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I wrote this story after my husband wrote a song called The Look. For

some reason, the tale took a turn toward paranormal.   Sharon

THE LOOK OF FOREVER

by

Sharon Kizziah-Holmes

    The florescent lights flickered with an unsteady rhythm.  It was close to midnight and only a few people milled about the train depot.  Julia made her way to the attendant's desk.  "Is the 203 running on time?"  She watched the thin man with a drawn face glance up from his paper work and look at a computer screen.

    "Looks like it, ma'am."

    "Thanks."  She found a chair and took a seat.  While she waited for her husband's train to arrive, she practiced her favorite hobby.  Watching people.

    A young woman, with a small child in tow, approached a pay phone.  Their hair was mussed, and it looked as if they hadn't slept in days.  Her heart went out to them.  She watched the lady dig in her pocket and assumed she was looking for a quarter.  Soon the woman abandoned her search, took the child's hand and walked away from the phone.  As they passed, she saw the silent tears that streamed down the woman's face.

    Averting her gaze, she encountered an older couple.  The man was well built for his age and wore a short cropped, flat top haircut.  Dressed in a nice short sleeved shirt and crisply pressed jeans, he appeared comfortable.  The woman with him held an air of class.  Her gray hair was done neatly atop her head, and she wore a red business suit with a gold shirt and matching gold shoes.  She thought they made an interesting pair.

    Julia continued to study the people around her.  None piqued her interest.  She glanced up at the big faced clock on the wall.  In only five minutes Keith's train would arrive. 

    She didn't like it when he had to leave her and the kids.  His business called him away too much as far as she was concerned.  Why, she was only twenty seven, and sometimes she felt like she had no life other then providing  happiness to her family.  Guilt plagued her.  She had been lucky to find such a hard working man, but . . .

    Out of the corner of her eye, something caught her attention.  She turned her head and saw a man.  A stranger.  Or was he?  He hadn't been there moments earlier.  It seemed he'd materialized out of thin air. 

    Her heart pounded, her respiration came in short ragged breaths.  Everything around her seemed to disappear.  Except him.  She felt alone, frightened.  Who was this man?  She couldn't see his face, only his profile.  

    He stood tall.  His dark hair glistened in the artificial light.  Power drifted from his broad shoulders.  His jeans fit snug, and the tailored shirt he wore clung to his muscular chest.

    Barely above a whisper, an alien voice escaped her throat, "It can't be."  Suddenly he turned and met her

gaze.  She thought her heart would cease it's wild beating completely.  "Oh, my God."

    She saw the spark of recognition flicker in his dark brown eyes.  The ember smoldered then slowly ignited a flame deep within her.  Billy Joe Riley?  But he was . . .  He looked at her in the same way she'd become accustomed to eleven years earlier. 

    Goose flesh rose on her skin.  A strange force pulled at her.  Something was wrong.  She was being drawn by something she couldn't explain.  A blue nothingness.

    It drew her deeper into it's depths.  What was happening? 

    Her mind reeled.  Her body felt as if it spiraled downward into the indigo gloom.  She swallowed the bitter bile that threatened to choke her as she swirled in the bottomless pit.  She fought to bring herself back but knew the battle was lost when numbness consumed her.  Closing her eyes, she allowed the darkness to surround her.

                                                                        * * *

    Funny, Julia had been home from school for hours but for some reason, she felt like she'd just waken up.  It had to be because of Billy.  The affect Billy Joe Riley had on her senses was amazing. 

    On the dingy old couch in the living room of her Stepfathers house, she snuggled deeper into Billy's embrace as they kissed.  Their lips parted and Billy Joe's warm breath brushed her cheek.

    "I love you, Julia."

    Her gaze met his.  "Yes.  I can tell by the look in your eyes, Billy."

    "Always look into my eyes if you have any doubt that I love you.  They will tell you what's in my soul."

    She studied him and memorized the look.  Longing overwhelmed her.  "Take me, Billy.  My stepfather's out with his girlfriend for the night and my mom's at work.  They won't be home for hours. I want you to make me yours forever."

    "Are you positive, baby?  I don't want to hurt you.  We've never gone all the way, and once we start, I'm not sure I'll be able to stop."

    Should she go to the limit?  The love she felt at this moment would never be matched, she was sure of that.  She reached up and turned off the lamp, leaving only the moonlight that streamed through the window to illuminate the room.  When she spoke, her voice was low, and she was surprised at how husky it sounded.  "Take me."

    He answered her request with a passionate kiss.  When he backed away, he gently unbuttoned the summer shirt she wore and let it fall open to expose her breasts.  It made her feel free. 

    She thought she could actually see fire dancing in his eyes as his gaze devoured her.  His hand trailed up her stomach, leaving behind a searing path that would come to an end at her bosom.  Where had all these feelings been hidden?

    The heat of his touch continued to pierce her skin as he tenderly caressed one of her breasts.  When he bent his head and took its crown into his mouth, she shivered and a new sensation washed over her.  Warmth engulfed her heart, and she knew their love would last a lifetime.

    Standing, Billy leaned over her.  She didn't protest when he removed her jeans and surveyed her form.

    "You're beautiful, Julia.  I've never seen a naked woman before.  I didn't know it would be like this."

    At that moment she truly felt like a woman.  Even if she was only sixteen years old.

    The pieces of his clothing dropped to the floor, and he stood in front of her fully exposed. 

    Flush rushed to her face, but she didn't look away.  She wanted to remember this moment forever.  Could there be anyone more perfect than him in the world? 

    He knelt beside the couch.  "I love you."

    She ran her fingers through his soft hair and paused at the back of his neck.  "I love you, too."  She pulled him to her and pressed her lips to his.  Somehow, she'd never notice that he smelled so -- so manly.  Probing his mouth with her tongue, she tasted his uniqueness.

    When their lips separated once again, he brought his tall frame off the floor and lay next to her.  Their bare skin touched, and she felt his passion radiate through her.

    She hesitantly reached down and touched his desire.  It was hard, yet the skin was as soft as velvet.  "Billy, I don't know what's happening to me.  I feel . . . I don't know, I feel different.  Like I'm all grown up."

    "Me too."

    They touched, kissed and explored each other's bodies.  She could speak no louder then a whisper, "Billy."

    She didn't have to say another word.  Slowly, gently, he brought himself over her.  Scared but not ashamed, she opened herself willingly.  She felt a short stabbing pain when he entered her.  Soon the pain was gone and she was lost in his love.

    In the aftermath of the most wonderful experience of her life, she lay in Billy Joe's arms.  "I guess this means I'm really a woman now."

    "I've always thought you were a woman."

    The front door burst open.  She heard a click and the overhead light came on.  The dark rage of her stepfather's glare threatened to stop her heart. 

    "What the hell is going on here?"

    Fear engulfed her and she clutched for something to cover herself with.  "Bo!"

    Billy Joe jumped up and quickly pulled on his pants.

    Her stepfather's eyes narrowed.  "Why you slut.  You've been doing this punk, haven't you?"  He lunged toward Billy.  "I'll kill you, you little bastard."

    She fumbled for her clothes.  "No, wait!"

    "Wait, my ass." 

    Horrified, she watched.  When Bo reached Billy he jabbed a fist into the young man's stomach.  She couldn't stop the scream that escaped her throat as her lover fall to the floor.  "Don't!  Bo, please!"

    Billy scurried off the floor, ran over to the small wood stove in the corner of the room and picked up the poker.  "Don't come near me."

    The cynical laugh that came from deep within Bo's chest caused her blood to run cold.  She'd heard that laugh before.  Bo was a dangerous man. 

    "What are you going to do, Punk?"

    "I . . . I don't know, but I mean it," Billy said, "Don't come near me."

    Julia thought her heart was going to jump out of her chest.  Fully clothed, she went to Bo's side and grabbed his arm.  "Leave him alone!"

    Bo backhanded her across the room.  "Shut up, whore.  I'm going to show him what it's like to deal with a real man."

    Rubbing her jaw, tears blurred her eyes, but she saw the fury that covered Billy Joe's face.  He rasped out a warning.

    "Don't you ever touch her again."

    Bo walked over to where she had landed on the floor.  "Who, her?  And what are you going to do if I do this?"  He kicked her hip with the toe of his boot.

    Agony shot through her, and she squeezed her eyes shut.  The wail of a madman reached her ears.  Hard footsteps crossed the room, and she heard a dull thud.  She opened her eyes to see Bo's limp body fall to the floor.  Billy Joe stood over him, blood dripped from the poker he held in his hand.

    Silence filled the room.  Billy dropped the weapon and frantically gathered the rest of his clothes. 

    She stared in disbelief at the unconscious form of her stepfather.  A faraway voice penetrated her shock.

    "Julia?"

    Looking up, she saw Billy standing in front of her.  He took her hand and pulled her off the floor.  Tears welled in his eye's.

    "He's dead.  I've gotta go."

    She melted into his arms and he kissed her with the most intense emotion she'd ever faced.  Their gazes locked.  She saw into his soul just as he said she would.  His look told her he'd love her forever and beyond. 

    As her true love ran out of the house, she heard her stepfather groan.  She wanted Billy to get away, far away, before Bo came to; but it looked as if that wasn't going to be the case.

    His eye lids fluttered open, and he glanced around the room.  "Where is he?"

    "He's gone, and you'll never find him."

    "I'll hunt him down till I take my last breath, girl."  He stood and grabbed the shotgun from the hanger mounted on the wall.  "You can bet on it," he said, then rushed out.

    She held her breath for what seemed like hours, but she knew only seconds had passed.  A gun blast rang in her ears.  Then another.  "Noooo!"

    Darkness overwhelmed her as she fell to the floor.

                                                                        * * *

    "Julia?  Darling?  Are you okay?  You look like you've seen a ghost."

    The tiled floor was cold and hard beneath her.  "K--Keith?  What happened?"

    "You fainted, honey."

    Fainted?  Billy.  "Billy!"  Why had the memory been so vivid?  She craned her neck until she met Billy Joe's gaze.  He was real.  But how could that be?  The man was dead. 

    He smiled brightly, and she could barley recognize the words that formed on his lips before his image began to fade. 

    "I love you, Julia."

    She had loved him in her youth and realized the only way to tell him, was through her soul.  With all of her inner strength, she willed him to know her feelings.   

    The message his eyes conveyed, told her he understood and accepted the fact that, though they wouldn't be together, she would be his soul-mate for eternity.

    "Honey, are you okay?" Keith asked.

    Just as he had appeared, Billy Joe Riley, vanished.  She felt a peacefulness inside that had been missing for years.

    Glancing up at her husband she assured him, "Fine, sweetheart.  Let's go home."