Strange Happenstance

A bit of nonsense from an observation.

It was the circle of opportunity for that little guy...decisions, decisions, decisions.  He couldn't make up his mind.  Perhaps I gave him too much credit, perhaps it was just a case of double dosed far-farsightedness, or perhaps...just perhaps, when you're 1/64th of an inch tall your horizon doesn't really expand very far.

Pairs of feet north, south, west, and east; pairs of feet apparently mere foggy apparitions when one is keenly astute but ooh so terrifically minute.  The tiny tyke ventured to the north, veered to the east, hightailed over to the west, backtracked east, north, then southward bound. 

Tongues wagged, feet shuffled, eyes ignored as he zigged over here, zagged over there, hung a far left, made a quick right, and around again he came.  In the presence of giants, that insignificant speck unfazed by soles tipping, tapping, flipping, flopping; he was a totally laid-back ordinary kind of itsy-bitsy bloke.

Poor little squirt...he never saw it coming as he was pinched up into that soft, pink tissue and flushed down that vortex of unholy water into eternal oblivion.  So sad...so sad.  It's dreadfully tough staying afloat and carrying on when you're a misunderstood little brown tick kind of spunky half-pint.

Introspect

My laptop evaporated into thin air...poof!  We had to replace the desktop before it blanked out into oblivion; and with Victor going overseas sometime in the next day, week or month...sigh...it was deemed a silly extravagance to let the new desktop just sit there in lonely solitude.

I made myself the administrator of that little Lenovo guy (I know, I know...China).  He has to coexist with that Microsoft keyboard, HP monitor, and printer. I'm downloading boo coos of updates to make it all copacetic with that happy ever after feeling of partnership.

Google chrome is showing its belligerent side creating a problem when I open my blog with it in the front seat beside my little Lenovo guy. Hopefully I'm up to the challenge, and last night was just a fluke, a slight misunderstanding among friends when I tried to strangle little Lenovo right out of existence with his handy dandy power cord.

Anyway, the vibrator effect of the sidebar is driving me bonkers when my eyes can't help but latch onto it.  I may be in a bit of hot water when I start trying to make my changes with it.  Is there anything in this life that doesn't come with a backdoor that's labeled Don't Open and not nailed shut?

I remember husband enlightening me weeks ago on what not to expect email wise after he lands in the middle east.  Can't remember...it all vanished from my noggin like spilled milk in a room full of cats. Today I find out there will be no mail service where he'll be working...NO MAIL SERVICE.  It's like being sucked into a black-hole of non-existence.

Life's happening, so I'm shifting into fourth gear and racing with the wind down that highway of silly melding with serious.  No one ever says life's too long, but it's said a zillion times a day that life's definitely way too short.  Living life for all its worth and then maybe just a little bit more...pure perfection ;)

Luminescence - Chapter 4

Charlie and Lucifer wasted no time occupying the designated dog area of her couch. Charlie hogged his whole blanket; but Lucifer, paying no attention, quickly took over the spot for himself. Not copacetic with Lucifer's arrangement, the terrier opted to claim a chunk of No Dog's Land at the end of the couch beyond the edge of his blanket.  Preferring not to rat them out, Josh chose to let sleeping dogs lie and quickly walked back into her kitchen and sat at the table. Watching her prepare two coffee mugs of hot tea, one he hoped with the faint taste of sweet sugar he had asked for, he sized up her backside from head to toe, and thought it was getting a little too hot in that small room. She peeked over her right shoulder, and met his smile with a caught you smile of her own. She turned back and a movement above her caught his eye. "What the...?"

She turned around with a cup of tea in each hand and followed his stare to the top of the cupboard above her stove. "Oh, that's Lily." She looked back at that look of astonishment on his face. "She's a cat, you know; fangs, claws and purrs."

"Do you have any others?"

"She's an only child." She knew he wasn't a cat person, but he was looking at Lily like she had just risen up out of the bowels of hell. "She doesn't scare easily, so you'll have to deal with her." Sitting down, she pushed his cup of tea across the table to him.

"Is she friendly?"

She leaned back in her chair with her coffee cup held to her lips and gently blew her breath across its surface. He couldn't believe that small gesture was such a complete turn on for him. He was having a difficult time concentrating on the cat.

"She's sizing you up."

He smiled.  "For the kill?"

She grinned, "One never knows with cats." She watched him taste his tea and give her that look of contentment.

"Do you want me to get that package back out of the garbage?"

"No."

"Come on..."  he grinned, "how can you just toss it away without knowing?"

"But I do know.  If it's from Patrick, it's crap."

"What if it's not from Patrick?  I'm assuming the P guy is an ex...right?"  She made a face letting him know he was right.

"Somewhat younger than me," she paused, "the last...cured me from ever wanting to be married again." Giggling, she added, "Don't look at me like that. Anyway, would you open a package that you guessed your ex from hell sent from somewhere in Egypt with the name Cleopatra on the return label?"

He laughed and some of his tea splashed onto the table. He wiped it off with his shirt sleeve without thinking, and glanced at her hoping she hadn't noticed, but of course she had.  The intensity of that stare as she got up had him fantasizing she was going to rip off his shirt in the heat of the moment, but she left him feeling a bit foolish when all she did was walk past him to the pantry and bring back an open bag of salt and pepper crinkle chips.  She picked one out and pushed the bag to dead center between them. 

"Junk food with our tea.  Do you like spicy?"

"Is it going to make me hot and bothered?"

Laughing, she picked out another chip and crushed it to pieces between her teeth, then slowly licked the salt and pepper off each finger.  He took a long sip of his lukewarm tea to cool down.  He knew the memory of her P guy hung over her like a huge storm cloud brewing up a hurricane, so he just went for it.  "So, tell me about your ex from hell."

She sighed one of the longest sighs he had ever heard, then began to steadily munch on the chips.  He pulled the bag to his side and pinned it down to the table with his arm.  "Talk to me, Jez."

"He treated me like he couldn't get enough of me while we were dating, and then treated me like he couldn't get rid of me soon enough after we got married.  It was the loneliest three years of my life.  I still don't know if he was gay, screwing around with other women, or just an all around asshole.  If I kept my mouth shut and lived with his narcissistic attitude of himself and his loathing of me, all was peachy.  If I breached the subject with him he tried to pound my head into the wall.  I doubt he ever had friends.  I never met any.  I used to fantasize him being eaten alive by piranhas, or crushed in the jaws of an alligator, but my life has never been one for miracles.  A few months after our divorce he showed up wanting me to keep him on my health insurance plan so he could have work done on his teeth, the creep.  I told him to get lost."  She thought a bit with that pouting of her lips.  "I don't think he was all too happy with me at that moment."  She looked into his glazed eyes and laughed.  "I guess that was a little more than you were expecting.  Are you going to run?"

He looked into those bedroom eyes that appeared more gray than green at that moment, and his mind failed with a response.  His life hadn't even got off the front door step compared to hers, relieving him more than distressing him; but he knew the pain of mistakes made, and couldn't find it within himself to pull away from her.  He began to realize that her pain was going to be his pain and her joy his joy.  He was being drawn into a life that was extremely complicated, and strangely he found himself not putting up much of a struggle.

She wistfully looked at her coffee cup, her thumb rubbing back and forth over the top of the handle.  She glanced at his mug as his fingers grasping the rim turned it clockwise around and around with him staring intensely at it, she imagined, absent of thought.  Their silence was like a heavy fog about them and she fretted she had said too much.  Looking up, her eyes met his soft gaze, but she felt no comfort.

With a slight smirk he pushed his chair back from the table, and walked over to the electric teapot, stopping short of the counter to check on the cat above, but it was no longer there.  Scanning the full length of the cupboard tops revealed only empty space.  While feigning absolute calmness, he quickly looked around the room stopping at Jez's eyes; but that almost smile told him she already had his number and he couldn't help his quick grin before his face became serious again.

"Did you see where Lilith went?"

"Lily."

"Where is she?"

"Haven't a clue."  His eyes were asking her "why not?"  She added, "Don't worry.  She's an absolute stinker, but sweet."  He looked quizzical.  "A real glutton for attention; an over achiever when it comes to play."  His blank stare egged her on, "She's friendly..a little crazy...but extremely friendly."

Putting his cup on the counter, he pushed the teapot switch and watched the bubbles begin to rise from the bottom until they became ferocious.  He was wondering what having a cat that's sweet and rotten at the same time really meant.  He turned around and faced Jez.  He needed to stand above her, to feel like he had some sort of leverage in their relationship.  She met his gaze with that questioning look that encouraged him on, like she was waiting for him to take charge. 

"I think the package should be opened.  It's useful to know where the P guy's head's at with all of this, and the only way you'll be able to do that is to find out what's in the box.  The whole thing sounds too weird.  He could still be dangerous for you."

"I'll think about it."

"You'll think about it?"

"I'll think about it." 

"Jez, just open the damn package!  How can you be so indifferent about something that could be so dangerous?"  

She leaned forward in her chair, "How can I be what?  You've seen too many horror movies.  We're talking about my life, not The House on Elm Street.  We're  talking about my normal, uneventful, everyday life.  Nothing's going to fall out of the sky and kill me.  And it's PATRICK, not the P Guy!  What is it with you and this P Guy stuff?"  She stopped herself, pressing her palm against her forehead, and sighed.  She straightened up and tried to soften her frown as she waited for him to leave, but he just stood looking at her. 

She sighed again and he watched a faint half smile seem to almost appear on her face as she twisted her mouth ever so slightly and gently tilted her head to one side, looking up at him with those soulful eyes that made him want to grab her and smother her naked body in kisses.  How he hated himself at that moment.  How could an argument be so seductive.

She couldn't take back her impatient outburst, so she just said the first thing that popped into her head.  "Our first argument, and we've only been together half a day.  Not a good omen for things to come, is it?"  She watched him turn the pot back on, and slowly make his cup of tea before returning to the table.  He stood for a moment by his chair, then finally noticed that her cup was also empty. 

"I'm sorry, for not paying attention."  He whisked her cup away before she had time to think of anything more to say and quietly made her a cup of Lady Grey tea.  She was surprised that he had noticed she didn't drink the same tea as his.  "You like it sweetened a bit, don't you?"

"Half a teaspoon, just a touch of sweet."

"Just like me."

She could hear the smile in his voice.  "Just like you."

He sat back down and pushed her cup of tea across the table to her.  "We should see which movie we want to watch, before it's too late to go."

She nodded, and held her steaming cup of tea in her hands, enjoying the warmth.  "You can take that package out of the garbage can, if you wish.  I just don't want to see what's in it today...maybe tomorrow."

"It can wait."

She was puzzled that this older man with dirty clothes, a day old beard, and the demeanor of a slightly sophisticated good ole boy was beginning to look impressive to her.  He sported no spare tire around his middle which was a huge plus as far as she was concerned.  Surprised, she was beginning to wonder what he looked like underneath all that cloth.  Blowing her breath across the surface of her steaming tea, she watched Lily emerge from under the table and sit quietly at the base of Josh's chair.  She mentally crossed her fingers, took a sip of hot tea, and hoped Lily would be a good girl.  

He felt the stare of those gold eyes penetrate to his inner core with the intensity of a lightning bolt.  To his right sat Lilith...Lily...and that look, when his eyes met hers, that look that encompassed a thousand bad words into one long stare was un-nerving.  Standing up she balanced on her hind legs with her front paws lightly resting on his thigh and he, for one horrible moment, thought she was going to try to jump onto his lap. The uncertainty lasted only seconds before she stretched out full length, lowering her hind quarters to the floor, and digging her razor sharp claws through his jeans and into his flesh.

Luminescence - Chapter 3

He leaned back against his door with that troublesome smile she was failing to understand.  She leaned back against her door, took the last sip from the water bottle, looked into those intense eyes of his, and waited for the fallout.  It didn't come.  She wanted him to say something.  He said nothing.  She wondered how long it was going to take him to figure out he had wasted his money on dinner.  She waited for an eternity, and then straightened up, reaching for her purse.

"So, tell me the rest of the story...stories."

She knew excuses wouldn't do, so she took her time.  "I thought I had it all figured out after I divorced Dave..."

"Dave?"

"My second husband."

"You divorced him?"

"I divorced them all."

"So you're set up pretty good?"

"I never asked for anything.  I just wanted to get out of the marriages and back to feeling better about myself.  Each time was like starting over again from scratch, so I guess I'm set up pretty badly from a money point of view.  I can't afford or plan on a fourth time.  I pick badly.  I don't plan on picking anymore."

He rested his arm on the seat-back and pushed his bent knuckles against his lips as he thought.  "...on picking anymore or on picking badly?"

"Both."  She watched that troubled smile grow on his face again and leaned her head back against her window, despondently.

A relationship with this woman scared him a bit, and he was trying to choose his words carefully.  "Well, that creates a problem for me.  I'm not a one night stand guy anymore.  Getting to know you better is what I would like."  She seemed to relax, twisting a strand of her hair around her finger.  He felt safe in asking, "So, am I different from the others?"

She smiled, and then her face became a little more serious.  "I didn't pick you, did I?  You're nothing like the others."

She didn't want to give him time for more questions.  "I'm going to the ladies room," and she left without waiting for a comment.

Watching her walk away from his car, he was wishing she wasn't so damn sexy.  His infatuation had dimmed after their conversation, but there was something about her that wouldn't let go of its grip.  He looked at her dog and his pup sleeping together with their stomachs grumbling off and on.  He felt a little bad about the meatballs.  Wondering what one does in cold weather with a thin skinned dog, he figured she would just say the walk was it.  Why would there be anything else.  She had a dog...she would just go home.  The rest of his day was going to be a day alone if he didn't have an offering when she returned...an offering of what?

He didn't appear to notice her as she walked around his car to her side.  She saw a surprised face when she opened her door and scooted onto the seat and glanced his way.  He remained quiet.  He appeared deep in thought even as he was watching her.  "I have a question," she began, "You're not married, right?"

"Right."

"Ever?"

"No."

"But you've dated."

He twisted his mouth a bit with that quirky smile.  She knew he knew she was on a fishing expedition, so she just waited.

"I lived with someone for a few years when I was younger.  It fell apart for me, but she didn't want to leave.  I had to move out of my own apartment and let her keep it."

"You mean the both of yours apartment?"

He looked straight into her green eyes, "Yes, I mean the both of ours apartment, but it was all my things.  I just left, but it never seemed the right time to claim the stuff later.  I guess it's all long gone now.  It's been a few years.  I don't plan on letting that ever happen to me again."  She sighed so heavily, he stopped himself and waited.

"Do you want to drop the dogs off at our homes and go to a movie or something?"  She saw that what just happened look on his face and ignored it.  "It's too cold to take the dogs anywhere, so I just thought..."

"A movie sounds good."  He smiled, "Do I have to watch a chick flick?"

He watched her eyes came alive with that cute laugh of hers.

"Probably.  Oh..."

Instantly she became so serious he thought she might  have remembered a fourth husband.

"Do you want to know my name?"

"I do know your name.  You said Ann, right?"  She pressed her lips a little too hard together and he knew Ann wasn't Ann anymore.  "So, am I supposed to guess?"

"You just looked kind of homeless.  I didn't know if I wanted to tell you my real name."  She paused, looking directly at him.  He loved that smile of hers so much that anything she was going to say next didn't matter. 

"You have to admit you look too rough around the edges, and what you see is what you get doesn't do a thing for you in ...anyway...I'm really called Jez."

"Jez.  Like in Jezi..."

"I hate that name.  It's just Jez...J-e-z!"

He laughed, "Okay, just J-e-z, Is your dog still named Charlie?"

"Yes," with that sparkle back in her eyes, "I thought Charles was dignified, but after he began snacking on garbage it became Charlie.  You know," she smiled, "he's in heaven with the meatballs, even though his stomach's complaining.  He'd adopt you in a heartbeat.  Loyalty to me isn't one of his strong-point's."

"He's some sort of terrier, right?"

"I guess.  The vet thought Rat and Jack Russell, although he's so laid back the Jack Russell part's misleading.  He's my little jackrat terrier."

"Rat Terrier makes him sound...ratty," he chuckled.

"I know.  Something to do about hunting rats in medieval times."

"Really!"

She laid her head back against her window and laughed, "Not really; I haven't a clue."

He loved that laugh of hers.

She continued, "What about your little devil?"

"Mutt!"

"Looks a little poodle-ish."

"I hope not," he laughed, "I need him to grow up big and woolly, a man's dog!"

"Standard poodles are big and woolly...real woolly...poufy woolly!"  There was that sheepish smile lighting up his whole face; then he looked at his watch and the magic was gone.  She waited, a little disappointed.  He left no wiggle room for changes of minds.  He was too practical.

They had decided on dropping off Charlie and her car first, then traveling to his apartment before the movie to drop off Lucifer.  It was a good plan until he realized she was weaving in and out of traffic like he wasn't even a thought in her head.  He hadn't asked for her address or cell number, and when the third car squeezed in front of him from her, he threw up his hands and just drove without a destination.  Noticing her little red car up ahead on the shoulder, he felt relieved until as he approached she sped out again and there was hell to pay keeping up with her.  He took a deep breath and just shook his head when she pulled into a small driveway.  He almost drove off the pavement behind her as he gawked at the jungle surrounding her house.  He was beginning to realize this lady was much more complicated than he was used to, and that fear of appearing boring began nagging him again.  He could only be himself, but he was beginning to question if that was enough.  Her life seemed much more colorful than his and much more troubled.

Her brain screamed bloody murder when his car was heading for her own lawn and gardens instead of her neighbor's, but he managed to not careen across it at the last second.  She was beginning to wonder just how old he really was, but she managed to kept her cool and smile.  She watched him exit his car, pull the seat forward and pick Lucifer up off of the floor where she presumed he fell during the abrupt stop to stay on her driveway.  She feared the poor thing was destined to suffer hurling across empty spaces quite frequently in his life with this man.  She had already, in her mind, made Josh off limits with her Charlie.

Laughing, he couldn't help himself, "you're the first person I've ever seen who can manage to have a smile on her face while her eyes are bugged in terror."  A sour look came across her face.  He was trying to stifle his laugh, but then he couldn't get his words out when he did.  "I," he chuckled a little less this time, "was blindsided by this explosion of weeds."  Her mouth opened and her eyes narrowed in on him.  It was still hard for him to breath as he continued, trying not to laugh.  "God, I didn't quite say that right. I mean, this isn't weeds is it...or is it?"  He could have heard a leaf fall to the ground in her back yard, she was so quiet; then she began to laugh and he laughed, relieved.  "I've never seen so many plants crammed into one place.  There isn't much grass."

"That's right."

"Is there grass in the back?"

"Nope."

"Pretty wild."

She smiled, "Very wild."

She tugged on the leash for Charlie to follow her and walked up the steps to her little porch with a small glider and chairs.  He picked up the small package sitting on the chair, handing it to her after she unlocked the door.  She was paying more attention to the package than him, so he asked, "Do you want me to wait out here?"

"No, you can come in."  She removed Charlie's harness and he raced around the living room a few times before settling back down at her feet.  "Is your puppy housebroke?"

"Sort of."

"Sort of?" 

I'll take him out.  Where's the back door?

She was interested more in the package at this point, but she needed to pay attention to this man who was making himself a part of her life.  "To the right through the kitchen...I'll go with you."  They ventured back out into the cold, sitting on the swing while the dogs raced off into the gardens.  She had examined every side of the package, finally cradling it in her hands on her lap.

"Africa."

He glanced at her.

"It's from somewhere in Africa...the package."  She closely examined the label again.  "Accra, Ghana...Don Juan," she giggled, "Don Juan sent this to me."

He watched her smile turn to apprehension, as she slipped into deep thought miles away.  He quietly waited, then touched her hand breaking the spell and drawing her eyes to his. 

"Patrick talked about Africa, about living there someday."  She turned away.  Minutes passed as she remained silent.  "This isn't what I want in my life right now."  She sighed unhappily.  "This isn't what I want in my life."  She looked at Charlie sitting at her feet, Lucifer whimpering to be picked up, and then the package that made her feel like the past she was trying to forget was flooding back in, drowning her.  "The bastard.  I hate him."

Luminescence - Chapter 2

He'd gotten under her skin with his direct ways, and she was bummed out giving in so easily to those sad dreamy eyes of his.  She had willingly followed him to this restaurant he'd suggested even though she knew he wasn't her type.  She'd agreed to leave her car and wait in his, and looking over her shoulder at her own dog, she felt bad that he still laid motionless on the back seat where she had shoved him, even though devil pup continued to climb all over him.  Staring back at the rain rolling down the outside of his windshield she wondered when it was she had begun to become so pathetically desperate.  How was she going to eat all that food?  She wasn't even hungry.  Her feet rested on top of the pile of junk he'd tossed from the seat to the floor to make room for her Levi clad tush.  Shifting her balance, something cracked beneath her shoes, but she ignored it.  She wasn't ready to find out what a never cleaned vehicle really looked like up close and personal.

The longer he waited, the more he convinced himself that he would be returning with one expensive meal and one cheap meal to a car with only a little black curly furred pup inside.  Glancing again at his cell phone, he was stressed that his thirty minute wait had only been ten minutes so far.  Standing before the mirror in the men's room, he began to realized the magnitude of work involved to keep this lady interested in him.  It was hell convincing her to follow him in her little red sports car, then leaving it empty parked next to his.  For the first time in his single life the fear of being boring clamped onto his brain like the jaws of death spinning him out of control.  She seemed to have the upper hand, and he felt like he was running eighty miles an hour to keep up with her.  He was an idiot to think she would ever be his.

Over-thinking didn't even begin to describe her right now. Tired of waiting for a meal she didn't need, a man she didn't know, a complication she didn't want, she stared at this puppy in her lap that made her feel guilty each time she pet it.  No way was her own dog getting on her lap.  She never allowed it...never.  She had a tendency to pick hell when it came to the opposite sex; nevertheless, she was failing to convince herself that not being her type was a good thing at this point.  He was just too different.  He had already usurped her from her comfort zone, and she was mad, then perplexed at herself for choosing to still be here.  Her thoughts evaporated as the driver's door flew open and her rain soaked problem in rusty armor sat down beside her with a large bag of eats and that sweet sheepish smile on his rather old face that she found herself falling in love with...darn it!

He tossed his dog next to hers and hurriedly gave them the double order of meatballs out of the bag and hoped they wouldn't become sick.  He didn't really know women at all.  Just guessing at what she might like, he chose expensive and she seemed to be pleased with the veal dish he pulled out of the bag for her.  He looked at his spaghetti with regret, but he knew she was worth it, he hoped.  He fished a bottle of water from the floor and opened it for her, setting it in the bottle holder between them.  He thought all women liked to talk, but she said nothing.  He could hear himself chewing his salad. It was driving him nuts.  He wondered if it was driving her crazy. 

"Do you walk that park often?"  What a lame way to start a conversation.  He could kick himself, but he just looked at her hoping she would simply answer and be done with it. 

"I haven't been there in years.  Not since...well, let's just say it's been a long time before I had another dog to walk.  I never like walking alone.  What about you?"

"Never been there before."

She looked at him, "Like two ships passing in the night."  She was surprised that dorky phrase escaped from her lips.

He grinned.  "Kind of...but it's the pup to blame.  I'm not much on hiking."

Instead of answering, she ate a spear of asparagus, drank a sip of water, and looked back at him with those killer eyes.  "I love hiking, but I don't do it as often anymore.  Do you still work?"

"Retired, but I work for myself."

"Oh, at what?"

Why did he always do this to himself?  Always having to explain the absurd.  Why couldn't he be normal and not raise eyebrows.  "I scoop up dog poop for clients.  Sorry."

She looked at him with her veal speared fork hovering in front of her opened mouth.

He thought she was going to be froze there for eternity, but she suddenly smiled and ate the piece of veal.

"Must be good business.  Lots of dogs out there and they all shit, I mean poop."  He laughed and she was beginning to feel comfortable with him.  "Cleaning up dog poop...the one thing I hate about dogs.  I'm not really a dog person.  I'm just a sucker for a cute face on a homeless mutt."

"Lucifer's my first dog, but he's in my life to stay, so I guess I'm a dog person.  Cats...that's a different bag of problems.  Can't stand those little monkeys."  He thought the sparkle dimmed in her eyes and wondered what he had said wrong.  "What?" he cautiously inquired.

"Nothing.  So, what else do you like in your life besides dogs?"

He looked at her still wondering.  "I'm flexible, I can adapt to anything, and still like it, probably.  I like to shoot, not cats of course", he grinned, but she didn't so he knew he was digging a hole for himself.  Changing the subject was his next best choice.  "What kind of work do you do?"

"Not the kind I would like.  I'm a secretary.  No, well...sort of a secretary.  I do everything and more than a secretary would do."  Her voice trailed off.  "I'm a ....."

He bent closer so he could hear her better.  "You're what?"

Annoyed, "A clerk!" she blurted out a little too loudly.  " I'm just a clerk."

He watched her with her lips curled inward as she picked at what was left on her plate.  Pulling a small carton out of the bag that sat next to his feet, "I took a chance and got you a little something for dessert."

The tiramisu was convincing her he was a keeper...she was in heaven with each savored bite.  "This would be perfect with a cup of cappuccino."  She smiled at him, wondering if he still was interested in her. 

"Next time", he smiled.  "So, where does my just a clerk work?"

She wanted to end this line of questioning, but she answered.  "At a park north of town."

"Wow, that must be exciting!"

"It isn't."

"Oh."

"I guess if my desk were out in the middle of the forest in perfect weather with a canopy over it to keep the ticks from dropping onto my head it would be nice, but I sit in a stuffy building no bigger than a suitcase in front of a computer all day answering the phone, making everyone else happy and never myself, so it pretty well sucks."  She stopped herself and looked into those troubled eyes of his.  "It's not all that bad.  I just thought I would have more than that by now."

"My sister said the same thing when she was alive.  She told me she was raised to find a husband to support her, then kicked out by our parents to survive on her own.  She had a hard time, but she was my little sister.  I would have done anything for her and I did."  He put the empty cartons back into the bag on the floor and looked sadly out the drying windshield. 

She knew she shouldn't ask, but she needed to know.  "What happened to her?"

He still stared at the windshield and answered, "She died in a car wreck.  Her drunk husband killed her."  He shifted his body to face her, and with his right hand pushed a wisp of her hair from her face and smiled.  "Have you thought about going back to school to compete for a better job?"

"I did with my last husband, but he wasn't interested in helping me.  I haven't been able to afford it yet on my own."

"You're last husband?"

"Yes."

"Last husband...not ex-husband?"  He watched her, but she just sighed and turned away from him.  He leaned towards her and whispered, "I'm not going to like you any less.  I've already gone beyond that."

"Three."

"Three?  Three what?"

She turned her head and felt her cheek brush against his.  "Three husbands.  I've had three husbands."

Luminescence - Chapter 1

She caught his attention the moment that terrier ran across her lap, and bolted out the car door dragging its retractable leash.  The dog was running in all directions as she reeled him in and cupped his chin between her slender hands, saying something that immediately froze the terrier in place. He wondered what it was.  She looked to the left, sighed, and scanned to the right as her lips pouted a bit at the lack of options, he thought, until she was looking towards her right shoulder and straight into his eyes.  Her face softened as those gray green eyes looked at him a bit too long.  He wondered if she was as pretty as he thought she was behind all that peppered silver hair the wind was blowing across her face. She smiled so briefly that it almost wasn't a smile and began to walk away towards the far end of the footpath, but he could still feel the warmth of that slight acknowledgement that seemed to wrap around him with the strangle hold of a thousand feet of duct tape.  He was hooked. 

Her distance from his was widening to the point of not even trying, but he was determined.  He rushed from the bench, but was jolted to a stop by the yelp of his pup as it was catapulted off the bench into midair and dropped onto its side with a thud.  Smothering it with apologies, he scooped up his trembling pup, tucking it under his unzipped jacket with it's leash dragging across the ground.  He glanced back down the path and saw her standing there, facing him, and watching.  He felt like he was on fire as he stared back at that inquisitive face for the shortest time that seemed forever, and then began to follow in her footsteps.  He wondered if she was going to wait until he reached her, or if she would turn her back to him and continue on...his mystery woman, her dog, and him not by her side.

The wind picked up in errant gusts across the lake cutting through her jacket like it wasn't even there.  She knew if she was shivering, her dog was freezing.  She glanced down at him and sighed knowing she had made the wrong decision. Tired of the guilt caused from ignoring her own dog, she convinced herself that a cold day was much better than no day at the park, but this guilt of extreme cruelty she was now experiencing was suffocating her.  She glanced at that empty bench, at the unpretentious man clumsily tucking his whimpering pup inside his jacket under his arm like a bag of potatoes, and wondered for half a second if the pup was indeed okay.  She looked back down at her own thin skinned cowering terrier, and knew if she didn't hurry up and get moving, she would be doomed to carrying him in her arms also.  She zipped her jacket the rest of the way up, and began walking as fast as she could to put the nightmare as far behind her as possible.

He pretended he was the epitome of ruggedness with a shadow of stubble he was too lazy to shave this morning, and dirty jeans he forgot to wash last night.  The left side of his jacket wrapped securely around his half-pint pup was warm, but the right side was flapping wildly in the wind as he trampled down that lonely path with all the vigor and determination of a person trying not to freeze to death.  He sighed and imagined he probably looked quite bad.  He glanced up and stopped.  His face abandoned all semblance of hope and almost became one with the dark side.  Rapidly scanning the parameter of his surroundings suggested the area was his alone, but that couldn't be true, could it?  Time had to be in his favor.  She couldn't have doubled back that quickly, could she?

She was out of breath and only half way up the hill to that building at the top and shelter.  She knew she should have just walked back the way she came, but she was determined to not ever meet up with that bum who should never been allowed to own a dog in the first place.  She was breathing so hard that her throat felt parched, and the cold air she was sucking in made it hurt.  All she could think in her misery was she should have peddled her exercise bike more often.  Who was she kidding?  She hadn't peddled her exercise bike for months.  She became bored with it all and gave up.  The leash tightened around her legs and she was falling against the cold hard ground as the thought of broken teeth caused her to lift up her head and land hard on her side. Her abrupt outcry vanished instantly from her numb lips, swallowed up by the cold, gusty wind.

He turned to face the ridge to his right and hastily looked up the grassy incline to above the stand of trees where he caught sight of his mystery woman sitting on the ground resting.  Man, she's a tough cookie, he thought.  The closed visitor's center was above her at the top of the hill.  At least he thought it was closed.  It was mostly glass, but the glass always revealed only a few displays that lived in a room whose lights were always turned off and whose doors were always locked.  He was guessing it was her destination.  His nose was beginning to numb, and he was cursing himself that he had nothing to stop it dripping except his shirt collar. He sighed, clinched his teeth, and started up that grassy incline; but he was straining with his puppy throwing him off balance.  He let go of the pup, and as it eagerly worked its little legs up the hill, barking and tugging at the leash for him to keep up, he began to wonder just what in the hell did he think he was doing.  She was a mystery.  He might never catch up with her and she'll remain a mystery forever.  Then again, he might catch up with her and wished he hadn't. He might later regret the entire day.  Crap!  What the hell was wrong with him?  They didn't even have a relationship and she was already driving him crazy.

She couldn't stop shaking.  The cold was too intense for her to linger any longer.  She tried to stand up and found herself on all fours without anything to push herself up except her aching knees.  She wanted to collapse in a defeated heap, but the puppy man she didn't care to meet was zigzagging up the incline towards her at alarming speed.  She wondered just how crazy he really was.  He seemed to be following her, but she knew it was only an illusion.  There was nothing about her that would excite any man, absolutely nothing. The pain made her feel like her hip was on fire as she stood up, then painfully made her way towards the top of the hill. She was aware her dog was no longer with her.  She didn't care.

He knew he had been bent over with his hands clasping his knees for too long trying to catch his breath, as his pup and the terrier kept tugging on their leashes and whimpering incessantly.  He admitted to himself that no pretty woman in her right mind would ever look at him even once if she had a choice.  He wished he had stayed home and slept in, but he hadn't, and now he had an extra dog on his hands.  He slowly straightened up to a view of the empty parking area and was alarmed at the heavy darkness of the noon day sky. Drops of icy rain were stinging his face, as he scooped up his pup and hurriedly followed the terrier's unreeled leash to the sheltered entrance.  He knew the stupid place would be closed and he hadn't been disappointed.

Pressed against the wall with his eyes shut, he leaned his head back with a sigh.  His eyes flew open as the leash reel was ripped out of his hand pulling him forward and into the hypnotic power of those gray green eyes, those beautiful gray green eyes that stared at him like cold liquid glass.  He wanted so desperately to say something clever, something that would make her smile, but no words formed on his lips. He wondered how long he could stare at her before she decided to escape to her car, but she just stood there.  Was she going to open those bare lips and say words he wanted to hear, or crush all his hopes dead.  He could see her face mellow as she looked to the ground, then back up at his face. He thought it was over when all that managed to escape from his lips was "Hi.  I'm Josh", and hugging his curly, black pup to his face, "And this is Lucifer."  She relaxed and continued to stare at that sort of handsome wrinkled face and wondered, who in the hell names their pup Lucifer?