She snorts at the new endearment. “You’ll have to come up with something a little more creative, baby.” I smile at her in return.
I have one hand on the steering wheel and the other on her thigh as we drive in comfortable silence. She threads her fingers through mine, smiling to the window, watching the world as it sluggishly wakes. Finding a parking spot later would be a pain, not to mention I might be late if traffic picks up, but I don’t care. I fucking don’t care. I want more time with her. I want to take her home; I don’t want her riding with anyone else at this crazy hour of the day. And I want more, a little more of being with her before being sucked into this vacuum of the alternate world that is my job where I can hardly allow any space for anything but work. When I finally park at the curb below her apartment building, Anna releases the seatbelt and leans in to give me a long, warm kiss.
“Thanks,” she says. And I shake my head communicating, “Don’t mention it.” She kisses me once more. “Bye.” She reaches for the door and opens it.
Nuh-uh, baby. I step out of the car and round it. Reaching Anna, I wrap her in my arms, hugging her to me. I take a lungful of her hair and keep my lips on it. We stand in silence, hugging a few beats. Inching back, I dip my chin to look at her, my eyes caressing her face. “I love you,” I say and kiss her once more, this time softly and profoundly.
As we pull back, it’s Anna’s turn to train her eyes on me. A timid little smile forms on her lips when she says, “Yes, let’s do this. Let’s move in together.” At first, I look at her in surprise. When the realization sinks in, I lift her into a tight hug. She lets out a joyful shriek. We kiss through our smiles.
Anna inches back, her smile quivers some while her eyes take a worried shade. “What is it?” I ask tenderly.
“I’m happy,” she says, yet her expression tells me there is more. She swallows and adds, “And truly scared.”
I hug her closer. “Me too,” I say.
She looks at me in surprise.
“I don’t think that it’s going to be easy, because I know it’s not. But I’m sure it’s going to be worth it.”
She answers by pressing her lips against mine. Her non-verbal answer couldn’t make me more reassured. I wrap her in a warm embrace as long as I can, finding it immensely hard to let go.
Happily Ever After Is Overrated, Orgasmed Ever After Is the New Black
Earlier this morning.
Anna to CHICKENS: Morning chickens, first Monday of the month! Monthly challenge time! For the next 24 hours, you should answer every question with an answer to a question you want to be asked.
Pandora to CHICKENS: What’s up with the complicated instructions? Too early to decode this thing. No coffee in my system yet, someone please explain with easy words.
Victoria to CHICKENS: Panda, someone asks you a question, you answer with whatever you really want. I for one will probably be saying, “Yes, please, Rosé!” very often today.
Pandora to CHICKENS: Ok, I get it. Just like Drummergirl would probably say, “Yes, after dark,” all the time and Anna would be saying, “Yes please, Doctor, please treat my lady parts, please.” Or I would say, “Yes, Jonathan, I’ve been a bad girl.”
Anna to CHICKENS: Exactly that.
Victoria to CHICKENS: You nailed it, panda bear.
Kayla to CHICKENS: Drunk fishing? Yes, after dark.
Panda to CHICKENS: Absofuckinglutely.
Anna to CHICKENS: What Panda said.
Victoria to CHICKENS: Always!
“Ooh, look at us all,” Panda radiates a megawatt grin at us, raising a glass of Rosé while holding a fishing rod in the other. “Fabulously glowing! The radiance you get from getting some is better than any shimmer out there, I tell ya.”
Vicky touches Panda’s glass with her own, nearly dropping her fishing rod into the water in the process. “To glowing from the inside.” She laughs briefly at her own joke.
“You should trademark that,” Kayla says and points at me. “Here’s your target audience, the all-natural consumers.”
“I think we can declare this our farewell soiree to fishing season. I don’t know about you guys, but my heiny is literally frozen,” I say to no one in particular.
They laugh, all three of them. Panda eyes me next, but talks to the others, “Looks like our Anna has been getting a lot of glow work. Look at her, she isn’t even here with us.” Then, “Hey Chicken.” She taps my shoulder. “Tell the doctor, the one that’s in your head right now who’s doing such a glowing job on you, that we say hi.”
I frown and give the three of them a spaced-out smile. “Sorry, what?”
They exchange humored glances between them. “Oh, the honeymoon phase,” Panda says with a teasing smile.
“Did I miss something?” I ask, reaching for my water bottle. The designated driver for tonight is yours truly.
Kayla smiles at me, her smile carrying extra warmth. She shakes her head and says, “Not much.” She then laughs briefly. “But we’re here, waiting for you whenever you decide to land back to earth and join us.”
“What?” I say laughing.
“It’s just,” Vicky says. “Your pretty head is somewhere else, somewhere, I’m guessing with a certain surgeon.” She grins at me. “You’ve been spacing-out like you’re on an expedition to Mars.”
“Have I?”
All three smiles and nods are synchronized.
I shrug and smile back. “Didn’t mean to, sorry.”
It’s Panda’s turn to beam my way. “Living in sin seems to agree with you, little hen.”
I huff a frustrated sigh/laugh. “Living in sin is a bit of a stretch. We hardly see each other. I’m not sure if a few hours here and there constitute shacking. We’ve been living together for what? A month now? And I swear, I see you guys more than I see Liam. Our schedules are almost completely flipped. Because of his trip, he takes on most of the evening-night/weekend shifts, the less desired ones, so when he’s home I’m either out or asleep. And he refuses to wake me up.” I let out a sigh. “I miss him so much.”
I do. Very much so. I still have my place, but we tend to sleep or hang out where the other is. Since Liam is away most of the waking hours of the day, and his place still needs some major furnishing, we usually end up at my place. We did, and by we I mean I, ordered a bunch of new furniture and basically everything that’s missing in his new place, which is a lot, but most of it will take time to arrive. My contract ends in a month and that’s when I’ll officially move in with him.
“Happily ever after ain’t all that.” Vicky takes a sip of her drink. “Beloved chickens, I cracked the code. Don’t settle down with one guy, have a few around, orgasmily ever after is the new black. No complications, no heartache, no fighting, no missing anyone, just fun, fun, fun.”
“Orgasmily ever after; I need that on a shirt,” Kayla says flatly.
Panda hooks her arm with mine and leans her head on my shoulder. “Sordid solicitation aside.” She throws my sister a squinted glance. “You guys, wow, that developed fast.”