Prompt: The aftermath of being late. Late. Late!
Genre: Open
Word Count: 1000 words
Deadline: Friday, 5 August 2011, 9 am EST
LATE ISN’T ALWAYS A BAD THING
By Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw
Beeep! Beeep! Beeep! Beeep!
The strident plea of the alarm clock drags me up from the depths of sleep. I poke a tanned arm out from under the covers… hand sliding across the pillow to the nightstand… fingers groping for the proper button among the myriad bumps and shapes on the plastic surface….
Beep… beep… beep… beep… beep… wrong button… fumbling for another… rush of static… chhhiiissschh…another… ‘We wanna see ya in a KIA!’ Fuck… desperate now… my arm sweeps across the nightstand, raking everything to the floor.
CRASH!! ‘… and now, to Carrie for the traf…’ Zzzzzt!
Silence.
I sigh and burrow back under the covers… trying to pick up the trail of the dream I was so rudely pulled from… Carole… naked in the shower… soapy bubbles sliding down her breasts… my hand reaching out to the stiff nipple…
“Ronnie! Get your ass up… now, girl!” Unseen hands sweep the bedcovers off, unveiling my naked body curled on the surface of the Sedona Red sea of our over-sized queen bed.
“HEY!” Blinking the sleep from my eyes, I turn my face up to Janine… glaring down at me. Uh-oh… someone does not look too happy.
“Ronnie, you promised!” The disappointment is plain in Janine’s voice.
“Promised? What are you…?” My brain is still fogged with sleep.
“You were supposed to pick up my Vera Wang from the drycleaners!”
Uh-oh! I knew there was something I was forgetting yesterday. Janine has a big meeting with the new director today and wanted to wear that outfit.
“Oh, honey… I am so sorry! I…” I get up from the bed and pull her to me. “I’m sorry, honey… I really am…” Whispering in her ear… “How can I make it up to you…?”
~~**~~
We are both late leaving for work… it couldn’t be helped though. You can’t rush make up sex!
~~**~~
The MAX trains are standing room only at this time of morning. I can’t read the latest book I got from AMAZON… Whip Smart by Melissa Febos, which I’ve waited six months for. I can’t read standing up and hanging on to one of those straps… it makes me nauseous.
Oh well… the sex was worth it!
My cell phone is dead, so I can’t call Kim to let her know that I am running late. By the time I finally get to the office, the girls have already left for our morning Starbuck’s run. Damn!
That’s okay… the sex was worth it!
Because I was late for work, I have to work through lunch to finish a report that’s due today. I had planned on walking down to Macy’s at lunch to pick up a birthday present for Janine. I’ll have to stop by on the way home… probably miss my train again.
I don’t mind… the sex was worth it!
~~**~~
Macy’s isn’t busy when I get there, so I should be able to meet Janine at Fratellli’s by six. We have a dinner date to celebrate her recent promotion. Just as I step up to the only open register, a woman with a huge armload of clothes cuts in front of me and dumps her burden on the counter.
“Excuse me!” What the hell?
“Oh… you’re excused.” She replies, oblivious to her rude behavior.
“I’m sorry ma’am… this young woman was here first.” The clerk interjects.
“Oh, let her go.” I say. “Some people can’t be bothered with manners.”
The woman shoots me a look. I shoot one right back. Go ahead, bitch… say something!
She thinks better of it.
The woman finally finishes her transactions and is now looking at a jewelry display across the aisle. I place my purchases on the counter and the clerk begins to ring them up. Just then, the register makes this funny little “ring-ring” and the clerk looks up at me in surprise.
“Congratulations Miss! You’ve just won a $25,000 shopping spree!” As if to confirm the clerk’s pronouncement, the store’s PA comes on, announcing their millionth customer.
Oh. My. God!!
I’m stunned! I look around… then back at the clerk, who has a huge smile on her face! We both turn and look at the woman who had cut in front of me. The woman looks like she is going to cry. Yeah… karma’s a bitch… isn’t it, honey!
I stick my tongue out at her and then turn back to the clerk. I can’t help thinking… if I had not been late today…
Oh yeah… the sex was definitely worth it!
~~**~~
Janine is already seated when I arrive at Fratelli’s. I can’t wait to tell her my good news… it should make up for me being late to the restaurant. She smiles up at me as I walk up to the table. We kiss and I sit down and take a sip of wine. I love the wines from the Trentino Alto Adige region in northern Italy.
“Sorry I’m late honey… where’s your glass?”
Janine just smiles. Okay… she doesn’t look upset… I start to speak, but she stops me.
“I’m late.”
“No you’re not, honey… I…” Off her look… “What…?”
“I went to the doctor today.” Again… the smile. And then, the dawning realization… my eyes go wide.
“Oh my god! Really? Are you…?”
Janine nods her head… still smiling… her eyes are wet.
“Oh my god… really… truly?” I feel the tears welling up in my eyes. We have been trying for two years to get pregnant… well, for Janine to get pregnant. I cannot have children. We were just about ready to give up hope, believing that it was not meant to be.
Janine nods again and the tears really start to flow. That sets me off.
The waitress comes over and asks if everything is all right.
“We’re going to have a baby!”
~~**~~
Beeep! Beeep! Beeep! Beeep!
The strident plea of the alarm clock drags me up from the depths of sleep.
~~finis~~
Veronica The Pajama Thief 