Breaking Perfect

He made swishing sound effects as he slowly sliced the glowing saber through the air around her. “Choose your weapon and I shall show you what a true Jedi can do.”

She fought a smile and gave him a look that said he was being a child, but picked up a light saber of her own anyway. Pressing the button with her thumb, the wand glowed red as opposed to his bright blue one.

“Ah, a rebel!” He made a sound effect and clashed his sword against hers and began to circle her. “Aren’t you a little short for a storm trooper?” She scoffed and tried to jab him with her saber, but he deflected the motion and again made a clashing sound. “The force is strong with this one!”

She laughed and wished she knew lines from the movie. She’d only seen Star Wars a few times. Sean quickly twisted and swatted her on the butt with his light saber. She jumped and he laughed. It had been a mock joust, but it came fast and swift, leaving a bit of a sting in its wake.

“Hey!” Liberty parried his next move and hit him in the leg with her saber. She wasn’t as graceful as he. “Now I will have to destroy you,” she warned, trying to sound as if she knew the lines.

“I find your lack of faith disturbing.” He swatted her butt again, this time a bit harder. A thrill rushed over her. She laughed and swung back, this time connecting with his behind. He quickly moved and pivoted on his large feet. The battle continued and their voices grew louder as their imaginations got carried away.

In one clumsy swing, Liberty accidentally knocked over a small display of action figures. They clattered to the floor and made an embarrassingly loud noise that attracted the attention of nearby shoppers who gave them disapproving looks. Liberty sensed her cheeks turning as red as her saber and went to clean up the mess.

Suddenly an employee entered the aisle and frowned at them. “Excuse me, but unless you intend on purchasing those items I’m going to have to ask you to return them to the shelf.”

Mortified, she quickly moved to put the toy light saber back when Sean grabbed her and swung her into his grip. Her back pressed against his warm front and his muscular arm wrapped around her shoulders just above her breasts. What was he doing? They were going to get thrown out.

“She’s part of the Rebel Alliance and a traitor. Take her away!”

Her stare shot over her shoulder at him, outraged, but when she recognized the glimmer of humor in his eyes she lost the battle. Let them kick them out. They were just having some fun. She smiled and looked back at the store clerk and said, “My apologies, but you know how uncivilized a wookie can be.”

Sean tipped his head back as deep laughter came bellowing out of his mouth followed by an impression of Chewbacca’s howl. She laughed with him. The clerk rolled his eyes and walked away. Apparently they had scared him off.

Sean looked down at her for a moment and said, “I think there is a naughty streak in you, little Liberty.” Their laughter faded away and they stared at each other. The moment seemed to get heavier by the second and finally Liberty looked away, the intimacy of their shared gaze having produced an unnamable reaction inside of her. She extricated herself from his grip, moving to pick up the toys she knocked over.

When she stood she found Sean waiting at the cart that now had two light sabers sticking out of it. “Are we buying them?”

“Yes,” he said as if it made perfect sense.

The checkout process was uneventful, although Liberty found herself wrestling with vagrant feelings that continued all the way to the car and on the drive home. Sean was uncharacteristically silent.

When they returned to the house Sean carried in their bags and Liberty quickly put the things away. She told Sean she needed to do some things around the house and tidy up the DVDs in the entertainment room. He disappeared somewhere and told her he would be back down in about twenty minutes, so off to the linen closet she went.

Liberty immersed herself in the mundane task of sorting and counting towels and washcloths into piles of six, turning the edges to face outside, lining the closet the three piles per shelf, all equal in height.

* * * *

Sean stepped out of the luxury shower and onto the earth toned tiled floor. He reached for a towel and began rubbing away the drops of water from his skin. When he finished drying, he walked over to the sink and tossed his towel in the hamper. The sultry steam of the bathroom subdued the chilled central air filling the sleeping quarters of the guestroom.