When was the last time you did something dangerous?
Submitted by Ross.
At approximately 7:12 am, the subject entered the vehicle. Forest green Honda Accord, 4 door. Subject proceeded to drive to work. In Miami. Worst drivers ever. I'll try it again in 30 minutes.
Look vendor from work, salesperson, bill collector, even co-worker.
I realize that my name is a little out of the ordinary. No, really I do, I've lived with it for 33 years and have yet to meet face-to-face a person that shares my name. I've gotten used to the mispronunciations and I'm okay with that. I can let that pass.
Please, please, please, if I leave you a voicemail in which I clearly spell out my name for you and repeat it twice, which I always do, please be kind enough to spell my name correctly when you contact me. And if I email you? How much effort does it really take to perhaps cut and paste or click ignore when your email gets spell checked?
Hey Bob, Sue, Bill and Mary, I spell your name right. Take a minute to get mine right when I've handed you all the tools to do so.
Sorry, that's my rant.
Eventually, I will put all of this together. In the meantime, here is part one.
And now, on with the story.
Dannie was more tired than she gave herself credit for since the next thing she remembered was waking up in a strange place under something heavy. She looked around and tried to clear the fog from her head. Ceiling. Window. Bed. Four-post. Holy crap! I'm in Steve's bed!
The heavy thing that she was under was actually more than one thing: Steve's arm and leg. Had they slept cuddled like this all night? Seems impossible as Dannie just isn't the snuggling type. The urge to relieve the pressure on her bladder struck Dannie just as hard as the realization of where she was. She started trying to scoot out from under Steve as not to wake him, but the further she scooted away, the more he held on.
Dannie wondered if reverse psychology worked on the sleeping. She stopped moving around to see if that would loosen his grip. If it didn't work soon, she'd just have to power her way out because if she didn't get out of his bed soon, she was sure that she'd never be invited back. Giving up all attempts at subtlety, Dannie slid out of the bed and into the bathroom.
After taking care of business, Dannie checked herself out in the mirror. Her hair wasn't too badly mussed, a product of sleeping like the dead. A few pillow lines on the face here and there, but nothing that should scare Steve to death when he wakes up and sees her there. For lack of a toothbrush, she rinsed her mouth out and headed back to bed.
All of Dannie's efforts were for naught. Steve woke up when she went to prevent her bladder from exploding. When Dannie slid back into the bed, Steve was holding his arms out for her. With no other thoughts other than going back to sleep, she cozied up in Steve's arms, letting his warmth and the faint smell of last night's cologne envelope her.
When Dannie woke again, she was alone. She looked around the bedroom, no Steve. The bathroom door was open and the smell of soap wafted out and tickled her nose. Curiosity got the best of her and she ventured out into the living room. Empty. Now she was starting to get a little concerned. She meekly called out Steve's name and in reply heard nothing but the chirping of the birds outside. Completely at a loss for what to do next, Dannie decided to get dressed and head out as she did have to work later on. She went back into the bedroom to find her pile of clothes and was stunned by what she found. Her clothes and shoes were right where she left them, but on top of them sat a key and a note.
D,
I had to go in for the mid shift. You were sleeping so well; I didn't want to wake you. Take your time, hang out if you like, just use this key to lock up when you leave. I'll still be at work when you get there. See you soon.
S
This was just too crazy for words. First of all, Dannie knows that she isn't that deep of a sleeper, especially in someone else's bed. Secondly, even though it won't happen, how in the world does Steve know that she won't ransack the place and take off? At the very least, snoop through his stuff? It turns out that Steve knows Dannie better than Dannie knows herself. Not quite comfortable being alone in Steve's house, Dannie quickly gathers her things, makes the bed and vacates the premises. The less time she's there, the less time there is for something to go wrong.
As Dannie drives home, she replays the events of the last 24 or so hours in her head. It was one thing for him to invite her over, that's innocent enough, but for a friend to "coincidentally" drop by who seems to know a lot about her, and then for him to leave her in his house? Tread lightly, she told herself. Don't look into things. Take this slow.
Taking things slow was easier said than done. There would be the constant questioning from Jen and Lori, sideways looks from some of the other females that worked there, the growing attraction between Dannie and Steve, and there was a nagging voice in the back of Dannie's head urging her to keep her distance. The first she tried to answer as vaguely as possible, the second she ignored, the third became a focus and the last, the last never went away, it just started losing its voice.
Later that day, Dannie found a discreet way to return Steve's key to him. He asked if she had found everything she needed and she replied that she didn't need anything so there was nothing to find. At this, Steve smiled the smile that makes knees weak and told her that she was welcome over any time. He also chose this moment to tell her about a band that he was going to see. He thought that she would enjoy them also and asked if she wanted to go. The little voice, hoarse now, tried to tell her not to go, but her heart and mouth said yes before they ever even thought it out.
They planned it all out and things magically fell into place, almost like Steve had written their schedules. The band played on Saturday night, both Dannie and Steve would finish work by 9 and both had Sunday off. The fates had allowed, just this once, planetary alignment for these two and left the rest to their good buddy chance.
Click here for the first section of the story.
When Dannie reemerged from the bathroom, work clothes folded in hand, Steve had poured them each a glass of wine and situated himself on the couch. Dannie looked around for the best place to stash her clothes and walked towards where she had left her shoes. Steve, watching out of the corner of his eye, stopped her about halfway there.
"You can put that in the bedroom if you want. Shoes too."
"Oh, okay, thanks."
Dannie ventured into the bedroom and commandeered an empty corner. At the same time, she tried to get a good look around. Interesting art on the walls and the most fantastic four-post bed ever. She hurried to place her things neatly in the corner and went back to the living room.
"Hey, remember that movie that Carrie was talking about, Fear of A Black Hat?" Steve asked.
"Yeah, she said it was pretty funny."
"I picked it up if you want to watch it."
"Excellent! Let's watch it!"
They sat down on the couch, not quite at opposite ends, but at a friendly distance. As the wine in the bottle diminished, so did the distance between them. More than halfway through a movie that could only thoroughly be enjoyed with a bottle of wine, the doorbell rang.
"Was that your doorbell?"
"Ugh, yes. Hang on while I see who it is."
Dannie was polite enough to pause the movie while Steve was away. He had gone down to the front door. It seemed to take longer than she thought it should, and she soon found out why.
"Dannie, this is my buddy Steve."
"No kidding, you're both Steve?"
"Honestly, but I was Steve first," new Steve said. Just what Dannie needed was name confusion. For the sake of clarity, we'll go back to TS and NS for New Steve.
We all went through the pleasantries of being introduced and then NS went into a barrage of questions that Dannie found amusing. By far, the most revealing question was regarding a certain band that Dannie loves, Metallica. NS asked some obscure question about the band and Dannie rattled off the answer without even thinking.
"I told you she liked Metallica," TS gloated.
"Yep, you did," NS conceded.
There wasn't anything for Dannie to add to that little conversation, but she did make a mental note that TS had been talking about her to at least one of his friends. How interesting.
"I've gotta get going, I just wanted to stop by and say hi," NS said on his way towards the door.
"No problem, man. Always good to see you."
"Nice to meet you, Dannie."
"Same here, Steve."
And with a finger laid aside his nose and a twinkle, NS disappeared into the night.
"Do you always have friends stop by so late?"
"Not always, but sometimes. We're all in the restaurant business, so no one has regular hours. It isn't that late."
Dannie looked at her watch and was shocked to find that it was already after one in the morning. She was getting a little tired and still had to drive 45 minutes to get home.
"Maybe not for you, but I'm going to turn into a pumpkin soon. I think I should get ready to head out."
"Is it far for you to get home?"
"Not bad, 45 minutes maybe."
"Wow, it's really too late for you to be making that drive. Why don't you just stay here?"
This, this is what Dannie was waiting for, and yet, she had a sudden urge to run. Steve must have seen it in her face.
"Don't worry, you can sleep in the bed and I'll take the couch."
"No way, I can't kick you out of your own bed! If anything, I'll take the couch."
"Look, don't be difficult. You take the bed, I'll take the couch, we can finish the wine and the movie."
A little warily, Dannie agreed. This wasn't like her at all to be so close to the prize and then shy away and she knew it. She was entering dangerous territory.
After all the excitement of the day, Dannie was flat-out exhausted. She started nodding off towards the end of the movie. It was always the same with wine. One or two glasses puts her to sleep but a steady flow keeps her awake and gives her a nasty hangover. She felt a little bad, but the moment the movie was over, Dannie just needed to get to sleep.
"Steve, I think I'm gonna turn in. I'm just wiped out."
"Don't worry, I'm pretty tired myself. Go ahead in, make yourself at home. I'll shut everything off and lock up."
"Thanks, Steve. You're a lifesaver."
Dannie went in to lay down in Steve's bed in Steve's clothes. She found those facts highly amusing and smiled in spite of herself. She knew that she wasn't winning that bet, at least not tonight, but she was okay with that as well. The lights were going off, one by one, until there was nothing left to see. It didn't take long for Dannie to get comfortable enough to start drifting off to sleep. She had just slipped into her lovely sleep coma only to be jolted awake by movement. Close movement.
Although he had said that he would sleep on the couch, Steve had decided to slide into the bed with Dannie. Again, it's why Dannie had come here, so she decided to keep quiet and see how things played out. As Steve made himself comfortable, Dannie tried her best not to move, or breathe for that matter. It seemed that as long as she stayed still, she might somehow find sleep again.
It didn't take long because Dannie was really just plain tired. As odd as she found the situation, she was too beat to care. She started relaxing once more only to be jolted back into mummified stage when Steve draped his leg over her. He obviously felt the tension as he immediately asked if it was uncomfortable for her. Dannie mumbled that it was fine and tried once more to get to sleep, but sleep would not come. Not for a long time.
(to be continued…)
I borrowed this from Lara who I believe borrowed it from b ë я ĸ.
I'm hoping that it brings me some inspiration from an internal searching perspecitve.
I AM
I am (two special characteristics you have)
I wonder (something you are actually curious about)
I hear (an imaginary sound)
I see (an imaginary sight)
I want (an actual desire)
I am (the first line of the poem repeated)
I pretend (something you actually pretend to do)
I feel (a feeling about something imaginary)
I touch (an imaginary touch)
I worry (something that really bothers you)
I cry (something that makes you very sad)
I am (the first line of the poem repeated)
I understand (something you know is true)
I say (something you believe in)
I dream (something you actually dream about)
I try (something you really make an effort about)
I hope (something you actually hope for)
I am (the first line of the poem repeated)
I AM
I am mother and wife
I wonder what happens at the end
I hear voices trying to lead me
I see my father at the BBQ
I want him to actually be there
I am mother and wife
I pretend to be busy when I'm not
I feel cemented in place
I touch the walls around me
I worry that I can't provide
I cry o'er the losses
I am mother and wife
I understand that nothing lasts forever
I say there must be more than this
I dream a fragmented reality
I try to stay true
I hope success finally comes this way
I am mother and wife
