled and confused this morning. Lanae replied, "I need some coffee, thanks."
"I'm good, thanks anyway. I'm just going to um borrow this for a little while, but I'll bring it back later. If that's alright?"
Heather looked even more confused. "I'll explain later, he doesn't have any clothes and um." Lanae blushed as tried to explain. "Yeah, that's fine, and please bring it back, it's rented."
She couldn't believe how lame she sounded this morning. She kept stumbling over words, couldn't think, and had this burning desire to rush over and kiss him. Her thoughts were interrupted by Heather asking, "You don't have any clothes? Where are your clothes?"
Turning to Lanae, "How come he doesn't have any clothes? I can't wait to hear all about this."
The coffee was percolating and it smelled so good. "I um, we went skinny dipping and I left my clothes over there." He turned and pointed towards his camp site. "I'll just go get dressed and bring this back after bit."
They both nodded, Lanae blushing, Heather grinning, and Sabastian feeling like an idiot. He skirted the fire and started walking, very briskly, towards his campsite. Soon, he was out of site down the path and Lanae turned to Heather. "I don't know really what happened last night."
Heather laughed, "You don't know what happened? You and that guy went skinny dipping. Well that and everything else, by the looks of things. He's really hot, who is he?"
"I don't know. I just met him last night. Oh Heather, that sounds horrible, but it's true, I don't know who he is, either."
Heather poured them each a cup of coffee. "Here, sit and tell me everything, and then I'll tell you my story."
Lanae sat, steaming coffee in hand, and started with her leaving the cabin. She explained as best she could everything that happened, but there was no way to explain the strange magic that took hold of her, of both of them, last night.
After she told her story, and lots of questions were answered, best as could be, Heather explained why she was so late getting back this morning. After, she looked at Lanae, "I'm sorry for not coming back last night, but at the same time, I'm not sorry for sleeping with Mike. Like you, I can't explain why it all happened so fast, it's like some kind of spell was on me."
"Yeah, me too. I mean I don't even go swimming naked but last night I had to. It's all really kind of hard to explain. I'm glad you and Mike had a great night, though. We had a great night, too. It's kind of embarrassing but I'm not ashamed."
"I know, and I'm glad it worked out the way it did. I would feel horrible if you had been alone last night, but now, it's like it all happened just the way it was meant to. Hey look, it's the nice looking guy you met, returning with a sleeping bag. He looks just as cute dressed."
Sabastian blushed as he walked over. "I hope you don't mind, but I wanted to bring this back right away."
Lanae took the sleeping bag. "No, that's great, thanks. Do you want some coffee?"
"No, um, yeah. Duh, what a dweeb. I would love some coffee, and I wanted to come back cause I want to tell you something."
Heather and Lanae both laughed, now that the tension was released. "I hope I wasn't talking that... What did you call it? Dweeb?"
Sabastian nodded and blushed.
"I hope I didn't sound like a dweeb this morning." She laughed as she said it, then bit her lip. "Here's some coffee, Sabastian. I didn't mean to tease, sorry."
He felt the tension lesson as she laughed and Heather smiled. "That's alright, I think I probably deserve some teasing." He took the coffee and sipped at it, "Heather, right?" He continued as she nodded. "I'm Peter. Peter Pawley, but I go by my middle name, Sabastian. I just wanted to tell you I don't usually do that. Um, do what we did last night."
He blushed a bright crimson but went on. "I mean, I don't take advantage of lonely women or anything. I really can't explain what happened, but I wanted to tell you that I had a magical night, and I would like to spend more time together, if you would?"
Before Lanae could answer he added. "Not to um. To talk and to get to know you. I don't expect anything like last night, just talk and stuff. Does that make sense."
Lanae nodded. "Yes, Peter Sabastian Pawley, that makes sense and I would enjoy that very much. But," She looked now at Heather, "I have a friend here camping with me and it would be rude to spend my time with you and put her out."
Sabastian looked like a little boy who just lost his best friend, but he forced a smile. "Yeah, I guess that would be mean. I'm sorry, Heather I didn't mean to interrupt your camping. Maybe I can give you my phone number and email, and sometime you can call."
Heather jumped into the conversation at this point. "Hey guys, it's all right. I know how things are, I had a magical night myself. It's alright if you want to tag along with us. I mean, Lanae and you should have some time to work things out."
She looked at Lanae. "We had a blast out here, but I know what's up. I can see it in your eyes, maybe because I'm in the same boat, I mean me and Mike could hang out and get to know each other better, too."
Lanae hugged her, a big smile on her cheeks. "Thanks Heather, I like that idea. We can kind of all hang together as well as spending a little time apart. Me and Sabastian, you and Mike, and all of us just kind of taking some time to talk and enjoy the weekend."
Lanae had just finished talking when Mike spoke out. "That sounds like a great idea to me, too. Sorry, I wasn't listening in, I just walked over to bring you your shoes and these."
He held up Heather's shoes in one hand and her bra in the other. "You left them this morning, and I have to go get some stuff done, I didn't want to leave them outside, and I didn't want to lock the door with them inside." He turned to Sabastian, "Hi, I'm Mike, we met yesterday when you got here. I'm sorry, I don't remember your name, so many people you know."
"Sabastian, yeah I remember. It's nice to meet you, again. I was just getting ready to go back to my campsite. I'll stop over later, Lanae."
"Wait, um, can I come with?" Lanae asked. "I think Mike and Heather would like a little time to talk, too."
Sabastian had a huge smile as he nodded. "Yeah you can come over anytime."
They said their goodbyes and disappeared down the trail as Heather explained the details of the morning to Mike. She snatched her bra and stuck it in the tent. When she came back out he asked her if she wanted to come with him while he made his rounds. They stopped by Sabastian's site and filled them in.
"That's great, we'll hang out until you get back." Lanae told heather.
They spent the day talking about their lives and hiking around the camp. It didn't take long and they were holding hands, then each other, and by the time Heather and Mike returned, a few kisses had passed between them.
Mike wanted to take a break from the camping scene and ordered pizza. They ate at the cabin, and after sipping some wine by the fire, Lanae and Sabastian thanked him and got ready to go back to their own sites. Heather asked Lanae "Is it all right if I hang out for a while?"
"Sure, have fun you two. I'll hang with Sabastian if he doesn't mind."
"No, not at all. If you want to stay the night I can stay with Lanae or something. Whatever she wants." He smiled at her. "No expectations, just talking roasting marshmallows, whatever you want to do."
Lanae whispered in Heather's ear, "Stay if you want, I think we can find something to keep us occupied the night." She had a glimmer in her eye as she backed away.
"I'll see how it goes, but alright, then I'll see you in the morning."
Sabastian took Lanae's hand, "Your tent or mine?"
"Yours, tonight. But I have to stop and get some wine from the car first, alright."
They stopped by the car and got a bottle of wine and a bag of chips. Then hand in hand they walked down the darkened path. Soon they were at Sabastian's tent. He took a few minutes to get a fire started then went to his tent and returned with a pile of blankets and a thick rug. He spread the rug on the ground, then put the blankets out on it. He sat cross legged and looked up at Lanae. "So, what do you want to do first?"
Lanae took his hand and guided him back up. She stepped in close and kissed him. "Come on."
She led him to the water's edge. The shore was sandy over here, and the moon was brighter tonight. There was a soft glow from the fire, the moonlight reflected off the rippling water, and the leaves and grass rustled in harmony with the night's sounds. Lanae kissed Sabastian again. This time he held her close and kissed her long and deep. Then she pushed against him, stepped back and looked at him as she slipped off her clothes. He watched, then took off his. Hand in hand they waded out into the shimmering water. When the water was about waist high, Lanae turned and faced him, kissed him and let herself float up, wrapping her legs around his waist and leaning back.
She was anchored with her legs, floating on her back, and Sabastian was running his hands over her stomach and breasts. She could feel his stiffness against her, and she pulled with her legs and ground against him. He pulled her up to him and lifted her out of the water, carried her back to shore. He left for just a moment and returned with a blanket. He spread it on the ground then lifter Lanae in his strong arms and placed her on it.
They made love the first time that night right there by the water, in the moonlight. After, they returned to the fire and warmed up as they kissed and cuddled. They sipped on wine and nibbled on each other. Then, Lanae got up and went to the tent, but stopped. "Just a minute, I don't want to end up like you were this morning."
She returned to the shore and retrieved their cloths, then vanished into the tent, Sabastian followed. They spent the night in each other's arms, kissing, holding each other, and making love. They built the fire up early in the morning, then sat and watched the sun brighten the eastern sky. In the warmth of the fire, snuggled under a pile of blankets, they sat side by side, holding each other as the sun broke the horizon.
They greeted the new day with a passionate kiss and then returned to the tent and slept in each other's arms. This time no one woke them, and they slept until early afternoon. They spent the day together. Sabastian took her out in a rented boat and they fished for their dinner. Luck was with them and they soon had a couple of nice fish on the stringer. They had found a quiet little stream inlet away from the park. There in the shade of the trees hanging over the bank they tied the boat and made love to the rocking of the waves.
Sabastian cleaned the fish while Lanae went to the cabin and talked to Heather. It was Sunday evening and their last night camping. Lanae had an idea for all of them to camp together for this last night. Sabastian, with Lanae's help had moved his tent over by theirs. Heather loved the idea, and Mike was eager to please. He added that it would be a nice change to get out of the cabin for a night. Soon, they were sitting around the fire, talking and enjoying each other's company. Mike and Heather holding hands on one side, Lanae and Sabastian holding each other on the other side. It felt right and natural and Lanae didn't want it to ever end. That's what the problem was, and that's what kept haunting her through the day.
Sabastian sensed something was bothering her and asked, but she wouldn't talk about it. He didn't push, and suspected she was feeling a little depressed, like he was, that this camping trip was almost over. That night, in the quiet of the tent, lying in each other's arms, with tears in her eyes she told him.
"I think I'm falling in love, or maybe it was love right from the start, Sabastian. I don't know, it was magic and it's hard for me. I'm married, separated but still married. I left to start my life over and find myself. I just started doing that and I found you and now, I love you."
He held her close. "I know, Lanae, I feel it too. I didn't know what it was, but your right, I'm in love with you. I feel like I've always known you and have just been waiting to meet you. I know that sounds impossible, but it's true."
Lanae felt a tear break loose and wash down her cheek and onto Sabastian's arm. "Why are you crying, Lanae? I know it's crazy, but we can figure this out, it will just take some time."
"You don't understand what I'm trying to say. I want to stay with you, I want this night to last forever. But, I need to discover who I am, and I need to find myself and my own life before I can be a part of yours. Oh, Sabastian, my heart is ripping apart know that I have to do this, but if I don't I'll just become dependent on you instead of being your partner."
"I think I know what you mean." Sabastian had forgotten his own messed up relationship until she said this. He knew he had to get his life together as well. "So, we both are kind of in messed up relationships, I guess. I mean, I kind of need to do the same. It's interesting that we are both so much in the same place. It's different, I know but it's kind of the same."
He ran his fingers through her soft hair as he explained his own messed up relationship. He knew it had to end, he knew it wasn't going anyplace now or ever, she was married. He knew what he had to do, now. Lanae had shown him what love should be like, and he had learned from her that before you can be with someone, you have to learn to be alone and handle life or else you just become dependent on the other person.
They talked long into the night, they cried knowing it was the last night they would share, and they made love. Slow, passionate love, holding nothing back. In the morning they dressed and Lanae kissed him. "I have to go home, Sabastian. I have to go, but thanks to you, I know now what I have to do. I'll never forget you."
"I'll never forget you, Lanae. Maybe someday our paths will cross again and it will be the right time for both of us."
They hugged tight, they shared one last kiss, and then they returned to their own lives, knowing now what direction things had to go. Sabastian thought out just what he would say to Janie, about how it had to end, as he packed up his gear and loaded up his Jeepster. He longed to go down the path and hold her one last time.
"No, Sabastian, there is no, one last time. It will just be one more and one more. Be strong like Lanae, and do what needs to be done. Go home and take care of your own life and let her find hers." He spoke to himself as he sat and watched tears slide down his stubbly cheeks. He wiped them away with the back of his hand. He felt angry as hell, as well as sad. He wanted to cry out, "Why!" but he already knew. Yes, Lanae was still a married woman, too.
"Way to go, first Janie, now Lanae. Not to mention you have a girlfriend yourself, you bum. Sure she's married but you still haven't ended it, so you're just like them. Only now you know why, they're lonely, just like you, and they are looking for the same thing you are, just to be loved."
No, the anger wasn't towards Janie, or Lanae, it wasn't even directed at himself. For the first time, he understood. He understood love, and he understood loneliness. People are just people and that's life; that's what he was angry with, life.

***