Just a short disclaimer: This is fiction. I'm not Anna, and will ignore feedback from those who think so.
Other feedback and comments is of course always appreciated. Love to all and enjoy the read. –Lin
It was morning. I could tell by the fact that I was about to wake up, like so many times before. Before I even knew who or where I was, I knew that it was morning. That was, and still is, the greatest blessing of my life. To be able to wake up, in my own pace, without the hammering siren of an alarm clock calling me to yet another nine-to-five torture day.
The rest, the money, the comfort, the clothes and the ease of day-to-day worries, was just icing on the cake. I would never have to worry about paying the bills. In fact, I would never even see the bills. All that was taken care of.
Slowly, my mind floated up to the surface of consciousness, a shimmering dot of sunlight in the darkness of dreams. As one by one my senses returned, I began to come to grips with the world around me, and what my senses told caused the gears in my head to start rolling. There was something not quite right here.
Maybe not wrong, but certainly out of the ordinary.
The smell was different. This was not the stale air of a closed bedroom and warm eiderdow sheets. This was not the light smell of my skin and my soap. No, this was the smell of sweat, musky cologne and the meaty, sweet tell-tale odours of a night before that must have been nothing short of amazing. Now, you might think that the thought of that would give me that ever so familiar, warm feeling that waking up after such a night can give.
Now it was just annoying, because as hard as I tried, I could not even recall the smallest detail about the day before. Nothing, my memory was blank.
The taste in my mouth told me the same thing. It seemed like I had been a good bad girl last night. The odd thought about whether soaking in THAT a whole night might be bad for the teeth or not passed drearily through my mind. But no pointer, no flashes, no recollection at all.
I could hear the sound of a serene sleeping breathing next to my left ear, and my bed was heaving underneath me in rhythm with the breaths, pressing against my chest.
Wait. That was no mattress. That was skin. Warm, sweaty, sticky, bare skin against mine. As I came to my senses, I could feel that naked body underneath me. I was lying right on top of someone. A man, a man with a strong, muscular chest where I rested my head, just underneath his neck and chin. My hand on the front of his shoulder, my legs straddling his right thigh. An arm was wrapped around me on one side, probably to prevent me from sliding off him, and it’s hand was resting firmly on my ass. A finger had even snuck in between my buttocks.
Where the hell was I? Who the hell was this man? Finally, I reached the surface of awareness, shook off the last traces of sleep, and opened my eyes. Ok, the surroundings were familiar. I was at home, in my own bed, but not alone. I lifted my head to look down at the face of the man underneath me.
I knew him. His name was Daniel. I knew him so well, much better than he knew me. And then, I suddenly remembered. Yesterday came rushing back...
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He had been there for over a year. That kind, handsome, cheerful man. Always smiling, always helpful, polite, respectful. He lived two doors down, in an expensive apartment just like mine. We had shared the quietness in the elevator, we had shared short moments of idle chit-chat while waiting for cabs in the lobby, we had shared cabs sometimes, short walks in the corridors. A smile, a greeting, a comment on the weather, a brief discussion about whatever was on the news. Short moments in each others' homes, as we also shared books, occasional CDs and DVD movies. He had a lot of books.
The almost daily routine of polite greetings soon turned into mutual jestful, friendly flirting and five minutes of yapping about new books or movies. The encounters with Daniel became more and more important for me. It was a patch of normality in my extraordinary life, a break from the crazy roller-coaster that was my work. In my business, the mundane and the everyday becomes a cherished hobby.
In time, we got to share more than just books. He shared his musings on everything under the sun, I shared my laughter at his easygoing way of approaching even the most serious matters. He shared stories about his family, I listened and relished, but didn't open up about mine. How could I, when I had none? He told me at length about his work, chief developer and co-owner of a successful software development company. A position which immediately made me label him a geek. All in good fun of course. He was my geek, I was his bookworm. He told me on a regular basis about meetings and characters he met at the office. I kept my mouth shut about my days. I mean, come on. How could I ever tell him? Fortunately, he took the hint of my reluctance to share, and asked no prying questions. Always careful, always respectful.
But still, how he must have wondered.
That all came to an end that one afternoon, when I heard that familiar tappeti-tap-tap knock on my door. I went to open it, and as expected, Daniel stood outside. I wondered what he might want. Maybe something fun had happened at work that he wanted to share? Maybe he had found that book we were both looking for?
"Hey, geekboy!" I said and gave him a friendly hug. "What's up?"
"Oh, not much, Anna. Say, are you big on musicals?"
"Musicals? I don't know, I think people bursting out into song just looks so silly in a movie. Not since Mary Poppins, if you ask me."
"Oh, I don't talk about the movie kind, but the real thing, on stage. That's a whole different thing. See, the reason I'm asking is that I've got two tickets to a new show tonight. I don't know quite what it is, but It's supposed to be really good. But my date decided to stand me up and spend the evening doing adult things with her ex instead. So, I'm all alone, with first class seats, and no date. Wanna be my replacement for the night?"
That's when my brain shut down and caution flew out the window.
"Wow, can I come!?"
"You know, I just asked. Duh."
"Smartass. Of course I wanna go! When is it?"
"At eight. We'd better take a cab at seven to get there safe on time. Unless, Are you hungry?"
"Famished."
"Then just put something nice on, and I'll meet you in the lobby in ten minutes."
"Make that twenty." I said. "I'm a girl, you know."
"You are!?" he said with feigned chock.
