Lily POV:
The sun didn't rise that Thursday morning, its rays didn't find their way through Lily's window, and it wasn't able to lay down a layer of warmth to her cheek and cause her to turn away and slumber just a few minutes more. Normally she would wake up easily this way after she enjoyed holding her eyes closed for a couple moments. She would throw off the covers and start getting dressed and ready and minimally presentable before her first children arrived. No, instead it was a crash of thunder just outside her home that brought her bolt upright in her bed. She gasped for air and caught her breath, pursing her lips together, letting out a slight whistle and then a growl before she let out a string of obscenities, damning the storm, damning the noise, and after glancing at the blank screen of her alarm clock, sending the electric company and their call takers straight to hell. How dare she be awakened this way when she had the day off? Why can't she have a clear sunny day to enjoy all to herself for once? She thought to herself that today wasn't about to be a day she would let go, no matter what it threw at her.
Her lab Brody was in the room as that thought finished in her head. He wasn't very fond of lightning or thunder, but once he laid down next to her and snuggled into the covers askew over her bed, he was calm enough to fall back asleep. Time to get up and see what time it is. Her phone wasn't at her bedside table where she normally charges it. Without the house phone working she wouldn't be able to call and make it ring, but if it hadn't charged overnight it might not bother ringing anyway. Lily slid out of bed and stepped on her blue nightie, that would do, she stepped into it and pulled it right up then headed for the kitchen, hoping her phone might still be in her purse. Brody sighed and stretched his legs a bit as she pulled the door almost closed behind her and then she headed down the darkened hallway with brief flashes of lightning helping her not step on any toys that might have made their way down towards her room.
Once in the kitchen she saw her phone sitting right next to her purse, except it didn't look quite right, and she picked it up - too light - and realized it was only the hardcover case. Where the hell is the phone? She knew she brought it home, here's the case, it's not in there, but it has to be somew...there it is, by the sink. She flicked the screen to life and saw it was already 10 o'clock, but her battery was down to 10 percent. Wow, when you get the chance to sleep in, you sure take it, don't you Lily? Four messages, none looked super important, two from Greg who annoyed the hell out of her two nights before, one from her mother asking if she could make lunch, and one from an unknown with only a phone number. Great, who did she give her number to last night, she was only having drinks at the Mexican place with the girls. Well, she never talks to many guys there anyway, so she put her phone down. Lily checked the Folgers can, no coffee - damnit - guess I can grab something after I get out the door. Lily took her phone, put it back in the case, and headed back to her bedroom to put it on the charger.
This day off might be starting out crappy, but I'm not letting it ruin the rest of my day, she thought. A quick shower brought the rest of her life back to her face and hands and long shapely legs. Toweling off she thought she heard her phone buzz a bit but there's no need to check it now. Legs and lady bits need tended to, it can wait. Besides, something in the back of her mind was telling her today was important for some reason, and although she couldn't remember why, she figured she better look her best in case whatever that something was came to her. She ran the razor around and up and over and down and across and every touch to her skin made her more confident. You can't be your best if you let the little stuff go for long, her mother always told her that, and after a few years of a sudden single life she believed it more and more every day. And with that it's time to get dressed to get out and about. But today is special, for whatever reason, she thought, and she chose a red and white dress she hadn't worn in a few months.
Once in her car, Lily fired it up and smacked the wiper and light switches on the dash, hoping they would make some kind of difference in this mess. The rain didn't seem to be letting up anytime soon, and it even felt harder as she neared her friend Jessica's house. It felt like the rain was actually shaking her car as it hit, wait, that's not possible, then why is the car shaking? Lily pulled over onto a side street and got out to find the worst possible reason for a shaking and thumping, one flat tire on the right rear, which if she had another spare would be a perfect match to the spare already on her left rear. She quickly ran back around and sat in her seat, shutting the door to keep the rain out, not like it mattered much since she was already sopping wet from head to toe. She reached into her purse to get her phone, the phone she didn't put in her purse because it was still on the charger in her bedroom at home. Wow, she thought, maybe I should just walk from here, Jessica probably wants to drive her Jeep anyway. Just at that moment, a taxi pulled out of the driveway of the house she was stopped in front of. She saw a man waving to the taxi as it pulled away from the curb, probably headed for the airport. The man stopped waving and looked at Lily's teal Cavalier, and not recognizing it at all he thought nothing of it and went back inside. She suddenly thought that maybe he could let me use his phone to call Jessica and AAA. She got out and hurried up the driveway to the front door, shook the excess water out of her hair, and rang the doorbell.
David POV:
David kept smacking his phone on the bedside table. It's a proven fact that when you're only half awake and hearing alarms going off, you can't turn them off by smacking your phone next to you if the alarm clock is on the dresser on the other side of the room. That didn't stop David, from trying, but by the time the phone hit the floor he had no choice but to give up. His wife Cindy came in and pulled off the covers, telling him, "get up, you have to be up, I have to go, my flight is in a few hours, there's no time this morning to sleep in." David rolled over a bit, adjusted himself in his shorts, and sat up. It was a long night. If she wasn't talking in her sleep, ordering people around at her job, then she was flopping over, it's amazing how good of aim she has when she's not aiming for anything, and his kidneys were sore because of it.
Time to wake up, thought David, get her out the door so you can have a few days of peace and quiet. Once refreshed and awakened by a hot shower, David tossed on a red and white plaid shirt and a pair of khakis. It was still dark outside, but he thought he heard thunder, too. Who knows, it's still six something in the morning and as long as the taxi shows up it'll be fine, she'll be gone, it can rain all day, he has more on his mind to deal with. Coffee finished off his cloud of sleepiness and he started helping his wife pack for that business trip. Laptop, charger, mouse, headset, laptop bag is done. Shampoo, conditioner, body wash, shaving gel, razors, Q-tips, tampons, Tylenol, the lavender lotion his mother gave her every year for her birthday, maybe this time she'd use it, bathroom bag is done. She had already laid her outfits out on the bed, he put them in the bag in the order they'd need to come out. Nothing fancy, just business attire plus a couple T-shirts and a flowery lacy full length nightgown. Very conservative. Even if David could go with, there's no sense in packing anything racy, it's not like he'd get a chance to see her in it anyway. Clothes bag is done. He took the three bags and set them down by the front door so he could load them in the cab when it arrived. Two more hours to freedom. The kids weren't even awake yet, it might be a really good morning!
