“I don’t want coffee. It’ll kill the buzz.” She rested her head on the table and decided the word “buzz” was a pretty funny word. “Buzzzzzz… Buzzzzzz…” Suddenly, she sprang to her feet and said, “Time to get up!” Staggering, she made her way toward the door.
“No, Lila!” Kevin yelled. “Don’t go.”
“Awww… Why? You gonna mish me?” She leaned against the strong oak door for support.
The sensation of the door pulling away from her and her body falling were the last things she remembered.
Merry had just walked in the door when her telephone rang. Who could be calling her at midnight?Oh no. I hope nothing’s wrong at home.She trotted to the kitchen and grabbed her phone.
“Hello?”
“Merry, it’s Jason.”
“Hi!” Maybe her lover missed her warm body and wanted her in his bed for the night. That would be much better than an emergency.
“My dad is sick, and I have to go home to Minnesota for a few days.”
Her bubble burst. “Oh.” She didn’t mean to sound so crestfallen, but a few days apart? She couldn’t help wondering, was his dad really sick? Or was Jason sick of her?
“What’s the matter, honey?”
“Nothing,” she said.
“Come on. Nothing always means something.”
“Well, it’s just the timing. I had hoped to see you. I have a little surprise, but it can wait.” She opened the cage and stroked her new pet rabbit as he waited for his food.
“Ah, I see. Well, I need to see my dad. Can you come with me?
“Come with…?” Stunned but pleased that he’d asked, her insecurity abated. “Actually, I can’t. I have to work, but I’ll keep my cell phone with me in case you need support. What happened?”
“Heart attack. My dad’s a typical type-A personality, so it’s not terribly surprising.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“My plane leaves tomorrow morning. I’ll come down and say good-bye before you leave for work, okay?”
“Uh, sure. What time in the morning?”
“Eight-thirty. I’ll have to leave by six. Oh, I forgot. You’ll be asleep.”
“That’s okay, Jason. You can wake me.”
“No. You need your sleep. I’ll call you when I’ve seen my dad. That way you’ll know my plane landed safely and how long I might be away.”
“Sure. That’ll be fine.”
“I’ll miss you,” he said softly.
“I’ll miss you too.”
But since her period had just arrived, she wouldn’t miss having to work around that so early in their relationship. At least she had spoken to a doctor at her hospital about those birth control pills that cut your periods down to only four times a year. He’d given her a sample as well as a prescription, so she was going to start on it right away… and while she was at it,maybe they could get tested for AIDS and the two of them could dispense with the condoms.
“Hey, Jason? How would you feel about getting an AIDS test when you get back?”
“Is that my surprise?”
She laughed. “No. Just a thought. If I get tested too, maybe you could ride bareback, if you know what I mean…?”
