It was well after 9:00PM when I finally returned from work. I was exhausted mentally, which was definitely affecting me physically. But I had much preferred to stay rather late on a Friday evening than go to work for a few hours on a Saturday morning.
Still, I felt less than human when I walked in the front door.
Clearly, I had missed dinner, and the snacks I had bought from a vending machine at work would not last me much longer. If my fiancΓ©e had cooked dinner, she had already put away the leftovers long before I finally made it back home, as the scent of food was noticeably absent. Our cat Reine did lift her head momentarily as I entered the house, but then returned to her sleeping position on one arm of the sofa.
Erin emerged from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel. "Hey, welcome home. You look atrocious."
"I feel atrocious." We shared a brief kiss, which transferred some of her humanity into me. "I need a shower. Perhaps that will revive me."
"Okay. And I think you could use a massage afterward."
"Excellent suggestion." I tried to smile as I headed upstairs.
A few minutes later, I stood underneath the hot spray of the showerhead, leaning back against the tile wall, my eyes closed. As the hot water cascaded down my front, I could feel the stress and fatigue melting away, being carried down the drain to the mysterious abyss of the city sewer system. Slowly, I began to feel more human, more energetic.